The last leg of 2010

Our Korea trip is finally over and it's Christmas eve today! The trip was a good one, with everyone enjoying the cold and snow in Korea. Hao and Ee took up ski lessons there and they loved it so much that they have requested to go back next year and the following years. We might end up having to bring them skiing for our annual holiday trips! They also saw snow for the first time ever and thank god it snowed on our 3rd day there, making it extra special than just playing with snow at the ski resort...they actually can feel snow falling from the sky into their palms and faces! The look on their faces was just so precious.

The only unfortunate thing is that Ee had fever on the return flight back, but luckily he recovered from the fever the next day after some medicine and a good night sleep. Now, he's just having some cough and running nose. Just last night, the fever hit Min and he had to be on meds for his fever and blocked nose since last night. Not sure if Min fell sick due to the cold in Korea or the weather change from Korea to Singapore, but my guess is the latter cuz he was perfectly fine when he came back. Crossing fingers that he'll recover soon over this weekend and we can all enjoy this last leg of 2010.

It's only less than 1 week away from 2011 and I must say year 2010 is a year of many ups and downs for me. I certainly hope next year will be better and my family will be all in good health.

One and a half week gone!

One and a half weeks of the school holidays had gone by! We are enjoying our free time relaxing and lazing around. Hubby has been travelling a lot these days but that didn't dampen our spirits at all, as I bring the 3 boys wherever I go and to wherever they want to go. This weekend, we'll be going to Bintan for a short stay with sis (without the hubbies as they are travelling), and then when hubby comes back from his business trip in China, we'll be all ready to head to Korea for our ski trip. The tension in Korea is bad but we are crossing our fingers and hoping that all will turn out fine. The kids are very very excited about this trip as they've never seen snow and are unable to contain their excitement at all!

School Holidays are here!

After today, it'll officially be the start of the school holidays! I've got mixed feelings for the school holidays, especially for this year for the following reasons:

1. I'll have 3 noisy kids (in addition to princess Ash) at home creating havoc, testing boundaries and fighting over everything with each other.

2. We are now staying with in laws, so there's a unspoken rule that we need to try to spend more time at home now that the kids don't have to go to school.

3. Hubby will need to travel on and off, leaving us with in laws when he's away *gulp*, and which in laws will assume that we will be home more than ever :(

4. Kids will be pestering me to bring them out instead of staying home everyday, thus expenses will go up!

Of course, with the school holidays, I can be spending more time with them, and bringing them out for bookfairs, trips to library, taking breather out from home and we don't have to be tied down by the old routines of ferry and fetching from school etc. It'll be more relaxed for us with no timetable to follow and they can do their revision and holiday homework at a more leisure pace, taking the stress out of studying.

We are all looking forward to our year end Korea trip, where the boys will be able to experience cold and snow for the first time ever. Rather exciting for us as they've never see snow, and we've never tried skiing, which we will do in Korea! Of course now that the boys are older and more manageable, I might be able to squeeze in some shopping time :P which I've never done on the past trips LOL

Overall, it'll be a watchful holiday, and we are already feeling Christmasy!

One of those days..

It's amazing how kids know how to react when they are being reprimanded in the presence of their grandparents, and it's so frustrating how much the grandparents can go to "protect" them from being punished. Sigh...

My conclusion is that kids are great when they are not yours to discipline so they don't drive you up the wall. They'll be the cutest when you don't have to bother with the cleaning, feeding, soothing and disciplining - you only see from the side and get to play with them...once their terribles and horribles mode are activated, return to the owner and you'll be fine.

Ok, I guess this is one of those days when I wished I was single/carefree or simply married with no kids. My such moments will pass...till then....bear with me please!

As long as exams are over, school's considered out!

Finally the exams are over and results back. Hao did ok, though I was expecting a little more than what he got. I guess it's hard not to fall into the trap of looking and comparing results and class standings. I have to remind myself very much that I should be looking at how much he has improved, not just in terms of his studies but also overall attitude and how much independence he has gained over the past year and no longer rely on me much on his studies. I hate to be constantly on his back getting him to do his work and revision. It is good that he has improved in his command of languages, but careless mistakes are still there for maths paper. I guess for that, it's continuous practices and more effort in checking. Other than that, he has a good grasp of his school work and understands most of what teacher is teaching in class. It hit me that he's going to be in P3 next year! Sounds very grown up to me!

Perhaps for now, we should be looking forward to the school holidays, a lot of idling around and playing as well as our holiday in dec.

Min turns 3!

Min turned 3 yesterday! My baby is now a big boy! We didn't know what presents to get him as he's not really into toys except anything to do with balls and sports and he has plenty of that at home. I bought cupcakes and prepared some party packs for him to bring to school to share with his friends and he was happy about it. In the evening, we brought the boys out for dinner at swensens, where they gave Min a complimentary Firehouse ice cream as it was his birthday. After dinner, we took a stroll to esplanade to look at the ilightmarina festival but was disappointed to realise that the lightings were not as fantastic as what was shown online and the walking distance to cover the entire area was horribly long. The weather was really bad too as there's thick smog in the air and the atmosphere was stale and stuffy. We had an early night and headed back about 8.30pm. Although it was a small and quiet celebration, Min seemed satisfied and very happy that it was his birthday!

The final lap to finish the year

Its the last term of the school year, meaning that exams are around the corners. In fact, paper 1 for EL and CL are already over and this Friday, oral exams will be conducted. Next week, there will only be 1 school day for Hao as Tues to Friday will be PSLE marking days and the stipulated school holidays. Good news for those who are exempted from exams or those who had completed their PSLE but not for us who will need to go through tons of revisions with the kids. Not that I am one of those "kiasu" parent who wants my kid to be an ace student, but more of the fact that I am stuck with one who simply needs a lot of encouragement, supervising and pushing in his work. Hao even asked me to be sitting beside him all the time when he's doing his work. Sometimes, I wished he'll be a little more independent. Some said I should let go and let him survive this. I just wanna said that I did, but he slacken so much that I got scared. I figured he needed some more supervision till older. Crossing my fingers on that. Still, the next 2 weeks will be rather intense for him (by his standards).

Somes changes I noted in the boys' behaviour recently. For one, they are fighting more. I wonder if it's just the growing up phase or they have issues with either me or other stuff. Had a talk with Hao this morning about this fighting habit recently and he told me that he's angry a lot more nowadays. Angry at his lack of personal space, his loss of privacy, and on top of that, he felt that I am spending more time with Ee and Min than with him. Was rather taken aback as I thought as he's older now, he wants less mummy time and not more. Well, I was wrong apparently and he felt I was bringing Ee and Min out more often than I was with him. Told him that's because he is in the afternoon session and them the morning sessions and thus I spend more time with them in the afternoon sometimes running errands and stuff. He's basically angry at his brothers for having more of me than not. I had to explain to him a lot of stuff and why he shouldn't be angry at them and feeling so much resentment inside. Sigh...and I thought raising boys will be a much easier task!

Ee, on the other hand, is not the gentle and submissive little boy he used to be anymore. Now he has learnt how to fight back when he gets bullied and even getting defensive even other strikes him first. Result? He gets into fights with Hao and Min often now...hubby had a good talk with him last night and after that I also tried to ask him why he changed. His reply simply that he had enough of others bullying him and he doesn't want to be the weak one anymore. Sounds like my baby growing up, but in a wrong way. Hopefully I can help guide him along before I lose my cool over his frequent fights with the other 2 boys (which I already did flared up a couple of times!)

Min is still the ever adorable and cute little charmer to everyone. The only flaw is that he's extremely stubbon and into himself so much. Egoistic and self centered that is. Basically everyone has to listen to him and he's the king at home. It doesn't help that the elders at home are always at his beck and call and boosting his ego instead of correcting him. Yet another challenge for me to try and control his behaviour.

With all these overwhelming issues at home, I am feeling a little wear out these days. Perhaps I need a little break soon. Maybe after Hao's exams we can go for a little short trip. Sigh..