Christmas Traditions: Swedish Saffron Buns

Christmas is not an eternal event at all, but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart. ~ Freya Stark

This year my son made Christmas Saffron buns with his Dad and touched base with his Swedish heritage.

He was a little skeptic about everything: the dough, the electric mixer, the kneading and shaping… but once he overcame his initial hesitation, his smiles were allthemore brighter (and the buns were allthemore yummier!)

To read more about Saffron buns in Sweden, you can visit this site.

This piece of home my husband carries in his heart just got a little bigger to take another Swedish little boy in. I think they're having a great time inside, don't you?

Here's a link to the recipe. 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  We hope you enjoy your holidays with the pieces of home you bring with you!

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Oh what fun it is... (Christmas at Kidea!)

What could be more fun than Christmas with pre-schoolers?

I think little children are tasked with numerous important missions: one of which is to keep the Christmas tradition alive.

The excitement.

The love.

The joy.

They hold it all in their beings.

And that is why we love these moments. When they celebrate, it's a real celebration. No thinking about yesterday or tomorrow. Just now. And joy.

Ok. Maybe a few tears.

And yawns and sleepiness.

Because what is a celebration without a few tears and tired bodies? Celebrations bring out the whole gamut of emotions. Why not? Our hearts have free reign when we celebrate!

Send me an email (info@chiesipinphotography.com) if you'd like to capture moments with your loved ones!


(Podomoro Residents have a special treat! It's in the mini-poster below!) 2012 Rates Now Apply.

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And it is live! (Chie Sipin Photography Website)

Whew.  Been out for some time - taking a break with family and diving back into teaching - but now I've bounced back and quite ready to take on the online world again.

This sabbatical was not an idle time for me.  In the course of all these little things, I've decided to take another plunge into a new world - one that I've been testing the waters of for some time.  Are you ready to hear what it is I've done?  I've gone and put a website up!

It's been very exciting building it up from scratch but I had real good help from a fantastic web design company: Rimlight Design!  They were pretty amazing.  From this inspiration board:

They came up with this:

Isn't it pretty? *big grin* I love it!

Now, I have a pretty little shelf to place the images I've captured on!

I've also decided to wade in a little further and merged my two blogs into one!  Yup.  Bluebelle Photography has been transformed into Chie Sipin Photography and entries from there can now be found here!


(I think I have too many exclamation marks in this post, but I'm really excited about it all... *stops self from ending previous sentence with yet another exclamation mark.*)


PS
Oh, and yes, Chie Sipin Photography has a Facebook page, too.  If you click this, it'll take you straight to the FB page.  I just want you to know, I'm not adverse to a like or two. 

A Trip to the Park of the Sun (Taman Matahari, Puncak)

My Primary 4 students came in bright and early and all excited. We were all set to go to Taman Matahari, Puncak, for our class trip. Taman Matahari is Indonesian for Sun Park - and it was very fitting for us to make our way there on a very sunny day.

The big bus could not contain the enthusiasm.

Though some were very much into the games they brought.

While some were more into sharing.

After almost two hours on the road, we arrived and saw this. Such solid tranquility in a parking lot.

Ah. Taman Matahari. Our students travelled in their cars to go inside the park itself, while we went in via angkot - a local (very) mini bus. It was Lao Shi's first tie in one. (Cross your fingers and make a wish, Lao Shi. *wink* )

Welcome to our P4 Adventure!

Carabao riding is always fun. And a little tricky!

Though that got us a little dirty, it was nothing compared to our rice-planting activity! Muddy squishy feet!

After planting, we learned the rest of the process rice grains go through in the rice fields.

Then, we were led to more water fun as we fished - with our hands!

We shared the pool with another group who dipped and dove and swam with the carabao!

We then trekked back to our station for some lunch. We were so hungry, too!

After resting for a while, we geared up for the petting zoo. It was an exciting walk as we saw so many interesting things!

The petting zoo!

And, then, it was time to go home. We didn't even realize we've been adventuring for hours and hours. (You can still see the energy on my students' faces!) Lao Shi got to ride the angkot - again!

Taman Matahari was an exciting and tiring adventure! Traffic was horrendous going, and, since it's new, there are still a few glitches they need to fix, but all in all, it was a great experience for our students. Might be nice to go back and see their progress in a year or so.