Stiff Back

Due to the eczema outbreaks on my face, I couldn't go for the usual facial treatment and on recommendation, I went for an additional but basic 'neck massage'.

I could feel the strain as the beautician was massaging the back of my shoulder and she told me 'very tense'... Though it had hurt abit, I felt soooo sleepy thereafter(dozed off a couple of times, heee), lolz... How I wish I could have the luxury of a regular massage esp. now that I have to do more house-chores, arrrgggghhh, tension...

New Enrichment but... no cleaner :(

As promised to Renee, we've finally gone for our 'family' breakfast at Mc this morning, :).

I've been getting eczema breakouts the past week and as I'd need to consult the chinese physician today, I took the opportunity to ask him about it and he said it's due to 'shi re' and stress is also another contributor. Hopefully his prescription will help as the creams given by the western doctor didn't help at all.

Papa's finally agreed for me to sign Renee up for *Lorna Whiston's English enrichment classes this new term and to avoid having too many extra lessons on the weekdays, I tried for a change of time slot for her violin lesson and so luckily managed to get the Saturday afternoons' slot, but that means we'd hv to be prepared of skipped lessons 'cos of the teacher's commitment to the pri sch on this day. When this english class starts, the old routine of those GUG times would resume(esp. now that I don't have my car, gd, I need the exercise, kekeke) - taking the trains there but perhaps this time round, we'd have to take the cab home to save time as we need to get back home early for me to cook her meal and she'd need to go to bed early...

Have done up some of the laundry - getting ready for ironing but just received a call from PX that her FIL seems not to be doing well now and she might not be able to come over should he pass on and that would be a break of about 3 months, oh dear, dunno how... :(

Should I go ahead and sign her up for the English enrichment when I have alot more house-chores to take care of now?(already so tired now, after cleaning up the home).....

*Papa's always been most unwilling for her to go for enrichment classes though I usually do quite abit of homework before I decide to sign her up. He's so afraid that I'd be a KS mom and pack her all up with enrichment classes and cause her not hving an enjoyable childhood. And this, he din deem it nec 'cos she's reading now but he din fully realise that I had been the one who's been teaching her on how to blend those words and there're still much more to learn, e.g. 'sight words', 'silent e', etc and she's impatient to learn to read. The 3 hours in school is definitely not enough and her current basic reading skills, coached by me, is a big proof...

The Holidays are Ending Soon...

Time really flies when one's enjoying it, :). And from the time she's entered preschool, this is the 1st time I actually Feeel the school holidays. It was probably due to the switch from the 11am to the 8am class this year and the benefit of not having to wake up sooo early every weekday for the past 4 weeks, :D.

As usual, we are busier during the school break, and this time round, although there weren't as many playdates as before, Renee couldn't be more occupied, what with the S&D holiday programme, outings with mommy/papa/friends, watching movies at home, trying new toys/new games/new activities, new storybooks, etc... And Papa asked, "why is she so talkative recently?". Ermm, actually, she's been very chatty, but she does seemed abit more 'excited' lately. Well, I guess it's probably becos she's very happy, heee :).

Well, though happy as we are, with the advantage of being able to go to bed later and not waking up early, I have to bear in mind that the early sleeping/waking routine would soon have to resume and although Renee's prepared to return to school(she told me that she'd have to sleep early when school starts), somehow, I think, it'd be still be a struggle tomorrow/Monday, lolz...

Another Bubble Day

We had planned to go for McDonald's breakfast with Papa this morning and although I was awoken early by Renee but hving gone to bed late last night(researching stuffs online), I decided to try and resume my sleep after making her breakfast, heee - she was ok with it 'cos she wanted to play with the Supermind activity that she's woken up early for, hahaha.

Supposedly to be joining our neighbour and her friend to the arts museum(postponed from last Fri) but feeling rather tired, we had to give it a miss which was a good thing 'cos right after her violin practice, Renee had gone for a nap without me knowing it, lolz. However, she woke up from her nap grouchy and after confirming with Hubby that he won't be back home late and we could dine out, I brought her down for some bubble play.

Later at the playground, Renee's happy moments were disrupted when a little indian girl began following her. She sat on the rocker but couldn't move much as the girl was behind her and she was afraid to hurt her, awww, how nice... Then the girl started touching her legs and when she spotted Renee's new Dora slippers, she tried to grab them. And when Renee tried to back away from her, she followed closely. At one point, Renee thought it was ok to return to the rocker but when she got down from it, the same little girl came and grabbed her arms many many times. Renee tried to fend her off but seeing that she's little, plus she's not a rough player, she was hurt by the girl instead. When seeing that the girl didn't give up, I got up, and pointing to the little girl, I was signalling to the Indian ladies sitting/chatting there, asking if the child was theirs, but they couldn't be bothered, OMG. That's when I quickly went to Renee and at the same time, she rushed to me in 'fear' - I saw a small scratch mark on her left arm, geez...

Anyway, her day's not spoilt - she's now dancing away with her Papa, watching the late MJ's concert on TV, lolz.

Mommy, Did You Enjoy Yourself?

It has been hard enough for me to meet up with my good friend, Vicky and more so now, since her husband's posted to India. However, not forgetting our pact(to treat the other to a meal on either's birthday), she contacted me 2 days ago, upon her return from the lastest trip to arrange a lunch date today.

As usual, Renee tagged along and we had a wonderful meal at Paradise Inn @Somerset 313. In order for us to catch-up in 'peace', without Renee bugging us to leave the restaurant, I've packed 2 of the Supermind activity cards and although she finished all 3 tasks very quickly, it was still good enough to keep her occupied(she retried them with different ways a few times each).

We didn't stay to browse the mall and headed straight to Plaza Singapura where we had a really nice time browsing through the stores(though at some point, Renee did urge us to move on to other stores 'cos she's bored there, haha). We both ended up with some buys - not much for me today, mainly what I need - I'm exercising my buying control, heee.

Out since noon, it's not before long we began to feel tired and with Renee complaining about hunger(??? she ate so much at lunch!), we stopped for an early dinner. Hubby came to pick us up at 8pm and oblivious to the 2 older ladies' fatigue, Renee complained "aiyah, why papa come so early to pick us?", kekeke. But once on her carseat, she too, had to try very hard to keep her eyes opened, :) and we have to take turns to tease her to keep her awake. However, after we've dropped Vicky off, she couldn't 'tahan' and fell asleep and in an attempt to wake her up, we had to detour to Punggol Plaza to get some snacks, :).

Whilst showering, Renee asked me "mommy, did you enjoy yourself today?", I replied "Yes, I get to meet my good friend..." and she added "me too, I had a good time!". From the expression she had on her face when waving goodbye to my friend, I know she's telling the truth, :)...

Happy Father's Day

A drawing for Papa(she did it just minutes before we went out, lolz)

Cut this out from the artwork she didn't complete and after colouring it, she gave it to me. Then, she asked if she could give it to Papa instead and I said ok. But guess what, she was still indecisive about that the whole evening and after handing the above card to him, she decided to let me keep this(though she told me that she didn't do the windows very well, kekeke), lolz.

Crying at Games II

She hasn't given up on this game, even after that initial crying episodes(hahaha) and apparently, it seemed like she's slowly picking up on the 'morals' of the game - one can't always win, not to cry/never give up when you've lost, anything can happen and etc etc... :)[which actually kinda apply in the real word, don't they?]

Crying at Games ^_^

Bought this game set the minute I saw it, 'cos I remembered how Renee had enjoyed playing a similar one(given by OCBC bank when we made an earlier deposit) with her Papa. However, not wanting her to immerse herself instantly into it that day, I've told her that I've got this for a friend's kid. She had, of cos, accepted that in gloom and had not brought it up again til this morning(I've actually forgotten about it, hehehe) and said that I should have gotten her 1 first instead of buying it for someone else's child - oh, that got me, hahaha. Seeing her so disappointed, I hadn't the heart to disappoint her and told her the truth - I've actually got it for her and I do not want her to bug me about it when we got home. She smiled...

After her lunch, we went over to hougang mall to pick up the book we've reserved at the book store, but as we've spent a good 1 hour having my lunch(her snack), we didn't get to spend as much time as we'd like at the story book section but, we still manage to grab some items, :).

This is the book which I've had reserved, an easy yet interesting activity book

Then on our way to pack some food to go with our dinner, I suddenly recalled the day when we had been too early at the mall to check out a store which Janice had told me, would be carrying the mind-game she's been recommended to and I decided to do so today. Good thing I did, 'cos the newer version had just arrived and seeing my keen-ness, the nice lady even allowed me to use the member-card that I have gotten only with today's purchase, hurray! Papa seemed to agree with this purchase too! :) and I hope Renee would have a good time with it, :).

Oops, seems like I've digressed from the topic, lolz. Ok, here's it... Right after her shower, she enthusiastically, errm, very enthusiastically urged me to open up the board game so that she could embark on a game or 2 with her Papa... It was laughter at first, then I soon began to hear grunts and a while later, followed by cries... Guess what? Out of the 3 games they've played, she won 2 but at that 1 lost game, she cried, hahaha and Papa told me that she'd actually cried each time the snake 'ate' her, hahahahaha... She came to me crying after that round of 'lost' game and I've to give her a briefing on ''you can't always expect to win every game and if you start to cry each time you lose, no one will play with you the next time". She didn't buy that at that moment of cos, but she needs to learn. Then, I found out that she's also been playing this game with her cousin at my Sis and apparently, doting on her, my niece Jo, had been allowing her 'special double takes' on the dice and naturally, I guessed, she must have won at most, if not all of their game rounds, lolz... Well, I'm now really glad that I've bought this game for her, 'cos otherwise, I wouldn't have known this need to bring my child back to the real world, :D.

Backache

I received a call from PX today at past 2pm, saying that she's unable to come over as her FIL's sent to the hospital and she needed to rush over with his ID. Well, though we're kinda prepared ourselves for such thing to happen since his last admission but I wasn't prepared to hear that she's been unable to find a substitute cleaner for us should her FIL be unable to pull it through, oh dear...

Unable to bear the sight of the pile, I decided to shorten Renee's practice and tackled the ironing. Before I knew it, 1 chore leading to another and I had mopped the floor, washed the toilets by the time I needed to give Renee a shower. Now my back's aching like mad, perhaps I shouldn't have been so ambitious about tidiness/cleaniness, but who could stand a dusty and untidy home? not me... :(

Happy

I was on the phone with Eileen, Renee came and asked for some of the post-its on my dresser and then later, I saw this pasted on our coffee table, ;) :

Artwork Display

This is the artwork they brought home on the last day of the 1st semester(Nafa Arts):

Bean Stalk

She made this for me the minute she got home after her 1st hol S & D lesson(on the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk) then.

More Work Books?!

Finally resumed her violin lesson today and to the teacher's worry that her recent missed lessons might cause her unable to catch up on her grade III exam, I told her that I'd wish for her to hold on to that(even though she's started on 1 of the exam pieces and has no prob with it) in the meantime and work on her ability to perform in 'public' more. However, being a private teacher and not linked to any of the musical organisations, she's unable to assist in this area, but I'd still prefer for her to take a breather in the meantime, :).

After lesson, we headed, as usual, to Compass Point and after our snack, we couldn't resist the bookfair brought in by Kiddy Palace and ended up with these, haiz. I've not even completed nor even started on some of the previous ones, not sure if we'll ever get to finish all these, lolz :

Tot this game might be fun for her when she's ready(bt I duno when I'll play with her lolz...)

An Outing

An impromptu check with Janice, Jerome's mommy on the school fees payment had us arranging a meet up in the end, :).

As I wouldn't be driving, she offered to come pick us and we headed first to Rivervale mall, for Jerome to have his lunch(Renee didn't want to eat 'cos she's had a late breakfast). Then we kinda got 'stucked' there for a while more 'cos it's the 1st time Janice's been to a Daiso store and she's fascinated, lolz. However, as I was more keen to move on to Ikea, she said she'd made another trip down to browse through the store properly, lolz.

At Ikea, our que for the 2 kids to go into the playground wasn't long and soon, Renee was having a blast inside and we both continued with our chat whilst standing and watching the 2 kids from the outside, :). However, only an hour's alloted to each kid and they were reluctant when we went to fetch them from the counter.

just like Janice said, "it's so cute to see them carrying their own 'belongings' in"

Finally, they, especially Renee, started to feel hungry and we proceeded to the canteen for some snacks before browsing the store and she befriended a girl whom she saw playing in the playground earlier, :).

It was past 7pm by the time we got home and Renee was all smiles, :).

Ironing Day

Due to Renee's holiday programme that ran through the whole 5 days last week, we have to re-schedule our weekly cleaning session from our usual Thursdays last week, to today. And thus, our un-ironed piled mountain high.

Since PX had requested to come over in the morning today and I needed to get some groceries, I decided to bring Renee along for a Mc's breakfast - she can finally eat their pancakes, hurray!(she used to get abit of allergy reaction from them, maybe 'cos theirs contain eggs).

Wanted to bring Renee down to play but unfortunately, something cropped up at PX's home and we have to skip today's cleaning session again... Hubby had already ironed up some of his golf shirts last night, but there were still soooo many un-ironed clothes and the sight of them really bugged at me, so I had to embark on a stream of ironings... Hopefully she could really come over this Thursday...

I Love Ah Ma

As we were wondering where to go for our late dinner, hubby suggested going to the restaurant down my mom's place and Renee asked if we could go visit her grandma as well. Sure, of cos! She then quickly asked for an empty red packet and said that she wanted to give Ah Ma some money, :). However, when I didn't respond to that request(busy doing chores), she decided to make her own!

This is it... she even wrapped it up the way my mom does, lolz

Next, she checked with me on the spelling of some words as she'd like to write grandma a note but I told her that granny doesn't read English, so she requested for me to translate what she wanted to write into chinese, after trying very hard to put up a good phrase of her intention, lolz.

"Ah ma, wo ai nin, yin wei nin heng teng wo. Wo hen kai xin, wo yao gei nin hong pao", hahaha.

I teased her that she should also prepare one for grandpa just in case but she said no need 'cos ah kong is always not around, lolz. BUT!, when we got there, ah kong answered the door together with Ah mah and asked why he hasn't got any, hahaha.

Has anyone seen a 5yo kid eating fish head? :D However,

these pics were taken much earlier, not tonight :)

Mid Year School Holiday Programme

It's the 1st week of the schools' June holidays and it's also the 1st time Renee's attending a proper Speech & Drama programme and she loved it to every bit!(those she had @Kinderland childcare didn't quite count and she also said that they're different, :>).

Since the day she learnt that she'd be going for the Lorna Whiston's holiday programme with Wae Shuen, she had been looking forward to it. However, things weren't so good for me 'cos I suddenly had sharp headache attack on our way out. Maybe it was the distraction, I was still ok when chatting with mommy Sharmaine, waiting for our kids. But I began to feel extremely nausea and even vomitted on our way home. Hubby had earlier asked me to drive Renee over and I was glad that I had not(as was afraid of not being to find a lot in the ever so crowded carpark), 'cos what would have happened if I did? Told hubby to send me straight to the doctor's and was confirmed/diagnosed migraine, haiz, again.

Was only given medication and regret not asking for the jab 'cos I suffered(weak and vomitted) all the way til 2am that night!

Although I felt alittle better the next day, I daren't take the risk and asked hubby to send Renee to the class instead. When Renee's back, she couldn't stop talking about the lesson. In fact, she's been sooo excited about the lessons every day of the whole programme! :)

On the 3rd day, I started to feel better and just as I as about to accompany Renee to the class, hubby's got news that his 2nd brother's leg wound got infected so badly that he had to be admitted to the hospital for proper cleaning and so, we had to visit him(thanks to the GP, he now ended up with a big surgery scar).

Thursday, I finally get to stay back after sending Renee over but we were alittle late and Sharmaine was nowhere nearby. It was soo noisy @the mall, due to some live children shows but it wasn't very long before she finally noticed the missed calls and we managed to meet up. Had earlier informed hubby that he could either pick us up late or we could even go back ourselves and thus, we managed a little playtime for Renee and her friend Wae Shuen. And remembering their younger days, Sharmaine was even worried that Renee would be upset at parting moment, hahaha. Good thing Renee's better in that area now, :D. We stayed awhile more at the mall after WS and mommy had left, and I found out that even with the same group of shops, the things they carried at this branch are more colourful and catered more to kids, :). Good thing I don't stay too near this mall, hahaha.

And today, being the last day of this holiday programme, we were invited to sit-in the session, just about 10mins. It wasn't a full nor proper stage show but it's to show us, the parents, what had been taking place during the lessons. Today's fairy tale adventure touched on the story of 'Three Billy Goats Gruff'(they read through 2 versions of this story and came up with their own dialogue exchange for the act) and Renee acted as the mother goat. It was a really short one and a pity that we aren't allowed to take any photos/videos(so papa doesn't get to watch...), :(. So, I can only describe the enactment :

3 billy goats were trying to cross over a bridge, guarded by a troll, to the other side where there were more grass to graze upon. Stopped by the troll "who's there? I want to eat you!", the 1st goat said "please don't eat me, I'm too small, wait for the 2nd one". Then the 2nd goat-acted by Renee, stopped by the troll, said "don't eat me, wait for the 3rd one", etc etc... And, to allow all the kids a chance to 'act', this 'show' was repeated and thus, Renee got to enact her role twice, :).

Her choice of 'Goat' artwork(each day they were given something 2 do)

At the end of the last session, we headed to Ben & Jerry's for our ice cream break and just before we get to collect our order, Renee cited her urgency to use the toilet and later told me whilst in the cubicle that she's actually poo-ed twice during the lesson(noticed her stools r abit soft...), oh poor thing. She then told me that she wouldn't want to eat the ice cream but when back at the table, she couldn't resist, hahaha. And after a quick pop over to the ELC shop, we proceeded to J8 so that lyn, the younger sister of WS could meet up with us.

At J8, I had an eyeful of sweet little things at the mini princess shop but with the kids playing around, I had to make a mental point to come back to the shop another time, lolz. Next target was the mall's playground and it was another wonderful playtime for Renee and her friend, :).

Got me a simple bag charm & Renee wanted 1 as her reward exchange too! :)

(but when we got home, she made me separate them & fix 2 each to her bags, lolz)

And guess where we had our dinner? Swensons, hahaha, a glass of orange juice and another serving of ice-cream for Renee and her tummy really churned, poor thing... Hubby remembered his friend's advice that pineapple juice helps to curb diarrhoea(but I was sketical at 1st) and we got some for her on our way back. She took some and was really ok, so everyone, if you do have this loose bowel problem, you can try the juice, :).

Her choice of meal

and took these back

During her shower, I chatted with her about her new found friends and there's 1 whom appeared to be much older than the rest. She told me, "oh the girl with the specs? I can't remember her name but every time she wants to speak to the teacher, she'll put up her hand and then she'll say "Welllll...", oh boy, I know I'm not supposed to laugh but her impersonation was just sooo funny, hehe.