A Splendid Start To The Year

2010 was ushered in amidst lots of gatherings with family and friends. Plenty of happiness and warmth coalesced with trepidation about the start of a new year - back to the monotonous routine of work and school, with new challenges once again. 

31 December 2009

We inaugurated 2010 with yet another swimdate on the morning of New Year's Eve, which was somewhat reminiscent of how we splashed in 2009 last year. Last year, Big Bee was literally splashing about, uncertain of herself in the water. This year, she swam like a fish, currently preparing for the NASSA silver award. Last year, Little Bee clung on to me by the edge of the pool. This year, she confidently waded around the entire pool by herself, sinking her head halfway into the water to experience how "swimming" feels like. 

A new year. New changes. How they adjusted to the pool is but a mere figurative parallelism of how they assimilate the milestones in their lives every year. Having children means experiencing for ourselves the amazing tenacity and malleability of these little beings, and I think we have much to learn from them. 

The swimdate on New Year's Eve morning was with HM's niece, Meredith. She is such a sunny and cheery little girl with a remarkably outgoing personality. The day started off brilliantly with a benign breeze that gently played with our hair and docile sunlight that teased with the little girls in the pool. A halcyon morning indeed. While the girls splashed about with lots of giggles and chuckles, HM and I chatted animatedly about everything under the sun. A perfect combination. We had a complaisant and laidback lunch in the tranquillity of early afternoon in the cafe within my estate, and the little girls parted with promises of more playdates to come. 

Splashing fun with Meredith!

The Bees and I then spent a lazy and placid afternoon reading and chatting together, while waiting for Hubby to be back from work. I love peaceful and quiet afternoons like these, where our senses are brought into a pleasant equilibrium. 

After a homecooked dinner, we decided to bade farewell to 2009 with a walk in the park - in the dark! We arrived in Botanic Gardens at 8pm, and ambled through the entire gardens for an hour. It was awe-inspiring to be walking with giants as the year winded down. The omniscient presence of the colossal venerable trees humbled us and we told stories to the Bees about the beauty of nature all around us. Both of them were slightly afraid of the dark park, but were somewhat reassured by the composed enjoyment they saw in Hubby and I. 

After we brought the kids to bed on the last night of 2009, Hubby and I watched the resplendent fireworks on TV, in the quiet of our home. A gratifying way to ring in 2010 indeed. 

1 January 2010

We initiated the New Year with another walk in the park, this time with dinosaurs! We arrived bright and excited in Hollywood Dinos with PF and family on the morning of 2010, eager to ring in the new year with primeval behemoths that walked the earth millions of years ago. 

Big Bee viewed all these gargantuan beasts with the right blend of fascination, curiosity and some fear. Little Bee started off the journey with some innocent trepidation which escalated to unbelievable shock at the realistic portrayals of these moving dinosaurs. She was very fearful in the caves where the atmosphere became thick with prehistoric adventure and roars, but we were able to convince her that everything was unreal and merely "toys". 

I was disappointed by the small scale of the exhibit, but the Bees had fun, especially the last part where they were able to engage in some relatively calm and soothing fossil digging with Eugene and Claire! 

Budding paleontologists digging for prehistoric fossils with Eugene and Claire

Lunch was spent in sinful MacDonald's with the kids chomping down lots of fries with plenty of laughter, though Little Bee fell sick with a mild fever thereafter! However, she was still bubbly and animated, so we were able to have a cosy and intimate New Year's Day dinner at my parents' place. 

2 January 2010

We got ready for all the hustle and bustle of lessons with Big Bee commencing her ballet and piano classes. I was able to spend some precious private time with Little Bee alone while Hubby and Big Bee had their own bonding session. It is such joy to chat with Little Bee these days as she is becoming more articulate and is able to provide such witty repartees to our bantering. I cannot stress the importance of spending one-to-one time with each child once in a while just to make them feel special and important, so Hubby and I decided to make use of every Saturday to spend private time with each of the Bees. 

The whole day was spent in a restful manner, culminating with another warm and lovely dinner at my in laws' place. Watching grandparents and grandchildren interact happily together never fail to bring a beaming smile to me. 

3 January 2010

Finally, we prepared for the final day of enjoyment this beautiful holiday season with another gastronomical experience at WH's place for tea. This time, she baked apple crumble and cupcakes for the kids. Big Bee was amazed at Auntie WH's fantastic baking skills and wanted to learn baking from her! I had a wonderful time catching up with WH and watching the girls play peacefully together. With the Bees growing older these days, one of the pleasures of parenting is being able to watch them from afar while spending quality time with family and friends. 

Some serious playing with Megan and Natalie

Unfortunately, I had to brace myself for the dreariness of working life after such a delightful break at home. Life as a SAHM definitely agrees with me! 

Nevertheless, here's wishing everyone a beautiful 2010! 

A Tropical Snowstorm

Last Wednesday, the cousins and I were supposed to meet for an evening of artificial snow flurry at the Tanglin Mall, thanks to Fio for her suggestion. Unfortunately, as we were headed excitedly towards our destination, the playdate was cancelled with poor little Chloe having a fever. 

Nevertheless, since we had already intensified the Bees' anticipation earlier, we decided to proceed for a snowy (and foamy) experience! 

When we reached the site for the 8.30pm session, the earlier session had already left a sheet of fluffy foam on the floor, setting the scene for a white wintry wonderland. Big Bee was hopping around in boisterous elation and scampered right to the heart of the scene with Hubby. Little Bee was still napping in my arms, missing out on all these fun! 

The snow session started with an amazing output of foam for an "avalanche" - almost enveloping all the little kids in its interminable yield of fluffy, pure white foam! In minutes, this rampant "snow" had spread its frothy ebullience all over the delighted children. The loud, merry holiday carols finally caused Little Bee to stir in her sleep, and it was a joy to watch her drowsy eyes widening in huge surprise and wonder at the snowy scene in front of her. Within seconds, she was off to join Big Bee and Hubby at the "foot" of the avalanche. The Bees were soon clad in wet clingy soap bubbles, dancing in thigh high foam and squealing in happiness, creating snowmen and snowballs! 

They started foam partying at a tender young age! 

Everyone shrieked in mirthful rapture when the snowflakes descended on us. Soon, the scene resembled a raging blizzard with large foamy flakes spewing down on the crowds, making it almost impossible to remain dry! I had to dive for cover under the luxuriant tropical trees beside this wintry snowstorm - what a bizarre juxtaposition! 

In the middle of a blizzard. The Bees were the ones in hats. 

From my vantage, it was surreal to watch Hubby and the Bees indulging in full snowplay - the flurry of foam truly resembled a tempestuous snowstorm. In a tropical Singapore where we will never experience snow, this was a heavenly and picturesque scene! 

Dense snow flurry! 

The Bees (and poor Hubby who was holding on to Little Bee) definitely enjoyed the 30 minutes of warm snowstorm - spreading the foam around their little bodies and hopping in effervescent enthusiasm amidst the sparkling white foam and pelting foamflakes! It was utterly messy but enjoyable for them :) 

Us

Last night, Hubby and I went for a casual date night after we settled the Bees' dinner, and put them in the care of my highly reliable mother. We had not been going on solo dates in a long while, always towing 2 little rambunctious girls wherever we went these days. 

In fact, just before we stepped out of the house, Little Bee turned to us and asked sweetly, "Can I come? Pleeeeaaaassseee?" It took a whole lot of effort to tell her that Papa and Mummy were going out on our own! Big Bee, on the other hand, understood that we sometimes needed to take time off for ourselves, to strengthen that romantic bond between us - Hubby never failed to explain this to this understanding girl. 

Hubby and I went for a late dinner at Billy Bombers, and enjoyed the finger-licking good ol' American food of nachos and ribs. We then adjourned for a session of comforting tea in a cozy cafe tucked away in an intimate corner. And we started chatting like old friends which we had not really done in the busy hustle and bustle of parenting. I think it is just so fundamental to take some time off to spend time as a couple - to delve into the essence of ourselves and baring our souls to one another. Even if it is for a couple of hours every few months. I find that this definitely helps to bring the romanticism into our marriage and makes us conscious of why we are together, building a family, in the first place. 

The date night ended with an amazing movie - Avatar. It was an earth-shattering experience of exploring another parallel universe (or alternate reality, in Hubby's words) with remarkable effects. Despite it being a fictitious world, I thought it was an apt satirical portrayal of the harsh world we live in, and the true nature of humans. Watch it for a breath of rejuvenating fresh air - Hubby and I are aiming to watch it again in 3D for an uplifting experience! 

Homespun Christmas Surprise

Big Bee is becoming a mature young lady, and I am loving her sense and sensibility. After observing my mad dash for Christmas presents, she excitedly proclaimed that she will use her savings to buy Christmas presents for Hubby and me. She then probed about what I would like. It is so sweet to have a big girl whose only aim is to make you happy - the glorious rewards of parenting! My heart glows with blessedness whenever I converse with her, and Little Bee will usually follow suit by demonstrating double the love that her jie-jie produces, in a bid to gain my fullest attention - creating friction from a competitive Big Bee! But I always tell my Bees that I love both of them equally, although each will always try to ask me on the side who I truly love more!

Eventually, I told Big Bee that we would truly treasure something that they put in efforts to create. So, on the morning of Christmas Eve, the Bees slaved over a Christmas tree craft to present to Papa. We worked on a laborious handprint Christmas tree, which I thought would be easier for Little Bee. However, I found this craft fairly arduous because I had to painstakingly cut 16 handprints of the Bees as well as manifold Christmas tree ornaments all by myself. 

I got the Bees to paint a large piece of paper in fir-green colour the day before (good way to engage the kids in some quiet, focused work when I can read my book in peace!), then I reserved a full day for the paint to dry completely. 

Random colouring just to fill the blank page!

The following morning, I traced the Bees' handprints on the painted paper - which was very easy. The tough part was assiduously cutting out the handprints by myself, one by one - all 16 of them! It took me an hour, in between entertaining the kids, before I got them to assemble their individual handprints into the shape of a beautiful Christmas tree! 

Thereafter, I thought really hard for shortcuts to this formidable and demanding craft of incessant cutting! So, instead of my original plan of creating paper Christmas ornaments from scratch, I printed templates from the Internet, and got the Bees to colour some of these ornaments instead. Whew! That took a mere half hour! 

Busy colouring the Christmas ornaments! 

Next came another unforeseen onerous task! That of cutting these teeny Christmas ornaments! As the cutting had to be really meticulous, I had to help both girls cut 28 perfect templates out...which took me another 45 minutes on top of distracting 2 active kids simultaneously. 

The easiest job was sticking the ornaments on their respective trees. Both the Bees loved it, and I left them to their own creativity to decorate their Christmas trees - while I nursed an aching right hand! 

Finally, I got them to write personalised notes to Papa. Big Bee spent some private time writing and doodling a tender note to Papa, whereas Little Bee scratched in Papa's and her name onto the craft, when I spelt out the words for her (the strategically-placed stickers in her card are used to hide the wrong letters she scribbled!). 

The efforts were all well worth it from the expression on Papa's face when both his princesses presented him with their gifts - a priceless moment indeed! The crafts are now hanging in his office :) 

Bonding On Boxing Day

Boxing Day was a family affair for us, with the Bees spending much quality time with both sets of doting grandparents. Lunch was spent with Hubby’s parents in The Jewel Box’s Emperor Jade, with resplendent views of Sentosa and the expansive sea around it. We ordered a good mix of dimsum and staple dishes, and the food was highly palatable. More importantly, it was literally away from all the crowds, so we were able to have a good time chatting in peace. 

Big Bee loved the food so much that she ate loads! This girl is enjoying the stress-free holidays so much that she had been steadily gaining weight and developing a healthy rosy complexion. I shudder to think what the new school term will do to her appetite again. Little Bee loved the bright borderless interiors of the restaurant and the fact that she can roam around freely because not many tables were occupied. And the grandparents were very charmed by every little action of the Bees, as always.

In the late afternoon, we set forth to my brother's new house with my mother, Uncle Pat and Auntie Rose. We were awed by his lofty and airy apartment, and the Bees were thrilled to pure exhilaration when they saw their beloved jiu jiu and jiu ma! Hubby and I were able to relax a bit with my brother and sister-in-law helping to entertain the 2 boisterous kids! Meanwhile, I had a good time catching up with Uncle Pat and Auntie Rose who had just came back from an adventurous holiday in Israel - and they were both in their 60s! I hope Hubby and I can also travel to far-flung corners of the earth when we are old. 

Finally, we had dinner at Tampines' Ikea with my mother and shopped amongst the crowds before the kids turned in at 11.30pm! Gosh - their bedtimes are getting later and later! 

Of Good Food And Better Company

Christmas Day was overflowing with splendiferous food, fantastic company and remarkable gifts. We are thankful for our friends who organised the wonderful parties with an overwhelming selection of delightful Christmas foods so that we could just sit back and enjoy chatting with other friends, leaving our kids in the marvelous company of other children.

We were out of the house by 9.30am on Christmas morning, with the Bees chosen their Christmas dresses (these days, they dictate their wardrobe selections!) and we headed for LP’s house for a gathering with their family and PF’s. We were greeted with a mind-boggling selection of toys from her 2 boys, Weiwen and Weidong. The Bees, with Eugene and Claire, went quite rampant with all the toys but eventually settling for the very reliable Playstation again - with the exception of Little Bee and Weidong, who felt more at home with soft toys and Playdoh. Even Hubby was ambling around their house, peering and fiddling with interest at some of their toys!

The adults indulged in some really scrumptious food – a lavish fusion of East and West! Dimsum delights coupled with juicy turkey, ham and sausages! Good food always tastes better with excellent conversation, and 6 of us adults had the pure indulgence of sitting civilly around the dining table, munching on all the goodies while the kids entertained themselves. As our children grow older, this is one of the luxuries that we parents get – to watch them build up social networks from afar, while maintaining a thin, invisible line to them, casting our watchful eyes once in a while, but knowing that they will be fine.

We adjourned to Jasper’s house for a second session of luxuriant Christmas feasting with a stunning array of incredibly rich foods – succulent turkey,luscious beef, delectable sausages and plenty of heady wine and sweet desserts! We were absolutely stuffed by mid afternoon! The kids had a hey day playing with Amanda’s toys and ravishing an endless supply of party food and snacks, much to the Bees’ delight! (I usually deprive them of junk food). Once again, the mothers had a great time exchanging notes on parenting, which was such a far cry from our conversations of yore when we used to gossip about clubbing and the latest fashions!

We came back in high spirits, replete with abundant food in our stomachs and mirthful memories in our minds. The Bees spent an exciting evening opening up lots of presents under the Christmas tree.