Have you eaten your fruits today?

It's Fun Friday and this time, the theme is fruits - obviously! Check this out: Fruit costumes - it's where I got the idea for Peanut's costume.

The Next Morning

We survived the long night ... sort of. It went like this:

7 pm - let's see, he should be having dinner at this time.

Time check - 8 pm, no phone call. Should be cleaning up after meal, changing into PJ, brushing teeth and preparing for bedtime.

8.15pm - Mr M asked if we should drive by the school and check. I said, "Don't be silly. He will be fine."

8.30pm - Still no phone call. I asked Mr M if we should take a stroll and checked if it's lights-out at the school. Mr M said, "Maynot be bedtime yet. The teacher mentioned that the schedule could slip as they may be back late from the excursion to the Underwater World."

8.45pm - It can't be 15 minutes, seemed like such a long time ...

9pm - All's quiet. Sweet Potato went to bed, did not miss his bro at all.

9.30pm - Guess, we are in the safe zone. He's probably sound asleep by now - with all the activities packed in the day. Grandpa called Wati on her handphone (we only found out the next day) secretly checking if the school called.

1 am - Not morning yet. If only I could sleep as blissfully as S.P.

3.30 am - Mr M has abandoned me.

Time check - 5.30 am
7.30am - Still not time for pick-up yet.

8.15 am - FINALLY. I was amongst the first parent to be at the school to receive a well rested chirpy Peanut who couldn't stop talking about his night at school, how his teachers took turns with his comfy blanket, how he had to share his blanky with a classmate and both were tucking at each end through the night. And on and on about the jellyfish, the entertaining acts of the sealion, the sting ray, his drawing. He declared triumphantly that he can now stay over at Ah B's (his uncle, my cousin) place. Gulp, maybe next time, I'd cope better?

My baby is all grown up and ready to conquer the world! Boo-hoo-hoo.

Tonight is the School Camp and I ...

This is a costume I created for Peanut for his camp in Dec last year. The theme was birds and each kid had to do a short introduction of himself in Mandarin.

The shapes were cut out from felt, glued onto the raincoat and feathers were added as the last touch.

Thankfully, most of the felt "feathers" stayed on through the evening ... and one year on.

Tonight is the School Camp (again) and I am feeling the jitters because ...

my darling is staying the night ... that is, if all goes as planned - his first stay over. Who knows, maybe I'll get a phone call from the teacher at 8 or 9pm (lights out according to the time table the school sent to us). Any bets? I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight or will I be staring at the empty bed next to mine? Or staying up waiting for the phone to ring, perhaps?

Welcoming Year of the Rabbit

According to the elderly folks in my family, the Year of the Tiger is a bad year for Mr M and I (both born under the same zodiac sign - the Monkey. Double whammy?!!). Indeed it has been a terrible year - coping with illnesses month after month and in the last 2 weeks leading up to CNY, we were besieged by the flu - I am still recovering from Bronchitis, Wati had a fever running at 40 at its worse, followed by CY who recovered from fever in time for CNY, but was crawling on the 1st 2 days of CNY as the bacteria had gone to his calf muscles, again :-(

Yes, the clinics were awfully crowded - it's a flu epidemic alright.

Still, we managed to partake in the traditional celebrations, hosted 2 family parties and visited 5 families on Saturday to make up for our earlier absence.

Wishing all lots of cheer, good health and prosperity in the Year of the Rabbit!

Of Ghosts and Ghouls

29 October

It's Halloween again and this time round, I'm well prepared ... kind of.

Black gown from Spotlight (half price at $10 bought more than a month back), masks and devil's pitchfork from Cold Storage. They carried a pretty decent stock and variety for adults and kids, but like everything else meant for celebrations, must buy early - can't wait for last minute bargains; there wouldn't be any, a sure sign that the economy is booming in this small part of the world. What a dramatic change of circumstances from a year ago when the outlook was all doom and gloom and no one could foresee when the recession would bottom out.

So here's the get-up for Peanut who is now old enough to want to look scary for the occasion:

S.P wanted to be ... Iron Man. I did a google on "DIY iron man costume" - you should check out this site Instructables - some really awesome inspirations with LED arc reactors ... very serious and professional projects ... compared to my pathetic cardboard cut-outs:

Improvised decor made from paper plates and toilet paper:

I'm not scared of ghosts .. .I have a 'repulsor beam':

YOG at Pre-School By-the-Park

27 August Fun Friday for August

The year is coming to an end and I realize I still otang you the answer to my earlier post on YOG .. well, here's the answer ... finally:


The challenge was finding these boxing gloves - it happens ever so often - how you would remember coming across them somewhere before but just can't put your finger to it when you need them most ...

The Annual School Concert - Behind the Scenes

The practice session:

I mean 'the many practice sessions":

The full dress rehearsal. Yes, this is serious showbiz business. And a guaranteed sell-out with full-fee paying audience (who apply for leave from work on a weekday, weeks in advance and pray that the performing child does not fall sick on THE day):

The 'diva' getting dressed for the Show of the Year:

"I'm already dressed":

Girls get more attention:

Compare with previous photo; now, you know who's Peanut's fave girl in class:

Check out that smile - this one is a born Casanova:

Getting ready to board the bus:

There's always time for another photo:

Leaving the school for the MGS auditorium:

Back stage - it's obvious that Oli adores S.P:

The Winning Pose:

The K1 class (split into 2 dance items):

Peanut's group - I see some potential cheerleaders. This is one of those instances when I comfort myself that I wouldn't know what to do with a 'princessy'-sort-of daughter if I had one:

What a cool bunch - they could have been performing 'Grease' (I could almost hear Mr M saying that all mothers are deluded when it comes to their sons ... ):

The Annual School Concert

Date: 24 November

Venue: MGS Auditorium

Let the show begin:

Guess who is performing the first act:


Yeh baby, let's rock (Peanut's class):

Here is Peanut (before the lights went out and all we saw were 'dancing' lit-up sticks forming patterns with intermittent of 'ooh' and 'ha' a.k.a. shouts by pseudo martial arts experts). Still we in the audience enjoyed the performance. Mr M who wasn't there and saw the replay on video, was totally disappointed if not flabbergasted as to why the school even bothered to have such a dance:


The little ones from N2 class jiving to the beat:


Finally, my other dancing darling who simply embraced the limelight:

He had a good time alright!

The very entertaining act from the toddler class cheekily rocking their bottoms to a Chinese song that actually went si si pi gu (washing your buttock) Incredible! I had no idea that such a song existed ... have you heard the song? But then if Andy Lau can have a song about a toilet seat ... who am I to question.

The Grand Finale - see if you can spot Peanut and S.P:

This should help ... if you don't have a pair of magnifying glasses (or can't find your reading glasses for those who are vision-impaired, like me):

Post performance:

Roll call for the ardent fans who unfailingly attend year after year:

The biggest fan of all: