In trouble? Hope not...

My helper, Rose has been with me for almost 3 years now. Rose is my first helper and I am very thankful to have her. We work well together and the kids like her. I dont pick on her and leave almost everything to her. I dont set her work schedule. She does whatever she has planned for the day. At times, she doesnt wash the car for over 2 weeks...ho ho ho :( Lawrence and I would not even remind her. We just assume that she is probably too soaked up in other household chores.

I still remember her first day with us.

Rose " Ma'am, what do you want me to do?"
Me " Err...I dont know...why don't you just do whatever you can"

Then, off she went to pack up her own room, mop the floor and cook porridge for lunch. I was like err?....very good....very organised!

But today, Rose told me me something shocking! The police called her! The officer informed her that her friend whom she has lent money to, has been arrested and she (ie. Rose) is required to be present at the police station. OMG!! We have to send Rose to the police station tonight and see what is required of her :(

"I am 4, finally"

Nicole was the happiest girl of all. It was her birthday finally! She just couldn't fall sleep the night before. She kept asking about her big day!

She had a good time playing with her friends and she absolutely enjoyed her party food. It was a treat for her and she actually came to whisper in my ears " Mommy, the lady served me fried food. Are you sure I can eat it?"....:) Remember, I practise "no junk" policy at home?

The hostess created many character balloons for the children and the Chicky appeared to surprise the kids! Nicole didn't particularly like the Chicky as she was overwhelmed by the size of the Chicky! Certainly, she hated that leopard skin costume :( (Frankly, I didn't like it too...it was way too long and dusty)

Chloe (with the blue hippo party hat) is Nicole's "twin sister". Well, Chloe was born on the same day in the same hospital as Nicole and that was how we met. Eversince, Celine (Chloe's mom) and I have been keeping in touch and we would always invite Chloe to Nicole's birthday party, and vice versa.

Finally, it was time for unwrapping the presents! Of all the presents, she loved her pink scooter the best. It came with a brake pedal, a honk, a fan and a basket too! She simply couldn't have enough of it :) But now, I have a problem and that is, I need to find more storage space for all her new toys!

Doodle or work?

For the past 2 weeks, I have been rather slack with Nicole as I had an eye infection and was not able to do much reading or Maths with her. So, I just passed the whiteboard to Nicole for her own entertainment and she started doodling again but to my surprise, it was not quite a doodle. It was a similar Math equation which I had taught her some 3 weeks back!

She set the question herself and solved the problem on her own too! (But to be fair, I think it was by chance though). I helped her on the last step in deciding which numbers to circle.

I was absolutely over the moon to learn that she was able to tackle it! Some steps have been omitted here because Nicole did it on the other whiteboard and she erased them off after obtaining the answers. Well, I hope Nicole can keep up her interest in Maths!

2008 Olympics - "We have the best....." NOT!

The face of the perfect smiling angel was that of 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, but the voice was that of 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Miaoke, almost made to perfection was presented to portray a perfect image of China. Miaoke took center-stage and "sang" an ode to the motherland while poor Peiyi was probably sobbing away in her own little bedroom.

What message was China sending to all? "We don't have the best but it is ok, we can make one! " " It is ok if you can't pass your exams, we can fix it if you have money? It is ok if you can't sing, we can fix it if you have a pretty face?...etc etc..." Is this what we want of our society?

I suppose it would have been more palatable if Peiyi's voice was acknowledged rather than being assumed freely by another girl with a prettier face. Then, both girls would have gotten their rightful applause from the audience instead of making one cry! Has the Chinese Authority ever considered the psychological well being of Peiyi? I guess not!

I am not available!

Nicole was not in the mood to do any work. Well, it was nothing unusual though! She was talking terms with me.

Me " Nicole, hurry up, come and read this book, only 1 more page to go"
Nic " if you want me to read the book, you have to give me a piece of Oreo cookie"
Me " No, you just had your mashmallow. Come over right away"
Nic" I AM NOT AVAILABLE!"
Me " What do you mean?"
Nic " It means I am not available. I am going to play now. Bye"

Off she went to bounce on my bed AGAIN! Where on earth did she pick up the word from??

"No junk" policy

Though not exactly a health freak myself, I am very particular about the kids' diet.

Every so often, Nicole would bring home bags and bags of sweets and "junks" from birthday parties held in her school. I would normally do a quick check before returning the party bag to her. Out go the sweets, heavily sweetened cookies or biscuits, twisties, cheesy rings and what not. She would probably be left with 1 mashmallow and 1 plain cracker. She has learnt to accept her fate and be happy with what she is given. I am thankful to have Nicole's understanding in this area :) In this incident, poor Nicole was left with one tiny bag of mashmallow.

I would rather buy my own snacks for her. An occasional treat of ice cream and chocolates and a good selection of yogurt and cheese sticks :) Perhaps this is one way to keep your kids healthy? Nicole doesn't fall ill easily, thank God!

One big destroyer!

Ethan is surely one big destroyer!

Look at what he has done?....He pulled out the mini fan from my laptop and used it to poke the keyboard! OMG!....Soon, he may just bite off my mouse and stir fry it using my mini fan in his cooking pot:(.

Listening and Understanding

The Sunday class was fun for the girls. They learnt to listen to descriptive Math questions and to transform them into equations (See questions 11 & 12). These are common Math questions for the P1 kids here and the girls are slowly mastering them :).

I personally do not subscribe to the way the Math syallabus is being structured here. It is more of a test in English comprehension! If a child is weak in English, he or she is bound to do badly in Maths by default! Is it fair? I guess not!

Thereafter, we read a poem and both girls could recite the one we learnt last week! They were both very proud of their own achievement and demanded that I clapped and cheered for them :)

Ethan's new love!

Ethan's new love - the stairs!

He simply loves to climb and seek my attention by shouting " mama, ah ah woa woa "...probably meaning " mama look, I am going up, come catch me!"

Though it is a good form of exercise for him, this activity has taken a toll on my back, having to lift him down every few minutes. Thankfully, I have Rose to alternate with me :)

Play with me!

Ethan's is going through an explosion phase in his gross motor skill development. He is now able to throw a ball directly and repeatedly to me, trying to engage me in his game! Though not exactly the most interesting game from my perspective, it is very satisfying to see him play with much joy!

Nicole and her sense of fashion!

I was getting myself ready to go out and meet with a friend. Nicole was as usual, buzzing around me.

Nic " mom, I think you should use the lip balm. It makes you look pretty..and the lipstick too"
Me " You mean I am not pretty now?"
Nic " Well, may be...and may be not"
Me " Well, Ok, then I will apply some."
Nic " This t-shirt is too big for you. The color is boring"
Me " Oh really, but I guess it is ok."
Nic " How about this one? This is more colorful"
Me " Nicole, could you leave me alone please?"....

Nicole was so nosey and I just had to cut her off before she got onto my nerve :()

Bella's 1st birthday!

It was a very exciting Sunday for Nicole and Ethan. They were invited to Bella's 1st birthday party.

As it was a cool Sunday, Ethan took an unnsually long morning nap. I had to wake him to get him ready for the party. As a result, he was kind of grumpy.

Sweet little Bella tried to be nice to Ethan by giving him a kiss on his cheek. How sweet! :) Ethan didn't reciprocate, look at his expression......:( ...almost broke into tears!...):..Probably still drifting away in his dream!

Overall, the kids had an enjoyable afternoon. They collected so many character balloons! A big Elmo, a cute little lion, a beautiful butterfly and a sword! I must say that the balloon man was really skilful, one of the best I have seen so far.

Car stolen...?

We walked past a car of the same make and same colour as ours. So, I thought I wanted to test Nicole out.

Me " Nicole, look! Someone has stolen our car. Why is our car here?"
Nic " No, this is not our car " (looking very hard at it)
Me" Yes, it is, it is the same car, same color"
Nic " But the number is different"
Me " huh? really? what is our number?"
Nic " 8825"
Me " oh ya...silly me"

Afterall, Nicole is much more observant than I thought :)

Abortion rate goes hand in hand with fertility rate? (3)

On one hand we have the government working so hard to push up the fertility rate and on the other hand, we have 11,933 cases of abortion reported last year as published in the papers. Is something not quite right here? What is it? Why do we have so many unwanted pregnancies?

It was reported that KK Women's and Children's Hospital medical volunteers and social workers chief Hong Li Ming said the hospital provided counselling to these women and 35% were single women between the ages of 16 and 21.

Does this not trigger our mind that a big majority of the 35% abortions are probably due to unprotected sex at a young age? What causes this widespread phenomena? Lack of family warmth? Why? Both parents are too busy at work? Lack of good moral values? Why? Both parents are too busy at work? Who are responsible to ensure that their children are given appropriate moral education? Parents? Teachers?.....well, it is highly debatable.

In my opinion, there is a fundamental flaw in our society. The government urges women to give birth to babies but only to be cared for by a third party and hence the generous subsidies and what not. As a result, when these babies grow to become teenagers, many would not feel a sense of belonging to their families.

Since a tender age, they have been entrusted to infant care centres and now student care centres. Their parents are diligently working to provide for them, but only to find out that their kids have gotten into trouble, the damage of which would probably stay with them for life! Is it worth it? Is it not a vicious cycle? Shouldn't the contributions of stay at home moms be acknowledged rather than ignored? Are they not doing a bigger share in saving our next generation? Well, I suppose this is another topic for debate!

Going, Going, Gone

See what Ethan has done? He derived so much joy out of this mischief! :(). Doesn't he look cute in that unbuttoned body suit, as though he was wearing a dress? :))

Why do we have babies? (2)

What does the government have in mind when they rolled out the new policies in targeting the low fertility rate? What are the underlying assumptions when making these policies?

1) if you are NOT a working mother, then you will be EXCLUDED from the benefits.

Probable assumptions :
1)You are probably lowly educated and not contributing much to the economy, and hence your income is insignificant to justify staying in the workforce after giving birth. You are better off looking after your own kids. Therefore, you don't need any child care subsidy and what not. Your kids are probably not going to make it very far anyway??

2)You are unlikely to be tertiary educated because it does not make economic sense to be a stay at home mom if you were. You should be working and leaving your kids to someone else to look after and therefore, you will be entitled to all the benefits, monetary or otherwise.

But, are these true and fair assumptions?

Then, why do we have babies to begin with? Just to help the government look good on their statistics? We carry the babies for 9 months, and then spend 4 months looking after them and off they go to infant care centres thereafter.

Does this not defeat the purpose of having babies? Are the policies doing justice to the non-working mothers? Aren't they better candidates to boost the statistics?

Do you know how much your little ones know? (2)

Once in a while, I would fetch Nicole from school and I did that a couple of days ago. Yesterday, she came home with a surprise for me!.

Nic " Mommy, XXX says you are very sexy" (by the way, XXX is a 4 -year-old boy in Nicole's class)
Me " Huh? What? Why did he make such a remark?"
Nic " I don't know. He says you look very sexy wearing a short skirt"

I was totally speechless!!...What does a 4-year-old know about sexiness and short skirt! By the way, my skirt wasn't really that short. It was probably 3 to 4 inches above the knees. OMG!!

Writing your own name....

I think if given a choice, Nicole wouldn't like to have" Hong Siang Yuan" as her Chinese name. The characters are not exactly very easy to write. It has taken her much pain to come up with this. She was so proud that she could write her own name wihout my help!

Forgetful Mom.....

In a hurry, I changed Nicole into her school uniform and rushed her to pee before going to school. Then, she dashed out of the toilet with her pants half hanging on her knees.

Nic " Mommy, look! You belong to the forgetful family. You changed my clothes but not my pants. I am still wearing my pyjamas pants under my uniform...."
Mom " Oops! I am sorry, at least you know it....I was just testing you out..." (trying to save myself some pride :( )

Does your air-conditioner need a spa treatment?

I am totally clueless when it comes to air-cond servicing. We used to have a yearly contract with a servicing company which would service our air-conds 4 times a year. I thought the air-conds were well pampered by their routine "spa treatment" until I met this technician, Alex (aka Ah Yuan) by chance.

Alex opened up a whole host of trade secrets to me. He showed me what most technicians would do to cut corners, resulting in the pipes being choked up and the compressors damaged over time.

Alex is now self employed and I have since then engaged his services. He is very thorough and dedicated in his job. His charges are very reasonable too! I would highly recommend him if you need your air-conds serviced too. You may reach him at 9386-8185.

Spice up your life...

We all need to spice up our lives every now and then and so does Ethan. He got bored reading his book on the playmat and he found great joy by reading it in the Ikea bucket! :)

Babies' speech development...

As parents, like it or not, at times we tend to worry unncessarily. "Why is my child not flipping over yet? Why is my child not drinking as much milk as my friend's baby? Why is my child not walking yet?" ....the list is endless.

Every baby has his or her own timing. We need to be very patient with them. When the time comes, they can just amaze you with the least expected!

Just last week, as usual, I was reading some books to Ethan. I intentionally stopped before the last word of every sentence and I was delighted to learn that Ethan was able to complete the sentences for me. It goes to show that Ethan though a little man of few words, he is a learned little man indeed :)

Tell the truth...

I was on the phone, talking to a friend. Nicole just wanted to interrupt.

Nic " Mom, who are you talking to?"
Me " yukspell" (- a witch whom Nicole has read about in her book, hoping to keep her away for a couple of minutes)
Nic " No mommy, you are not telling the truth. Tell the truth now!"

I was like??err....you mean I am lying?? :)

Mealtime Battle...

My life as full time mom would have been much easier if only Nicole would eat her meals without the company of her best friend, the cane!

She wanted to eat Ethan's porridge for dinner and so Rose prepared extra. Rose made cod fish porridge (a mix of white rice and brown rice) with corn and sweet potatoes in pork rib stock.

Rose scouped 3/4 of a bowl for Nicole (a smaller bowl than Ethan's). Ethan gulped down the full bowl in less than 15 minutes while Nicole still had this much left after half an hour! She stopped eating when she had barely taken 1/2 of the 3/4 bowl.

Nic " Mom, I am very very full. I can't eat anymore " (giving me that pitiful look, seeking sympathy)

Me " You have barely eaten a few spoonful. How can you be full?"

Nic" I am. Look at my tummy!"

Me " Ok, do you want a bottle of milk? " (testing her out)

Nic " Oh yes please" (smiling away with sparkling eyes)

Me " Aren't you already full?"

Nic " My stomach has room for milk but not porridge"

See? She simply doesn't like rice based food. At the mention of milk, she would surely jump at it. She can drink her milk anytime, anywhere, even right after a full meal! Her milk consumption is super high. A pack of formula weighing 700g is gone in less than 5 days!

Do we need incentives to have babies? (1)

So much persuasion is needed just to have a baby or two. Is it not something quite natural of mankind to procreate? Has there been a shift of priority over time? Do the 5Cs rank well above babies? Does the media have a part to play? etc etc ......

Well, while it is good of the government to put up more incentives to encourage couples to have more babies, I think we need to have the right mind set fundamentally. We don't have babies just because the government is dishing out incentives, monetary or otherwise. While the incentives would certainly help the less privileged couples, it would do little to motivate the professionals who are financially secured.

That said, I feel that there is a need to raise the standard of child-care centres. It is no secret that the pre-school teachers are not the most well-paid group. As a result, the early childhood profession does not attract many qualified individuals to pursue it as a career. Can you imagine putting your child at a centre which is purely a "baby-sitting" centre in disguise? I have personally been to a centre where the teachers were literally yelling at each other using "Singlish" and there was little discipline in place, if any at all. I was absolutely appalled!

There is not one centre which I am totally happy with but I am just living with it, simply because there is none. This is one reason for quitting my job. I don't want to see Nicole coming home speaking like an "Ah Beng".

One of my dreams would be to set up a childcare centre which is able to meet my own expectation of a quality childcare centre! Well, let's see how the government is going to help in bringing in more quality childcare centres to benefit our next generation. Perhaps, I would be one of the operators? Would you put your child with me? :) :)

Hide and Seek

You see the mess? Ethan literally threw all the books out from the bucket and tried to crawl into it. So, I just lifted him into the bucket and he had such a good time playing hide and seek with Lawrence!

World trip after lesson

The girls just couldn't wait to play. They quickly finished drawing the number line, read one poem and proceeded to continue their "world trip".

They decided they were going to Germany. I almost fainted when I saw what they did to the stairs. Two weeks ago, they laid 4 steps. Last Sunday, they conquered 5 !

Me " why are you girls going to Germany?"

Shan" we are going to work"

Me " huh? what are you going to do?"

Nic " We don't know. We will find out when we get there"

Shan " ya, our boss is very nice"

Me " Who is your boss?"

Shan " His name is Mr Boss"

Me " oic. Why is he so nice?"

Nic " because he doesn't scold us"

===========================================================

Nic" The pirate is flying the plane now"

Shan " ya....so we can sleep now."

Me " Nicole, can a pirate fly your plane?"

Nic " hahha,,,i mean a pilot!"

Rose and I just couldn't help laughing!

Nicole and my bags

Nicole is very observant. She even noticed that I changed my bag when Lawrence didn't even give it a second look. I have been carrying a casual beige Nike cross-over sports bag until last friday when I attended Winnie's farewell party. I used a different bag to suit the occassion.

Immediately, she commented " Mommy, is this your new bag? It is so pretty. Why did you change your bag? What happened to the old one?"

Well, I was glad that Nicole did not ask me to keep this one for her too, phew! She has already "chooped" my house, my solitaire and lip balm!

"Dan"

I have been pointing out the image of an egg to Ethan. To my surprise, he was able to relate to it in a different pictorial context.

He noticed two eggs hidden in a tiny micro-waved oven which barely measured 1.5 inches in width! He used his skilful fingers to open the oven door and he pointed at the egg and uttered "dan" (meaning, egg) while giving me a contented smile! Then, he crawled away singing " dan dan dan" as though it was a new nursery rhyme which he had just composed :)

A wonderful chef cum operator..

Nicole set the backdrop of her play. She was the restaurant operator while Auntie Rose and Ethan were her customers.

Nic " Auntie Rose, what would you like to have?"

Rose " Yogurt please"

Nic " Ok, here you go. Your strawberry yogurt with peanut butter"

Rose " Oh my god, peanut butter? I don't like peanut butter"

Nic " It is ok, this is my restaurant, you don't get to choose. Just eat"

Rose "ok then":(

So, I suppose you wouldn't like to patronise Nicole's yogurt cafe heh?

Arthur Andersen (2) - Winnie's retirement party

The Arthur Andersen spirit was very much alive at Winnie's farewell party. Many made the effort to attend despite their busy schedule! The Andersen organising committee did a fantastically wonderful job in putting this memorable event together. The team even projected a video clip of the 1999 Tax Division Away Day Trip at Bintan and many more.

The heart felt emotion towards Winnie's retirement filled the air. Winnie would be remembered as a good and passionate leader. She has done so much in leading the Andersen Tax Division and she certainly has been a well known public figure in the tax arena. We would all miss her dearly. She would most certainly remain as a legacy in the Andersen history!

Be patient!

Nicole came back from school and Auntie Rose was waiting for her to get into the bathroom for a quick shower. She was taking her own sweet time playing with her "masak-masak", totally oblivious of the yelling.

Rose " Nicole, hurry up..come and shower"
Nic " You just have to be PATIENT"
Me " What?"
Nic " It means you just have to WAIT!"
Me " Yes, the cane will be waiting for you!"

Then only she zoomed into the bathroom! :()

New food...

Transitioning from plain bread to bread with avocado is definitely a move welcome by Ethan. He simply loves to try out new food and that probably explains his size!

The Magic Clock....

Nicole is constantly trying to outwit me.

Nicole knows the house rule. She knows very well that the TV can only be turned on at 930pm, just in time for her favourite Little Einsteins.

She was walking about in the house, looking at the clock. Still, it wasn't 930pm yet. It was 920pm.

As soon as I stepped into the bathroom, she went to fiddle with the clock. When I came out, I saw her watching TV on the sofa and she shouted " Mommy, it is 930pm now...Look at the clock. So, I turned on the TV"

Me " Nicole, did you fast forward the clock? and I know for a fact you did because this is not Little Einstein! Don't do it again, ok?"

Can you see that little clock showing half past nine? I didn't know what else to say....Nicole is simply full of mischief!:()

I love U

Ethan is learning to vocalise words. I can see that he is trying hard to make the sound. I have been trying to guide him. This happened yesterday.

Me " Ethan, ni ai bu ai ma ma?" (meaning, do you love ma ma?)
Ethan" ai " (meaning, I do) (he looked very hard at me and for a couple of seconds, he was very silent. Then he blurted the magic word out! That was indeed the sweetest moment!)

Nicole and Smelly Fruit...

Nicole loves durian, bitter or sweet.

Lawrence bought one "King of Cat Mountain" and Nicole was drooling all over at the sight of the durian.

Nic " Hmm...so yummy"

Lawrence " Shall we finish it all up? Let's not leave any for mommy"

Nic " that sounds like a good idea...heehee"

When I came out from the bedroom after putting Ethan to bed, Nicole came running with a box of durian.

Nic " Mommy, here is a box of durian for you. It is very very yummy. Papa wanted to eat it all up but I keep this just for you."

Well, what more can I say? Nicole is really good at "borrowing flowers to present it to God" as a Chinese saying goes!:()

Skip counting finally....

I have not discovered any other better methods to teach multiplication apart from getting Nicole to do skip counting which is pure memory work for her.

I have yet to explain to her what it means to skip count. The concept may be too overwhelming for her at this stage . She is able to skip count the 2, 3, 4 and 5 series and I think she is very proud of it!

Every now and then, she would want to role-play as the class leader teaching her group of invisible fellow classmates.

My self-invented steps in tackling multiplications are :

E.g. 5 x 9

1. Decide what series it is, (serios 5 in this case)
2. Then decide how many times to skip count ( 9 times in this case)

3. Then the answer is up as soon as she starts to count, 5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45

Easy?.....Well, at least Nicole is not complaining!...and trust me, Nicole is good at complaining when she doesn't want to do any work!

Her all time favourite" Mom, you are not being fair to me. I am only 4 years old! This is way too difficult for me". :().....Then, she would run to play with her toys or jump onto my bed again as though it were a trampoline!

Insurance protection?

Nicole was very sweet.

Nic" Mom, show me your hand. I am going to give you a sticker. This will remind you that I love you"

Then, she gave me a peck on my cheek and off she went to jump on my bed again which she well knew was a taboo! It got me thinking if she thought she just bought herself "insurance" by giving me that sticker which would perhaps spare her from any spanking, before springing on my bed !

Toys deprivation...

As soon as we got home, the first thing Ethan did was to rush to his toys! He was totally deprived for over 24 hours!

Breakfast with a superb view....

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel breakfast lounge. The view was absolutely breath-taking and so was the breakfast :(. I had never had a buffet breakfast with that many selections! I walked 3 rounds but still came back with the same piece of bread and nothing else!

Then we proceeded to the pool for a quick dip and we finished up with a game at the bowling alley. The balls were all too heavy for the girls but Nicole still managed to roll a couple!

After bowling, Nicole was still full of energy.

Nic " Mom, where are we going to next?"

Me " H-O-M-E"

Nic " No, I dont want to go home just yet!"

We checked out promptly at 12noon and Nicole waved good-bye to her baby cot. She enjoyed sleeping in it. By the way, did I mention that ALL 4 of the hotel baby cots were taken up by us? :)

Here we come.....

Finally, after loading our stomachs and vehicles, we headed for our holiday resort.

We had a 3 bedroom suite. We stood astounded at the sight of the door opening to our suite. It was even wider than the hospital surgical theatre door! It opened into a living hall, big enough to double up as a badminton court. You can imagine the size of the bedrooms!

The girls were totally overwhelmed. The first thing they did was running from one room to the other, checking things out.... Nicole was busy looking out for the biggest bath tub:)

Poor Ethan was bed-bound most of the time. The floor wasn't exactly very clean such that he could roam about. I think he was the only one who didnt really enjoy the stay much:(

The 2 big boys went golfing right after checking in. All the girls, big and small stayed in the suite doing what we liked best and of course with the help of Auntie Ni and Auntie Rose! Chit-chatting, hide and seek, water play, doodling on the whiteboards etc etc. Soon, all the little ones succumbed to their afternoon nap which gave us adults some peace, thank God!

Poor Sarah came down with a fever in the afternoon. She was still active and playful though.

Dinner time was approaching when the boys got back to the room. Ethan was already half in his dream world at about 730pm just as we were about to go for dinner. So, we left Auntie Rose with Ethan in the room and got Auntie Rose a room serviced meal.

We had a quick bite and got back to our room at about 930pm. Already unwell, Sarah puked and Sofia followed suit! Poor Su got to stay up all night to check on Sarah while Auntie Ni had to look after Sofia!

That was the first night at the resort.......

First stop-over....

Our first stop-over was none other than the shopping mall! We spent about 3 hours in the mall picking up some essentials, however you like to define it. An extra pair of sandals? or a shirt in a different shade from the one bought last week?

The kids had a good time running about. Sarah and Sofia are twin girls and they are about 18 months younger than Nicole. They clicked very well together.

The night before we set off, Nicole said she wanted to be a teacher to Sarah and Sofia and so she brought her favourite portable whiteboards along and guess what, this forgetful teacher was having too much fun to remember to teach the girls anything!

Too excited to sleep!

The night before our trip, Nicole was so restless. She folded her own clothes to be packed into her luggage, including that Dora panty which she wore inside out after her bath in the hotel bath tub! :)......It was already 1130pm and she was still turning and rolling on her bed.

Nic " Mom, I can't sleep. I am too excited!" (when I was struggling to keep my eyes open for her :(

Where is papa's house?

I think kids are just very real in their approach.

Nicole did a drawing and again papa was not remembered! She drew a red house for herself and a blue one for me and a tiny little one for Ethan. She has a monkey watching over her house! (probably because she was born in the year of monkey!) When I asked her for Lawrence's house, she answered, "Papa doesnt need a house. His office is his house" ....OMG!