[Year End Hols]

We attended the girls concert last week, and K was thrilled to be finally 'performing' on stage! She gave a really good performance. Also, G is much more involved in the year end performance, now that she's in K1. So proud to watch her pour her whole heart and soul into the performances, she was really good with all the acts, remembering all the steps, and to have a big smiley face on all the time too! Getting all teary and emotional thinking that next year will be her graduation year from the kindie :P
Made some gingerbread girls cookies for her friends just before the concert... (it turned out a little bit hard though, anybody with a good cookie recipe to share?)
G in her chinese dance. She was so cute about this 'finale' act, she kept saying that it was a secret, but will of course not be able to keep it really secret. As the girls had to change into this chinese costume before the dance (supposedly unaided backstage), G was very specific about what she needed to wear to the concert - 'no buttons and zips mummy, i can't do them up in time!' :)
All the girls in her class.
K and gong gong watching
G, clowning around with her friends at the hall post concert (can just about see K in the distance watching on) ... not sure if these are the things they do normally in school ie. roll around on the floor!

The girls spent their first week of the school hols doing lots of stuff in the mornings. They were sooo happy to be not going to school everyday, of course waking up MUCH earlier than when they needed to be in school! We borrowed lots of books from the library over the weekend, as there is a 'double book' incentive going on at the libraries. Best of all, they also borrowed their favorite dvds, which is currently 'Charlie and Lola'. We've been watching these mostly first thing in the morning, just before breakfast.

I've had sometime too over the weekend to complete some orders and some scrapping...
Finally starting to scrap some of the photos from the photoshoot we did.

This pic of V and G really cracks me up all the time
Completed some monogram alphabets for my online shop.
Some bibs for 2 newborn babies... (for our clients in the F&B line so the takeaway lunch boxes packaging are so apt!)
Clowning around at GAP trying on some winter clothing...

Now we're finishing up on our work in order to have a long weekend up in KL, attending a wedding! Have a good weekend - ours will start tonight! :)

[of weekends and blogs]

I was looking back at my archives and realised that I'm posting sooo much less now! Bad me! :P It used to be at least 3 or 4 times a week, which have dwindled to just once and sometimes none.... sigh. I guess it's all to do with how much time I actually spend crafting and taking pictures of said crafts. I used to be also a lot more 'diligent' in documenting and making stuff! I remember getting up at ungodly hours of 4 or 5am to do my crafts, but these days, I'm lucky if I wake up at the same time as the girls! Also, because both girls are older now, we have our weekends full of trips out, coupled with their regular classes (gym and ballet), which take up lots of time ferrying them here and there. I think mostly it is the inertia of blogging that has held back those posts. The sense of whether I'm blogging about anything worth talking / discussing about? Lots of other blogs which I've been following seem to have this problem.
But I must say, I've discovered some new blogs which has made me inspired again to blog more. Not only on being 'crafty', but on topics that are to do with mothering, setting up my own practice, on issues plagued by all singaporean parents etc. I guess it should be more of an outlet for discussing issues close to our hearts, so that when I look back at my days in future, I will be able to remember what it felt like and what I thought about. (given the mummy brain cells that are constantly dwindling!)
So, here's what we did this weekend-
We headed off on Saturday morning for this event that was held at the Old Ford Factory. We always wanted to take a look at the museum, attracted by the historical building. Sadly, after all the anticipation, we were super disappointed at the exhibits. First off, it felt like somebody just enlarged bits of the history textbook and laid them out on panels after panels. Then, they just collected and placed old furniture here and there. Most disappointing of all, we expected the exhibition to engage the space (that of the wonderfully preserved postmodern building of the Ford Factory), but it was merely housed in an unimaginative room. One wonders what is being used in the rest of the more interesting spaces? It is yet another one of the unimaginative and dry exhibition spaces in Singapore :(. Usually, the curators are more intent on bringing out the said topic to the viewers, but totally disregard the space that the exhibition is being housed in. It is really sad but the 'museum' that we have just walked through could have taken place anywhere - in a classroom, mall or even a shed. V spoke at length about it Here. Compare this with the V&A, Tate or Natural History Museum in London. Incredibly frustrating for us!!

All in all, the girls quite enjoyed the activities put up though, and it was quite late before we left the museum, to enjoy a late lunch at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre of yummy chicken rice!!! :)
K with her sketch of a superhero.C and her daddy drawing a Super Snuffles.
K with her artwork on the wall!
Favorite pose
G playing with the plasticine at the museum.

Have a good rainy weekend!!!

[my (long) weekend in snippets]

It was a really loooooong weekend, full of activities for the kids. We love discovering new places and meeting up with friends, all of which we did in heaps last weekend. Fun!
We nearly went to the reservoirs for a picnic, but it was threatening to rain in the morning, so we only managed to visit a nearby playground for a bit of a run around after our breakfast.
To the girls, it doesn't have to be anywhere special, so long as there are slides, some little climbing structure, and they are good to go!
K getting into her favorite pose.
While K napped, I had a fun time bringing G out for a girly hi-tea at House. She was so well-behaved! We had crumpets and pies, wonderfully civilised coffee and tea, while G indulged in a whole bowl of truffle fries. She's so giggly and fun when she's away from her little sister, no need to affect wierd baby voices, no hint of that angst tantrummy little girl at all! It was so good to catch up with 'old' friends. We definately need to do this more often!

Saturday night was the annual Halloween party at our neighborhood. Yes, 1 week later than the calendar, only because Halloween coincided with exams! So it was postponed by 1 week. Yup, only in Singapore do such things happen! haha....K was the adorable scary fairy, but I don't think she looked scary at all! Thanks for Auntie PS for the face paints. G was flitting about too much for me to take a decent pic. The other entrants really put in lots of effort though! Going all out with their costume and face paint. Owell, maybe next year I'll do more than face painting... :P

Sunday morning, after G's ballet class, we went to the newly opened Tott's at Sime Darby. It was fantastic, we were there just after opening hours and almost had the whole place to ourselves! The best part was baking with the girls, without all the washing up! :)
Look at everybody's gleeful faces....
V took this shot of the girls, so cute!
Our completed cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies didn't stay in the tin for too long! By the end of the afternoon, it was all in our tummies :)
G in her step stool.
After that, the weather was tooo nice to go home, so we ventured to the nearby horse stables. It is amazing that this green and lush landscape is just a 2 min drive from our house!! We were pleasantly surprised to find this gem of a place. I've read about it on some foodie blogs and finally we are able to visit Mimolette.
The fantasy land grounds
Looking at butterflies
G pronounced the food there "good"! :) Of course, brunch was pretty ex. But I guess you pay for the ambience as well as the food. (which was really good btw)

Sunday afternoon was spent getting re-acquainted with M, who G hasn't met in a long while! It was fun watching them play. These 2 kids who are born 1 day apart. They have a wierd sense of humour and seem to 'get' each other. At least there were no huge fights and they were kept busy most of the afternoon amusing themselves, while their mummies did what mummies did best - talk! :P

Phew, seems like a marathon of events, but actually it was quite a relaxing weekend. I had time to chill and catch up with old friends, while the girls had some 1 on 1 time with both parents. As they grow older, it is much easier to engage them in activities we like. The whole exploring new places part, and trying out new restaurants, meeting up with friends for tea, these are things which they are more and more able to join in.

[a trip back memory lane]

Just looking at the girls, and how much they have grown. Decided to put on some of those old pics.... it really brings back warm memories, especially those of G when she was K's age now, and those of K as a really cherubic newborn.....
K, about 6mths old, in her infant carseat, with our trusty sling that she literally lived in the whole of her infanthood. :)
G at 2.5yrs old. So cute and with oodles of long luscious hair.... :) Loved her giggly nature, and that warm personality that could charm the socks off everybody (if she wasn't throwing a tantrum that is.. )
Me and G in Hkg, K was only about 4 mths at that time, we left her with my parents back home in SG and brought G out for a 'special' holiday without mei mei.
K, at G's 4th year bday celebrations in Sentosa, she must have been about 20mths then. She LOVED playing with sand, just scooping them up and pouring them out again, but as can be seen from this pic, totally abhorred getting her toes sandy, hence the full sock and shoes. Even now, she would rather sit on the picnic mat, then on the beach, but it has gotten a little bit less anal....
G, about 3yrs old, at House, having their famous truffle fries, which, incidentally, we tried for the 2nd time today.

O! Those were the days, miss them at that age, the slow discovery of each other, that 'not-yet-familiar' abrasiveness of sibling rivalry, the many many days out we had with both of them, the saccharine cuteness of them (at least in memory!) and all those many moments of laughter with them individually or together.

Now, they have grown used to each other, sometimes their squabbles can reach breaking point (theirs and unfortunately ours) but they seem to genuinely enjoy playing with each other occassionally, instead of merely tolerating each others presence.

Today, we brought them out to the playground for some outdoor play, thinking that the good weather will hold (it was drizzly and windy in the morning), unfortunately, the weather became soo hot in a few hours and we had to abort our plans to visit the reservoirs. Anyways, they as usual started squabbling over very minute issues, and it was after a few strong words and timeouts that they made peace. In the afternoon, I brought G out for a little girly hi-tea with some of my really 'old' friends from the canoeing team in college (yup, i was a canoeist and pretty good at it too, at one point in my life!). She was SOO wellbehaved and truly a joy to be around! It made me and V wonder, if having a sibling brings out the worst in her, and spending 1 on 1 time with me brought out the best in her, is it really a good idea to have a sibling? Hmm.. it really got me thinking. Well, I do hope that this phase is just a growing up thing for G, and that in time to come, the 2 girls will be each other's soulmates, they will grow up sharing all (ok, maybe a little bit optimistic) their clothes, things etc. They will have each other to commisserate about the unreasonableness of their parents, they will always have each other to talk to as they go through life various chapters.. Something I never had, and had always been envious of. I often feel very thankful and lucky that I met V so early on in life, as I can't imagine being an only child, without a soulmate to talk to and discuss everything and anything with ....

Anyways, here are the girls today, all flushed and sweaty after a few minutes in the park!





Have a great long weekend!