the first alumni reunion...

WARNING: KIDS, THIS IS HOW YOU LOOK WHEN YOU WATCH TOO MUCH TV!!!! Not very pretty eh? 

Once upon a time, three families from different corners  of the world met in a tiny German city. Today, they all meet again in our corner of the world. By sheer coincidence, work has brought these families back together. And can you believe it? We are neighbours again too! :) 

I think the staff @ Carl Schurz will be proud to see this picture... ok, maybe not that proud, considering the zombie-faces. 

Bryan's first day of school...

Tear-free, but lots of stress. Bryan just couldn't wait to get to kindy. He asked every other second while we were in the bus when we were arriving in the kindergarten. Today's an exception, being the first day of school plus school bus ride, I was allowed to ride with them. Yep, being the first few to board the school bus, the usual journey of 10 min was stretched to 45! So we were barely in time at 8.45 am. Immediately he ran off to his classroom. I couldn't keep up with him since I had to drop off Kristin at her classroom in another block. By the time I went to check on him, he came up and told me to leave. "Why are you still here, Mommy? You can go now. See you later!" 

I think Bryan hasn't cried since the 10 days he spent crying when I placed him in a pre-pre-nursery class at 23 months. Just go, Mom. School's fun. Yep, I think those 10 days are probably valid for the next 10 years of first day of school. :) Therefore, contrary to what most parents think, crying on the first day or first few days of school is common and not a traumatic experience to the children at all. And it will only do more harm than good to the crying children, if the parents choose to linger. Just go, Moms and Dads. School IS fun! Hee... just soothing my guilt for leaving a crying Kristin on Day 1. 

Can you find Bryan? 

Kristin's first day of school...

 

She cried... she was reluctant to go to school. Aiyoh... painful and I think we were the only parents who deposited our kid and left straight away. For many, this was truly the first day of school ever. But for Kristin, she should know the drill. She's been through 2 first day of school already. Her actual first day of school was totally free of tear. She was one of the two who didn't scream for mom and dad. The other boy too had a sister in the same school. 

But today, she was just being clingy. She did cry, for 15 min. And then she went on to play. By the end of the day, Mrs Wong assured us that she was all smiles again. 

bryan the daddy

During the Christmas concert last Friday, Bryan was playing Daddy to three boys and a baby. This was Bryan, the Daddy Pilot with his lovely wife, Daria! 

It's pretty obvious that he'd like to have children too, right? 

Wait till he discovers expired warranty!!! :D

school photos in fall...

This is what I'll miss when I go back to Sg. 

The preschool here arranges with a professional photographer to come in to take pictures of the kids twice a year, once in autumn and once in spring. It's so great to be able to look back at how our kids have grown over our three years here. Kristin only has three of these shots taken, while Bryan has five different ones. 

Kristin, looking frumpy despite her haircut at the hair-dresser's. Look at her unbuttoned shirt! 

We gave Bryan a nice shirt underneath his blazer and in the end, he wore only his thermal underwear under the blazer! 

He looks almost the same as he did 2 years ago in this post, minus the baby fat and chubby cheeks. 

Kristin is certainly looking chubby. Check out those chunky arms! And I complain she doesn't eat...? Erb... good thing she doesn't eat much! Maybe it's all the Pocky sticks! 

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... 

for casting purposes... :)

This cool dude says hello! 

This is another great piece of work from Miss McKenna @ Make Photographie. 

Does anyone know any casting agencies? ;) 

schwarz gefahren!

Walnuts... fresh ones below walnut trees... sweet! 

In the area around the kids' preschool, there are plenty of chestnut, walnut and oak trees. Every autumn we see many unfamiliar faces in the neighbourhood and these people have come to gather bags and bags of chestnuts and walnuts. 

Today, being the warmest day of this week, I thought I could join the crowd and pick some nuts, when I picked the kids up at the preschool. After 5 walnuts, my handphone started to ring. It was my Polish cleaning lady. In her few words of German, I realised that I had unwittingly locked her up in my apartment when I rushed out to pick up the kids. It would have been too tedious to explain to her that I had another set of key in one of the drawers and that she could still let herself out - my Polish Putzfrau doesn't understand much German, while I can't speak any Polish! So, in the simplest sentence I could tell her, "Bitte warten. Ich komme sofort zurueck!" (Please wait, I'll be right back.) 

Luckily for me, I managed to evoke some empathy with the kids: I told them Oma Halina was trapped in our house and we had to go back to rescue her immediately. It was the fastest walk we ever made to the bus-stop and within 15 minutes, we were back home to save Oma Halina. 

In our hurry to execute our rescue mission, I forgot to pay for my bus ride home. In Germany, it's a trust system. People usually get their tickets if necessary with the bus driver at boarding. The bus driver will not question if one already has a valid ticket. Once in a while, spot checks will be conducted. And passengers caught without a valid ticket will have to pay a fine of 40 Euro. So I schwarz gefahren i.e. travelling without a valid ticket, with absolute no intention on my part. Thank goodness there was no one conducting a spot check. Else, I would have ended up paying another 40 Euro, which is the amount I pay my cleaning lady every week! 

So our walnut picking was cut short... Hopefully, Kristin and I will return to pick some more walnuts/chestnuts tomorrow, while Bryan will be heading over to his best friend's place for a playdate after school. 

kristin on swing

My china doll girl... yet another shot done by Miss McKenna @ Make Photographie. 

missing germany #6

I joined another of Bryan's field trips again. It was an excursion to a pumpkin patch. 

I don't think I'd have so much to time to join my kids on field trips once I'm back in Singapore. Though I'll only be working part-time, how busy my weekly schedule is still remains to be seen, esp when I need to be back at work for not more than 3 times a week. I'm still hoping for not more than twice a week, fingers crossed on that one. 

Bryan with a huge pumpkin. 

Bryan running down the plum orchard, adjacent to pumpkin patch. The plums were sugar sweet! Nothing is indeed fresher than when it's from the source, directly! 

make photographie

Kristin's daycare teacher loves photography and this is her blog. She takes beautiful shots! Check out her photos here. 

best friends and playdates

I had most part of the day off... the kids were in school till 4 pm today. Now most Fridays are probably going to be a long one (yippee) since Ryan's mom has requested for play dates with Bryan on Friday afternoon unless we have travelling plans. 

Ryan and Bryan's friendship had pretty rough beginnings 2 years ago, simply because their names were too similar and for a start, people in the school weren't quite sure who's who. Even adults make that kind of mistakes sometimes. So you can imagine the commotion in the class of 3 years old, especially when speech wasn't quite the clearest then. 

Of course,  their similarities didn't stop at the names. They both like to talk, a lot! They both like to win (hey, who doesn't? ) Or should I say they both dislike to lose? They are both very bright. They both always have stories to tell... While similarities are good, these two guys, however, couldn't see eye to eye. They didn't think they could turn their similarities into a special connection. Instead, they got into squabbles with each other to the extent that one even asked the other to change his name. Hee... cute right? Anyhow, both sets of parents were kept informed, just about how tickled the teachers were whenever they heard an argument between these two guys. Harmless... we all laughed it off. It didn't take long for these two boys to finally realize that they were after all good companions. Just two months into preschool, they were best of friends. Phew! 

Ryan's parents sent Bryan home tonight after a play date. Obviously the boys have missed each other - the long summer break is one reason. But the other main reason is Ryan attending another school. The boys don't get to play with each other on a daily basis anymore. 

When it's time for us to return to Singapore, I know it will be hard for Bryan to say goodbye to his dear friend. It will be tough for him to adjust to a whole new life back home, without any friends. Just like how he started off here two years back: defensive and apprehensive... but given his talkative nature, he'll eventually find someone he enjoys talking to. 

my little linguist?

We had a play date at our home today. Bryan's new found buddy in class, Daniel, came over with his mom and sister after school. As usual, the kids had fun: 2 gals and 2 boys, while mommies had tea. :) 

When it was time to say goodbye, Alan was very tickled by what Bryan said. Yep, it's a rare occasion that he's already home. But it was huge traffic congestions everywhere on the highways. So by the time he got into Frankfurt it was well past 6 pm. Ok, I digressed... So Bryan said without a thought in one single breath, "Bye Daniel! Tschuess Lisa!" 

To Bryan, Daniel speaks only English, while Lisa (Daniel's sister) can only understand German. Actually, Lisa can understand English very well too, but she prefers to speak German  - that Bryan didn't know. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I learnt from another mom today that my son was telling two of his classmates that he would teach them Chinese. 

Ha, my son teaching Chinese??? 

I was pretty curious about what he might want to teach them, so I asked him. 

"I can teach them to count in Chinese. I can also teach them to say the 12 Chinese zodiac signs." I suppose that would be quite a lot for him to deal with for now.

our senses...

When I picked up Bryan from his kindergarten class today, I was pulled aside by Ms Julie. 

"Now, we all know we have 5 senses, right?" 

"Of course!" I replied without any hesitation, wondering where this conversation was going to lead me. 

"When I told the class that there were 5 senses," Ms Julie continued to give examples of each sense, "Bryan insisted that there's another sense." 

"It's called the sixth sense, Ms Julie. I know about it. It's right there. You can't see it. But it's there! My dad told me about it!" 

Smarty pants #3! 

Ok, I'm gonna check with Daddy tonight, just exactly what he has been reading with Bryan?

a good first week...

I suppose Bryan had a pretty good week... 

He's been labelled "smarty pants" in no less than 3 days! 

On letter sounds - 

Ms Julie: What sound does this letter make? 

Bryan: Ms Julie, I know that already. You taught me in your class last year. (Actually it was 2 years ago.) 

Ms Julie: Which letter does your name begin with? 

Bryan: B. 

Ms Julie: So what sound does it make? 

Bryan: (almost in exasperation..) Ms Julie, you know that I know this one... it's "b". (Making the "b" sound) 

Ms Julie told Mommy, Smarty pants #1. 

On dinosaurs - 

Ms Julie: Well, the triceratops were plant eaters. So that means they ate leaves, for example... 

Bryan: (interrupted his teacher) Excuse me, Ms Julie, only the diplodocus and brachiosaurus could reach up high to eat the leaves on tall trees... 

Ms Julie: So what did the triceratops eat?

Bryan: Ermm, they could eat grass. Or maybe leaves of some bushes... 

That was Smarty pants #2! 

Omigosh! How's he gonna keep his mouth shut when he's back in a Singaporean kindergarten/primary school when the teacher has something to tell the class? 

Btw, Bryan hates it when he hears that he's been labelled smarty pants. So Daddy and I said... SP! 

Aren't we glad he can't spell???!!! 

back in Carl Schurz School...

At last... summer break is over! The kids are back in the preschool again! Finally, I can catch some breath. Besides, I think they're bored with sticking around Mommy 24/7 since June 26th! 

Everything went smoothly. It's been our ritual to take a photo for the first day. Too shy to bring my new huge camera, but when I saw another mom armed with her DSLR, I immediately regretted my decision! 

Nothing new in school too. Bryan's teacher is Scottish and has taught him when he was three, while Kristin's teacher is an Indian lady who's born and raised in England. So perhaps not a very pronounced American accent for this year? Well, it's a good transition back to Singapore after all, isn't it? 

At drop off, I could see tears welling up in Kristin's eyes - someone who did not even shed a single tear when she went for her nursery class last year! I knew she was giving me a tough time again when she clung onto me like a koala! She never does anything like this to Daddy. Somehow dropping off Bryan first did help. By the time I got back to Kristin's classroom with her and told her to pose in front of the classroom door, she was all smiles again. Phew! 

kristin's first year of school...

This was the apprehensive little girl on her first day of school. A little nervous and excited, but she did not shed a single tear! Yay!



Just before the Holiday break, here's Kristin posing as a little Santarina.



And now, a big girl at Preschool graduation!

I was always baffled whenever people tried to tell me how much Kristin has grown, or how she didn't look like a little baby anymore. To me, she's still that little baby I've been cradling since Day 1. But looking back at these three shots, yes, I hate to admit it, Kristin has lost that innocent baby face.

did you know...

Bryan: Mommy, did you know that this is called the carapace? The shell part here.

Bryan was giving me a lesson on zoology this morning as I emptied his art bag from school. He was waving his hand around what a normal person would just say the hard shell protecting the tortise. According to the Dictionary of Difficult Words on the Internet, carapace means "exo-skeleton; protective shell of tortoise." Of course, I didn't know.

Me: Who told you that?
Bryan: Ms Judy.
Me: Are you sure? I'm gonna check it later on the Internet.
Bryan: And Mommy, the other side is called plastron. The belly part. (Then he flipped the tortise around.)

Me: Hmmm... ermm, ok, I will check.

I did check. He's right. I didn't even know how to spell the words. But thank goodness, phonics helped me to get them right.
Ok, nothing impressive here since he's regurgitating what he learnt in school last week.

This doesn't show how much my son knows, rather how little Alan and I know!
Best part was this:

Alan: Wow... you know, you can tell me this again tomorrow. Because I won't remember what they are by then.

Hey, so our son is doing a little better. He still remembers his turtle after a week!
Yesterday he was trying to tell me something about the anatomy of an insect. Now I can't treat what he says lightly, can I? I might learn more than I think I would.

school photos in spring...

Gee, couldn't they get any unhappier?
Don't you think Kristin looks pretty in her outfit?!
Sorry about the quality... my hands were shaking, and that was a shot of a shot...