School Season has started!

Yeap, it has been a while since the last post. I was just reading through it, and realised that it has been more than 2 months since I wrote about Taiwan. I have been on another trip since…but that would be saved for another post, as I don’t have the pictures from the trip to post! :P It was a very eventful trip…well worth a whole post just on it.

Jan and Feb 2010 has just been so busy. School term started and the whole family was on a steep learning curve about the Singapore Education System with Daniel’s entry into formal education – Primary 1. S & I spent the first 2 days of school camped out at D’s school, but he seems really ok, and was getting along quite well with the other boys in his class. Eve was even better, and got on well with everyone, and enjoyed being in “ Kor Kor’s school” even though D is not there anymore. The best part of school for Eve would be snack time & the bus ride home :)

Both seems to be taking to school pretty well, but I am not very good with it still. I am struggling to keep up with the homework that D has been assigned to!! I feel stress….I realised that I can come up with strategies to teach students, but have trouble trying to get D to learn Chinese! :P I wish I would get him interested in the language which I think is a richer language that English ( not that I am great at it myself…but have started to read some short Chinese internet novel :))

So if you have any good suggestions for teaching young kids Chinese…pls let me know!

Evelyn's 3rd Birthday

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Perth Dec 08

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Daniel's busy day!

It's going to be a little "crazy" at home starting tomorrow! Our schedules are so packed with activities that it is actually quite hard to believe! ( ok..so be "flower" then! haha)

Tomorrow is Daniel's busy day! He has a swim "test" in the morning and his annual school concert in the afternoon at Victoria Theater. This is his 2nd year performing, and he seems quite confident about it. His costume is rather glittery...the shirt is yellow and the pants is bluish green..rather hard to describe without making it sound bad, so you will just have to wait and see for yourselves.

In the evening, Steven and I are going to be a bit 'atas' cos we are attending the gala opening of the Sun Festival. Sounds good huh? But the reason was that I thought it was value for money for watching Dame Kiri Tekanawa, Vienna Boy's Choir & Robert Redford (now Geoffrey Rush) all for the price of one ticket. Yes...I admit..I am cheapo!

Sunday..would probably be spend doing last minute stuff for the week cos Steven and I are flying off to the States...separately for work. We need to get the proper locks, change money, get visas.....it will be a frantic week!

Daniel's Birthday~

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Family Fun

I tried my hand at this new discovery..scrapbooking
What do you think?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Chinese New Year is coming......

Can you believe that we are at that time of the year already? It is the "dusty" season when you discover the nooks & corners that you have not cleaned in the last year and realised that you need to do something about it. I used to wonder why we have to clean so much for CNY, but now that I have a household to run.....CNY is like a "check-point"....if you had been lazy and not clean, packed, tidied in the last year...it is time to do so!

The weeks before CNY is also a busy time to buy CNY goodies, calculate money to change for ang pows & just making sure that the whole family has new clothes!! At this moment, only the last bit is done cos Steven & I managed to get our CNY clothes last week at Centrepoint ( I paid for his, and he bought me mine :))..and my kids have new clothes to last time from day 1 to day 7!!

Steven and I are planning to buy the "food" stuff this weekend. And we know we are going to spend a lot of Bak Kwa. We can't help it....we LOVE bak kwa!!!! And eating them during CNY is really something :)) So we are quite prepared to fork out what ever ridiculous price that the Bak Kwa sellers are giving us. Then we need to get the mandarins as well. I will need to make sure that we have prepared goodies to give to his family & my family too ( YES, we are really traditional!!!).

This year, I will also attempt to make some goodies for CNY...agar agar & a vegetarian dish which I LOVE to eat. Let's hope I actually get to do EVERYthing I said I would do! :)

7 Years already...

It has been 7 years since 20012001...its a little bit cliche to say this...but time really does pass by very quickly. I certainly didn't think that in 7 years we would be blessed with 2 lovely little kids. We went through many good times, and certainly some really sad times in the last 7 years. I think we have both grown quite a fair bit as individuals and as a couple.

I remember the early days of marriage when I would call my aunt ever so often to complain about him. I don't make those calls very often now...not that there are no more arguments, but I guess we are better at handling them now. We learn to give and take a little bit better, and have gained more understanding. My friend PS once said that I mellowed with age...I certainly hope so! :)

Being together for so long has certainly allowed us to become "used" to each other. But I must say that I never got used to not having him with me. Considering the fact that his job sometimes takes him away from home (either overseas or just duty at camp!), and I sometimes have to travel for work as well... I have not gotten used to it at all. I don't sleep well without him. Don't ask me why...after all these years, I have not gotten used to it...Maybe it is just part of being married?

We have also not gotten over another thing....we "irritate" each other too much as well. I used to say ( and still do..) that the 3 words that we say to each other most often is........"STOP IRRITATING ME!". We get a kick out of it :) Now, our kids have followed our examples...they are pretty good at irritating each other :)

Well, the wedding anniversay have come and gone....we didn't do much yesterday, cos he is sick again...yeap....got the micro-plasma thingy again. We had to shelved plans for dinner, but he did buy me a nice ( and I thought rather pricey) dress for CNY :) Well... I got him CNY clothes too..BUT I just got an SMS to say that the lack of celebration will be compensated soon......during my ROM anniversary in April... :)

Travelling with Kids

I know that many of you out there thought it was a rather crazy idea to travel with 2 kids under the age of 5, especially to a crowded city like Hong Kong, some even wondered how many suitacases we brought along... :P

Well, it really wasn't that hard, and we took only one large suitcase & one carry-on case ( for emergency clothing while on board the plane). We bought bare neccessities for the kids, cos the rest can be bought in HK, and at a cheaper price for that matter. The first thing I did after I checked into the hotel was to stop at the nearby supermarket for Eve's diapers & milk. I bought enough supplies for 2 days, so the rest came were bought & used in HK...no need to lug them from home.

<

We also took things really easy, cos the kids are not really going to follow the adult way of travelling. We allowed them to sleep in and only left the hotel after 10:30am. The kids would have had something in the room first, like milk or some bread. The big plus with my kids are that they like to take "adult food". This means that I don't have to bring or cook "kid's food for them. Eve has no problem chomping down Char Siew Baos or any food item for that matter :). Daniel is a bit more picky, but promises of ice cream or mango dessert always works.

Eve coming down the slide at Kwoloon Park

Instead of the usually mall hopping in HK, we spent more time in the outdoors. As the weather was cool, we took the kids to Kwoloon Park which is next to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. They had such a good time at the play ground there. We also opted to visit malls outside the city like in Sha Tin ( where there is a nice Snoopy theme playground). It is less crowded, and the pace seems a little slower and the air quality a little better :P Of course we also had to go to the usually kiddy places such as Disneyland & Ocean Park....

Happy Holidays!

Realised that I have posted the least in Dec!! But hey..I was trying to finish my work so that I can go on my vacation! I am flying off to Hong Kong tomorrow with the kids! I had a hard time packing especially when the kids are around. Eve likes to remove all the clothes from the suitcase and sit inside...while Daniel would run around trying to help. I think he is really excited about the trip. He has been practicing how to ask the air stewardess for apple juice. ( "Hello Miss, can I have some apple juice please?"). Steven thinks I am packing too much clothing for the kids..especially for the carry on case, but I worry about emergencies. You just cannot predict if Eve is going to spill juice on herself, her brother or me on the plane right?? He also said I packed to much for myself...his reasoning is go there and buy. I am being realistic...do you really think I can get decent shopping done with 2 kids & a hubby in tow? I will try...but I am being realistic about it :P

After this hols, we will come back to Singapore for Christmas and then Steven & I are off to our "real" holiday in Hua Hin!!!!! :) :) We both figured we would need the rest after 1 week with both of our kids at the same time. It is unlikely that we will get any sleep cos they will be sharing the king size bed with us in HK. They both kick pretty well in their dreams. :P

In case I don't manage to put up any post between now and the holidays...here's wishing one and all a blessed Christmas & a happy new year!

Pancakes for You and Me....

Pancakes for Daniel in his Spider man plate

Daniel loves to take samples at the supermarket...the food kind. Daniel has NEVER been shy about taking samples at supermarkets. He is known for waiting patiently in front of the promoter until they notice him and gives him a sample....he would even go back for seconds!!

Daniel made me get 2 packets of Japanese pancake mix yesterday. I had resisted it last week when I was with him at the supermarket last week. He pleded with me this week and I admit I was too weak to resist him. It all started with the clever promotion of the sales lady who "enticed" Daniel with free samples of the pancakes that she was making...and he was hooked. He started to whine...I hate whining.....I walked away from Daniel and left him with his daddy. I realised I shouldn't have done that cos Daddy's resistance is even weaker then mine!!! So that's how I ended with 2 packs of Japanese pancake mix. Daddy's rationale was that it is cheaper to make Daniel pancakes at home ( even if they are pricey Japanese ones) than bring him to the yellow arches!! :P

Since we got the pancakes, I made him some this morning before I left for work. He was so excited and even volunteered to help. He also suggested putting in some cheese ( which was really nice!). So here is my happy son with his pancakes ( still in his "Sleepy Dinosaur" pjs!).

Here's the season

You know when Christmas is coming around when you see lights in Orchard road. This year's lights are really nice. I see them almost once a day when I go and pick my kids from my parents place. I only get to see small portion outside Tanglin Mall when I drive along Holland Road, but it is nice. It has got nice silverly blue lights that is hung across the road...feels rather "wintery" and "fairytale-like". :)

This year we were rather "on" about Christmas, cos we have already set up our tree! I made this rule when we first got our own flat...I was NOT going to put up the tree as I did NOT want to take it down. Steven has been the one putting up the tree for the past 7 years. It use to be filled with gold ornaments. This year, he decided to change the colour theme, and threw out all the old ornaments cos he thinks they have faded and was not nice anymore. So he took us to Concourse to buy brand new ones. This time he picked a "red & gold" theme. I think we got a bit carried away with our purchases cos we ended with more ornaments that what our tree can hold..... :)

Daniel & Evelyn tried to give their daddy at hand at putting up the tree...and Daniel had the final honour of putting the star on the top of the tree. I must say that their handiwork is pretty good...Don't you think so too?

The Season for School Concerts

If you are a parent of a kider-going child or know friends who are...then they would have all been busy the last weekend. Why? Cos it is the School Annual Concert week!! Needless to say, I attended my first concert as a parent - Daniel was performing an item for the "Prodigal Penny" at the Victoria Theatre. I have NEVER performed for kindergarten before...

Daniel sang & danced to Hi-5's version of "Rain, Rain go away". It was an upbeat item with lots of dancing and singing. Daniel's costume was a lovely orange raincoat which came with a matching fisherman's hat. He also had a nice pair of black pants ( which he said made him look like the "tuck tong chieng" or Lion Dance guys). He really look very nice in it ( I don't have the photos now as I update, BUT I promise to put it up once I get it!).

I must add that Steven & I had were a little worried for Daniel cos he is not the bravest boy...( we are both realists!). He "chickens" out whenever you ask him to sing or dance, and the last time he had to sing with his class, he stood right behind and barely opened his mouth. So, you can see that his track record for public performance was not very good...what more on the huge stage with hundreds of people watching you?

BUT my son surprised us! He was sooooo good ( I am not being biased! really!). He was the first to run out to the stage, did his dance well ( he didn't get stage fright like some kids did), knew his routine, and did everything he needed to ...and with a big grin on his face too! I was so proud of him!!!!!! I couldn't believe he could do so well on stage! I was really impressed! :)

My Princess is sick today

I realised that I have not talked about my kids a whole lot...I think a grand total of 2 times in this blog site. If you asked me about 10 years back what it would be like to be married & with kids...I am not sure I could have told you the answer. Now that I am married and with kids...the verdict is that it is not bad at all. Sure things can get a little crazy at times especially when you are having an argument with a 4 year old boy about why he does not want to go to school and having to make sure that the little princess does not get too adventurous on the stairs ( Eve likes to climb the stairs and sit at the landing between the 2 sets of stairs!)..but I really cannot imagine my life without them.

Everytime they cry, everytime they fall sick I get worried...as in really worried. I know in my head that things will be ok, and act like I believe that things are ok, I am secretly worried that bad things would happen to them. I hate it when the doctor ask me to take the kids for additional checks...so to make sure they are ok. Even if it is a routine thing with almost nothing to worry about...I worry about that 0.001% chance that things may go wrong. Do all mothers do that? I think about me not being there for the kids when I work and sometimes I am tempted to say....stuff the work, my kids need me. I don't want to justify to anyone why my kids are the important to me..they just are.

Get well little princess...mommy loves you!

Holidays are coming......book now!

I can't believe that I am going to make reservations for a holiday in Dec NOW! But according to many people I am late...so I will try and get organised and book the family holiday to Hong Kong (yes! AGAIN)soon. For the last 3 years, that is where I have been spending my year end holiday. I went there in Dec 2005 before Evelyn was born, as I wanted to take Daniel to Disneyland. Last year, I was there for a conference ( see I go there to work too...not only play, eat & shop ok!)and took the opportunity to extend my stay there, and got Steven to join me for a few days.

This year, I am being really ambitious. Steven & I are taking 2 kids under the age of 5 there by ourselves. Some would be thinking that HK is not really place for family holidays especially with such young kids...but hey..we know that place well, and I don't feel "obligated" to visit the usual touristy places and the need to maximise our stay there by going out early and coming back late. I plan to take it easy....go to the islands, visit their wetlands, walk around at our own pace with no schedules...except for Disyneyland. Daniel has already made plans who he wants to see there ( there is Mickey, Minne, Donald, and Pluto).

Then...Steven is suppose to plan a getaway for the both of us! ( after we both chickened out of a trip to Chiang Rai with my friends who wanted to do the Eco Trail thingy....we declared ourselves way too old for trekking!!)I told him not to tell me where we are going. ( Bali or Korea :P)I will just bring out clothes that I want to wear for both summer & winter and he will pack what he thinks is neccessary :):). I hope I won't regret letting him plan!!!