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Halloween - Meet the Halloween Gift Witch

29/10/2013

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Halloween could be such a fun holiday (who doesn't love dressing up?) if only it weren't for the ridiculous candy, sugar, artificial flavorings, artificial colors and insane amount of E numbers.

When trying to keep a healthy home and give the occasional (preferably homemade) sweet treat, Halloween is challenging.  And yes, it has sadly invaded Hong Kong, but luckily not so much in the local schools yet.

It is not that I am against sweets or fun, but I am very much against artificial coloring, chemicals, refined sugars and things that even the mainstream press is recognizing.

For example, these great articles:
Halloween Warning: Watch Out for Neurotoxic Artificial Food Dyes in M&M's Candies 
Is Sugar Toxic?  
Big Sugar's Sweet Lies
Sugar and Aging: How to Fight Glycation
Study: Saccharin And Sugar Found More Addictive Than Cocaine.

What to do? 

Please allow me to introduce you the Halloween Gift Witch!

  • She exchanges a candy for a great gift.
  • You are allowed to take xx number of candy to keep, then put the rest in a bag, with a note to the Gift Witch.
  • Then in the morning, you get a gift and the candy is gone!


If you prefer, you could change the Witch to a Gift Goblin, really up to you :)

Also, please do encourage the school, neighbors and everyone you know to give out things like stickers, tattoos, pencils, erasers, bubbles, balloons, toys, etc... as candy alternatives.

Cool pdf link from Green Halloween and Non GMO Halloween:
http://www.greenhalloween.org/2011nongmoguide.pdf

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Lantau Life

19/10/2013

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We love living on the South Side of Lantau Island where at 5pm we can decide to head to the beach, play in the waves, eat Thai food for dinner... and still make it home for bedtime!!

There is something special about having Thai food on a beach - gives it a much more holiday sort of feel.  We particularly like High Tide on Lower Cheung Sha Beach on South Lantau.  

We also like the South African restaurant The Stoep which is right next door, and Lantana (tel +852 63318974) which is next door on the other side and serves great pizza, salads, and pasta, including gluten free pasta!  

For a not-on-the-beach experience, The Gallery in Tong Fuk has the best steaks in Hong Kong (according to my hubby and my very British father in law).  It also has great salads and fish dishes for me, as well as pizza and pasta for the kids. 



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Fresh coconut and papaya salad
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Like father. Like son. Sunset handstands.
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Go to Sleep

7/10/2013

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PictureSleeping in a 'fort' under their beds!
Regarding difficulty getting kids to sleep... this came up recently in a conversation, and with kids at any pre-teen age this seems to be an issue.

We have always had a routine for bedtime and we are very strict about it - no 'special' late nights allowed.  We travel enough to deal with jetlag on a regular basis and know what our kids are like without enough sleep - it is no fun for anyone.

They have always been early to bed, early to rise -  often asleep by 6:30pm and up by 6:30 am.  But with going to local school the days end later and this is no longer possible.  We don't get home until 6pm, and there is dinner, English homework, shower, then in bed by 7:00 reading to them, them reading alone, then listening to audio stories by Tales2Go, then more cuddling while they fall sleep around 8pm.  I wish it was earlier!!

My son is 7.5 and my daughter 6.5 years old, and they have very different inner body clocks.  

My son is up early and fresh and ready to go, and falls asleep easily.  

My daughter has a terrible time falling to sleep and hates waking up early.  

Both of them have a 'window' and if we miss it then bedtime is messy and I get very frustrated.  Like any other parent, I want some 'me time' to wind down before I sleep, and occasionally even *gasp* some time with my ever patient hubby - I need them to go to sleep during my 'window', so I can eventually go to sleep and have the energy to do it all again tomorrow!  

In the past, we have had to give magnesium to my son because he sometimes grinds his teeth - so when he does that, we give them both that before bedtime and it does go smoother.  I should really do this every evening, but I don't...  Magnesium helps to relax muscles and for some reason grinding teeth can be a sign of magnesium deficiency.  

Recently though, I wanted to help them both relax more before sleep, and my daughter especially loves what we do.  I made up a mini relaxing meditation (which is ironic if you knew how total type A, high strung I am hahaha)

After the above mentioned bedtime routine, we turn off Tales2Go (being sure to bookmark the long stories), and do this:

Lay down on our backs in bed (I am with one of the kids)
Breath in and out slowly 5 times, in through the nose, out through the mouth
Tighten each part of the body and relax it one by one, very slowly, inhaling on the tightening, exhaling on the relaxing
Toes, legs, bottom, stomach, hands, arms, neck and shoulders, head and face
Then the whole body
Then we do another 10 breaths really slowly and deeply as above

By the end of this, my daughter is really relaxed and almost asleep... she sometimes asks me to gently stroke her forehead too.

I could not believe that this worked as I tried it on a whim one night, and now they ask for it!

It's not magic, but it helps.... now if I could only be as disciplined as to do this for myself!

Resources
http://www.meditationoasis.com/ - free podcasts on iTunes
http://smilingmind.com.au/ - nice free app on iTunes, very age appropriate
http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/ - free trial no the app on iTunes

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Teaching Charity and Clothing Bin Fun

2/10/2013

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Twice a year we clean out our closets and playroom and bring clothing to the Friends of the Earth Clothing Recycling Bin in Mui Wo.

Throughout the year we have a special shelf we put shoes and clothing that the kids have outgrown and when the pile is big enough, it is time to go.

The kids love this bi-annual ritual.  They never complain about carrying the heavy bags and are never sad about saying good-bye to their former clothing and toys because they know they are going to a good home.

List of FoE Clothing Bins in HK. 
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Shanghai Street - shopping for kitchen things

1/10/2013

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Shanghai Street is famous for kitchen goods, both for home use and restaurant use - think beyond woks of all sizes and chopping boards, and include high power blenders, baking tools, hand made knives and more.

We went there to look for kitchen items, including large jugs and bottles for my homemade ferments, and to just have some fun. 

Bringing the kids with us also gives them a chance to use their Cantonese in real life situations, so every outing is both fun for us all and a learning experience for the kids.

Just as we were about to head back to the car park, the skies opened up in a huge downpour!!  Our next stop was swimming, so luckily the kids were already in their bathing suits.  We got completely drenched to the skin, and could not stop laughing!

This is certainly the place to go to buy:
Cheap high power blenders (but I prefer my Vitamix!)
Chinese chopping knives (on my next visit!)
Woks and pots of all sizes
Baking supplies 

Detailed guide from our friends at The HK Hub:
http://thehkhub.com/i-live-here/explore/shanghai-street/

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