A Little Drummer?

Nature Study? - Grasshopper

Almost forgot about these 2 pics. 2 Sundays ago, a grasshopper came into our flat(for the 2nd time). This time, daddy decided to 'capture' it so that Renee could have a closer look at the insect. However, failing to find a clear container, he decided to go for a plastic bag and of cos, releasing it after a short while.

Violin Lesson Resumed

Renee's violin teacher is back and she finally gets her lesson after a long break of 3 weeks!

As mentioned in 1 earlier post, I've asked Renee to practice on the speed/styles of playing(loud/medium loud, etc) but apparently, what the teacher has told us earlier, that 'Crescendo' = gradually getting soft, was wrong! Although I had my doubts initially('cos I remembered watching the little einsteins with Renee before and their 'ship' went up when they commanded 'crescendo'), I did not raise it up and that was a mistake, 'cos I was briefly mentioning these codes to Renee 1 day and daddy heard her deciphering them, he said that the part on 'crescendo' was wrong. So, I decided to take this up with the teacher today... I asked her what does 'crescendo' means actually and she said "oh it means gradually getting louder". With that, I told her "then u've told us the wrong thing. u have said that it meant getting softer" and I showed her the notes she's jotted on the music scores. She quickly re-wrote it and apologised. I didn't want to put too much focus on this mistake 'cos she might have been very much pre-occupied by her earlier holiday trips and also the recent instruments buying trip that she made such an oversight...

But this 'mistake' has indirectly caused Renee unable to get her star today 'cos although I've pre-informed her that perhaps what we were told were wrong and if so, she would have to play 'that part' louder instead of 'getting softer & softer' and she had nodded. And though due to this, the teacher had also given her some 'allowance' for her to re-correct her playing, it's still not easy for a young child to correct it just by verbal correction for the very first time, but she tried her best and for that, I still gave her 1 lollipop(she had been eyeing that 2 boxes of organic lollipops and was sad when she cldn't get her star u see...)

Her teacher has helped us purchased a bigger sized violin for Renee but as she's hand-carried the adult sized ones plus a new Cello, she has to get the merchant to ship the smaller sized ones over. So, we were not able to get ours today and was told it'd take about 25 days to arrive(by sea, 'cos it's too costly to air them over) and thus, I also do not know the exact cost yet. However, I got the new rosin today(bought locally) and though this one cost more at S$16, it's said to be hypo-allergenic and better, especially for children with sensitive skin/nose.

Current Rosin

The new 'professional rosin'

I had a sudden tummy cramp today and not sure how well I can tolerate it, I decided to just take Renee home for her already prepared home-cooked lunch, without buying mine. Back home, she ate up her lunch alone at the dining table and left me to rest on bed. Decided to skip our trip to the DFS due to the cramp but feeling better after the short rest and the lunch daddy's bought for me, we went over to Li's for mahjong session after daddy's nap.

Renee's requested to dress in her princess dress(the one she put-on on her birthday) today and she really enjoyed herself, with her aunty Li and wayne gor gor taking turns to play with her, plus a pack of her favourite bear vanilla cream biscuits, lolz.

*she must have played too much/wild liao, 'cos as I'm typing this post, she just had another 'ham meng'...

A Good Night Sleep

Obviously the header of this post doesn't apply to moi! hahaha.

It's only the beginning of mid year term holiday and Renee's already having a good night sleep(she went to bed with her daddy at ard 10:30pm) and had only woken up at around 10:30 this morning! Had it been that stressful for her at school this year, even without any academic curriculum? 'Cos I've noticed that it's been only these few months that she had been waking up early even though she's gone to bed not too early, hmmm, food for thought...

She had a good time at our family gathering playing with her cousin JX again today and she even counted the total number of times she's sayang her new cousin Jia Yi, hahaha(she asked if she's been a good jie jie since she's sayang the baby 4x in total, including the 1st one last Sat, lolz).

To get the momentum going, I told her that I'll read to her(also, to get her to bed) just now. As usual, she wasn't satisfied with just one story, so I finished up the whole book by reading her the last one(last 2 stories of this book). However, the neck ache that I've gotten from reading her the stories wasn't also not enough for her to stop her request for her daddy to sleep in again, so I tried another way to reason with her:

Me : "Renee, next time I'll only read you one story ok"

Renee : "Ok"

Me : " and if you still don't go to sleep after I've read you the story and kept asking for your daddy to come sleep with you, I'll give all the books away to other children"

Renee : "Ok"

Me : "are you sure it's ok? I'll give ALLL the books away you know, old and new and also your toys"

Renee : "also the 'I'll always come back' book?"

Me : "Yes"

Renee : "huhhh, I don't want"

Me : "so, do you still want to ask your daddy to come sleep with you?"

Renee : *shaking head and pouting*

Me : "listen, if I read you story and you say to me "thank you mommy, for reading me the story", give me a kiss, say good night to me, presss press your bolster and go to sleep, I'll be very happy that u're such a good girl and I'll buy more and more books to read to you, isn't that nice?" - yes, this is how precise I have to speak to her at times, lolz

Renee : "thank you mommmy, good night" and pouted her lips for me to kiss...

Well, we'll see...

A Long Friday

The school's confirmed a slot in the morning session for Renee for the next term but I'm still working on some considerations and I'm to inform them at least a week in advance, before the school re-opens. Meantime, I hope I could put this matter aside and enjoy her school holidays with her, :).

Had arranged to meet Janice for munchies, and so we went(even went to check out a music school for her son and a arts school for both our kids). And after school, she and Jerome joined us for a story telling session at the Compass Point library and afterwhich, we went walking around some shops whilst our kids enjoyed each other's company. Oh my gosh, when with the company of her friends, my little girl is more 'out of hand' than they are! She's sooo much into play! :}

However, having been out since morning, well even though it's the later part of it, I was already tired by the time we were done with snacks at Mac after the story telling session. I had gone to bed after my reading @ around 2:15am, but I wasn't given a chance to really fall asleep 'cos our darling was 'fussing' in her sleep. When I went to sleep next to her, she was still fussing every now and then and when I told her that it's ok and that I'm with her, guess what, she murmurred "wayne gor gor played with me" - arrrh, that's the light to her fussing! I remembered when I went to pick her up from Eileen's last night, they were both perspiring all over from the play. That must have explained her 'ham meng'... However, this wasn't just that, we didn't have the air-condition on last night and she was perspiring when daddy had stopped the fan from 'turning' and she must have been grouchy from the heat and caused me to wake up every now and then the whole night, the last straw came at about an hour after she woke up for a drink of water and going to the toilet, I told her that I'm going back to my bed. When she finally realised that I wasn't sleeping next to her, she got up, went to daddy and made him go sleep with her, hahaha.

This is the playdoh cake her wayne gor gor had done for her(she made the candle, hahaha)

Ok, enough for the digress/'explanation' hahaha, Renee was again, reluctant to part with aunty Janice and Jerome and threw a tanthrum even after Janice had promised to invite her over for some art&craft and a swim thereafter during the holidays. She wanted them to go to our place, then and there! Geez... Finally, Janice gave her a pack of bear gummies - which Jerome had promised earlier to give to her but was stopped by their teacher(I guess, was due to the incident of 'expired candies' case). That however, managed to soothe her and we parted...

Mid year school holiday has finally began, and although I've got some art/craft supplies in stored and many books in preparation, I'm now alittle clueless as to where/how to begin. Maybe it's because my mind's now clouded by thoughts of the session change, which will affect her routine. I think I must really learn to 'relax' myself over such matters, lolz...

Child Talent, again?

When I went to pick Renee up this afternoon, I was informed and handed by her host teacher a letter from KLC, that Renee's been selected as a child talent for their coming commercial photo shoot. However, daddy's said no to the earlier talent search by the media people, so it's not surprising that he'd say no again this time, lolz...

Back from 'work'...

Have briefly discussed with daddy about changing Renee to morning session school next term - 8am to 11am, and he agreed. So now it's just waiting for the school's response on whether they could find a slot for her in Nicole's class(if she's still attending that is).

Out of habit, I was searching for the SCV remote controller when I was reminded that we no longer have its service - yes, we've finally unplugged it and returned it to Starhub this evening(due to not much 'usage' but I can' say for sure how long it'll be 'gone' cos daddy might decide to apply for it again when the soccer season is back) 'cos it's near to the place where our seminar was, heee. And also because we were there, I even managed to grab some boxes of the pot cleaning substance from Daiso and some heart-shaped handle carrying boxes for Renee(seldom get to go to Daiso, so each time go there will grab many things, but today, just lack of time...hopefully the new branch at R/mall will open soon!), :).

When I was giving Renee a shower, she mentioned about a 'party' in school tomorrow and that she's to bring her favourite food there. I had read her message to that they would be having a end-term class party but Janice just informed me that she had heard it was a classmate's birthday party. Oh man! Geez, whichever case it is, I think I must remember to pack some bread into her bag, 'cos this girl might go hungry if there's nothing which she'd go for from the 'party food', lolz.

An Old Friend

We were alittle late to school(by 5mins) today and I saw 1 of Renee's ex pre-n classmates, Nicole! This lovely girl has been quite well-liked by her other peers last year as she's a friendly girl. However, she appeared quieter today(she used to smile alot, even at me, when I went to pick Renee up in the past), sitting in the office waiting for her mom to collect her, I can still see recognition on her face when she saw Renee and me! I called her name and asked if she remembers Renee and she nodded! Renee was alittle shy instead, when she was the one whom had been asking about this friend.

Saw the mommy at the gate as I was leaving and as they also came out very soon, I took the opportunity to ask the mommy if Nicole wld be going to the same school in the morning session for next year and her answer's Yes. Janice and myself had thought that Nicole has already changed school so when I saw her just now, I must say that I'm very happy, heee, 'cos that means Renee would finally have a friend when we really decided to change her to morning session next year, hurray! Oh wait, perhaps we could even change her next term! Hmmm...

No Assistance?

Yes, No? Actually, I would prefer she does it under my watch though, for the time being at least...

Oops, sorry, I've forgotten to let known what this is all about, hahaha. Well, our Renee is finally able to 'lift' herself up to the toilet seat! Our toilet bowl seats, after some comparisons(not all of cos) are alittle higher, and with her not being very tall(still hasn't reached the 100cm mark yet :>) and the seat being raised up further by the foam padded child seat, she used to have difficulty getting herself up on it. However, yesterday, without waiting for me to help her up, she did it, smoothly, yes, finally! lolz...

Though I wouldn't say that she is now fully toilet independant at home(since she'd still need someone to wash her up after passing motion), this is a very good start 'cos she can now really start to wipe herself up after each toilet use.

Rest, what's that?

I was supposed to have the PTM with the host teacher today after school but realised that I may not make it after all cos I've got a facial appointment, so I've to pick the foodstuffs up from Eileen after school. However, before I could decid whether to just proceed with it since it may not take a long time, the host teacher was already waiting for me at the office for a on-the-spot PTM('cos she has meeting in the aftrn)when I sent Renee to school, and we were late... Why? haiz, long story and because of it, I was angry with our dear little girl. Anyway, as the teacher led me to a corner of the office table, she instructed Renee to go up to the classroom herself but this girl, either phobic of the previous incident or this morning's, she was reluctant till Mrs Ong told her that it's ok and I have to reassure her nicely that it is too...

What's conversed between me and the teacher this morning is not necessary to be accorded here(well, actually it's bascially because I'm feeling tired from waking up earlier this morning to type out the whole thing, heee), so I'm just going to skip its contents... family members/close friends will hear from me personally if you wish to know. But no worries, it's not because she's a naughty girl or anything, she's still awarded with praises from the teacher, in case you're wondering, :).

Anyway, I was late for my facial and I must be feeling exhausted 'cos I dozed off right after the massage! Actually, I've only started to doze off during facial treatments only very recently(the last couple of appts that is) and it's usually when the therapist has left the room for the masque to work its 'magic' but today! I guess I must have badly needed a rest...quite embarrassing, heeee.

Thereafter, I rushed over to the school but there were only Renee and another kid waiting at the office when usually there would be quite a number(I was only abt 5 mins late! Perhaps it's there's art lesson this afternoon?), so it was a good thing I've packed 2 story books into her bag for standby, :D.

We went to H/mall again and this time, I took her to the foodcourt for her favourite char siew rice. She had suggested going to Compass Point instead 'cos she remembered me telling her that the char siew rice there isn't very nice, lolz but I told her we could give it another try. I ordered a mixed char siew/roasted duck combi and she loved it, lolz. Although I had only intended to go there for a quick exchange of some items, we ended up staying there for about an hr and by the time we went over to Eileen's, Renee had already fall asleep in the car - good thing Eileen had offered to bring the foodstuffs down, *phew*...

Back home, I let Renee continued her nap in the stroller whilst I quickly tend to the chores and I woke her up when I was done with the foodstuffs and preparation of her dinner. She then followed me back to the car to collect more groceries, *busy busy* hahaha...

No PTM

No school for Renee as it's supposedly to be the PTM = Parent Teacher Meeting day. However, daddy couldn't make it last minute and so I phoned the administrator up and asked her to inform Renee's host teacher that I'll perhaps see her after school tomorrow.

Needing to go out afterall, to collect spree's stuff(mommy & child alike apparels, hee & organic lollipops!), I took Renee to H/Mall(her choice) for lunch thereafter. When we were almost done with our meal, we noticed a mother and son sitting at our back and Renee can't help but noticed the 'friend'. I told her the boy's got nice school uniform and when the mommy heard, she turned to smile at us. The mommy then asked about Renee's age, etc and soon, a small conversation quickly en-geared. And whilst we were conversing, Renee went to play with her new found friend as well! However, I didn't want to spend too long there(which still took us >3 hrs), so I cleared up and started to make a move. This lady also began to move off and we ended up walking along together 'cos the boy held on to Renee's hand! We then exchanged contacts(they happen to stay in SK too!) and perhaps one day, we might meet up again... - Guess what? Our little darling seems to have also taken a liking to this new found friend 'cos trice already, since we've parted with them, that she said "mommy, I'm thinking about the new friend already", hahaha. And on the 3rd time she even added : "let's meet up with them again. I'll bring some drawing stuff and draw with my new friend and you can talk to the mommy", :D.

Full Air-Conditioned

Just this morning, a repairman came to our door by mistake(supposedly going to our neighbour's on the 3rd floor) and tonight, we have to have our conditioner switched on for the whole place!

Daddy came home feeling grouchy due to the stuffiness and me, despite the cleaning help PeiXiang was here for, was still perspiring like mad - and the sweat was literally dripping off my neck/chest! Geez... I looked outside our windows and saw the leaves of the palm trees moving but in our home, it's not that windy?! Later, when I was packing stuffs in the wardrobe, daddy couldn't stand it any longer and took my 'mere' suggestion seriously and switched on the blower at our living hall, then Father and daughter were both enjoying life, hahaha. I only came out after my shower but as I'd to clean Renee up in the enclosed common toilet, I was half soaked again, :( and when I finally got to 'enjoy' the coolness, my tv show was just about to end, hahahahaha(so I'm here to blog about it, ;P).

I don't remember it was this bad this time last year or the previous few. It seems like the weather is really getting hotter and hotter during this period/few months!

Hmmm, a thought suddenly came to me - has anyone wonder or even have tried and knew the cost of having the whole flat/house airconditioner(s) switched on 24 hours, everyday? :D

Various Accompaniment

I've chanced upon some accompaniment pieces online recently and on Sunday, I thought Renee could try synchronise playing with them for fun. She did enjoy some of them, :).

However, for the piece 'Song of the Wind', since she's been corrected by her violin teacher to play it a little slower than initially, it took her a little effort to try and 'catch up' on some parts with the accompaniment now but I didn't correct her, just leave this song out. This is she had been instructed not to play as fast as the CD that came with the Suzuki Volumn 1. And the instructress' reason is that, it is very important for beginners to stabilise the bowing direction and this can be deterred if they begin by playing too fast all the time.

When I first heard this, I had worried that she might get too used to it and can't catch up should she really play with an accompaniment on her exam day. The answer = the accompaniment is supposed to be playing along with her and not otherwise. So with that advice, I didn't bother to re-correct her. Anyway, the teacher knows better, :).

There was an earlier recording on this(which she had played better than in this), but she

grinned at the camera at the end of it, so she re-do this piece again today

O Come Little Children

She hasn't got a 'star' from the teacher on this song yet 'cos we havn't seen the teacher since the first time she started on it(which was on 10 May '09). The teacher has just returned to Singapore yesterday and I'm trying to fix an alternative day for her make-up lesson, if not possible, then it'll be a break of 3 weeks, geez!

However, during this 'break', I repeated the reading of the 'codes' once more and got Renee to practice on the 'mezzo forte', 'cresendo' and 'forte' - so far so good(but this video isn't one of her best plays on the different volumn/strength):

The Right Reward

Renee was on good behaviour(wouldn't call it best since there were a couple slight tanthrums still) yesterday and for that, I told her after her practice, that I'd give her an extra star if she finished up the cup of barley water. She was quick to ask for 1 more, which makes 3, when she was done with folding/keeping her laundry. I had almost acceded when I realised that I shouldn't be rewarding my kid for things that she's supposed to do. So I told her no and later, I explained to her why. She said ok and smiled, so I told her "but, for such good behaviour like keeping your toys, your artwork stuffs, clothes as you did just now, I will cook you your favourite food" and she grinned, :D.

This is how she made her 'bed'

At my mom's today, I finally met my brother, CH's younger son! Cute boy, responded well and even tried to 'talk' when I played with him, :). Babies are just soooo cute, :D.

Go Tell Aunt Rhody

Song Of The Wind

She has been playing the earlier songs with the up, down, up, down bow consistantly but with this song, she learnt to begin on the down bow(after ending with the same) during the 'rest', on the next line/bar of tune and also, to double bow the same notes with the same 'stroke' :

Rushing Around

I was talking to Janice after the assembly when Mrs Ong came out with Renee and told me R's complaint of tummyache but she hadn't wish to go back home with me, so I requested the teacher to rub some 'Ru Yi' ointment for her. As both of us needed to go back to take care of our kiddos' meals, we decided to handle that first and meet again for makan at 1pm. However, I got carried away with packing Renee's stuffs and was late to meet her, heee.

We were trying out a new room/location this evening, thus we sent Renee to Eileen's a little earlier than the last few times. It's near Raffles City, so we decided to walk over there for our dinner and we noted quite abit of changes at this mall. It has been quite a while since we've last been there already. Daddy suddenly had the crave for Subway's sandwiches but this branch is very small and there was already a long que, so we wasted time walking around, looking for place to settle our dinner. He was clueless, so I took the lead and led him to a 'nearby' chinese 'xiao chi' and there we filled our tummies, :). Then it's another rush again, back to the place for the seminar.

I've requested Eileen to help me to exchange the book but she not only just did that, she even got Renee a few more new ones, hahaha. Thanks, Eileen.

Another Day at the Bookstore

This is usually what happens or rather, will end up in our home when I go to the bookstore, hahaha.

Actually, I brought Renee to the store today as I'll have to help daddy tomorrow evening, so there goes our Friday outing. Also, I needed to go look for that princess storybook, thus... However, after spending quite a long while looking for the book, I realised that it's actually not that suitable for Renee when I finally found it, aiyah! What a waste of time, hahaha. However, remembering some images from the '50 fairy things to make' book, I thought I should get some art craft stuffs since I've got the discount voucher, so we got these :

Renee wanted to get more of the crepe paper but not sure if I'd really get down

to doing the stuffs with her, I told her max 5, hahaha

For books, I've got these for her but we've already got 1 of the titles in another book, so I'll bring it back for exchange soon(the cashier told me ok since I'm not sure of the titles). After comparing a couple publishers' same series of books, I chose this publisher's. Very tempted, not sure if my sisters still have their vouchers, heee:

The minute we got home, she quickly ransacked the bags whilst I put the other stuffs away/cook her meal, and... :

Well, the day hasn't ended yet...After her shower and dinner, it took me more than 2 1/2 hours to tidy up her toys/stuffs with the new 'organisers':

Earlier...........................................Now

...yet again.... whilst 'removing' some of Renee's stuffs(yes, she simply has too much that they're literally everywhere, lolz) from daddy's cabinet, 1 which he's yet to bring to his office, I found more activity books and 1 forgotten 'weather chart'(got an extra of this activity book but she's not sure which friend she'd like to give it to yet, lolz), so now she has one more 'chart' put up, lolz :

What are these? The grey with purple trimming's GUG bag, which I put in most of her GUG artwork, the white courier bag contains the arts/activity works, the TSC's paper contains all her new story books and the blue box contains her paints/brushes, etc...

Lightly Row

With this song, she began to learn to 'drag'/play the bow longer with the indicated notes...

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Hi all, here comes the looong awaited videos,*drumming* :D.

I have actually put up another blogsite to segregate these videos from this blog, but all those earlier ones mostly showed alot of her face(front) and thus, taking Li's advice, I think I shouldn't put them up. For that reason, you guys will only get to see the recent ones(some only audio), which co-incidentally, were taken between 5-6 months(with many weeks of missed lessons in between of cos, hahaha) after she's started her violin lessons.

Also, this violin is not of fantastic quality and thus, it tend to sound brassy...

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Variation A

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Variation B

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Variation C

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Varation D

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Theme

Everything 'baby'

Since we've stopped TCM for Renee and put her on the nose allergy medication, it hadn't occurred to me to add carrots into the soup! To think that Renee had mentioned about it a few times even, geez! lolz... Today, I went to Cold Storage and got baby carrots, baby sweet corns(also the original sized ones), pumpkin, so tonight's soup is gonna be 'tasty', hahaha.

On the music front, as expected, Renee was about to slack in her practice again due to the missed lesson last Sunday but good thing is that there's still another part to be 'learnt' on the same song during this supposed session, so I just let her try that part out on our own this week til Ms Mok's back from her trip(hopefully she's able to help us find another better violin from the trip...), and that perks her up for a while more, :D.

A Wedding Dinner

Eileen wasn't available to look after Renee today, so we asked Li if we could place Renee at her place. Today's seminar ended alittle earlier than anticipated, s0 we stayed there for a brief chat when we went back to fetch Renee.

Back home, I quickly blow dry Renee's hair after daddy's showered her and made her napped with her daddy but she was woken up shortly and was grouchy lolz... However, her earlier excitement about the dinner returned when she remembered the flower hairband(whilst I was tying her hair and made me untie her hair so that she could use the hairband, hahaha).

We arrived @ Hilton hotel at slightly past 6:30pm and we managed to settle down on time to witness the solemnisation(some were 'locked out' due to late-ness and were only let in when the solemnisation's over). Tonight's dinner was quite different and was rather enjoyable for us as we were seated with a group of very communicative and friendly people. Even Renee had a good time. One lady even asked daddy if we'd allow Renee to go for 'child talent' jobs/events, but I didn't quite get that piece of conversation and when I asked daddy what it was about, he said that he's also not very sure due to the chatter, but many of the bride's guests are in the media industry as she used to work with Mediacorp and that lady seemed to be from a child talent company and she mentioned something like "she's so cute, someone's looking for..... so would you....."(oh no no, not boasting here, this is truly what the lady's said but sorry folks, that's really all I can gather...) but I remembered I heard daddy saying : "Oh no no no...", :D hahaha.

Towards the end of the dinner, I've also noticed that the photographer had taken some solo snap shots of Renee and this is the 2nd time a photograhper did so, kekeke...

Oh ya, the animated pre-wedding montage video the couple has put up was interesting(new to me but not to daddy since I didn't join him to a recent wedding) , unlike the usual photographic type which I'll normally not bother, heee... I managed to catch some parts here n there, here, take a look :

And here're the favors provided by the hotel :

Renee not only had a wonderful time mingling, she also had 1 of the emcees performing a brief 'magic' act for her lolz. It was already past 11:15pm by the time we got home and without finsihing her 1/2 cup of milk(her tummy was already big from her home-cooked dinner, food frm e table, snacks & etc), she soon knocked out on her bed.

More Books? :D

After school today, I quickly brought Renee to look for the princesses story book but as she's requested to go to Compass Point, we didn't find it there(we first saw it at Hougang mall branch, but then again, it seemed to be the last book...). However, I found this, not bad, quite a good buy even :

When daddy came home early(was supposed to be later but due to the rain, they have to stop the golf game midway, hahaha), he opened up his golf size umbrella and place it in the study room to dry... When Renee saw it, she was sooo excited and claim that it's her camping tent! hahaha :

Books Spree

Finally, the long waited books have arrived! Although the shipping cost is high(good quality paper but very heavy, guess that's why and apparently, I've heard that this 'brand' of books are sold expensive here) but I've finally got Really BEDtime stories(those I've got here are toooo long to be considered BEDtime series lolz) ranging from 2 pages-for short stories to 6 pages and they're all pretty nice ones too. However, I've remembered wrongly that the 'fairy tales' book has got the stories the other book I saw from the local bookstore the other day. Hmmm, wonder if the book's still available...

And since Renee loves these panties, I got more of them in bigger size :

Needless to say, Renee was very excited about the books and pouted when I told her that I'll read them to her during the coming holidays, hahaha.

Windy Days Are Back?

Unlikely, not in these few months I guess, but it's been quite windy the past few days :

Percussions

After her shower, Renee took out her school's percussion set and told me that she'd like to play with them(it seems like they hvn't started using them in sch til today, hope i'm wrong...). Here's her trying out the instruments with the various songs - to see which tune would go better with each of them and she's discovered alternative ways to 'play' some of them along the way, hahaha:

It's amazing how different an instrument can sound when being held a different way:

Coin Slots

Renee has been pampered by her aunt with toys from coin slot machines and I thought it's perhaps time for her to get in touch with a 'real' one! lolz. So today, I took her to the canned drink dispensing machine located at the carpark washing bay and with only 2 $1 and a 20cts coins available, I asked her to look for drinks labelled at S$1.20 and out of the few she's spotted, I chose this and she selected it.

After her practice, I asked if she'd like to do some artwork and she requested for the 'princess' sticker artwork, so I got a new piece of the castle scene one:

And as I'm typing this post, Renee suddenly brought out an old artwork which she's done in school for the valentine's day and insisted that I opened the 'heart' up, claiming that there's a piece of paper inside. As I didn't act on her request immediately, she being impatient, removed the tape and voila! Ohh, it's nice :

Term Holiday?

This morning, holding the home phone, Renee told me that she wanted to phone her classmate, Vanessa and invite her over to our place to play and when we communicated further, it seems that she has mistaken yesterday's 'holiday' as a beginning to one of the schools' long holiday breaks! hahaha.

After the 'nap' that I've had during my facial, I felt energised and since I've still got a big piece of codfish, prawns and chicken wings in the refrigerator(plus there'd be fresh foodstock again tmrw), I decided to cook dinner for the 3 of us today, :D. Needless to say, daddy was delighted(as we're both sick n tired of eating packed food) and Renee, whom had previously complained that the baked codfish tasted different from her usual, requested for more when she's already had her own share of threadfin, lolz...

Another Mothers Day Card?

Renee's school is closed today for the holiday-in-lieu(Vesak Day) and we had planned to take her to the Zoo for some waterplay(thinking that it might be less crowded on a wkday but I later learnt from PX that most schs are closed too, lolz), so I gladly arranged for PX to come over earlier(she's mentioned that she'd like to come over earlier on alt wks dur hols or no sch for Renee) but she was a little late today, so she had to rush abit when she realised that we're bringing Renee out. However, her rush wasn't necessary as daddy didn't make it back till 3:50pm and it was drizzling... My suggestion of going to the Science Centre was put down by daddy due to the time(ya, like I'm the one who made it home late, ok ok he has work to attend to...) and when the sky cleared up a little, it was already past 4pm and I deemed it too late to continue with our original plans, thus we ended up with dinner at h mall...

Whilst we were 'waiting' and discussing on alternative plans, I took the opportunity to check into Renee's backpack and it was a good thing that I did so, 'cos I found the piece of 'homework' on the lower case alphabets in the communication book. Geez, I've forgotten about that! I quickly took it out and told Renee that she'd have to do it when we come back and she did so, after her shower, :).

Apart from the 'homework', I also found this... It's a card they've made in school. Of cos I prefer the one she's made for me at home but it's nice to know that the school has guided them in this, :).

A New Song

2 stars from her violin lesson today(1 for the previous song and 1 for the latest), however today's new song 'O Come, Little Children', though a slightly slower rhythm, she has to learn how to read these on the scores and play them the way they're indicated - 'mf' = mezzo forte, medium loud, 'P' = piano, soft, 'F' = Forte, loud, Crescendo = getting gradually louder... What makes it tougher is that this song begins on a 'up bow' and also, there're a few of double 'same' bowing, so I'm foreseeing some blood vomitting at the beginning on my part tomorrow(when she begins her 1st home practice on this piece) since it's gonna be confusing for her even though she's already touched on both of these techniques in earlier songs.

Good thing is that for such 'extra' work, she would for now, only have to concentrate on the playing of the notes/tune first and learn the rest next lesson...*phew*, else I think I'd go crazy, hahaha(now I know why alot of schools are not willing to take in younger children for violin).

Another Site

Due to insufficient vote counts to indicate true readers' preference(the last counter showed 'equal' no. of votes for both choices), thus, I've decided to go with my preference - another site, :).

Shall try to make viewing easy and I'll update you guys when the URL is ready. Please leave me a comment here or email me to let me know if you're keen to be informed of the link.

A Little Informal 'Performance'

We'd be celebrating the 'M' day for our mother today over at hers and I've got Renee prepared for a little performance - a little plan encouraged by her teacher to help her overcome her fear of performing or rather, playing infront of others. She was alllll ready for it but when the time comes for her to really play the tunes, she got nervous again. However, she's slightly better this time and she even played the few songs that she's learnt, :) but we could still tell that she's still nervous. Nevermind, just hope she'll get over this fear with more of such 'performances'(no choice since she's on a 1 to 1 privated lessons).

My sisters have long heard about her doing/dancing the 'wo men de kong ji, bu jian le' song(not sure if this is the actual title hahaha) and I've also got her to agree to doing it today. But then again, unlike the violin, she was even less willing to do the dance! It was only when she wanted to have 1 of the plastic bowls from the table of buffet food that she was finally willing to do it, but... not in the full 'swing', no 'shaking of bum bum' as she'd normally do at home, hahaha.

Earlier at home, Renee wanted to make me a card when she was told that tomorrow's Mothers' Day. However, I can't be helping her do it rite? So I gave her a colour paper and told her to get daddy to help her(he should have the initiative to start it himself in the first place...anyway, think he only guided her on e spelling whilst reading his papers, cos she only knows how to spell 'mommy' and 'papa' hahaha) and this is how it turned out :

Isn't it nice? heeee(the stamps I bought for her came in handy too!)

And this is the book Li has got for Renee from her recent trip to KL

(with finger puppet eyes)

These PJs Elsie gave her came in just on right time!

A Friday Cuppa and... Stamps!

Met Janice at the school as I was about to leave and she told me to wait... and we both went for a munch(good thing I've got Renee's bread packed up just in case). We had a nice time chatting about schools, homes, even politics, hahaha and thanks to her help, I finally managed to get my 'work' on newspaper prints photo-copied/reduced in size(so that I could put them in my portfolio-I'm currently re-adjusting my filo) - went to many places and most can't do colour copy, so, *phew*.

Eileen had passed me quite abit of stamps before but as she's given them to me much too early, they had been sitting in our storeroom for a looong time. So much so that I've donated them away when I was doing a major clean up of that room(thought I've kept some still leh...). Now that Renee is older, I wouldn't say that I regret it(since they're being donated) but for that, I'd been on the look out for nice stamps in vain. Finally today, at one of the shops @ Compass Point, I got these for her(and was even given a free limited edition of the Princesses' poster) :

Long, Short, Shorter and Now What?

This little Renee is making me 'busy'... After having persuaded me to cut my hair short like hers, she now tells me that I've to keep it long as that's what she's intending to do now, hahaha(no wonder she didn't seem as enthusiastic with my latest haircut). Just now, I had tied up 2 ponytails for her and she can't stop looking at her reflection, :D and prior to that, she had told me that I've to let her wear 'nice clothes' and tie up her hair for her little 'performance' this saturday, :).

Am I going to follow her lead? Hmmm, not sure, but I know for now I'm contented with my current length because of its weather... :P.

Poll - Another blog site?

Due to some requests, I've set up another blog site to update you guys on the progress of Renee's violin playing but gave up half way when some of the files were too big to be uploaded. Just in case, I'm able to put up the new ones, could you take the poll here(on your right) and let me know which you would prefer ya? Thanks! :)

Cranky at 4?

Renee's phelgm has came back(a little) since she's finished the medication(to clear the airway/phlegm) few days ago, haiz, what to do, this is what will happen when she takes the western medication. As she's still taking the Zyrtec, I do not wish for her to have the TCM, although it's alright to take them in 4 hours interval. So, I called up the PD's clinic and went back for another bottle but after our lunch at the mall(where the clinic's situated), Renee requested no violin practice today and I agree... Somehow, she seems tired when on the Zyrtec or was it due to the weather, I'm not sure but when back home, she was sooo cranky that I have no choice but to accede to her taking a nap...

Shopped at the newly renovated NTUC again and this time, I bought a pack of organic rice and also a pack of organic corn(since I'm boiling soup today) to try, :).

Forms, Forms and more Forms

It seems like there're gonna be more of these form filling from now on. Recently, I was made to fill up a form declaring my health status and answering questions about overseas travelling.

Yesterday, we(more like Moi) are made to fill up another one by Renee's school and today, we got another 'Health and Travel Declaration Form for Children' from the school(believedly by MOE/MOH).

Really hope this epidemic will be cleared soon...

Artwork Display

After her practice today, I asked Renee if she wanted to do some paintwork and she said yes. After she's dabbled with her 1st piece and without me joining her(I was busy with some ironing which daddy hadn't told me needed ironing, so PX din do it), she decided to paint with her fingers and here're today's paint dabbling, :D:

She has been painting patches of colours on pieces of paper and calls it 'country', this piece has the most subtle colour combinations and it's only today that I realised, she actually meant the 'world map'(after her explanation), hahaha:

This is her incomplete work done at the 1st arts sch we've checked out on Sat:

Computer in replacement of TV?

Our 'off-TV' routine has been going for a week now and I noticed that towards the weekend, Renee will ask "what day is it today" and my guessing's right, she's waiting for that weekend when she gets to watch the TV! hahaha. However, half suspecting that she would asking for it on Saturday morning or afternoon, she requested for it only on Sunday afternoon(and only when daddy's back from his golf).

And this cheeky girl, knowing that she's to be off TV on weekdays, yesterday, she asked to 'watch' the princesses' 'story telling' online - something which she didn't quite enjoy as much. But yesterday, she went for >3 stories at one go! lolz...

Woah, really enjoying it huh? Eating apple whilst watching her stories, hahaha

Today, as she had her shower late(at around 6pm), it didn't give us, or rather her, alot of time to play with PX and thus, at around 7:20pm, I have no choice but to 'chase' them off their game. At one point, Renee threw tanthrums over the bolster cover, which I guess was a 'disguised' expression of her unwillingness for the game to be ended so soon. But what to do...

Anyway, I've told her later that on 'normal' days, she is not to play with auntie PX for such a long time as it would disrupt her routine, hope this message gets into her mischievious mind...

No 'Bliss'

What were you thinking? Marriage? lolz. Bliss - a restaurant @ the park which Li has recommended(I've thought earlier if it was a 'ROM' place when I first saw it, lolz). With both of us having no 'mood' to head downtown, I asked daddy when he's back from his golf game, if he'd like us to have our dinner at Hougang Mall. Then, on the way there, we passed by the park and he suggested we give it a try(good thing he did, 'cos I've forgotten about it again). However, the parking lots were very limited - already full when we got in and as we're not sure if they're open on Sundays(seems like it wrote '- Sat'...no 'Sun' operation hours indicated on the door or maybe I didn't read properly, anyway...), we have to give it another miss and go again another day.

We however, bought some organic apples(I still chose 'Royal Gala's') as we've never tried organic fruits before(vege &/or other stuffs, yes). Daddy even asked if there's any difference in taste when I handed him his share, hahaha...

Arts School

Daddy didn't go to the office today and had told me last minute that he would be meeting someone at the airport. I decided we could tag along and also have our lunch there before going to check out the arts schools, so I quickly cooked Renee's lunch and got ourselves ready.

I like the 'biscuit' from the Popeye's and as we're going to Terminal 1 and daddy had this sudden crave for BK's, I went to pack my chicken set whilst waiting for him to be done with his work. However, a mix-up on our meet up location, he got a little fed-up and wanted to go downtown to get his BK(the one at T1's under renovation! and a hungry man is an angry man, lolz) but my food was 'wet' due to the spill of the drink and guess what? He said to go back to that particular outlet! Haiz...

Anyway, after our lunch, his mood got better and we headed directly to the arts schools.

2 on the agenda today, 1's at novena ville and the other at esplanade. We both like the concept of the former but the messy, or should I say 'small' place doesn't look enticing(Renee was left with the class group whilst we talked to the 'owner'? and when we came out, she's already did some drawings on her own and didn't want to go back, :>) whereas the latter is too technical and lack the 'warmth' and fun environment which would be better for younger kids. Fees wise, both are about the same but Daddy said to go for the Drama Art with the first one we've been to as what we want, is for Renee to really enjoy the sessions. However, apart from the travelling distance, heavy traffic, parking, I still have the class timing to consider, thus it's still not decided. I guess in the meantime, I'll just keep on searching for any others nearby which is worth considering...

May Day

Although I've not had enough sleep but with the shorter hair, I feel very ready to go 'outdoors' and I prompted(couple of times) daddy to bring Renee to the Zoo. Finally we went...but late as usual(we got there only just before 4pm) and we can see families leaving the place, however, there were also families whom had just arrived, like us, hahaha.

The moment I've got daddy to agree to going there, I've quickly took the new swim suit(top) out for a wash, in case we'd have time for Renee to enjoy the waterplay(hmmm, is it wise?). We took a longer 'tour' today and so by the time we're done with our 'walking', it was only half hour to the Zoo's closing time, so, although the swim-top dries up real fast enough for me to pack it in the bag, it remained 'un-worn'... Nevertheless, it was still nice to be able to walk around abit in the outdoors, :D(poor girl, even chose to wear her slippers for the day but later changed to the new pair of sandals 'cos she riding e tricycle, guess she must be thinking that she'd get to go to the waterplay, :>).

Although we were late to the place, we were however rewarded with some 'animal-feeding time' shows and that I felt, actually gave a kid alittle, if not a better insight of what the animals do/live/react('cos they usually do nothing when we visited, lolz). Upon such sightings, daddy proudly said "well, says who that it's not a good timing? see? N it's under cool weather even"... Ok ok, for once, on this 'what's the best time to go to the zoo' matter, I've to agree with him, hahaha, however I didn't just leave it as it is, I also reminded him that, there would surely be early hour feedings as well(hmmm, but maybe not under as 'cool' weather...).

On our way out to the 'exit/entrance', we, and also a few others were lured by some loud noises but most couldn't locate its source. A detour however led us to it :

No photos taken today, as our dear timid girl didn't agree to the elephant ride, etc. Not even a photo of her sitting on a Giant Tortoise statue! Aiyoh...

After the Zoo, having no idea where to go for our dinner, we decided that since it'd be on our way, we could pop over to the Thai rest. near my mom's but as my mom wasn't quite happy that we've only told her last minute, we went on our own. We still dropped by her place after dinner though, but it was a short stay as Renee had dropped and broke 1 of her display figurines whilst playing and we decided to go back(she's tired already anyway and 'cos she's broken something, she din protest about going back so soon, kekeke).

Thinking that I might have forgotten the route and also to test the GPS, daddy had told me to drive today. It was a good thing that the trip wasn't that long and so Renee didn't get to nap for long and also, on the way back, I've made daddy to try keep her awake, :) And so, she's fallen asleep real fast tonight. She's been taking naps for the past few days and that had caused her to go to bed later at 11pm. I hope this holiday weekend can help to bring her back to her normal routine...