Letters and Numbers Construction Toys

Here are two new toys that I recently purchased that I feel are quite fun and educational for my 3 year old. They're by Learning Resources, a well reputable toy company that makes good products for the modern day children. 

Well, for my 3 year old, she has just gotten used to holding her pencil the correct way, so tracing the alphabets on a sheet of paper repeatedly is not something she would do with super enthusiasm. She would often mistaken a "b" with a "d", or "p" with a "q" during writing, even though she knows the differences by merely reading them. So to enforce her mental conception of the letters and numbers, these two sets of toys come in handy.  

The boxes came with these colored plastic sticks and dots. There's also instructions on how to put together each letter, both in capital form and lower case form.

The little buttons on the sticks make them easy to snap together and lock into position.

Sophie played it for a whole afternoon when we first got the toys, as if this were her long lost friend. She actually didn't really need the instructions to figure out how to build the letters. It was pretty natural for her.

Yes, Sophie also sometimes wears the letters like fashion accessories. ^^ "You like my new necklace?" She actually tried to let grandpa wear her "necklace", but grandpa's head was much bigger than little Sophie's, and so the ring fitted on him like a halo instead. =)

There's also the number construction box. This set came with these yellow rubber dots that help with counting.

The yellow dots can be snapped directly onto the numbers.

So very fun!

Since we got these toys a few days ago, Sophie actually plays with them everyday right after she wakes up in the morning and right after her afternoon nap. I hope she is learning at the same time as having fun. I think so. Thanks for tuning in, I hope you all have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Kangovou

I recently came across Kangovou. It's an American company started by two mothers. They designed a set of stainless steel kid's dish-ware that are BPA, PVC, lead, melamine, phthalate free. The products are made in South Korea. When I ordered them on the internet, I had to wait at least 5 weeks to get the products due to backordering. 

Here are the two sweet boxes when they arrived at my door. I ordered the Ice Mint colored set for Brandon, and the Peaches and Cream colored set for Sophie.

The dish-ware set was packaged very artistically and securely.

After opening the lid of the box, the compartment plate with lid is neatly tucked under. 

The second layer is consist of the sippy cup, cereal bowl and the snack bowl. 

 The bottom layer is the flat plate.

 Here is the whole family together =)

So far,  the kids and I have been enjoying the dish-ware set quite well.

On the other note, poor Brandon has been having fever for the past 3 days. I am thankful for all the people who cared and prayed for him. He's doing a lot better this morning. Hopefully he'll be fully recovered in no time.

Good Read

I just finished another book. This one is a pure delight. The entire book is composed of letters, back and forth between characters each so unique and distinct. It gave me a better picture of W.W.II., and the various degrees of sufferings people experienced in Europe. I will not give away the story, but I must say that the ending is very satisfying. If you have time, pick up this New York Times bestseller: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows and see it for yourself.

The Shack

«The Shack»
I happened to stumble upon this book in the store. I didn't even read the synopsis before I decided to buy it.
It took me only a few days to finish it, but the impact lingers long after I put down the book.
Again, I am not here to critic the book or do any kind of analysis on it. I just want to say that I am deeply touched by this book, and I am more convinced than ever that God is with me, and He loves me, and He also loves you very very much. We might all have a dark, old shack somewhere in our hearts that's messy and dirty, but God can make something wonderful out of it. And if you still don't believe it, then read the book yourself. ^_~

Dumb Dumb Dumb

Today my cousin, cousin-in-law and I were at a Japanese restaurant eating lunch. We order bento boxes and some special rolls. At first it took them 45 minutes to prepare our food. We only had 1 hour to spend on lunch since they were catching a flight. So after 40 minutes of wait, we asked them if they could speed things up for us. One waiter called the other waiter by his name, and the other said something back, then, that was it...no response from any of them, not even translating to us what the other waiter was saying. Then, finally we got our food. My cousin immediately told me that the rice was sour. My cousin-in-law told them that the rice was smelly. The waiter came, smelled the rice, gave us a look as if we were lying, not even apologizing to us. My cousin-in-law tipped them accordingly, not a penny less. But they tried to avoid us the whole time, standing in the back, talking behind us. I was so mad, is that the right way to treat the customers that come to your restaurant? After that the owner stood in the back and watched us too. I boldly said out loud, "I am NOT coming back again!"
This restaurant is located in Coolidge Corner in Brookline, MA, called Tsunami. Please save yourself from misery by not visiting that place EVER!