Things J says

This week, my husband cut J's hair. He's looking very spunky and adorable now #biasedmomdontcare


Yesterday night...


Me: your hair looks nice. Have I told you that you look handsome?
J: no.


Me: ok, you look very handsome.
J smiles.


Me: why?
J smiles, "nothing!" he says


Me: You know, when I say you look handsome and you smile, do you think
1. I feel so shy that you say that I'm handsome! or
2. I already know that I am handsome!


So, J, which is it?


J responds - quickly may I add: Number 2!


Me: ROFL

Letters to & from my firstborn

We started this book, where we'll write to each other. It's special because right now, the firstborn can pretty much write sentences and express herself, compared to the boy who's still at the cusp of learning to read.


I love this book of us, and wish we'd have more heart to do more; but some is better than none, I say!


In the latest entry from last week, this little girl was feeling particularly challenged due to a bad hair day. Oh, the woes a 7+yo goes through due to hair pains. -super rolls eye- but hey. Worries one feels is still a worry and I should not judge (but it's so harrrrd esp when we are late for school/something and the whining is incessant about hair?!)

Temper management

So, in this entry, she expresses her pains of her hair and her frustrations, as well as how she better managed it because she went to take a shower. There is also a tiny part about how annoying her little brother is. Ha!


Learning journey on temper management is so important and little wins are so super, duper important!


I am so proud of her!

Mom turns 60!

For Mom's 60th, we planned a birthday party for her. Thanks to the sister's stewardship, it happened! We catered for food, booked the venue, prepared some decorations (balloons!), tried to set a wardrobe theme...


It turned out to be a relaxing yet busy evening of entertainment, family laughter, good (sufficient - inside joke) food, and the husband was sweet to bring some speakers, but the echo-y room did not allow for any music to be played.

Happy mom :)

Birthday only complete with cake, longevity buns and bonus of hand-made
cards by the grandchildren

FAMILY.

Because she looks so adorbs!

 It was so heartwarming to see everyone having a rocking good time, gathered to celebrate Mom. She's done so much for everyone and it's great to have a party to celebrate her.

6-0!

Twas a nice, happy, celebration on this lovely weekend past.

Things Jake says

Last evening...


Me: I will be late tomorrow, darling. Mommy is going for facial so you will have dinner with cheche and mama and aunty ok?


J: Why must you go facial?


Me: you see? (points to face) I want to get rid of these dots on my face.


J - scrutinises my face upclose. Nods.


Me: I want my face to be as nice as yours. Yours is smooth and nice!


J - touches his face. "I want to go see" - runs to toilet to looks at himself


Me - hahahhaha


J returns.


J - my face is very nice.


Me: yeah it is.


J: my toes too right?


Me: what?


J - points to my 2nd toe nail that has no nail because it has fallen off (again, my recurring problem)
"Your rotten toes! Mine are nice!"


Me - HAHAHAHAHAHA

A boy and his toys

The children have a lot of toys. The helper and I devised a system where the toys get switched around from storeroom to play room on a random basis. The children forget what they had and always show super enthusiasm at being reunited with  the stored toys - "oh I was looooooking for thiiiissss" (yeah right)


The boy's current obsession of the last 2 weeks, was his LEGO blocks. I'm very proud to be in a very fortunate position to be able to provide plenty of LEGO toys for the children and even prouder that they engage with the building blocks. I truly think it's a great toy to teach them patience (building), and allow them endless creative possibilities (tickling the young mind)... but I digress. The point is, I'm happy that they love the toy.

Mommy, these are two fighter jets

Play

Masterpiece - this was a joint effort by K and J; it's an airport & aeroplane

Last evening, he spent 15minutes talking me through another of his creations, and explained to me the breakdown of colours, the characters, the way the builds can connect/disconnect because besides his house, there is a detachable boat, and there was a runway because that's where the airplane is parked!


Love the stories he creates!

A visit to the Fire station

I cannot recall the last time we did this, but it was one of those days on a Saturday when we did not have class and I figured, why not?


So we did.


We had been to Bishan Fire Station before twice, so I sought out another station for us to visit.

Ang Mo Kio Fire Station

The kids walked around like mini bosses, acting like they knew it all. As with each visit, I learn something new. It could have been that I had forgotten it before, or it is new information. Regardless, it's still interesting to be reminded of what they do, how they do it, the tools they use...


Highlight was obviously getting their hands wet by testing the hose. The adults were offered a chance too, but I declined. I actually feel bad that we were wasting the water!

Like a pro.

J totally wet himself by running in front of the hose right after this tho. Thankfully, I brought a change of top. He had to live with a wet bum. Ha!

My cool girl

It was a morning well-spent, educating the children (again) and not spending too much money at all! Yay. On this Saturday, we also went for a birthday party that evening... and we ended the night with a pair of sweet children. Sweetest when they are quiet and asleep.

Awwww

May these angels grow up to be loving, and take care of each other.

A funny, bunny Good Friday partay!

We got the invite to our first home-based Easter party, and I was looking forward! It was an evening with family, of yum food (I only had 3 servings of nasi lemak. Hee!) and games. I can always trust the sister to conjure up the best parties and this did not disappoint.


We all gathered on this cool evening, and it was a nice mix of family and friends. While waiting for people to arrive, some of us started to eat first and I was full and happy when the games were starting. *burp

Briefing

It's always important to pay attention during briefing, because we want to know what to do and how to win. Just check out the pros...

Intense much.

First game in the line-up, was the egg hunt! So, some of us may or may not have spotted eggs while we were eating our dinner. Turns out the sightings were not entirely helpful because we had to pick eggs only from our team colour. Ha, good one!

The hunt is on

Some hilarious moments included
(1) some competitive person (it's a sibling and not the sister) exclaimed "Wa! Mine is the worst colour lor! Everything is green!" *snigger
(2) every other player lamenting "so harrrrrd, I can only spot (another team's colour) egg!"
(3) me - the most invaluable player. I spotted zero eggs of my team colour. #atleastImhonest


It was good fun and I was truly horrified at my poor eyesight! Thankfully, my team did pretty ok, uncovering 4 out of 6 eggs #nothankstome


The next game, was "Pin the tail on the bunny", with inspiration from the original donkey.

The youngest/smallest bunny; also the sweatiest

K and her bunny tail pin

Again, there were hilarious discoveries including
(1) the son is a sore loser perfectionist. He was very upset that he did not pin the tail properly.
(2) the daughter was a sweet player. I knew she was sad/upset that she did not do well, and she lamented of her poor performance a few times, but she kept it well under control (instead of losing it). To me, this was a sign of a maturing child who is conscious of her behaviour and I was so proud of her behaviour.
(3) the son is a sabo king! He - uninitiated, may I add - began trash-talking the other teams by confusing them with his instructions?! Who taught him that?! Annnnd, he's victorious (yes, he did YES!) when they did NOT pin the tail properly and got angry when the winners did?!


What great fun and I do appreciate the other players not judging us (maybe they did, but just concealed it well.) and allowing my children, to be well, children.


The final game was a 3-legged egg race.

We did 51s.

This last game was (also) hilarious, and here are the key take-outs
(1) Children take baby steps. Like, literally.
(2) The son is a sore loser. Oh, I said that already. He teared when we dropped our egg and was frustrated that we did!
(3) The brother and his wife are champion 3-legged-racers. Like, they are professionals*.


*Professionals because on a random occasion some years back when our family played this 3-legged-race, they won it. They totally owned this title again this race!

Victory!

I laughed so hard during the games, yes, even when I was the MIP (most invaluable player) because the point of it all was to have fun, and I so did. I also enjoyed the snacking, the eating, the drinks (I had 1, d*mn the leaky nose) and just about everything about this evening.

Winners.

Audience

It was such a lovely time and I am so thankful for the sister and her busband for organising this. The husband missed it, and perhaps he can be involved next time to up the Seah-game, possibly?


Hope you had a lovely, lovely Easter weekend too.

Good Friday

It's the long weekend! Hooray! It's a bummer that the husband is away, but we do what we gotta do and try to enjoy ourselves despite of his absence.

This morning, I awoke to the children pottering around the house (when I say pottering, I really mean stomping around like giants and talking shouting at me before 8am in the morning as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I reciprocate by ignoring them to my best ability. It's usually a half-win with K but sure-lose with J.) and I felt super tired when my alarm went off (of course, I did go to bed at 2am but hey. it's my me-time so don't judge.)


Anyway, the plan this morning was to go to Slappy Cakes. I'd read of this a long time ago and today was the right time to bring them. The place is pretty small, and we were lucky that when we got there, we were first in line (a queue formed behind us while waiting for our table). The menu was simple, with options to pick batter > accompaniment > sauce/extras. We tried a set of that (buttermilk base, strawberries, hazelnet spread), along with 2 different types of breakfast sets. They all turned out pretty yummy and I was quite happy.


The highlight, was of course, making pancakes!

Self-explanatory pic

Serious business

The children had so much fun and it was a joy watching them enjoying themselves. They were so enthusiastic and boasted that they would be able to finish another tube of batter... but I convinced them that we wouldn't really be able to and that we'd be back again. It was sweet when they gained confidence and offered to cook pancakes not just for themselves, but for the granny, helper and me.


After eating, we strolled around the Grandstand and got some snacks (Easter cupcakes and a lemon pound slice, and another coffee for me from the Dutch Colony). We also chanced upon a playzone/playground. We had no time for playground play, so I offered for the children to take a ride. Star Speed, it was!

A rolling, spinning, sports car that 'flew' forward/backward/sidewards.

We had no time to stay on as the big girl had tuition, and so we left. Thankfully, the children were well-behaved and did not fuss much. We had a nice drive home and drove right into a thunderstorm! It was pissing rain and I was glad that we were headed home, in comfort and safe. While the girl revised her work, the boy and I had some quiet play time.

LEGO builder

We have a party to attend later, and I'm looking forward. To hanging out with family, as well as have fun as I know the sister has put in effort to have games and stuff!

Official invite

Right now, I'm enjoying my pound cake with berries, with music playing, recapping our day... while the kids recharged.

Peace & quiet

I miss the husband. A week before he is back!
Happy Good Friday!

This exasperates and amuses me simultaneously

What does? My child does. So, K is the sweetest girl. She is a princess (fussy), and also very sweet and loving. However, her attitude is generally very bochap. She isn't flustered over most stuff, she is not time-sensitive and that's part of the reason why I struggled with her when primary school started. It took her a while to adjust to the routine of school, and I needed to remind myself that she was only a child and needed time to calibrate.


This year, she's gotten off to a good start and I am so proud of her achievements. She has been getting 100% for all her school's weekly spelling since January! This is such a big difference when she struggled to cope last year; and I'll say it again, I am so proud of my girl.


I am not a tiger mom, but there is a 'but' here.


K still isn't bothered by things like filing, or keeping things neat. And that's why, this picture is a perfect encapsulation of the situation with her right now.

10/10 - full marks! - on a totally crumpled and (this takes the cake)
torn paper. There is a 'see me' the teacher wrote, as the teacher
wanted to know why the paper was in .. such a state. Ha!

And for the record, as I was working late that evening, I had to write down a list of questions for her in case I forgot by the next morning.

She brought nail polish to school?!

Ah, interesting daily anecdotes... my sweet little ladida girl.

Tic Tac Toe

I found the boy team in the room, heads together in deep conversation one evening last week. To my amusement, they were deep in discussion about strategy.
Where should you place your mark?
Where will your opponent place his?
How can you place your marks correctly after he places his so that you'll win?

Team strategy

Whoever knew that tic tac toe, the simple game that we learnt to play as children, can become so competitive and complex? The boy learnt it and has been eager to play it - as is the enthusiasm with novelty.


I was half amused, half horrified that a simple game has taken on such a serious spin. Of course, I was also the token 'opponent', to test if J has learnt the 'right' steps/skills to always win.


Ah, little perks of being able to turn everything into an education!

Movie date: Boss Baby

With the husband going away, I started planning the weekends with the children - way ahead because (1) I have total control of our time
(2) I have total use of the car
(3) Knowing I have activities lined up gives me something to work towards /look forward to


On this day, I pre-booked movie tickets for us and brought the children. Such simple gestures brings them much pleasure and it makes me happy. After a regular-Saturday (& a grumpy me as I was feeling slightly flu-ey), evening rolled around and off we went for our movie date.


We packed Subway s'wiches for dinner, and our movie of choice was Boss Baby (actually, it's my choice cos I made the decision... ha!).

Entering the theatre

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie! The duration was just right (less than 2 hours), the plot easy to follow, the animation was adorable and beautiful, there was witty conversation as well as funny antics that tickled kids and adults alike.


I totally enjoyed the children guffawing out loud at scenes that tickled them and it was a joy watching them.

Posing - while watching the credits roll

That was probably a highlight of our weekend. Love sharing such common and new and fun experiences with the children. Will totally recommend the movie to anyone who is out for a laugh, and it's suitable for children from 4-5years. Have a laugh!

Achievement unlocked - the girl can cycle too!

After learning that her brother can cycle, this little girl had been grumpy, citing "it's not fair" that he got to try/master the skill and not her. The husband pulled his weight, squeezing in time to make this happen before he left for an overseas work stint and I am so proud of the girl.

Look at that beaming pride!

Whee!

So, while I wasn't there to witness her lesson, the husband gave me feedback that she did even better than the boy. Now, the boy picked up the skill within minutes, so to know that she did better truly blew my mind. Wow!


So thankful that the husband made time for this, and am so proud of my girl to have picked up this skill. Since then, she's been cycling and seems to be doing really well. The boy doesn't do so well on this taller bike, so we gotta find something more suitable for him to practise.


So proud of my little beings! -insert muscular emoji-

The husband goes away

The husband is away. He left today and has been super duper busy with work leading up to the day. I want to remember the little efforts made for quality time, because every little bit adds up. And, I don't wish to take anything for granted. Plus, it'd be nice to rea back and remember the sweet stuff - cos well, when I feel glum, it's always nice to remember these stuff.

So besides the random treats on Monday, the husband texted me every single evening to try to meet up/ pick me from work. I didn't take up the offer cos we had other stuff to take care of - like, our kids - but on this Thursday, we met for a quick lunch.

Special lunch treat

Yoga progress

So, I started being mindful about the way I hold the bottom half (the top half in pic, ha!) of my body when doing a headstand and it's helped in how much straighter I can be. The core is more held in and all it took was for me to clench the butt cheeks, squeeze my thighs together, and pointing my toes upwards.


I have been mindful of these and am happy to see progress in how straight I can be. There is still strain on my shoulders in tripod though, so probably still (1) not strong enough or (2) not doing it properly still.


I have also been trying out a different type of headstand - what is the term I don't know, but I support with my palms. Happy to say, that it's pretty good too!

(L) my first ever type of headstand vs (R) the new one I'm trying

It is so rewarding to try and achieve! I'm still wobbly and it's so true when there are good / bad days. Any progress is good stuff though, so hooray!


Last progress entry here.

A random happy Monday

The husband calls me and offers to pick me up. Yay.
The husband suggests going for a drink - double Yay!

Monday wasn't so bad, afterall

Enroute home, the husband says, "let's get durians" - triple Yay!

Whee!

We ended the night crashing early with the child, after accomplishing homework, reading and tummies extremely full from drinks + nachos + dinner + durian. BURP.


Thankful for every beautiful moment together.

Achivement unlocked - J rides a 2-wheeler

It happened totally unplanned. The most thought that went into it was the husband's intent of wanting to teach the children to cycle on their bikes, minus the set of training wheels. It never happened because (1) their bike wheels went a bit kaput and the husband had to get a pump to mend the wheels (2) he was also looking for some tool to remove the training wheels.


On this Sunday morning, when the husband and I were planning to hit the gym when the kids were out, we spent it discovering this eureka moment instead!


It started because this naughty boy lost control of himself and ended up kicking his sister in the face - first thing in the morning! So, his treat of going out with the grandparents was removed, & he was stuck with us at home. We switched plans from the gym, to having bfast with him along.


Post-breakfast, we went to this playground nearby and there happened to be a boy with a bicycle there. The husband decided there and then to let him try - why not?



Lesson-in-progress

The kind boy who loaned us his bike

Going strong (10 minutes in)

Love his don't-give-up-I'm-trying-attitude

It happened really quickly. Within 15minutes, he seemed to be doing ok... and on this particular trial, the husband put him on the bike, held on, told J to "pedal!" and... stood beside me as the boy launched. I was a bunch of nerves! I couldn't believe the husband just let him go, I tried to hold the phone as steadily as I could (for some reason, I was trembling from excitement/anxiety?!) with one hand, while the other was covering my mouth. I know, it sounds so dramatic but I couldn't explain my thrill and I had to stop myself from squealing out - that'd freak him out and backfire the progress! It was so exciting.

His first time riding 2-wheels on his own!

Look at him!

It was amazing, his progress in such a short period of time, the husband's steady approach in training him, and ah-hem, I'll like to think I contributed by documenting this milestone. Ha!


He was on such a high after, exclaiming "I did it!" and I was so proud of him I told him so, and he parroted it back to me "Mommy, you feel proud of me right?"


Haha, so adorbs. Now, to get the girl on this too!