Bible Verse of the Day

Ethan

All about Ethan

About five weeks ago, before the school holidays began, Ethan misplaced his sweater in school.  All the kids have the same type of sweater because it’s made as part of the uniform…something like that. So when he looked around for it and could not find it, he deduced that someone must have accidentally taken his.

We waited and looked for 3-4 days but nothing came up, not even in the Lost & Found.

Concluding that it was lost forever, Ethan took it as a lesson well learned.

However, just last night when I looked in his bag while getting it ready for school, I was SHOCKED to find his sweater tucked inside.  It is definitely his because he has his initials printed on the collar tag.  Ethan says he has no recollections of putting it in his bag, and he doesn’t remember anyone giving it to him on the last day of school too.

mysterioussweater

The only explanation is that the *borrowers* took it.  Dum-dum-DUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!  Who can solve this mystery?

swimlesson1

Okay, we’ve tried.  On several occasions.  In different pools, different circumstances.

But we have not been successful in teaching the kids how to swim.

Now how can we be swimmers and our kids don’t swim?!  That’s totally unheard of.

The furthest we got (so far) was teaching Ethan how to blow bubbles and Hannah how to move with arm floats.

Sigh.  Epic fail.

Then some friends were saying that kids would learn much better and faster with a swim coach.  Refusing to believe this but also curious to give it a shot, I contacted this well-recommended swim coach and arranged for some lessons for Ethan and Hannah.  After all, they were on holiday now so swimming lessons seemed like the perfect thing to do.

We decided on combined lessons at first despite their age gap, and also because I figured it would be more conducive for me, taking the kids by myself to the pool with a baby in tow.

So first lesson started off okay.  The kids were kicking happily and then the coach moved to teaching them how to blow bubbles underwater.  Hannah had some water enter her nose and she shut out completely.  Didn’t want to continue and said she didn’t want to learn how to swim anymore. 🙁

Ethan, on the other hand, continued with the lesson and at the end of the 45 minutes, he could already float.  In his own words, Ethan said, “Mommy, floating in the water is like MAGIC!”

As for Hannah, after we came home and had a short chat with her, she said she would prefer individual lessons, so from the 2nd lesson onwards, the kids were on individual lessons.

And what a transformation that was.

After the second lesson, with some 1:1 coaching, our little Hannah was able to float and kick and move!  She even says, “I’ve changed my mind now, Mommy.  I LOVE swimming lessons!”

swimlesson2

Well, that’s certainly half the battle won!

They have completed 4 lessons thus far, with 6 more to go each.  So far, they can both move while kicking in the water, and Ethan can do the wall push too.  Both Ethan and Hannah are also more confident in the water and they can open their eyes underwater now.  They are also perfecting their “float on the back” technique : something I like to call “facing your fear”.

Ethan can kick and move quite far in the water now…very proud of both of them!

Before they began their coaching sessions, the coach did not promise me that the kids would learn how to swim like a fish at the end of the 10 sessions, but he did say that the kids would be taught water confidence and would be able to float.  Based on their progress thus far, I could not be happier..!

After he started to float and move in the water, Ethan asked, “Mommy, why didn’t YOU teach me how to float and blow bubbles??”

“But I did!  I tried but no one would listen!” I said.  Duh.

And just in case your were wondering, yes, I take all three kids out on my own for the swim lessons. 🙂  Emma loves playing with sand, when she’s not busy drinking milk or munching on dried cranberries.

Well, if I am adventurous this coming week, I might change Emma into her bathing suit and let her paddle in the water a little.  We’ll see. 🙂

emmapool1

emmapool2

Yesterday, the kids wanted to take some time to write down their Christmas wishes, or wish list for Santa.  When they were done, they each hung it on the Christmas tree.  I found their wishes to be…. ummm…amusing! 🙂

Here’s what Hannah wrote:

santawish1

See how detailed and specific she can get? 🙂

And I have no idea where she got that image of an Audrey Hepburn dress!

Here’s what Ethan wrote:

santawish2

Check out wish no. 3!! LOL

Of course, then came the questions:

“Mommy, will Santa Claus be able to come in to our house since we don’t have a chimney?”

“Where do we send our wishes?”

“What if Santa Claus cannot find the stuff in our wish list?”

At one point, Ethan remarked, “Ha, maaaybe….the adults are tricking us!  There’s no Santa Claus and the adults will pretend to be Santa Claus and put the presents under the tree!  And the same thing happens with the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, and all that…haha!”

Mommy replied, “If that’s the case, then how will the adults get their presents?”

Hannah said, “But the adults don’t WANT presents, right?  If they do, then the adults should make a list too!”

anniversary

We had a good excuse reason to indulge in yummy, creamy, delicious ice cream last Sunday when Ah Kong and Ah Ma came for a visit.  Now, who could say no to that? 🙂

hd1

hd2

What do we do when both Ethan and Hannah receive two separate party invites on the same afternoon of the same day?

Why, one parent to a kid, of course….in my case, it’s one parent to a kid and a toddler!  Oh, did I mention that the parties were both pool parties?

Ambitious, much? 😛

I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

poolparty1

poolparty2

poolparty3

poolparty4

poolparty5

poolparty6

Remember our Sunflower Growing Competition back in September?  Well unfortunately Mommy and Daddy have been disqualified because no mater how many seeds I planted, none grew for us adults.  Bummer.

sunflowers4

The kids’ sunflower plants, however, have been thriving!  Although Hannah’s seed was the last to sprout, it looks like her plant is the tallest among the three now.

sunflowers5

We’re just waiting for that first bud to show! 🙂

Last Saturday, we attended the Catechism Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2014.  Our Ethan had been attending catechism classes every Saturday afternoon for the past year, and this ceremony was just to close the chapter for 2014 before moving forward into 2015 next year.

It was held in the church sanctuary and we were treated to simple performances from each class.

cecgrad

Doesn’t my boy look handsome? 🙂

Anyway, during the ceremony, certificates of achievement were also presented to those who had 100% attendance in catechism, and also those who had great participation in class.  I think Ethan wants to aim for the 100% attendance award next year. 🙂

Hannah too, was excitedly watching the entire ceremony.  She can’t wait to start catechism next year when she will be in the preschool class.

bronzecert

Here’s the thing about regular school that homeschooling does not have: Competition; and since the beginning of his school year in August, Ethan has been excitedly reporting to us his progress on accumulating merits whilst in school.  Yes, this is something he really really thrives on and gets hims really inspired.

Students are given incentives in the form of house points when they behave well (e.g. showing respect and good manners) or perform well (e.g. good work in assignments).  Accumulation of five house points will earn you a merit.  Earn 20 merits and you get a Bronze certificate; 40 merits = a Silver certificate, and 60 merits = a Gold certificate.

At one point, he almost got wrongly penalised (a teacher wanted to subtract house points his house points because she mistook him for someone else).  Thankfully, his record stayed intact and unscathed.

Every now and then, Ethan would eagerly either tell us that he was currently the front-runner in his class, or that someone else had overtaken him by a few points.

Finally just 2 weeks ago, he hit the 20-merit mark.  We could tell he was so very proud of himself 🙂

So last Friday, Emma and I attended the morning celebration assembly where Ethan was presented with his Bronze certificate.  What’s more, he was one of four in the first batch this year to get the Bronze certificate.

Way to go, Ethan!  Next up: the Silver cert! 🙂

I’m very happy to see all my kids putting in an effort to exercise.  Today they will demonstrate how to perform the Down Dog pose.  When done correctly, the Down Dog pose will energize the body and calm the mind, and results in an excellent all-over stretch.

To jog your memory, here’s Ethan doing the down dog when he was just 3 years’ old!

Down Dog example #1: Ethan

 downdog1

Down Dog example #2: Hannah

downdog2

Down Dog example #3: Emma

downdog3

Have you done the Down Dog today yet? 🙂

together1

Just like chicken soup that warms the tummy, it warms my heart to see them playing together like this.  Certainly makes the sighs and grumbles of the day worth the while. 

« Older entries § Newer entries »