e hols hv exposed ky to a diff style of learning again...

e migraines hv left completely for now... ie no more yelling to bear with at school = no more dizziness, pain, puking = no more trouble trying to sleep at night = no more need for pain-meds.  so on the one hand i'm a happy mummy!

his friends in school are a bonus... e interraction w girls... e feeling of independence_all perks. his teachers seem sweet. they're young and mostly dont have kids yet from what i've heard. that in itself has it's pluses and minuses... ;)  e school has a sound moral platform for e kids. e assemblies and Bible talks, are all part of what i want my kids to grow up with...

he said b4 that he really liked school.  he's made some really really close friends.  (and this was inspite of e err 'disciplinarian' style)  he was so sick at times, yet he refused to stay home and miss out on p/e or art, his fav subjects. 

but e downside_ e sports are soooo lacking. he wishes they'd do more 'challenging' stuff, be more creative with games, and learn some 'proper' sport.  "when will we get a chance to go out on a field mama?...to run, to play football."  he's become soooo unfit since p1 started. thank goodness for e hols!... else he'd still be a lazy lump on e sofa!  now at least he's got some muscles back ;) 

a biggy for me: after reading some of his classwork during e hols, i realise that e level of english is qt disheartening. it's been a big step backwards for ky. it seems to me that perhaps expectations r qt low, so he doesnt bother to deliver. and unless the teachers know the child's background, they wd be none-the-wiser. ...and art...? (my other pet-peev!)_hey, i'm a designer after-all!...and i see in ky a prolific draw-er...just as i was. so if we counted the actual art hours in school, i'd probably cry! 

i feel like he's there for so many hrs each day all week, but missing out~ so do i go with the flow?   am i short-changing him? 

yes and no?

-english, arts & sports: no challenge rt now./ -class discipline: e opp extreme./ -math: ok / -malay: more assistance needed but_? 

art and sports can be made-up in our own time. e hols hv shown me this.  so i'm not too worried...

but english? what will be the longterm effect?...ie seemingly  'dumbing-down' a kid's writing to meet the 'class-standard'... might it not make a kid believe that he need only give something so simplistic in order to just get by? ie not his best effort.

as a teacher, i've seen this to be particularly so with boys. (for those who are capable, unless the ballmark is set high,  they wd be qt contented to just sail through / under-achieve) 

so now i'm aware of this, my worry is not just for ky, but for kay too.

she wants to go to this same school, to be with her big brother...

her standard of english has been much higher rt from e start... she's shy, but she's so very capable.  so after seeing where ky's at rt now, i'm really starting to doubt whether this school wd be a v good fit for her.  i think she needs a higher level, most certainly for english.

and kynan?...can his teacher/ school offer higher-level learning/ tasks for those who r more able in english (such as what they do for mother-tongue?) 

someone shared with me from moe, that it was for english that this style of teaching 1st came about, but that it's mother tongue that has seemingly put it into action...

it's something i probably hv to find out directly from his school... but i so hate to rock the boat.

what a conundrum!

oh yes, and if it's not enuff to hv e enticing home-learning option b4 his eyes, he's now grumbling abt having to wear the mask to school :(

....so what is e lesser of e two evils my dear child? _wearing a mask?/ or landing in hospital?

baby steps, baby steps...

ky's bn sick since our trip... still is. so he's been home doing e-learning. :)

unfortunately it wasnt as easy as i'd envisaged... not him doing e work, nah that's a piece of cake... he prob finished it all in less time than it took me to read through e stuff, figure out e order, locate a lesson-plan (mia), then download and print it all! 

yah, having to print a bunch of stuff is not that smart on e school's part...esp if one particular mama is not prepared for such...(expecting to be doing & submitting e work online only)  ...so low on ink, n unable to go shopping for e stuff!  had to save e work n squeeze it onto fewer sheets, cut-n-paste here n there. more like homework for me ;) 

another fix, getting e malay work v late in e week... and i'm in a spot now....dont understand a word of it!... not e lesson-plans/ letter/ powerpoint.   so it wd be interesting me trying to direct his learning!... ;)  and dh? ah that wd be good if he were home... but with e h1n1, he's leaving for work b4 sunrise, n coming back wen it's dark... so while i get e kids to bed, he's eating dinner n fast asleep by e time i emerge.... so not much help on that front....

fortunately tho, the rest of e schoolwork has been a breeze for him... some workbook-style eng w/shts, a whole bunch of similar math ones... along w some journal-writing, show-n-tell prep, n e usual spelling.  e w/shts were more quantity than quality...so we supplemented with plenty of reading, book reviews, narration, intro to poetry/ haiku & blank verse, and even some letter-writing.  it still left us time for art (drawing/ sword-making/ n mosaic), as well as p/e (long walks along e canal, bike-riding, gym, and some dualing with home-made swords!)

e change in tack has got him asking abt homeschooling again...

"S is so lucky to be homeschooling now.".... "oh wdnt it be nice if x,y,and i cd all join him...then we cd hv our own lessons together while e little-ones have p/grp!" ....

"yes, wdnt it be nice!" :-)

so nice to be remembered on my b'day. got sms's, email, n so many well-wishes on facebook.  (alas, cdnt even respond to the facebook ones, as for some reason my computer wont let me log in rt now ...not protected?.

so a big tq to those special ppl who remembered me! it cheered me up no end, esp cos no-one in my home remembered!  dh didnt even bother with anything, but i cant blame him...with e h1n1, he's bn having v early mornings and v long days... so a grumbly face is to be expected.... but earlier in e day, when i told e kids i got some smiles *and* a b'day song from ky. "tq my boy!" ... out of tune mb, but it melted my heart :)

am getting old now n dont really bother w remembering my age... (do i really want to?)  it's ky who kps reminding me! :b  but i still wd like some kind of celebration... so we went to swensons for e free icecream... e kids were sure to enjoy it!

and as i didnt want to cook that nite, we shared a pizza too!  i'd wanted some peppery meatballs 4 starters but they ended up tasting like dogfood...all grissly and yucks... i cdnt even force myself to eat them! so with my appetite ruined... i plumped for chocolate pecan pie instead! :) how can someone not cheer up after such a treat?....and e sticky-chewy-chocolate icecream w caramel sauce was just what i needed.  waited for dh to join us, but he had to work late, so e kids and i celebrated alone.

nxt day i bought some cute cupcakes for e playgrp to share... it was most opportune too!... as we did e story of e lost sheep, and how e shepherd rejoiced with his neighbours wen he found it.... so we had a party too! :)  e kids were in their element!

and my best b'day present? it was my only one... a dear friend who washed my dishes while i taught e co-op. tq dear! yes i asked u not to, cos u know how uncomfortable it makes us mummies feel.. but as it was my b'day, i thot i'd just get on with teaching and enjoy e special priviledge. :)  u really dont know how happy u made me! tq!

after e p/g kids had left, i hurriedly cooked dinner, then ran out to grab some cold drinks, with e kids in e bath.  it was bliss to sit and enjoy a delicious curry-n-rice n coke, happy in e knowledge that i cd later put e kids and myself to bed w/o having to get up again for chores! 

so e best bits abt growing older....?

-being surrounded by wonderful friends!...

-and having a hard-working hubby who loves e kids to bits!

now is so *not* e time to be ill~

we got back from melaka and e kids n i proceeded to get sore throats n runny noses, 1 after another. nothing serious...just enuff to be irritating...

and what's even more irritating to me is that i actually developed a sore red rose from all e abrasive tissue-rubbing... something i've not had since England-time more than 10yrs ago!

and usually when i get sick, it'll strike fast n furious, n i'll be over with the worst in max 2-4days. the same with the kids. ...but this time it's just like an irritating cold that keeps coming n going.

and ya, what a great time to be sick! with the h1n1 on everyone's lips, it's obviously bugging me bigtime too!  so here we've bn home with mild fluey symptoms for 7+days...and i kp asking e ppl in-the-know... "izzit possible it cd be?"

well app not....  they say that if it were, then a fever shd have shown up by now.

so i'm thankful, really i am!... but still stressed.

kay seems fine now, but ky's sore throat is back, and he seems to be having sinusitis from this morning. poor thing, it got him crying so i know it must hv been bad. i had to massage it constantly to finally get him to sleep tonight. ... and at the same time that i was trying to calm him, i was doing my utmost to focus my breathing through an asthma attack, and try hard not to cling too tightly at my bothersome heart palpitations. :( 

dh was still awake in the livingroom when i finally got out... it was a much-needed sense of calm that exuded from him...just by being there, quielty watching tv.   funny that... any other time it wd probably have irritated me! ;) 

well, i told him what e doc said abt ky wearing a mask to school. his reply: dont take e risk. i'm glad we were on the same page.  i really wish though that i cd just h/s them both and not hv to worry abt all this... it really is giving me so so so much stress.

"why worry?..." so many ppl say.

 "it's nothing, ....just hv proper hygiene". 

if it was their kid who ended up breathless everytime urti came ard...with reaction time down to a day, and a&e becoming the standard, rather than the exception... /if it was their kid who had a *high risk* of being e  "one in a 1,000" to die from this... then how wd they feel?  how wd they feel each time their kid steps into a shopping cntr, a train, a lift? ..each time their kid raises a hand to touch their face...?

it's stressful. and it's so exhausting being constantly stressed like this. i hide it but it's still there.

i'm not ready either. my asthma has become so reactive. when it hits like that it's so sudden... i cant even get to my inhaler. i literally feel faint then buckle n blur.  so far dh has bn there to help me, thank goodness... but he's not ready for the worst. (i dont think he cd even carry me down t the car!)  and he wont even talk abt it. 

yes we can pray...hand it all over to God... but i'm not ready to let go. i'm not ready for anything to happen. my family is too precious to me.

i so wish we weren't here rt now, having to face this. i so wish i was somewhere far away where this has not yet come... (somehow s/africa seems a brighter option rt now. :))  what a strange twist of fate!... wish we had a little cottage there that we cd 'run away' to.  

wdnt it be great if we and our families cd just take a year out and 'dissappear'... until all this blows over...

-we passed by the same house on a certain corner, that we have passed by for the last 10-12yrs. it's been sold a number of times and now it's up for lease or sale again... oh i wish i wish i wish!!! :)

-we stayed in a suite with a dripping ceiling in one toilet, and an un-flushable loo in the other! 

-we discovered a serene and sunny little 'beer' garden at the end of the jetty. the karaoke lounges along the way were noisy and smoky, but the pleasant sightings of waterbirds, and the serene seaview, were worth the sojourn. and 'no', there was no beer in the beer-garden...it was closed!~ so bring yr own drinks and snacks in the day and go hv a quiet seat in the quiet open air.

-a creepy creeper-lined coridor (almost of storybook-character) ~and to be found somewhere off jonker street, led to an old blacksmith's home at the back...re-constructed to it's original condition. having housed a rather noble occupant prior, it had been restored and converted to a museum and quaint little teahouse...the owner whom was kind enough to leave what seemed-to-be her students, and their informal art-lesson~ willingly.  she briefed my children and i on the history of its owner, along with his interesting travels...marked on the wall in a stone map of sorts.

-along the same walk, we came upon a quiet courtyard that backed on to some shops~ the buildings stood large and majestic in their opulance of space...in contrast to some of the small shophouses we passed. yet their occupants were of humble professions: masseuse, hairdressers and the like.

'one could live as kings here," my hubby ventured...as we continued to explore their 'grand' courtyard.

-the artists' cafe was a gem on a side-road... simply, yet creatively adorned with paintings, beaded lampshades, interesting artefacts, and with an equally-interesting crowd!  the curry is not worth trying, the satay is tasty but pricey, the fried dimsum goes well with the sweet-sour sauce, and potato-wedges too! your best bet would be coming here for it's array of wonderful coffees... both the chilled and hot variety.  a selection of cheesecakes, brownies and caramel slices, are sure to provide a good pick-me-up between shopping and sightseeing~ and excellent to take back to the hotel as a midnite treat! :>

-the kids had a fab time swimming... and i was kept busy following them around the pool with the pretext of 'playing' with them. my dd has become way too mobile in the water...so i spent some time encouarging her to learn how to paddle. my valiant efforts proved to have some results. (all-be-it my pleasanlty-tanned arms ;))  my son was happy to finally put his old snorkelling set to good use. and now that he can swim, he proved to take to it very well... even going so far as to spot tiny ivory-coloured beads on the floor of the deep pool...then proceeding to dive and retrieve them for his dear sister... who plans to make herself a bracelet with them :) 

-while i watched the kids, caught up on my newspapers, swam and played putt-putt, dh did the obvious thing: he happily went shopping :> he came back with a present for each of us...and a few more for him!

-we saw way too many accidents on the way back... a car that had flipped and landed up upside-down in a ditch. another that reduced traffic to a crawl in one direction, and a complete standstill in the other, saw a collision between a bus, a truck and a few other vehicles. the truck had tipped it's load of sacks across 3 lanes and needed a crane to come in to right it. i'm just glad we werent stuck with 2 tired cranky kids in that lane! quiet prayers were said allround... and i noticed dh drive even more sensibly after that.

-at jb we stopped for dinner. ky took part in a 'surfing' competition. (one of these mechanical surfboards where u hv to stay on as long as possible.) he didnt beat the longest time...but he did stay on longer than quite a few adults :) and exactly the same amount of time as a 10-year-old girl...which pleased him even more!!! afterall, no guy wants to be beaten by a girl right! :))  and better yet: he got a giant goodie bag, with a very little pen and some other minor knick-knacks.. of course it was the pen that interested him most... and why? ~well, it's strange mechanism of course! :b

-our fish all survived. my plants thrived. our cat survived...without getting lost!... and our kind neighbour-lady saved all our newspapers... so we cd catch up on the latest H1N1 happenings as soon as we touched down!

-the power didnt trip while we were gone, so nothing in the fridge turned mouldy.

-i remembered to put bleach in the toilets b4 we left...so we didnt come home to a home full of mozzies and mosquito larvae.

-i cleaned the house b4 we left, so i came home to a pleasantly-empty sink, dry washing on the line, and crumb-free floors... but oh the dust that settles in just a few days of absence!

Eeeeks, just got locked out of my own blog cos i'd forgotten the password... that's what holidays do for you!!!   thankfully i struck it lucky on about my 10th attempt! :>

ky was too exhauseted to get up for gym today, so we all had a lie in.  by noon though, i was itching to attack the mess... isnt that what saturdays are for?!

so after much shoo-ing, i finally got dh out the house with kids in tow. instructions: "pls feed them and take them somewhere to play."

and when they came back a few hrs later, the washing-up was done, the laundary was washed and drying, the toilets were fragrant, and the entrance hall looked like someone else's :)

yes, our entrance hall...it had been bugging dh for qt some time...(it's where i teach kay and her buddies) but during the last term, a whole lot of books and papers had got in a tangle. now i've finally  tidied and shifted.   

e school lsp kids' stuff has gone to a completely diff area, neatly kept in a box, basket and accordian-filing system. there's so much of it that i cd actually do with a little cupboard just to keep it all! 

on the opposite side, in the same spot but tidied up, i now have kay's books and worksheets for homeschool, playgroup, and her reading-club. on another shelf i have kynan's extra scout journals and activity bks.

our plants hv moved outside again (they gather too much dust!) and our interest table has been cleaned up to make space for our cat (who's found it to be one of his most comfy sleeping spots!)

all that remains now is for me to cart off 7 bags of goodies for 're-use' faraway, and to send off a couple of parcels to s/a.

once the kids are both in primary, i think i'm gonna hv to open up a little school somewhere so i can put all my resources to further good use :)

...and dh will most likely be veeeery happy to hv our home once again looking like a home...rather than a playschool! :)   bless his soul, he's very patient!

1)  the day i put on a skirt that i'd not worn in ages...

-"mum, you look too girly!"

2)  while reading 'the swiss family robinson' tonight...

-"eeeee!...mussels are so disgusting! i've seen the chinese people eat them at a restuarant.... argh! they make me feel sick!... yugh, dont talk about them!"

3)  after observing dh stuck with his nose in a book for the last 24hrs... (as opposed to e tv~)

-"mum, when u 1st met Bal, did he read books?" :b

our recent outings hv been fab... so nice to just spend time together with mums i've known for ages, and watch the kids just hv fun running about, interacting, and enjoying each others' company.  these hols, were it not for e contatcs i hv with these ladies, i wdnt hv known half of what's going on, and our holiday wdnt be half-as-much fun! ;)  so tq ladies for all yr emails and sms's...keep them flying! :))

-the new safra pool at jurong:

e kids loved it. me too! it's so nice and spacious. lots of different areas to spend time in. and because of e direct sun it receives all day, the water is also v v warm.

-the gym upstairs at e new jurong safra:

we had a free trial. altho' we cant go again because of distance, i found e coaching to be of a high standard. e chap was friendly but good at eeping class control, and in guiding the children to behave in a safe and responsible manner. he was also quick to correct poorly-executed moves, and offered simple solutions to improve form. altho i cdnt attend their classes, he gave me a list of coaches i cd contact in our area to meet our needs. for a juniour fun gym this place wd be a good start. it's bright, airy, plenty of natural ventilation, and very organised in their approach. i like it!  (ky gave e same feedback...)

-the 4-story high 3d maze at e new safra: 

we all got in free which was fab. (in fact we had 2 tkts each...) the big boys went off on their own rt from e start, while i stuck w kay. hadnt gone far when i felt qt claustrophobic... combination of e noise from e ppl, machines, and e all-encompassing net 'walls'. so i sat quietly in 1 spot and helped kay and a few other littlies to catch and feed some balls in the 'bezukas'. as our time ticjked by, i realised i'd hv to head up through e tiny crawl-spaces, in order to get to my mtg point w ky... which was rt at e top exit. i belly-crawled my way through some tight spots with my darling kay leading the way, and got to e top just in time... only to be told that e only way down was by a super duper long slide... which thankfully kay refused (i cdnt hv done it either!) "so back the way u came from" we were instructed... oooh no. by now i was feeling rather giddy and there was no way i was gonna crawl top speed back down where we'd just come from! thankfully 1 chap knew of some stairs which ran outside e building (e fire exit in fact), so kay and i happily jumped our way down. and ky?...he'd app been up and down twice, got too dizzy, taken 2 shorter slides, grazed his elbow, and ended up at e bottom...sending himself to e 'lost property' section while we traversed our way down. "mum i'm so dizzy" was explanation enough... none of us wanted to go again! :) but at least we've done it once :b

-toa payoh puppet shows by artsfest:

we loved this! 'stayed a whole lot longer than we should have. i liked the interactive set-up. the kids were really involved. this aspect was very "un-singaporean". it showed creativity in the set-up and used e space well. community involvement was high. very fun!

-t/p safra 3d maze and safra pool: 

e littlies are now old enough to go off and play in a little group on their own... with the older boys racing around, and only appearing for food and drinks now and then. :) the pool was our 1st visit. it's small and 'safe'...ie easy to keep an eye on even a large grp of kids because of it's size and 'walled-in' design. e water was warm and clean, and only 1 or 2 other swimmers. the older boys had swim-races with me and i won :) and let them win too a couple of times! then we chucked coins in and let them dive for sunken treasure. the littlies also got some coins in their little pool, much to their joy...

-dino exhibit and activities @ plaza singapura:

the 2 chaps presenting e show were full of energy. they presented very well... kept a nice vibe going throughout... made the topic sound very exciting :). having the dinosaurs so near to us in the mall kind-of reminded me of "the night in the museum" show that we'd just seen. kay was happy to see them and asked to be photographed alongside.  she even went back to wave bye-bye to one of them when we went off to buy drinks :) . the boys were happily occupied at the activity tables and needed no supervision, which left me free to help kay stick her dino labels in her little dino-book, and go do some shopping.

-marina barrage:

we took mrt to marina, and free shuttle-bus there and back. altho' it was super hot we were very fortunate... the buses ran regulalry and we didnt hv to wait both ways.... which was a blessing with all the kids! :)   the big boys wasted no time in dashing straight into the fountains...while e girls were more interested in taking their time to eat 1st, and making a point to request sunblock. well done girls! cant forget to take care of yr skin...never too young to start! :b  after that they only came back for food and drinks... later we went up to the roof and watched a few kites, and the kids excitedly sourced for sprinkler valves (yeh, of all the things they cd be looking for!!!) then they headed down the spiral slope, with little R taking a tired tumble. then we headed straight up again and made our way through e viewing gallery... the kids were surprised to lose one mummy along the way ;) or was it planned that way?... so they cd go ard a 2nd time? :) we noticed they werent too keen to leave, esp e big boys... tho the littlies were already fading.

-ben10 show at united square:

i'm not into this really, (but kay app is!)... and a friend mentioned it in passing just e day b4.  so as we needed a place to hv dinner, and as dh wasnt going to be home til late...i decided to stop off there for a couple of hrs on our way home from town.  as luck wd hv it, a show was abt to start just as we finished our dinner...so e kids happily stayed. some scarey 'monsters' went amongst e kids during e show and a few ran out crying... trying to find their mums n dads who were shopping. :-/ eeks! glad i was near e entrance. checked for kay...but she was fine...head held high, and leaning forward to get a better look... so i sat rt back down again to enjoy my chocolate gelato... :)  yes, my little me-time...even if it's just 15min i think i deserve some tlc occassionally :)

WITH the hot sun on my back... i feel alive!

~the last time i felt like that was laying on a towel on the beach some holiday ago.

~and long b4 that as a child i remember sitting in the sun pottering around in the soil for hours.

now in the present day i've had an achey back and body this last week. so bad that it's kept me awake at nite. i was contemplating whether i shd use the $ for osteo /or for a certain outing which ky and a pal hv bn waiting for for a long time....  cos uc nothing has helped for it...until today.  and nature was truly the best medicine!

the kids and i spent e day at e reservoir, along with a bunch of friends. we had a pleasant walk beneath the shaded tree-canopy, e kids did some 'fishing', then they dug about in e clay patch.

after handing out big balls of e squishy stuff, i sat on the grass in the sun, and fashioned a little horse and teddy-bear (kayla's wish), and then smoothed out some clay marbles that ky had made. the kids were busy modeling clay bowls and balls, and just enjoyed their time frolicing in the shallows.  i sat and sat and chatted and chatted. the sun shone warm on my back and it felt sooo goood!

then as e sun set, we washed up and had a picnic on e opposite bank, staying rt up until e dark enveloped us. 

and now, home and settled, the kids are long asleep, and i'm feeling warm and rosey and sublimely relaxed... like one would after a long swim on a hot day. if only i felt this way *every* day...

madly, truly, deeply

sublime.

hoildays

~are exhausting!

and they've only just started!

ky's migraines

~are exhausting!

and they've only just started!

thank goodness for the release of getting out...

a double-edged sword though it is~

ky:- "mummy, today is the 111th day of school!"

me:- "how do u know that?"

ky:- "i counted in my head."

me:- "oh, how did u do that?"

ky:- "i just did."

me:- "did u use a calendar?"

ky:- "nooooo.... now that wd be difficult!"

?????

....so now i'm off to go and check ;)

1)  coming home tearfully one day...

... "mum, it's e 1st time my teacher has completely not believed me... even though i was telling the truth!"

2) ... "mum, girls can be really mean. i dunno why, but the boys just aren't really like that."

3) ... "he fell and hurt himself, so i took him to the office, even though the end-of-recess bell had already gone. it took 3 of us to get him there!"

4)... "oops, we forgot mothers' day!"

5)... "our treehouse opens in 7days!!!"

1) a few days back kay shares something with me, chuckling...

...."mummy, i told daddy when we were walking at the zoo yesterday, that he must go *slug-slow*. 

2) just today she told this hilarious story on the bus...much to the amusement of e other passengers. (and kay really didnt get what they found so amusing!...which was amusing in itself :))

...."mummy, u are the dog and i am the puppy. all the other puppies were given away except me.  no actually, we kept one other puppy and his name is kynan. no actually there weren't any other puppies, it was just us. oh yes, and a daddy dog."

3) a question she asked ky & dh in the car the other day...

...."why do people go to AKEA? (IKEA that is... but purposefully pronounced the way my dh says it ;))

...."cos they have a tummy-ache!"

a split-second later she continues....

...."why does kynan go to AKEA?

....because he's always got a headache or another ache somewhere else! :b

our dear son was very quiet on that matter... (poor kid... he's stuck with a cheeky sister! :)

there's a movie on the telly this sunday... 'little miss sunshine'.

i hv no idea what it's about, but i'm SURE going to be watching it!

why?

caught a clip of it... a family rolling around in a yellow 'volkswagon combi'...EXACTLY the same as the one our family drove ard in as a kid... all 10 of us!

what fond memories...esp driving to e 'berg'... (the mountains)...me sat at the back on a pile of sleeping bags, or an extra bag or box, twisting 180degrees to hold up a stack of eggs at the top of a pile of 'barang' in the 'dog-box'.... and that seemd to be for the entire journey...

now why didnt they just put them on my lap? or wd e whole pile have collapsed otherwise? :)

was just thinking... considering how much kids complain nowadays... i wonder if we all did on those long journeys? or perhaps the excitement of 'getting there' kind-of negated the discomfort.  :)

yoohoooooo!!!

little boy was jus back in school tday... after 2days mc for flu...

and discovered, much to our delight, that all exams hv been passed... yep, even malay!... :)

he surprised even himself! :b

ky brought home his malay file tonight... e 1st time in a long time. i was pleasantly surprised to see a mock-test he'd recently done on his own... clearly no translation and no help... and his result?.....26/ 50

...he passed! :)

with the mexican flu maybe on its way, we decided to make the most of our long weekend... outdoors, (while we can!)... so we had a truly wonderful 3 days (well, 4 actually... seeing as kynan's teachers had something on on thurs :))

-so e kids and i went with friends to e zoo on thurs afternoon, and stayed til well past closing time... it was perfetcly serene!

-while i did some housechores one morning, i managed to convince dh to take ky cycling on the canal path... something which ky had been nagging me to do for days!... unbelievably, dh actually agreed to it! i cd tell ky was sooo happy! he almost raced out the door!

-another day we went to east coast to chill out with our lunch in the breeze. the kids and i found a 'shell graveyard'... which we were all qt happy to sift through...except for the clumps of black oil which were rather hard to avoid in some bits :(

-later the same day, west coast. park playground saw kynan practice his rollerblading... and kay attempting to climb some spiderwebs. (which ky was nimbly clambering over, under, and swinging between- and upside-down from...japanese kungfu-style!)

after taking some photo's, i relaxed and enjoyed a quiet picnic... while dh went for a walk. then we both joined the kids for a bit of playtime. :b

i raced kynan on the uneven balance-beam, and proved that i'm still not too old to beat him! ;) ha ha!!! then dh and ky (the 2 dizzy ones in the family!) proceeded to get themselves dizzier still, by swirling ard and ard on a spinning thing!

dh then tried to 'unsuccessfully' teach ky the 'right' way to climb two parallel vertical ropes. ky then 'successfully' taught himself to climb them the kids way, in all of 5 seconds... and he went straight to the top like a pro!  well done my boy! ...next time i want to see daddy do that!  and daddy was waiting to see me climb the web... mb next time dear... i ddint want to out-do yr valiant attempt :) not! daddy's toes were hurting ;)

-dinner saw the kids hopping and skipping through the empty expanse of the 'new' airport terminal. we went for a qwik dinner and walkabout. kay and dh also wanted to show us e 'black' hotel. it's kind-of a 'cave' theme... all dark floors and walls, and a feeling like yr walking through cavernous tunnels. considering the impending flu-virus, we're unlikely to go back there for qt a long time... and i have no inclination to fly anywhere on holiday anymore...

-our final stop yesterday, was harbourfront, vivo-city and sentosa.  we took e little train across... wondering aloud that it probably wasnt a wise choice afterall... as we looked ard at all the foreign visitors in e same cabin... china, france, mexico?

the kids had a ball on the beach though... ky, went straight to building a large sand-turtle, then, as usual, proceeded to dig his way to china. "i'm making a place for the turtle to swim, mum," he explained... "yes, and at night some romantic couple is going  to tumble in and break a leg or 2!" (...oh ya, i shd fill it in next time, rt mom," he remembered later on, while lying in his bed :))

dh went for a swim, and i lay back and people-watched. (it's funny how some people behave on the beach... one mum was so neurotic abt getting sand on her mat, that she pulled the kids here and there, then eventually banished them from it. )

at sunset we went across the bridge and e kids paddled in e shallows, and tried to bury each other in the sand.

then just before it got dark, we headed up the hill to e 'dragon stream'. ky was reticent at 1st, "too shy of the people watching mum", he explained later... but it didnt take long before they were both inside, splashing ard and lying down in the warm water. it provided a great photo opportunity. (not just for us, but for some passing tourists too! at which point ky got out, dissappeared, and re-appeared further up. :) 

we took the train back, and tired kay was just beginning to get cranky.... she cheered up though, when we suggested she finally get her photo taken for her card. and why exactly did that cheer her up? ...because we'd agreed that 'brownie bear', (a soft-toy she'd brought out with her that day, )...cd be in the picture~ and so he is! ....now kay *and* brown bear share their very own sentosa pass!...

-on sunday night, just b4 we slept, ky whispered to me what a WOOOONNNNDERRRRFULLLL time he'd had at the weekend... going to so many fun places outside, and doing so many fun things.

i know my dh is getting old. so he's not too keen to go outdoors anymore at weekends. he'd rather hang-out at shopping centres. we do that most weekedns now...but i'd been sharing how kay is missing out on all the fun things that we did as a family when ky was a baby. 

u c shopping centres are so *not* like the kids and i... yes the aircon's nice, but the outdoors feels so much more 'free' .

so now that ky's in school, i feel a bit sorry for him... cos he doesnt get to go out in the week anymore with kay and i... so unless we're outdoors at weekends, his life pretty-much starts to be lived only inside of 4 walls... and that's so NOT him....

so i'm soooo happy, that dh went out of his comfort-zone this weekend, to just spoil us all a little :)  ... taking us some of the places we've wanted to go...and for which we're all veeery grateful!  

tq darling!  yr not completely fuddy-duddy just yet!  :b

-before J&J went back with their mummy to Taiwan, we took them for a walk and sunset dinner along e canal behind the school. we thot it wd be our last time together...  the kids had so much fun.

-as it turned out, their flight had to be delayed, so we had the good fortune of some playground time, a final trip to playgrp, and best of all: A TRIP TO THE ZOO!!! (which the girls had sooooo wanted!)  so when i heard they cdnt leave on the day they'd planned, i just knew that God had other plans :)  we left the zoo close to 7pm and arrived home ard 8pm or so. the kids (and mummies) were exhausted! thank goodeness aunty C had finished her packing the day before!

-the nxt morning we rushed through breakfast and headed for the main road... phew! ..we still had opportunity to pack them into a cab and say our final farewells, and take a few last photos of course! (kayla was too sad to go in the grp. she looked like she was going to start balling any minute... she wdnt even look up, just hid her face in my shoulder when i carried her.... awww) i knew how she felt!

these friends seemed perfect for our kids... both elder and younger ones were ard e same age, both sets played together so well. they were well-behaved and clearly well-raised. their mummy and i shared similar sentiment reg education and a few other issues. it's one of those few times in life when u just click almost from the start. and to top it off, we just lived across the road from each other!  it wd hv been so convenient to get to know each other better, and let our kids grow up a bit together... but what cd have been years more, was suddenly just a few days...that's why it was especially sad to have to let them go so soon... because of what could have been.

it's a clear reminder to really appreciate every person we meet each day, and every opportunity we have- to utilise it to it's fullest...because we really dont know what tomorrow may bring.

to our dear friends who've come and gone... we hope to see u someday! until then, keep well...

-she says she likes me. she says i'm not mean like the other boys.

-i'm so glad i dont do chinese.... have u seen how they have to do their spelling!

-she has a dirty habit. she picks her nose. then she doesnt wash her hands. she's very unhygienic.  she'll go straight and eat her lunch without 1st cleaning her hands you know...

-i dont wanna do any sports in the morning. i really dont like waking up so early! 

-i dont know if that's her mother or her helper...

-mum, can i tell u something?... u know, i feel so sorry for poor A. her mother will cane her 10x if she leaves her small bag behind. and poor thing... she's left it quite a few times already...

-i *have* to find that worksheet, else the teacher will REALLY scold us very loudly.

-my wobbly tooth feels kinda furry...

-mum, i preferred u with long hair u know... can u pls grow it again?

-suddenly, since going to school, the days seem to be going by so fast.... like it was just this morning a minute ago, and now it's already dinner!

-mum, u see those teenage boys over there... i really dont wanna grow big so fast!