Wedding and Flowergirl Excitement

Today's the day.  My niece, Lynette's wedding day!  Congratulations to her and we wish her a blissful marriage.

Renee hasn't been sleeping well the past few nights and I'm not sure if it's due to the excitement of the re-opening of school or that the reality of her being the flowergirl is happening soon(I asked her, she said not...).  In any case, she's very excited today, :).  She had came home from school looking tired(from the lack of proper sleep the past few nights), so I quickly reminded her of her 'job' this evening, to perk her up and it did! lolz.

As I needed to be at the restaurant early, we let Renee skip her practice today and told her to simply finish up her homework.  But, she took sooo long at shower that we turned up alittle late and although I was able to complete the makeup for the bride's mother, my Sista, I wasn't quite satisfied(call me a perfectionist or what, but I wish I had known much earlier if I could make it on time for this task, so I could go buy some new colours and stuffs!).....  Thereafter, I even had time to powder my other sis, Li and my Mom, just a little... and that's when I really really see the aging effect on my Mum.  I've been noticing these signs for awhile now but it is only tonight, when I faced her up close that I felt "she's really old...", :(.

Ok ok, this post should go on a happy note, so let's resume to the flowergirl topic, :).

When the time arrived, the groom came to get Renee and standing outside the restaurant door, she replied the bride's query that she wasn't nervous, :).  During the march-in, I noticed that she wasn't smiling!  I quickly signalled to her to do so and just as she was about to, she was 'stopped' and almost immediately, I saw the reason of her 'not-smiling' - people were taking the flower petals from her basket(don't know why only from her and not from the other boy, hahaha) and taking her 'job' seriously, she must have felt that it is her duty and not others', to scatter the rose petals along the bridal path, hahaha.  However, I guess it's because she was told by someone to throw the petals one by one and hadn't thrown the petals high enough(I mean, how to throw 1 flower petal high?) and thus, these people might have felt obliged to render help along the way, hahaha.

In any case, it has been a nice evening with some good laughs and now, it's just time for the dress to be laundered and kept in the wardrobe... :)

Last Swimming Lesson

It's been about 2 months since Renee's started her swimming lessons(missed 2 weeks' due to Nafa masterclass and exam/audition). She's learnt fast and within 5-6 lessons, she could already swim the basic frog style(I hvn't really seen her in full actual action yet, but papa said she could and the coach told him that Renee learns fast) and we decided that since she already knew the basic frog style and can already swim abit, we shall stop her swimming lessons.  This is because, it's always been very rushing for us to get home on time after her music theory classes, for her to attend the swimming lessons.  Well, our decision was just as well, because, the new schedule for her theory classes and the new timing for the swimming lessons kinda clash with each other.  Everything just happened so co-incidentally well,  :)

However, I'm making mental note to try bring her down for a swim on her good behavorial days, *try try try*!(otherwise her new thermal swimsuit wld be of such a waste rite? lolz)

The Week Papa's Away

It's been 4 full days now since Papa's left for his trip and our video calls had been the kids'(errm, more of Renee's, lolz) daily/nightly highlight.  Thank goodness for the new technology, it sure is nice, especially for the kids, to be able to still 'see' their papa whilst he's away.

We had stayed home these few days, thinking that it's also a good time for Renee to cool off abit before school re-opens 'cos we've been going out almost everyday this school holiday, heee.  Things were 'calm' at home during these few days but on the night of the day before papa's due to return home, Renee cried mid-way through our video call... and I thought, perhaps I could bring both of them to the airport to meet papa the next day!

However, with the kids sleeping soooo late the night before(due to the late video call), we were all soooo tired(it's always quite a while later after the kids hv fallen asleep that I could have mine) that all 3 of us woke up very late the next day and I was worried that we might not be able to make it to the airport afterall - because our Macdonald's lunch was said to be delivered only after 3pm.  Luckily, they arrived around 2:30pm and I quickly showered Rachel and took a cab down to the Terminal.

Flight's delayed(as usual, flights from China almost always delayed) and though we were only half an hour earlier than the scheduled time(5:35pm), we were made to wait til 6:30pm before Papa appeared!  A good 1.5hr at the airport, doing nothing but only a cup of chocolate milk with pearls to entertain Renee and me, hahaha.

To avoid the jam on the way home, we decided to simply dine at 1 of the restaurants at the airport and whilst que-ing for our turn at the taxi line, we felt abit odd when we were directed to a taxi in the middle of the taxi que, hmmm - it had seemed like the taxi was 'avoided' by other passengers.  It's only when we've reached home that we realised why - it's a cab that charges ridiculous fare!  We were charged S$55!  My trip to the airport earlier had cost me only S$23 and that's with the inclusion of a phone booking fee!  Oh man, we must remember to avoid taking Premier cabs!  Terrible... And papa said I should have driven.... :(

Oh ya, one more thing - Rachel would normally cry when I put her on somewhere new, like a changing station at the shopping mall but today, when I placed her at the baby seat inside the airport toilet cubicle, she actually loved it! I had left my bag with papa and when I told him about how cute Rachel had looked in the seat, he surprisingly agreed that I should go back and try to take a picture of her in it of which.... I did, heee.  Then, again, she refused to be carried out of it and protested and this time round, I even got a video of that, hahaha 

An Early Father's Day

As Papa had to attend to some work(before his trip), we could only go out in the evening, so we decided to just go for our dinner.  We went back to the mall where we've brought our overseas guest for lunch yesterday and I decided to get a cake to mark the Father's Day celebration. In avoid letting him find out about the present, we put up an act to make him think that the cake was bought by Renee 'cos she's forgotten to get him a gift, hehehe.  Honestly, as cited in my earlier post(s), as her parents, it really doesn't matter to us, whether Renee buys us a gift or not, it's just that, I(hubby shared the same view too) feel that it is actually good to inculcate the idea of 'giving' in her, the earlier the better and hopefully, she'd share that with mei mei in the near future, :).

We ate the brownie cake this evening and thus, I told Renee that she could present her actual gift to papa as well if she liked and needless to say, Papa was touched... :)

I've wanted to put the 'Dad I love You' chocolate candy tag on e top corner but
Renee insisted that it should replace the 'Polar' tag. Y? She wanted to eat the chocolate!

 

Then, at the last minute, she did this card for Papa...

"Dear Papa. Thank you for sending me to Ying lao shi's house for my lessons and to

my Primary school.  Kindly, Renee Toh" - 'Kindly'? where she get that? hahaha

Lucky man, getting the kisses from his 2 beloved girls 

Trip to The Sentosa

Since we're not able to go for a night stay at the RWS hotel on time(papa kept forgetting to make the arrangements and as he's the member, I can't do it, :<...), I told him that, we should, at least bring the kids to the island...

However, what they both(papa and Renee) had in mind was mainly the Luge and Skyrides and I had to reconsider if I should go along 'cos the idea of waiting alone with Rachel, whilst they go for the rides for a minimum of 1 - 1.5hrs sure doesn't entice me...

At the ticketing office, based on the timing we arrived there(after 4pm) and the choices of 'attractions' we were going for, we were recommended their 'evening package' which includes entry to 3 attractions.  On the spot, we pre-selected the 'Cable Car Ride', 'Luge & Sky Ride' and the 'Songs of the Sea' but was told that we could change our mind any time later.  However, after the cable car ride, Papa suggested that we go for the Tiger Sky Tower instead and surprisingly, Renee agreed readily - perhaps she remembered my complaint for having to wait so long for them whilst they enjoyed their Luge & Sky rides during our previous trip, that she decided to go along with Papa's suggestion, :).  This turned out to be a much better option as we can do all 3 activities together as a whole family, :), although we left midway through the last one - Songs of the Sea, 'cos it's such a bore! No good at all...

Lately, we've been on the search of a suitable pair of shoes to go along with Renee's flowergirl dress and working with the given budget, although we manage to find a pair at Vivo City yesterday but there weren't any more of her size available.  The shop staff had offered to check their other outlets for its stock availability but we didn't take up her suggestion.  Thinking that we might do that afterall, we forgot to return to the mall after our trip to Sentosa, heeee.

Renee's got this balloon but we don't know what it is, Fish?

Rachel's Passport

Yes, we've finally collected Rachel's 1st passport!

As usual, our trip planning has to be 'postponed' as Rachel doesn't have a passport and by the time we've got it applied, I've kinda lost the interest and Papa's certainly not keen anymore...

Papa needed to attend to his work and to avoid waste of time rushing home to pick us, he decided to drop us off somewhere nearby.  We had a quick lunch at KFC and again, Renee, remembering the Lego roadshow(is it called 'roadshow'?...), asked to go there again and thus, we've wasted a good 45mins there - before Papa came back for us.

After picking up Rachel's passport, we headed down to Vivo City, in search of Renee's flowergirl shoes(failed to find again, no size!) and again, we ended up dining at Sushi Tei... This has been the 4th time at least, that we've dined at Sushi Tei during this school holiday!

Just a few days ago, suddenly recalling our wedding anniversary, I told Papa that since we've missed our ROM date(which I had thought was 13 May), we could celebrate our wedding date(sometime in June) since it's been a looooong time we've 'celebrated' our anniversary.  However, again, I've remembered the dates wrongly and retrieving our certificate for a check, papa told me that he was right, it is today! hahaha. Anyway, we've also forgotten to 'celebrate' it today, hahaha.

Never Too Late To Give a Gift ^_^

This being the last week for us to really enjoy the school holidays('cos papa's going away for the whole of next week, :<), I brought them out again, heeee(papa's complaining that Renee's gotta skip her practice becos of the outing, :<).

After our lunch at Breeks(again, 2nd time since the hols), we proceeded our little 'walk and look-see' escapade, detemined not to spend anymore $ today('cos we've already spent more than S$1K, just within the 1st 4 days of our sch hols outings!).  However, remembering that it's the Father's Day this Sunday and it's the day before Papa embarked on his week long trip, we thought it'd be nice to get him a little gift.

We shopped around Sephora and tried a couple of the men's fragrance before Renee decided to 'up' her budget - 'cos all the prices there are the regular prices, I  wonder what's the difference of buying from them compared to buying from the departmental stores where discount, gifts with purchase promotion would be more available...  In any case, their prices are all way over Renee's budget, I told her not to fret and took her to the individual shops at T.S.C.  Finally, she found one which she thinks papa would like at BodyShop and to maximise her gift package, she took the sales staff's suggestion to top up another S$7 and got the fragrance and shower gel set.

Then, I teased her that she's prejudiced, she's only got me an egg-tart for Mother's day but a S$50 budget for her papa.  At first, she didn't bother but later, she told me that she'd like to pay for part of the perfume that we both thought would be nice(and I almost bought it).  She told me to go get it but she could only afford part of its price.  So, to test her and since I like it myself, we went back to Sephora and got the parfume.  I reminded her that by getting us these gifts, she might end up with an empty coin bank and told her I won't tease her anymore should she decide to back-out of the 'deal'.  I told her I'm already happy and contented enough to know that she wants to get me a gift(she had wanted to get me something from the school's Mother's Day fair but... that's another story, hahaha), she doesn't need to feel obligated but she insisted.

Back home, afraid that I might not get the $ from her and as with previous occasions, she quickly want to count her coins after her shower, despite the pain at the butt from a fall in the shower, :(.  I was still in the shower when I heard her saying "Mummy, I only have 95dollars, and my coin bank is already empty...".  When I came out, I told her that she could keep her money but she said "when I said I want to pay for the presents means I want to pay".  Well, so be it, I took her coins, in any case, they'd go back to her, without her actually knowing it, :) -  Actually, it's good this way too, we should upkeep with the 'training', :).

Our gifts :-
Mummy's

Papa's

Flowergirl Dress 'Exchanged'

At Compass Point last evening, I spotted the same design of dresses at KP and realised that they do have one of size 5, in the colour that we've bought!  When the staff at MS branch called them to check on the stock availability, they had told us that they do not have it in this size, haiz...  Then, I saw that the dress also came in(with) pink colour flowers(!)  and although only size 6 is available(no size 5, again...), I quickly got them to reserve a piece and told them the situation.

Finally, before we head down to my mum's today, we detoured over to Compass Point again, for me to do an exchange of the dress... :

What's left now is a pair of matching shoes...

Lego and New Friends

I had planned to stay home today but with such hot weather(we had to have the air-conditioner switched on the whole day yesterday! - and I took the opportunity to do my ironing, heee!), I decided to take the kids out! heee.

With papa dropping us off, we chose Raffles City and when we arrived there, we spotted Lego's promotional roadshow(for LegoLand) upstairs and Renee insisted on going over.  She's always been ok playing alone by herself and so, seeing that there weren't much people around still, I left her to roam around some of the shops, nurse Rachel, whilst she entertained herself with the Lego blocks.  When I went back to her, she's already made friends with an American girl who came with her Singaporean mummy.  The mummy was very friendly too and soon, we were chatting away as well, :).  We even exchanged mobile numbers before we parted, :).  They told us the date of their trip to the upcoming Lego Land and extended their invitation for us to join them on the same day, we'll see.  I hope we could join them(and their friends) but as usual, we'll have to depend on Papa's schedule...

Another FlowerGirl Dress

A last minute arrangement and we met up with Karen and her younger girl at MS.  It's been awhile and with such a short meet up, we hope to do another when they're back from their trip.

With our playdate leaving early, we took the opportunity to shop further, hahaha but this time, it's for her swimsuit(need something thicker to keep her warmer) and remembering the tops I've seen at Mothercare the other day, I got Renee these :

Then, after our dinner, we went back to KP 'cos I've forgotten to ask them to check the availability of the dresses at another branch and ended up buying the one and only piece left on the spot, lolz.  What made Renee really happy was - Papa, for no reason, picked up a high heeled sandals and told her that it's pretty nice and she took the opportunity to bug him to buy for her!  After some 'negotiations', she got her wish... :

The Flowergirl Dress

The pair of heeled sandals she bugged her Papa for... 

Although we were unable to find a suitable pair of shoes to go with the dress, we thought we should get the pair of stockings first...

The KeyBoard Pad?

This is what our ex-neighbour gave Renee on the day we moved out of D'Chateau and I've kept it from her(not wanting her to be distracted with the want to play with it constantly) til last weekend.  Perhaps I should have let her dabble with it earlier, who knows it might help her with her music theory, even alittle?...