mama cakap saya macam artis, hari ni.

assalamualaikum. hye.

actually tadi tibe-tibe mama ajak pergi carrefour, dgn malasnye ambil baju panjang, cardigan panjang, jeans, inner main sarung, dan shawls crumple sebab tak payah iron. HAHAHAHAHA.

lepas tu sebab terlalu malas, konon nak pakai tudung yg mudah, tp it ends up macam artis plak (kate mama). memang senang pakai sebab hanye perlukan 1 pin jarum peniti + kepit ribbon besar gedabak itu. itu pertame kali ye sy pakai kepit ribbon tu.

it ends up this way.

dok pasal2 sy nampak cam lebih bergaye plak walhal simple sgt benarnye. oh ribbon gedabak gile tu beli di Timesquare hanye RM 4.90 ye kawan-kawan, sedangkan di Sinma yg kecik-kecik pun mahal.

HAHA. okay bye. eh happy birthday atika azumi!

Bella Monster

I just have to post this picture of my Bella. Insane cuteness here!

How to Record Video in a Tidepool

Here are some lessons learned from my recent tidepool filming efforts.

1. Suspended sediment is your enemy. Tiny particles in the water act like fog, turning the movie into a hazy mess as they reflect sunlight from above. The first day I shot was right after a rainstorm and the tidepool was quite cloudy from runoff. The result was a wasted hour.


2. Canyons are your friend. The PlaySport has a minimum focal length of 39.6", so you need a bit of distance between the camera and your target. A water-filled crevasse in the rocks is perfect, so long as the end you're pointing at is in sunlight.


3. I shot entirely through as much sunlit water as I could and in retrospect that was probably a mistake. If there is no sunlight, the suspended particles have nothing to reflect and so they don't produce foggy, ambient light. Since the first 39" can't be made out anyway, you might as well shoot through 39" of shadow, so long as the scene you want to film is at least that distance away, is bathed in sunlight and you have a clear line-of-sight to it.


4. Deep tidepools, the kind large enough to submerge the camera and give you 40+" of shooting distance, are not loaded with animals. For example, the hermit crabs are all hanging out in the shallow pools. That means that if you want to capture some critters on film, you need plenty of patience. The video below shows the last few seconds of film where a tiny fish popped into the scene (lower right-hand corner) just as I was pulling the camera out. I ended up missing the only real drama in the scene because I didn't wait long enough.


5. You need two establishing shots to set the scene. First, you need a long-distance shot of the tidepools in general. Next, you need another above-the-water shot showing the layout of the tidepool you're filming. After that you can submerge the camera and get to work.

OT Tip - Fine Motor Activities for ages 4-6.

I decided to move my Occupational Therapy Tips to Thursdays. This gives me a little more time throughout the week to develop my post and give you the best information and ideas.

It has been about a month since I have posted an OT Tip. With the holidays last month there was just way too much to do to try and get a post together. So hopefully I can be better about it this year. We left off talked about age appropriate skills for fine motor activities from ages 0-6.

This week we will be finishing this topic with ages 4-6. Let's review by age level.

4 Years Old 
* puts a key in a lock and opens it

* can use scissors to follow and cut both straight and curved lines
* can manage buttons, zippers, and snaps completely 
* can draw and copy a cross (one vertical and one horizontal intersecting lines)
* can hold fork using his fingers
* can feed himself soup with little or no spilling

* folds paper in half, making sure the edges meet 

Remember that these skills are a ongoing learning process through age 4. By the time your child reaches age 5, these skills should be learned and mostly mastered. Each child is different. If you have valid concerns please seek advice from your pediatrician. 

So now some skills activity ideas! I love working with this age group at work. Preschool age is so much fun and amazing how many things they can begin to learn. 

The first activity I want to highlight is actually a company called Handwriting Without Tears. I went to their training course for preschool back in October. I highly recommend their preschool program . Preschool is considered age 3-5. They have a special section on the site just for parents, so check it out! I have used parts of the preschool program with a couple of my kids and have seen great results! HWT is big on teaching children how to write at age appropriate levels, so that is why I like it so much! Don't worry, they will walk you through the whole thing with their teacher's guide. Not only is this great for preschoolers, they also have programs all the way to grade 5! 

A great way to practice buttons, zippers or snaps is to have them dress their dolls or stuffed animals. You can make it very in-expensive by making the clothing yourself and adding the buttons or buying some clothes if you want. Remember to start to large size buttons and have them practice at a table. Once they master large buttons, move to medium and then small size. Once they have mastered the animals and dolls, move them to a vest or their own clothing. Here is a button vest that I use at work, from The Therapy Shoppe. 

Cutting and folding paper can be incorporated into a craft project quite easily. Tlsbooks has a lot of good cutting papers and craft ideas (book marks, cards, paper lanterns etc...) that incorporate lots of this. Letting your preschooler use and get use to scissors is the biggest thing you can do. While cutting make sure that your child is holding the scissors in a thumbs up position as well as holding the paper with the other hand with their thumb facing up. 

When they are practicing lines and shapes, make sure they do not use the large jumbo size crayons. The large crayons force their fingers farther apart than they should be in order to promote good grasp. Using regular size crayons and breaking them in half forces them to have less fingers on the crayon and use the correct tripod grasp. Remember that at age 4 they are still developing a good grasp pattern as well as decided which hand they are going to use (right or left). Encourage them to use the same hand that they seem to prefer throughout the entire activity. A lot of my kids like to switch when their hand starts to get tired. To ensure their hands get strong, practice practice practice! :) 

(tripod grasp) 

Age 5  

*can get dressed completely by himself, and usually tie shoelaces

*cuts square, triangle, circle, and simple pictures with scissors

*uses a knife to spread food items (jelly, peanut butter, mayo etc.), uses a dull knife to cut soft foods

*able to draw and copy a diagonal line

*uses a "tripod grasp" on writing utensils (thumb & tips of 1st two fingers) and uses fingers only (because small muscles of hand have developed) to write/draw/color 

*can build a five block "bridge"

*sufficient bilateral hand coordination to cut out complex pictures, accurately following the outline 
*able to copy a sequence of letters or numbers correctly

Age 6 

*able to complete complex puzzles

I went ahead and put age 6 in here because there is only one real area that they improve in fine motor skills which is completing complex puzzles. Kids love puzzles, and you can get kid size puzzles at Walmart or Target in the children's section near board games.

If you choose to use Handwriting Without Tears, be sure to check out their kindergarten activities and work books. Kindergarten can start by 5 years old if you child is ready. Please refer to their site and click on the pull down tabs to determine where your child is at. 

Being able to do the bridge design with blocks is harder than it seems. The key is that they are able to balance one block on top of two other blocks, without the one on top falling through. So a 5 block design, would be 3 on the bottom, with two balancing on top.

  Photo Credit

 A lot of the ideas that I gave for age 4 will still apply to this age. Another home-school program that my friend Sarah is using with her two kids is called Hands on Homeschooling. She is really liking their program which focuses on playing with purpose. They have programs and ideas for ages 2 to 5. 

For dressing and shoe typing helps, check out The Therapy Shoppe. They have the button vests, shoe tying, potty training, and feeding resources that can be very helpful! 

I hope these were some great tips for you! If you have a child specific question, feel free to e-mail me with your questions.  

Disclaimer: I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. The advise in these tips is not a replacement for medical advise from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult their advice if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child. 

 

 My buddy helping me spell check my blog post. :) So if anything is misspelling it's his fault. ;)

Be sure to check out my current giveaway: The Pampered Chef Season's Best Recipe Collection! 24 recipes that you can make in 30 minutes or less and cost an average only $2 per serving!!  

Enjoy what you read here at Golden Reflections? Please vote for daily at Picket Fence Blogs, just click the button below. 

Happy New Year!

Have you started your diet yet? Resolved to work out more? Joined a gym? Made that list of New Year’s resolutions?

Not me. I already limit carbs during the week and I’ve belonged to the same gym for at least 20 years. Between spin classes, intricately choreographed step classes and our crazy 15-mile walks, I usually manage to get in a reasonable amount of exercise every week (of course, none of this seems to make me a skinny cook, but at least I try). I do have to say though, that I HATE it when all those newbies crowd the gym in January, taking up all the equipment and parking spaces. Oh well, they’ll be gone by March. Happens every year.

But about those New Year's resolutions.....

Do you remember my post about Peg Bracken and the HOOTENHOLLER CAKE?

http://nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-hate-to-cook-book.html

She wrote “The I Hate to Cook Book” back in 1960 and you can’t read the thing without falling to the floor, laughing hysterically. Well, it turns out she also wrote “The I Hate to Cook Almanack” in 1976. I know this because my mom found a copy of it at a tag sale recently and bought it for the whopping sum of $1. Thanks, Mom!

This book has a plethora of recipes with names like SHUTTEMUP COOKIES, STRAWBERRY NINCOMPOOP, RICH WITCH CAKE and GOOD PHONY DOUGHNUTS.  It also has a list of New Year's resolutions which include the following:

Not to open a new bottle of ketchup until the old one is used up

To read the newest news magazine instead of catching up with week-before-last’s first, which is like always eating rotten apples

To educate the kids out of the rollicking notion that just because something exists they have to have one of it

To organize the kitchen tool drawer and keep it organized

To refrain from removing the blender’s lid the minute you’re done blending something hot unless you are looking for an excuse to scrub the ceiling

To hit the next person who says, “What are we having for dinner?”

Now these are some achievable resolutions if you ask me.  Is there anyone out there who can’t relate to at least one of them? Peg was one “with-it” lady! Here is her list of “New Words for a New Year.”

Antipesto – Italian roach powder

Blandwich – hamburger without any onions

Caviar Emptor – it’s only some kind of fish eggs

Eatnik – health food buff who won’t touch it if it isn’t enriched with granular kelp and black-strap molasses

Piasko – what you’re involved in when the pastry comes apart

Scruffulous – how the house looks when it’s in good enough shape that you don’t feel like doing anything about it but not good enough that you’re dying to have anybody drop in

Swallup – the extra bonus of cake frosting left in the pan for somebody to lick

Stewp – any mixture thinner than stew and thicker than soup

(Aha! Caught you, Rachael Ray! You might refer to it as “stoup” but clearly you didn’t think of this concept first)

In honor of Peg Bracken, I am posting a recipe from her book. I chose the following because I loved the name, not because I thought it would be any good. I made it the other night, served it to Henry and almost fell out of my chair when I tasted it. It was really delicious and it is my new go-to, last-minute- need- to-rustle-something-up-in-a-hurry solution. You can make this even if you can’t cook. Just don’t tell anyone how easy it is.

THE EASIEST NONTHINKING DINNER THIS SIDE OF RAW (adapted from Peg Bracken's "The I Hate to Cook Almanack")

2 medium eggplants, unpeeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
A crumble or two of good feta for garnish (if desired)

Cut the eggplant into 1 1/2-inch chunks.  Do not peel.  Place into a large skillet and pour tomatoes and their juice over. Stir in rosemary.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a bare simmer and cook for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is very tender and mixture becomes "stew-like."  (Haha, let's call it a stewp!)  Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (if using) and serve immediately, topped with some feta cheese if you like.

Serves 6

A couple of things:

I know it sounds weird to leave the eggplant unpeeled, but it actually gives the finished dish a better texture.  Besides, this way you don't have to go to the trouble of peeling anything.

No, I did not forget about adding oil to the pan.  The recipe doesn't call for it and guess what?  It doesn't need it.  I would not have believed that either, but trust me on this.

It's rare that I don't salt something during the cooking process, but resist the urge to to do that here, otherwise the eggplant will release too much liquid and you will have a watery dish. 

I think the feta is a really good addition so I would encourage you to include it.  Alternatively, you could add a bit of goat cheese. 

This dish is good eaten alone or as a side dish.  If you want to turn it into something heartier you could always brown up some lamb in the skillet before adding the eggplant and tomatoes.  Personally, however, I like it without the meat.

Oh, and forgive me.  It wasn't my intention to post a healthy recipe here, it's just the way it worked out.  No worries, sugar-laden treats will grace these pages again soon!

And here's to a happy and healthy New Year.  I appreciate all of you for following my blog and I hope 2011 is a good year for everyone!