A Fun Day for the Princess

It was a last minute decision to go to the Zoo 'cos the violin teacher has text last minute that she's unable to take the class today. Actually, I've had this feeling last night that she might cancel today's lesson and had thought, a few times, to message her to check if the lesson's confirmed, haiz. I should have done that, 'cos if she had told me earlier, then we could bring Renee to the farms! Anyway...

We arrived at the Zoo @ around 12pm and luckily for the good weather(else hubby wldn't suggest gg to the zoo at this hour, it's usally after 3:30pm for him to go there lolz), though we did perspire after an hour's walk around, we didn't feel sticky/uncomfortable like we normally would, :). So, it's been a good walk. We even managed to find the entrance to the butterfly garden this time - somehow, we simply couldn't find it during our past visits.

After a quick lunch at KFC, we headed home and Renee constantly pestered her papa to bring her down for kite flying, hahaha. I've told him this morning that each time she felt windy breeze on our way to the violin lesson, she would complain about her papa not bringing her to fly kite and thus, he's agreed to do so with her today.

Good thing we've gone to the Zoo today, else another year of membership fee would be sooo wasted again, lolz

Winx Club Performance

I've heard of this group of animated characters and have seen their slots on tv before but I've never let Renee watch them. When she's older, she might, under peers' influence, request to watch them but for now, I'll try to deter it, heee.

When we passed the castle stage, Renee immediately indicated that she wanted to watch the performance. However, both hubby and I were very hungry so we told her that we got to have our dinner first. Then, when I stopped by the same area later to purchase some stuffs, hubby suddenly turned to tell me that he's bringing Renee to join the que! I was very surprised, but nevertheless, secretly pleased in a way, :) 'cos he's never been one who's keen on such 'activities', but for his girl, he suggested it(he wld never hv done this when she was younger). After I've paid up, I went to join them in the 'enclosed' audience area(though the staff wasn't quite willing to let me in til they saw hubby and Renee waving at me, heee).

As usual, the show always began with a host entertaining/warming up the crowd and when the performance finally began, hubby agreed that I've made a right choice by not letting her watch their shows(what with 'boyfriends', fashion, etc...), hahaha but there were soooo many young kids there whom could easily named all the characters and stuffs!

Then out came the baddies and on the audience floor, they were so close-up and I saw hubby laughing at Renee. Why? - he said she was looking on fearfully with an open mouth, :D. Later when back home, she looked at my mascara-ed lashes and asked me to remove it - she felt it looked like the baddies' and she's afraid. I guess I needed fake ones or many more times layers of mascara to have that dramatic look, hahaha

Not knowing the moves and shy abt dancing in the public, this is her 'subtle' dance(shld see her dance at home man! aiyoh), hahaha

More Holiday Performances

Supposedly to be checking out another 2 schools for some holiday programmes but although the weather's nice today, too nice infact - hot!, I decided against walking over to Rivervale Mall, heee. Instead, we went over to Compass Point where Renee could return her library book and I could do a little more shopping/browsing.

We were walking towards the costume jewellery shop when we spotted the area where we saw many people que-ing earlier(not knowing what the que was for) then we realised that there's a show coming up! The show finally began whilst I was still choosing some stuffs and Renee couldn't wait, walked outta shop to watch, without telling me so(I've told her to watch from the entrance of the shop but she obviously had forgotten). Good thing she's within my sight and I quickly pay up and joined her. Pity, I didn't bring my camera along, so no pics to show which Sesame Street characters were performing today but there were 3 hosts, Elmo, Ernie, Bert. Abby Caddaby and Cookie Monster. Unlike Tues, when we didn't have the luxury of more leisure time to stay and watch the whole Mr Men's performance at TSC , we managed to catch the whole show today and Renee's happy, :D.

Hubby had text earlier that he'd be coming back at around 6 today and thinking that he had meant to pick us up at that timing, I told Renee we had to rush to the supermarket for our groceries. However, a quick check with him on the phone and realising that he's actually joining us at the mall(needed something from e bookstore), we quickly went to the bookstore instead, to look for some books. Not much time and too many books, so I told Renee that our priority's to choose some activity/work books. I managed to find these and by the time hubby arrived, I quickly took her to the story books section as promised but as I've still got some story books not read to her yet, I told her we'll come back another day for them.

With these, I think I'm looking for more 'trouble' hahaha

Out Again

I've got a missing piece from the CD Ms Mok has loaned me and thinking that Vicky would have it, I asked her to re-copy all the pieces for me and she's agreed to meet up today since it's also her off day. However, disappointedly, that last piece was also missing from her laptop but we still go ahead to meet up since she wanted to do some X'mas shopping.

She had initiated coming over here but since I'd be driving, we went downtown instead. Renee wanted Mcdonald's for lunch and luckily for that, we managed to catch a glimpse of the 'Mr Men' show!

We had gone out around 11am(reached Paragon ard 12pm) but after our lunch and little walk at Takashimaya, it's already almost 3pm and we decided to go elsewhere. However, knowing that Renee wouldn't be able to withstand the 'walk' to Robinsons, we went back to the carpark and retrieve the stroller. Quite a number of bumps here and there and Vic laughed at the fact that I've lost touch on pushing a stroller after such a long break, hahaha.

Just as we were leaving(just out from Paragon's carpark), Vic's got a call from her sis, decided to meet her last minute and had to get outta e car. Good thing, none of the cars behind me honked, hahaha. However, I think, due to the rush, she's accidentally knocked the left side mirror 'closed' and I didn't realised til I had to change to a lane on the left side on CTE, oh no! Luckily for the existence of road shoulder, I quickly pulled over, got outta car and push the mirror back(and no, if u're thinking, the 'remote control' within the car is only for adjustment, not to 'open/close' the mirrors), phew!

Renee said that she didn't really had a good time today(well, how could she when she wasn't indulged the time at the toys dept today, hahaha) but she said she did when her papa asked her, :).

A Note/Drawing of Apology...

Since the time her papa has started to coach her on spelling(well, only a little bit, cos he stopped there after and expected me to take over, hahaha), she's been asking for the help in this area whenever she has the 'inspiration' to write something.

Of 'cos, without discliplined and constant spelling guidance, she couldn't remember all/most of the words we've taught her but there are a couple I think she would remember, especially after the past few days... Why? It's becos, a few days ago, she made me angry and when hubby learnt about it, he told her that she's to write 'I am sorry, I will be a good girl' 10 times, like she did for him last week when she got him upset. However, she's not taught how to write 'will be', she did this :

The Hello Kitty sticker and drawings were added 'cos she insisted

that she need to make it look nicer for me

Before Ms Mok was able to get us another time slot for her extended lessons, she's asked if Renee is able to read time. She's of cos unable to do so on the old type of clock, and even reading from a digital one, she's still unable to comprehend the actual concept of time. The reason she asked was to find out if Renee would fuss when the duration of her lessons became longer and I told her that she might as she could gauge. It was still ok on our 1st extended lesson but today, she began to fuss, complaining "why so long?". Probably it's also because as we've only agreed to her taking the grading exam not too long ago and thus, we have in a way, more to catch up and Ms Mok is trying to push abit more today. In the end, I'm being entrusted with the 'homework' task again, haiz... Today, I've also told Ms Mok that Renee has requested for a change on 1 of the songs selected for the exam and after being tested on the alternative piece, she deemed it ok but that as it'd be a waste since she's already started practicing on the other one, so for now, she'd be practicing on an extra piece(arrrggghhh) til we'll confirm it after our practices with the accompaniment(which, of cos we'd have to pay for each practice and exam as well, I shld hv reconsidered letting her learn violin! lolz).

When we got home, I told her to have her shower first as I'd like to have a short nap whilst her papa was doing so and she got sooo angry when I disrupted her play that she retaliated by 'hitting' me in the shower room! OMG, how has our little princess turned sooo naughty?! I spanked her 'culprit' arm a few times and feeling too upset, I didn't wish to 'punish' her anymore and just told her that her papa will have to be told about this, as usual. She cried when I spanked her, in fact she already looked frightened after she's hit me and quickly apologised to me a few times. However, this is an totally unacceptable behaviour and I believe she knew it as well, so she didn't dare to further aggravate the situation by crying loudly as she'd sometimes do to try and get the forgiveness she's asking for.

After I've showered and she's dressed herself, I told her to leave me alone to nap and I saw her walking very sadly into our studyroom...

Last night, she said she's run out of plain paper and needed one to draw the artwork we've done recently. This morning, she told me that she wanted to give Ms Mok that piece of drawing and showed it to me when we were walking to the block from the carpark. I was surprised at the drawing and I liked it! Ms Mok was also very surprised and asked if she's already started her drawing classes, hahaha. When I told her no, not yet 'cos we've yet to register her with the school and she complimented "woah, she's really good". Did she say it out of courtesy?, I don't know but I really liked it myself. In fact, I've asked Renee why she drew that for Ms Mok and not for me(especially when it's her 1st attempt on that artwork) and asked if she could draw another for me. Her answer was of cos "yes", :D.

So, when my alarm beeped 1/2 hr later, she came to my bedside and gave me this(below pic). I knew I couldn't respond warmly to that and so I told her to just leave it there and she did so quietly, sadly...

It was only just now, after I've tucked her to bed that I took a proper look at her drawing/writing and I went to ask her what does the checked sad/angry faces mean(with her name written beside it) and she said they represented 'naughty her' - har, hubby and I had misinterpreted her trying to say that she won't show us angry faces anymore, hahaha. After my this little talk with her, she was fainlly able to fall asleep...

I'm not saying tt tis is a genius' work, Am just surprised becos she's totally no formal

drawing classes, :). And actually, in comparison, the one she did earlier's much

better, afterall, she's done this pc in a 'sad' mood, hahaha

Another Wedding

There was supposedly to be no gathering at my mom's today but Elsie, Li and I decided to go down anyway.

After our dinner, we went for a little walk around the neighbourhood shops and when hubby came over after his practice rounds at Orchid Country Club, he told us that we'd have to head home early, as his cousin would be coming over to distribute their daugher's wedding invitation + cakes.

Back home, Renee was very excited and waited for them in great anticipation and when they arrived at our place, she was surprisingly very friendly with the 'old' couple. She spoke with them and even brought our swivel chair from the studyroom and pushed the 'uncle' whilst he's on it! She even insisted on giving them her artwork, OMG! As for me, this is actually the 1st time I met up with them(hubby has alot of relatives actually, hahaha) properly since our wedding dinner when I didn't really have the chance to remember sooo many of our guests and this visit allowed us a little time to get to know each other better. Nice, friendly and jovial as I see them, the lady(geez, I don't even know their names! lolz) even shared or should I say revealed?, intimate and wonderful informations/memories of my mother-in-law whom I've never had the opportunity to meet/know... I even get to hear some interesting stuffs about hubby when he was a young kid and my FIL, hehehehehe. Will I get to hear more if we visit them? Ah Har!

So far, we've now 3 invitations for that particular week, 2 weddings and a birthday celebration(on the 6th) which we aren't sure if we could make it though we'd really love to. On top of that, we still have to go somewhere on the morning of 5th as well, aiyoh... Good thing this particular wedding, which will take place at Sentosa, is on a different date from my niece's, else we'd be caught in a difficult position, lolz. Hmmm, it's been quite a while we've been to Sentosa at night and apart from my previous bridal assignments, this is the 2nd wedding dinner we're attending at Sentosa, kinda looking forward to it, :).

The FlowerGirls' Stuffs R Finally All Ready Now

Had actually planned to go downtown today with Renee as there was a 'Mr Men' show for Takashimaya members, so I told hubby to take the A6.

However, the store called to inform that they've got 2 dresses ready for my exchange and the headbands are also at the store, so I decided to go to Compass Point instead of going to Orchard. A surprise today - at the store, Renee had not requested to go to the toys department, first time! hahaha.

We've first gone to SK Hub though, 'cos I've been told, errm well, weeks ago, heeee, to purchase a sight reading book for Renee but I've yet to do so. It was raining very heavily when we left home and Renee was elated to have a chance to use her kiddy umbrella. But when we go there, the rain dropped to just drizzle, I didn't open mine up and 'braved' the rain, hahaha. Hopefully I won't fall sick, 'cos hubby is now, after he was caught in the rain yesterday...

At the library, Renee's has for the 1st time, requested to borrow a book home! I told her there's no need to as she's got quite some books at home to occupy her reading time(not that she can fully read, hahaha) but I guess she's seen me doing that for a while now and would like to follow suit. Anyway, she's picked this one(perhaps thinking that she could only borrow 1, since I always took 1) out from the pile she's selected :

Daiso Again

Oh no, another S$30 at Daiso today, tsk tsk tsk... lolz.

Artwork Time

Since we got home yesterday, Renee's been pestering me to do the artwork with her(in fact, she's been asking me to do some of our existing ones), so today, after my mom, sisters, and my niece had left, I did some with her.

Today's my eldest niece's 'guo da li' day and this is also the reason why my sis came over - to pass us the official invitation card and fruit tarts.

This is just 1 of the few times she's been 'allowed' to use this 'real' scissors(she knows that she's not sup to use it by her own). Juz look at how precise she's at it, she must ensure that the tip of the scissors is where she's to end the cut, every single piece! can't stand it, hahaha...

Artwork Books

It's been raining, raining and raining these days and we're bored being couped up at home, even though it had only been just a few days since we've gone out.

Good weather today(not sure if heaven's answering Renee's prayers last nite, lolz), so I took Renee to Hougang mall. Had a little bit of time before heading to get my groceries, we(li met up with us too) went to Popular and though I've seen these on my previous trips to this bookstore, it is only today that I bought them(prompted by Li, hahaha):

These are easy artworks, quite similar to those Li has gotten for her sometime ago(though quality is not as good but images are nice) and it should allow us some time doing things together, without much hassel, :). In any case, Renee's happy, :)

A Cool Night

The cool cool season is finally here(I hope)! It's sooo cool tonight that it created such a christmassy feel and we're glad that we've already put up our tree, :D.

I hope the days/nights for the next few months will be as cool as tonight... :).

Shopping with the FlowerGirls

To settle the matter of selection once and for all, we arranged to meet today at Compass Point with the other flowergirl.

It was a fruitful trip! All of us(including my sis and the flowergirls) agreed on the pink dresses, pink glittery maryjane shoes, pink baskets and pink headbands! However, the ribbons attached to the 2 headbands aren't the same, so the staff has temporarily withheld the bands to reconfirm the availability of the same ones before we embark on the purchase.

How The flowergirls Connect...

Renee had wanted very much to play with Charlize, the other flowergirl when they met but as the latter seldom goes out(I was told so) , she was very shy. Renee waited and waited and waited, for Charlize to warm up but still... And finally she couldn't take it! When we were done with the flowergirls' stuffs, we were at G2k looking for a jacket, I saw Renee getting frustrated. When I asked her why, she said "she didn't want to hold my hand!" and began to walk away. So I asked Charlize gently why she wouldn't hold hands with Renee and told her that it's ok, can just play with jie jie. So, she slowly walked to look for Renee and there my little girl, standing at another corner, pouting, :D. I called out to her and told her to come back over, she said "but she didn't want to hold my hand", kekeke. I replied "but now she's willing to, why don't you come over now. You have to give her some time" and again she repeated "but she didn't want to", whilst coming over. I guess she'd meant that she has waited long enough, hahaha. Standing besides them, I noticed Charlize was peeling the skin from her finger and to lighten the 'situation', I teased her and also told Renee she can't do that but cheeky as she is, she grinned and started to follow suit. That sorta broke the ice. I then took Charlize hand and placed it on Renee's and then there they were, standing next to each other, both smiling away, :).

As for the rest, I think I need not elaborate any more, throughout the rest of the day, they were holding hands, smiling, giggling and finally, took nice photos together.

Sis commented : "now Renee knows how we felt during those times when we had to wait for her to warm up right?"(when she was younger), hahaha.

Annoying Phone Calls

Today, I've received, for the 9th time, a call from someone representing RBS and it is really super annoying 'cos besides this bank, I've also been receiving calls from a few other banks and even life insurance agencies, mostly by outsourced tele-marketing teams. What makes it worse is that these telemarketeers are mostly foreigners(asians) and it is usually very hard to listen to what they're trying to 'sell'/say. I just wish they'd remove my contacting info from all their lists and stop calling me...

A 'Sweaty' Experience

As hubby's driving the A6 to his golf game, I cancelled my cooking plans and took Renee out. I thought I could also check the availability of the dresses since we'd be there.

Surprisinlgy, the dresses, headbands and baskets are running out fast but there were new designs on rack and so I took Renee in to try them out. This time, I've brought my digicamera along for the last time, it was unexpected and we were only trying the dresses for fun, so, I've only taken pics with my mobile. I hadn't been able to upload the pics from my mobile and retaking them with my digicam from the mobile weren't clear enough.

I wasn't sure if photo taking is allowed and with 2 staff packing/unpacking right outside the fitting room, so I dare not use the flash and also, had to watch Renee's speech in case she blurted out "Mommy, quick, take photo, I'm very warm..." and so I've to hush her and she in turn, hushed me back as she'd thought that we aren't supposed to make any noise at all, hahahahaha.

7 dresses and boy, I was really sweating but good thing, Renee did not fuss nor complain too much since the dresses are very pretty, lolz.

On our way to pack dinner home, we passed by this X'mas decor house and Renee asked to take pics with it(she's now alot more willing to take pics and had initiated many times even, :D). Christmas decorations everywhere seem to be put up earlier this year, perhaps taking the cue from the Orchard Road's X'mas light up, which is alot earlier due to the APEC meeting.

Back to Bugis

Since there's no gathering at my mom's today, I made hubby take us to Bugis Junction again, hahaha. Why? 'Cos he's interrupted my shopping on Thursday and I just have to go back there, :D. Though we didn't get to browse the whole mall but it's been another fruitful trip, heee. We even tried a new restaurant(new, as in we hvn't dined there before), MOF, mmm not bad, :).

For Wear or For Play?

Renee has always liked to 'take over' my shawl when we're out and so I passed her both of the 2 shawls hubby's got during his earlier trip to Vietnam. She's been playing with them since and once she even wanted to wear 1 out but they're too long for her. Recently, it suddenly dawned onto me that I've actually forgotten about this little pink checked scarf I've got for her during 1 of our biz trips but when I took it out, though happy, she had not wanted to wear it out and instead, she played with it....

A Little X'mas Decorator II

We've put up our X'mas decor today!

Have actually planned to do it tomorrow when daddy's also home but Renee simply couldn't wait and when I've finally convinced her, I decided otherwise, hahahahaha.

A Little X'mas Decorator

I have a facial appointment today and when I received hubby's call just before I got to the salon, I thought, "oh no". True enough, he has to meet his client last minute, haiz... He asked if he could send Renee to Li's and looking at the time, I supposed it might be ok and that he could check with her. Good thing Li wasn't going out and he brought her over. This girl was sooo happy and as usual, when she's excited about an outing/meet-up, she kept asking him if he was ready to go, hahaha.

This evening, she excitedly told me(actually Li has alr told me when I went to pick her up) that she's helped aunty Lili on the X'mas decoration of her home and she again, asked to put up ours NOW! Hubby is not into the idea of having them put up so early but I guess my argument of 'put up earlier, we don't have to take them down after a short period' won over and we finally agreed to have ours put up this Friday, :D.

Getting Used To II

Ms Mok was expecting Renee to be still struggling with the new violin but it seems that after a week's practices, she is finally getting used to it... So, again, she asked if I'd made her spent alot of time on her practices. Haiz, I really wished I could do that! 'Cos though she's more or less adapted to all the new positions, she still will slack off a couple as she plays along as her hand is still short for the bigger violin. More time spent would be better, but I never am able to get her do that, especially with this new instrument, to play more than 35-40mins(incl breaks in-between to rest her aching arm....). In any case, I guess I should be comforted since the teacher had told us that there're students who took more than 1 month to get used to a new violin. Hope she could do better still...