Kiss goodbye to 2008

Our 1st new year overseas.. Hello 2009 !

A real sweet surprise

I received a Xmas parcel today. It was from my good friend, Sherlin. She got a cupcake jewellery box for Kayla, toy cars for Kieran & a embroidered holder for me.

Thank you, Sherlin! Thank you for remembering us in this joyous season.

Weekends

27th Dec'08, Saturday:
Our last couple time was 2.5mths ago when my parents were here.

In the evening, daddy (casually) suggested to catch a movie at 9.15pm & I (casually) replied ok if we managed to get the kids to fall asleep by 9pm, which was quite impossible. So at 8.30pm (when the sky was still bright!!), we made them go to bed. Kieran tossed & turned, while Kayla fussed & whined.

Finally, they dozed off at 9.05pm!!

It was good to be out of the house.. just the two of us.


28th Dec'08, Sunday:


It was a hot hot hot day. So we all went for a dip at the indoor pool !!



The water was icy cold!


Jacuzzi

A different taste of ice-cream

I behaved like a hysterical mountain tortoise, dragging nai nai & the kids out of the house, when I heard a familiar music coming from a distance. It was the ice cream van !!

Kayla was really excited because she has never seen a real one before, only on TV.


How interesting!


Nai nai asked the ice-cream man to strike a pose! Ha ha ha!


The ice-cream was expensive & not fantastic but it was a memorable experience for the kids.

Our 1st cycling experience

We're very fortunate to stay next to a nice park & breathtaking river but we could never find a right time to take a nice stroll, until daddy decided to lose some weight & bought a bicycle!

Complusory to wear a helmet.


Ready to go! I was very nervous for the cyclist & worried for Kieran!! Ha ha!


Beautiful scenery isnt it?



Tired little legs. Kayla cycled a long way.


The Olympic stadium.

Awesome !!!

Uncle lee's neighbour actually bother to decorate the house into this !!!!!! Passer-bys will stop to admire his (hard) works!!

Daytime


Nighttime



The intruders !! Ha ha!

Xmas party

Postdated: 25th Dec'08
We were all looking forward to the Xmas party at Uncle lee's house ! The kids love the space and their company.



On our way !

It was a simple & warm family Xmas party. There were 8 adults & 2 children and plenty of food & drinks. After dinner everyone opened their presents. It was kind of "pressurising" because everyone took turns to open the presents (one by one)! I am so glad they liked what we bought !! Phew!

The kids got toy horses, lego & keyboard playmat.


(Click to view)

WIshing all a merriest Xmas !

I didnt wake up to a merriest Xmas because my son fell & cut his forehead (1cm of his flesh was ripped off when he hit the hard corner of our sofa) !! Now there are 2 red spots on his face - one small mozzie bite & a cut.


macho hor?

After breakfast, kiddos & Nai nai gathered around the Xmas tree to open all the presents. There were puzzles, crayons, crafts, books, books, books and more books !!!

Santarina & 2 reindeers !!

(click to enlarge)

Candid shots

Popo misses her grandchildren dearly so last night I asked the kids to smile for the camera but they made funny faces instead !

One & only clear photo of Kieran.

Baked with love (Part 3)

Another secret receipe !!

Raisin & cheese scones



p/s: I didnt bake it. My duty was to eat and gain back all the lost kgs Ha ha ha !!!

Baked with love (Part 2)

Postdated: 23rd Dec'08
Nai nai's 10 mins secret receipe !!

Bread pudding

Baked with love

Postdated: 20th Dec.'08

Nai nai wanted to teach mummy me how to bake blueberry muffins, but it was her granddaughter who was more enthusiastic about it ! :P Kayla really loves to help out in the kitchen. She is always so patient & focus.

They were the most delicious baked-with-love muffins !

Thank you, Kayla & Nai nai.


The muffins were filled with so much walnut toppings (all thanks to Kayla!).

Wiggles Wiggles

Postdated: 20th Dec'08

Finally the day the kids have been waiting for.. Wiggles LIVE at Darling Harbour entertainment centre!!


My little fairy ! Nai nai bought a tiara, fairy wings & a wand to go with her tutu :)


My silly little reindeer !!

The size of the entertainment centre is about 1/2 of S'pore indoor stadium. We were shocked to see that it was nearly full house !!

Exploded Xmas tree!

Nai nai just arrived in Sydney!

Look at the presents she bought for her grandchildren !!!


2 HUGE Xmas bags !!


ALL the presents are for the kids!! How fortunate!

AND these are for me !!!


Baking & sushi accessories and spices !!

Looks like Mum's not cooking BUT BAKING !!!

Mum's not cooking

till 4th Jan !!
Because my MIL will be here to cook yum nutritious meals for us

Anyway, took a picture of the kids enjoying their breakfast. Kieran loves strawberry jam and he had 2 slices of bread. Kayla, the less adventurous one, stick to butter & plain cheese.

Home school

Who? me??

Well, not exactly homeschooling. Recently, I've spoken to a few people about the options available for my children and unlike Singapore who offers a couple of hours of play schools, there are only childcares or long day care.

What made me wants to "home school" them (at least till school starts at the age of 5), was the conversation I had with my cousin Liz. Seeing how well behaved and confident her children are, motivates me to teach & cherish the quality time I have with my children.

Now, I have more OTs to do because my big boss will be taking his masters with Macquarie Uni next year!

Train up a child in a way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it ~ Proverbs 22:6

P/s: Kieran's Godparents, thank you for the motivating compliment too!

Dirt dont hurt

You know what "freshen" me up? HOUSEWORK (except ironing) !! I feel good when the house is clean.

The problem with most houses here is, 90% is carpeted. So we didnt think twice about investing in a Dyson vaccum cleaner. I am so amazed with the amount of dust & hair it collects, but also scares me to know the layers of dust we walk on and breathe in everyday!

Ok, I need to get back to my ironing! BORING is the word!!

Morning kisses

Instead of sitting on my head and poking my face (his usual "wake up mom" routine !!), Kieran kissed me on my nose this morning :)

Makes my 24/7 bone-breaking full time job minus the yr end bonus, all worth it!!!

I love my kids.

My rock star

Kieran loves music & he loves to dance !! Hopefully one day he will learn how to play different instruments so that I can lie back & enjoy the music :)

I look forward to our trial lesson at Kindermusik in Jan'09 !!!

The long awaited ....

BEEF STEAK!

Back in year 2002, my man said he will make beef steak for me so I waited and waited and waited ......

for 6 years !! Finally, he fulfilled his promise.



I cant stop laughing.. action & all!!



Like a pro!!


Thanks daddy! Please dont let me wait for another 6 years hor?

Little Mermaids

Naughty Kieran tore open one of Kayla's Xmas presents and its a fridge magnets moulding & painting kit from Janet yi ma. All thanks to him, I had to open gu po's present (Dora apron) too so Kayla could wear it to do her art/craft !!

The tedious part was getting the right texture for the paste!!! Then we poured the mixture into the cavities & placed the magnet on each mould.

25 mins later...

Now the painting part:

Kayla was very very patient & focus... very proud of her!

Our new fridge magnet!

We took nearly an hour for the whole process. Even though I did most of the work, I am very happy Kayla listened and followed instructions very well. :)

OT !

Today, I had to work overtime because daddy joined his colleagues to watch U2 concert (3D!!) at imax.

So after dinner, Kayla read & Kieran had some silly fun time with his blankie. Then I made them exercise their hands muscles by playing playdoh. They love it.

(Click to view a bigger pic)

Just for popo

Popo asked me to take a close up shot of her grandson's super curly curls.

Presenting Mr bad hair day everyday: