Oh no, missed turns again?

Yeah yeah, as per this post's title, I've missed some turns again today, heeeee.

Woke up early today as we're to meet Sharmaine and Wae Shuen at Paragon @ 10am. However, don't know what's got into me, that I could miss the turn to Paragon!!! So, we were late again... I even missed the turn to TPE(not really missed but exited earlier at YCK exit instead of the one to TPE, hahahahaha) on our way home, by now, daddy's quite used to my 'routes confusion' liao hahaha.

The minute we met up at Paragon, the 2 girls were delighted to meet up with each other again and it's such joy to see the beam on their faces, :). They had quite a bit of fun at the playground before we proceeded for our lunch, well, not without a stop for a ride on the mini 'merry-go-round' on the way.

Then remembering about the tubes of 'Easy-To-Paint', we stopped by at ELC but as this item's OOS, they jotted down my contacts.

Sharmaine suggested lunching at Din Tai Feng and we had to wait quite a while for our table as we had gone down too late(it was almost 12:30pm by the time we got there) and the lunch's crowd is already there. We loitered around the area with the girls whilst waiting and the girls even took turns to 'tell a story' in the restaurant when we were all done with our meals. Oh, there was a moment when WS suddenly walked to Renee(sitting on high chair) and expressed her want to hug her! Sooo sweet...

As I wanted to do some shopping, we parted our ways after lunch and when we were saying our goodbyes, Sharmaine got them to hug each other again and made a pact(on their behalf) to meet up again the next school holidays, :) - the girls were very reluctant to part though...

It was already 2pm then and to save time/avoid Renee grumbling about being tired later, I decided to put the present back to the car and get the stroller for her. That, was indeed a good idea 'cos not long after, this girl fell asleep, hahaha. I managed to get a keychain for daddy's belated X'mas birthday. Saw one by Dunhill which is similar but a much smaller version of the one he's using now but I find it pointless to spend so much(daddy agreed so too) on such a small keyholder and the Coach's current designs are not really for men. And then I chanced upon this at a new counter and athough this cost only S$43.00 after discount, it's pretty interesting and daddy likes it, so all's well :).

Before we headed back to Paragon's carpark, I remembered to check out the crayola's stuffs and quickly turned back to Ngee Ann City. Finally found the shop (thanks to Karen, for telling me about the shops) and with a 20% discount, I only paid S$28.00 for the following stuffs. I've recently started to let Renee use one of the kiddy scissors that I've ordered for her earlier but it can't cut very well and she tends to hold it with her left hand no matter how many times I tried to guide/tell her to hold it with her right hand, so when I saw these scissors for 'left & right' handed use, I grabbed 2(of pink of cos), hehehe. We told her that the paint work's her birthday present and she made alot of noise 'cos she wanted to use them immediately, hahaha.

The keychain co-incidentally has the print of 1 of his favourite cars - Lamborghini

On our way back, daddy told me to pack dinner home as he's already gone back to rest(back still hurt) and I went to Hougang Mall, hoping to also get the BBQ charsiew for Renee but it's still not available... And since we were there and daddy had lost the charms to my car key, I went to get these charms(not exactly my choice actually, but I was already very tired, so just choose a couple):

ELC called when I was still choosing the charms and informed me that the new stock of the Easy-To-Paint tubes have arrived and upon confirming its price(S$23 for a set of 5 tubes), they told me that they'll reserved a set for me. Haiz, now I've gotta find time to go back there again to get it...

This is Sharmaine's gift to Renee and this girl's sooo delighted at the sight of the items that 'burst' out of the goodie bag, haha :

Number Port-In

Finally, today's the day we've to arrange for the port-in of my existing mobile number and as the lines are under daddy's name, he had to go along, :). We headed straight there after our lunch and although there wasn't a big crowd, we were still made to wait a while.

When we were done at Singtel centre, I went back to the 'fair' where I caught a glimpse of some interesting books earlier and bought these(below) - The 'Dora' Magic Painting Book and the Step-By-Step Activity Pad which comes with 14 felt-tip pens(oh gosh, I've just bought quite a number of new colour pencils and markers recently!).

With these, perhaps I could skip sending her to the arts class/school? lolz, nah...it'll still be different. Oh talk about that, I should have gotten daddy to bring us to one of the arts school(not too far from the preschool Renee's attending) a mommy had recommended to me last night, aiyah!!! What a day wasted with him being free at home(cos of backache... ya lah too much golf yet still wanna deny, just because he wanna play! :>)

A sleepy Sunday

PX came earlier than usual today and I was sooo sleepy due to a super late night(due to the noises made by neighbours).

Indeed, we didn't go out today at all 'cos daddy had gone to the temple at Jurong right after his golf game and had only got home at around 5pm.

With her Tuesday's playdate confirmed, I suddenly remembered that I've not wrapped her friend's present up! and quickly went to attend to it(and finished the wrapping up of my friend's too - left half done earlier hahaha):

Small Writing Corner ^-^

With a wasted trip last evening, we planned and indeed went out early today. Although I've gone to bed late at around 3am, I woke up at 9am and with that, we were able to go to more places. First stop was to the Buddhist Welfare Services Temple and as it's the first day of the lunar month, there was a chanting ceremony which had began much earlier and we ended up joining them(of cos we were unable to chant like them and we just listened most of time :>). We were invited for a vegetarian lunch but by the time we finished our enquiries about their charity dinner, etc, we decided not to join the que for the free lunch and bought our food from their makeshift stall(just outside the buffet/dining hall).

We then proceeded to the temple at Waterloo street and it was very crowded as usual.

Our last stop - Ikea @Tampines, where we bought 2 side tables(instead of the kiddy table set) as daddy thought that the price's a really good deal, especially for temporary use. As for me, I'm alright with it as long as it's not too bulky and good for Renee's use. But why 2? The other's to replace the one which we placed at the living hall, hahaha.

This is how her little writing corner looks now :>(she was sooo excited that she insisted that her daddy fix it up the minute we got home haha, or maybe she had thought that it was the kiddy table she saw earlier? lolz) :

I had wanted to fall right onto our bed for a quick nap the moment we got home but I've to prepare the ingredients for Renee's dinner but I finally managed a quick nap after I've done that and re-arranged/kept some of her toys.

Feeling lazy, we ordered pizza for our dinner and we embarked onto the packing of our store thereafter. It's a good thing daddy had helped me and though I was left to tidy up the last bit, the major work was done by him this time, :D. We had to throw away quite abit of stuffs - some were items that were omitted in the lot which I've packed for the charity organisation earlier, :(.
Anyway, we're glad to have finally done that and I'm sure PX will also be very happy to see/walk-in to a spacious store-room tomorrow! :)

With mommy sooo caught up with the chores, Renee didn't get to do her practice today. Hmmm, I wonder if I could get her to do a 'double' since we're most likely to be staying home as daddy won't be back til 5-6pm.

Post Christmas Shopping?

Nah... 'cos by the time daddy got home, it was already 5pm and by the time we got to Centrepoint, it was near 7pm. Daddy said he's tired and so I was the driver and he slept in the car a few times 'cos of the traffic jam.

Lucikly we are of a small family of 3, so we got a table at the Japanese restaurant fast and we got to Robinsons by around 8pm. The tables set that we went there for were too small for our purposes and so we decided to get the one from Ikea tomorrow...

More Christmas Pressies!

With most of us having spent a quiet Christmas' Eve, we all proceeded to Li's today. And with daddy wanting to pass his client the gifts, it became a last minute rush(for me, 'cos daddy said he didn't feel it, ya, tat's becos I was the one coming in and out of the car!) from going to Isetan, whilst he took the gifts to the client's hotel and me getting the log cake before heading to Li's.

Renee saw this Santa Post Office at the office lobby of Shaw Centre and excitedly ran towards it. The nice security guard nodded his approval, and we took a pic :

I guess it's due to the last minute planning of the food to be provided/broght by everyone, we've got alot of 'extras' but somehow, we still managed to 'clear' them(by 'taking-away', hahaha).

Here's our feast! :

This is my contribution, heee :

Ok, I can now reveal Renee's 'gifts' to her aunts, uncles and cousins. The actual count is more but this pic was taken before the addtional were added...

More pressies for Renee :

These are from Sis and Jo/Lu/Lyn :

I've taken a peek and already knew what they are. Actually they both happened to be what I've almost got for her! But I'm keeping them wrapped up for the time being as the 2 toys she's unwrapped are more than enough to keep her busy for quite a while :)

Elsie has got many gifts from her office, and when I saw this, I 'kup' from her for Renee, hehehe(since Elsie doesn't really wear such stuffs)

It's Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho, Merry X'mas, Everyone! :)

Renee had woken up this morning and remembering what I've told her, she greeted me with "Merry X'mas, Mommy", :D.

Last night(or rather, this morning? lolz), Renee was sooo excited with her gift and the pics below will tell you how much she loves them :

The 'Dora' & story book are gifts from Karen and she was worried if Renee would like another 'Dora' when she saw Renee playing with one in the car - No worries, Karen, she loooves it and even slept with it last night, :)

I suddenly remembered about this and quickly wrapped it up(whilst daddy's out for his breakfast) for Renee to present it as her X'mas gift to him:

It's alot simpler than the one I got for his car earlier but then this is much lighter, so hopefully it'll stay on the back windscreen...

Christmas' Eve

Daddy was supposed to meet up with his client today but the latter had came with his family and they're more keen on a shopping spree, so it's a good thing that I've bought some stuffs to standby for a stay-home X'mas dinner.

Here's our dinner, simple yet fulfilling and in the comfort of our home :). Looks 'little' but we can't even finish the ribs after the chicken wings...

Our mini log-cake

Right now, Renee is standing-by to open up her X'mas presents! Just a couple of them and she's already so excited, can't imagine how she's going to contain her excitement tomorrow, hahaha.

Recounting, Renee realised that we've missed out 'her gifts' to her Uncles and so we had to do up a couple more and since I've got some wrappers left, I wrapped the smaller sized ones up :

This shall be the final lot, as to whether it's really enough to give away shall have to depend on whom we really get to meet, heee

Renee made this and insisted to give it to Wayne gor gor - woah, an extra for him haha

Jam, Jam everywhere!

Wanted to go to Ikea to get a table set for Renee but Li said she doesn't know the route either and Eileen's busy making pineapple tarts. So, I thought I might as well go and buy the ribs in advance. I was glad that I did, when I saw the que outside the carpark entrance - and that's only in afternoon!

After a quick snack, we headed to the BBQ stall and there were already many packed orders of ribs and chicken wings at the counter. I chose one of the bigger slabs of ribs but they told me that it's best not to slice them up now if we're only going to eat them tomorrow, so as to retain its 'juice'. So, with no char siew available for Renee, I ordered 1 chicken leg(for myself) and another 100gm of the ribs(for Renee's dinner tonight) but after weighing the 1st few pcs(which is slightly over 100gms) and got my 'ok' on the price, she put the rest of the loose pieces into the bag(maybe 2-3pcs)! Being a regular gets its privilege, finally hahaha.

On our way out, the que to the carpark was even longer and I was really glad that I've bought the ribs today.

Daddy was already home from his golf when we got back and after I've prepared the vege, Renee began her practice. Hmmm, she did quite well today and did not throw a tantrum despite the number of times I've made her repeat. How nice if she's like this during every practice, hahaha.

Then, we moved her little bedside drawer back to where her cozy corner 'bed' is, 'cos she's been asking me to read to her on bedtime(persistently), so I thought I should just shift all the story books back into this drawer and put it near her bed. Needless to say, she was thrilled and helped me with it, lolz.

Artwork(drawing) Display

Original Version - Daddy, Mommy and Renee :)

Edited Version - with 'bouncing balls' and a chair(see the arrow she drew?) to sit on if 'we' get tired, hahaha

I'm actually quite surprise that she's able to 'draw' as she has not attended any drawing/arts class, not even during her pre-nursery sessions at Kinderland. Wonder if I should sign her up for Kinderart(Kinderland's of cos, easier for her and me). The school's administrator's on leave til next week, so I guess I gotta wait til then to find out more...

She seems to like this drawing alot, 'cos I noticed that she'd flip the board over to do her drawings(on paper) when she'll normally just erase whatever she's drawn off, when she needs to put her paper/artwork on top of the board.

The School Uniform

After I've steamed the rice(to bring along for lunch after lesson) and was getting ready, I received the teacher's sms that she's got fever and will have to postpone today's 'make-up' lesson('cos Thursday's a PH and I'm also not free to go down) to this Friday. However, I've gave her an alternative timing instead and she's not reverted yet...

Did a quick order via a online spree for some Crocs shoes and then we went to meet Janice and Jerome at Kinderland's admin office where we bought our children's uniform today - gotta get new set as they'd be wearing the 'full' uniform from Nursery level onwards. I've only got one piece since they'd have to go on PE(Tees and shorts) attire on alternate days(and also to inculcate neatness in her), I'd rather to have to iron only 1 dress uniform than to have to iron 2 or 3, especially when I'd have to iron the tees as well.

The administrator's on leave, thus a teacher took over and she brought a L size dress for Renee, no lah, where got so kiasu as to buy such a big size! I told her that it's too big and we finally settled for a M size(the length and neck opening are juz nice, so I guess the 'room-iness' would be good for 'ventilation' hahaha). Needless to say, this girl's very happy(but only when I tried it on for her again at home, without her clothes this time and without the distraction of her classmate) and told me that she'd only wanna wear this dress uniform when she learnt about the alternate PE attire days lolz.

Janice had been waking up super late since the school holidays began and so, when I invited her to join us for a snack at Mac's, she said she'd perhaps join us after feeding Jerome his lunch(that was around 2:30pm already). We met Choolin and her kids there instead but as we've not pre-planned on this 'meetup', we didn't stay long with her(she doesnt seemt to have much to talk about anyway, since she's switched school for her children next year) and I went to search for another pair of jeans - not stock, but they've reserved it at Isetan Scotts for me til this Saturday.

Janice phoned at 4:20pm but we both felt that it'll be quite pointless for her to come over since it's already so late and I'd be heading home soon and we decided to call it off, but Renee cried and even over the phone to her "I want aunty Janice and Jerome to come" hahaha.

Took her to Mini Toons to make her happy(actually it's also because I remembered that the Ikea friends cc gets 15% there, hehehe) and bought a solar toy for the car, another 'princess on board' sign for daddy's car and a new set of 'flowers' curtain drop(to replace the current Dora one).

Theory practice

With a shorter 'weekly' lesson break this week, I wasn't sure if I could coach Renee on time(for her next lesson which we've changed to tmrw since her lesson falls on X'mas day) on the 'rhythm' or get her to complete her homework on 'spaces'.

By Saturday, we had managed part of the 'rhythm' and even got her to do up her homework and practice before going out.

The Year End Sales - X'mas Shopping

Met Sis, Jo and Lyn at DFS scotts this afternoon to buy a wallet for daddy. It was sooo pack in town! Although with extra discounts on some items, I ended up with just some cosmetics and fragrance(trying a new scent) for myself which wasn't actually a good buy 'cos I could have gotten more discounts asking Vicky to buy for me(forgot about it! haiz). However, I saw the mini makeup drawer table by Anna Sui which I had wanted to get earlier (but was too late and it went off the retail shelves due to it being a promotional and limited edition item), but the colours that came with it don't appeal to me, so I dropped the idea though daddy said he would buy it as my Christmas present(as we've ran out of ideas on what to get already, hahaha).

On our way, we had pre-warned Renee about being lost in the crowd and due to my previous frightening experience of her being almost lost at Kiddy Palace, I brought the wrist 'leash' along but luckily she stayed in her stroller most of the time(slept for most of the time after we've left DFS for other shopping malls) and stayed near to us, this time, *phew*.

To the Grandma's

Renee was very happy when she learnt that we're finally visiting her grandma after a break of 3 weeks!

We sisters all went down for a little walk at the pasar malam('cos I needed to get the tang yuan powder) and I ended with a pair of yellow Winnie Pooh shoulder/neck rest for my car(daddy would hate it, hahaha), a pink colour Winnie Pooh pocket storage(design selected by Renee) which I'll put up when near CNY, and a pair of yellow Winnie Pooh home slippers for our darling - hadn't realise til I'm typing this post that the items are all in WP prints hahaha.

Renee wanted the smaller pair of slippers that come with a strap at the back but I've got that one for her from Shanghai before and it'll definitely be too small for her, even though it looks 'just nice' to her hahaha:

Hand-made X'mas Gifts

Today's playdate has been postponed 'cos the mommy suddenly remembered that her 2nd child needed to go for her vaccination(she wanted next week but I'm not free leh...shall see how). It's a good thing that I usually try not to inform Renee too much of these outings in advance, as she may be disappointed if it didn't materialise.

We both woke up late at 10am and not wanting her to watch too much TV from now on(I told daddy that I've even asked her to choose her TV time and she's selected the evening's, so any tv on other timings shall be avoided as best as we could and meals must be taken at the dining table, not infront of the TV - so, he's to adhere to it too, hahaha). With the morning free, I decided that it's about time for Renee to commence her hand-made Christmas gifts for her aunts and cousins. To ensure enough quantity, we would have to make at least 14 pieces of them but, by the time we got to the 6th piece, she was already 'tired' and loosing interest mainly because of repetitions hahaha.

Feeling kinda bored at home, I decided to go to Compass Point to collect the Dora Laptop and also, try my luck on the gift exchange search. A fruitful trip indeed, :).

After dinner, we managed to make a few more of 'Renee's gifts'(errmm, I did more of the work, she was 1/2 hearted as it's her tv time, hahaha) and I thought, since most would not really want it, we stopped at that no. and shall see how things go when we meet, :D.

Wet Market

Been wanting to recapture the real 'marketing' scenario, I decided to follow Eileen to the market today and although I've gone to bed abit earlier at 1am+, I woke up at 7:08am after a night of being kicked by Renee, hahaha.

We arrived at the Kovan market @ around 8:05am and after placing our order of fried carrot cake(to be collected at 8:45am), we went in for our 'fishy spree'. The sight of fresh food got me on a spur to buy more and I ended up with S$15.5o worth of vegetables, on top of the fish, ribs, chicken wings, prawns, hahaha. We came straight home after Renee's violin lesson as I want to marinate the chicken wings(luckily I've already chopped them into halves this morning) and prepare the vege, prawns, scallops for our dinner. Good thing I've already started boiling the soup this morning...

Renee's performance during her violin lesson today was not very satisfactory. Although she has had one practice at home this morning, she didn't do it as well as we've both expected her to and I'm not sure if she was tired(since she woke up quite early and had slept late last night), she threw tanthrum after being corrected a few times and made to repeat her bowing. She also didn't pay attention when Ms Mok was giving her the theory lessons. Anyway, I'm the one who's to coach her at home(very good life the teacher!) and with no formal music background, I had to go through with Ms Mok a few times, in order to find the right 'style' to teach Renee on the rhythm and scores reading...arrrgggh, more work for me!

I was preparing dinner when Renee talked to me(I had thought that she'd really continued with her nap from the car) and didn't notice, so she had thought that I was very angry with her and volunteered to practice again in the evening, lolz.

Chocolates, Yummy!

Today's playdate's cancelled as the chosen venue, which was decided last minute, was fixed to be at the Zoo! I decided to give it a miss(though they wanted to change but I felt bad and it's gonna be very troublesome to arrange again) since we've just been there yesterday! hahaha.

With the morning free, we followed daddy to PP for breakfast so I could get him to carry the heavy groceries. Once we got back, I 'transferred' Renee to my car and head off to the Physician's, :). Renee had woke up coughing, so I decided to bring her to the Physician's. She's been eating junks since the 1st day of sch holidays and it's not surprising that she's heaty again, better curb it down before it gets worser... At the supermarket, I bought some treats for Renee's rewards exchange and that's when I saw our favourite Merci's chocolates, hurray! Those whom had eaten this brand of chocolates would know that it usually comes in a variety of filling choices - praline, milk, hazelnut, etc etc. However, both daddy and I, in fact, even Elsie loved the one in green wrapping and when I was pregnant with Renee, this had been my utmost favourite choice of chocolate(even daddy was sooo addicted to it then, hahaha). We hadn't been able to get the only green ones since then and so when I saw them this morning, I was soo happy that I grabbed 5 packets at one go! hahaha.

Made Renee nap with me after her lunch and before we left for Hougang Mall, I text my sisters to inform them of the 'chocolate discovery' and Elsie told me to get 5 packs for her too! Luckily, this NTUC also carries it and we took a total of 11packs(5 for Elsie, another 3 for myself and 'cos we met Li there, she got lured to get 3 pks too), hahaha.

Oh man, there goes my weight management liao, hahaha(well, never get down to it anyway, :<)

Another Playdate at the Zoo

Worried that it might rain again today, we had the option of gathering at my place as a standby. At 9am, just before I was about to wake Renee up, Karen sms-ed me to cancel the Zoo trip and changed our meet up to 12:30pm at SK. But as I was unpacking the bag, she text again and we finally met at the Zoo at 10:30am :).

We headed straight for the water play(Karen showed me the other side of it) after breezing through the playground(which I didn't know exist) and though we were prepared for a small crowd ast it's towards the end of the school holidays but we had not expected sooo many people there today. With so many older kids at the waterplay, we had to keep a closer watch out for ours, Karen was made wet by some kids though... We spent about an hour there before proceeding for our lunch at KFC where we waited quite a while for our turn at one table and in turn, be waited by others when we were about done hahaha.

Renee, unwilling to end her playdate, invited them over to our place where they had abit more of free-play time :).

At 5pm, we decided to take them downstairs but the playground was packed with kids(more of boys) too! We moved on to the one at the other end, and it was also packed(more of girls, hahaha). These children might be from the new families whom had been moving-in since early this year as I didn't see them around when I used to bring Renee down(but then again, it's been quite a while since I've stopped bringing her down already due to the crowd of children/maids). Our friends decided to head off when we started to feel drizzle but Renee threw a tantrum and even cried on our way home from sending them off to the Compass Point(she wanted to go to the mall). However, the evening turned-out alright though, when she gave/showed me the best attitude during her violin practice! - I had expected her to throw another tanthrum when I corrected her bowing mistakes but instead, she said : "I'm sorry, mommy, I'm sorry" and So, for that, I gave her 2 stars :D

This time round at the Carousel, Renee chose the bench seat as she's afraid that we'll make her ride on the "moving' animals, aiyoh so boring and a waste of my money hahaha

Monday - a 'Gift' day?

Finally, the day has come for the charity organisation to come collect Renee's bed frame. I had previously packed some stuffed toys(pretty new, abt a yr and she doesn't play with them) but Eileen came and took them away on Saturday, :). Last night, or rather this morning, whilst chatting with Li and Sis on YM, I suddenly recalled about this collection and went to ransack the storeroom for more things to give away, hahaha. It wasn't long before I brought out the infant car seat cum carrier & swing, the detachable foam mats(also didn't really use them, so pretty new too and I've washed them thoroughly before I put them away) and a few more stuffs(new and used).

I was told that the staff will arrive anytime between 1:30pm to 5pm and as like the previous time, they came at ard 1:30pm and saved me the 'wait'. However, when Renee saw the story books that I've put in last minute, she embarrassed me by trying to grab them all back from the bags, hahaha.

Found 2 big 'Mothercare' plastic carriers in the store and I decided to cut them up into 4 pcs and got Renee to help pasting them into 'mats' for our future trips to the beach, lolz

Earlier, I had forgotten that daddy's taken my car to his golf game, so I arranged with Lyn to go downtown if the collection's early. After some ding dong here and there, we decided that Sis and her will go do their stuffs and if daddy could come back early, I'll meet them at Scotts DFS. However, even though daddy came back 10mins before 5pm, he was caught up with some work(he didn't tell me that he'd hv to settle some work first and had arranged to meet them ard 5:30pm!), and so, with the unforeseen delay, we didn't get to meet up 'cos 1stly, Sis wasn't sure as to where to park and 2ndly, they were afraid that we'll be further delayed by the traffic jam and they'd have to wait for us til 6:30pm. Nevermind, shall see if we'll get to go there another day, this daddy ar(ya ya, he said work comes first, but he cld have told me so and I won't tell them to meet us, haiz...). However, when I changed back to my home clothes and began to undress Renee, she cried and cried soooo pathetically. She had been waiting to go out lor, so I decided to change back and take her to Compass Point, since I've already prepared her dinner anyway. Daddy however, upon learning that the meet-up's postponed, went to sleep!

Anyway, quite a fruitful trip down to the mall, managed to get her the toy guitar and did a quick last minute christmas shopping after dinner.

Came home at around 9pm but I only get to finally settle down now...

Sooo tired but I guess I've had too much 'rushing' activity this evening, and also my back hurts badly, can't sleep...

Our Weekend

A quiet saturday, with daddy out and no plans for any outing for the evening, I set to do some of the shapeland artwork with Renee after her practice. We managed to do up a few pages of book 3(final book I've got for her on this series) and when daddy's back with our dinner, she even practiced again for him though quite reluctantly hahaha(she even asked him : "did you hear it?" after she's played the 'twinkle twinkle' part to ensure that she's not asked to play again, hahaha).

Having gone to bed really late(after 3am) again last night, I only woke up at 10:39am this morning(well, I did wake up a few times, go toilet, close windows-raining) by Renee's request for milk.

Hadn't realised that daddy's changed his mind and took his car, so I had stayed home with Renee... This girl, must have woken up from the correct side of her bed today that she practiced her violin sooooo nicely and without any fuss! Daddy came back rather early at 2pm+ and I made Renee nap beside him after her shower :). Decided to go to town to catch on some of the festive mood but as we parked at Orchard Hotel, we didn't get to venture down to Takashimaya or further, thus we also didn't manage to catch too much of the light-up but when Renee saw the candies hanging down from the trees, she'd asked why, lolz. Shall go again next weekend perhaps...

Whilst daddy went over to Far East Shopping Centre, I took Renee over to CK Tangs and we passed by a group of young violinists basking at the underground pass. By the time we threw in our 'token', they've finished the piece they were playing, so we moved on. On our way back however, I told daddy that we didnt get to watch just now and surprisingly, he stopped for Renee to watch them. He gave them a S$10 token even after I've told him that we've already given earlier, anyway, they played pretty well and Renee was quite mesmerised - kept nodding when daddy told her that if she wanna play as well as them, she'd have to keep on with her practices, hahaha.

Stationery spree?

After picking Li up, we went over to Hougang Mall(after our quick visit to the Buddhist temple), we met Eileen there and we all had our 'tea' at Macdonald's :).

My main purpose of going there today was to buy an electric home shredder. But with a few other supplies included, Li remarked that I was like going on a stationary spree, heee, no leh, actually I've still got some stuffs not bought yet...Packed dinner home as I wanna cook vege for Renee to take with her ribs(no more charsiew by e time we got to e bbq stall)and Li came home with us before she left at around 9pm to meet her friend for drinks.

Had just tucked Renee in to bed whilst waiting for daddy(whom I don't think will be home anytime soon) and I suddenly remembered about those Christmas artwork/crafts that I've ordered for this holiday! Oh geez, how could I forget when they're purchased for this purpose! - hopefully can get Renee to make them for gifts on time :)

2nd Violin Lesson

Due to her reluctance on practices lately, I was prepared that Renee'd certainly be made to do the same old thing over again today. However, she not only surprised me but also Ms Mok, with even remembering the parts of the violin(which even I didn't manage to catch on the 1st lesson, let alone coach her on it, heeee).

Ms Mok observed and told me that Renee is quite good with her posture(standing position, bow handling) and this, coming from the teacher, is surely good news - she added that some kids spent months on the posture and she had expected that she'd be coaching Renee on posture again today but surprisingly she's 'caught it' already. So, *phew* luckily not and she got to learn her first 'twinkle twinkle' part of the twinkle2 little star song on her 2nd lesson, yeah!(Renee had co-incidentally mentioned this song title, when she had initially, not knowing that this is the 1st basic song to learn, said that she wanna learn the birthday song - for her daddy's birthday!).

However, Renee's bowing on the 'A' string still tend to hit onto other strings due to her laziness to lift up her elbow, so she's to continue practicing on it. Also, she tend to bow short and quick, so Ms Mok suggested stickers reward to encourage practices, to which I told her that I've tried this method once with her on other purpose, but failed when the novelty of the reward died down after a while. She recommended giving it a 2nd chance and so I'm to give a go from the next practice onwards.(good thing I've kept the 'cards' and 'star stickers')

Oh ya, I've actually brought the cardboard with her 'standing position' drawn on, but I've left it in the car 'cos it was raining(I have to carry her violin, my bag & umbrella & I still need to have one hand free to hold on to her while she carries her own umbrella hahaha) and when she was asked to stand in position, she turned to me for the board and had initially refused to do it hahaha. So, as u can see, it is really a relief and joy to me when the teacher said that she's doing it well right? lolz...

Teacher's last note of the day : "Actually, can tell that Renee is able to play well if she puts her heart into it and I believe grouping her with other kids may be a good motivation driver for her. I'll try to pair her with another girl student of mine but she's more advance so, we'll wait til she's able to play at least 1 or 2 pieces. Anyway she learns quite fast"(oh, I hope she continues this way for all her learning :>).
She even told her : "Renee, you're very cute and clever, so can you please, please practice your violin?"('cos she heard from me that it's been quite a chore getting her to it last few days :D)

We had rushed over to Compass Point(Vicky also met me there to pass me her wedding photots cd) to get a note book for the teacher to jot down the lessons' contents but the que at Popular bookstore was long, so we gave up the idea and rushed for our snack at Mac's even without sending her Dora laptop for repair(yes, again...this time the functions don't work). In the end, we went back there after the lesson :) - tried a different route which I daren't try last week and it lead us to the mall faster, hurray! :D

New Bed?

Oh yes, this is yet another 'forgotten' matter - the pic on her new cozy bed corner :D.

Well, it had been like this :

And now, it is... :) :