Bible Verse of the Day

December 2012

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Our “Somewhat” White Christmas

December 29, 2012 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting, What's Cooking | No comments

 

Okay, I admit I had been singing “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…” for the weeks leading up to Christmas, and according to the weather forecast, it was supposed to start snowing at about the time Santa was making his rounds, i.e. Christmas eve.

When I woke up on Christmas morning, I realized that the weather forecast was correct.  There was a light sprinkling of snow to greet us, but it didn’t last long as it stopped snowing later that afternoon.  It was only on the night of Boxing Day that the snow started, coincidentally as we were making our way home from our grocery shopping.  Later that night, I even saw snow ploughs clearing inches of snow from the driveway right outside our apartment.

Anyway, we stayed in the whole day on Christmas and we really had a great time.  It was warm and cozy indoors and we just wanted to relax and enjoy Christmas.

I woke up in the morning to get lunch ready for us, and Ethan was up very soon after.  He exclaimed in surprise and sheer joy as he saw all the presents lying by the fireplace, waiting to be opened.  This year, it was the first time Ethan and Hannah really really expected presents from Santa.  Maybe because this year we have an actual chimney and fireplace in our house..haha.  Ethan and Hannah were also very concerned about Santa hurting himself that Christmas eve when he came down the chimney, so they had made extra sure that we turned off the fireplace by midnight.

So “Santa’s elves” were kept busy on Christmas eve getting the presents ready for Ethan and Hannah.  We got them presents from “Santa”  (the pink-wrapped ones) and also presents from Daddy and Mommy.  It was tricky getting them the presents as surprise ones; one of us had to sneakily make a speedy purchase, and then make a dash for the car to load the goodies in the trunk.  Obviously the one who isn’t 7 months preggers was the one doing the running to the car. 😛

They also each had letters written to Santa, and on Christmas eve, Ethan noticed the letters were still lying around the house, so Daddy had to quickly go to the “office” to send the letters to the North Pole. LOL

The moment Ethan saw the presents, he told Hannah about it, and she immediately woke up.  They were very eager to open their presents, and when they did, all we could get were these rather blur shots with our phone.

Yes, they were still in their jammies.. 🙂

After that, they busied themselves with the presents as I got lunch ready.  It was past 2pm when we had lunch, because the roast turkey takes at least 3 hours to be ready.

We hung out at home the whole of Christmas and the kids were only more than happy because they got the chance to play with their new toys!

The One Where The Kids Went to School

December 21, 2012 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 1 comment

…well, not exactly.  After visiting a couple of childcare centers, we’d decided to arrange for a trial session for Hannah at a nearby center, about 3 minutes’ drive away.

Since I had an appointment at the hospital for an ultrasound scheduled, we decided to conveniently schedule the trial session on that same morning.  This childcare center had a before/after school program for kids in elementary school too, so Ethan got to have a trial there as well.  Worked out so well for us because we didn’t think kids running around in the ultrasound room would be at all welcome.

So anyway, the childcare center director decided that Hannah would be most suitable in the pre-K class, although age-wise, she should be in a younger class, i.e. preschool.  This was because Hannah would turn 4 very soon, and most of the kids in pre-K had just turned 4 or about to turn 4 soon too.  In addition, the pre-K class was a much smaller group compared to preschool, and it would work out in Hannah’s favor too, because she can be quite shy in large groups initially.

As for Ethan, since all the elementary students were in school at that time, they were still not at this childcare center.  So Ethan spent his time in the Kindergarten class, which is something like K2 in Malaysia.  He got on pretty well, and before I left, I peeked into his class and saw him raising his hand, volunteering to answer a question!  How’s that for confidence, eh?

Anyway, the kids were there for about 3.5 hours, and when we came back to pick them up, we were surprised to find Hannah taking a nap on a little mattress, as were most of the other kids in her class.  Ethan was ready to go, and even had a little time to feed the pet guinea pig in the school.

I could tell the kids had fun.  The center director told us they both did very well, and were participative and there were no problems at all.

Hannah brought back her artwork, and couldn’t stop talking about them.

Ethan told me he learnt some Spanish that day, painted a rainbow sky picture (which was still drying) and wrote a sentence.

We’ve more or less confirmed that Hannah will be going to this pre-K class, and as for Ethan, he will be going to a nearby elementary school in 1st Grade.  We’re getting the registration submission all sorted out and hopefully they can begin schooling soon.

Snow: Work and Play

December 5, 2012 in Ethan, Exercise, Hannah, Milestones, Parenting, Vacation | No comments

When life gives you lemons, go make some lemonade, so the saying goes.  And when life gives you snow, you smile, and make work seem like play!

Last Saturday morning, we awoke to a blanket of snow covering the landscape.  The weather forecast had been true to the dot and it had snowed through the night.  In fact, it was still snowing in the morning, and inevitably, our car was also covered with snow.

It was a good thing though that Pete had switched our initial minivan to a medium-sized car, so there wasn’t so much snow to clear off the car, but Ethan and Hannah were only more than willing to help!  It was a brand new experience for them, and c’mon, which kid would pass on an opportunity to play with snow?

The snow has all melted since that day, and the weather is slightly warmer now (i.e. 10-12ºC), however we have been told by the locals that it typically does not snow till January.  Would we be looking at colder days and nights ahead?  Would the kids have enough snow for a snowman?  Will we be having a white Christmas this year?

Only time will tell… 🙂