Happy Father's Day!

I've forgotten how life was like when we were in Germany, when school broke for a couple of months long of summer. Luckily for me, the June holidays are just a mere 4 weeks. And the 2nd one is almost gone. 

I've been reminded gently by the kids what we could do at home other than watching endless shows that are offered on okto - the free kids' channel. 

 

Over the past two days, we've made a doll for Kristin and photo frames for Daddy. Nothing much. But enough to keep the kids still and entertained at the table for a couple of hours. We also did some homework (for piano mainly), Math and writing. How conscientious even during school hols. 

Maybe we should do water painting again. 

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Yeah, we've been busy working at home. ;) 

happy halloween!

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, 

Give me something good to eat..."

Bryan the Power Ranger! 

Have you ever seen such a sweet lil' devil? 

Devilish cheeky smile... 

A lollipop bouquet! 

The kids' hard work... They were walking around in the Siedlung trick-or-treating from 6pm to 8pm, in the dark and in the cold! 

trick or treat...

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, 

Give me something good to eat. 

Otherwise, I don't care, 

I'll go down your underwear." 

Bryan learnt this chant from one of his friends in school. He's very tickled by it and has been repeating it for the sake of irritating me at home most of the time. 

Tonight, I decided to make some improvisation with the kids.

So we had a few variations, 

"Trick or treat, stomp your feet, 

Give me something good to eat. 

Otherwise, I don't care, 

I'll snip off your pretty hair!" 

or 

"Trick or treat, stinky feet, 

Give me something good to eat. 

Otherwise, I don't care, 

I'll turn into a hungry bear!"

or

"... I'll give you a hungry bear."

Yep Halloween is near, and I haven't got any costumes yet. Arrggghhh... 

Kristin's 3!

This post is somewhat over-due. 

Here's what happened on the 22nd of August: 

We celebrated Kristin's 3rd birthday while we're still on our road trip. So far, Kristin had only one birthday celebration in our own home. 

When she turned one, we had a bible study group meeting at a friend's place. So we brought a cake and the birthday girl over.

Her second birthday was a special one. It was just Daddy, Mommy, Bryan and the birthday girl. A quiet, but definitely a meaningful one. Still, I think she'd like a loud part any time. 

We celebrated her third birthday in a holiday chalet in Ruegen. Kristin's definitely going places because next year, her party venue will change again! 

Kristin woke up in the morning and told me that she wanted to have 3 pink candles on a pink cake. Yes, I did order a pink cake, sort of, a strawberry cream cake. But I wasn't too sure about the candles. Thank goodness that the baker knew it was girlie cake so he also provided pink candles for us that night. 

Nothing extraordinary happened, no one cried this time. :) But she did say something that made both Alan and myself feel a little guilty. 

"Yay! I'll be 3 and it's my birthday. That means I can sit on the big chair and everyone will sing me the birthday song!"

Yep, the picture of Bryan's birthday party at the indoor playground was playing in our mind. 

But sorry girl, there will not be a big birthday party for you this year. We try to be fair and equal, but sometimes life isn't always the case. What we can promise you is a party like Bryan's when you turn 5. Bryan didn't have a big birthday bash until he was 5 anyway, although his first birthday was much more elaborate since we were back home in Singapore among family, relatives and friends. 

We love you, Kristin! 

Kristin's pink cake more than 50% of the cake is PINK!

On Kristin's request: I want to have pink ice-cream with chocolate. 

A tearless cake-cutting... :) 

cake-cutting..

Well, we all know that brownies have sticky, chewy tops.

So this plastic knife wouldn't cut through, lest you think my son was really "sawing" the cake!  

Anyway, you might have noticed by now who couldn't wait to sink her teeth into the brownies! 

clips redeeming or not...

Bryan was given strict instructions to let Kristin blow out all candles. 

This girl just can't wait for her birthday to come... 

She just told me today during dinner, "And Mommy, for my birthday too? You will bake a cake? Make my birthday come tomorrow, ok?" I replied, "But Daddy won't be home yet. He'll be home for your birthday." She said, "Oh! Ok."

anniversary

Yep, it was 6 years ago on June 8th that Alan and I exchanged our vows. Our friends Andrzej and Elke flew in from Germany to attend our wedding. 6 years later, we're back at their farm visiting them with our kids. Hee... very nice. 

Nothing much of a celebration, but we were on a coach ride again! And we had sweet waffles with strawberry/banana milkshake and ice-cream for tea. No wonder the Brits call it the Sugar Anniversary! 

And precisely what we did? 

Hey... working hard to press out hay! 

Camping in a Farm in Billingshausen

Over the Pentecost weekend, we had the most amazing spring weather, about 24-5 deg C warm and the sky was clear and blue.

We were indeed very fortunate that Alan's college friend invited us over to his farm to celebrate his birthday. And the kids had their first farm stay, first-time on a horseback, first time pitching a tent, first bonfire, first-time watching the beautiful night sky filled with stars while snuggling up in a sleeping bag... they had a blast!

happy easter II

"We love you, Uncle Vig and Aunty Bao!"

Thank you for the humongous Easter eggs. Of course, the prize wasn't the chocolate, much to Daddy's relief. Yay, yum, mmhhh... hear: Chocolate melting in Alan's mouth?

Beyond all doubts, the kids had their eyes fixed on the toys therein:

be mine, valentine!

Yes, yet another occasion to celebrate in school. I can't tell you enough how important Valentine's Day is in an American school. Well, it's not like my preschoolers are celebrating romantic love at this age. Children are taught to celebrate friendship on this special day. It's so wonderful to see kids making valentines for each other. Of course, my kids love the bags of treats!

And bearing in mind it's Valentine's Day this Thursday, we've already started our baking at home. Now these are the first two batches of cookies to be delivered tomorrow to Kristin's class.

Another busy week for me again. Oh, how I long I can hit the gym soon. Aching shoulders and stiff neck!

happy halloween!

It's our first trick-or-treating altogether, ever: Daddy, Mommy, Bryan and Kristin!

We joined Bryan's friends from school within the American Community for a whole afternoon of fun! It first started with children's costume parade and costume contest. It turned out that the judges were swooned by our interpretation of an Indian girl, and Kristin unwittingly came in third for the "Best Costume Title"! Haha... finally our claim to fame! Doesn't she look cute in this costume?

Of course, it helped a little when she refused to walk with the rest of the children, dawdling all the way behind the line, and then as if it wasn't enough, she insisted that her Dad should carry her into the building where the judges were all seated. Daddy's height definitely made her entry among the last few kids grand!

But these kids were really cute and original, weren't they?

We have a headless man for the Scariest Costume, a girl on the table for the Most Creative Costume, and girls dressed up as horses as the Funniest Costume. 1st prize of the Best Costume went to the beautiful Princess and the 2nd was the Crooked Old Man with the crooked stick!

Our son didn't do too bad either, though he was a little disappointed that he didn't get a prize for his costume. Bryan was the only fire-fighter in the whole estate, while there were like Batman and many of his clones running all over the place. Spiderman was also a favourite outfit for the day.

And we didn't do too bad for our trick-or-treating too. Here's the children's stash.

Looks like we've got enough sugar to last us till Karneval!

But the day did not end on a good note with two very exhausted kids. They hardly ate dinner. Bryan even threw up during dinner (He had too much junk food the whole day - good excuse not to give him any more candy bars!), while Kristin was so tired to have anything in her mouth. In the end, we sent her off to bed at 8.15pm and Bryan was tucked under the cover by 8.45pm.

happy 2nd birthday!

Yeah, our little Kristin turned two today!

She was extremely thrilled to be the star tonight. Not long ago, we celebrated Bryan's birthday, which will be backdated in the August posts plus the shots from summer vacation - the next project (as soon as the kids start school in September, I promise). Kor-kor's birthday then was like rehearsal ground for her. She immediately knew where to sit once the cake was placed on the table after tonight's dinner, and shouted possessively, "Mine! Mine!", while she fended her cake with waving arms, making sure that no one would take her seat! Yap... the terrible twos/threes stage has been staying with my family for a long time. My children are 2 years and 18 days apart! My sanity, o good luck!

happy mothers' day to all...

At Sunday school worship this morning, I heard the worship leader talking to the children.

"Do you know that we Moms also have moms?" asked the worship leader.
"You mean, you have grandmas?" said one child.
"No, I mean, we Moms have moms and they are your grandmas, " explained the leader.
"Yeah, and the moms of your moms also have moms. And they also have moms and they also have moms..." exclaimed another child.
"That's right! It just goes on, doesn't it?" agreed the leader.

I was touched to bits and almost shed tears listening to all the children's talk this morning.

To all the mommies I know, and also to my Mom-in-law and to my dearest Mom, here's wishing you a Happy Mothers' Day!

A friend of mine sent this to me today:
It would take a thousand workers to build a castle,
A million soldiers to protect a country,
But only ONE woman to make a happy home.

To all you great women out there: You are the ONE woman! :)

happy mothers' day!

What a nice way

to wake up to a new day!!

Daddy and the children surprised me with a breakfast in bed. Excuse the unglamourous appearance... it's early in the morning!

"Hey, Mom! Happy Mothers' Day! We made breakfast for you. Do you like your surprise?"
"You made breakfast for me? You and Daddy? Just like Caillou?"
"Yeah, just like Caillou!"

My husband presented me my breakfast platter, filled with scrambled eggs with tomatoes, Weisswurst, sweet mustard, a small tub of yoghurt with a glass of fresh milk, while my son brought in his special Mothers' Day card made in school with the help of his teachers and Meimei contributed her share by passing Mommy a banana! A healthy complete meal with present! What else can I possibly ask for?

Before long, Meimei started grabbing the Weisswurst and asking for banana. Hey, not so soon... you've got to become a mom to two wonderful children and a wife to a loving husband first!!

Thank you, all my darlings, for the best gift ever!

This is the card that Bryan made in school. Knowing that he can write his own name is already a wonderful gift. Notice the big "X" on the card! That's a big kiss for Mommy! :)

The whole weekend he didn't stop reminding me how much he loved his Mommy. Now, wasn't that sweet? Of course, I had to tell him that loving Mommy meant not to upset Mommy and that he must always be an obedient boy - I think just about what my mom used to tell me whenever I celebrated Mothers' Day and her birthday with her.

And... "If you are a good and well-behaved boy, it's a Happy Mothers' Day for me everyday!" Now, doesn't that strike a chord?