Bible Verse of the Day

Hannah

All about Hannah

Hannah’s Early Birthday Celebration in School

February 15, 2013 in Celebrations, Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment

I’m already 36+ weeks along, so being paranoid that I would not be able to do a simple birthday celebration for Hannah in school with her friends (when she clearly wants to), I made arrangements for an early celebration on Valentine’s Day.

As was the case with Ethan’s school, we were not allowed to bring in any food items, so I managed to get a cute craft kit for the kids.  Every kid in class would get a giraffe-shaped foam piece which they would then decorate to their liking using stickers and such, all provided in the kit.  Cool or what? 🙂

Hannah was absolutely looking forward to the Giraffe craft and kept on talking about it right till the day I had planned for it.  We did the craft with her friends in the morning, and all the kids had fun creating their own version of their giraffes.

It was the perfect way to spend Hannah’s birthday in school and also a kid’s Valentine’s Day and I was so thankful to be a part of it.  Hannah’s teacher was also very thoughtful and had taken a few pictures of the activity and then compiled the pictures into a little ring booklet, which I thought was so cute!  And of course, Hannah was beyond jubilation to take home her very own giraffe, which she named Sandy. 🙂

She’s now counting down the days to her actual birthday! 😀

Hannah Having Fun in Pre-K

February 13, 2013 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

It just dawned on me that I have not been updating the progress on Hannah’s days in school.  She’s currently in pre-K now and she goes for the half-day sessions, which is around 5 hours every day.  I normally drop her off at about 9:00a.m. after I drop Ethan off at school, and Hannah will be at school till about 2:30p.m. or so.  She takes lunch in school and sometimes even has a short nap before I arrive.

Of course, for security and privacy reasons, parents aren’t allowed to take photos of the kids in school, but we do get pictures of our kids sent home, and I always welcome these because it just goes to show how much fun Hannah has in school!  We’ve also enrolled her in the Phonics Adventures program which introduces and teaches phonics to early readers like Hannah.  So far, we are pleased that she enjoys her 1:1 phonics sessions, which she has twice a week.

Here are some of the activities she has been up to in school…the photos aren’t very clear, because I had to take a photo of the photo printouts that were sent home.

Winter Festival

January 28, 2013 in Celebrations, Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah | No comments

Last Friday evening, we attended the Winter Festival organized by Ethan’s school’s PTO.  It was like a mini carnival, with games, food and activities for the kids.  We were surprised by the turnout despite the freezing cold weather!

The festival was held in the school gym and the school cafeteria, and only Ethan needed a ticket (@$2).  Adults and kids 3 and under enjoyed free admission.

Ethan started by playing some basketball in the gym.

Unfortunately, he met with a mishap when he scored a basket in one of his games.  He’d jumped up and down in celebration and accidentally bumped his top incisors on a metal horizontal bar. 🙁

He was bleeding a little, but thankfully the bleeding stopped after a while.  However, he just wasn’t himself the rest of the evening, and it took him some time before he was back to his cheerful self.  Poor boy. 🙁

(At the time of writing, his teeth are okay.  He was feeling a little bit of sensitivity for a couple of days after the incident, but he’s okay now.)

I had also volunteered to bring in a cake for the Cake Walk.  Here’s a glimpse of some of the other cakes brought in by other volunteers.

The Cake Walk is a fun game open to all kids at $1 per dance.  All the participants will start dancing when the music is played and when the music stops, every one chooses a number to stand on.  A number will then be drawn from a can and the kid whose number is called will get to choose a cake of his/her choice!  The rest of the kids will win a consolation prize of a lollipop each.

Hannah wanted a go at the Cake Walk:

…but then she got upset when someone stood on the number she wanted to choose…in the end, she won a lollipop anyway.

And then, just before we left for home, the kids wanted to get their faces painted.

Meet Batman…or Batboy… 🙂

…and say hello to Little Miss Cheetah!

By the way, if you’re wondering what I used to wash the face paint off, I started with damp hands and then lathering up some shower gel and then applying it all over the face, gently massaging the face as I went along.  I rinsed off with some warm water, but only about 75% was rinsed off.  After drying the face, I used regular baby lotion with cotton pads and gently wiped off the remaining stains.  About 5% still remained after the first night, so I did the moisturizer thingy again the following day and managed to remove everything.

Look At My Kitchen Mittens!

January 10, 2013 in Food & Feeding, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

For weeks Hannah has been playing with her toy kitchen utensils and pretend food in the lovely little toy kitchen set we got her for Christmas.  In her own creative way, she has been using little plastic bags and wrappers as kitchen mittens.

It was an absolute eyesore for me, so I took out my sewing set and what I brought along with it, found some pieces of felt material and measured Hannah’s hands.  I simply sewed two pieces together using the backstitch (oh yes, I know what a backstitch is even though I did not take Home Science in school!), and then turned them inside out!

I made one mitten two days ago, and Hannah wanted another one, so now she has two, and it’s such a joy to see her “cooking” now.

Even more fulfilling is when she gave me the biggest widest smile and said, “Thank you for making me the kitchen mittens, Mommy!  I promise to share them with Ethan!”

Getting a Haircut

January 8, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

It wasn’t easy finding a hair salon suitable for the kids over here.  Personally we feel haircuts are overpriced, but in any case, the kids were long overdue for a haircut and we decided to just walk in to a nearby salon after lunch last weekend.

This salon charges $12 for a kid’s haircut, not including tips.  And it was one of the cheapest we found too…

Anyway, the kids got their haircuts done at the same time, and they got to sit on these high cushions propped up on the regular salon chairs.

Ethan’s haircut took a little longer than Hannah’s because the hair stylist was not too adept at trimming his hair in the “slope-like” manner he was used to.

I forgot to mention that the $12 haircut also includes a hairwash, if you so desire.  I asked Hannah, and she was game for the hairwash, so this is the one and only picture I took of her having her first salon hairwash.

She seemed to enjoy it though, and didn’t mind the experience.  And now they both have brand new haircuts!! 😀

First Official Day at School for the Kids

January 4, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones, Parenting | 1 comment

My precious kids make me even more proud of them each and every day, and this week was no different.  This was a very eventful week for all of us, especially for Ethan and Hannah.   After more than a month since we moved here, the kids are finally officially starting school!

It had been a rollercoaster of obstacles we had faced in getting the paperwork and submission sorted out, especially in Ethan’s case, but we’re glad it’s finally completed and Ethan and Hannah were so excited to be going to school at last. 🙂

On Wednesday morning, after much persuasion, Hannah woke up bright and early and got ready for school.  She would be in the pre-kindergarten (pre-K) class, and she was really looking forward to it.  There was no hesitation from her at all when we arrived at her classroom, and she immediately hung up her bag and jacket and joined her class (but not before she gave Mommy a big HUG and KISS).

I then took Ethan to his elementary school to submit the last of the paperwork needed.  There were some delays due to the long year-end holidays, but thankfully, we managed to get everything done and sorted out that morning.  Ethan would be in 1st Grade. 🙂

Before we left the elementary school, we met with the one of the English language specialists in the school.  It was her job to assess foreign students on their English language proficiency via a simple assessment test on English reading, writing and comprehension.  We were with her for about half an hour and Ethan did really well on his test. 🙂  The English language specialist said that he reads very well and that he would be placed in an appropriate level.

I then confirmed that Ethan’s official first day of school would be on Friday, and he was to arrive by 8:45a.m., where his teacher would meet him at the front office and then take him to class.

On Thursday, Hannah went to school as usual and Ethan and I stayed home.  Ethan did tell me that he was a little bit nervous about his first day of school the following day, but he was also excited to be meeting new friends.  I reassured him that it was normal to be a little nervous, but he could always ask his teacher if he needed any help.

Fast forward to Friday, and we thankfully managed to get the kids up and ready by 8:05a.m.!

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How We Built a Snowman – Part 2 of 2

January 3, 2013 in Ethan, Exercise, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

After our “snowhill but no snowman” incident the other day, the kids had been pestering us to take them snowman-building again.

“Mommy, is the snow wet enough today to build a snowman?”

“Can we PLEASE go and build a snowman today?  I don’t mind building it in the dark!”

So on New Year’s Day morning, we promised the kids we would get our snowman built provided they got up early enough and that it was sunny.

And this would be me, giving them a headstart and a hand in the snowman-building project:

It’s hard work, and a very good workout! 🙂  Just imagine, your body needs to work extra hard to fight off the cold (especially when the wind starts blowing) and also, you need to keep rolling and patting the snowballs to make it larger and larger for the snowman, all the time making sure the snowballs stay intact and that the snowman doesn’t topple over!

The kids again enjoyed every moment of their time in the snow.  They had fun rolling the snowballs around and watching them grow bigger and bigger…and now, they also had Daddy to throw snowballs at!

After some really hard work and teamwork, we began to see the snowman take shape…

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How We Built A Snowman – Part 1 of 2

January 2, 2013 in Ethan, Exercise, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

Several days ago, when I figured there was snow thick enough to build a snowman, and the sun was out, I took the kids out for our snowman project.  The kids were, of course, more than eager to put on their winter jackets and get started.

We found a nice spot just outside our home, and before I knew it, the kids were already busy making snow angels!

 

Unfortunately though, the snow was too hard and dry for snowman-making.  We just could not pat it into balls.  All we got were big chunks of brittle ice.  The kids called them “icebergs”!

However, we still had a lot of fun building a snow hill, and playing with snow…

 

Yes, we had a blast…and some of us threw snow too!

I had to persuade the kids to come on indoors because my ears were starting to freeze!

We ended up with a nice little snow hill, which became a really smooth snow hill when it began to snow heavily a couple of days later.

The kids asked for hot Milo after our activity, which is always a nice comforting way to warm their tummies after a cold outing.

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.

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