Brought the girls to peek-a-boo with some friends. It's a really small area but cosy. That did not stop the girls from enjoying themselves totally. They went up, down and up again. We even had a pizza at the cafe which is conveniently inside. They were so hungry and tired after that. Dinner was a breeze and they slept the minute they hit their pillows. Such physical activity is so good for the children and probably for us too. I actually went up with them once to experience the tininess of things. Well, I'm not that big afterall.
Little isabelle preparing her own lunch. She put the spaghetti into her bowl and I helped to pour the sauce and she put on the toppings herself. She likes parsley and basel flasks.
Some people (especially my mum) might wonder what I feed my girls for dinner now that mary has left. To be honest, it's become even simpler than simple and usually a one-pot dish. As long as there are three groups (meat, vegetables and dairy) in one dish, I believe it's healthy enough for them. Joelle, being a very tactful person, always gives me the thumbs-up to most of the meals I prepared. Isabelle, on the other hand would declare in all honesty that her grandma or mary cooks better than me. I would not blame her for that because the spread used to be three dishes and a soup for dinner. Whereas now she's only getting either an all-in-one soup or an all-in-one dish. BUT I would like to stress that my cooking isn't all that bad. I'm just not that great with chinese cooking. Japanese or western dishes... no problem. All-in-one dish with fish balls, eggs and vegetables topped with ikan billis and wolfberries. Grilled toman slices (marinated with italian herbs) with vegetables and tofu and udon topped with furikake and seaweed. All-in-one rice dish with chicken pieces, chinese sausages and mushroom topped with furkake sake.
Back in march, during the school holiday, we booked ourselves into the siloso resort in sentosa for a night. It was meant to be our 8th wedding anniversary in april but since we wanted to involve the girls, we decided to bring it forth to the march holidays. The girls were so excited about the hotel stay, the sand, the sun and the sea. However, sadly, we did not see much of the sun that two days we were there. It was quite a wet stay but we had fun nevertheless. Dave bumped into a friend who does sand sculpturing and happened to have a mini exhibition on the beach. They were pretty creative and very well done. We even visited the newly opened resort world sentosa. Walked around the premises. Saw the casino, universal studio (no point entering now as joelle is too short to enjoy much rides) and the hotels. Not very impressive to me and shall wait for the marina sands bay before deciding which is more attractive to me. Isabelle is getting more and more cheeky and will come up with many funny poses for the camera. To those who doesn't know her that well, this is the she at home. The she you see is very different from the she I see, most of the time that is. But she can be an angel too. For the first time, we tried the luge and totally enjoyed it. Joelle kept pestering me to speed up but it was raining mildly and the road was slippery so I did a pretty mild ride down and she kind of regretted taking my ride. Dave, as usual was much faster and way in front of us. Isabelle enjoyed that fast ride with daddy. We had a good time at sentosa and I really want to bring them back again for more sand and sun this time. Not forgetting the tradition of thanksgiving on special occasion. Back in 2008 and 2009, I have been praying for acceptance, forgiveness and strength. We had it all. We had a beautiful marriage and two beautiful daughters and I would like to thank God for that. Now that we are celebrating our 8th year of marriage, I pray for my husband to stop for a while and listen... perhaps to God's gentle calling. For 8 years I prayed for him to join the family in prayers. He had been supportive in our religion and he never forbade us to go to church, have an altar, say our grace before meals (he joins in too) or even thanking God for everything we had. He just said God has not called him. Maybe the time is not right. Perhaps I have not prayed sincerely enough. But I'm sure God has not forgotten about him.
Without mary, the kind of food joelle brings to school has become simpler. Hardly any rice set now. Mostly sandwiches and finger food. She's not complaining as she's beginning to enjoy buying food from the canteen with her friends. So I allow her to buy food from the canteen for lunch on her long days (which is almost everyday) and I will still pack food for her recess at 10am. So far it's working alright and we're both happy with that arrangement. Here's some pictures to give you an idea. Apple strudel (bought) Banana cake (made) Egg mayo sandwich (made) Honey baked ham and cheese sandwich (made) Potato smileys (bought and baked)
This is another late post. A friend kindly organize a little easter hunt for the kids and it was a nice turnout. Kids had fun, mummies catch up with one another. Beautiful evening. Thank God for friends around the neighbourhood. Doing the rabbit hop.
Joelle joined a roller blading trial one saturday with a friend. They had so much fun. I even signed her up for the lessons as it was heavily subsidized by the RC. It was $10 for 4 lessons! What a steal! I would have signed issy up for it too if they had her size.
Another of my current favourite song. I kind of need to listen to this song everyday, especially at night. Hmmm... I might be able to sing it soon. Hahahaha... Actually the reason I put it on my blog is for easy access!!!
The girls requested for another pair of painted shoes when their old ones grew out of size. It took mummy some four hours spread over a week to complete these two pairs. They like them and I'm happy cos it does require much time and effort. Currently it's their favourite shoes. They wear them to church, to shopping, to many places, with or without socks.
I'm suddenly into this few korean songs (probably after watching the movie "200 pound beauty") and I feel like a teenager once again. I'm crazy about this kim ah joong person together with my daughter. In a way I'm happy that I'm still able to have this teenager kind of fascination, at least my daughter will enjoy sharing music and idols with her mummy. Yet I'm able to provide a stable platform for her to enjoy her teenage fascination safely. This is the first time we watch the movie together and fell in love with the music and characters together. What's next?
We celebrated grandma's 60th birthday on her actual day with a self designed cake from the icing room in compass point. Joelle did most of the decorations on the cake. Isabelle had a little touch while mummy finished off. It was a pretty cake, at least it carried a personal touch. MaMa's 59th birthday celebration here.
My mum turned 60 in march and we celebrated at a chinese restaurant in city square mall. I did not get to enjoy much food as I was not feeling too good that afternoon. We did not even manage to get a group photo but it was a nice family meal. The girls almost freeze as I forgot their jackets (yes mary just left us a few days ago!) so I had to take them to the outdoor playground to defrost a number of times. Well, they were happy with that arrangement. Attended a wedding dinner that same night. A cousin's from dave's side of the family. Pictures did not turn out nice so just share this photo of the cheeky girls.
It's mother's day and for the first time, I received a gift from my little girl, fully paid for by her own savings. It's a very simple anklet.
Since the start of term two, we gave her a daily allowance. Rules are simple. 50% of unused amount goes into the "fixed" savings and the remaining goes into the "variable" savings. She could use the money in her variable savings for gifts and treats and whatever she fancies. And I'm so happy she's willing to part with her savings for a mother's day gift for me. She's so sweet.
In sunday class, she made me this card and flowers. I'm a happy mummy indeed.
