a typical work day...

Disclaimer: This isn't me complaining. Just a reminder to self on how much time I spend with the kids on a day like this one. 

I woke the kids up at 7 am. They were brought out of the house by 7.45am to wait for their school bus. I only managed to spend 45 minutes with them. 

I worked for 8.5 hours. 

When I came home, I hardly spent 2 hours with the kids and off I packed them to bed by 9.45 pm.

So how much time did I spend with them in total today? 

Barely 3 hours! 

In between the 3 hours, I ate my dinner, listened to Bryan read to me, played a couple of "I spy" games with Kristin, watched my kids write some Chinese characters / numbers on the white board, put up with incessant whining from Kristin and made them milk, herded them to brush their teeth and change into pj's, tucked them to bed and prayed with them. 

Ok... not too bad eh coz the Daddy only spent 30 minutes with them today! He's still not back from work yet. 

Anyhow, in our absence, the grandparents did the following with the kids on top of caring for the kids, bathing them, cooking lunch and dinner etc! 

My dad taught Kristin the first stroke in Chinese writing. The character for one. She still doesn't have much strength in her grip yet. 

My mom taught Bryan to write the character "faith". Of course, she's truly the master teacher. Rewind this some 30 years back, it would have been me writing with my mom at the table. 

     

More Chinese characters with the same "ren" side. 

Bryan decided he had had enough Chinese writing for the day. Of course, grandpa had to help him with some numbers. Otherwise it would be "so tiring for his arms"! 

Yes, we are indeed blessed with grandparents! 

And yes too, we are quite voracious, kia-su Chinese students now! 

appreciating art...

While we cleared off the old stuff, Alan and I went through postcards, pictures, books and essays that were made/written of the yore. Oh what memories! 

On Sunday afternoon, Alan decided to go through some of the photos again. This time with the kids. He had two photos similar to these here: 

Bryan was asked if he found the place familiar.

"Er... yes, yes. That Gaudi guy made it, right?" 

Absolutely! Yes. He calls it the five-finger church. Don't ask me why. There are more steeples than 5. 

We were in Barcelona, just before flying back to Singapore last year. Gaudi's buildings were such fun for the kids. They felt like they were in some fantasy-land. While creating space, Gaudi sought new structures in nature to break the convention of normal architecture. Since young, he developed a love for nature and this is evident in his mainly gothic yet with a romantic touch of style. What a true artist of his time. Of course, some people labelled him mental at that point of time too, and Gaudi's works were met with much criticism. 

And of course, the audio guide that we got when we were in Casa Milla (La Perdera)had a great impact on Bryan's appreciation of Gaudi's buildings. One great souvenir we bought was also a book on Gaudi, written for children. 

Unfortunately, Kristin was still too young to enjoy Gaudi's fantasy land. Hopefully she'll discover the beauty herself one day. 

first times in Sg...

Chinese Characters

We only realised that we didn't attempt to teach the kids to write their Chinese names as school started this year. 

Daddy panicked and decided he would teach his son how to write the family name on his own. 

Father and son did a pretty good job doodling and at the end of the half hour session, Bryan managed to write his surname. 

1.5 months have passed since the first time Bryan started writing his name in Chinese. 

And finally he can write his full name in Chinese, no longer Yang Bryan. 

A tiny step at a time. Hoping that he'll be ready for P1 by next year. 

first times in Sg...

First CNY since 2005

Last month, Kristin celebrated her first CNY in Sg. It's her first time visiting most of our relatives, and it was also her first time uttering wishes to others in Chinese. 

After being away from Singapore for a while, somehow CNY isn't quite a big deal anymore... Maybe not for me, on the giving end of "ang pows" :) 

Really, somehow this CNY didn't quite feel like it's CNY. I wonder if I could blame it on the economic downturn. 

Anyhow, there's still something to remember by, 

e.g. our city skyline. 

By next year, this view will be gone forever. There are 5 more giant blocks of flats coming our way. Yep, what's new. We love to live at construction sites. 

This was probably the only tidy spot in our home. Everywhere else was cluttered with boxes. 

cousins

These two lovely kiddos were born just one day apart. 

Look at those eyes... same shape! *Gasp* I really think they look a lot like their grandfather... 

This is Kristin and her cousin, Ivan. 

first times in Sg...

A couple of weeks ago: 

First time for us @ Tiong Bahru Market since we came back. 

First time ice-kacang for the kids! 

Terrible pics from my handphone cam. Sorry! 

yesterday today tomorrow...

I have been wondering what Bryan's been up to in the kindergarten. He comes home to tell me how boring his days are. So boring that he cannot even remember what he's done in class. So boring that he doesn't have to time to play at all. So boring that he's happy doing copywork willingly at home. So boring that he begs to go to the playground, watch TV, not to take a nap everyday. I really have no idea what he does in school. Btw, boring means "not enough play" for Bryan. He has certainly inherited the "play" genes from us, actually ermm more from his dad. 

But there are at least two things I'm extremely happy about: 

1) He's learnt to pray! Yay! Praise be with God. 

2) He's learnt to spell some words and write pretty decent sentences. 

Yay, that's good enough for us. For now. At least. 

just for laughs...

Nope, that wasn't what we had for dinner last night. 

In the midst of our unpacking (still an unfinished business btw), A and I realised that we placed a broken light bulb in the wok and then we started cracking up about "light dinner". So... we are corny :) 

I've gone on hiatus since the great move. I know.

By now, we are mostly settled into our routine: A's at work and the kids are in the kindergarten, though we could still improve on the kids' night routine. Somehow moving back to Asia means bedtime is being pushed backwards.  Somehow, the cold winter months in Europe are more energy sapping than the all year long of heat here. 

I, too, have a new schedule: I've gone back to work, not full time though, just for two days of the week. Really there isn't anything to complain about. So the next time I grumble and grouse, please shut my mouth up. Honestly, I'm really thankful for this arrangement. A good break from the kids in the middle of the week. Yet, I get my long weekends all the time. 

Hope to check in again soon... 

this is not kkk...

just a knight wannabe in his homemade costume. 

Last day @ Daddy's office in Frankfurt. Daddy was busy packing, Mommy talking, Kristin sleeping, while Bryan was engrossed in taping up his costume. 

thank you, McKenna!

Just three days before we left Frankfurt, we managed to get the kids' teacher at the preschool to do a photo session with us. We haven't received our photo CD yet, but McKenna knows just how anxious we are to look at the pics. So she did a preview for us on her blog. 

The shots are brilliant! Now I can't wait for the CD to arrive! 

Here are some shots of the kids... 

So these photos can be used for casting purposes?? What do you think? 

one last time on Feldberg...

Just half an hour drive out of Frankfurt city, one can scale some height of a 1000 m in the Taunus area. This green reserve is often a lure to people who like to hike in the summer or sled/ski in the winter. In our very last year, we found ourselves up on Feldberg pretty often, in fact all four seasons: Spring time with the surprise snowfall during Easter, to fly a kite in summer, to enjoy the warm sun in autumn and just one last chance to sled during the second last weekend of November. 

By the way, according to my past experience (after all, I've lived on and off for about 10 years in Germany), a winter is only good i.e. shiok with plenty of snowfall, when there's snow by the 2nd half of November, which was the case before we left Germany, and is the situation right now. Bet our friends there must be enjoying the snowy days. As I type this entry, it's minus 10 centigrade now with light snowfall in Frankfurt. Comparatively, chances of snowfall in Frankfurt are already much lower than where I used to study since Frankfurt in situated by the river Main and is much lower in altitude compared with Kassel. Quite unfortunately, we didn't manage to sled much the past couple of years when winter was very much an extension of autumn/spring. 

Anyhow, here are a couple of pics of us in the fluffy snow on Feldberg, just the situation I was saving our sleds and snow boots for. But I did forget something, hadn't I? Just stare at the picture below closely! 

on two types of English...

I was lamenting about how quickly Bryan lost all his American-ness in his speech. Just a week ago, on his first day of school in fact, we were out having lunch at a kopi-tiam nearby. The fishball noodle lady was surprised by how much English both Bryan and Kristin spoke. Actually, the surprise is on us. We're amazed at how much Chinese the rest of the kids in Singapore speak. We're lagging so far behind! Anyway, the lady thought that we weren't Singaporeans - terrible Sg mom here who doesn't speak Chinese with her own kids. Well, I begged the lady for a chance... we'll buck up and learn Chinese, can?! Ok, I'm not bragging to say that my kids speak well... please don't get me wrong. But the fishball noodle lady noticed something different about the kids' English. Yep, definitely not the slang or accent. Just the complete sentences I think.

BUT all these complete sentences were COMPLETELY gone by the end of the week, when Bryan was talking "need lah, wan lah, no lah, yes lah, oso can lah, so farnee lah" to his Daddy. 

Two nights ago, he even told me to "e-Lase" his word. 

Excuse me, what did you just say? 

Oh Mom, I prrrretending to speak Indian! I meant "erase". 

Yesterday, we were out at NTUC for groceries. And there he went again, my flavoulite! 

Huh, what? Sorry, I don't understand what you want. 

Now Mommy, this is what happens. I speak two types of English. I have forgotten what the actual word is now. The only type of English I can remember is the type of English I heard when I was still in your tummy. You don't understand it, Mommy. So when my brain can't remember the real English word, it goes back to the other type of English. 

So it's not Indian anymore? Another type of English.... yes indeed. 

Yep, just admit it. My son speaks Singlish alright in just a week of kindergarten. You can tell that we're settling in well. 

who needs Lego...

when there are clothes pegs! 

Mom, this is a fighter jet! Oooh... look at the canon shooters at the sides! 

Guess being a part-time SAHM in Singapore is opening up new perspectives. Kids are innovative by nature, in whatever culture they are placed in. Even clothes pegs can be toys. Back in Germany, we had no opportunities to play with clothes pegs coz clothes were either tumble dried or left on a drying rack. This is a new laundry culture that the kids welcome. 

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.