I'm a full-time mummy

Came across this article from Baby Center on how scribbling builds important skills in toddler. Excerpts from the article:

Sometime between the ages of 12 and 18 months, your toddler will probably attempt to "write" by making marks on paper, and sometime between 18 and 24 months she may surprise you by drawing vertical and horizontal lines and perhaps a circle. Applaud these early doodles, which encourage a whole raft of new abilities: Drawing with a crayon involves fine motor skills such as grasping and holding, for instance, as well as boosting your child's visual acumen and tapping her imagination.

Hmmm... I think a few weeks before Ben turns 18 months old, hubby and I have started buying coloring pens & pencils for Ben. And then we bought oil pastels as well after seeing that Ben doesn't eat/chew/stuff the oil pastels into his mouth is OK with using crayons during one of the Sunday schools he attended.

I actually reserved a book (which people used for accounting ledger) for Ben's drawing. Everytime we're off to a drawing and painting activity, I'll bring Ben to the balcony (fresh air and different scenery) and took along the drawing book and the coloring utensils for the day. Sometimes Ben will tell me (after scribbling/drawing) that it's a 'shhhss' (fish) or 'neow neow' (cat) or ball.

This is some of the pages Ben drew and scribbled on. I made it a point to scribble down the date when he did that, just for memories... Enjoy!

Btw, I tried this yesterday during drawing activities with Ben, I drew 3 lines straight (look out for those at the bottom which I circled at the end) and Ben followed suit.

Noticed his scribbles look more straight than previous? Hmmm...

Someday when Ben is rich and famous in the future, all these scribblings and drawings might be worth a fortune!

After all, I need to recoup my losses for the 'damages' incurred during his drawing and scribbling activities like below...

Over a month ago, I won this awesome set of BLINGuals flash cards (English-Spanish) from a worldwide giveaway contest that I entered over at Twee Poppets. I've pledged in one of my entries to blog about it if I win the prize and so here it goes:

About the BLINGuals Flash Cards:
Illustrated bilingual flash cards are a great way to teach toddlers and young children new words in multiple languages.  Each pack includes 54 or 60 cards (depending on type), with an illustration of a common word.  Each side of the card spells out the word in a different language. Choose any combination of fifteen available languages. The BLINGuals flash cards are designed to look like a story book, with cameo appearances by a curious boy and girl.  Most illustrations allow for follow-up questions and conversations. 

The bilingual illustrated flash cards are appropriate for children at a number of stages. 
* For babies and toddlers, it's a safe and entertaining toy that is quite difficult to destroy (we know they'll try!)  The Spanish-English cards are made of highly durable plastic.  All other language combinations are made of thick paper stock.
* For talking toddlers, the flash cards provide illustrations of objects from every day life.  They'll start by pointing out the correct card as you call out the words, and advance to repeating the words themselves. 
* For pre-schoolers, the cards provide a way to hone multilingual and spelling skills. 
* For parents, it's a valuable and fun teaching tool.  The cards are compact, easy to take along and once packed away in the tuck box (included), they don't clutter up the room.

Whether you're looking to teach your child a second language or just getting him/her started with verbal skills, the BLINGuals flash cards are a fun and valuable learning aide.

When I received the flash cards pack, my first thought was "Wow! These are really cute!" You see, they are exactly like a pack of playing cards (good for travelling!), only the materials used and their quality is better! There is the English words on one side and Spanish words on the other side.

Ben checking out the flash cards pack...

What I don't quite like: one side of the glossy layer which is a bit slippery for my hands (somehow the glossy layers on both sides are of different feel)! On a few occassions, these cards slipped right out of my hands though I have to admit these cards are pretty tough! Ben tried few times to tear it but so far, he's not able to do so.. yet...

Ben showing me a card of the 'bicycle'!

I like the illustrations on the cards as most of them relates to the things we see in our everyday life, such as vehicles, animals, body parts, colors, and so on. Ben gets excited when he can babble out correctly the objects on those cards he's familiar with, such as 'car', 'pants', 'train', 'dog' and many more. I would however, like to see more options of languages available for the flash cards, such as Chinese (I would've chosen this if it's available).

To conclude this review, this is a good and fun product that you can use, something different from the usual board books I can say and it's small and light, good to bring along when you're on the go!

You can purchase the BLINGuals Flash Cards from their website at: http://www.blinguals.com/FlashCards.aspx

You can also get a free sample from their website at: http://www.blinguals.com/FreeSample.aspx

But wooh..wooh..wooohwwww.... wait a second alright...

Your bloggy pal here has been blessed again and again by our Almighty God and yet again,

another worldwide giveaway for one of you lucky reader / visitor of my blog!

* Eligibility: OPEN WORLDWIDE!

* Giveaway expires on 21st November 2010 (Malaysia time)

* You must fulfil the mandatory entry 1st (which is to provide your valid email address & answering the question), else you will be disqualified.

* Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to my email notification or a new winner will be drawn.

* Winner will receive their prize sent directly by BLINGuals.

To enter the giveaway, kindly click at the link shown below and the entry form will appear in a new window:

* A Pack of BLINGuals Flash Cards (English-Spanish) Giveaway Entry Form *

(Link has been disabled as entry closed at 12midnight past 21st Nov 2010)

It'd be great if you could leave me a comment once you have submitted your entry so that I can check and ensure it's safely tracked into my database.

So what are you waiting for?!! Hurry up! You have 1 month time from now to join in the fun and try your luck!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I won a free pack of the flash cards by BLINGuals and I promised Twee Poppets, the blogger who runs the giveaway that I'll write a review post on my winning. I would also like to thank Mr. Davis for the opportunity to host this giveaway. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

When my brother in law heard about my journey into the baking world, he suggested I tried making scones. He told me to make in big batches and he'll be glad to pack them off and freeze them and eat it whenever he wants to. I've delayed making this cos I don't have the sufficient ingredients before this. Hence, this is my 1st attempt of making:

SCONES.

A brief info in case you're wondering what it is:

"The scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, but are eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent."

This recipe was adapted from "Baking (Frame By Frame Cookery) " book. FYI, I revised some of the exact recipe so am not sure whether mine turns out nice or not compared to the actual one. Btw, the last time I had scones was about 5 months before I delivered Ben. Was on a 3D 2N trip double date with my BFF at Cameron Highlands and that was the 1st time I tasted scones, though hubby doesn't even remember this anymore... sigh...

PREPARATION TIME: About 40 minutes, makes 9 scones

* About 10 minutes to mix & knead dough
* 12 minutes for baking process

Ingredients / Tool Required:

* A bowl to mix ingredients in
* Kitchen scale
* Baking tray lined with a baking sheet
* 450g plain flour plus extra for dusting (I used wheat flour)
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2tsp baking powder
* 2 tbsp caster sugar
* 55g butter, diced and chilled
* 250ml milk (I used full cream milk) plus extra for glazing (I forgot to reserve some for glazing, ended up using choc milk to glaze)

What to Do?

* Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl, add the butter and rub in until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
* Stir in the sugar and make a well in the center.
* Pour in the milk and stir in using a palette knife and bring together to make a soft dough.
* Turn out the dough onto a floured surface.
* LIghtly flatten it until it is 1/2 inch thick.
* Cut out scones using a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter (I don't have a biscuit cutter, I used a round glass) and place on a lined baking sheet, brush with a little milk.

BAKING PROCESS

* Pre-heat oven at 220℃ for about 5 minutes
* Set oven to 210℃ and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and well risen. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

THE RESULTS

As I totally have no fruit jams at home, I made do with kaya (coconut) spread for hubby and butter for myself.

REACTIONS FROM MY "GUINEA PIGS"

So there you go.... my 1st SCONES attempt! Overall, I'm happy with it! I cannot remember how the ones I first tasted few years back taste like but I love how mine turns out-kinda like the buns from McDonalds' McMuffin breakfast set mmmm mmmmm... To view my other recipes, feel free to hop over to my Recipe Library page for more info! I leave you with a few pictures of my little man chomping down one of my scones:

Brought to you by: Mama Baker wannabe aka