TALKING ABOUT STRUCTURE

I heard an interview with Paul McCartney on NPR
on the way to drop Sophie off  to the preschool.
I am a fan of the Beatles...So I really enjoyed listening to him.

This is the link...
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/148609721/paul-mccartney-blows-kisses-to-his-fathers-era

What I can relate to very much is the topic of structure.
For Sir Paul McCartney, of course,  the structure of songwriting.
Long long ago when I wrote scripts,
I remembered that conflict between protagonist and antagonist
is a classic structure of a script.
These days, here are the things that come into my mind when thinking about structure

1. A-Line Dresses have a good structure to improve my look

2. Daily routine of my kids or schedule is very important. It is the structure of their life. Without the routines, all tantrums break loose

Naptime still included in Sophie's routine

3. In my childhood sugary snacks were only for holidays .
They were not in the menu structure of my days.
But my kids expect some kind of dessert daily.
Those ( ice cream, cakes, chocolate, candies ) are like a change
from major to minor key in a song.
Making the mood interesting...( said Paul McCartney )

My mom has been lamenting , " If they get those junk food daily,
how do they got nutrition ?  "
Well.. in my defense I can only say that I am not a perfect mom..
I try to be just an average mom
with a lot of TLC and some discipline ( which did not work very well in the eating area  :(

Well... thanks for listening to my ramblings..

           C Am
If there's anything that you want,

           C                G7
If there's anyhting I can do,
      F7                  Am                 C        G7     C
Just call on me and I'll send it along with love from me to you

Verse 2 (Same Chords as Verse 1)
If there's anything that you want,
Like a heart that's oh, so true,
Just call on me and I'll send it along with love from me to you

( this is change from major to minor .. those special occasion to make the mood interesting, those special snack that come too often in my kids life )
       Gm                 C7
I got arms that long to hold you
     F
and keep you by my side.
       D7
I got lips that long to kiss you 
     G             G+ 
And keep you satisfied

Happy singing dear Readers... and Viva the Beatles !

The Reason Why I Blog

House chores and  rearing kids are always work in progress..
After washing and folding the clothes, the hamper is full again
After putting the toys away in one room, there will be a mess in another
After the dishes washed and dried, the kids want a snack
Going on and on and on

Messy Counter

After snacking

Pantry organization in progress

Writing some sentences, taking some pictures,
and seeing them coming together in a post make me happy
Because I can see an instant result.
THERE IS A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

SHORTCUT Mini Steamed Bun ( aka Mini Bakpao )

( Thanks Tante Honi for the telling me the secret of your delicious bakpao and kueh ku )

Nothing made me happier than a shortcut in the cooking process.
These buns were made using the mini biscuit dough in the refrigerated section of grocery store.
My friend tried the regular size biscuit dough but she said they were not as tasty as the mini ones

For the filling, I could use any kind of filling. I tried the mini semi sweet chocolate morsels .
Once I put stir fry ground chicken with a little bit of sugar and green onion.
Since the biscuit dough is salty, better not using salt at all for the filling .
If you want to eat kueh ku , made the mung bean paste with sugar for the filling

Directions
1.Make the filling that you like
2.Boil the water in the steamer
3. Line the steam pan with parchment paper or foil
4. Take one biscuit dough... Pat it a little bit to make it kinda flat
     Put about 1 tsp of filling in the middle of the dough
    ( for chocolate filling, put about 10 mini morsels )
5. Pinch the edges closed together , so the filling tucked safely inside
6. Put the pinched part down ( not up..) in the pan
7. I usually put a paper towel or a clean cloth under the lid,
    so the water will not drip on the buns
8. Steam about 12 minutes

ENJOY !

ONE MORNING

Walking around the house with Sophie

Enjoying the blooms

Feeling the cool air that turned hot later that day

Pics from NYC

Trinity Church graveyard

looking to Manhattan from Brooklyn

trash can at Bryant Park

a sign at Chinatown

MAMA'S WEEKEND OUT

After 10 years...this was the very first time I spent 3 days without my kids...

and I ...ENJOYED it so much...

after the transaction

Thanks to the willingness of my husband who to took care of the kids for three days
and the the generosity of my cousin, Ria, who invited me to join her at the Big Apple

Ria on the top of  Gray Line Bus

We tried a lot of yummy food ... the kind that would not be eaten by my picky eaters

such as ;

empanadas and dumpling from food hawker,

tan tan noodle, beef and Chinese brocolli from Main Noodle House,

Bibimbab, kimchi pancake from Miss Korea,

fried curry bun , buns with chocolate filling, cakes from Paris Baguette,

scallot fried rice, lobster slider ( without the bun ), grilled asparagus from the Plaza Hotel

( did not see Eloise there )

Trinity Root sculpture 

We walked around, riding bus , shopped ( mostly for the kids )
and.... of course... Broadway show
Spiderman , Turn off the Dark...which was amazing...
I love the background which was very comic book-like,
the acrobat..( Spiderman swinging and leaping around the audience )

Inside the Foxwood Theatre stage

I did not have enough time to watch Priscilla.. maybe next time

4th Grade Musical...

Daniel did not seem to enjoy singing at the musical this year...

I even found him chatting a little bit with his buddy...

Treasure Notebook

my recipe book

I always have trouble remembering the Bible verses

I could remember vaguely about them...

for example , there is something in Psalm about God is my shepherd 

but I do not remember which chapter or which verse

I joined Sunday school during my childhood,

youth cell group during my teens..

worked in Christian based ( media ) production house during my twenties

join women's Bible study during my thirties.. 

After all these years

the only verse that I remembered is 

John 3 : 16 : For God so loved the world that He gave His only son , 

so that everyone who believes will not perish but has eternal life...

That's too bad, since there are millions of wisdom in the Bible 

that I should record in my brain.

Well... maybe I don't have a good memory 

Although when someone did me wrong, I have no trouble remembering that !

But then I think I should expect memorizing Bible verses

would be difficult and challenging

After all it is the truth...

One afternoon, Carolyn, one of the ladies in my Bible Study group , 

showed her pretty little notebook.

Filled with her neat penmanship of Bible verses that spoke to her heart. 

I thought ..Voila ..It will help me to memorize the Bible verses...

So I started one too....maybe it will work, maybe not.. but it will be worth trying. 

Inside the Bible verses notebook ( left )

Princess Kim and Too Much Truth

By : Maryann Gogga-Leffler

Do you say it to the mom if you think her baby is ugly ?
Do you say it to your friend when you think his drawing is not good ?
Do you say it to your dad when you think his food is not yummy ?

After listening to the teacher talking about truth and honesty,
Kim decided to speak only the truth.
She even refused to be called " princess " by her family,
because she was not a real princess.
Kim created ruckus in her class, by saying everything she thought to others. I
n the end, she learned how to be truthful without hurting others...

I love it.
It's a great help for me
to explain honesty  ( in the matter of subjective opinions ) to my kids...