Halloween

Day 31: What else could we write about? It had to be Halloween. So as we already had a rhyme (written by me about Halloween, that needs a thing or two adding to it, maybe I should put it in the cauldron for improvement?), we have adapted that into a limerick.

Halloween

Stir the cauldron, stir the pot,

Fill it up with what's and not.

Add a twist of lemon balm,

Add a frog's leg for a charm.

A magic spell's now what you've got.

And now it's off to trick or treat or give a book for All Hallow's Read.

Frogs

Day 30: Halloween is fast approaching, and we all know that witches keep wart covered frogs in their coats.

Frogs

There were three frogs who lived in a pond,

Two were green and the other was blond.

They hopped and croaked,

And splashed and soaked,

And little tadpoles then they spawned.

(you need to pronounce spawned like pond with an s in front: spond, or the last line doesn't rhyme).

Dinosaurs

Day 29: Walking with Dinosaurs. This was one of the greatest documentaries from the BBC when Max's brother was growing up. Funnily though, he always like to watch the documentary of the documentary: The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs.

Max watches these as well as Walking with Monsters, and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts over and over again to the point that he knows the script off by heart. 

As we diplodocus our way towards the end of the month, duck quick you might get swooped on by a pterasaur or hunted by the coelophysis bird that sits in the tree outside....

Dinosaurs

Giants plodding on the earth,

Jumped the queue and got here first.

Scaly claws

And toothy jaws,

They'll eat you if they find the nerve.

And yet, we still want to keep them as pets.

Hot Chocolate

Day 28: We made hot chocolate this evening as we were feeling cold. Yes, feeling cold in Singapore! but when it rains, the temperature drops and you really feel chilly. Max makes fun of the goosebumps on my arms. So, to get warm, we frothed some milk and made some especially tasty Cadbury's hot chocolate.

Hot Chocolate

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/688818

I like to drink my chocolate hot,

With frothy milk, poured on top.

Sprinkle with marshmallows

Warms your heart and toes,

I think I'll make a huge great pot.

That sounds like an excellent idea.

Bread

Day 27: I suppose when you eat sandwiches you need a couple of slices of bread to get started. There is something very comforting about taking a slice of bread and toasting it. I like mine with a tiny scrape of butter and some lemon and lime marmelade. Max prefers his without any additives, although occasionally some chocolate rice finds itself sprinkled on top.

Bread

I like my bread slightly toasted,

Not plain or even almost roasted.

No butter, no jam,

Just cheese, no ham,

A plain piece of bread, not overloaded

Now we should go and bake some.

Happiness

Day 26: Homework this weekend is to work on a poem about happiness. Max has progressed on to exploring lyrical poems. This is what he wants to write next month, we shall see if we get to write one a day ;)

Happiness

What is it like to be happy?

Is it jumping and being batty?

Is it a smile?

A look to beguile,

How nice it is to be happy.

Well it was the best I could do with a lack of ideas about what rhymes with happy. We'll post up the lyrical poem next month. 

Fridays

Day 25: We are getting close to the end of the month - quite an achievement, when we reach 31 rhymes, on non other than Halloween.

We decided that we should choose Friday as this is the last Friday of the month.

Fridays

Friday's nearly the end of the week,

The weekend's just a little peek.

Two days of rest,

Simply the best,

And then it's Monday, squeak, squeak.

Not sure why there is a squeak, there are no mice.

Wounds

Day 24: Max hurt his foot on his way out of school, so he hobbled his way to the bus.

Naturally, the rhyme gravitated towards the topic of being hurt: wounds.

Wounds

Falling over cuts your knees,

The same as falling out of trees.

Stick on a plaster,

So it heals faster,

Unless of course you were using skis.

If you hurt yourself while skiing, you tend to get really hurt.

Headaches

Day 23: A little late in posting this, and probably because I had a headache, or a haircake as we like to call it in our family. Consequently my brain was in the deep freeze when it came to writing rhymes with Max. So this one is just from me.

Headaches

Creeping up they worm inside your head,

Twisting fingers weave a painful thread,

Thumping like a drum,

Your head's a rugby scrum,

Go away I'm staying in bed instead.

Some mornings I wish I could, but then I would miss out on a moment, like a child waiting at the top of the stairs, not wanting to go to bed quite yet in case he or she misses something.

What to Write?

Day 22: It was a funny Tuesday. Especially since I realised that the blog URL has a double ad in it. Talk about egg on my face on a forum, but eggs are not what we are going to write about. Actually I am not sure what we are going to write about, so instead, we are going to write about what to write.

Not sure that really makes any sense, but here we go......

What to Write?

I racked my brains with all my might,

I simply didn't know what to write.

We'd written about cats, mummies and cheese

And even sausages, pie and peas.

I'll go outside and fly a kite.

I suppose, you could say that we have written about a kite.

Back to School

Day 21: Today was a back to school day after a two week mid semestre break. It was good to be back, even if it did mean getting up really early. Mum gets up even earlier, so by the end of the week, we all walk around like zombies. That's an idea, if we keep this up, we have ready made costumes for Halloween.

First day back at school was brilliant, I really enjoyed my day, Swimming, Humanities, Maths, Mandarin and Art. Tomorrow I have English, so I am going to see if I can share my blog and the poems I have been writing.

Back to School

When you go back to school,

It can make your feel like a fool,

If you forget your sums,

You have to twiddle your thumbs,

And try your best to look cool.

Back to school means that we should get to bed early. 

Teeth

Day 20: We have reached our two thirds mark of the month!

Max has written up his five top favourite rhymes so far on his school poetry blog: 

Bob the Slob,
Ice Cream,
Pizza
Mummies,
My Crazy Cat

And now, before we all head to bed - we have an early start tomorrow, it is back to school and 6.30am wake ups, we have a rhyme to write.

Max was brushing his teeth and so this became the subject. We looked at words that rhyme with teeth, toothpaste, brush and whatever else we could think was to do with cleaning your teeth.

This is what we came up with:

Brushing Teeth

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/289281

At night my I'm always in a rush,
To give my teeth a brush.
So the stripy paste,
With a minty taste
Gives those germs a flush.

Nothing to edit, just a note to remind everyone to brush for at least 2 minutes, or more and to scrub around the back.

Pie

Day 19: Finally, after sausages and cheese, we have... ...pie!

Pie

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/556342

Once a man made a pie,

That could really make a lie.

He stuffed it with cheese,

And frozen peas,

And called it chicken pie.

The man actually gave the pie the power to talk. He threw in some magic ingredients along with some very strange liquids that created a perfect chemical reaction, causing the pie to have vocal chords. 

Joe's Toe

Day 18: Friday was rather busy, and we never found much time to write, however we did start a rhyme that we had to finish today (day 19). So we will have two rhymes today by the time we have finished.

We ate pasta for lunch yesterday, back to our favourite pasta haunt in Singapore. Then we wandered over to a strangely named Union Building in Tras Street to drop off a couple of copies of Mum's new book: Mayan Cocoa: A Halloween Tale. All ready for Halloween and to celebrate All Hallow's Eve.

Joe's Toe

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/342694

A grumpy old man named Joe,

Had a habit of stubbing his toe.

So he wore a steel boot

And played on his flute,

While praying for the weather to snow.

It seems to be getting harder to write rhymes - or maybe we are choosing silly subjects.

Balloons

Day17: It was a hot day today and we went out. I suppose like mad dogs and English men (or rather English kids with their English Mum).

We hurtled down a concrete luge, gosh my backside after that. Then took a jolty ride to Underwater World, where we got accosted by rays conditioned to believe that as we were standing next to the tank, we were going to feed them. We had a travelator virtually all to ourselves and then got a shock from a hologram shark. Our favourite creatures and the sea angels, their insides glow red as they float around in a surreal blue.

Sitting in the cool now, the day drawing to a close, the subject of balloons, and baboons came up. So, that is what our rhyme is about today. This is was a hugely "joint effort" due to the heat and fatigue.

Balloons

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/507604

A band of smelly baboons,

Flying multicoloured balloons,

Went out for a walk,

With a knife and a fork,

And a bag full of wooden spoons.

I am not sure that baboons really like balloons, but you never know.

Sleep

Day 16: We are all rather tired today, so naturally the topic of sleep was chosen as our rhyme for today.

Max found a number of words that he liked, that rhymed with sleep: weep, creep, deep, beep, cheap and cheep, heap, keep, leap, peep, reap, seep. The next task was to decide which ones we wanted to use and what we wanted to say about sleep.

If you don't get enough sleep, it can make you very grumpy and totally ruin your day. So, it is extremely important that you get your head on a pillow early and benefit from some quality dream time.

This brings me on to a poem that I wrote a couple of weeks ago about being tired, you can find a copy of it on Limey Limericks: Being Tired. It really is rather unpleasant being tired.

Sleep

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1335678

Not having enough sleep,

Makes you grumpy and weep.

You're drowsy all day,

What more can I say?

Head on your pillow, sleep deep.

It always feels very satisfying when you have had a good night's sleep.

Storms

Day 15: Today has been one of those days. By one of those days, I mean we got very little sleep last night. We were entertained by one of those humungous electric storms that Singapore is so fortunate to receive rather more frequently than on average.

Flashes of lightening, thunder that rumbled like someone's stomach was churning with excruciating hunger, crackles and bangs as the lightening made earth and then the rain. It is like being in an ultra noisy shower. Your senses are just bombarded, overloaded and then of course, you cannot sleep anymore.

I reckon this is what turns people into zombies, not being bitten by some strange alien, but rather being subjected to a cacophony of inclement weather sounds.

And so, today, it is my turn to write a rhyme, and for Max to edit / approve it before we publish.

The Big Storm

Last night there was a thunder storm,

It kept me scared right up till dawn.

The thunder clapped,

The lightening snapped.

So now all day I know I'll yawn.

I also had another thought:

A mighty storm raged last night,

It gave me such a terrible fright,

The thunder thumped,

And I just jumped,

It sounded like a meteorite.

Max's comments were approval, and he has promised that after taking a break today because he did not get much sleep either, that he will be back rhyming with Mum with extra enthusiasm tomorrow.

I am sure there are more rhymes in my head and more to come from Max, we have another 16 days to get creative. 

Lemons

Day 14: A momentous day, we have reached the two week mark! Fourteen limericks. This is quite an achievement and we are building quite a routine. Writing needs routine, although when you write to a routine, sometimes you meet a brick wall. What do I write? How do I make my poem rhyme?

This is where lemons come in. Today, we are writing about lemons. Max's choice, no doubt inspired by an episode of Doc Martin where a patient has to suck on a lemon and another one is diagnosed with scurvy. All the more reason to eat your fruit and vegetables and take Vitamin C.

Lemons

Lemons, yellow, juicy and sour,

Drink a glass for superpower,

Add some water, and you've made,

A refreshing cup of lemonade.

That tastes much better than cauliflower.

Lemons certainly do taste nicer than cauliflower.

Washing the car

Day 13: We were a bit late sharing our post from yesterday, but nevertheless, we did. We also washed the car this morning. It was filthy. I realised just how much brake dust gets deposited on the wheels, it made my hands and the sponge go black.

What better subject to tackle than washing the car? There's soap, water, sponges, wheels, dirt, brake dust and hoses that burst under pressure and get Mum all wet.  

Washing the car

Washing a car can be such fun

Sunday morning in the sun,

The wheels were really dirty,

Which made me feel quite thirsty,

Soap, water, sponge, then you're done.

Washing the car is fun but hard work and it made me feel incredibly thirsty. 

Older Brothers

Day 12: It is the weekend and we had a very lazy morning, which was good as we all needed some extra rest. Normally Mum get's up very early on Saturdays and Sundays as she teaches English, but this weekend she has got a break. Maybe tomorrow morning we'll surprise her and wash the car, or maybe we wont.

After lunch it was time for reading and relaxing. The afternoon was cool, but then the man came back to finish cutting the trees and propping up the young ones with frames. Mum is still upset they cut their arms off.

I thought and thought about what to write about today. I thought about computers, but mum screwed up her face. Then, it came to me: Older Brothers.

Older Brothers

Sometimes an older brother,

Really causes you to suffer.

They give your door a knock,

To make you jump in shock,

To tell you it's time for supper.

Having an older brother can be lots of fun, but sometimes it's a pain.