We spent the entire weekend with our neighbours!
Saturday was literally non stop.
Wake, breakfast.
Music class for Annika
Tennis for Madison ( which eventually got cancelled because the teachers were busy or something )
I had to work.
Then it was lunch for the kids.
Chris went for a swim and the kids went swimming.
Nap for Annika, while Madison and Lynn watched videos.
After nap time it was off to Bishan Park with 12 kids from 6 different families in our block!
We packed a picnic to share. The kids got to run around, fight and have dinner.
I think the kids had fun! The only trouble we had was parking. That was horrendous.
We finished at 730pm, just as it got dark. Getting home was easy, because we all live in the same block.
Sunday we had a potluck dinner by the poolside. Prior to that the kids were in the pool swimming and splashing around.
Having your friends live in the same block makes it so easy. The adults get to eat/drink while the kids play together... the convenience of having the house just right there is hard to beat.
But of course the downside is that when we spend the weekend with the neighbours we don't see the family as much.. the kids are really lucky to have this choice.
In shopping news...the kids' ski gear have arrived! Pink Spyder jackets and pants to match. Even comes along with a pink back pack! Still waiting for their goggles and gloves to come.
I also hope the Swiss travel System doesn't screw up our train tickets that we've paid for.. it's supposed to arrive 2-3 weeks prior to departure via DHL.
I just heard from another Pat's Schoolhouse mummy that they are going to Switzerland for a family holiday too... apparently not her first trip there. Should have asked her before we booked... she's going to the French Alps to ski instead of Switzerland..
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Preschool: Pat's Schoolhouse
Madison is currently in her 2nd year at Pat's Schoolhouse.
I've been pretty happy with her progress at school and she seems to be enjoying herself. ( Although she still says she doesn't want to go to school almost daily... but she's all smiles and bubbles when I get her in the afternoon )
So next year she's going to be in K1.
This was when the furore started... the school decided to raise its school fees.
Not by tens of dollars, but by a whopping 25%.
Needless to say this rankled quite a few parents.
The other thing the school started pushing strongly for was for the kids to attend preschool for the full day program.
This means the kids are in school by about 830am, and don't finish till around 5pm.
The morning session finishes at 12noon, and the afternoon bit starts around 3pm.
They are also required to nap in between.
Of course they had this fantastic extra curricular program that included Speech and Drama class, math class and music class.
I was quite tempted, who wouldn't be?
But that would mean Madison would spend more time at school than at home. And she'd be napping! Which means she'd be up way past her bedtime at night!
I had a really hard time deciding what to do... in the end I asked my dad what he thought...
And he said.. kids need down time to do their 'own' thing... and discouraged me from having too many organized activities for her. He said organized activity kills creativity.
So that sealed the deal.
I've decided to keep her in the morning program for next year. I hope she'll be able to cope and be smart enough to figure things out on her own!
I've been pretty happy with her progress at school and she seems to be enjoying herself. ( Although she still says she doesn't want to go to school almost daily... but she's all smiles and bubbles when I get her in the afternoon )
So next year she's going to be in K1.
This was when the furore started... the school decided to raise its school fees.
Not by tens of dollars, but by a whopping 25%.
Needless to say this rankled quite a few parents.
The other thing the school started pushing strongly for was for the kids to attend preschool for the full day program.
This means the kids are in school by about 830am, and don't finish till around 5pm.
The morning session finishes at 12noon, and the afternoon bit starts around 3pm.
They are also required to nap in between.
Of course they had this fantastic extra curricular program that included Speech and Drama class, math class and music class.
I was quite tempted, who wouldn't be?
But that would mean Madison would spend more time at school than at home. And she'd be napping! Which means she'd be up way past her bedtime at night!
I had a really hard time deciding what to do... in the end I asked my dad what he thought...
And he said.. kids need down time to do their 'own' thing... and discouraged me from having too many organized activities for her. He said organized activity kills creativity.
So that sealed the deal.
I've decided to keep her in the morning program for next year. I hope she'll be able to cope and be smart enough to figure things out on her own!
Fertile block
There is seriously something going on in my apartment block!
Some of us neighbours have become increasingly close because the kids play together frequently, and also because of the large communal area at the poolside that encourages us to spend time together.
It's truly amazing how close our kids all are in terms of age! Most are under the age of 5, with an even mix of boys and girls.
And now, there seems to be a spate of pregnancies. There is one that is due in less than a month, and a few new pregnancies that have just been announced! Now that I think about it, there's only 1 other mother who isn't pregnant apart from me!
Yesterday, just another mother of 2 told me she's expecting her 3rd next April. Her first is slightly older than Annika, and her 2nd is close to 8 months. So she's quitting her job to focus on the kids for now. It's amazing how relaxed and easy she's taking it all. They are a great family, and the kids super cute.
Another one has 2 boys aged 3 and just 2, and she's expecting her 3rd boy in January next year. She's also another amazing mummy, calm and relaxed about parenting.
There are a few just on their 2nd.. I won't be surprised if the 3rd pregnancy gets announced in the next year or so!!
I think the best part of it all is that it demystifies the 3 kid thing... totally doable!! Right??
Some of us neighbours have become increasingly close because the kids play together frequently, and also because of the large communal area at the poolside that encourages us to spend time together.
It's truly amazing how close our kids all are in terms of age! Most are under the age of 5, with an even mix of boys and girls.
And now, there seems to be a spate of pregnancies. There is one that is due in less than a month, and a few new pregnancies that have just been announced! Now that I think about it, there's only 1 other mother who isn't pregnant apart from me!
Yesterday, just another mother of 2 told me she's expecting her 3rd next April. Her first is slightly older than Annika, and her 2nd is close to 8 months. So she's quitting her job to focus on the kids for now. It's amazing how relaxed and easy she's taking it all. They are a great family, and the kids super cute.
Another one has 2 boys aged 3 and just 2, and she's expecting her 3rd boy in January next year. She's also another amazing mummy, calm and relaxed about parenting.
There are a few just on their 2nd.. I won't be surprised if the 3rd pregnancy gets announced in the next year or so!!
I think the best part of it all is that it demystifies the 3 kid thing... totally doable!! Right??
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Colds and holidays
1. COLDS
this is one (*&(*&(*7of a head cold.
I don't actually remember ever being sick for so long in my adult life! ( maybe it's amnesia already )
It started with one of the kids.. Annika I think, she had a high fever for over 5 days, cranky, coughing and running nose for the next 10. Sounded like croup, and after almost 2 sleepless coughing weeks I caved in and gave her a dexamethasone shot.
Seemed to do the trick, she got better in a further 2 or 3 days.
Then I caught the bug, after stupidly letting her put the nasal spray in MY nose while trying to spray HERS. DUMB.
Now its been 2 weeks, I've been swallowing blister packs of paracetamol, naproxen and antihistamines like candy.
I sick of having this nasal congestion and particularly blocked ears. So irritating.
So I finally took some prednisolone ( I've always been a non believer in that stuff for colds ) .. but it seems to work!! IT's finally shifting.
2. HOLIDAYS!
Finally!!
Chris has been given the opportunity to go to Davos in Switzerland for an AO course...
so we are ALL tagging along!
It was Pa's idea.. I was actually considering just going without the kids...
It's going to be one expensive trip. We've booked the air tickets.. and they came up to a whopping SGD 14000 already. That's for 6 adults and 4 kids. MH's mother is coming along for the holiday.
We've been frantically searching for affordable accommodation. It's been a LONG search.
We're thinking of going skiing in Zermatt, at the mighty Matterhorn. Accommodation there is crazy expensive. The cheaper options look quite scary old, like 1960s old, and the newest apartments come at rates of over CHF 1000 PER NIGHT! ( 1 CHF roughly 1 USD). A really nice one had a price tag of over CHF 7000 per night. Sleeping 10.
We're still left with the Lucerne leg of the trip. Shabby old apartment or average hotel? The average hotel option came up to SGD 1181 per night for all of us.
But I think we're all rather excited... it'll be the first with so many kids on a long haul flight to somewhere quite unknown to us. I guess the first rule is to simply have NO expectations, relax and go with the flow... if Annika eats only fruit loops the entire trip, so be it!
this is one (*&(*&(*7of a head cold.
I don't actually remember ever being sick for so long in my adult life! ( maybe it's amnesia already )
It started with one of the kids.. Annika I think, she had a high fever for over 5 days, cranky, coughing and running nose for the next 10. Sounded like croup, and after almost 2 sleepless coughing weeks I caved in and gave her a dexamethasone shot.
Seemed to do the trick, she got better in a further 2 or 3 days.
Then I caught the bug, after stupidly letting her put the nasal spray in MY nose while trying to spray HERS. DUMB.
Now its been 2 weeks, I've been swallowing blister packs of paracetamol, naproxen and antihistamines like candy.
I sick of having this nasal congestion and particularly blocked ears. So irritating.
So I finally took some prednisolone ( I've always been a non believer in that stuff for colds ) .. but it seems to work!! IT's finally shifting.
2. HOLIDAYS!
Finally!!
Chris has been given the opportunity to go to Davos in Switzerland for an AO course...
so we are ALL tagging along!
It was Pa's idea.. I was actually considering just going without the kids...
It's going to be one expensive trip. We've booked the air tickets.. and they came up to a whopping SGD 14000 already. That's for 6 adults and 4 kids. MH's mother is coming along for the holiday.
We've been frantically searching for affordable accommodation. It's been a LONG search.
We're thinking of going skiing in Zermatt, at the mighty Matterhorn. Accommodation there is crazy expensive. The cheaper options look quite scary old, like 1960s old, and the newest apartments come at rates of over CHF 1000 PER NIGHT! ( 1 CHF roughly 1 USD). A really nice one had a price tag of over CHF 7000 per night. Sleeping 10.
We're still left with the Lucerne leg of the trip. Shabby old apartment or average hotel? The average hotel option came up to SGD 1181 per night for all of us.
But I think we're all rather excited... it'll be the first with so many kids on a long haul flight to somewhere quite unknown to us. I guess the first rule is to simply have NO expectations, relax and go with the flow... if Annika eats only fruit loops the entire trip, so be it!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Birthday weekend
Not the kids.. but mine... sweet 35!
I didn't have any special events lined up for me, my dear hubby forgot to get me a proper cake, and nope, no breakfast in bed from the kids either.
But... I am grateful for the other things.
The nurse in my clinic, D, DID get me a birthday cake a few days prior to celebrate. So I did have 1 cake.
We had a delightful Saturday evening with some new friends ( classmate of Annika's from Bibinogs ) --even Annika has a social life! We were invited to their almost-penthouse apartment, and the mother made a 3 course meal for us. And had drinks including wine and beer.
On Sunday morning I got up and got to go for a run with my sister... so that was her gift to me. We wound up in Upper Bukit Timah road, couldn't get a taxi so called my BIL for a lift.
We did have dinner at PS Cafe at Dempsey Hill, which my mother likes ( that's why I chose it ), and I got lovely presents this year! A Nike+watch from Chris (yeah!!), Nescafe Dolche thingy that makes coffee from my sis and BIL and his mum, and a oh-so-soft Christian Dior black leather clutch from my parents. ( Just in time for my brother's impending engagement/wedding etc for next year )
Of course the icing on the cake was that Chris cleared his exits, so no more excuses not to do his share of parenting!
What else touched me was that I had good friends who remembered AND bothered to wish me Happy Birthday...I'm sometimes guilty of being too lazy to do it even though I see it's their birthday through FB or something else.
It was also sad to know that some friends that I thought would have been friends for life were no longer as close. And to know that I have now been excluded out of their lives too.
But its ok.. we all change and people drift in and out.
Now to start planning holidays!!!
I didn't have any special events lined up for me, my dear hubby forgot to get me a proper cake, and nope, no breakfast in bed from the kids either.
But... I am grateful for the other things.
The nurse in my clinic, D, DID get me a birthday cake a few days prior to celebrate. So I did have 1 cake.
We had a delightful Saturday evening with some new friends ( classmate of Annika's from Bibinogs ) --even Annika has a social life! We were invited to their almost-penthouse apartment, and the mother made a 3 course meal for us. And had drinks including wine and beer.
On Sunday morning I got up and got to go for a run with my sister... so that was her gift to me. We wound up in Upper Bukit Timah road, couldn't get a taxi so called my BIL for a lift.
We did have dinner at PS Cafe at Dempsey Hill, which my mother likes ( that's why I chose it ), and I got lovely presents this year! A Nike+watch from Chris (yeah!!), Nescafe Dolche thingy that makes coffee from my sis and BIL and his mum, and a oh-so-soft Christian Dior black leather clutch from my parents. ( Just in time for my brother's impending engagement/wedding etc for next year )
Of course the icing on the cake was that Chris cleared his exits, so no more excuses not to do his share of parenting!
What else touched me was that I had good friends who remembered AND bothered to wish me Happy Birthday...I'm sometimes guilty of being too lazy to do it even though I see it's their birthday through FB or something else.
It was also sad to know that some friends that I thought would have been friends for life were no longer as close. And to know that I have now been excluded out of their lives too.
But its ok.. we all change and people drift in and out.
Now to start planning holidays!!!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
A relief
It's been a stressful month ( or year..) with Chris' exams..
Yesterday judgement day arrived.
And he cleared the hurdle!
Sweet relief. It's like freedom has been handed back to us. No more strategic weekend planning to get kids out of the apartment, no more late night studying ( for him ).
Just over the last weekend, we had a long weekend holiday( Malay Hari Raya celebrations ). Quite l-o-n-g.. Warni had Sunday off so it was a little stressful trying to keep it together that day. Mostly because the kids were still recovering from the last brutal round of colds. Annika was a grouchfest.
I am so grateful for good friends... C invited us over for playdate and dinner.. and when she realized we didn't have help for the day she was so kind to provide dinner for us all. And it was nice to have an activity to go to, that made the rest of the day seem more directed.
We had spent the morning prior to the playdate with family.. and boy, was it STRESSFUL..
First..we were supposed to go out for breakfast, but when I rang the house, turned out my sister had gone running and had not returned.Her husband had disappeared too. My parents were babysitting her kids without help either.
By the time she returned, showered and was ready to go, it was past 9am... we drove over to Takashimaya to Paul Bocuse for breakfast. Which we finally ate at 10am.
After brekkie, we wandered around the shops.. we wound up at the kid's section. Turned out they were having a Disney Princess promotion, and with purchase of $80 of their products we were entitled to a kid's photoshoot in princess garb.
Of course we were suckers..
Madison and Elizabeth both got to be Belle. The pictures turned out quite nice, but unfortunately Madison is not a budding model... she is sadly unable to smile naturally at the camera.
Shopping and the photo shoot took over an hour to accomplish... after which we had to find Annika some food.. she refused to eat breakfast earlier..
So while Chris and I were busy waiting in line to get her food/finding a table, we left Madison and Elizabeth with my parents and sister.
Halfway through Annika's meal, out of the milling crowds Madison and Elizabeth suddenly ran towards us. Just the 2 of them.
I was flabbergasted. Where were the 4 adults that were supposed to be with them????
So Chris and I wound up with all 3 kids. Waiting for the other 4 adults to look for us. And feeding all 3 of them.
Finally someone rang and of course they had been looking for the 2.
Amazing. 4 adults could lose the 2 of them.
Stressful morning to say the least.
So I was really grateful to C for inviting us over for dinner later that day.
Now that Chris has finished his exams, it's my turn to say 'thank you' to her... which will happen next month!! Spa treat!
Yesterday judgement day arrived.
And he cleared the hurdle!
Sweet relief. It's like freedom has been handed back to us. No more strategic weekend planning to get kids out of the apartment, no more late night studying ( for him ).
Just over the last weekend, we had a long weekend holiday( Malay Hari Raya celebrations ). Quite l-o-n-g.. Warni had Sunday off so it was a little stressful trying to keep it together that day. Mostly because the kids were still recovering from the last brutal round of colds. Annika was a grouchfest.
I am so grateful for good friends... C invited us over for playdate and dinner.. and when she realized we didn't have help for the day she was so kind to provide dinner for us all. And it was nice to have an activity to go to, that made the rest of the day seem more directed.
We had spent the morning prior to the playdate with family.. and boy, was it STRESSFUL..
First..we were supposed to go out for breakfast, but when I rang the house, turned out my sister had gone running and had not returned.Her husband had disappeared too. My parents were babysitting her kids without help either.
By the time she returned, showered and was ready to go, it was past 9am... we drove over to Takashimaya to Paul Bocuse for breakfast. Which we finally ate at 10am.
After brekkie, we wandered around the shops.. we wound up at the kid's section. Turned out they were having a Disney Princess promotion, and with purchase of $80 of their products we were entitled to a kid's photoshoot in princess garb.
Of course we were suckers..
Madison and Elizabeth both got to be Belle. The pictures turned out quite nice, but unfortunately Madison is not a budding model... she is sadly unable to smile naturally at the camera.
Shopping and the photo shoot took over an hour to accomplish... after which we had to find Annika some food.. she refused to eat breakfast earlier..
So while Chris and I were busy waiting in line to get her food/finding a table, we left Madison and Elizabeth with my parents and sister.
Halfway through Annika's meal, out of the milling crowds Madison and Elizabeth suddenly ran towards us. Just the 2 of them.
I was flabbergasted. Where were the 4 adults that were supposed to be with them????
So Chris and I wound up with all 3 kids. Waiting for the other 4 adults to look for us. And feeding all 3 of them.
Finally someone rang and of course they had been looking for the 2.
Amazing. 4 adults could lose the 2 of them.
Stressful morning to say the least.
So I was really grateful to C for inviting us over for dinner later that day.
Now that Chris has finished his exams, it's my turn to say 'thank you' to her... which will happen next month!! Spa treat!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Turning 2
Annika is almost 2.. will be 2 this Sunday.
For some bizarre inexplicable reason.. I think I may be getting a touch of baby fever.
So many people are expecting new babies!
On one hand.. its really nice to have 2 who are starting to be independent. Life is just starting to settle down, the kids can be palmed off once in awhile for us to have a break. We should probably think of doing more travelling. Ski trip? Beach holiday? Watch more plays?
Buuttt... of course people start announcing more babies via Facebook. And putting up pictures of babymoons... its quite amazing... people my age could be expecting anywhere from the first to their third kid.
Annika really enjoyed her party!
We invited a whole bunch of neighbours down, plus a few close friends. The kids had a ball! This was the most relaxed party I'd ever organised... didn't even have any games, just a little home cooked food, plenty of cold beer and drinks.
And when it came to opening presents, we did it in stages.
Annika was super possesive!
Of course Madison wanted to lay claim to the new toys.. but Annika was quick to protest :"itssss mmmiineeee...."
Clever little bugger.
Haven't really decided what and if we should do anything this weekend... maybe dinner for the family.
For some bizarre inexplicable reason.. I think I may be getting a touch of baby fever.
So many people are expecting new babies!
On one hand.. its really nice to have 2 who are starting to be independent. Life is just starting to settle down, the kids can be palmed off once in awhile for us to have a break. We should probably think of doing more travelling. Ski trip? Beach holiday? Watch more plays?
Buuttt... of course people start announcing more babies via Facebook. And putting up pictures of babymoons... its quite amazing... people my age could be expecting anywhere from the first to their third kid.
Annika really enjoyed her party!
We invited a whole bunch of neighbours down, plus a few close friends. The kids had a ball! This was the most relaxed party I'd ever organised... didn't even have any games, just a little home cooked food, plenty of cold beer and drinks.
And when it came to opening presents, we did it in stages.
Annika was super possesive!
Of course Madison wanted to lay claim to the new toys.. but Annika was quick to protest :"itssss mmmiineeee...."
Clever little bugger.
Haven't really decided what and if we should do anything this weekend... maybe dinner for the family.
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