Food Fair

Their school organised a Food Fair last Thursday, whereby teachers prepared the food and the little ones helped to serve and collect money. I must say the teachers really put in a lot of effort. Can you imagine making hats for the little 'waiters' and 'waitresses', putting on disposable aprons, decorating the classrooms and selling food to parents ?
Of course, the money will be given to a charitable third party. Can't remember which though.

We arrived at their school at about 5.45 pm. It was already very crowded !
I saw the boy, with a cute painted face, sitting in front of a big bowl of potato salad.

Few nights before the Food Fair, I asked him what he would be 'selling'.
His answers was  : Potato with banana and sausage !!  (errr.... okkk....)
I was quite sure that would not be the exact combination of what was to be served.

Anyway, his 'stall' was selling potato salad. His job was to scoop potatoes into disposable bowls.
However, he froze when he saw soo many adults /parents in his school. He refused to scoop and serve. In the end, it was his friend who was sitting beside him who scooped up the potatoes. He was close to tears when his teacher asked if he wanted to follow mummy around (to other stalls). Luckily, daddy managed to convince him to stay at his stall and help out. He stayed... but did not help much I guess. When I walked a second round past his stall, he was busy snacking. (shake head)

In his classroom, the parents had to go to 3 counters in order to buy and pay for the food. First counter - potato counter (mended by 2 kids - 1 actually, cos the boy went on strike). The second counter was bacon counter (dad said perhaps that was what he meant by sausage). His 2 friends sat at the second counter with 2 bowls of bacon. They had to spread the bacon over the potatoes. Interestingly, when there was no 'customers', the two little helpers helped themselves to the bacon with the serving spoon ! Hahahha...so funny ! The last counter was cashier. No change. You have to make exact payment...hah of course ! They were only 4 years old, can't expect them to find change for you.

Then we went to the girl's stall. She was 'selling' rojak' and tuna bread. Apparently, she helped to put some of the tuna buns together. She was doing her 'job' well - packing rojak and promoting tuna sandwiches.

When the girl took a break, she went to boy's counter to get potatoes. She is a potato lover - french fries, hashbrown, mashed potato, stirred fry potato - anything goes. So finally, didi decided to serve her - so she was his one and only customer in the end.

Tooth Fairy Came Again

Last Friday, Reyanne had fever at night.
I thought partly was because of that tooth that was dropping... ( some say that's not the reason).
Anyway, she was so afraid of touching that tooth that she did not eat any solid food on Saturday and Sunday morning. She just drank fresh milk !

On Friday, I took leave to look after her. So I cooked porridge for her, knowing that she was having fever. But she did not want to eat! I coaxed, persuaded, scolded, threatened and got frustrated, she still did not budge.

On Saturday morning, I knew she still couldn't eat, therefore I made half-boiled eggs for her.
She did not want to eat. We got to FORCE her to swallow those watery eggs, spoon by spoon. She started eating at 10 am and finished at almost 1pm !!! JUST 2 half-boiled eggs !!! Can you imagine HOW ANGRY we were!

During lunch as well, by the time she finished 'breakfast', it was lunch time !

She also did not want to eat the porridge! I gave up!

Finally, that tooth dropped in the afternoon! Immediately after that, her smile and voice returned!
She did not want to talk and smile since Friday!!
Sigh... hope it will not be so 'serious' when her next tooth drops !

Freedom for you, butterfly !

When the butterfly was still drying its crumpled wings, I realised it had one leg missing ! At first, I thought I saw wrongly, but true enough, this is a 'handicapped' butterfly, sad to say.

When we released it, it took quite a while to fly. At first, I was still worried if it could fly, as it seemed to have difficulty standing upright.

It stood outside our window for quite some time, before it took off !

Ryan was not there to see it 'FLY AWAY' and cried when he knew it was no longer there... :(

The butterfly emerged !

We caught the precious moment this morning !

When I woke up this morning, the caterpillar was crawling about... just fatter than yesterday. When I looked at the pupa, which was still green yesterday, it had turned transparent, and I could see the patterns of the wings. I got very excited and told them to come and take a look. I was pretty sure the butterfly would emerge today. So I kept checking on it.

Finally before lunch, it started moving. The kids were excited as well. The kids got to look at how the butterfly emerged !!

Our new 'PET'

Last term, because of the P2 English work, we need to keep caterpillars to observe them and watch them turn into pupa and then butterfly (if possible). However, the caterpillars we paid for, died !
Fearing it will be hungry , I even brought the caterpillar home. Also to let En En and Ryan watch the caterpillars. But all those never succeed.

Therefore, my good friend-cum-colleague promised to catch from her neighbour's lime plant if she ever saw one. And last week, she passed me two ! One is already a Pupa and the other caterpillar. I had to 'steal' the lime leaves from school every day to feed the hungry caterpillar. It has a good life - just eat and shit the whole day.

This is the 'rear' - don't you think it looks like an unhappy face? - with the 2 dots and a downward curve ...haha. (I showed Papa, he said why you keep looking at people's backside)

The other which was a pupa, was green and hanging on the side of another container. So I always stack them up and put them at the side of the dining table.

Just 2 nights ago, while having our dinner, as usual, Ryan liked to move about and went down his chair. At that moment, Papa pointed to a lumpy slimy-looking thing on Ryan's chair and shouted, " Why is the caterpillar HERE?"

I also got a shock! I looked at that thing, it looked like it was just 'squashed' and trying to 'stretch' itself. I wanted to touch but held back!

Upon closer inspectation, I realised it was just the Anti-mosquito patch on Ryan's pants, but it was sort of crumpled. What a fright during dinner! We thought Ryan sat on the caterpillar! But it gave us a big laugh as well!

Ryan was quite brave to touch the caterpillar. I asked him if he wanted to. He just said OK and his fingers went in. I had to stop him from 'disturbing' the caterpillar further.

Fever 39.4 degree celcius

Last evening, I went to pick up the 2 kids as usual at 6.30pm.
What greeted me were a gloomy girl and ding-dong boy. (his Chinese Tr said " 他可欢的呢！“
What a contrast! It happened that the girl is starting to have fever after she wakes up from nap I guess

Last night, she had no appetite even though we cooked her favourite fish, potato and egg. So I let her go to sleep. I woke up several times throughout the night to sponge her forehead. This morning, I got a shock to the 39.4 on the thermometer. I called Papa to wake up, to tell him Enen's fever is 39.4. He said, "Wah, so high ah", and dozed off again.

I decided to take childcare leave and bring her to doctor earlier, so that she can take medicine and rest. The boy opened his eyes and saw that I have changed, immediately asked where I am going.
Talking about the boy, he woke up last night as well. Before he slept, Papa folded a blue paper aeroplane for him to play with. I didn't know he brought it to bed with him. Therefore, he woke up in the middle of the night to LOOK FOR that paper plane! I wonder why kids have such good memory. They can remember what they bring to bed and still remember it the minute they open their eyes.

Ok, I heard some sneezing in the room. Will take a look at my little girl now.

Recent Photos

Mother's Day with Nai Nai

This is what happens when one is too tired.

I can sleep wherever and whenever I want.

Reyanne's 6th birthday.

Playing with a piglet hat which was her 1st month gift!

Family bonding time - Origami.

Papa is the instructor that day.

Reyanne - listening attentively

Sneaked out of the house during her grounded period : For dinner at Nai Nai's house.

In the end, all 4 rabbits were folded by Papa ! Mummy is also not good at it. Haha !

Taken on 19 June - Excursion to AMK National Library

Being a Housewife is NOT EASY

This June's holidays, I get an extra help from my sis-in-law's maid.

They went for a long holiday to US. So left her with me to cook for us.

Therefore, I have to come out with the menu for these 2 weeks. Thinking of the menu is not an easy task. We have to think about what each person likes. I must TRY to make sure there is meat, veg and fish/egg/tofu.

En en's favourite is fish, egg and potato - salmon in particular.
Ryan has no particular favourite - but there are certain food he does not eat much - like brinjal. He likes eggs and hotdogs. Papa's favourite are Tofu, beef and lamb.

Flipping through the  recipe books and browsing websites have been my job basically, for these 2 weeks, trying to make sure there is something for everyone in every meal. Of course, at the same time, trying out stuff that I couldn't in the past. ( no time...no time to buy...no time to wash...) :p
Also to learn from the maid...whose skills come from my MIL. I had wanted to learn how to cook those soup long ago...haha.

In Week One:

Others (Sat/Sun/Mon) : Curry Chicken, Lemon-grass Chicken,

Tuesday : ABC Soup, Long Beans with minced Pork, Prawn Toast and xx (I forgot)

Wednesday: Black bean soup, Rendang Beef, Stir-fried Broccoli and Fried Salmon.

Thursday : Lotus Soup, Steamed Sotong stuffed with minced Pork,  Stir-fried Garlic Flower, Crispy Tofu

Friday : Tofu Spinach Soup, Hairygourd with Egg, Breaded Pork Chop, Salmon and Sambal Ikan Bilis 

Saturday : Snow Pear Apple Soup, Tempura Sotong, Dong Fen with minced meat and Mashed Potatoes

Sunday : Herbal Mutton Soup, Prawn Fritter, Brinjal and Stir-fried Cauliflower

For This Week :

Monday : Chicken Mushroom Soup, Fried Bean Curd Ball, Stir-fried Spinach and Teriyaki Salmon

Tuesday : Peanut Chicken (Leg) Soup, Ma Po Tofu, Leef with Tau Kwa and Onion Egg

Wednesday : Old Cucumber Soup, Sweet and Sour Pork, Cabbage and ________

Thursday : Lotus Soup, Spring Roll (turnip), Chicken Stew and _______

Friday : Bak Kut Teh, Green Curry, Friend Dumpling and ________

Saturday : (still in progress)
Blanks mean I am still thinking!
ABC Soup is the name given by my mother-in-law. Don't ask why, perhaps there is vitamin ABC in the nutritious soup. It contains tomatoes, corns, onions, carrots, cabbage, potatoes and chicken bones. So in the dialect interpretation I gave is "A for Ang Mo Kio (tomatoes), B for (Bai Cai - cabbage) and C for carrots.

Reyanne's Activities

Thought of posting about this after I read about my sister's blog. Haha, Chris, I guess you are also one of the motivation for me to blog.

 Chris said her husband felt that she was depriving her girls of their childhood as she arranged too many activities for them. Thus, being labled as 'Kiasu' mummy? :)

Well, I understand her intention and reasons, for I also, wish to lay strong foundation for my children. No matter how 'carefree' and 'stress-less' we wish our children to be, I think we are not able to do it. In our society now, it is really hard to let our children be like those in the olden days where kids just PLAY whole day.

I let En En attend music lesson, partly because I myself play piano, and hope that one day she shares my passion and love for piano. Of course, this can only be done when she shows some interest, if not, I cannot start her off. I have to agree that perhaps it may not be her NO. 1 favourite, but she still enjoys music. Children's interests have to be cultivated and encouraged. I was very happy that Papa agreed to let her start music lesson last year, his idea is to expose her to different activities and from there find her interest and talent. En En has been attending Yamaha Junior Course for almost 1 year ( she started on 2nd July 2011). Her grandparents (Gong gong and Po Po) agree that she can be developed in this area. Now, we have bought the piano, she will go and play it on her own. But, of course, she will not sit there for 1 hour or 2, but at least she will want to open it and start practising.

2 weeks ago, after she recovered from her chicken pox, she started attending for Art classes at Tampines East CC. She LOVES to draw. As what her teacher encouraged, to let her meet more people and build up her confidence. There is a new Art class starting, and it is such a convenient location. So why not ? I waited outside the room for 1 and a half hour for her Art lesson to finish. I brought my marking along, so as not to waste time or idle. Hope she enjoys her time drawing and painting every Saturday.

For Ryan, I did ask around for suitable activities. But he is too young for Taekwondo, minimum 6 years old! So... Ryan has to wait. :p

My Dramatic and Caring Boy

In June, we have the usual PTC (Parent-Teacher-Conference).

That day, En en could not go to school as she is still having chicken pox. But Ryan has recovered, so I brought him along. He was excited to go back to school as he missed more than 2 weeks of lesson.
Of course, I don't think he 'misses' the lesson, he just wants to go back and play with his friends.

Last year, Ryan was giving quite a bit of problem to his teachers and that made me worried. So this time, I was quite anxious to hear what the teacher has to say about him.

I had not been hearing complaints about him (unlike last yr). At first, I was worried that the new teacher would not communicate to me about his wrongdoings, or perhaps the teachers knew how Papa would deal with him upon receiving complaints, therefore they held back ??

I think I worry too much.

This year, his English teacher is Teacher Sabrina, who is new to the centre. The first thing she said "Ryan is a very DRAMATIC boy". Yes, I could not agree more. But I still try not to laugh out loud though it is not a surprise to me. I just find it funny that a teacher will really use 'dramatic' to describe a pupil.

She said he was well-behaved (of course, he will have times when he disagrees strongly with his peers, but to her, it is still acceptable). So, I am just glad to hear that he is not misbehaving or giving the teacher any "major problem".

His Chinese teacher dotes on him. She said "越淘气，我越疼“。I believe another reason is because Ryan also knows how to 收买人心。His Chinese teacher told me, every time he sees her using a pair of scissors, he will tell her "老师，你要小心“。The teacher said," My heart melts when he tells me that. He is the only one in class to say that to me."

Thinking back, I recalled the times he also uses that strategy to win people over.
When granny (奶奶) used the knife in the kitchen, he said that.
When mummy was leaving his centre for work in the rain, he said that. (Cos I always tell him not to run, especially when the ground is wet)
When papa was leaving for work, he said that. (Cos Papa once came back with a bleeding finger)
When auntie was lifting up the piano chair,he said that. (Fear the auntie will hurt her own toes)
What a sweet tongue. Hope he does not use too much honeyed words on girls when he grows up.

Over-date Posting

Just saw an old post which was not posted... and saved as DRAFT. Alamak.
How long was that la?

My girl has grown

I remember 4 years ago when I saw my little 2-yr-old En en crying on stage, I comforted myself by saying that her mummy is also not the type who can go on stage and perform. It's her genes.

Yesterday, when Roy and I saw the confident-looking En en dancing happily on the stage, we were so happy! We know that she has taken yet another BIG step since last year.

Could be number of reasons that made her change slowly over the 4 years, possible ones are :

- she is slowly growing out of her shyness

- she has slowly gained more confidence in performing ( I remember she used to shy away in her own class such that the teachers did not even dare to look AT her when she was dancing)

- maybe she gained a bit more experience through her Speech and Drama or Music lessons

Whatever the reasons are, we are glad.

As for the boy, I hope he is slowly changing his learning attitude. He has been showing some undesirable attitude in school lately. Like not paying attention, not showing interest in lesson (when repeated things are done), not colouring nicely, not following teacher's instructions...

I was quite upset when I heard about this. As a teacher, I could not help but place high expectations on my own children. En en is doing well in all areas I can say. She is a typical hardworking and conscientious pupil who loves drawing and can read and write quite well (at her level).

But the boy is very different. I know we cannot compare boys and girls. I know boys develop maturity later. I know boys are more active. From young, Ryan has shown to be more daring and creative than his elder sister. However, he was bored easily. He needed new stuff to keep his focus every now and then. I even suspected him of ADHD.

At first, I was upset and panicked about his progress. Roy said not to worry, as long as we could slowly change his learning attitude, everything will fall into place. I certainly hope so and am trying to find ways of 'counselling' the boy.

Once, during a conversation with a colleague who has 2 grown children and over 50 years of experience in life. She said that though we have our expectations, we may have taught our children, they may not necessarily take it as the same spirit as us. It also depends on our own definition of success in life - survival skills, academic results, social skills, moral values ?

True.

At the end of the day, I sat back and told myself, he is still a three-yr-old boy (going to 4 next Jan). Am I over-worrying ? Yes, a bit ! :P

Instead of fretting about this, which may somehow translate into lower tolerance rate, lesser patience with children. I should just try to find what interesting ways are good and effective to keep Ryan's attention span longer, sustained his learning interest and praised him more often.

睿恒‘误’语

Ryan is 4 and a half years old now.

I remembered worrying about his speech development when he was younger because as compared to his Jiejie, his speech development came slower.  He started talking 'more' only when he turned two.
And from then, it just sped up and now he is one of the most talkative in class I believe.

Throughout this period, there were certain words or phrases which he said wrongly. I am not so worried as I believe he will learn the correct pronunciation sooner or later. Another reason is because I find it so funny to hear him make these mistakes.

Before I forgot them totally, I wished to record them down :p

我们= 抹们（MOMEN）
开玩笑= 开门笑
moisturizer = miser miser
Sushi = 胡须
Gorilla= Ang-Gu-La（this was when he first started to talk, it left Papa and me wondering what he was trying to tell us... and the mystery was solved almost 1 year later)

Oh no... this is all I can remember!
I better start blogging about them more often  before my memory starts deteriorating.

This June was not a break for me.
The 2 kids were down with Chicken Pox, but Ryan was sent to my mother-in-law's as it was during school term. En en's turn came later nearer the end of school term. So the first week was spent with En En at home.

She had a vaccine 2 years back. I had wanted to let Ryan take the jab, but it seemed too late.
Therefore, when Ryan had the chicken pox, it was a FULL BLAST ! From HEAD to TOE, there is not a single area being left out. His scalp only contains at least 20 spots! As if not enough to his 'mosquito-bitten' legs, his body, front and back are both covered with spots. OH MY GOD!
Papa said not to worry, kids' skin are better at regenerating and faster at recovery, so I just have to wait till I see my boy 'spot-less'  :(

Luckily for En en (Girl ma...vain), she has less than 10 spots IN ALL.  Six small and pathetic spots on her front body, 3 or 4 on her legs. I guess because she had taken the vaccine, so for her case, it was not so bad. And her spots healed very quickly (so fast, that sometimes I wondered if it was really chicken pox... but still got to keep her at home.)