Big Rain Drops

Sudden downpour under a scotching sun!

Last Day of Art Class @Nafa Kindy

After much to & fro communications with the Nafa Arts over the past weeks, I finally managed to secure a placing for Renee at their main school @Bencoolen st, on Fridays, 4pm -5:15pm for the next semester(July onwards). As such, today shall be the last day of her arts lesson at the Nafa Kindergarten. She has grown to like her current teacher, whom used to be my ex-colleague but as Nafa has this yearly teacher rotating system, so who knows, she might learn under her again next year.

A few days ago, I've finally confirmed with Sharmaine, Wae Shuen's mommy, to sign both our kids up with Lorna Whiston's speech & drama holiday programme next week but Renee had to come down with a little throat discomfort and runny nose on Friday! haiz...

I was thinking that we should perhaps let her stay home today instead of going to my mom's today, for fear that she might go wild when playing there and worsen her throaty condition-which meant we'd have to forgo the S&D lessons, :(.

Then, not wanting to disappoint her, I decided to just go over but hubby mentioned that he'd need to go to the temple which means that I'd have to wait for Renee outside the classroom... It's such a hot day and I really didn't wish to do that, so I made a quick check with my friend, for me to read inside the class, heee. She replied that it's ok as long as it's not distracting to Renee and so, it was settled, :) However, I found out at the end of the lesson, that hubby's only going to the temple til much later and that he's got a dinner appointment!(and he's gone home to rest when he heard I'm staying back in the classroom!) Aiyoh!!! Always so very last minute information and don't even bother to communicate properly with me! Oh man, if I had known that he's not going anywhere after sending Renee to the arts class, I wouldn't have to wait for her in the class right? Geez!

Anyway, I'm glad though, that I've 'sat in' the class 'cos that gave me a chance to 'know things'... :). Earlier, not knowing where I'd be sitting, I've prep-ped Renee that she's to ignore my pressence in class but it seemed like she soon forgot my existence, especially when I was well hidden behind the cupboards, lolz. That was good, 'cos not long later, when all the parents have left after dropping their kids off, the children began to 'chatter' away and although many were absent, I can kinda see what the teacher meant by 'the students of this slot are more chatty/active'.

First, amongst the others, I heard my girl telling Mrs Seet the condition of her 'voice' and that she wakes up very early every morning. When asked why, she said "because I want to tip toe and play with my toys", haha. Then, when a boy said that he's going for a movie after the class, she began to share with them that she'd be going for speech & drama classes next Monday. Upon this piece of news, another girl joined that she's also taking it in her childcare and that's when I heard Renee excitedly replied "me too! when I was in Kinderland childcare", as if they'd all know about Kinderland, hahaha.

Today being the last day(of their semester), they were to finish up the last piece of artwork to bring home(their portfolios containing all their artworks had been given back last lesson) and probably it was due to them doing just follow-up(ending) artwork, a boy asked "Mrs Seet, why today no lesson?", hahaha. Kids can be really funny sometimes, :).

The chattering and lesson went on... and 25mins later, I heard the teacher calling "Renee, don't play" and 5 seconds later, Renee started to sing her current favourite song : "A men a qian, yi ke pu tao shu..." and I have to control myself from laughing out, lolz. Another 5-8 mins passed and the asst. teacher called out "Renee, are you done with your colouring?", hahaha. When she was finallly done, the asst. teacher teased her "no moving eyes for Renee" and she said "I want moving eyes!"(on her elephant), :).

Throughout the lesson, I've had such fun time listening to the children's conversations and taking the occasional peeks at Renee, I found out that she, being the dreamer, tend to dream away watching her friends playing/doing stuffs(like she did dur her Pre-N classes, not concentrating on her work) - something I must figure a way to correct...(sorta know why it is so...)

GSS!

Yeah, the GSS is finally here!

The GSS this year, unlike the past few years, seems quite 'good' - 'cos most of the retailers had not been so KS as to plunge into the much waited island-wide sales earlier(which many retailers had started at least 2 weeks earlier, for the past yrs) and so today, although we should have expected it, we arrived at Orchard in the midst of a big human/vehicle traffic jam!

There had been a few pairs of comfort shoes I've been eye-ing at the store for a while now and it's a good thing I've controlled myself the past few weeks and so today, I got them at a 10%/20% + 10% additional Takashimaya member discount, hurray! :D

Artwork Display

Been busy looking for enrichment classes(still hvn't got to sign any up, haiz...) and thus, the recent MIA... :)

Anyway, nothing much also, so here's just showing abit some of her recent 'work' at home, :).

Crown

I was doing my work one day and while I was wondering why Renee's been so quiet, she turned around and showed me the eggs she's been 'creating', :). It appeared that her cutting skill has improved alot recently :

Look what she's done with the eggs? They seemed to have progressed to being pebbles now, hahaha (see the little mushrooms at the bottom corner of her drawing? ever since she's taken to eating mushrooms, she's been drawing them too! lolz)

So what are the eggs now?

More mushroom drawings, lolz :

Buddha's Day

It's the 'Buddha's day' today(the actual day) and when I remembered that Renee's once said that she wanted to make an offering of fruits/flowers to Buddha, I told her last night that she could go take some of her money out from the coin bank and do so today.

Initially, she took 9 out and I told her they're good enough to pay for some fruits + flowers and could even give the balance to the donation box. Then she began to take more out and said that she wanted to donate more(even all in her coin bank!). Papa gently reminded/teased her that she'd need to check if she's got enough for herself and perhaps knowing that she won't need them(now), she said, "nevermind...".

Then, she said she wanted to draw something for Buddha and she did this(nothing much, no time, less than 5 mins 'cos it's past bed time already) :

*she had wanted to drop this drawing into the donation box as well but I told her that it might not be nice to do so since it's mainly for donations and I suggested that she 'show' it to Buddha instead. However, she didn't get to do that cos it was left in my bag and we forgot about it after our lunch :(

And for all the days she's been requesting for papa to pick her up late from school(so she could play with her friends), she asked to be picked up earlier today 'cos she wanted to give her offerings to Buddha and pray, :).

Fees Increment, Again?

As if the additional fees for the loyalty of the WTR programme(for many of us parents, such fees should already be part of the fees that we're paying-now worse, I'm not convinced of this prog...) we paid beginning this year wasn't enough, our dear girl came home today with a fee revision notice from the school.

From the current(increased not too long ago) fee of S$1,166/term, it's gonna be S$1,290 from term 4 onwards(S$1,190.80 for the 3rd term). When conversing with Janice on this, I told her that the other mommies(am session kids) are also not happy about it and some even commented that the school should at least increase the duration of lessons from 3hours to 4hours(esp. for K2) with the increment since even the PCF Kindergartens, with a much much lower fee are already conducting 4hours sessions - this I totally agree and had actually brought up to the school when we 1st started with them at pre-n level.

To be fair, I personally do note some changes the school has made to the holiday programmes(the contents/layout do seem more interesting as compared to those held in the past) but then again, can we really see significant achievement from these short term programmes? Besides, we actually still have to pay separate fees for these programmes which aren't cheap as well.

For sure no one is happy with the fee increment, especially when most are already sending their children for enrichment classes eslewhere to better prepare them for Primary 1 schooling. Myself? I'm still searching for 'satisfactory' ones, these enrichments don't come cheap and I don't want her to just go there to spend some time...

Geez, it's really tough to raise children up these days(and I only have 1!). Not only are our direct involvement is required by the schools(and now even at preschool levels!) but the energy we have to assert onto the school and tuition/enrichment centres search is tiring... First you check/ask around, next you'll have to go do some read-up on the 'recommended' schools/centres before giving them a personal visit. And when you aren't satisfied at the end of it, the whole research repeats, oh man! All these hassles for just a preschool and/or enrichment centres... and when these are settled, you'll soon be worrying about the selection of primary school when neither yourself nor your spouse's a alumni to the preferred school(s)! Arrrggghhh...

The Opening

It's the official opening of my nieces' + friend's hair salon today. We've been informed that the lion dance will start at 11am, but we have been misled by the signage along the road(different from the street directory) and we were late... However, not much was missed and Renee still got to watch quite abit of it though she's requested for papa to bring her further away to watch, due to the loudness, :).

Not long after the buffet caterer's arrived with the spread, CH also arrived with his family and that's when I began to lose sight of my Renee - playing outside the salon with her cousin, JX. She must have played so hard that even her papa came in awhile later, asking if I've brought extra clothing for her 'cos she's perspired quite abit but I haven't(although I could just pick one from the bag of new clothings Elsie's gotten her but they aren't washed yet, so it's a good thing her top wasn't that wet, according to papa)...

Soon, it was time for her to go for her art class but I decided to stay behind to chat with my sisters since I wouldn't have anything to do anyway, going along. We finally left the salon at around 4:30pm when hubby brought her back from the lesson.

Hubby rested once we got home and we both began to tuck into our packed dinner(there was tooo much left over from the buffet) when he went to meet his client for dinner. It's been really warm tonight and I thought it'll be a treat to indulge ourselves to some 'coolness' in the hall whilst enjoying our movie and so, I had the air-conditioner switched on after our showers, ;P. Renee was elated and had almost dozed off whilst watching the recorded(whilst we had our dinner/showers) Shrek II, :)

A Lesson Sit-In

I've been wondering how their school's music lessons are being conducted(was even telling Ms Mok so the other day when she explained some part of theory -which has to be taught in the 'piano way', and Renee didn't seem to ren much given that she's alr started on abit of keyboard at sch) and co-incidentally, we received an invitation recently, to sit in the lesson today. On Wednesdays, the school compound is always more crowded/packed, so I tried to go there earlier and thus, that leaves me a good hour break since the music lesson will only begin at 9am - so I headed for a nice KFC chicken wrap breakfast, yum... :D

During the sit-in, although I found the little bit of singing and movement part may be fun for her but much to my dismay, the finger & notes 'naming' by the teacher, actually create confusion 'cos it's different from what she's learnt(violin). I really appreciate this opportunity 'cos it provided me with a better in-sight of what's really going on and now, I know what I have to 'edit' whilst coaching her violin practices at home and what may complement that in the future(if used/remembered).

It was already close to 10am by the time the lesson ended, so I decided to stay back @school instead of going home for that less than half hour rest. Jenny, Caitlin's mom, saw me waiting outside the school, beckoned me to join her for coffee and I picked up abit more info from her that I could use as reference in my coming search of enrichment classes(I've been told long ago that I'm late, in doing so and it seemed like it's true, haiz...).

Lately, it's been tougher to get Renee to sleep before 9pm when she's had an afternoon nap and I'm thinking to do away with that. But since she's having her violin lesson today and to avoid her falling asleep in the car when we have to go pick papa's car from the workshop later, she was told to nap...

Hubby then drove us to Ms Mok's place and also dropped us at Compass point thereafter, for me to run my errands before we go and collect the car from workshop. Although the school's just passed me the books I've ordered this morning, Renee and I still couldn't resist looking at the books @ the bookfair, but controlling myself, I only got these, which are of a different nature-more work-booky, :)

The books ordered from Scholastic

The title of this book on the brochure caught my attention, :)

Sample pages of its contents

The workbooks(thought the $ counting books might be useful in e near future, heee)

Mother's Day

Renee has been 'preparing' her card since more than a week ago(how do I know? 'cos she's been telling/hinting me about it! aiyoh, hahaha) but she finally gave me this - which she has done in school on Friday(that came with a pink colour heart box), :?

We came home from our usual weekend outing and she insisted on giving me 20 S$1 coins as my mother's day gift 'cos her papa didn't bring(didn't even bother) her to look for a gift/cake. To cut off her nagging, I had to accept but when I tried to put them secretly back into her coin bank(I'd thought she's already fallen asleep!), she quickly turned around and was very upset. To ease her displeassure, I told her that she could keep them first and then perhaps buy a gift for my birthday instead, and she said "ok, then I'll buy you more presents for your birthday", hahaha.

The front and back('finger art' flower & butterfly and stamping's added at home)

Happy Mother's Day!

An Advance Mother's Day Celebration

Upon arrival at the school, I heard someone(a mommy whom I got to befriend recently) greeting me from behind and as I had not seen her standing there earlier, I was a little shocked by the nice gesture, lolz. Her asking if I'm staying for the assembly reminded me that they're to have the Mother's Day performances today! But it was gonna be a good half hour wait and we're not sure if we should stay or return home. My initial plan was to get back home asap to catch a nap as I'm bringing her to have a Mother's day luncheon/outing with my mom but having heard her singing the song briefly a few times at home, I do not wish to miss her participation, so I stayed...

The other mommies whom I've also befriended recently began to chat about the forthcoming school holiday camps but I was alittle blur 'cos Renee's been absent for the past 2 days and I hvn't got hold of the notices(which I later read whilst at mom's waiting for hubby and found some really interesting progs), so I kinda drifted away after away, heee. But soon, it was time for the show to begin! :).

Rushed back with breakfast after her performance(I left right after her level's performance but as there's still the mother & child look alike contest coming up, she didn't want me to leave but we're not participating...) since I know I wouldn't have the privilege of a nap by that timing. Supposed to go pick her up on time but we only managed to leave home ard 11:30am 'cos of hubby(looking for documents), haiz. I quickly tried phoning my mom but failed to reach her despite the numerous tries. Apparently, she must have not gotten the part when I told her that I'll phone her when I'm on the way... Oh no, she waited for a good half hour(too?), haiz...

Unlike what we've planned, hubby sent us over as he needed the car, which was fine with me :) and we headed straight to 'Tian Wang' for our lunch before walking around the mall and ended up spending more money. We headed to my mom's place and rested(renee had a nap) before hving our dinner at the Thai rest. down her block when hubby came over.

Happy Mother's Day! :)

No School for 2 Days

Renee had complained on/off about her tummyache for the past week but as they were mild(relief after passing motion) and happened in a break of days, I hadn't thought it might be anything serious.

Last night, she woke up at past 12am pouting and complained of a tummyache again. It seemed to hurt more this time 'cos I can feel her breaking out in cold sweat...

We hvn't got any children's anti-tummyache medication at home and remembering the 'stomach/gastric/intestinal' chinese medicine I've got for myself(hubby took it during the past few days he was suffering from stomach discomfort the last week and was well thereafter too), I mixed a little bit(abit lesser than what's indicated for children age 2-12) for her. Was hesitant at first but since this is a powder-mix medicine prescribed by the renowned chinese physician(who's the director of the Chinese Chong Hwa Free Clinic and whose practice is registered with the Singapore Chinese Physician's Association - which required their prescription to be submitted for approval)to be sold on retail shelf, we felt it's ok.

After some 'fighting' moments in her tummy, she said she needed to pass motion and although the pain didn't subside straight away(it's afterall not a miracle elixir, hahaha), she did manage to fall asleep half an hour later - she did wake up in 'shock' 15mins later though, when she realised that I've left her 'bed', hahaha and woke up shortly again, asking for me to sleep beside her(manja lah...) and then, at 3am+, she woke up again and asked for water... :). I took the opportunity and told her that I wanna go back to sleep on my bed, she said ok and resumed her sleep til this morning, :). Needless to say, it's no school for her today...

Her violin teacher has phoned to say that she can't make it for today's lesson and so, I decided to go for my hair straightening and finish up the balance of my package(they're opening up another branch at the new Serangoon Mall and my h/stylist who's also the director of the new branch, is going to be there most of time. As I'm not sure if it's really near to Renee's school, so to play safe, I think I should try finish up the pkg before the new branch opens. Besides, I could go to my niece's newly set up salon for my subsequent hair treatment dos!). Hubby took the car and so, we took the LRT down and oh my, we were both soaking in perspiration by the time we reached the station, even though the wind was rather good. Can't imagine hving to bring her to more classes without the car(and yet, hated the idea of hving to worry about routes, dilemma dilemma), arrrggghhhh...

No school again tomorrow, why? 'Cos hubby's got a golf tournament again early morning and I don't want Renee to wake up even earlier than the usual 7am, just to take the trains to school, so just let her skip school again...

Oh no, Tar Tar sauce too?

It's the holiday-in-lieu for school attending children today and it's also my FIL's '49th day'.

Whilst chatting, we realised that most of us(hubby's sis and 2nd bro's families) had gone to the Helix bridge on the same day - Saturday! - but we didn't meet one other, :)

As we needed to go down to Nafa's office today, we headed to Bugis Junction for our lunch after the prayers and, at the same fateful restaurant where Renee had her most serious allergy reaction(e maiyonoise sauce seved with the baked potato), she had another bout of attack today... This time round, it was their tar tar sauce that's served with her fish & chips meal. Good thing I've stopped her from consuming the whole 'piece' of fries when I noticed abit of the said sauce at the tip of it. However, the spot that the cream had touched, swelled within seconds and she began crying - complaining of pain in that area. Quickly got her to drink more water(this was what I've got my niece, Pearlyn to do too, when she had a seafood allergy attack during 1 of our family dinners when she was a young child) and with the consumption of her meal, the swell and pain soon subsided, *phew*.

Reading School

After Renee's numerous requests to attend the 'I Can Read' classes, I checked with her classmates' mommies and searched the internet for more choices. Chanced upon 'The Reading Loft' which seems to be rather interesting though its fees are abit higher than the 'I Can Read''s. 2 drawbacks - 1st, it requires parental involvement in projects which oh my gosh, something that is sooo out of my favor! lolz... 1 each term from the pre-school is enough to put me off, so do I still wanna subject myself to more? The hubby is of cos, ok with it(since he's not going to be the one helping her with the projects & such...), citing that we should just let her try, since the programme seems fun as it incorporates a little bit of speech and drama, role play, etc. 2ndly, it is further from home and that means, more time spent on travelling...

Anyway, we would be making some adjustments to her violin lessons, so til then, I guess her reading class would have to wait(hope she won't ask again, heee).

The Helix Bridge

Public holidays on a Saturday had never made much of a difference to me when I was working ('cos we work 5 days and its replacement's usually added to our annual leave & when I was doing my freelance work, even less difference, lolz) and certainly not now... I couldn't even remember that toay's a PH too and had almost got hubby to send Renee over to her art class! hahaha. Good thing I had remembered when I told her to go pack her art materials(hey, papa also forgot what! :D) and saved the trouble, :).

Renee had been requesting to dine at Tony Romas and Dian Xiao Er for quite a while now and since we've brought her to the former last week, hubby decided to indulge her to the latter today. She was sooo happy, lolz. However, though slightly better with food choices now, she still isn't very adventurous and thus, we told her that we shan't go back there again 'cos both papa and mommy are sick of their food already(although it's been quite a while since we last ate there), hahaha.

Earlier, when we arrived at the mall, hubby suggested taking a walk down the Helix bridge after dinner and I was like, oh man, I didn't have my camera with me and we'd be taking a walk along a bridge that cost millions u know(hahaha)... But once we got there, we soon found out - no loss here. Too crowded for nice pics and honestly, there's nothing special nor spectacular about the bridge and with its low 'ceiling'/'roof'?, it's gonna be a 'hot' walk for all during the afternoons, :).

*recently, I hoaxed her to eating mushrooms and she's now beginning to take to them, especially the button mushrooms(she even ate the black colour type from my noodles today, :D).