Kyle's close shave

Kyle's Close Shave

He almost didn't make it tonight. Although he didn't meet my condition, I did not have the heart to stop him as he climbed up the bicycle just before I was about to leave for our weekly badminton session. In the end, I had to give him another form of punishment: No TV or computer the next day and to write 50 lines of 'I will eat my dinner fast.' He agreed and so off we went.

He woke up at 5pm and started his dinner before 530. I was reading the papers and thinking that he would b able to finish it by 6.30 and be in time for his piano lesson. 6.30 came and his plate of fried rice was still more than half-full. He went for his class and came back at 7 to continue his dinner. At 7,30, there was still a quarter of it left. I gave him an ultimatum; No badminton for him if he cannot finish by 7.40. Meryl who started at 645 was already done by then. I still gave him some chances but at 8, I was prepared to leave. He came out crying and begging to go and he got his wish but with terms attached.He had a great time there and played really well with me for about 45 minutes before he went to play hide and seek with the other kids.

Come tomorrow he will have to keep to his side of the bargain and complete his lines. He needs to know that his mummy means business and is not one to be trifled with!

2009 V-Day Escapade

2009 V-Day Escapade

It started out as another lazy Saturday with the usual routine. Sent Meryl for ballet and then Kyle for abacus followed by lunch then nap. After my nap I was even more reluctant to do anything but then I thought of how sweet my hubby had been, I just had to pull myself out of my post-mahjung slumber! (oops)

For the past few years, Vday had been celebrated with my buying a cake from Jack's place and dinner (cooked by moi) consisting of sirloin steak, salad and potatoes. That was my initial plan for this year as well. Well, it turned out different for once.

I cycled Meryl to Compasspoint to choose the cake (which I feel is still a tradition I want to stick to). On the way, I told her that I was going to buy a mango cake for daddy. She wanted strawberry and insisted on it. So we had a conversation that went like this :

Me: Who are we buying the cake for?

Meryl: Daddy

Me: What does Daddy like?

Meryl: Mango

Me: So what cake should we buy?

Meryl :Strawberry

The 2nd time round, I asked her the same questions and this time she begrudgingly conceded: Ok lor...mango lor..

On the way to Compasspoint, Spotted the heart-shaped kite (above picture) and I had a bright idea! Why not have a mini picnic and fly kite at the same time! So I called the hubby to prepare the stuff needed and arranged to meet them at the field.

See the 2 cakes we bought? We scoured 4 cakeshops before I finally decided to buy these 2 from Breadtalk because MERYL was fixed on her pretty cake. But thanks to her, we had 2 free tickets to K20 movie.

Father and son had a great time of bonding through the kite-flying but atlas, our kite couldn't fly up for some reason. I tried my hand at it but it was only after a kind uncle helped me to cut away the 'tail' and re-tied my string that the kite took off! It was great fun! (so much so that I bought 2 BIG Kites for our next round)

After the sun had set, we went back for dinner and then headed for Night Safari after that as it had been a long time since we used our membership card. We exchanged roles for the night. I became Meryl and my hubby became Kyle and the Duo were the parents. They did a good job 'taking care' of us and 'bringing' us to see our favorite animals.

The night was still young at 10.30pm. Our 'parents' wanted to go Macdonald's but the children wanted roti prata. No prize for guessing who won the battle!

We headed for our fave prata place at Casuarina for prata, my yummiest thosai and pappadum at the end of the meal. It turned out to be an eventful day after all.

Swimming Report

Swimming Report

The kids have covered freestyle, breast-stroke and now they have progressed to back-stroke. Kyle is most comfortable with freestyle and Meryl is more confident with swimming on her back. She has overcome her initial fear of putting her had into the water and loves swimming.

Daddy's Boo Boo

Daddy's Boo Boo

Last Sunday, I brought my students to do their CIP for a Biathlon. It was left to my hubby to entertain the Duo. He brought them as usual to my father-in-law house whenever I wasn't aound. They had noodles at their usual haunt and then went to see chinchillas. I happily went for lunch with my kakis and came back expecting my 3 darlings to be back and to get them ready for their nap.

At 1.30pm, they were finally back. My hubby promptly asked them to 'go eat their lunch' to which I told him there weren't any! I had expected them to be fed by the time they were back and he hasn't left any instructions with my helper to cook lunch. Both of us just stared ridiculously at him. I shooked my head and told him the fastest thing I could whip up is oats. The Duo had oats for lunch the day that the mummy was not around to make sure things are done in the PROPER way. I shudder to think what will happen if I leave the kids with him for an entire day!!!

Kyle's Piano Lesson

Last Piano Lesson

Tonight was my son's last lesson for piano. I asked him again if he wanted to continue but his answer was still 'No'. He gallantly suggested that now Meryl can have her lessons since he already has his drum class. I'd like to hope that during the last 2 terms, he had gleaned something of use during his piano lessons. In future, he cannot hold it against me for not knowing how to play cos I did give him a chance.

Meryl's Quirks

Meryl's Quirk #1

This afternoon, a thunderstorm was raging in Sengkang. Thunder roared almost every other minute. My son was already long awakened barely half an hour into his nap. Meryl, on the other hand, slept soundly through the din.

It was almost 6.30, 2 hrs and 45 mins into her afternoon nap and I thought I better wake her up for her dinner. I went into her room and lie down beside her. I tried tickling her but she merely scratched the area that I touch her. So I started to caress her face. Again, she brushed it off without waking. Then I tried to pull away her blanket but she pulled it back and wrapped herself even more tightly with it. In the end, to ward away my disturbance, she simply pulled the blanket over her head and continued sleeping!!

It was almost about 10 minutes later that she finally decided she had enough of my nonsense and she got up and got down the bed without greeting me. And what a grouch she was after that!!

#2

It was after badminton tonight and we were doing some leg raises before we take our shower. Suddenly she exclaimed, " I can smell potato chips!" Then she paused or a moment and sniffed again. With a sheepish smile, she added, "Oh, I think its my perspiration!" My helper and I couldn't stop laughing after that!

Kyle's rendition

Toothless Kyle's rendition of a Chinese New Year song

Which Version do YOU like??

Kyle's baby tooth

Even as I am writing this, my son is trying to sleep, eager with anticipation at what is going to happen tonight. A visit from the tooth fairy! You see, his 1st milk tooth came out tonight (actually, it was yanked out with a thread by my helper). He has put this tooth in a cloret box whole night and been plying me with questions about how he should leave the tooth, should he put it in a matchbox or leave it as it is under the pillow. He even requested for me to stay in his room the whole night so that I can tell him what happened...

..then my hubby had to come home and tell him that there is no such thing as Tooth fairy. But by now he was undaunted. Hubby came over and asked me if I really want to fan the myth and I told him to play along. So..tomorrow my son will be $5 richer ( along with a new toothbrush) ! Ha ha..

Barbie Dolls

Barbie Dolls

It was on 17th Jan, a Saturday night, exactly one month after Meryl's birthday in December that she finally got to open one of her birthday presents.( her punishment for throwing tantrum on her birthday-see post in Dec) I chose for her the above; a barbie doll house complete with a kitchenette, bathroom, living room and bedroom, accessories included. It was the most elaborate set I've seen and my guess is that it must have cost a lot! (thank you , whoever you are)

My son was as fascinated by it as my daughter and the best part is that it can be folded up and kept within seconds. Very compact and fuss-free! I believe it will provide my girl with hours of SELF-entertainment....lucky me!

Meryl's 1st day in Ascension

Just discovered these photos taken on Meryl's 1st day of school and realised how backdated my posts are! Better blog about this before everything is forgotten now that age is catching up on me.

I remember sending her up the bus at 10.30am and she did not as much as give me a backward glance. So excited was she to go to the same school as her kor kor! I then took a train to her school so that I could see her before she went in to class.

By the time I reached the school, the kids had already arrived and were seated in the assembly area. Kyle is in Jasmine this year under Mrs Chuan and Meryl is in Daffodil under Ms Leong. I took Meryl out and went to buy another set of uniform for her before she joined her class again for some singing.

This was what I observed; The teacher flashed the transparency with the words for the song on the OHP and the children had to sing it. My girl, very obviously one of the shortest in class was seated behind some tall kids. She had difficulties seeing the words, so she propped herself up on her knees to get a better view of the words and the teacher. When she still could not see, she decided to stand up altogether at one point. It was so funny seeing her trying to follow all the actions of the song which she was learning for the very first time. There was no awkardness or any inhibitions on her part at all even though it was her 1st day in school. She went up with her class to the 2nd level and did not even bother to look out for us.

Took a peek into Kyle's class while we were there. He was happily seated at the table doing his work without any promptings. In fact, he was so engrossed in his work that he did not even noticed us standing by the door!

Meryl's latest obsession

Picture of the full set of Sylvanian Family taken at Toys R Us Vivo

Meryl is intrigued by her 2 Sylvanian family sets that she owns. One set was a gift for Christmas and the other I bought for her to complement it. She can spent hours playing by herself, arranging and re-arranging the pieces. So far, she has a Mummy rabbit, 2 babies, a bed, a side table, a slide and some other miniature cute accessories such as cups, saucers, building blocks, bedroom slippers etc.

One evening, while waiting for her brother to finish his drum class, she asked me to join her in playing with her 'family'. I pretended to be the 2 naughty children and 'messed' up the toys. She, 'the mummy' told the 'children' that they must clean up their toys but I didn't do that. She then told the 2 babies to go face the wall and even checked with me if it was 5 minutes (the time she gave for their punishment). After the 5 mins was up, she made them do 'leg raise' !

When I told the hubby about this episode, he was very smug about it and said his form was punishment is working. At least the kids know what to expect when they do something wrong instead of us using the cane each time to threaten them.

Writing lines

It happened right after dinner just when we were preparing to go for our weekly badminton session. Kyle took out his scooter and was playing with it in the house. I sternly told him that he cannot scoot in the house but he continued. The inevitable happened. He lost his balance and fell over Meryl, hurting her finger in the process. Meryl wailed and Kyle was punished by the hubby (see above) and barred from going for badminton. He was very upset and cried but to no avail cos he 'never listen to his mummy'. After we returned home from our game, he complained that his hand was very painful from all the writing.

Chingay in the Heartlands

Fire Dragon Display and performance by China Troops after dinner

The Duo waiting patiently with their dad for the Chingay Procession which started only about 11pm!!

Mommy was a road marshall, keeping people off the road.

The beautiful floats

The kids arrived about 10 after their dinner at their grandad's place . They were treated to a spectacular dragon dance by a China Troop with many flash fireworks. IT was awesome. Then they had to wait for the Chingay procession to arrive from Ang Mo Kio and Sengkang was the last stop. They were both bored and kept playing with my 'sword', a light stick that I was holding as a road marshall.They were supposed to arrive at 10ish but it was delayed by traffic conditions till almost closed to 11pm. The kids were thrilled and hubby took lots of pictures and videos (not uploaded!) The kids boarded the floats which stayed for about half an hour to take more pictures. It was almost 12 when we finally got home!