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It’s the Year of the Monkey – reason enough to monkey around? Well, definitely reason enough to eat loads of yummy yummy food (not just bananas) and have lots of great fun!
Traditional Reunion Dinner and 1st Day Chinese Lunar New Year in Ah Mah and Ah Kong’s house in Ipoh:
A simple dinner gathering back home in Penang:
Wishing everyone a happy, blessed and prosperous year ahead full of health and love in abundance!
Has it already been 10 years since I became a mother? I really just can’t believe it, but it’s true!
Ethan turned 10 on January 31st and it’s such a heartwarming feeling to see how much he has grown…especially since Facebook “reminds” us of our memories from years ago on such and such a date.
This year, we had initially planned to have a simple football themed party at home but earlier in January, he attended a laser tag birthday party and got hooked. So we decided to have a small gathering at Laser Warzone in Gurney Plaza instead (otherwise he would be playing pretend laser tag all around the house and I can’t have that!)
I incorporated the original football theme into this laser tag venue celebration. Obviously Ethan’s favorite soccer team played a huge role in the theme, food and party pack decor.
The kids just could not wait to get down to laser tag business.
They had 4 laser tag games in total and we played 2 solo games and 2 team games. Of course the cake cutting and food was done right before the last game, so that the kids could “refuel”.
Laser Tag parties = good workout for the kids with good clean fun (read: they sleep better at night); Also, minimal preparation for the party and the following day Ethan said his friends commented that it was the best birthday party ever! Guess it was a resounding success! 🙂
After the party, we did some Chinese New Year shopping and ended up having dinner at Chili’s. They still gave a free dessert for the birthday boy, so Ethan got his song and dessert too! 🙂
Hannah’s 4-year adventure from Playgroup, through Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and then Kindergarten 2, culminated in a simple yet meaningful graduation ceremony for all the K2 graduands, held in the school grounds on the Saturday after the last day of school.
My little girl had been looking forward to this day for a long time and she had also been eagerly practising one of their celebratory songs “Yesterday’s Dream”.
Dressed beautifully in a long, white gown, Hannah was, in my opinion, the perfect picture of poise and confidence, as she walked up to accept her graduation certificate.
The graduation ceremony marks the end of her preschool journey, with a promise of many exciting things up ahead.
So proud of you, my little snowflake! You’re destined for great things and I’m loving each moment and each day spent with you, watching you grow and bloom!
At the pinnacle of Hannah’s preschool journey, we have the school concert. Unlike any regular preschool concert, her school prides itself in producing spectacular performances which is one-of-a-kind, in a edu-theater style and is a whole play in itself. From the writing of the script, to choreography and to the beautiful costumes, I am always left in awe when I watch her preschool concerts.
This year was even more special than last year’s, because it was her final year in preschool, and Hannah had been eagerly waiting for the concert day.
Now, unlike the past years where the concert was produced in either tri-lingual or bi-lingual, this year the kids put up 2 separate stories which were loved by all: The Pied Piper of Hamelin (in Chinese) & Treasure Island (in English). I found the story line more enjoyable when the concert is done in a single language for separate stories, like this year.
From the beginning of the school year, Hannah had been eagerly awaiting the concert. From the inception of the play to the casting of the parts, to the selection of costumes, and rehearsing, she had been excitedly updating me in bits and pieces…so as not to reveal the entire story altogether.
For a bunch of 6-year-olds, performing this school play was no mean feat, given that there were many costume changes involved and everything had to be done in super-quick time.
Here are a few random shots from her concert performance. Hannah played several parts in the concert:
We have every reason possible to be beaming with pride for our little girl. She performed every single role with such passion and commitment, and she was full of confidence on stage. I could hardly believe she was just a wee little baby not too long ago.
She told me later that she enjoyed performing so much, she wished there would be another concert soon!
Well done, my little snowflake!
Note: We respect your privacy, so if you see a picture of your child in this post and would prefer for me to blot out his/her face, please email me at joyce.cheah (at) gmail.com and I will do the needful. Thank you.
We are Stage Pass Members of the Hard Rock Hotel, and although our primary reason for becoming members was to utilize the pool, we are also given a complimentary night’s stay in the hotel, as one of the benefits of membership. Our deadline for redemption is in July, so we finally decided to “move” to the hotel for a night last weekend, before the benefit expires.
We only told the kids about it the day before we were to check in, and boy, were they excited! I was worried they would not be able to sleep that night!
Ethan still had school activities until 4:00p.m., so when we checked in, it was already 5:00p.m.!
Dinner Shots
We spent our morning at the pool after a scrumptious buffet breakfast (which included chocolate milk for the kids!!).
It was a fun and enjoyable holiday away from home, although a short one and not really that far from home… LOL! Ethan left a little thank you souvenir for the housekeeping staff too!
I still have a back rub to redeem as part of the membership benefits though…need to make an appointment soon!
Hey peeps!! Have you seen Hannah and Emma on television yet? They are featured on two different videos as part of the Disney Junior Birthday Book for the month of March.
Last year, they didn’t get featured so this year, I made it a point to submit their pictures really early. These are videos taken from the feature in the Disney Junior Asia Birthday Book site online.
Emma
Hannah
Last week my littlest one turned 2. I can’t believe how fast 24 months had passed! She is still very much my little baby but she’s quickly becoming very vocal and is able to assert her personality, that one.
We decided to just have a little family celebration at home, so I baked her an orange and pumpkin crazy cake with no butter, no milk and no eggs. As for cake deco, it was a toss up between Elmo and Hi-5, cos she likes both, but I went with Elmo, because I also wanted to try creating Elmo’s fur with the grass tip I had.
In addition to her party at Adventurezone, Hannah wanted a small birthday cake cutting session in school too. I guess at her age, she can never have enough parties, eh? 🙂
She had been indecisive about the birthday cake she wanted me to bake for her, but when I gave her a Princess Anna dress a few weeks ago, she decided that she wanted a Frozen-themed cake. I had no idea she was into Frozen to begin with!! 🙂
Her actual birthdate fell on the day after her Adventurezone party, and since she had had an accident the evening before, she decided that she would only go to school for that half hour, to cut the cake and pass out party packs to her classmates.
This was the cake I baked for her: a Frozen-themed watercolor cake, with three layers of butter cake in three different colors, topped with buttercream frosting and blue glittery sugar.
Obviously I reduced the sugar content in the cake, because the frosting itself would have provided loads of sweetness.
Stuff we packed the party packs with: Customized Frozen-themed water bottles, homemade glitter playdough and custom-packed marshmallows.
Yes, my little girl borrowed my shell necklace … ♥
Her birthday continued at home as she opened up our presents for her… she got the watch from Daddy that she had been asking for 😛
…and a musical jewellery box from me (which was a pleasant surprise!)
It was a special day for a very special birthday girl! Happy Birthday Hannah!
Hannah had a birthday celebration with her friends at AdventureZone yesterday, which is a day before her birthday proper. AdventureZone always makes the kids eager, excited and brings out the energy and adrenalin in everyone.
SOoooooo much easier to take pictures of the wee babes because the older ones were zipping past me so fast!!
Hannah conquered her fear of going down the blue slide and now confidently slides down it like a pro.
Next time, she says she’s gonna go down the “scary” red slide!
The kids all enjoyed themselves and even continued playing at the slide area after they were done with their food and cake.
However, an unfortunate accident happened when we got home. 🙁
Hannah tripped and fell and knocked her head on the open grille door in our house. She had an open wound on her forehead and after I cleaned her up and gave her a quick shower, we took her to the doctor. Thankfully, the doctor said the wound was a shallow one, and she only used 3 steristrips to hold it close. Then she covered the wound with a sheet of waterproof plaster. We will be going back to the medical center to have it removed 4-5 days later.
Despite the unfortunate incident, our little big girl Hannah, ever so courageous, remained cheerful and happy. She came back home and asked to open her presents!
May your days be filled with happiness and rainbows now and forevermore!
For Ethan’s 9th birthday this year, we decided to have a cozy celebration at home. Hannah suggested having an Amazing Race birthday party, and what is a race without sharing it with friends, eh? So we said he could invite his best friend. So I planned the “amazing race” for two teams: Ethan & Hannah in one team and Josha & Elisha in another.
Unfortunately, Elisha was not well on that day, so we bended the rules a little and the two teams were then Ethan, Hannah and Josha in one team, and Peter and Emma in another. LOL!
The food our contestants ate to fuel up before the race was flagged off – homemade lum mee with all the yummy condiments:
