Emblems of Happiness

The holiday season is descending swiftly unto us. The atmosphere is dense with merrymaking and a general euphoria. As the year winds down, so are people - who are walking with sprightly steps and glowing smiles, revelling in the ubiquitous twinkling lights and sparkling Christmas trees.

We decided not to put up our big Christmas tree this year, but instead, purchased 2 small Christmas trees for the Bees to decorate. We had a fun "Decorate Your Christmas Tree" competition, much to the excitement of the Bees! Using a small budget provided by us, they selected festive decorations and decorated the trees earnestly at home. It was a sight to see their creativity at work!

In the end, we gave out 2 awards - the most stylish tree and most colourful tree! Guess which award goes to whom? :)

The most colourful Christmas tree award - Little Bee's creation

The most stylish Christmas tree award - Big Bee's creation

Celebrating Mid-Autumn...With Whatsapp!

The mid-autumn festival is upon us again, where the moon shines the brightest and roundest, and where luminous lanterns swing cheerily from the hands of boisterous and merry children. 

We visited Gardens By The Bay's lantern display last Sunday, and was captivated by the multitude of enchanting lights, speckled all around a remote part of the Gardens. However, I enjoyed our leisurely amble into the Gardens in the dark a lot more, as the main lantern display areas were too crowded! There were food stalls emitting all kinds of delicious smells, and we snacked a little while Little Bee dangled her lantern happily. There was also a large stage in which a variety of Chinese performers were taking turns to dance or sing. All very magical and traditional!

Last night, on the actual Mid-Autumn day, I had to be away for work, so guess what? I still managed to "spend" the evening with the Bees, participating in their lanterns-lighting frenzy via Whatsapp!

With the girls being much older now, they were able to record their proceedings on video and sent me lots of audio soundbites - just as if we were beside one another!

So, on a night when I was thousands of miles away from home, I had never felt closer to the girls. And for the first time, I am thankful for the technology that enables us to communicate so freely with our family wherever we are! 

The Fruition Of Parenthood

One of the gratifications of being a parent is to be at the receiving end of a child's appreciation and love. And what better way to experience this thankfulness than on Mother's Day!

This weekend was the culmination of an incredibly hectic week. Craziness at work from Monday to Friday, coupled with intense exams revision for Big Bee in the evenings, and then my weekend work practically started from Friday night till Sunday evening! So, it was an immensely fatigued weekend for me. Still, despite the 12 to 13 work hours per day that I put in over Saturday and Sunday, I always count my blessings that I am in Singapore and not overseas for work, so that I could still spend some time with the Bees at night and snuggle with them at bedtime.

Yet, what was most fulfilling after coming home with flagging spirits and a languishing body on Saturday night was to be presented by 2 very special Mother's Day gifts from the Bees. The girls were really dramatic. They sat me on the sofa, and started showering me with little styrofoam hearts (used for their craftwork). Then, each of them presented a little gift to me - Little Bee gave me an enchanting bouquet made up of a little teddy bear, and Big Bee presented an exquisite bear-y jewellery box to me!

I was so touched. Hubby had the fantastic idea of giving them $10 each to buy me a present in Popular bookshop in the afternoon, and the presents were handpicked by them, which made it even more meaningful and delightful. In addition, Little Bee also presented me with a little craft that she did in school for Mother's Day and a card she hand made earlier in the day. I felt so pampered!

Craft that Little Bee did in school

A card that Little Bee put together on her own

The next day, on Sunday, after dragging my feet home from an entire day of work, Big Bee quickly informed me, "Oh Mummy! I need to give you your Mother's Day card!"

What ensued was an unfolding of a splendid handmade card by Big Bee, which was beautiful. What was most moving was her message in a little book within the card (see below), and this made me realise that this is truly a time for rewards and sweet desserts of parenthood. All those years of nurturing, frustration, unconditional loving and fatigue all rolled into one enrapturing ball of inexplicable sweetness and satisfaction. I couldn't imagine that I would one day receive messages like these from my Bees, but I am delighted and moved beyond words that Big Bee had broken this barrier yet again. This will certainly be yet another memorable moment for me again.

She drew my 3 favourite books in the pop-up orange card, complete with their titles!

She wrote an acrostic name poem for me!

 This also sets me thinking. I used to make beautifully crafted cards for my mum during Mother's Day all the way until university. Somehow, along the way, with all our busy-ness, these cards stopped, to be replaced by little packs of impersonal and meaningless ang pows once I graduated and entered the work force. I wonder how my mum felt? She diligently kept all my cards in a little box and would talk about them to the Bees. 

I think it is time to make a handmade special something for her soon....

Mid-Autumn Enraptures Us

After a rather long business trip that spanned almost 2 weekends, I came back to an enchanting Mid-Autumn Festival with the family. The Friday before I was back, Hubby and my mum brought the Bees for an enjoyable lantern walk with the rest of my neighbours around the estate. It had been a tradition that I had to sadly miss this year. However, I am glad that the Bees managed to enjoy themselves thoroughly with Hubby and my mum! 

Out with grandma and lanterns! 

Lanterns around my estate

The actual day of Mid-Autumn Festival fell on a hazy, smoke-infused Monday with fumes from the forest fires in Indonesia permeating the whole of Singapore. Therefore, the usually large and luminous moon was shrouded in nebulous clouds. 

Hubby and I had a lovely, quiet couple dinner that night, which was something so rare that we appreciated every minute of it, albeit it being a very brief meal. 

When we came home, I brought the Bees out to light some refulgent candles, ignite some effusive sparklers and ambled around the dark grounds with our lanterns. 

It was therapeutic, it was comforting. It was a wonderful homecoming for me to spend some peaceful time with my little ones after 9 days of being away.   

Celebration of Effulgence

That magical time of the year is upon us again - where glowing beacons of enchantment were carried with pride by little children; where sweet delights of moist succulent mooncakes were nibbled by adults; where instruments of luminescence created a spellbinding ambience of festivity and felicity. 

Yes, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival again, when the moon dazzles with superlative brilliance and is at its largest and most spherical tonight. 

Our celebrations started last Friday evening with the annual Mid-Autumn bash held at my estate. The party usually comprised of games and prizes for the kids, an alfresco dinner and a walk around the entire estate in nocturnal darkness! The walk had always been a highlight every year - it was quite an astounding yet wondrous sight with more than 150 children and parents dangling cheery lanterns, walking in a never-ending, meandering single-filed formation!

This year, we invited hubby's good friends SB and SJ, together with their wives and children to the estate party, and we had a wonderful time chatting (for the adults) and playing (for the kids). There were 5 kids in all ages - 8, 6, 4, 3.8, 2 and another one in C's tummy! 

1. The Bees with Alexis ready to set forth on the half-hour lantern parade! 2. Big Bee, Alexis and Cherilyn challenging their balancing skills with an ice-cream toy at home. 3. Little Bee at the start of the festivities 4. Big Bee halfway through the lantern walk 5. The Bees with many other kids playing games with the party host.

It was really heartwarming to see the kids balancing their paper lanterns in deep concentration as part of the lantern-walk formation, and playing phosphorous strands of bangles whilst outdoors, and then interacting harmoniously with toys at home. With the kids entertaining each other, the mummies and daddies could all have a great chit-chat session, not to mention gorging on mooncakes! The kids enjoyed each other's company so much that the home party was only over at 10.15pm! 

And this evening, which was the actual night of Mid-Autumn Festival, we brought the Bees out for a cooling and refreshing drive, adjacent to the huge meadow behind our home, admiring the big luminous moon, listening to nothing but the crickets and toads creating an orchestra of beautiful sounds, and smelling the sweet crisp post-rain evening air by the forest with the wind caressing our faces. 

The Bees wondered what the fuss of this festival was all about, until we explained to them that the moon was supposed to be at its largest and brightest on this very day. It was priceless seeing those awe-struck expressions on their faces as they gazed at the moon in wonderment. 

Thereafter, we played with fizzling sparklers in the darkened courtyard with 2 of Big Bee's schoolmates living in the same estate. The girls had fun giggling at the sparkling mini fireworks, with Little Bee too timid to hold on to a sparkler by herself! 

Hubby also lit a candle for the girls to dip their sparklers in, so the night was bathed in mystical, candlelit glow, with sparklers contributing intermittent flashes of glimmers. The 4 girls enjoyed themselves so much that they played way past their bedtime, only retiring back home by 9.30pm! 

What marvelous celebrations to usher in the final (and most entrancing) quarter of the year!

The Elusive Moon

During mid-autumn, the moon is reputed to be at its most enchanting, roundest and biggest. Yet, on mid-autumn's day this year, the sky was sullen, gloomy and leaden with a dense blanket of unfriendly grey clouds. At the most crucial bewitching hour where the sun finally bade farewell and the sky darkened in readiness for thousands of mortals to admire the glorious moon, the weather decided to weep a little with some light rain. 

It could be nature's way of bestowing an atmosphere of refreshing coolness for the moon stalkers and lantern bearers. Or it could be her way of shrouding the shy moon who, for some reason, did not wish to make any grand appearance at all this year. 

For what it was worth, at 8pm, we decided to trudge down to Botanic Gardens to join the ranks of the lantern bearers. The nippy nocturnal air embraced us as we strolled along the magically lit paths of the grand old gardens. Big Bee was very fond of the traditional paper lanterns that glowed with spellbinding luminosity, carrying one with careful balancing. 

Little Bee eyeing Big Bee's traditional lantern while her battery-operated one sang a tune merrily

PF and family joined us shortly after, and the 3 big kids turned a bit crazy, rambling on cheekily about spooky things and ghostly sightings. Guess they are at an age where they are curious about the mystical unknown. They were dashing across the large grassy grounds in darkness, borrowing bravado from strength in numbers. 

Bravely playing with sparklers with Eugene, Claire and Uncle Andrew, and creating a dense cloud of smoke!

Little Bee did not relish walking about with dim lanterns in a gigantic dark park, so she kept nestling beside me. I ended up carrying an enormous (and heavy!) lantern in the form of Little Bee and her battery-operated lantern! 

Hubby and I are always enchanted by these little lambent emblems of light - and we reiterated to each other that we must make it a point to create an annual celebration of this beautiful traditional festival with the children.