Bike rides

The girls got a motorbike from a friend. He has outgrown the bike and we got lucky. It's impressively huge and seemingly comfortable. I wish I could ride it but the warning label reads "maximum load : 30kg" The girls add up to 32kg but I reckon an extra two kilos won't burst the tires or stall the engine. So nowadays we go for further evening walks. We used to walk round the blocks that surrounds the garden. Now we walk around to the big playground (sometimes stopping for some playground fun), along the road behind our block, past the church, past the petrol station and back into the perimeter of the blocks that surrounds the garden. The bike moves at a comfortable speed... for the one walking. It's a nice stroll for me, any faster I would have to jog. It's really a good exercise for me as I do feel "healthier" after the walks.

Again we would like to take this opportunity to thank God for the blessing we are getting everyday. For new experiences and fresh perspective. We would not have known that there's a safe link from our block to our TCM doctor if not for the "bike rides" and the girls would probably never get to ride such a huge motorbike if not for a friend's generous hand-me-down. We want to thank God also for the comfort we are enjoying and we are not taking it for granted. We pray for your continual grace and blessings and the spirit of charity as we strive to serve our community as much as we can.
Heading home hand in hand.

Freeze dance

FREEZE!
This picture was taken on christmas eve at the candle church right after mass. The girls were playing the "freeze-dance" game and isabelle was at the freeze when I took this picture. It's amazing how this picture never fail to bring the house down with laughter every time it's being shown. Especially daddy who LOVE this pose. This little girl is so funny, we call her baby-bean. She's always making us happy and smiling and laughing. There's just something about her that's unexplanably cute and funny. Ah... thank God for funny little girls.

Our favourite beach

The girls really enjoy the beach at pasir ris. Mainly for its convenience and the huge playground. To the beach is only a matter of 12 mins (if I drive) and we can always get back in time for dinner! Parking is free, fresh air is free and vitamin E is free too. Getting an hour of outdoor activity very day is good for the children. Especially with wide open space and fresh clean air. I wish I can do this everyday. I need the discipline and of course... the car. Oh how I miss the beach... have not been there for more than a week now. Isabelle is still coughing, daddy is busy working and we do not have the car. Sigh...

hats

Brought joelle to ikea again... this time to consider getting the children's bed for the girls. I thought that maybe after years of sleeping on mattresses, they might be delighted to own a bed! It's S$129 per bed which comes with rail guard and mattress. The minus point is the mattress is "ikea size" and I cannot replace it from elsewhere and the mattress cover had to be from ikea too. I'm someone who doesn't really like monopoly and I like choices. I like to be the one who decides. So in the end we decided to stick to the japanese concept and bought two new mattresses from seahorse instead. Looks like the girls will be sleeping on mattresses on the floor for another few years. No one is complaining yet.

Dough art

Can you believe joelle did these by herself? I'm not joking. I was busy at work while she was doing her "activity time" and she showed them to me after the hour's up. I wish they were clay though so I could keep them as art pieces but it's only dough. Anyway I'm kind of glad my girl is quite an artist in her own expression. Hmmm... I could see where she got this gene from.

My poor baby

Isabelle caught the bug again. This time with cough, runny nose and a pretty high fever too. Started on monday and it is not getting any better. She has seen the doctor twice and is on anti-biotic now. She will need another review on thursday night. It's been three days of crying, super clingy and whining and not forgetting the sleepless nights. Mary takes the 8pm to 12midnight duty while mummy takes the 12midnight to 6am duty. Yes she wakes up around midnight and cries for me. This picture is taken on monday. Today, she looks really sick. Your heart would melt if you see her wet listless eyes, red painful nose and forceful cough. I feel so sorry for my little baby because there is nothing I could do to make her feel any better. I've been bringing home little "cheer-me-ups" for her like glider planes, white board easel, colouring books and whatever she asks to eat. She has not been eating or drinking much. She can't even sleep for long periods because of her constant coughing. She can't even pass motion! I just use laxative (kid's version) on her. Sigh... poor baby.

Blading Jo

Joelle likes to roller blade and we would try to bring her to the open park to blade as it's "safer to fall" if there's such a phase. So on daddy's off day, we pack the family to pasir ris park. Joelle would roller blade with mummy and daddy while isabelle would build sandcastle with mary. Joelle is good with her balancing actually. She's getting better at this sport and she would be able to move from point to point. Did I mention that she could cycle a two-wheeler already? She got it in december out of the blue. She did practise with her grandpa alot while he was here that period and one day when I let go of the bike, she just cycled on. I was so excited, even more than she was actually! Daddy was so proud too!

Lo-Hei!

I had this sweet delight four times during this CNY. I never really like it before but this year I just craved for it. No, I'm not pregnant. Anyway I tried the restaurant kind, the instant from-the-shelf kind, the coffee-shop kind and the vegetarian kind. I like them all. To me it all taste the same... sweet. My girls enjoyed the tossing more than the dish itself. It is isabelle's first tossing session and we let her have her training chopsticks for better grip. She's good at it.

Anyway the year of the rat was generally a good year for the chans despite some unfortunate encounters towards the end of 3Q. However we still managed to celebrate some great birthday parties, a blessed christmas and a smooth new year. We are still thankful for all that had happened. Hopefully, with prayers and devotion, the year of the ox would bring us nicer events.

Dog talent

Our eight year old ritz got a share of being film for a programme on tv. My cameraman husband also got me to BE ritz's owner and so I guess we probably might have a few seconds of airtime. I was not too keen to appear on air as I still have eye bags and dark rings and worst, an insect bite on my chin that filming day! And being a vain mid 30s woman, looking good is probably my upmost priority now (besides my girls and health). So I was almost "forced" into the action. In fact I wasn't even consulted. My cameraman husband just agreed on my bahalf! However I'm happy to put ritz on the show as it really convinced my husband that our dog is not disobedient, unruly and a "wild animal". He is just bored of being with the folks at home so he shows some "bad dog" behavior to probably get our attention. Anyway ritz is a good dog and he is really spoilt by my MIL. He just has to bully my SIL and fights with my FIL. Deep down I do know that ritz appreciates my FIL as he is the only one that brings him out to the park for a walk every morning and gives him a theraphetic brush down after the long exercise. Silently I guess the old man do love our dog afterall.

Happy valentine's day!

This is a valentine's day card for us. Joelle did this in school. Very pretty.

Singapore kite day 2009

It's the annual singapore kite day@punggol 2009. This time it's happening on valentine's day. We bought two tickets to the event. It's $3.00/ticket and comes with a kite set, a fruity pack and a lucky draw coupon. It's good value for some outdoor fun for the girls. It's a sunny day with some good breeze. Our kite manage to soar in the sky. It runs out of line actually or it could have rise higher. The girls get to enjoy some ice cream too since it's such a hot day. But it's a successful event. The sky is dotted with kites of various size, shapes and colours. It's beautiful. It's just not possible to capture the event with my camera. If only I have a SLR...

Joelle is trying her hands at kite flying while isabelle rather enjoy her treat of ice cream. Happy valentine's day!

New chopsticks!

I always thought only twins want identical stuff. I never knew sisters with 3 years in between would fight for the monkey motif soup spoon or the high school musical drinking glass. They even showed their claws for the training chopsticks I bought for joelle years ago. Thinking that joelle would upgrade to using the adult's chopsticks soon, I put away the idea of getting another $10 a pair chopsticks for isabelle. Little did I knew that a very heated spat over lunch one day would drive me to the nearest kiddy palace for another pair of training chopsticks for the younger one. That's not all for that incident saw new culteries in our kitchen. A pair of feeding tray, a pair of identical soup bowls, a pair of identical deep plates and now their water bottles are the same except for the design, which might get me into trouble one day.

Our CNY day#3

On the third day of CNY, joelle has a mini celebration in school. She wore this lovely pink outfit bought by grandma. We spend our dinner at tai-po's place (dave's maternal grandma) and isabelle wore a pretty red chong-sam while joelle wore a hippy jean-shorts complete with belt and fancy cuttings. (A-hem... my camera battery went flat...) Anyway isabelle was a little moody that day and did not really join in the singing and dancing with joelle and germaine. The older girls were making their tai-po very happy with their rendition of the "dong-tong-tong-chiang" song.

Our CNY day#2

On the second day of the CNY, we meet daddy's relatives again for a buffet lunch at the Hotel Royal@Queens. Food is not too bad but the serving sequence is terrible. They serve the dim sum last which mostly end up in packaways as everyone's too full by then. We pay $38 per person and the entire clan took up 7 tables! Lunch took almost 4 hours with the first half in confusion. Seating arrangement can be a problem with big families. After a short nap at my in law's place, we head to my friend Sharon's place for dinner. We also enjoy "tossing" with her family. Deron prefers to play with joelle while isabelle prefers to play by herself despite the fact that both deron and issy are 2006 babies. Sharon and myself have been friends for more than two decades and I'm glad we are still great pals today. She is past friendship now, she's family. I thank God so much for her and her family (sisters and all) who accept me like their own. I'm glad for her husband as well as her lovely son. May the good Lord keep them in His grace forever.

Our CNY day#1

Every year, we will bring the entire family out for visiting on the first day of CNY. Yes, including our dog ritz. It's the same this year. We will head to my father's place in the morning then to my in laws place. Both are within walking distance of each other. We will then take ritz to my grandma's place for lunch and tea. All my relative will visit my grandma on the first day. This is probably the only time we can meet the entire clan together. Our family is not growing as fast as my grandma would probably like as the only new addition is my cousin ben's 7 month old son, evan. We are still waiting for the offspring of our other married but "not-too-interested-in-babies" cousin and my "still-wanna-have-fun" brother. Well, we're not producing on our end so my grandma has to coax them herself. I would have gladly obligh if I was like... their age. Anyway after spending almost 5 hours there, we head back to my in laws place for a buffet dinner. As my FIL is the eldest son, his relatives will be at his place on the first day and that's why we have to cater for dinner for his growing family. There's like at least one baby every year which is fun to watch but it gets noisier every year.

This is evan. 9kg@7mth.

Reunion dinners

This year, my MIL decides to take a break from cooking so we book a table at the "Hong Kong Street" branch in AMK for our reunion dinner with the Chan family on saturday. The food is nice and the cost reasonable. We might even do this every year now. So much more convenient. No cooking fumes and no washing spills. It's simply eat, pay and go. We like it! After dinner, we can still head to the nearby flower market to walk off the food. My FIL does this every year. He goes to the flower market on the eve of CNY to get pots of festive plants at discounted prices.

On the eve itself, the smaller Chan family enjoys our own steamboat dinner at home. The girls like the idea of "fishing" for their food especially joelle who fishes so much food onto her bowl and ends up having to eat them all. Mummy likes the beef shabu shabu the most but daddy prefers the pork belly shabu shabu. The prawns are so big and fresh and the girls have all the mushroom they want. It's a good dinner. Almost perfect. Better if we have a bigger table so we would not have to put the food on the high chair, or the stool or even the kitchen cabinet. Perhaps it's time we get a bigger table now that the family has grown. Afterall this dining set has serve us for six years already.