To Daddy With Love

I am thankful that my boys have a daddy who loves us so much, and is so involved in fathering - he changes diapers, makes milk, takes a shower for/with them, reads bedtime stories, arbitrates fights, feeds them, plays with them, tucks them in bed, reads the bible and prays with them... Know that we appreciate all that you do for the family, and we love you lots. - Mommy, Nathan & Noah

I came across this mosaic craft shop at Bukit Timah Plaza and liked quite a few items they had on display. Thought it'd be nice to let Nathan make something for daddy. I was deciding between a photo frame and a lamp. The shop owner suggested that we started with the frame since Nathan is only 2 years old, and will not be able to finish the lamp in one sitting. I took her advice and we got to work.

First, Nathan got to pick out all the tiles he wanted to use from a wide array of tiles at the shop. He was asked to scoop the tiles he liked into small white cups, making sure not to mix the different tiles. Nathan chose about 20 different tiles in all and wanted to go back for more. I pretty much let him pick anything he wanted. I made no attempt to colour coordinate.

Next, he pasted the tiles on the frame, which already had double sided tape pasted on it. I let him paste them anywhere he liked. No need for regular patterns or straight lines. I did try to disuade him from using the big circle tiles cos I thought they looked rather out of place (u see 3 of them in the final product). He liked the circular tiles and wanted to include them in the frame, so I did not insist. The nice thing about mosaic is... even though we did not coordinate colours or line up the tiles nicely, it still turns out nice!

After all the pasting was done, we had to leave the semi finished art work at the shop, so that they can complete the grouting. All in all, a fun activity for the little ones. Perhaps I'd bring him back next year, and we can attempt a more complex piece for Father's Day 2013.

Now that the frame was done, the challenge for mommy was to find a nice photo of Nathan & Noah. I looked thru the photos we took in recent times and couldn't find a nice one with both of them in the same picture. So I actually had to take a photo myself. It was no mean feat. They don't obey 'look in the camera & smile'. Noah hates it when Nathan tries to put his arm around him, and will start fussing or trying to run away. Nathan will be upset that Noah doesn't want to sit beside him, and he'll give up trying to get his brother to cooperate after awhile... see the shots I took just to find one for the frame.

I finally chose one from the series of them in their car seats. All straped up, neither of them could run about. The photo captured them in their true essence, Nathan with his sweet but cheeky smile and Noah looking bossy as usual. The final product... 

I thought it was a pity that I couldn't get a nice shot of both of them for the frame, but daddy actually thought that this was a nice shot. :)

Other than being one of the two subjects in the photo, Noah also made something for daddy at school. A windmill. Really cute!