Pre-Birthday Outing II - A Simple but Pleasant Surprise

Despite the unpleasant encounter earlier today, we were 'lucky' that Papa was able to bring us out to town, alittle earlier...  We had a simple dinner at SushiTei and with nothing in mind for my present, we headed home straight away...

After my shower, I had opened but closed the bathroom door instantly('cos I've forgotten something) and this act, must have misled Renee to think that I'm ready and out, because I heard her playing the happy birthday song with her violin! hahaha.

When I was out of the bathroom, a cake, lighted with candles was placed on a small table and Renee played the full song again, :).(needless to say, papa was video-ing the 'happening', hahaha).

Although Papa's gotten the wrong 'brand' of cake(I've told him I wanted 'eggless cake' from Emicakes this year, so our kids could share them!) and he's also gotten me a bottle of perfume which both Renee and I had commented 'hmmm, not nice huh?"(and it's costly!) when we passed its brand roadshow earlier, this simple gesture's(not forgetting the hugs and kisses from my girls) enough to create a smile in my heart... :).

The Gift - wrapped and unwrapped, :)

Found this envelope last night when I went in to check on Renee.  No wonder she'd asked

me for the envelope after I've removed its content.  Times like this reminds me that she's a good girl, who wouldn't waste or pester us to get her stuffs - a pack filled with different types of envelopes and letter notes were then placed on her bedside table... :)

 This is what's inside the envelope, :)

This is the new note she wants to replace the old one with,

when she found the nice ones I gave her :)

(but I insisted that I liked the 'original' one...) 

Garden Festival

We've passed by this garden exhibition over the weekend and I told Papa that I want to bring the kids there before it ends and today, we went..., :).

I just have to take a pic of this, hahaha

Some of these Bonsais are really nice...

 The different types of grains

 1 of the garden landscapes/layouts Papa likes

Youth Day

It's the school holiday today and without the pressure of the need to practice hard(for the time being at least), I decided to bring Renee out for the day.

We had lunch, at Breeks AGAIN and I gave her another prep talk.   It began :

M  : "Renee, I want to talk to you about something"
Re :(evading my eye contact) : "What, mummy?"
M  : "Can you please tell me, what should I do, in order not to have to 'call' you to practice and you'd do everything on your own?"
Re : "I don't want you to 'call' me"
M  : (ermmm, about to start losing it here, haha) "That's precisely what I want to talk to you about now!  I don't want to have to 'call' you".  "Everyday, I have to tell you to hurry up and get changed, wash your hands, eat your lunch, go practice, I'm really tired of all these constant 'calling' you know and I really don't like to scold you. So, can you please, tell me what I should do to avoid doing all these?"
Re : "Can we not talk about this now?"
M  : "No no.  I want to sort this out by today"
Re : "But you sure won't say ok if I tell you..."
M  : "Ok, you try.  Tell me what it is and I see if we can work it out"
Re :(after a pause) "I want to do my homework first"
M  : "But Renee, I let you do that initially, remember?  And do you remember what happened? You took your own sweet time, from 3pm, you can do your homework alllllllll the way to 5:30pm, sometimes even 6pm!  Like that, how are you going to have your practice?"
Re : "....."
M  : "Ok, let me think over this and maybe I'll have a word with Papa and see if he agrees"
Re : "....."
M  : "But Renee, will you promise me that you will not purposely drag your homework just to avoid practicing?  You know you need to practice right?"
Re : "Yes, mummy"
M  :  "Can you really promise me that you will do that and that I can trust you on this?"
Re : "Yes, mummy, I will do it"
M  : "Ok, we'll see about it then"

Well, I've finally decided and told Papa that we could give it another try.  Afterall, when she progresses to P2, I suppose there would be more homework and by then, she would need to start doing her homework first.

Surprisingly, she was even more co-operative today after the prep-talk and she even drank the mushroom soup that came with her set meal, which she normally rejects!  Then she was sooo obedient and willing;y 'exit' the toys department and whenever I said we should proceed to other place.

I had thought that Papa will join us for dinner and thus, I brought them to have a little snack but just as we were about to place our order, papa text to ask if we're ready to leave and since we weren't('cos we wanted to check out the food fest at Takashimaya), he said he'd pick us up later then.  However, I didn't expect that we'd end up hving quick dinner of packed Japanese food at the Paragon playground(which we went back to pack another before heading home, 'cos Renee loved it so much, hahaha), and hving to go home by ourselves...

Nevertheless, Renee had a really wonderful day(as she claimed), and from now on, I'd have to monitor and pray in the meantime, that our new pact works...

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

Another Treat

Despite the little Swensons cone treat on Wednesday, 'cos we have to go to the chinese physician's after Renee's 'brought earlier' violin lesson today, Papa rewarded Renee with another dinner + ice-cream treat at Swensons this evening(when he heard good remarks from the teacher regarding the last MC, *phew*...). Got these balloons from them, :):

We also managed, at the last minute, to get a present from ToysRUs, for her cousin Jiayi whom would be celebrating his birthday tomorrow! :)

Renee put these favorite Angry Birds stickers on the present and drew on it, :)

Where's My Baby?!

I've got a big shock today when I came back to meeting hubby at the school's lobby after sending Renee up to her theory class.

We were running abit late and on such occasions, I'd normally rush up to the class with Renee and will meet hubby and baby at the lobby thereafter.  Today, somehow, it just didn't cross hubby's mind that in such rush, I wouldn't have the time to unbuckle Rachel from the car seat and then carry her up and rush jie jie up to the class - well, if that's feasible, why hadn't I done that before, correct?

Anyway, after rushing Renee to the class, I came out of the elevator and saw hubby standing casually outside the door, looking relaxed, alone...  I looked around him, but there's no sign of baby Rachel nor her stroller and my eyes went wide!   He saw the look on my face and asked me where's baby?  OMG, my heart nearly dropped!  We both rushed back to the car and thankfully, it had only been a very short while that he's left her in the car and she was still sleeping, GEEZ!

The Promised Luge & SkyRide

As Papa had promised Renee another Luge & SkyRide at the Sentosa should she get an 'A', they went today.  There had been a little fuss earlier due to the rainfall but it soon cleared as the weather did too.

Meimei had caught a cold(from jiejie?) and since I won't be enjoying the rides nor the wait whilst they do so, I decided to stay home.  It was cosy to be home alone with the baby,  :) - it's like reliving the time with baby Renee...

Quiet X'mas Eve

It's the eve but we hvn't the mood nor plans to go anywhere(don't wanna squeeze in the crowd nor wait in long que)... And so, instead of dining out, we decided to go pack some simple food(wanted KFC initially) back for a simple, nice cozy dinner at home.

Renee had mentioned a few times earlier, that she hasn't gotten presents for the both of us and since she hasn't got much dollar coins left, I told her it's ok and it's her well-being and good behaviour that we wanted but she insisted(esp. after I've given her, her present this morning, hahaha).

We were on the way out to Bukit Timah Plaza when Renee asked if we could bring her to AMK hub for her to have a quick grab at the things she wanna get for us and Papa, the ever 'spoiling' one, obliged her, :D.

At AMK hub, we headed straight to the store(MiniToons) and she chose a couple of items she wanted to get for Papa, then, urging me to go get my groceries, Papa and her went to look for mine, :D.

With dinner packed and a log cake bought, we quickly headed home and watched tv whilst we munched on, :).

Simple dinner of Korean and Taiwan fried chicken(didn't know that Renee has chosen fried chicken so I bought the Korean one!), Okonomiyaki, Korean Sausage(yummy! and I'm one who doesn't like sausages) and meat balls



Baking Class & a Caricature

Renee's been looking to the muffins decorating class and she's finally attending it today!

After a short rest/wash up back home after the school orientation, papa took us to a quick lunch at Orchard Central(he kept thinking that this is the mall where Renee's supposed to be attending the class, hahaha) before we rushed over to 313@Somerset. Papa left us there to attend to some work but as he couldn't join us immediately after the session, I took them(the 2 kids) back over to Orchard Central for some photo taking, heee. Then we went for a little shopping at Centrepoint where Renee's given a free caricature of herself(she missed the sculpted balloon giveaway today :D).

 

A very busy and extremely tiring day for me but Renee's happy, :)