Countdown to Joash's 6th Birthday

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Countdown to Jayna's 5th Birthday

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Countdown to Jaide's Birthday

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Countdown to Joram's Birthday

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Thursday, January 23, 2014

Pampering with Food


As a rule of thumb, I hardly pamper my kids in order to build their character, self-confidence and help them learn life skills. They are expected to do things for themselves once they are able to do so e.g. wearing clothes and shoes on their own, keeping their toys, self-feeding and cleaning up after themselves. They have age-appropriate chores to do and are responsible for their own things. There is a reward system for offering extra help to others. But there is one area in which I indulge them: food. And oh, how I really indulge them!

I peel, remove the seeds and chop fruits into bite sized chunks before I serve them. I debone meat for them. In fact, I even tear out the meat from fried whole fish! (Like the above picture) I make sure that there is something in my daily menu that each of them would like to eat. With my husband on a low carb diet, I often have to make a separate portion for him that does not include the carbs which the children love. Nope. They don't need to follow the Daddy's food restrictions. They also get to choose what to eat most of the time. I put in the effort to work out a healthy and balanced meal taking into account their preferences and choices. 

Perhaps, I am influenced by my own mother who used to cook my favourite food all the time when I was young. Or maybe it is because I was very often asked to strip off the meat from chicken wings and peel prawns for my brother as a child. I find that this is one way I show my love to my kids in spite of all the extra hard work I have to put into. 

Yet, I also worry. Will they grow up not knowing how to eat unless bones, seeds and skin have been removed for them? Only time will tell. At least, I have actually seen my eldest manage to eat a drumstick without help. 

Japanese mikan nicely peeled
and fibre removed,
just the way my kids love it!
 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The High Achiever


As I opened the yellow communication booklet from the girls' school, I was expecting yet another piece of instruction or 'homework' for the parents to do with the kids. To my surprise, I saw a wonderful description of my elder girl's performance during the first week of school. My eyes nearly teared at the realisation that the little girl who made me cry on a daily basis in the past is now making my heart swell with pride. 

While I need to remind and coax the brother to do his homework, Jayna is the one who asks me if she could do her homework and insists on nothing but perfection in her work. Even though the brother obliges me when he is asked to do his chores, Jayna offers to help on her own initiative. 

Looking at her marvelous growth, I can only be humbled and awed by the power of God which has transformed her inside out. She is truly a beautiful princess of God with a beautiful heart. And she might just be the high achiever in the family!

Monday, January 6, 2014

CNY Rehearsal?


Joram mastered the art of clapping his hands and doing "恭喜,恭喜", just in time for Chinese New Year! A good way to please the elders when they give him the red packets. Hee hee...

7th Wedding Anniversary

It gets much harder to arrange for some getaway time with just the two of us during the day now that we have four kids. We had to engage the help of my mum-in-law plus 2 cell group friends to look after the children in order to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary! I'm really glad for the last minute offers to babysit. It was almost a no-go for us due to lack of manpower to replace us.

Relieved that we could manage the feat of stealing time away, we set off in style. Joshua surprised me by booking the Uber Black for the ride. I was absolutely delighted! I loved the way the seats could recline comfortably. It was so relaxing to chat with my wonderful Bear Bear in that cozy position that I almost didn't want to get off the vehicle. LOL



I was intrigued by the sign post when we arrived. I remember seeing something like that somewhere else but for the life of me, can't seem to recall where... All my grey matter has gone to the kids, I guess. :P Anyway, the restaurant I wanted to try was not open so we went to Brussel Sprouts & Mussels instead. It was a great choice. The food was much better than I anticipated. We ate so much that we didn't even feel hungry come dinner time! We had a blast enjoying the company, food and scenery.








Joshua actually took a pic of me
photographing the food without
me noticing. Hilarious!

I read that Quayside Isle is one of the few places in Singapore where we can imagine ourselves overseas. I guess it is made easy with so many yachts and speedboats there. It reminded me of our honeymoon at Gold Coast. Best of all, it was pretty secluded and quiet. The weather was perfect for strolling along the coastline being cloudy and windy. It was indeed a very good place for a date.









However, the sun came out and it soon became too hot to continue. We still had another two hours before we needed to head home. Guess what we did? We went back to the mall within walking distance from our place to explore the recently opened/renovated shops which we had no chance to visit with the kids in tow! So deprived... Haha... It was fun though. *grin*

God has truly blessed us with much. It's our prayer that we will be a blessing to others in return.

Friday, January 3, 2014

First School Bus Trip

Big girl now!

I was totally blown away by how mature my princess Jayna looks in the above picture. A toddler no more, she is indeed a respectable preschooler now! Recently, my second born has proven to be far more sensible than before. She has started to look after her younger siblings on her own initiative, especially her younger sister. Many close friends of mine have noticed how gentle she is in the way she handles Jaide. In fact, she has been looking forward to being responsible for the little one while they travel together to and from school. Today, she gave me her upmost assurance that come next Monday, she'll keep Jaide safe when I no longer ride the school bus with them. God has truly grown Jayna into a beautiful and thoughtful girl. All glory be the Lord!

Waiting for the school bus

Jie Jie on the school bus

Mei Mei on the school bus

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Jaide's First Day of School

My little girl is ready to go nursery! I'm so proud of her for her independence and capacity to follow instructions. Since the school hours coincide with her usual nap-time, I was worried that she would be cranky. Thank God that she managed to go through the whole two hours without incident despite seeing most of her classmates cry uncontrollably or misbehave themselves even with their parent/guardian around. She actually managed to pee during the toilet break. Well done, Jaide! May she continue to enjoy herself in school as she learn and play.

I'm all ready to go!

What a crowd!

Eager to go into the classroom.

Reading a book before lunch

Self-feeding successfully

Do I REALLY have to
drink water? *pout*

Choo-choo train to the toilet

Washing hands independently

Teacher said to touch my nose

Wearing shoes for outdoors

Nice slide...

Nice playhouse too!

Sibling Fun


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Year's Eve @ NLB


After hearing much about the National Library Building, I decided to bring the kids there to see it for ourselves. I was pretty impressed with the children's section and my first thought was that the kids would be thrilled to play with the infrastructure there. Much to my surprise, the older three were much more interested in looking for the books which they wanted to borrow than explore the place. Only Jaide ventured up to the treehouse in the middle of the room. Even then, it was only for a short 5 min and she was back to flipping through books.

Engrossed in her reading

Love this seat... and teether!

Checking out their 'loot'

After that, I took the kids to Illuma for a Ramen Iron Chef lunch. So sad that Joshua couldn't be there with us to taste the ramen which he had been talking about for years. I was very amazed that Joash could eat up 3/4 of his curry rice... and the last quarter bowl was finished up by Jaide!!! 他们真的很能吃辣!佩服,佩服。。。


The 'Lipless' Smile


He is doing the same smile as his two sisters. Looks like only the eldest did not make this expression...