what do minnesotans do at 0 degrees C?

outdoors to play, of course!

to a born & bred singaporean, it sounds crazy. but having been here for our 2nd winter, we live like the locals. anything above 0C means it's wrm enough to go outdoors. :P

some of the snow has already melted as the temperature was above freezing point. it crunches at our feet. time for some ice kachang, anyone?

rhymes

J started his internship at an elementary school this winter & came home with a list of rhyming words. he created a series of flash cards with phonics words to teach Jr.

fr, d, l --- og

i went a step more with pictures so Jl can also be involved. :) thought it was interesting how the boys evolved from just pasting to making a story out of it.

The dog is sitting on the log.

The cat is wearing a hat. It is sitting on the mat.

There is a cake in the lake.

snow queen

the title of this blog is, of course, for hyun bin. :P



pardon the lack of enthusiasm or sunny smiles. it's tough when your face is just frozen solid. it's amazing how minnesotans come up with creative ideas to enjoy the abudant amount of snow here. behind us is a maze like fort crafted from nothing except solid snow. with walkways wide enough for our double stroller to move through.

that's J at the warmest spot in this place. where they are putting in hot air for the hot air balloon.

imagine sitting on cold metal that penetrates your thin jeans. i'm glad the boys had fleece pants under their chinese costumes. all at the price of getting smiles from my 2 firefighters-to-be. motherhood. brrrrrr

my fav sculpture - mr snow potato. he smiled too hard & his mouth fell off. his other hand suffered frost bite.


jerome's fav sculpture. snow fire truck. EEEEEE-OOOOO

gong xi gong xi

we froze on our way to a nearby uni's chinese new year celebration.

a meal of jiao zi *dumpling*, cheese wan tan *don't ask me why cheese filling. i've yet to figure it out*, fortune cookies *i don't know how that's traditional chinese either but many asian restaurants here serve this*, fried spring rolls & chicken wings.

have an ox-spicious new year, like some would say. it's amazing how coloring pages & 4 crayons tame restless toddlers.

ang-mo lion. cheeky enough to "bite" the heads of selected pretty ladies.

the "lion's" version of how "he" came about was quie different from what we've always heard.

an emperor who dreamt of a majestic lion who roamed the palace grounds. of course the guards sent to take it to the emperor could not find a lion. who dares tell that to the emperor? so they created their own lion & brought it before the king. & true enough, the emperor said it was exactly what he had seen in his dream. & the rest, of course is history...

indoor creativity

mosaic artists at work. sadly, their patience ran out before completing the masterpieces.

fishermen at work. pardon the mess in the "big boy" room - fondly termed by the boys as they make the transition to move into their own room. it's fun to get back our own sleeping space. only minus is i have to stay till jerald falls asleep. :P

indoor fun

temperatures have dipped. reaching its lowest in 10 years this week. at -15C to -35C with dangerous wind chills, tons of car crashes, cases of frostbites & school closings. so one must get creative indoors.

we used to dress in jackets, pants & shoes & play in the laundry ro om of our old apartment. this year we were closer to home - along the corridor of our apartment for a round of kicking beach balls & chasing bubbles.


noodles, noodles, eat your noodles... especially yummy when hot from the stove by japanese terpenyaki chef.



another fav winter activity - indoor play area at mac. mr sociable's excited "one more time" made this big sister take him many times through the tunnels down the slide.



summer delusion. the pavements are wet & dirty with snow. so chalk art has to move indoors.


nothing beats an afternoon nap, especially holding the hand of my beloved.

pat a cake

somehow there's something (heart)warming about baking in the cool winter.

it's quite a the-boys-&-me kind of activity. they do enjoy helping out with measuring the ingredients, stirring the mixture & like any good cook, to do some quality control (eating) along the way.

the 1st photo - oys scooping strawberry topping on jello's "no bake cheesecake". they ate it immediately after scooping the topping that there was no time for another photo. :p

the 2nd - pineapple tarts! my all time fav during CNY. it being the only other thing i enjoy other than bak kwa. after talking to a friend on msn the other day i thought i would try. i'm glad they taste better than they look. if it's of any comfort, i cut back the sugar by 5 tablespoons & used veg spread instead of butter.