A New Year, A New Haircut!

Finally acted on Renee's request this afternoon...

She had chosen for her hair to be cut by a hair stylist for speed but feeling that I should do it, I told her that I'd like to do it for her especially since we are no longer going out as daddy had a last minute CNY visit invitation from his client.

After school, took her for a quick bite at Mac's and quickly head home after buying some BBQ stuffs so that I could embark on the task at hand - cutting Princess' hair!

Back home, I told her to remove her uniform dress and she sat infront of the TV(have to entertain her with the TV so as to avoid her grumbling when the process got too long, hahaha) in her camisole. I put the 'hair collecting' cape over her and began to snip away... I've thought to leave it at mid neck length but to go on 'par' with her fringe, then it would have to be chin length, so... :

Watching TV whilst waiting for her hair to dry(which will be alot, alot, alot faster now! :D)

Many had thought that it was I who wanted this cut but no, this time, it's the princess' decision, :D - a practical choice I would say, since she had complained of the longer hair being troublesome and made her feel warm, especially since she's pretty active(well... play, play, play, hahaha).

Our mahjong arrangment(planned at the very last minute yesterday night) was initially cancelled due to Elsie having to work late but this morning, Jo brought it up again and after some ding dong here & there, it finally materialised, :D. However, not all full force of the family members/relatives came over - it was after a small mahjong session and a quick one, from 9 to about 12... Renee was sooo happy that her cousin Jo played with her and she tried to 'hold-on' to her hahaha. And with her calling : "joanne je je, joanne je je", Jo found it hard to decline her, hahaha

Renee loooved her new haircut and had been most excited to show it off to her aunts/cousins that she kept asking me why they were taking sooo long to arrive, hahaha(she had thought that they would be coming earlier) and when I teased her just now at bedtime : "Renee, u forgot to put up your hair like this"(mimicking the way she always flip her hair before the cut), she grinned and chuckled, hahaha

Music Videos

Digress from the CNY mood abit, recently I recalled these songs(esp. the 1st 2 below) and found them on the web. I've loved them the first time Li had recommended them to me years ago. Strong voice, good/meaningful lyrics...Am almost sure you'll like it too, enjoy...

He(the singer) was only 11 yrs old when he notched his first hit single, Billy Gilman was the youngest performer ever to reach the Billboard country charts, breaking a record he...view more

'One Voice'

(Renee like this song too, she used to sway along when it's being played, but now, she'll ask me to repeat n repeat it in the car and then she'll tell me when she's 'spotted' vivid sounds of e violin, hahaha)http://www.imeem.com/nguyentrihieu007/video/IFrFyPjc/billy_gilman_one_voice_billy_gilman_music_video/

'Oklahoma'

http://www.imeem.com/shemy/video/0FLghSiW/billy_gilman_oklahoma_music_video/

'There's a hero'

http://www.imeem.com/shemy/video/1y-85tDq/billy_gilman_theres_a_hero_music_video/

I know I know, X'mas is over, but this is nice, :D - 'Warm and Fuzzy'

http://www.imeem.com/people/TJ7ZmqD/video/VzcrBzv7/billy_gilman_warm_and_fuzzy_music_video/

So, did you tear...? lolz. Here's one he sung at MJ's concert - 'Ben'

http://www.imeem.com/shemy/video/2RAfFQct/billy_gilman_ben_music_video/

A big boy or should I say, a young man now(change of voice too)... - 'Everything And More'

http://www.imeem.com/paddy8788/video/IeNUT5nr/billy_gilman_everything_and_more/

Hair Cut Request

This evening, Renee had requested for a haircut again(she even requested to cut her fringe short too, but I managed to persuade her to keep it, hehehe) when I was brushing her teeth just now(I'll usually brush her teeth for her before bedtime, she'll do it herself in the morning). She wanted her hair cut tomorrow, instead of the 'after CNY' plan she's had earlier and when I was tucking her to bed, I asked here again to double confirm it and she even 'explained' why she wanted it sooner. She said(with demonstration): "because when I sleep, I have to put my hair like this" and I said : "oh, very troublesome huh?", she said "ya" hahaha. On 2nd thought, I tried another question, I asked : "are you sure you want to go to Xuan Le mei mei's birthday party with short hair?", she said "ya". I guess this is quite confirmed liao hahaha.

However, I don't know why I can't quite bear to let her have the cut this time(Though it can be quite bothersome at times when she perspires or I have no time to tie it up nicely and we're rushing, Also, for the sake of hygiene, neatness, health and cute-ness, my sisters have urged me to cut it shorter too, so ok ok...).

If you remember, from one of my earlier posts, I've wrote that her request for the haircut was mainly due to her current fav - Buttercup, one of PowerPuff Girls' characters, but I guess the constant flipping of her hair had now kinda got to her, thus the firm request, hahaha.

I also recalled the very first time she had made this request, I had actually asked if she'd like me to cut it for her or if I should bring her to the hair salon, she had replied : "I want mommy cut for me". I reminded her that I'll be slower than the hair stylist aunty and she'll grumble, then she said : "ok, aunty cut", hahaha.

Hmmm, not sure what we would be doing tomorrow, if we're not going out, perhaps I could give her the haircut myself like I used to or should I bring her down to the salon.....?

The length of her hair now :

Hong Bao River

As daddy had forgotten to confirm the meet-up time with Li & Rick last night when he was at their place(even after I've reminded him via sms), Li text me today to re-confirm, just when I got back to the carpark from Renee's school.

We picked them up at around 3:45pm and as it looked like it was going to rain, we decided to detour to the 'Kwan Yin Temple' @ Waterloo Street first.

The HongBao River's very different this year(not sure if it's already like this for the past years as it's been years since the last time we've been there) and it's only 'open' from 6pm til...(oops, can't rem, hahaha). We've got there around 4pm+ and it would be a long wait til 6pm, so we decided to go for a little walk/shopping at the nearest mall. Daddy suggested early dinner but again, we were too early, hahaha, so we made a reservation at 'Dian Xiao Er', a restaurant Li recommendated(first time for us). I've brought Renee's dinner and knowing how much she loves to drink soup, I gave her half of mine and guess what? She told me when we were in the toilet later that she'd like to dine there again, lolz. Hurray, we've finally found a place where she could have a full proper meal 'outside'! (hmmm, hope so!).

After dinner, we went back to stroll the HB River and although there're scheduled performances(which we didn't bother to stay to watch anyway), we found it less appealing as compared to the first few years when it had been opened at all times and one can just walk around it freely. The 'atmosphere''s not the same...

Whilst waiting for Li and daddy to return frm their 'lucky' errands, we went up to the seats above for a rest. Renee went to join uncle Rick when the performers marched out...

Lunar New Year - 3rd day II

Feeling tired, we decided to skip the visit to daddy's family friend's house and Renee was happy about it too(however, she asked to go there to see the lion dance when we were leaving CH's home but it was already 9pm, the dance would have been long over, hahaha).

As hoped for, there will not be any violin lesson tomorrow as Ms Mok is still not back in Singapore(she's replied my sms suggesting a lesson on Monday aftrn) and we have tentatively fixed with Li & Rick to go to HB River tomorrow(daddy's playing mahjong at their place now, :D).

Ask any of my sisters and they'll tell you that whenever we went to one of our siblings' or even our mom's place, we tend to come back with bag(s) of stuffs(either given or bought), this evening wasn't any exception. I've gone down with Sis trying to locate the plastic plates CH had gotten for us to use but we both ended up with lotsa other stuffs, lolz. Yes, another bagful...

Lunar New Year - 3rd day

It is back to school today and Renee brought the little baskets of 'oranges'(cos didn't get enough for her aunties so decided to give to her teachers instead) and wished her teachers "Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le".

Feeling very tired, I prepared ours and Renee's lunch and got daddy to fetch her home.

It's gonna be another busy day today as we would have to go over to daddy's friend's house(hopefully we'll be able to catch the lion dance there) after our visit to CH's home.

Not sure if there would be any violin lesson tomorrow. We kinda hope that there won't be, hehehe, as we thought of asking Li and Rick to join us at HongBao River. Otherwise, we'd have to go there ourselves on Friday after her school.

Lunar New Year - Day 2 II

When we got to Sis' new home, there was already a big spread of buffet welcoming us outside the place and although we weren't hungry, Irene and me still tucked-in(but we were sooo stuffed up even before we get to finish up our plates of food, hahaha).

As usual, our mom had 'created' some 'stories' for us today but shall leave details off line, especially when it didn't co-incide with the festive mood, hahaha.

CNY had been rather good these 2 days, let's hope it continues this way the whole year round, ;).

Lunar New Year - 2nd day

Finally remembered the 'lion dance' puppet which we've bought from Shanghai some time ago for Renee(we hadn't brought it out earlier as she was too young to appreciate it then and I had forgotten about it last yr hahaha) and asked daddy to 'play' with her. However, busy reading the papers, he merely took it out from its packaging and passed it to her after showing her briefly on how to manuever it, hahaha. Short while later, sounds of the actual lion dance was heard and daddy quickly brought Renee down, hoping to catch/watch it(this girl even asked to change out of her pyjamas which of cos we didn't since they have to rush down hahaha). However, the group was no where to be found and they both came back without a glimpse of the dance. Renee was disappointed...

We would be going to Sis' new home today and afraid that she might be bored if no-one plays with her later(if we all play cards), I decided to bring 1 of her X'mas gifts out - Dora stationary and also a couple of colouring books(one for JX) so that she can keep herself occupied.

She was looking forward to the visit but when she came outta shower, she told me that she'd like to go with daddy to the temple for prayers... Daddy was reluctant as he's afraid that she might wander off when he's praying but hearing her reason, he decided to bring her along(not without warning her not to wander away) and she was sooooo happy! This is perhaps the first time daddy has brought his princess out on a 'trip' so far, :).

Lunar New Year

1st day of CNY started off later than usual this year. After the few years of 'trial & error' on the timing with daddy's family members, we've finally settled on a more 'suitable' hour for everyone. With this amicable timing, we not only didn't have to wake up earlier, we even get to enjoy our gathering more and longer, :D.

This year, daddy decided to also pay one of his maternal aunts a visit(usually will get to meet the cousins there as well) and all of our spare angpaos were fully used up on the 1st day, when we usually didn't get to use much of them, lolz. However, with this visit, Renee received alot of 'love' when the aunts sayang-ed her and even kissed her(and surprisingly, she had not resisted but then again, only a couple sayang-ed her this way and maybe she's not really able to react cos they were super quick in the act, hahaha). The aunts even stroked and patted me on my arm/back('cos they dun really 'see' me) and daddy said that it's their way of 'sayang-ing' me. So, this year, not only Renee had received extra 'love', me too! lolz. Hmmm, a good start for the new year huh, :D.

By the time we've got home, Li replied that they were already at my mom's, so I quickly rushed to cook Renee's dinner since she's finished up the extra portion I've prepared for her lunch.

We stayed a little longer at my mom's and it's already 10:45pm when we got home. A short rush to get Renee's milk ready, cleaned and changed her, I went in for my shower before daddy went over to Li's for yet another round of mahjong - aiyoh, there wld be another round when we go to sis' later ar! Anyway, it's Lunar New Year, so just let him be, :D...

Gong Xi Gong Xi!

Happy Lunar New Year, Everyone!

Lunar New Year's Eve

This year we would be having our very own re-union dinner and for avoid the rush and the extra cleaning work, we decided to dine at Tony Romas(chinese rests. would be too packed), so I tried to rush over whatever's needed to be done on time. We managed to get there by 6 and Suntec City was surprisingly super quiet(hadn't expect such quietness, maybe also becos we've never dine out on CNY's eve before, :D). Waiters and waitressess were most attentive due to the lack of crowd and we had a nice, 'un-rushed' re-union dinner tonight.

This afternoon, Vicky came by to pass me the X'mas gift exchange, Renee's birthday card + angpao(Thanks again, Vic) and the scent cones/sticks which I've asked her to get for me from her recent trip to Chiangmai. She even brought mandarin oranges over for the CNY greetings, as she's afraid that we might not get to meet up with each other given that we didn't even manage to meet up for the X'mas til now! lolz.

Daddy's now at the Temple helping out and Renee's as usual, trying her best to keep awake(it's as if she knew that she has to stay awake on this night, even when she was younger).

I'm brave, are you, mommy?

Daddy went out after giving Renee her milk and I came out to a young 4 yrs old girl drinking her milk and watching the horror movie 'The Relic', all by herself!

I switched it to another channel and went about my chores and when I sat down, I turned it back to the movie and asked "are you afraid? if u're afraid then I'll change the channel" but she replied : "not really". I asked again and she said : "just a little bit, let me watch" hahaha.

Seconds later, she turned to me : "mommy, are you afraid?", and I gave the same reply : "not really, just a little bit" and she said "then let's watch!" hahahahaha.

More spring cleaning

Yes, it's more cleaning/packing today. However, it's less taxing this year, as learning from past experiences, I pack/clean up the home as and when throughout the year instead of leaving it til such last minute moment to do a full spring cleaning - that will be most frustrating and one tends to dread it. In such momentum, one is able to relax abit and enjoy/get ready for the festive mood even though it still require effort/hard work to clean whatever up, :)

Daddy had called home to ask about dinner when he went out to get more CNY goodies but he came back without packing dinner as he had thought to dine out. However, a phone call on some last minute 'crop up' came along and I decided to cook dinner so he could be home to 'handle the matter'.

Renee's most happy with the home-cooking 'cos besides the other dishes, I've also prepared her favourite chicken wings haha(though I only gave her 1pc 'cos she's kinda heaty now and we want her to enjoy her CNY).

Daddy had to go to the airport to check on some matters and he's suggested we take a walk at the airport too. Although I'm rather tired, I was quite in for it but am not sure now as it'd be quite late and we're afraid that Renee might end up sleeping the car and not wanting to go to bed when we get back... hmmm, shall see how later.

CNY celebrations at Kinderland

Renee had been waking early for the past few days and I'm not sure if dressing up in the new CNY dress today's the highlight for her? Anyway, the assembly was delayed and it was a good thing as that normally helped ease up the 'car crowd' as most parents thought that there won't be any assembly, heeee.

Janice managed to arrive on time also today and we both stayed back to watch the children, :). Again, the celebration kicked off with the teachers entertaining the kids first and then, it was the children's turn to play a simple game and performing/singing the CNY songs(from K2 to Pre-N).

Teachers entertaining the children

(Can u hear Janice's comment that 'xian zai zuo lao shi heng cang'? lolz)

The 2nd session Nursery students(mostly were from Studio 6, only 3 or 4 were from studio 7). The video I took 's quite 'cute', Elsie and Li will surely laugh when they watch it :)

The children had a wonderful time 'celebrating' the CNY during assembly. As it ended at 12:30pm and I've to pick Renee up at 1pm, I left with Janice for a quick bite at Mac's instead of heading home. When I went back for her, they had only just started their lunch break, so we've to pack her food back up and went back to pick daddy up(if he had suggested earlier coming to the school so that I can park my car there 1st, I would have just let her finish up the food in sch).

We rushed over to the Buddha Relics temple for the ceremony and it's a good thing that I've text Ms Mok about being late 'cos she's forgotten to tell me that she'd leaving for M'sia earlier today, Geez! Actually, I've had the intention to put off today's lesson also, so, heee, it was just nice too :D. With this 'rush' offloaded, we were able to wait with daddy for my BIL to come pick up some documents and I fed Renee her lunch in the car(luckily, else my efforts in cooking her meal would be wasted :D). We then headed to P/plaza where daddy had his lunch whilst we both went to NTUC to get more stuffs.

Princess turns 4!

Yes, our darling is 4 today!

She had been sooo excited about distributing the favors to her friends that she woke up early today despite having gone to bed late last night at 11pm! In fact, she had been counting down to this day and I've never seen her being sooo accurate to the 'what day is today' question, for the past few days!

Most of her friends were already in the classroom when we arrived with the packed goodies and the moment her friends sang the Happy Birthday song, she was scratching, scratching and scratching her head, hahaha. So much for the excitement and ended up being shy lolz...

The kids were all sooo excited too when they saw the lunch boxes but the teachers had their way to calm them down and in seconds, they were all sitting down quietly to wait for their 'gift' patiently, :D.

Oh oh, when Renee was passing the bag of pencils for her friends to pick/choose, Mrs Ong, the English teacher asked where I've gotten them from. Told her that I've bought them during my previous trip to Shanghai and that I've seen them being sold locally now. Then she asked "the lunch boxes too?" to which I replied that they're bought locally and that the goodies are being packed into them separately. Zhou laoshi, being diplomatic, commented that I had made an big effort which I assured her that it wasn't too much of a trouble, :D. I guess I knew where Mrs Ong's 2nd question was coming from and I was actually quite pleased to learn that the teacher took a concern to the items distributed to the kids especially when she heard that the pencils are from China(what with the food scam in China).

With no actual celebration held, we managed to keep disruption to the class routine to the least and thereafter, I went to Hougang Mall to get some stuffs and met up with Eileen for a dessert/chat.

Although we had parted early, it's still too late for me to go back to cook Renee's lunch. So, I bought a cup of corn and headed back to her school. Being so early, I decided to wait at the admin office and the VP chatted with me(just when I had thought she was growing 'unapproachable', hahaha. She told me that she's noticed Renee and commented about her, :). I was rather surprised that she remembered which child's mine, :D).

PX came today and I was sooo busy fixing, altering the curtains that Renee had to have her dinner real late and it was past 8pm by the time we've both finished our meal when she began her practice. She did quite well today(I've decided to stick to the more fun way in coaching her than using the stern/scolding method - also to help me maintain my sanity! hahaha) and it being her birthday, I gave her 2 heartshaped candies(1 for the usual 5 stars accumulation), :D.

It's a good thing I've remembered to get a pc of cake for PX as she'd really kept her promise to Renee and came with a present today!

There are still quite a bit of area needed packing/cleaning which I'll have to follow up the next few days as my fingers are now sore and cracked(from the sewing, washing).

Right now, as I'm typing this post, this cheeky girl came to me(yes, not asleep yet, haiz) and said : "mommy, Vanessa has a makeup set, she put inside her bag. When she see Ms Quek, she pass it to her and Ms Quek put the earrings for her" and grinned at me. I asked her what's that grin's about and she said "because I want you to buy that for me" *grin*, hahahahaha.

Mommy, mommy...

...I want to 'mmm mmm'. Oh man! Renee came to me when I was in the shower - had just started washing my hair!

A couple of evenings ago(daddy had been attending his clients' 'stop work' dinners literally every night lately), I had asked Renee if she'd like to go to the toilet before I went in for my shower and she had said no. But, not long after I've gone in after giving her the cup of milk, she came to the master toilet, stood outside and shouted this : "mommy, I have urine, I cannot wait, so I pass urine on the potty". Arrrhhh, ok, I'll just have to wash the potty container then....

Tonight, I asked if she'd like to go toilet first and she said ok BUT..., it still happened! This time round, it's 'big business' and she'd need me to clean her butt thereafter, so I have no choice but to let her in(good thing I've showered with her before so I didn't have to go through the 'Q&A' part with her). She brought the toilet seat and towel over as instructed and did her business with me shivering with cold whilst waiting on her, hahaha.

Be it day or night, this has been the, I don't know how many-th time that such incidents had happened and I guess it'll just keep coming til the day she's grown tall enough to reach our home toilet seats, lolz.

Birthday Favors

Violin lesson

Ms Mok had to stay in school(AiTong Pri) last week to help prepare the students for their CNY performances and I've also requested earlier for this Thurs' lesson to be held on Wed or Fri, so we would be having her lessons today and this Friday.

Although she's given Renee a star after the 2nd bowing test on what she's learnt so far, she said that I'd really have to teach Renee on rythm of the 1/2 and 1/4 beat soon, arrgggh...

Today, Renee has began her 'finger pressing' on the strings for the high 'F' note which proved to be much more tedious as now she would have to control the hold of violin with purely her neck and shoulder only and co-ordinate the bowing with the finger pressing the strings for the various notes. This is a big step forward as per Ms Mok as she's told me on the last lesson that she won't start on this if Renee's not able to bow well on the 2nd exercise piece of the Suzuki Volumn 1(I've also learnt frm her today that Suzuki volumns are supposedly to be more advanced as compared to the European's). I had thought that one new 'note' would be enough for today but Ms Mok went on to 'pile' on her the recognition of pressing the 'B', 'C' and 'D' notes on the violin! Good thing Renee doesn't have to practice on them yet but then again, her next lesson is just a few days away... Renee had been very excited(she's said so herself) about learning new 'keys' today but with the finger hurting, she started to procrastinate her practice when we got home, hahaha.

Goodie Packs

After dinner, I decided to start packing up the goodie packs so that I'd have enough time to replenish 'stock' if any item's of not enough quantity.

I've bought lunch boxes for her friends, as I've had intended to buy pretty cupcakes(cos dun want her to cut cake twice, as advised by many people) for her to share with her classmates. The initial plan was to order those beautiful cupcakes I've seen on some personal websites but as majority of them are non-licenced home bakers and some are too pricey(cost more than a whole nicely decorated cake even and there's no point spending so much when there's not gonna be a celebration at sch),so I later planned to decorate them myself(here's a pic of what I've tried 1 Sunday a couple of weeks ago, a simple one) :

However, even though the design is simple but being new at 'creaming/icing', it certainly gonna take me abit more time than others to do up all 30pcs of them, so we dropped the idea so as to avoid the rush. W e'll just put goodies(well, in case u're wondering, the remnants shown in pic dun cover all that're put in the box, keee. There're M&Ms, creamy chupa chups, biscuits, chocolate layered biscuits, jelly bears, fruit jelly candies, jellies, etc), into the lunch boxes and we're replacing balloons with fancy pencils, heee :

Oh no, my bow!

During her practice this afternoon, Renee pointed out to me that there's a crack line on the top of her bow but thinking that it's not much of a concern, I told her to ignore it. But, half way through her practice, the bow 'crack' and it broke! and she has to stop her practice. She even asked "oh no, how am I going to practice now? Or I clap now?"(she meant to practice the rythm by clapping, hahaha. I had thought she would be overjoy to escape practice, :D).

She slept on the way to Gramercy(geez, the bow itself cost S$25!) and when we got to Takashimaya dept. store(almost leaving already actually), she looked at me seriously : "mommy, I think we've forgotten about something. We forgot to buy the bow". Am glad that she's expressing concern over it as that shows that she's keen to learn? :D. In fact, she's less insistent on being awarded the 'stars' for practicing, she only remembers about her 'stars' when she started to crave for her candy hahaha. I really hope that she'll keep up with the good work and attitude towards her violin lessons/practices(errmmm, minus the occasional 'fuss'when asked to repeat hahaha)...

4th Birthday Celebration!

Finally, the celebration is now 'over' and the main character, Princess Renee's sooo tired that she knocked out almost immediately on her bed(she's supposed to begin her 'do everything on my own' routine today - after the celebration of her birthday anyway, :D).

Almost all of my family members were here today and even my brother, CH, came back(from Shanghai last night) on time to join us. Not much photos taken this time round 'cos lotsa stuffs were done last minute and also, the 'party' had started later this year, so by the time the 'guests' and buffet arrived, we were all busy eating, chatting, catching up with each other.

CH + family wanted to go back earlier as JX wasn't feeling well, so daddy sent my mom and them home. A while after they've left, we were prompted to unwrap the presents but having been hinted on the gift that Elsie and Li had bought, Renee chose it to the first and only(she had not wanted to unwrap the rest , she said to play with one is good enough now, good girl!) gift to be unwrapped. Geez, it is indeed good enough as it's a set that contains 105 pcs of blocks and one can create many different scenes with them.

She also loved the boots and panda bear that uncle CH had gotten her(I guess she relate the bear to the 'talking panda' which we've got for her dur our very 1st biz trip 'cos although I've donated it away, she had asked for it a couple of times as she said that it was bought by us when we went 'work work', awwwww...).

Overall, although a small party, it had been quite an enjoyable evening for both Renee, Daddy, me and I assumed, for most of everyone too :D.

We even managed to 'salvage' the fondant! lolz

These ballons at our door had attracted the kids next door, :D

Of cos the angpaos are not in the pic la, lolz

Busy, busy...

Despite being busy over the coming celebration of Renee's birthday(I had thought it won't be too much work since it's only gonna be a family affair and food's catered, but wrong! lolz), I still had to try and get ready for the CNY, so it's busy busy busy, hahaha.

The school has resumed their Friday assembly today and there were some performances by the kids, as usual, after they've sang their Kinderland song(I like the way the children all went sooo 'gay' at the end of the song, it's like they really felt the words - 'Kinderland, the nicest place to be, Kinderland, the best for me', errrmmm, that's if I got the lyrics correctly hahaha). The first group(K2 students) sang the song 'Mommy and Daddy' which Renee had also learnt last year and so when they sang, I saw her(the only one though, lolz) swaying along whilst still sitting on the floor, :D. They were then asked to stand up and join in the song. This 'routine' went on for another 2 more songs before they announced the assembly's over.

Received an email from the school a few days ago:

Dear Parents

We will be celebrating Lunar New Year on 23 January 2009 (Friday),
please let your child put on the ethnics costume on that day.

The centre will be closed from 26 January (Monday) to 27 January (Tuesday)
and resume operation on Wednesday 28 January 2009.

WISHING ALL A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS LUNAR NEW YEAR.

Regards
Kinderland Preschool ( Serangoon)

As I was not aware of the costume attire for the racial harmony day last year, I thought it might be a good idea for Renee to join in this celebration since she's more aware of such activities/events now. However, as I do not want her to wear the traditional straight cut 'cheong sam', I surfed the forum and found some there. The dress that I saw briefly and liked at 1 web seller's site was removed on the same day due to it being OOS already.

I've told my sisters to keep a look out for me on such outfits and Sis told me that she's seen some at Punggol Plaza last evening. I went there right after the school's assembly but ended up buying from another retailer upstairs instead, heee. Later when I got home, I saw from the forum that there's yet another seller whom has got the same dress that I've just bought and was slightly cheaper! Good thing I've tried my luck by asking for discount with the retailer and thus, at the price of S$17.90, I've only paid 0.90cts more, as compared to the forum seller's(S$16.00 + S$1 postage) - furthermore, she doesn't have this colour that I've got, :D.

Although we only came back at 4:30pm, I still quickly got her to try on the dress. She was delighted when she saw the dress but complained about it being uncomfortable. I had almost brought her to return it but the inner material felt soft to me... But then again, it must be really uncomfortable 'cos she said ok when I suggested returning it. Not wanting her to feel 'left out' in school without a costume, I tried again to find out what could be causing her the discomfort. It might be the label that's causing it(I usually cut off the label as it's never comfortable to me, more so for the kids but as I've to prepare that I had to return this pc, so I dare not cut it off) and so, I told her to try it on with a thin inner camisole with the label 'away' and she said it's ok already. Hmmm, I hope it really is 'cos once I've washed it, there's no 'returning' anymore(also, the dress fit just nice now!), lolz...

Will post up pic on the dress later...

Artwork, I want to do more!

Since last Sunday, Renee's been asking to do the artwork(she didn't seem as interested when I brought them along during our Thailand and other trips, perhaps the recent X'mas sticker scene artwork provoked her new interest now) and what I did now was to just place the whole parcel/courier envelope bag next to her table where she'll look into it and choose them. She said she wanted to make them for aunty Elsie(why she said that, I don't know) and I told her that her aunty Lili would also like them 'cos she's mentioned about laminating those she's given to them during Christmas and used them as placemats, she said : "ok, I'll make some for her too!" and now she kinda make it an everyday 'chore' to complete a piece or 2, :D.

Just today, when I came back home from my facial(daddy picked her up, 'cos I wanted to spend more time at the salon), she had insisted on doing 2 pcs of them before her violin practice but she however, had forgotten about it when the infamous 'American Idol' started(yes, she's been 'following it' since the time she was still in my womb), hahaha.

During dinner(I was feeding her, 'cos she argued that she's still 3, cannot self feed yet hahaha- her recent argument when we told her she'd need to self-feed at every meal), she suddenly came to the table with white board and told me that she wanted to 'draw' the word 'Bear'. I had thought she meant to literally draw a bear, so anticipating the outlook sketching of a bear drawing, I saw the letter 'B' instead and when I told her "that's not a bear" she said, "wait, I havn't finished" and then the rest appeared...'B E A R'. Amazing, to me(Hmmm, she's 'self-taught' on writing her alphabets a few months ago but to spell?)! School hasn't even started on the A B C tracing yet!

Later, when she began writing the word 'RAbbit', I learnt that she's actually learnt how to 'spell' these words from the alphabet chart I bought her hahaha.

The Sunday after Christmas, she drew this :

This evening, she drew this after I did the 'set' on the left. This is simpler as compared to her earlier drawings(e.g. sea creatures, etc) but who cares, as long as she enjoys it, heee.

Renee's food fuss

I've made her the pancakes on Sunday and thinking that she'd love the whipped cream, I put some on one piece but she chose the one without hahaha(yes, only round ones, I've given up on the Hello Kitty pan hahaha, think it's more for eggs?):

She ate 2 pcs, after her lunch even!

This morning, she asked for her school menu for the day and when I told her it's braised fish + tofu with rice, she went "'yucks, I don't want", aiyoh!...

About Kinderland...

Found the first term newsletter and notes on the various enrichment programmes in her bag last Friday and was reminded that I've yet to sign her up for the extra Arts Class. Upon further query, we were told that the teacher conducting the class would be one whom specialises in Arts and different medias, including recycle-able items like toilet paper roll, tissue box, clay, etc will be used for exploration(it sounds like the kind of fun craft work I'd like her to join, rather than go to an arts class that concentrates merely on drawing, heee.). With this info, I would most likely be giving it a try and will hand in my registration form soon(unless I can find an alternative that's not too far...) and with Janice's, we now would have 4 already(a min of 5-6 students will be required for the class to commence), :D.

I remembered when we went to purchase the school uniform during the holidays, Janice had enquired about the Chinese Speech and Drama programme and although I wasn't really keen in that area now, I didn't really join her in the discussion but when I looked at the school's web, I realised that there're actually alot of things about the school and its programmes/network that I'm not aware of(I guess perhaps alot of parents are ignorant too, hahaha).

Their Curriculum:

Integrated Language Arts Programme (I-LAP) - A multi-sensory, thematic approach that combines stories, art, phonics and language experiences to bring meaning to the learning of the alphabet, reading and writing.

Math Alive Programme (MAP) - A meaningful and concrete way to acquire early mathematical concepts through hands-on learning and common materials from the child's environment.

Chinese Language Activity Programme (CLAP) - Fun and effective ways of learning Chinese through proven techniques such as songs, stories, drama, movement and penmanship exercises.

Move with Music Programme (MMP) - A movement-based music programme uniquely designed to nurture, refine and extend young children's musical abilities and enjoyment through songs, musical stories, percussion instruments and expressive movement.

Children's Music Course (CMC) - A formal music course that teaches keyboarding skills, rudiments of music theory and music appreciation by professional music teachers in order to prepare children for formal music education.

KinderFit Programme (KF) - The acquisition of fundamental movement skills as well as the development of self-confidence, responsible habit, team spirit and a positive attitude towards a healthy life-style are emphasized.

Enrichment Programmes(in school):

• Chinese Brush Painting
• Chinese Kindergarten
• Chinese Speech & Drama
• English Speech & Drama
• Gymnastics
• KinderArt
• Rhythmic Gymnastics(for girls only)

Kinderland's Associated Partners:

Crestar Learning Centre A one-stop learning centre that offers a wide spectrum of enrichment courses.

ELFA Children's Place Offers quality child care and preschool program.

KLC School of Education An established Early Childhood Teacher Training Institution.

Birthday Celebration, is it confirmed?

Yes, the celebration of Renee's 4th birthday is confirmed! Although it will be held about a week earlier, it is still very close to the CNY and thus, we decided to keep it 'small' - as in confined to mainly my family members/relatives. We had wanted to invited some of my/her friends over but due to the cited reason, we thought better not to trouble our friends at the peak period of their CNY preparations...

Renee said to me before I left home this morning : "mommy, I want to see your curly hair later" but I've to disappoint her as I'm not going for a curly but a soft straight perm, heee. Out of the salon, I walked aimlessly to Cold Storage(I had nothing in mind to buy from there actually, so I honestly din know what got me there) and sooo lucky for me that I did 'cos I found tubes of icing cream and gel there and at a cheaper price than what I've intended to get from the baking stuffs shop at Bukit Timah tomorrow! *phew*. Now, it's just another trial before I can conclude on how her mini birthday celebration would be 'set up' in school and also to save me the trip down to the shop!

I managed to place an order for the cake with the icing design that Renee has chosen but that design is only available in 2, 3kgs sizes and that sadly, with a small celebration to be held, is going to be too big... So, I've to choose an alternative which I hope she'll come to like as it comes in pink background.

TGIF!

It's Friday again and today, I've even forgotten that it is so! Well, age catching up and with the rush of planning/acquiring stuffs for the birthday celebrations(both home and school's), memory cells can't comply hahaha.

Collected our Crocs(overseas spree)-daddy, mine and Renee(got another skirt for her too!).

After school, we both went in search of 'gifts' for her goodie bags and saw some pre-packed 'Barney''s party packs(easier, so I dun hv to think about what to get haha) but unfortunately, they haven't got enough quantity for us. As we shopped along, we found something else and with a new idea formed in my mind, I bought the stuffs and hopefully, the 'plan' works hahaha.

Dora, PowerPuff Girls Or...?

For her 4th birthday celebration, Renee had declined her cake to be in the pic of 'Dora'. Instead, she wanted one with the 'PowerPuff Girls' design which we saw at a bakery a few months back. Unfortunately, the 'licence-ship' for this cartoon had just been discontinued(same timing for other bakers too!) and we're now unable to have one ordered for her...

Does that mean that she'll not want her haircut anymore? hahaha.

She was very disappointed initially but now she's ready to go for her 2nd choice(which she had earlier said to reserve for her 5th birthday celebration actually, hahaha) - Darby, Tigger & Pooh and we managed to find one, and in her favourite, the 'Super Sleuth in the open hundred acre woods' set up! However, long que at the shop and we had to rush to her violin lesson, so we have to go back there another day.

Go, No Go?

Today has been such a 'go, no go' day for me!

First, I was supposed to 'chauffer' daddy to a place where I'm to wait for him til he's done with some work(he said it'll take abt half an hr but the parking's there is extremely bad) before I returned to pick Renee up... However, when he told me that I had to leave earlier in order for him to be on time, but I was only about to tie the 2 french plaits for Renee then and her lunch(to be taken in sch) was only just about to be done. Anyway, I wouldn't want to send her to school earlier and leave her there in any case, so in the end, he went there himself, which of cos, turned out to be a blessing in disguise 'cos I had to cancel a last minute arranged coffee meetup with a mommy, to rush home and email a form to him!

Based on the note given yesterday, I had packed the books(wrapped late last night) and put in the bag of percussions in her school bag but was told that the music classes won't start til February and as it's pretty heavy, I took it back first.

After school, I brought Renee to the shop selling baking stuffs and from this shop and NTUC, I bought these(in preparation of Renee's birthday or maybe even any other parties in future), a can of whip cream and yes, a new box of pancake mix!(more to come...) I could perhaps try and 'fry' some pancakes for her and daddy this weekend :):

Daddy came home today, suddenly exclaimed good weather and asked Renee if she'd like to go down for a walk. They both finished their dinner veyr fast(or rather, it's Renee and she even self-fed herself ahhahah) and brought her tricycle down :). I stayed back to wash up the dishes and took the opportunity to alter a dress.

Oh oh, heavier school bag now

With each child being distributed a set of the following today, their school bags are surely going to weigh abit more now than last year's(even for those whom have to put in spare diapers/clothes for change last yr), especially for Wednesdays:

Renee was sooo excited when she saw the books and wanted to 'read' them when I took them out of the school's pack. However, as I've to wrap them up first, she was disappointed but later cheered up when I told her that she'll get to do that in school, :D.

Oh yes, more books-wrapping for me again...

School Time!

Yes, it's back to school again after a 6 weeks holiday break !

Woke up early today 'cos I've promised Renee that I'd tie 2 french plaits for her on her 1st day of school and as it's been awhile since I've done that, I reckoned(from the trials done this couple of wkends) that I might need a little more time. It wasn't just me whom had woken up earlier, even dear Renee did too! hahaha. She woke up not long after me and the 1st thing she did when she came to me was : "Good morning mommy, is it today I go back to school? Are you going to tie my hair for me?". However, we were both ready to go well before time and as I've also kinda lost touch with the 'correct timing' and had left home slightly too early, I had to try and drive abit slower(of 'cos only when there weren't cars behind me) but still, the school's packed with sooo many cars when we got there at 11:05am.

This year, Renee would be having her classes at 1 of the rooms upstairs(which were initially meant for K1 students) and she was amongst the 1st few to arrive. Not long later, her friends (mostly not in the correct uniform, still in the tees+shorts attire) began to fill in and she soon forgot about me haha. Many kids(especially the Pre-Ns) cried, even 1 boy from her class last year, whom used to cry each time he returned to school after the holidays, also did. I had thought to stay back to watch awhile but since Renee hadn't needed me on her very first day of Pre-N, I guess it might not be necessary now, so I left for my pedicure appointment.

Renee was coughing a little this morning, so I decided to give her some cough syrup after her late 'after school' lunch(she told me that she's only had 2 small bowls of fried mee tai mak in sch), and the effects of the medication kicked-in alot faster than I've expected. It was kinda funny when it did though, hahaha. She was practicing her violin and after some rounds of repetition, she got cranky and then when she's done, I told her to sit down on her sofa and 'listen' to my bowing for the rhythm(I guess it's the lethargy that caused her to lose abit of the momentum) and as I bowed, I saw her slowly 'dream' away and when I asked if she's sleepy, she replied "yes...", hahaha.

I had wanted to start her on the 'new notes' today but she's already so tired that she couldn't even remember all the earlier ones, I decided to put it on hold first as I do not wish to push her too much.

I was feeling very sleepy and tired myself but at that hour(4pm), I can no longer go for my nap as I'd need to prepare her dinner. An hour later, Renee threw tantrums when I woke her up and just when I've calmed her, daddy's back... :D

I had given Renee her cup of milk at around 9:15pm and when she came to me(in the room) at 5 mins to 10pm, I was angry to learn that she's still not finished her milk! By the time I came out of the room at 10pm, she's already placed the empty cup on the kitchen top but as I was upset(more with daddy actually, for not keeping tab on the timing), she cried and apologised for taking a long time to finish up her milk. Daddy then told her to get ready for bed and he'd accompany her but as she's just had her milk, I told them to wait a while.

Finally, at close to 10:30pm, after I've brushed her teeth and she's gone to the toilet, she went to bed... :)

A Mini Feast

Daddy went to the temple @ Jurong early this morning and since I've re-scheduled with Vicky to meet up for our X'mas gift exchange(yeah, X'mas'! hahaha) after her trip, so I slept in til 10am with Renee, :D.

Renee's bowing on the new notes/tempo has improved alot today and she seemed to be able to focus on 'reading' and understanding the note - I hope it's really so 'cos Ms Mok mentioned that it's not easy especially for a young kid like her.

Renee had requested for an outing and though daddy had agreed, I had felt kinda 'sian' as not sure where to go to, so when he came back with alot of food, we ended up(after some 'planning' of the food distribution) giving some to Sis, Eileen and brought the rest to Li's place(although so last minute, Sis and Elsie went too) and we had a mini feast there with these roasted duck, chicken, crabs and the penang food she's got from her friend's mom(I even packed some penang food home myself hahaha).

Had planned to let Renee resume her sleep early at 10pm from tonight onwards(she's been dragging her bedtime til 11pm lately, esp. these last couple of weeks) but today was a 'failure' as we had only came home @ around 10:15pm 'cos daddy was playing mahjong and so by the time I've cleaned her up and she's had her milk, it was almost 10:40pm already. Waited for daddy to tuck her in as promised but seeing her yawned twice at 11:15pm, I decided to get her teeth brushed and tuck her in myself - told daddy that he's not to come in(for his shower) til she's fallen asleep, so as not to distract her but she had fallen asleep in less than 5 mins, :D.

Good bye, MotorCar

Yes, we've sold the car - Renee's...

Been tidying up our home and as we've always find the motorised car abit bulky, I joked to daddy last week, about selling it off and to my surprise, he had agreed! So, I put it up for sale at a forum. Many haggled with us on the asking price even though we've lowered it to a 50%, so I thought to myself that probably we should just keep it if the offer's anything lower(also I'm quite 'bu she de' to let it go), esp. since it's still in such good condition and not been 'used' yet.

Finally, a post on its specifications today drew a genuine buyer and we sealed our deal in less than half a day's time, with the item collected this afternoon before we left for my mom's place, :).

Li had thought that Renee would be unwilling to part with the motorcar and I'm surprised myself, though also glad that she's not sad to part with it(she's actually looking forward to a rocking horse replacement, which I hope time might let her forget about, hahaha), maybe 'cos she's never really had the thrill of a real ride on it so it's easier for her to let it go - daddy had procrastinated too many times to bring it down for her to ride at the 'open garden' downstairs, so...

Bye Bye...

The Lion Dance

Good thing I've woken up at 8:10am 'cos Eileen had came earlier than the time she's indicated(@830am) to bring the foodtsuffs over. We chatted for a while and by the time I finished handling the foodstuffs, I even got some 'peaceful' time to myself whilst daddy and Renee were both still asleep.

Then at 5mins to 10am, it suddenly dawned on me that we'd be late for Renee's lesson, so I quickly woke her up. Today, as Ms Mok's satisfied with her bowing on the 'Twinkle Twinkle', she was given not only new theory lesson but she's also to play the notes from the Suzuki Volumn 1 - 1st variations on the E strings. So, here comes the book stand! :D

We headed to Compass Point for our lunch and with the promise of her getting to eat the candy Ms Mok gave her for being rather co-operative today(not entirely, but an improvement on focus), she even ate up almost 1 piece of the fish at Long John Silver fast food restaurant.

There were many 'lions' placed at the lobby and it's funny that she somehow knew that there's gonna be a performance when we passed by it the 2nd time. True enough, the performers began to appear about 15-20mins later and though there was a further delay, we finally get to watch(she insisted) the dance. Anticipating the loudness, I told her to get ready to cover her ears which she did when it finally began. There were many 'poles' placed for the 'Lion' to climb up and all of a sudden, in the middle of their dance, the performers fell! With everyone gasping, they resumed the performance despite the pain and u can sense the tension in the audience as they watched-on... When the fall happened, I had wanted to applaud to boost them up but was afraid to be looked upon as an alien, then someone else started, not once but a few times, to cheer them on, hurray! lolz... Though I'm not a lover of the Lion Dance, such performances are indeed not easy tasks and falls like this can be very painful and even dangerous, so they certainly could do with these encouragements.

Wanted to go for some green pear juice but couldn't find any pears from the Cold Storage, so I took some red apples from our fridge and commence the 'first operation' of our Juicer. Renee loved the apple juice, finally hahaha, but I hope that won't deter her from eating the apple on its own in the future, as that would actually give her better nutrients value.

More Art-y Stuffs?

Daddy had came home early unexpectedly(from his golf game) and after his nap, we went to Takashimaya to get a Juicer as FINALLY, Renee had recently willingly drank orange juice during one of our dinners outside! I remembered once, I'd squeezed alot of oranges and she didn't want to drink it and it was such a waste of efforts. And so this time round, when she expressed her liking to it after that evening, I thought I could introduce other types of fresh fruit juice, like red apple or green pear juice to her and so, a juicer would be required.

After our dinner, we walked over to Paragon to collect the box of 'Easy-to-Paint' tubes that the shop has reserved for me but just as I was making payment, the girl whom had earlier noted my query on the 'paint/shape rollers', recommended me this and said that she felt that this would be a better buy/item though they're of same price. The minute I saw it, I agreed and since I've already got paints from Crayola already, so... :) :

Oh ya, Renee has been writing on her own(as I've mentioned, they don't teach writing at Pre-N or even not til the last term of N), I decided to get her to jot down the recipient's name on the X'mas gift she's made for her violin teacher. She will be hving her make-up lesson tomorrow morning, as Ms Mok's father was hospitalised last week. Here's her writing- though most of it were of the wrong direction strokes but as she's not taught/guided on how, it's inevitable especially since she writes with her left hand(so most of the time she starts frm right to left hahaha). I do not wish to push her too much, so when I saw it, I just told her that it's wrong and guided her on the correct strokes. I guess I'll have to remind her to pay attention to the proper way of writing when in school in future and hope she'll write in the correct strokes in due course...

New Year Resolutions?

I'm sure most of you would have already had people questioning you on this and so I thought it a good topic to to be posted(I've also been asked by quite a few already hahaha).

Resolutions, do you have any? Well, I can't say that I have nor that I don't have any as I'm one who don't quite believe in setting New Year Resolutions. To be practical, don't we often find ourselves wanting to 'correct' some faults/bad habits, etc or even desire to achieve some goals in our lives, from time to time? If that's the case, how do resolutions 'belong' only to the beginning of each new year? :D

Ok enough said... Here's an article worth reading, :D :

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090101/tls-newyear-britain-health-aeafa1b.html

A success to welcome the New Year!

Right at the beginning of the Nov/Dec school holidays, Renee had asked for her milk to be given in a cup(with a straw) one day and I took the opportunity to get her to agree to putting her milk bottle/threw the nipple away. She had agreed immediately then but had occasionally asked if she could have her milk from the bottle during the 1st 2 weeks - all I did was just to tell her that it was her own decision to wean off and she'll say "Ok".

Since then, she's been hving her milk in a cup(without fail) til now and so, I am happy to announce that yes, our dear girl has self-weaned herself from the milk bottle! Well done and keep it up, Renee :).

Happy New Year - 2009!

It's the new year! And for a start, I've got a new face for our blog, :)

Just a few hours ago, we had dined at Dan Ryan's and although we found the bill abit ex for the simple dinner but then again, where else can we have a decent dinner at a cheaper price on this night?... We were late on arrival and it was a good thing I've called up to reserve a table earlier.

We took a stroll nearby after our hearty dinner and managed to capture some shots which we've missed during the Christmas :)

We came home before 10:30pm and by the time, I'm finally able to settle down on the sofa, it was already about time to count down! This year, we have daddy home with us and we waited for the big boom which I had thought might not surfice afterall the talks on the economy downturn but then.... :

Fireworks! At the comfort of our home :D