School update

Last week, Xuan told mummy that there is a drama concert in school. Xuan and friends rehearse the play and they will perform for everyone in school. Mummy got a bit puzzled cos it is too early to rehearse for the year-end concert. Mid year concert? Sound unlikely too..

Anyway, mummy left a note in Xuan's communication booklet for the teacher and yes, there is indeed a rehearsal going on and Xuan and friends had a performance that afternoon. :)

The teacher initiated a drama play for the class to be performed to other class friends at the weekly assembly time. It seems like it is going to be a on-going activity as the N2, K1 and K2 children will take turn to perform a short skit periodically. It is definitely a good platform for the children to gain confidence, develop their speech and expression and creativity as they play their own role. Most importantly, Xuan enjoys such drama play a lot! Back at home, she is always plotting her own drama story where she is the teacher, the mummy, the doctor, the patient, the cook etc.


Since young, Xuan has been a very "dramatic" girl at home.

When we asked Xuan about the drama that she acted, Xuan happily narrated the whole story to us. Xuan even sang songs in-between the play too.

The play that Xuan and classmates played last friday was "The sleeping princess". Xuan said that she played "the trees" together with 8 other classmates. Xuan said that the trees are important as they need to protect the sleeping princess. hahaha...Mummy thought to herself, "Why is Xuan not the princess?" hehehe... Well, every mother hopes that their daughter is chosen to be the princess, isnt it? hahaha... after pondering for a while, mummy told papa that Xuan cannot be chosen for the princess cos all the other boys in the class are shorter than her. It will be very weird that a princess is taller than the prince right! haha... humm.. very very valid reason. hahaha.. anyway, Xuan has a good time acting as "a tree".

Ice cream treat!

Weather has been hot hot and hot!

Lately, Xuan and didi have been given weekly ice-cream treat. We are happy! Most importantly, both of us share well. :)


Just like most siblings, Xuan and didi do not share on every occasion. However, they have been very kind to each other whenever it is an ice-cream treat.


Happy Xuan with her inverted ice-cream chocolate cone.


Another amiable sharing session. :)


Look at Xuan! Absolutely contended with her treat!


Yummy!


Yummy!

Mother's Day song

Mother's Day song learned from school. :)
When Xuan 1st sang, she sang so lovely!
When she is being video-taped, she tends to get a bit more mindful of the camera and more uptight.. :p

After Xuan finished the song, she suggested changing the lyrics and insisted that mummy sang this to papa,

" Oh my husband, Oh my husband,"
" Oh my husband I love you"..
and of course, we sang for our dear didi too..

" Oh my brother, Oh my brother,
" Oh my brother, I love you"..
hahaha....

1st bake!

Xuan and mummy did something together on Mother's Day! We did our 1st bake! hehehe..

It is a definitely a fun-filled experience for Xuan and mummy. With the recipe in our hands, Xuan and mummy gathered and measured the ingredients together. Mummy got Xuan to check through the list to make sure that we have all the ingredients on the table before we began.

Xuan has fun pouring and mixing the muffin mixture. Mummy is glad that Xuan followed the baking instructions well with minimal mess. Xuan did most of the mixing while mummy merely followed up with a few more stir for a thorough mix. Xuan also did a good job in scooping the mixture into the muffin cups. Xuan picked up the tactic well after mummy did a demo. :D

We are glad that our 1st attempt at baking is a success! Apart from a few muffins which turned a bit too dark due to too high temperature, the rest of the muffins turned out nice. Crusty on the outside and soft in the inside! We baked 15 mini muffins. Papa ate 6, mummy ate 4, Xuan ate 3, Kai didi ate 2!

We decided that we will continue with more muffin baking session.. banana muffins, chocolate muffins, blueberry muffins... with more improvement to outlook and taste too!:D


Pouring the sugar in..

\
Mixing the sugar and oil...


Serious little baker at work.


Xuan lightened her mood after mummy asked if she enjoys the baking. :)


Xuan is very careful in handling the muffin cups to ensure that they don't spill. :)


Look how Xuan enjoys the process!


Waiting patiently but eagerly for our 1st home baked muffins. hehehe


Our 1st home baked muffin is done! :D

When didi is older, we will definitely rope didi in for help! I'm sure didi will enjoy the baking as much as i do! :D

Happy Mother's Day!

This is my 5th year celebrating Mother's Day with Xuan! :)

Days leading to Mother's Day, Xuan told mummy that she has a surprise for her. Despite effort made to get hints, Xuan refused to drop any hint and insisted that it is a surprise and she can't tell! hahaha... So on the Friday before Mother's Day, Xuan brought back home her surprise, a big flowery card, a letter holder made from paper plate and lined with ribbons and cut-out cloth. :)

On Sunday morning when Xuan woke up, she said in her chirpy mood, "Oh, today is Sunday and is Mother's Day, mummy! I need to give you a hug and a kiss!" :D So sweet! :)


With my 2 darlings and their hand-made presents for mummy from school. :)


The flowery letter holder from Xuan. :)

I am thankful for having these 2 darlings. They make me feel the importance of my presence in this big world. They make me feel the importance of taking good care of myself cos they need me.

I am still learning. Learning how to be an even better mummy everyday. How best to guide them well down the growing journey. How not to let emotion take control when they try to be naughty, try to disobey. And most importantly, how to stay engaged and close even when they are 12, 18 or 24 years old and they will still hug me close. :)

HK Disneyland 2010 (Part IV)

Shopping!! Mummy and papa decided that we will do our shopping on the 2nd day morning.

The 2nd day morning has been solely reserved for shopping. We went there without stroller on the 2nd day so that we will have more free hand for shopping. Hehee…everything in the shops is so cute. So pretty! Mummy reminded herself to be more rationale and reminded clear minded before entering so that she will not “get lost” in the Disney world of shopping. Haha.. Cute beautiful hairclips and bands cannot be missed. Beautiful biscuit and chocolates boxes cannot be missed too (however to limit for practical reason! Haha..), a pair of mickey and Minnie drinking mugs for kiddos, Toy story rocket-like tumblers, Xuan’s favourite Minnie mouse umbrella, cute and smart tees and pants for didi, Minnie mouse tee for Xuan, Mickey and minnie mouse shades, mummy’s pinky Minnie mouse polo, papa’s stylo mickey watch, cute Disney pens, Xuan’s favourite baby mickey (2011 version)(Xuan carried it tight and was only relieved and happy when payment was finally made.. hahaha).. …and of course soveniors! Thanks to the merchandise shop’s facilities, they have free courier service from the shop to the hotel for purchases exceeding certain amount. And so, we are spared of the lugging.

On the 3rd day, we decided to venture out of Disneyland. We took MTR to the Tung Chung where there is big mall. We window-shop for an afternoon. Mummy and papa lamented that it was impossible to shop when each of them needed to oversee one kid each. So they were contended with window shopping. There is a big food court at the 4th level, our familiar, “Food Republic” .. haha… we saw our familiar Hainanese Chicken Rice, dessert like Chendol, ice-kacang.. all originating from Spore…hahaa.. Didi gave in to his sleepiness and fell asleep close to lunch time. Mummy has to finish her lunch with sleepy didi resting on her shoulder. Mummy said that she is trained! Hehee..

We headed back to our Disneyland Hollywood hotel for a short break and to leave our bags in the mid afternoon before taking the shuttle bus to nearby Disneyland Hotel to take a stroll. Both hotels are significantly different in theme and appeal to different tourists groups. Hollywood hotel where we stayed is a more family oriented hotel - toy and children entertainment shop where children can walk in, sit down and request for their favorite character sheet to colour and draw, Children TV corner with Disney cartoons for children waiting for parents to check-in and check-out etc. The outdoor park is children friendly enough children and there is a playground for children too. On the other hand, Disneyland hotel is much more posh and adopts a more Victorian style. Nice deco with huge beautiful chandeliers, huge beautiful paintings hanging from the tall ceiling to ground. The outdoor park is pretty with beautiful flowers, a big maze for children, a corner with a walk-in pavilion for solemnization, romantic settings for couples to take a stroll in the evening.

We still prefer the Disneyland Hollywood Hotel that we stayed. :)

H A P P Y

Xuan likes to include the word, “HAPPY” in many of her writing at home now. Last month, Xuan happily told mummy that she knows how to spell HAPPY (to mummy's surprise!). Xuan was so HAPPY and proud of it. hehehe.. This should be one of Xuan’s favourite words and this is the first word that she has learnt how to spell solely on her own. Using phonic skill, Xuan could spell some 3 letters words like cat, rat, pat,…… Main focus was breaking up the word by sound. While Xuan could recognize quite a lot of words now, we did not focus on spelling as mummy feels that K1 children should not be stressed with spelling at this moment.



So at time, when mummy was clearing the writing papers on Xuan’s table, we see pictures of bright sunny sun, smiling face, picture of a boy and a girl, cars, dinosaur, ….. and many times, mummy also spotted “HAPPY” amidst the pictures. At times, Xuan just repeated writing HAPPY rows after rows. :)

YES!! H A P P Y Growing up and H A P P Y Learning.