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. ♥
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In my ongoing efforts in bringing back some semblance of fitness into my already-overbusied life, I’m trying to to the 7-minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) at least once a day. There are 12 different exercises to be done in intervals of 30 seconds each, with a 10-second recovery period in between.
One of the exercises is a Wall Sit, and after I’d explained to the kids how I do it, Hannah was happily “practising” it herself. What was amusing was that after she demonstrated the exercise, Emma walked over to the wall, and tried to do the same thing!
My two girls…they have just grown so close to each other. I pray they will grow up in each other’s love and support always. ♥
A minute of stardom, a wealth of experience…
That’s how it must have felt for Hannah and her classmates, because for them, as K1 students, although they only played a supporting role in the school concert, with only a short dance sequence, the exposure to the world of performing arts was definitely something to be cherished.
We attended her school concert last Sunday. Ethan was also excited because for the first time, he would be sitting in the audience. The title of the concert was “Humpty Dumpty Stood on the Wall”, a playful take on a story of the little egg character and two adjacent lands: Nursery Rhyme Land and Chinese Folklore Land. Hannah was one of the kid dancers in the Chinese folklore scene where Si Ma Guang rescued a child who had fallen into a big pottery vase/tank.
Can you spot Hannah? Check out the adorable pigtail hairdo!
Prior to the concert, I had no clue as to what she was going to be doing in the concert, except that she was going to be dancing. The only thing she told me was, “Mommy, there are two groups in my dance. The skipping group and the running group. I am the leader of the skipping group.”
Later after the concert, she told me, “Mommy, I was quite nervous before the concert, because there is a big audience watching.”
Awww….you did an awesome job, sweetheart! We are so proud of you!
Pssst….and little Emma was rather well-behaved too, and was able to sit through the entire concert.
I am so blessed because…
- I have three precious wonderful little human beings to dote after; three little ones who think the world of me and love me unconditionally.
- Ethan, my eldest, is doing good in school. Despite my initial reservations about having him start regular school when he had been homeschooled for eight months prior, I really enjoy listening to his stories and anecdotes about what happened in school. Minor issues do occur, like leaving stuff in school and classmates who are rather “naughty”, but I suppose I will have to let go eventually, let him fight his own battles and watch from the sidelines as he gains independence and courage.
- Hannah, my second one, is slowly but surely becoming more confident in her abilities. She is very sociable and I can tell she has many friends in school. She picks up languages really fast, especially Chinese and BM, and she does not hesitate to practise at home. She is more or less a “mini me”, so to say, determined and stubborn, and she pushes herself to her limits. She’s also very creative and loves spending time creating works of art: drawing, painting, coloring.
- Emma, my littlest one, although rather timid, is getting very used to having her siblings around her. She relies on me totally and she is slowly starting to explore outside of her boundaries. I can see a combination of Ethan and Hannah in her. It’s magical.
- My kids are spending time enjoying music, and not doing academic stuff all the time. Ethan is enjoying his ukulele classes (though he seldom practises!), and Hannah is also loving her weekly piano lessons. Emma too, loves to shake and move to music when we do play it. 🙂
- I hardly have time to blog because my day is filled with the need to ferry the kids everywhere and anywhere. School, music classes, playdates….
- Although my kids don’t necessarily LOVE everything I cook, they still eat their meals and are growing up healthily. I try to keep meals nutritious and healthy but I’m thankful sometimes for takeouts and fast food too. Don’t judge me, I’m just a mom. 😛
- I get to tuck them in at night, say our prayers together and give each one of my little miracles a hug and a kiss goodnight.
- I get to see them grow up to be a responsible, caring individuals and I am there to mould and guide them as best as I can.
- We all learn new things together every day and we all know that although we each are allowed to make mistakes, it is these mistakes that give us the opportunity to be a better person.
- God blessed me with these miracles and they are truly my world and my all. I love them so, so deeply.
Here’s an interesting and fun activity that we can all do with our family (regardless of age).
When September came around, we decided to have this little interesting competition of our own. Since I had just gotten hold of some sunflower seeds from my aunt, I suggested we each plant a sunflower and see whose will bloom first.
The planter I used could fit five sunflower plants just right, so we labelled the spots accordingly and each selected two sunflower seeds. Two for insurance… Just in case one didn’t sprout.
And then we waited. And waited (and watered daily) …..and waited some more.
One week later… And this is what we have currently:
As you can see, only the kids’ seeds have sprouted. Ethan’s sprouted first (after 5 days), followed by Emma’s and then Hannah’s.
I just hope mine won’t be the last one to sprout. Okay, I just hope mine will eventually sprout … and bloom.
Watch this space for more updates in time to come! 🙂
After procrastinating for so many months, what with the move and settling down and all, we finally managed to arrange for Emma’s baptism last Sunday. We figured we had better do it now so that she would still “qualify” as an “infant”…after all, it’s called “infant baptism” for a reason, no?
A few close relatives turned up to witness the short and simple ceremony. This time round, the baptism was held at a different church, one that is closer to our new home. It lasted about half an hour and thereafter we proceeded to have lunch.
Photo-taking before the baptism commenced:
During the ceremony, Emma was busy blabbering away… It was definitely an all-new experience for her, and certainly very educational for Ethan and Hannah too. Ethan had been too young to remember what exactly happened when Hannah was baptised last time, so this time both Ethan and Hannah got to witness everything.
Towards the end of the baptism ceremony, it began to rain very heavily. However, that did not dampen the ceremony. It was a very special and meaningful one for us.
May the Almighty God bless us and keep us in his loving arms now and forevermore.
Hannah’s school had their annual Sports Day just over a week ago. She had been practising very hard for her team event and naturally, she was very excited about the whole thing. She was very concerned about getting to school on time that morning, so I had to reassure her that we will leave early so we will definitely be on time.
At the start of the Sports Day, the classes had the march past. Hannah was supposed to hold the sign for her class, but she says the boy in front snatched it from her.
Then the kids provided some entertainment via warm-up exercises:
Doing the class cheer, in English and Mandarin:
“Teacher asked me to hold the sign again…”
Smallest member of Hannah’s cheering squad:
Video-taking responsibilities were delegated to our videographer-in-training:
Hannah’s class event…..see Hannah in action 🙂
She did really well, and we’re all so very proud of her!
We attended Literature Night at Hannah’s school just last week. It was an event organized solely for the K1 kids in honor of literary and performing arts. It was a very informal event, but full of rather interesting performances. The family members of the K1 kids were also invited to perform if they so desire.
Hannah’s class started the ball rolling with an entertaining Chinese choral speaking poem recital, followed by an English sign language poem and rounding it off with a Chinese song. She had a great time onstage and was brimming with confidence. We are so very proud of her.
Ethan contributed a 2-song ukulele performance, playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Little Brown Jug. Good job, Ethan! Too bad the pictures Daddy took were a little blurry…
A couple of days later, I’d asked Hannah to repeat her English sign language poem at home:
Here are the words to the poem:
Thank you, Mom.
Thank you, Dad.
Three small words.
So much to add.
For all your love
and your support
a million words
would be too short.
The words, “I love you”
seem too few
to express the love
I have for you.
I decided to give Hannah a little treat for the holidays and took her for her first pedicure ever! Well, it wasn’t exactly a pedicure because she didn’t get the foot soak and she had no callouses to treat, so she only got her nails trimmed and painted.
Nevertheless, she was very excited when the day came and kept reminding me to be on time because she did not want to be late.
First she got to sit in the big soft armchair while her toenails were trimmed. While waiting Hannah chose her nail polish color. She was so amazed by all the colors available!
Eventually she chose a golden glittery color… very “blingy” but a very good choice. 🙂
The pedicurist even offered to draw a little flower on each of her big toenails. Cute huh?
We certainly have a very happy (and pretty) camper here! 😀
