1 more week to 2010!

I've been lazy and busy for the past few weeks. I've started to look after Ashlynne (altho it's more like on and off since sis still clearing her leave on and off) and thank god she's such a gem and easy to look after. The boys love to see her everyday at home and will ask about her if she's not coming over. There's more or less a routine set now and I would think it'll not be difficult to transit when school holidays are over and sis starts her work formally lol.

Just as I was feeling proud of myself being able to look after 4 kids at home, my period was late for a week and during that one week, the question keep popping in my head: what if I was pregnant again? I was pretty confident I wasn't, but deep deep down inside I was pretty scared that I might accidentally be! The good thing was that it came a week late *whew* and I was never so happy that my period came :P The last thing I would want is another baby now as life is getting easier with Min already 2. I think I am getting tired of babies...of course except when they aren't mine and they go back home every night just like baby Ashlynne lol

It's 2 days to Xmas and another week to a brand new year 2010. We've truly enjoyed this school holidays as I had more time on my hands to spend with Hao and Ee when Min is in school and Ashlynne is not here. I took them to the library, shopping, sumptous breakfast without fuss etc. Truly amazing time to rebond with them. I think I'll be looking forward to the next school holiday. By then Ashlynne will be nearly 1 year! Time really flies.

As year 2010 approach, it's time for new resolutions and goal settings. I think for next year, I'll not push myself too hard and try to relax a bit more. I have always been pushing myself to be too perfect and wanting to over achieve in everything around the house and sometimes it drives myself crazy and getting so uptight. It's time to let my hair loose a little next year and go with the flow. New challenges for the new year. It will be an interesting year!

Nearing end 2009!

Its been 2 weeks into the school holidays and I haven't had much time to update my blog. Of course the main reason is the kids creating havoc and chaos at home and also because we took 4 days off to drive up to KL and I must say it was a good trip with the kids. Surprisingly the boys were very well behaved during the 4 hrs trip and didn't fuss too much. All was excited to get to KL asap when travelling up, and they were so exhausted that they slept most of the way back home. As expected, we covered most places that we can bring them to play and left no time for us (me and hubby) to do any shopping or leisure walking around. It is becoming a yearly event that we will travel up to KL every year end for a few days' stay and I am starting to wonder if my kids are travelling too much and being too pampered for that! So far, we've been to Bali, Bangkok, Brisbane, Beijing, Japan, Hong Kong and KL, and will be planning to go to the States or Europe side in the near future. In a way we are very happy that they get to experience the different cultures, seasons and living experiences in different countries in real life and they've come to love travelling to places that they've never been to and will tell us where they would like to go in the future trips. That aside, the expense issue is getting bigger and bigger yearly as they grow older and no more getting concession pricing for most stuff and we are travelling further and further away from home to more expensive places. But I guess all is worth as it may come to a day when they will stop travelling to us and start going with their friends, spouse and own families.

Its nearing the end of 2009. Time really flies and soon 2009 will be history for us. Stepping into 2010 signifies more responsibilities and challenges for everyone in the family, particularly hubby and Min. Of course Hao has his P2 work to overcome and Ee has his K1 work to progress to. The bigger challenge will be settling Min into his preschool, even though he has started for a week and a half now, but separation anxiety is still a big issue for him. Hope he will overcome it soon. As for hubby, he needs to plan for his career move and realign his goals. As for me, I've started looking after Ashlynne, who is a gem and cutie pie, and hope I'll be able to cope with her once the new school term starts too. 4 kids in a house ~ it's going to be a real chaotic challenge!

Its results time!

Hao finally got back his report book yesterday. The moment he stepped down from the schoolbus, he told me he had got his report book back. With much anticipation and excitement, I opened up the report book right after we reached home. His results were within my expectations, although I was hoping it will be much better than what I was looking at. Nevetheless, he has done a good job this year, not just on his academic but being able to blend into the school and friends, getting used to primary school life as well as learning to manage expectations and stress that are being loaded to him throughout the year. Overall, I must say he has done a good job. Of course, that being aside, I told him that I will be expecting more next year since it will be his 2nd year and he already know what to be expected and what he has to do to be consistent throughout the year to achieve the results that we set for him. Let's just see what will come for him next year, 2010~

The Christmas Spirit!

It had been raining for quite a few days. Not the kind of heavy downpour, but rather wet and drizzle and stop and drizzle again and stop again and drizzle again kinda raining days. It made the weather very cooling and warmish all together at the same time. Ironic huh? The rain is making the air very cooling and windy at some times, making me want to curl up in my warm bed with a cuppa tea and of course my laptop and tv remote control, surfing net or watching tv all day long...Of course, that's my own little wish! Reality is that I have 3 monkeys with me all day long and with plenty of housework and cooking to do! Good thing is that exams are over and we are more lax with Hao's homework now and just doing our regular reading. I am also starting to coach Ee on his chinese writing and hope he picks it up over the holidays and get a better headstart in chinese than Hao did when he was younger. We always learn from our mistakes and I didn't have time to pay more attention to Hao's work when I was working back then, so I am trying to make up for that and get Ee to start earlier.

Ee can be considered fully recovered from the accident. His scar is no longer painful and he's behaving like normal. Only paranoid mummy here constantly asking him not to scratch or rub his wound, so afraid that it'll tear. The truth is that it isn't going to tear again and it's not hurting him anymore. We remind ourselves to massage him after every bath and also prevent his scars from getting too dried or too much sun. We can just hope for the best now. So here's how he looks now...

Back to the December rain and Christmas spirit. Have I mentioned that Dec is my favourite month of the year and Christmas is my favourite holiday? Well, that's because Dec is full of rainy and cooling days which make me feel lazy and cold and warmish all together, and Christmas is the holiday season that you can feel the spirit of giving and receiving all around you! Everywhere, everyone is getting presents for their loved ones and it's just so joyous and warm. Of course, there's also plenty of holidays during year end, and a lot of anticipation for the new year, and a lot of shopping for CNY clothes, new school year stuff, bonuses to look forward to (not me anymore), making resolutions for the new year etc. I don't think I need to say any more LOL. It's absolutely my favourite time of the year!!

Survied Year 1!

Exams are finally over! I can't believe that we actually survived year 1 in primary school LOL. Hao scored quite well for his exams, although we felt that he could had done better, I think he did try his best. Now we are just waiting for his report book and the school holidays to come. But if you are thinking we are relaxing at home, you are quite wrong. He still has to do his daily readings of English and Chinese books and in school, class tests and spelling tests are still ongoing. So, everyday you'll still see him doing work and reading. Of course, his workload is much lighter than before the exams.

Ee is finally cleared of his plaster days. He had his doctor review on Monday and the doctor said that his wound/scar is healing well. Now he needn't use the plaster anymore and can leave the scar exposed. However, he will need to apply sun block to the scar whenever we are out so that the sun will not hurt his scar or darken it further. It will be quite ugly to have a scar that's visibly darker than his skin, considering it's a rather long scar. We also need to apply aloe vera/vitamin E gel to his scar and massage it so that the tissue below his skin will not harden as it heal and end up with a centipede like kinda scar bump. Must really do this diligently so that he'll become handsome again HEHEHE...

Will post photo of how Ee looks now later when I am free!

Something here and there..

I've got some time yesterday and managed to download some photos from my handphone.

Last month, we brought the kids to Downtown East for bowling. It's their first hand experience at the kids bowling alley and they had a great time. Unfortunately there wasn't any alleys left with the kids' gutters so we didn't had a chance to let them have a go at the real thing.

After bowling, we headed to the Xplorer Kids for a little fun!

Happy Birthday to Min!

It's Min's 2 year old birthday today. Last night we went to Roland's Restaurant with in laws and family for a birthday dinner. Was quite a nice dinner and the restaurant wasn't too crowded. Coincidentally, today is a school holiday in lieu of the Deepavali holiday on Saturday, so we took the boys out for a nice lunch at Ding Tai Fung. For dinner, I cooked a simple pot of pork ribs with crab porridge for them since the weather is so hot and they just didn't have the appetite to eat anything at all.

We are not avid fans of birthday cakes, but nevetheless, we went out after dinner to get the kids some small cakes for dessert. We put a birthday candle on Min's cake and sung him the Happy Birthday song. He happily blow out the candle and ate the chocolate cake all by himself!

Another week to go!

Hao's SA2 final exams are only a week away. Last week hubby give him an intensive crash course on his Chinese, and Hao is feeling very stressed out. Hubby is very much into the Chinese language as he was drilled into it since young, and thus had a lot of expectations for Hao on this subject too. This week will be better for Hao as I'll be revising his Mathematics and English in the day time and Hubby will revise his Chinese at nights. Think he'll do ok, just need him to be consistent and more careful in his work. Its no wonder they say it's the kids who are in school but it's the parents who are stressed out and breaking out in cold sweat.

Ee's wounds..

Ok, finally had time to upload his photos...it's a bit blurry but still can see the wound and scars..

The pics doesn't look as bad as you see it real. The wound is healing well, although the middle part where the eyebrow is, is more badly affected. Most prob the brow won't be growing back so there will be the middle section of the brow that's empty.

All is fine!

Finally Ee had his stitches removed on Monday afternoon. As I had expected, he didn't cry when the nurses removed his stitches, and only cried when they were cleaning the antibiotic ointment off the wound. They had to use the tweezers to scrap off the excess ointment and rub it clean with the gauze. That certainly hurt and it made him cried out loud. After that they applied a special plaster onto the wound that will supposedly protect it from splitting open again from physical activities as well as protect the scar from darkening under the exposure of the sunlight. We were told to apply force down to make the plaster stick to his skin tightly so that the scarring will be smoother and not bumpy when it heals. He will certainly feel pain for a while or so but it was for his own good. The good thing is that we only need to change that plaster once every two days, and now he could show as normal and not worry about getting the wound wet under the water.

We are quite happy that the wound is healing fast and all thanks to the plastic surgeon who did a good job in his stitches, I think it's not going to be that ugly afterall. Sure the scar is going to be visible but at least it's not going to make him look like a pirate lol Will try and upload some pics of his healing wounds later when I have more time.

Little thoughts here and there...

It'd been an eventful week for our family. As we finally set ourselves back to our routines and get life going as usual, I took some time to recollect my thoughts when I had some time alone to sit down and think.

Firstly, Ee is recovering better than I expected. After he came back from the hospital, I hadn't any words of complain from him. There wasn't any pain or uncomfort, only some inconvenience as we had imposed some (or many to him) restrictions for his playtime. No going near of Min (showing serious signs of violence to Ee), no playing of hitting games, no running, no jumping up and down etc. In short, we'd rather he do his coloring or sitting on the sofa and watching TV :P Maybe I am getting a little protective here, but boys will be boys, they can be rather dangerous when playing in a group of 3! I am just crossing my fingers that his stitches will be nicely intact till the professional plastic surgeon removes it on Monday afternoon. I wouldn't want to risk having him undergo another horrible incident again!

Since Ee's accident, I've had a lot of well wishers leaving me messages, as well as calls and smses from friends and relatives. I'm thankful for all their prayers and words of comfort, which had given me much strength and support that I needed now to help Ee recover. Of all, the sweetest thing that I've heard was from a close friend of hubby. He told us that Ee eludes a special kind of charm and charisma that my other kids doesn't have. Ee is very aloof and doesn't warm up fast with strangers. However, just a look at him makes you want to know him better and talk to him. You'll get fascinated at just looking at the way he moves and talks and plays without even realising it. This special charms makes him very likeable even when he's not doing anything. We thought it was quite true and I was very touched by what he said, and was thankful to him. With just one little thought that he shares with us, it consoled me very much and made me felt more relieved than a thousand words of comfort. Very simply put, he had given me much confidence to see the entire thing in a more positive light. I hope the people who interacts with Ee will see him in an entirely different light, just like how our friend could.

Some friends call me supermom, some told me I made too many sacrifices for my kids and I have lost myself in the process. I just wanna say that I had not intentionally wanted to be a supermom, or compete with other moms in my social circle. It is indeed a big sacrifice for me to be with my 3 kids 24/7 with no personal time. I had wished for time alone for retail therapy, sleep or even just to sit down and watch the tv in peace, but it's all a luxury to me. There's always the homework to revise with one, or to play with the other, or washing their dirty laundry or utensils, or preparing meals or playing games with them. The drive which kept me going was simply just to provide the best I can to my kids. Life is short, some people just want to spend their time doing the things they like. For me, my wish is to leave my greatest love to my kids. When it comes to the day when I had to leave the world, I wish that I had given my best to them and they can remember me for what I did for them. Remembering how mummy used to cook and clean for them, play with them and walk them to school, even the car rides I had with them, the places I visited with them and even the time we spent together at night just lying down on the bed going to sleep. With that, I won't have any regrets in life. So far I think I've done my best and will keep doing so till I don't have the energy to do so anymore, or when they find their love ones to share their life with. It isn't too much for a mother to do right?

The day my world came crashing down...

Everyone knows that my sons are the world to me. Sacrifices I made for them, I have never complained about. I just want to see them happy and grow up to be good, healthy people.

My world came crashing down and nearly hit me yesterday when Ee had a freaky accident. Hubby went to fetch him from class while me and Min waited in the car. We had planned to have lunch out together and then do some grocery shopping. Everything was as usual till a lady opened the car door and told me that Ee had fallen down with a bad cut and my hubby and son needed me quickly. I was blurred for a second and could feel my heart sink down to the bottom by what the lady told me. I recognised her as her son is attending the same class as Ee. I was totally unprepared for what I was going to go through for the next 7 hours.

She was kind enough to gesture for me to hand Min to her while I tend to Ee. I was shocked to see Ee lying in a pool of blood crying while hubby was squatting over him, pressing a bit pile of tissue on his forehead. I was told he was running towards the car when he tripped over his foot and fell into the drain. I asked hubby how bad was the cut and he gave me an expression that I have never seen before and told me VERY DEEP. I blurred out for the second time and didn't know what I could do. Hubby told me he had called the ambulance and we would just have to wait for the ambulance to come. Ee was crying and calling out to me and I quickly rushed to the car and off the engine and locked the car before returning to his side holding his hands. All he needed then was mummy dearest by his side as he was frightened.

Next I called my mum and she came down to bring Min home while we waited for the ambulance. The 10 or 15 mins that we waited seemed like eternity to us. We dialed 995 twice and I nearly screamed into the phone asking where the ambulance was. When it came, we were told they were the civilian ambulance and they happened to be nearby and stopped by to see if they help. Altho they were not paramedics, they were kind hearted enough to get some gauze and bandages to tend to Ee's wound. When I saw hubby removed the tissue, I nearly fainted as I could saw the open flesh and I let out cries. Passerbys assured me and told me I had to be strong for my little boy. All I could do was not to cry in front of him and hold his hands telling him it will be over soon and he will be alright. Deep down inside me, I was screaming and crying, wishing that it was just a horrible dream and I will wake up from it and everything was going to be alright.

When the ambulanced came, I followed Ee to KKH in the ambulance while hubby drove the car over. Along the way, I kept talking to Ee and told him everything is going to be alright and the doctors at the hospital is going to take the pain away and all will be well again. He answered ok and told me it was all too painful. I couldn't control myself and cried. The paramedic put her hands on my shoulder and told me it's going to be alright. I told myself to control as I had to be strong for Ee. I kept talking to Ee all the way to the hospital and joked about how the ambulance was the same one that we saw some time ago with the transformer logo, and that the ambulance is going to transform to a robot and send him to the hospital very very soon. The ride was a little bumpy and I told him that it was the robot running very very fast so he can reach there soonest. I told him he was a brave boy and I loved him very very much and will make sure the doctor take all his pain away soon.

He kept telling me Ok Mummy, which made my heart ached even more and I knew that he was containing himself and I cannot imagine the pain my precious son was going through and how he could be so brave not to be screaming and wailing and kicking. Instead he was lying calmly on the stretcher answering questions from the paramedic and talking to me. The kind paramedic asked if he loved balloons and took out a glove and blew it to a balloon for him. Ee grabed the balloon very tightly and refused to let go as he said he like it very much.

When we reached, I carried him to the nurse and registered him to see the doc. I was very frightened and wished that he will be treated immediately but as usual we needed to wait for the doctor to be available to check him. When he finally went to the treatment to see the doctor, hubby had arrived and carried him in. They needed to open up the bandage and assess the condition before knowing what to do for the next step and instinctively I stepped out at that moment. Don't misunderstand me as I am not one who's afraid of blood or open wound, but I just simply cannot bear to see my son being in pain and screaming. A part of me tell myself that I needed to be in there to hold his hands and told him it's going to be alright but the other part of me just cannot do it. All I could do was stand there and cry my heart out. I thought my heart was going to be broken in to a million pieces and never heal again. I would rather I am the one suffering and not him. I thought of how close I was to losing my precious son at that very moment. I just broke down and cried.

After he was examined, the doc told us that they needed to get the plastic surgeon in to do the stitching and they would get her immediately. Meanwhile we had to get him to do the xray of the skull and make sure there wasn't any fracture lines. Ee refused to do the xray with hubby and wanted me to hold his hands throughout the whole process. At my instructions, he lied shivering on the bed and took the xray. After all was done, the doc informed us that he had not be able to get in touch with the surgeon and will need us to wait for further instructions. In any case, Ee can only do the stitching 3 hrs after his last food intake as the chances of him needed a GA was high. There and then, there was nothing we could do except wait. The good thing was by then Ee had been too tired out and traumatised that he fell to a deep sleep. I guess that was the best part so far as he didn't seemed to be in pain anymore and slept peacefully in our arms.

At 3pm, the surgeon finally came and took Ee to the treatment room. Again, I waited outside and cried buckets. Thank god hubby's aunt was working in KKH and told me that Ee didn't budged at all when they removed the bandage and only cried a little when they had to remove the gauze from the wound. Everyone commented that he was the bravest and calmest little boy they had ever encounter so far. I was so proud of my little boy and felt so guilty that I wasn't by his side. All I can do is cry and cry and I didn't bear to let him see me crying, least making him more frightened. I was so glad that hubby was the calm one who handled the situation so well. Aunt told me that the surgeon will be stitiching his wound in the treatment room and that Ee will be sedated throughout the process. I heard his cries when they administered ketamine to make him sleep and after a while, hubby came out and told me that they will take some time as there was a lot to be done. They need to thoroughly clean the wound as they were worried that the drain that he fell in might have a lot of bacteria which can cause severe infections. Then they will proceed to mend the torn bone ligaments, then the muscles, then the fatty tissues and then lastly the surface skin. I was told he was in good hands as it was a plastic surgeon tending to him and she'll do her best to help.

As we sat there waited, we were both relieved that Ee was finally being attended to and in good hands. We were glad he didn't have to be admitted and could go home after the stitching. He had been asking for his brothers and wanted to go home to his security place. My heart ached so much for my little boy. When he was finally wheeled out after 20 mins or so, all we can do is sit down beside him and waited for him to wake up. The surgeon came and gave us some instructions and told us that there might be a chance that his muscles won't mend well and will show disparities when showing expressions etc. She said that we should just wait for the scar to recover and then worry about other stuff later. Poor Ee had to take 20 over stitches to mend the wound and it was visibly across his forehead to the side of the eye. The only good thing was his eye and vision wasn't hurt, which is very fortunate for him.

He came to after nearly an hour after he was wheeled out and recovered very quickly from the GA. He had the heart monitor patches and machines attached and was asking if we could take it away as it was very uncomfortable for him. We had to coax him and told him to wait a while more and that the nurse and doctors are going to let him go home if he behaves himself and listened to what they ask of him. He agreed and went very quiet and waited. No screams or cries or kicking from him. He was just the calm little boy who everyone loves so much, not throwing tantrums or making others worry about him. When he was finally allowed to go home, I hugged him so closely all the way home and hoped that I didn't have to let go forever. My heart is aching right now as it's too painful for me to think of what had happened. I just want everything to be over soon and he will be well again.

If you have kids at home, please hug them every opportunity you have and hold their hands when you are with them. Life is so precious and accidents occur at the moment that we least expect. Cherish them whenever you can. Hug and kisses to all the precious boys and girls in this world.

Turning 33!

Today is my 33rd birthday. I think my birthday is the most undermined occasion at home as I've never told my kids when my birthday is (not even today), and my hubby doesn't even remember. The only well wishers are friends from FB and my own family members.

Just few hours ago, my entire family came over for lunch. I didn't cook but rather we potluck and bought food over and gather in my house for a family lunch. All had a good time eating and chatting. My sis even gave me an ang pow for my birthday! So paiseh, so I am going to keep it for Min instead as his birthday is gonna be here in 2 weeks' time anyway.

I am rather disappointed that almost every year, hubby will forget at least 1 or 2 special occasions. For a few years, he doesn't remember that it was my birthday. Just earlier this year, he forgotten about our wedding annivesary. I am not those who needs extravagant flowers or cakes or chocolates or expensive presents. I just need him to remember these occasions because they have special meaning for us...but recent years, there hadn't been any "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary" or even gesture of appreciation for what I've done for the family. Maybe I am being attention seeking here, but who doesn't? A hug or a peck on the cheek will be good, if not, just a simple "Happy Birthday" will work for me. At least it doesn't make me feel taken for granted and I know I am still someone important to him....hmmm....wonder if it's my PMS causing me to sulk here on my birthday. Maybe I just need to have someone stepping on my toes and pissing me off and make me scream at that someone.....maybe that'll make me feel better today on my birthday!

Happy 4th Birthday to Ee!!

Ee is finally 4! He had his birthday celebration in school yesterday as the school is closed today for their year end graduation concert. We packed his party favor packs rather early 2 weeks ago and ordered his cake last Thursday at Prima Deli. I tried to get him a Ben 10 cake for his celebration in school but there wasn't much choices and those that are available are too expensive. Finally we brought him to Prima Deli and let him browse through the catalog and he finally made up his mind on the Care Bear birthday cake. At least it's something he likes although hubby felt that it was too girlish :P

Being a shy kid who's afraid of the limelight, he was a little apprehensive at first and didn't want his classmates to sing him the birthday song, or to stand in front of the class to receive well wishes from his classmates. So we had Hao with him and he throughly enjoyed himself as compared to last year when he started crying once the singing started. His teachers helped to distribute the cakes to the class with him and also gave out the party favors before class dismissal. Overall, all was happy!

It's Tough being a Parent!

It's really tough being a parent nowadays. There's parent-to-parent competition to compare our kids, what enrichments they attend, which school they go to, even how fast they start to walk, the manners they show and anything that one can compare. There's school-to-parent stress that we have to manage, helping our kids keep up with their school work and revisions, making sure they do not slack in their studies, and giving them tuition and enrichment to make sure that they catch up at the right pace. There's children-to-parent requirements, with our kids asking for entertainment, travel plans, weekend plans etc and if it's not to their preferences, they'll make noise and request for programs catering to their needs instead of ours. Every week, we face the same issues and it's a never ending story.

For the past 1 week, I've spent 2 hours every night brushing up Hao's language skills and making him do assessments after assessments, trying to increase his language vocabulary so that he can confidently take his exams mid october. I am not a KS parent. I do not need my kids to be scoring full marks in their school work, nor need them to be the top ranking student in school. I've never agree with how the education system changed over the years, recognizing marks and students academically more than anything else. However, this year when Hao started formal school, I realise that it's not a choice at all. It's a vicious cycle to us all. He is required to pick up a lot of things in a short time frame and forcing him to absorb a lot of knowledge in a short time. If he doesn't absorb as fast as the others, he will at the losing end. Without a choice, I have to constantly coach him, let he be consistent in his learning and we realised that he doesn't have any more time for play. He complains once in a while but most times, he'll be diligently doing his work in the study room while listening to the laughter from his younger brothers playing with hubby. I know it's hard for him but there's nothing I can do at this time when the exams are only 3 weeks away.

I guess being a kid is also tough nowadays!

It's gonna be a long month ahead!

I've been very lazy in updating my blog since the school holidays. In brief, we (plus members of extended family) went to Langkawi during the school holidays and had days of sun, sea and sand before coming back to welcome Nic home. Nic didn't tell ILs that she'll be back for a week and a half and when we came back from Langkawi, she gave them the big surprise by meeting us at the airport when we touched down. Following that was another one and a half weeks spent with her catching up and chatting. I must say it was the best period of time she spent with the kids as they are growing older and able to communicate and play better with her and she had a lot of time spent over at my place as compared to her last trips where she had to rush to meet friends while she's in town.

Just last Sunday, Ashlynne also had a big party bash to celebrate her full month. It was a grand party, with her parents inviting more than 80 friends and relatives to their humble place and the whole place was jammed with well wishers from noon to late afternoon. There was plenty of people, good food, favors, good conversations and catching up but goody girl Ashlynne was not at all intimidated by the overwhelming party. Even with the noise all around her, she slept like a good baby in her own bassinet and didn't whine or cry a single bit. She's really really a little gem to us.

Starting this week, I have been spending a lot of time with Hao on his school work and revision. It's only a month away from his SA2 and I am hoping to help him catch up on his revision. He's a bright boy, just lazy and very reliant on others to push him in his work. The frustrating part is that during the day time, I have too much on my hands that I am unable to focus on coaching him. So instead of doing that in the day time, I do that at night now, and let him do self revision in the day time on topics that he's more confident in handling himself. Needless say, Chinese is the night subject, while English and Mathematics is his day subject. Am crossing fingers that he'll understand his school work enough to pass his exams. Its not so much of competing for grades but to make sure he'll be able to catch up and build a better foundation for the following years later. I was told by his old chinese teacher in kindy that if he's not able to score in P1 or P2, then the following years will be very tough. Hope he'll be able to make it. It's really not easy to be a parent now, especially when there's so much competition around. We must really remind ourselves not to fall into the spiral and push our kids to compete academically. Nevetheless, it is still necessary for them to try and get good grades to be able to move on further on a better path forward. It's how the education system works here. So sad...

Counting down to Langkawi!

Alas, my baby crazy days are almost over. I am certainly glad that my baby craze is due to my raging hormones during ovulation period LOL Right now I am in the right of mind looking at my 3 boys all growing well and getting more and more independent by the day. I will need to look for a school for Min soon, maybe during the long school holidays, just before Ashlynne comes under my care. Although the boys adore the baby, Min has already started to show sibling rivalry and jealousy whenever I cooed over the baby or when I carry her instead of him. He'll keep asking me put the baby down and carry him instead, or follow me around sis' house and making sure I don't get too close to the baby :P On the other hand, he loves a new companion and is constantly asking Ashlynne to "come, play!" We have to tell him again and again that the baby is too young to come down and play boxing with him!

It's only 2 days away from our Langkawi trip on Sat morning. It's only a 2D2N stay but am glad to be breaking away from chaos of Singapore for a few days. I am both looking forward to the trip but also dreading it since I will be going with my in laws and hubby's elder sis in law with her 2 daughters. Not sure how much trouble we are bringing with us this round but am crossing fingers that this will be a enjoyable trip for us. Am really wondering when me and hubby will be able to enjoy a holiday alone without the kids...just the two of us, doing things we enjoy instead of planning for family trips and going places where the kids can be entertained and interested in....

Next week will be a week school holidays and the kids will all be home wrecking havoc from dawn till dusk *gulp*. As usual, Hao will have holiday homework plus my worksheets to do, while Ee will be watching plenty of TV and playing plenty of games, and lastly Min will be delighted that his brothers need not attend school and will be home playing with him the whole day.

I am baby crazy again!!

There's been some baby news here and there recently, plus with Ashlynne getting cuter everyday that I see her, I've been a little baby crazy :P Asked hubby if he would like another kid, but the answer is NO. I totally understand where his stand is...not that he doesn't love kids but that financially we are totally stretched and cannot think how to feed another mouth. His work is getting a little unstable and he's very likely to be losing this current job in a week's time, so we really cannot afford to have another kid right now. Sigh I think I'll just have to settled with Ashlynne baby for now! It's ironical how some people who doesn't want kids can get preg so easily while others who wants one or more kids cannot have their way due to their circumstances. I must say fate is a really mischievious little thing who always play jokes on people.

Not sure what kinda state of mind I am in right now to be craving for a baby again, knowing that my kids were really a handful when they are little things as compared to others who can have babies who are so angelic that they sleep through the night at 2 months old and don't even cry or whine when left alone. Maybe it's better I don't have any more kids to make my life crazy again since I've already 3 making my life difficult at home :P

Toothless Hao and more..

Last week Hao extracted his front left tooth as it was wobbling badly and affecting his chewing. That tooth has been shaky for a while and we waited for nearly a week plus praying that it will drop off on it's own but alas, it didn't. We decided to bring him to the dentist as we were worried that the new tooth will not have space to grow if the stubbon milk tooth wasn't going to drop any sooner. The whole episode turned out to be less dramatic that the first extraction and the dentist managed to loosen it and took it out in less than 5 secs. She actually recommended that the other front tooth to be extracted at the same time to prevent stressing on the tooth from the biting but Hao refused to let her go near the right front tooth. Anyway, here's how he looks right now.

Few weeks ago, I had some leftover blueberries from a family gathering and thus I baked some blueberry muffins for the family and neighbour. Surprisingly the review is not bad and I had request for them again. Maybe I'll get the ingredients tomorrow and bake another batch :P Here's the pic of the muffins I baked the last time

This week's grocery day was on Tuesday and we brought the kids to the supermarket to get our groceries for the week. Hubby was having some problems with the height of his pillow and decided to get a new pillow on the way. All was loaded into the trolley and Min decided to make good use of the pillow....

Busy Busy week

It has been a very busy week so far. Has been an advisor to sis and helping around a little to help tame the little princess. So far she's been rather "normal", sleeping most of the time in the afternoons and getting all cranky in the evenings and nights, just like what all newborns do LOL. Anyway it's only like Day 3 now and its a long long road ahead! I was telling mum that its really shiok that I have a newborn to play with and love and at the end of the day, it's the parents aka my sis and Kevin who get the sleepless nights and all the whole package of crankiness instead of me. No wonder my in laws keep asking us to produce more...so they can play and throw them back to me when the little ones act up keke...well, it's final for us and no more babies so I can say BYE BYE to the endless shit and sleepless nights! Ok at least for now since Ashlynne won't be with me till sis' maternity leave is over in Dec. Praying that she'll be a little gem and get used to a routine so it'll be easier to take care of her.

Enough said, we still love the little princess!!!

Big Welcome to Baby Ashlynne!

Just as I was blogging about Baby Ashlynne last night and that my sis decided not to wait any further and made an appt with the gynae to induce her tonight, baby Ashlynne decide to play against mummy and came out earlier!

Early wee morning at 4.30am sis sms me that she had her bloody show but with no regular contractions or discomfort. I told her to take a nice warm bath, pack up her last minute stuff and eat some breakfast before heading to the hospital. This morning when she went to the hospital, she was only 1.5cm dilated and thus was put on drip to fasten the process. I don't have the full details but in the late morning, she was started to get contractions and by noon, she had to get the epidural on to cope with the contractions. By 2.15pm, I received the very first picture MMS of Baby Ashlynne, who looked at peace wrapped in a white towel. She's an exact replica of sis, with big round eyes and chubby cheeks and a lovely look. At last the wait is over and both mother and daughter are doing extremely well. I must say I fell in love with Baby Ashlynne at first sight with her chubby cheeks! I can't wait to visit her later in the evening and carry her!

Another Lazy week...

Ok, I've passed another lazy week. This week sis officially started her maternity leave since her office is moving and they are forced to clear a week's leave for the shutdown. In that way, she need not waste her 1 week leave and can start to prepare for Ashlynne's arrival. By preparing, we really meant to wait for Ashlynne's arrival, since there's nothing much we can do except wait for her to be ready to come out of her warm and fuzzy "home" right? Anyway, there hadn't been any signs that she's coming out any sooner, so instead of getting all stressed up and second guessing when baby Ashlynne will arrive, sis finally decided that she would go in and induce instead. So tomorrow at this time, she'll be in hospital for induce and baby Ashlynne will probably arrive Monday morning. We are all very excited that the final moment has finally arrived, and by Monday we can see what baby Ashlynne looks like LOL

It's another week to Hao's CA2. His progress in school hasn't been comparable to the earlier half of the year, and that's quite worrying to me. I've been getting him to revise his work for a week now and this week will be some intensive revision for his CA2 in a week's time. It's scary how much stress kids (and parents too!) are under even at Pri 1. I wonder we are too gan cheong ourselves or that the kids are catching on so much faster that the school cirriculum has to be so intensive now. I don't recall having to memorise the multiplication table when I was in Pri 1! A little part of me wished that my kids can learn in an environment that wasn't so emphasized on the importance of grades but more on personal development and their individual competency....

Lazy Week

Had a pretty lazy week and didn't feel like writing again. Hao was sent back from school on Thursday with a fever of 38.1degC and I brought him to see Dr Low in the evening when his fever didn't subside after the second dose of paracetamol and started vomiting out whatever that went in. Was pretty impressed by how the clinic handled us since Hao was with fever ~ SOP for H1N1 precaution. Anyway, the doctor concluded that either Hao has a bad inflamed sore throat causing his fever or that he's down with H1N1 flu. It's unlikely he's getting normal flu since he has gotten his flu jab. Sore throat doesn't come with blocked nose and chest pains that he was complaining so it might be a mix of both. I was told to isolate him as far away as possible from the rest of the kids and not to share a room or even a table just in case his germs spread to us. So, the good side of this is that Hao gets to have his own room and toilet and no one will get near to him to irritate him. Sad thing is that he was invited to his classmate's birthday party on sat and that means he could not attend it now.

Hubby was pretty amused by the doctor's diagnosis but upon my insistence, he agreed to go along the rules till Hao got better. Fortunately, Hao recovered by Friday morning altho he was still a little warm to the touch. Other than that, he was well and up and running. As I couldn't keep the rest of the gang away from him, I had to insist he put on the mask at home when he's with the boys, unless he's in his own room alone. He also could not go out for the time being, meaning that the whole gang had to stay home with him till he's ok to go out.

Now he seemed fully recovered altho I am still giving him the anti biotics prescribed by the doctor. I might just bring him to the doc again tomorrow morning and see if he's ready to go back to school. I wouldn't want him to miss too many lessons since CA2 is just around the corner. He had his 3 days big break and plenty of food, drinks and games during these 3 days at home and should be ready to go back to school. Now I am just praying that the other boys don't get sick after he's recovered!

Time Out...

It's been a week since my last entry. The past week has been like any other ordinary week ~ busy with the kids and stuff at home. Not sure why but I just didn't feel like writing anything this week. Maybe the heat is getting onto me. I've got a big ulcer underlying my tongue and it's hurting like hell. Must be the durians that FIL is getting these days...even hubby is feeling heaty and complaining about headache few times this week already.

Min has been sick for a week now. It started with his stuff and blocked nose that didn't fully recover the last round and then few days ago the cough came on and then just yesterday, the running nose. He's been on meds for a week now and I am crossing my fingers that he'll recover soon. He's been a little cranky these few days and I am feeling very tired out with his tantrums plus the sleepless nights and having to drag myself out of the bed to ferry Ee to school everyday and getting breakfast ready for the rest every morning. Just this week I woke up late twice at 7.40am and Ee ended up late for class. I even forgot that Tuesday was supposed to be Racial Harmony Day and Ee was to wear his traditional costume to school on that day. He definitely expressed his displeasure but luckily he let me off rather lightly. Hao was a booster today as he woked up today at 7.30am and washed up before I even started to nag at him and even made the bed himself and revised his spelling for today. I rewarded him with Mac breakfast and cup noodles for lunch lol. That's his sorta treat.

Must admit that I raised my voice at the kids a couple of times this week and I am definitely going to get a hold of myself and remind myself that I need to give more kinder words and more hugs and kisses. I find that once the kids start growing older, they no longer give hugs and kisses willingly...this may be especially true for boys? I must remember to cherish the special hugs and kisses that they are giving me now.

Despite me feeling tired, somehow I can't fall asleep tonight. Min had a short nap this afternoon and retire for the night at about 9pm. By right I should be catching up with my beauty sleep but found that I couldn't fall asleep. Ended up watching a couple of shows and now that the rest of the family are asleep (including hubby), I still can't sleep. I even drank a glass of milk. Hope I don't start reaching out for food later on...desperately need to trim my tummy!!

It's Hatty Day!

Today is Hatty Day at Ee's school. This term 3 they are exploring the different weather conditions in school and thus declared today as Hatty Day, where they can bring all their different hats to school for sharing. Just nice, Nic bought him a orange hat recently and he loves wearing the hat out. So when we got the note from his teacher about Hatty Day, I asked which hat he wants to bring and the answer is affirmative ~ the orange hat from Nic. Hubby later asked whether he might want to consider bring the mickey mouse hat or the sun visor that we got in Beijing, and he rejected all other alternatives and firmly told us that he's going to bring the orange hat. This morning, when Hatty Day finally arrived, he wore his orange hat with his uniform and vest proudly and took this picture.

On another note about the book that I mentioned the other day, I have decided to read it another time LOL...and if you are keen to read similar books that helped me, try the "How to Talk so the Kids Will Listen and Listen so the Kids will Talk". This book is also highly recommended online. I read this before the rivalry book and I find that both books actually reinforce some pointers and are in line with the theories mentioned.

Sibling Without Rivalry!

Just finished reading this book that I borrowed from the library called "Sibling without Rivalry". This is a really good book that I would strongly recommend parents with children who are constantly fighting or conflicting to read! If you have not noticed, I've developed an interest over the years to read a lot of parenting books and trying to keep myself sane from using tactics from the books to create a more peaceful atmosphere at home as much as I can. However, I must admit that reading is one thing and actually doing and keeping consistent with the tactics is another. It is hard to remain calm and remember to use different tactics as opposed to verbally reprimand or even physical punishment when I am in a fit of anger and react naturally. More often than not, I feel guilty after that and banged my head on the wall and tell myself not to repeat that again. I must say I feel more and more in control of my anger in relation to my kids' mischievious acts over the past year and it began to dawn upon me more that what I've read in some books is really true and some tactic works.

Sibling Without Rivalry is one book that I chanced upon when surfing on Amazon, trying to find books to help me on sibling rivalry issues at home. I had wanted to purchase this after reading so many positive reviews on amazon but stopped myself (didn't want to waste money just in case its not my kinda book). Instead I went to the library and found the same book and got it reserved. When I got hold of the book after the Beijing trip and started reading, I was rather taken aback by how the writers relate stories and tactics to our everyday lives. Instead of the usual theories and research numbers, the writers wrote this book based on the classes they conducted and stories and feedback and real happenings that they have gathered from parents and even kids. In reading all these stories, it made a real good impression on my mind as these little scenarios are always happening in my own home with my kids saying exactly the same words and demanding the same things from me or their siblings. After reading how the other parents felt and reacted and the results they gotten from their children, I am convinced that the tactics are actually helpful in reducing conflicts and best of all, even if conflicts are not reduced, the siblings actually learn how to accept their differences and make leeway for each other when they recognize that they are actually different beings. There are some pointers that I found really helpful but I have not gotten down to jotting them down but once I do so, I might just post them here :P Meanwhile I strongly encourage everyone to grab a copy and read it!

All Reunite!

Finally everyone is back in Singapore. I mean us and my in laws. My in laws went to Shanghai and then to LA to visit Nic for 3 weeks and came back just this morning. Their flight back was really a nightmare but luckily they made it back to Singapore on schedule. Thankfully they are socially responsible to stay home today and (crossing fingers) hopefully tomorrow since they came from USA which is one of the countries that is listed in our (swine flu) danger zone. I've also tactfully told them that we will only visit them tomorrow evening and called them this afternoon just to make sure they are both ok. Of course this is not the only reason we are staying away from them for now, but also for the fact that they are all tired out from the long haul flight and need time to adjust their jet lag.

The last 2 weeks had been rather busy for me as I was busy experimenting new foods to cook and getting my TO DO LIST done. Ever since I've started using Facebook, I was hooked on! Everyday I had to go online and check out my profiles and farms and make sure I was progressing in my games :P It has become such an addiction that if I don't go online a day, I'll be fidgeting the whole day! I finally told myself that I need to restrict myself and get OTHER things done and not spending the whole day on the net.

Finally got Ashlynne's beansprout husk pillowcase completed and also the cover for our new printer doen up. Still pending for my completion will be the Multiplication chart for Hao and converting the spare bedroom into a condusive reading room for the kids. I hope all these can be completed by next week and also finish reading the 3 books that I've borrowed from the library. Next week will be a busy week for me!

Project World Map

Ok I'm officially declaring that my Project Menu has failed. Its not that I didn't cook much but that each time I'm finished with cooking, I hardly have time to take photos of them as the kids will be crowding around the dining table wanting to start eating asap! There'll be Ee asking "Can I start yet, Mummy??" or Min trying to pull his baby chair to the dining table and attempting to climb onto it by catching hold of the tray table. I didn't have time to take nice photos of the food but will be busy getting them ready for dinner. Finally I gave up even attempting to take photos of it, and would gladly let the kids eat them up. Nevetheless, I've made a list of food that I know how to cook by now and it'll be a good reference for me when doing my meal plans.

Project World Map is actually hubby's project. If you know us well, you'll actually know that we love to bring out kids travelling to different places every year. There is an unwritten rule that every year we will plan a family trip and bring the kids on a family holiday. So far we have been to quite a few places and Hao knows the most as he has travelled with us the most times. This gave hubby the idea of getting a world map up on the wall and putting map pins on the places that we've been to with the kids and putting up small pictures of them at those places.

Just today after dinner, we headed to Popular and got the stuff for the Project World Map. We got the big world map from a bookshop in Beijing. Tonight, we bought styrofoam boards, plastic cover sheets and hubby and Hao pinned the world map on the styrofoam boards and put plastic cover on it. It's not the best looking piece around but turned out rather well. We then told Hao which places we went to together and he found the locations and put a map pin on it. Next we'll have to get old pics out and try to paste it on the map somehow and then put it up on the wall of our living room. We asked where Hao will like to go next year and his reply is "To USA to visit GU GU!!" :P

Back from the HOT POT!

Whew! We are finally back in Singapore from the HOT HOT MELTING POT of Beijing! The weather had been horrible there, hitting an average of 38 deg cel from Monday to Thurs! Luckily Friday and Saturday was better with the smog but we mostly stayed indoors since we've more or less covered the attractions by then and headed to the cooler malls.

When we were in China, I couldn't access blogspot so I couldn't update our daily activities but I had managed to upload all the pictures on shutterfly so everyone can look at them first hand.

The kids had a great time there despite the weather, and no one got heatstroke or dehydrated so far. They enjoyed the climb to great wall, visiting forbidden city, summer palace, echo wall, the bird nest, the aquatic bubble, etc. They learnt much from the World Park and had the most fun at FunDazzle.

Will update more when I have the time...meanwhile, it's sleep time for me!

2 more days to go!!

2 more days to go and we'll be out here to Beijing! It's very exciting for me as I'll be travelling for the first time with my parents. I've been to Brisbane 2 years back with my mum and mother in law with the kids (only Hao and Ee) but I've never travelled with my dad before. We didn't have any extra money to travel together when I was a kid and the only time my parents brought their kids overseas was to Genting when we were in Secondary school and back then I had my holiday job and couldn't join them, so they only brought my brother and sister along. It's really hard to convince my dad to take some time off to travel as he has to work 2 jobs even till now. It's only after he had the mild stroke that he finally realised how short life is and with his age, he felt that if he don't enjoy now, he might not have the energy to do so in a few years time when he has the time. That prompted him to slow down his pace and started to work less hours and execute his travel plans. He went to Hong Kong with my mum, sis and Kevin earlier this year during the Labour Day long weekend and will be travelling with us to Beijing in 2 days' time. Maybe end of the year he's thinking to visit Taiwan with my mum and then after he get back, he'll plan his travel trips for next year. Not too bad for a year...not bad at all :P

Busy Holidays

This week has been a busy week for all of us. Firstly hubby had to go to Shanghai for a business trip and left on Wednesday morning. As usual, the whole family was there to send hubby off and after that we lingered at the airport for lunch, brief shopping (bought MIL's birthday present there ~ need not pay GST!) and also went for the Dora bouncy castle. Too bad the Dora show is only on Thurs to Sun so we didn't manage to catch the show much to the kids' disappointment.

After lunch on Thursday, we made cookies for a special person and then went to Parkway Parade with my sis for dinner. Over there, the kids went to play at the Disney Playhouse booths and had fun at the games and activities there. The best part is that I only need to drop them off at the counters and fetch the kids 30mins later after they have completed the games. I managed to get a pair of jelly shoes at 50% the usual price and its very very comfortable walking shoes. Also managed to get a pair of bermudas for Hao as he's outgrowing his clothes very fast and is in need of new clothes.

Today we popped over to Takashimaya early at 11+am as sis wanted to look at the baby cot there. Luckily she managed to find something she wanted within budget and finally bought the cot from there. During lunch, we managed to catch the Transformer show at the civic plaza (we were having lunch at Delifrance, which happens to be just a floor above the performing stage and could see the show without any block). The kids went wild when they realised that Transformer show was on, although only the Optimus Prime and BumbleBee was there. It was good enough for them. They even wanted to stay for the 4pm show but we didn't agreed to that :P After that, we went back East to Ikea at Tampines to get would-be-born-Princess Ashlyn's bathtub. Hao was delighted to be able to spend time again at the playground there for an hour and luckily it wasn't too crowded. By the time we finished for the day, it was nearly 5pm. Sis dropped us off at my parents place and I stayed for dinner and my dad sent us back home to rest for the day.

It has been a busy and very exciting week and we are now gearing up for the gathering party at my in laws' place tomorrow evening. Hao's swimming lesson is cancelled tomorrow so I am thinking what we should do tomorrow. In my mind now I am deciding between going for a haircut and getting my mum to babysit for prob an hour for that, or bringing them to the supermart or shopping centre again, or simply laze at home to recuperate after one busy week. Hmm..will ask the kids tomorrow :P

The Missing Moon

The story of The Missing Moon occurred last weekend when we celebrated Hao's and Wen's birthdays.

Hao celebrated his birthday on Saturday while Wen (BIL's younger daughter) celebrated her birthday on Sunday (her birthday is on the 9th but she insisted to do it earlier on the 7th at my in laws place). After dinner and the celebration on Sunday, we were in the car heading back home when Hao noticed that the moon was big and round that night. He said to me "Mummy, the moon tonight is so big, round and bright...maybe it knows that it's Wen's birthday and so it came out especially for her...but Mummy how come the moon wasn't out yesterday? Is it because the moon forgotten all about my birthday and so didn't come out big and round for me?"

I was speechless for a while, wonder how a 7 year old can have such sad thoughts. I told him that the moon was much bigger and brighter and rounder last night but because there were some dark clouds overcasting the skies and so he couldn't see it at all. He felt better after that and was in silence all the way back home.

It didn't occur to me that he actually made comparison to the attention given to both him and Wen and felt a little left out that we didn't make a big deal out of his celebration. Obviously he had a happy birthday and loved the presents he received and that we took him out for his favourite food (soup dumplings) but he wanted more. This might not be healthy as I find that they are getting more and more competitive in seeking attention from the adults and that might just make them resort to pitting against each other, which will heighten sibling rivalry. Kids nowadays are getting more and more intelligent and complicated in their thoughts and sometimes I feel that we might not be ready for such intelligent little beings. How I wished they were the same little happy boys who would squeal in joy for the little things that we do to make them happy...they are so much more demanding now and we might not be able to fulfill them in all ways...

Happy 7th Birthday to Hao!

It's Hao's 7th birthday today. I woke up real early not because of his birthday but Min woke up at 5am and didn't fell asleep till nearly 6.30am. He doesn't usually does that but since I am up, its quite hard for me to fall back asleep and anyway the kids will be up at 7plus, so I got out of bed to do some housework. Managed to get some stuff done so am spending some time on my netbook to check mails and update some work online.

1 week of the school holiday has passed. Amazingly, having 3 kids at home for the past 1 week isn't that bad. They had fun playing together and Hao has already managed to finish his holiday homework. Next week hubby will be travelling again and it'll be home alone again with 3 kids. Luckily sis will not be working next Thurs and Fri, so we are thinking of getting the kids out of the house for some fun (hopefully)!

We are not having any big birthday bash for Hao. I got tickets for the Big Club Show at expo on Thurs and he enjoyed the show tremendously, although Ee got frightened and had to get out to me halfway through the show. Yesterday sis brought Hao to the Popular bookstore to get his present (Geronimo Stilton books) and also a birthday meal at Pizza Hut. We have not decided where to go today but will definitely get a small cake for him and let him choose what he wants to eat for lunch. Tomorrow we'll be having lunch with my family. I am sure this will be a wonderful birthday for him to remember, as were previous years!

A very Sad Dream...

I had a very sad dream a few nights ago. In the dream, I was on a tour with hubby. There's nothing unusual with that but the thing is in my dream, I was 6 months pregnant. I didn't know how I knew it was 6 months but I had a big tummy and at one point I could even feel the kicks in my tummy and hubby was smiling and feeling it. I knew it was a girl. Don't ask me how but I just knew in my dreams I was 6 months pregnant with a little girl. Then I tripped and fell in the dream. Next thing I knew, I had miscarriaged. It was very very sad. I was very sad in my dream and it was so real. When I woke up, I felt sad too. It's a strange and sad dream and I don't know why I had this dream but definitely not pregnant in real life. Maybe I wished I had a little girl ~ a daughter. Or maybe I am feeling excited about my sister having a daughter. Or maybe I loved being pregnant BUT one thing I am sure I'll not be having kids anymore. 3 boys on hand is already a much difficult task, and I definitely don't think I can handle having another baby. Will just be satisfied with my little niece and looking after her :)

It's the Holidays!

Finally the school holidays have started. Its a relief for the kids but not for me as I'll be entertaining the 3 monkeys at home everyday. I'll just have to stock up more food at home and keep them from killing each other lol On the other hand, we are all glad that we're moving closer to our Beijing trip end June with my parents. The kids simply can't wait!

Hao had his school report book back few days ago. He had Band 1 for Mathematics and Chinese and Band 2 for English. Surprisingly his Chinese fared better than his English although he's more fluent in english. I guess he needs to brush up on his English vocab and chinese characters. He scored better prob due to his HYPY. June holidays will be a good time for him to read more. It's a good thing that as we are pushing Hao to read more, Min and Ee are spending less time in front of the television and taken up books to read instead. Hope they gain from it too.

Today we're having our block party in the late afternoon. Sounds like an event from hostel! Wonder how it'll be. Will update more!

Rain Rain Come Again!

Finally it rained today. The past weeks had been horribly hot and I was secretly praying for rain these few days and thank god it rained today.

Hubby is away for business trip again this week and won't be back till Thursday night. As usual the kids are elated that daddy isn't going to be on their backs for a few days and is really enjoying their short-lived freedom at home. I don't really understand why they are so happy about daddy not being at home since I am usually the one barking at them instead of hubby. Maybe he is the more authoritative one at home :P

Min and Ee are down sick with cough and running nose :( They had it going since last week but it was really mild and I just self medicate them with the medicine I had in the fridge. They were recovering well till Sunday when they had a dip in the swimming ring at in laws place and caught the cold. On Monday, Ee started with a bad cough and Min with a horrible running nose. Worried that their condition might worsen because of the drastic changes in the weather, I brought them to see the doctor this morning and had Ee skipped school for a day. Thank god they are sleeping considerably well and I hope they will recover soon. Since we were at the doctor's, I made Hao take the Tamiflu jab with me just as a preventive measure since we'll be travelling out next month. At the doctor's advice, once Min and Ee recover from their flu, I'll also bring them for the jab and hope that they won't fall sick too easily!

My Project Menu!

It's increasingly difficult to feed my 3 monkeys. Each of them have different tastes and likes, and of course with the horribly hot weather now, they hardly have appetite for anything except fast foods, fried foods and simply no food! It's quite challenging to cook food that they are very willing to eat nowadays and I need to think of new ways to get them to eat more! That's how I came up with this idea that I call my Project Menu. Simply put, I'll write down all the food/recipes that I know how to cook and then try my best to cook them in the days ahead and then taking pictures of all of them and put into an album. It'll be my cooking menu and then in future it'll be easier for the kids to tell me what they want to eat and what they like me to cook for their meals. Sounds easy but it's going to be an extensive project! I wonder if I can really accomplish it and even if I do, will it work for us or against me :P Wish me luck!

A Nice and Carefree Lunch..

Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary. Both of us almost forgot about it and I only remembered that it was a special day for us in the morning when I was getting breakfast ready. I suggested to hubby to ask my mum to babysit the Ee and Min for us while we head out for a nice lunch. Thankfully mum was free to babysit and after settling the kids' lunch and dropping them off to mum's place, we headed to this Italian restaurant called the La Cantina in Venezia at Changi Village Hotel for lunch. We didn't pick this restaurant for any reason except it was the best place we can think of for a nice and quick lunch in the East side of the island. I didn't want to travel too far out and was watchful of my mobile phone, expecting it to ring any time after we drop the kids off. The food wasn't that great but it was the nicest and most carefree lunch that I had with Hubby for the longest time I can think of. Probably our last meal out alone was 2 years ago before I had Min. Anyhow, that made my day really special!

Photo Updates!

Got my new netbook and loving it! At last I don't have to lug a big laptop around the house. The netbook is so small that it can fit into my everyday bag and doesn't weigh a ton!

Been busy lately but managed to download some old photos that I took of the kids the past few weeks. Here's to share:

The boys in shades....

Candid moments at home...

Our slumber party while hubby was away in Shanghai..

Brotherly bonds!

My Mothers' Day gift from Ee :)