Reading is Fun

School has been out for more than a week, and both kiddoes seem to be glued onto either our TV set or their Gameboy whenever they were at home. This is really worrying me ...

Hence, I've decided to include a "Visit to the Library" into our weekly schedule from today onwards.

By making regular trips to the library tells children that reading is important and fun - it should worth the effort and time set aside for these visits ... so let's give it a try !!!

"If you read a lot of books, you are considered well read.

But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.”
~ Lily Tomlin

Drama Series Marathon

Oops, it's 4:40am now ... all obstacles cleared ... nope, should say - 24 episodes of Why Why Love completed within a 29.5 hours marathon **wink**

NC will definitely think that I'm out of my mind should he reads this post ... ha ha ha

Anyway, if you like Taiwanese heartthrob Mike Ho or sweetie pie Rainie Yang, do try watching it by online streaming here ... ENJOY !!!

Ok, it's time for me to zzzzz, followed by a refreshing eye mask and get back to "work" !!!

Sleepy Panda-Eyed

I hurried down to the nearest TS shop last night; to get my hands on a set of Why Why Love DVDs (the reunite of the cast from {Devil Beside You}).

Coz, I simply fell in love with this Taiwanese drama series after catching an episode (by chance) over at Cable TV last evening.

Guess what ?? I watched 12 Episodes in a row ... from 11pm last night till 9.30am this morning ... totally tired out yet too interesting to stop ... ha ha ha

And at this rate, I believed that I'll be able to finish it (24 episodes in total) by tonight ... Yeah!! ... Do I sound a little crazy to you? ... no choice, I'm a "kan cheong spider" ... LOL

Oh yes, and not forgetting to do a relaxing eye mask later for my pair of "panda eyes" ** faint **

Daddy is Away Again

Now you see him ... now you don't ...

At this very moment that I'm blogging this post, Daddy NC should be boarding a flight back to Hong Kong.

He was back on 14 Nov and now he's gone again ... and will only be coming back in Feb next year for Chinese New Year. **sob**

I can see that our kids have really enjoyed their daddy's company during the past few days ... and will be missing him ...

{ Cranky R2 - not willing to pose for the camera }

Lastly, thanks to Uncle *J* for sending Daddy NC to the airport earlier. **grin**

Happy Birthday to Daddy NC & R1 ...

Happy Birthday to another 2 darlings of mine ... Daddy NC & Sweetie R1 !!

We didn't manage to arrange for our usual get-together birthday dinner with my family this year; as Daddy NC had a few business appointments today. However, he's gonna make it up to R1 somehow within the next few days ... so let's wait & see.

******************

Besides that, we went to R1's new school for her Primary 1 Orientation this morning @ 9am.

During said orientation, her principal gave an hour long of briefing ... it was boring yet informative. Followed by filling up a couple of consent forms. We didn't make any purchase of books and uniforms today, as the queues were extremely long (typical Singaporean style ... ha ha ha).

The school also engaged Acropolis English Centre to conduct a Reading Test on all new P1 pupils, without any prior notice.

Luckily, R1 fared pretty okay in this assessment ... phew ... but (to me) she still need to work harder when the school term starts next year. Am I stressing her out ?? ... no choice, I'm a "Kiasu Singaporean" too ... LOL.

Once again, some snapshots for today ...

In the Making of "Little Mermaid"

I struggled to get out of my bed early in the morning yesterday, just to capture some shots of my kids having their swimming lesson (as promised in my earlier post).

Know what? R2 "chickened out" this week, although it was supposed to be their 2nd lesson only.

R2 refused to get out of bed despite much persuading from Granny & myself. He expressed his fear to blow bubbles in the water ... so I guessed he's too young to pick up swimming now. Let's wait till he is more ready for it then ...

On the other hand, R1 seemed to be much more eager to learn from Uncle *A* and here's some snapshots of them ...

R2's 4th Birthday

It's my little darling - R2's birthday today ...

NC & I went to a nearby mall to get a Doraemon birthday cake and his favourite McDonald's Happy Meal for him.

Oh yes, not forgetting some pics ... as "a good snapshot stops a moment from running away." (Although both kids were rather grouchy towards the end of said mini celebration)

P2P X'mas Special !!

An update of P2P latest Christmas Sale cum Open House ...

17 & 18 Nov 2007 (Sat & Sun)

{ Anytime from 11am onwards }

15% off an order of $50 & above*
20% off an order of $100 & above*
30% off an order of $150 & above*

Plus attractive free gifts to be given ...
- An unique music box (worth $15.90) with any purchase of $150
- An imported Rusty Pickle T-Shirt (worth $30) with any purchase of $200

* Storewide discount, including New Arrivals
* This promotion is from 17 - 24 Nov 2007
* Valid for online orders too

For enquires, please feel free to email detha@pictures2pages.com.

Happy shopping & scrapping !!

BE ORIGINAL, please ...

In the world of scrapbooking, it is completely okay to scraplift (i.e. use other people's ideas of layouts).

In most instances, we will usually have the basic courtesy to give proper credits to those original "creators" should we scraplift in whole/part of their layout ideas/designs ... this is so-called "Scraplifting Etiquette". Many a times, the original artist will be thrilled that you decided to use her ideas.

On the contrary, how would one feel if his/her original business ideas have been copied (again & again) under broad daylight ?? Do we regard such acts as competition? or plainly just lack of originality? or copycats?

Don't be a blueprint.
Be an original.

~ Roy Acuff

Daddy is Back !!

It has been slightly more than 3 months, since Daddy NC left for his usual business trip to China (from 6 Aug 07 ... hmmm ... if I don't remember wrongly).

Since the kids are free (school holiday starts today), I've decided to give NC a little sweet SURPRISE ... we went to the airport this afternoon to welcome him back (without any prior notice at all) !!!

Following that, we had R1's favourite food - Sushi for lunch and a McDonald's ice-cream each as dessert ... hee hee

As usual, some snapshots again ...

{ R1 & R2 simply love to tease each other }

Let's PARTY !!!

I need not do much detailed elaboration of R1's 6th Birthday Party in School today; coz "a picture will tell a thousand words" so I'll let these photos do all the 'talking' instead.

P.S. Mummy actually snapped 221 shots in total this morning !!!

Enjoy ...

UNDO The Past, Anyone?

Just another random thought of mine tonight ...

At many a times, there were situations that I simply wished that I've the ability to "undo" them. Although, many decisions/choices have been made after much brainwork, yet there were numerous cases of "if only I know ..."

Why can't life be menu-driven or at least have an 'undo' feature?

*************

Nevertheless, here's some "hot" snapshots of R2 (just taken this evening) that surely can help to cheer mummy up ... his smile is simply contagious, isn't it ??

H2O Fun

Seventy-five percent of our planet is water - can you swim ??

R1 and R2 went for their 1st Swimming Lesson by their private instructor this morning at 9am. Fyi, they've been real excited over this since last week.

According to their private instructor - Uncle *A* (i.e. my brother ... hee hee) who used to coach @ Torpedo Swim Team. R1 was doing pretty alright whereas R2 was not very co-operative. Uncle *A* has anticipated this way beforehand that he'll face some difficulties in coaching this stubborn little boy of mine.

Oops, sorry ... no snapshots for this post today ... coz their "Scrapper Mummy" couldn't get out of bed on time this morning ... LOL ... (Perhaps will do it during their next lesson, I promise)

"You're Invited"

*Yawning*, *Yawning* and *Yawning* ....

Being a mummy is really taxing. It's a 24-hr round-the-clock job and we can't simply just quit by giving 1 - 3 months' written notice ... ha ha ha

Anyway, I've made a trip down to Bukit Batok McDonald's late last night; to pay for our party deposit and it's CONFIRMED !!!

After all the hassle of calling around, it's time to prepare R1's party invitation cards for her 33 guests next week.

I've managed to get them done by 6am this morning, so that R1 can pass these cards to her little classmates today in school.

She's getting more and more excited over her 1st Birthday Party in School by now.

Today, It's MY Day ...

{ Warning : This is a Long Post }

Things seemed to be getting "on the right track" by itself today ... Yippee !!!

#1
Yesterday (and out of nowhere), I started to ponder on whether should I look for a full-time job after Chinese New Year 2008; in order to keep myself fully-occupied. But I've yet to discuss this sudden idea of mine with NC.

My reason for staying back here is hoping to coach R1 and hopefully she can achieve academically especially in Pri. 1. As I supposed this will be the minimum criteria to meet; in order to request for a transfer of school in the following year.

Guess what?? I received a SMS early this morning around 8am from a so-called "long time no see/hear" ex-colleague *L*. She offered me a contractual HR job in her company, whereby I can start work anytime next week ... was it telepathy?

Anyway, I didn't take up her offer immediately as I ought to discuss it further with NC when he's back next week.

#2
After months of sourcing around, I finally managed to find a reliable, responsible and reasonably-priced web designer for my upcoming e-store project. Thanks to Bunka, as I've got to know him last month while helping at the school.

We had several prior discussions on my new online store concept, and I've finally gave my "green light" to go ahead with the site development today.

Whoo hoo !!! ... and if nothing goes wrong (keeping my fingers crossed), it should be completed by end-Dec 2007.

#3
R1 wanted a birthday party in school this year ... and I've decided (just last night) to make her wish come true.

Granny has suggested on a McDonald's Outdoor Birthday Party for her next Monday - 12 Nov 2007.

This is going to be an "advance" celebration of her 6th birthday; as 13 Nov 2007 will be the last day of the school term.

With not much time left for preparation, such party can really take the load off our minds as their party professionals will take care of the planning, decor, food and games for us ... how nice !

BUT ... I started to panic after many calls to the nearby outlets last night. Many of them in the west area don't organise such parties except for their Bukit Batok Central outlet.

Without much delay, I called the outlet manager but was being told that my requested timing @ 9.30am is too early for them ...

Oh no !! What to do ?? Should I discard the whole idea totally ?? Will R1 be disappointed ?? *stressed*

However, this evening, a kind soul from McDonald's Bukit Batok called to follow-up my booking. I brought up to her my problem on their timing restrictions, and she actually agreed to help to take on my booking.

On top of that, she'll be our Party Hostess to run the show !! ... (Looking forward to meeting her next week to thank her personally)

Isn't this a great day for me? :D

"Meet-the-Parents" Session for R1

Today is R1's 3rd and the very last "Year-End Meet-the-Parents" session at JCK.

As usual, her teachers discussed with me her work that she did in school and her so-called test papers.

To my greatest relief, they told me that R1 has shown a very big improvement this year (as compared to the past 2 years) ...

"Kei Kei, keep it up and mummy believes that you can do it!"

"Everyone is proud of what you’ve done,

You’ve learned a lot and had some fun.

Now there's more school up ahead,

Just make your work seem like play instead.

And if you play the game that way,

How far you’ll go, no one can say."
~ Karl Fuchs

Once again, my most sincere thanks to Mrs Tan, Mrs Yan and everyone else in school who has helped R1 along.

Time To Put On My "Thinking Cap" (Again)

Through these years, I've been setting my own yearly New Year's Resolutions (and kept them in a "secret place").

Although at most times, many past resolutions of mine remain unaccomplished but somehow or rather it proved to be useful.

They served as a commitment that I've to make to a certain project and will more or less keep me "focused".

I did a Google search earlier and found these ...

Tips for New Year Resolution

Review your last year's resolution

Have you succeeded, if not, why did you fail. Examine it and if necessary keep the same resolution this year too.

Set Your Goals

Maintain a core focus. Be clear if you really want the change. Don't flow along with the trend.

Don't let the cup spill over

Do not create too many resolutions at a time. They may distract you. Go with one at a time.

Let it be for a year not a day

New year is the time to plan for the entire year. Let the resolution not be something for which you need just couple of days.

Acknowledge the price, and decide to pay it

Any worthwhile human achievement requires sacrifice, risk, effort and perseverance. Of course it does! This is how life works! And, you must pay the full price in advance! Be accountable to some one in case you don't follow your resolution seriously.

Reminders

Sometimes its easy to forget the resolution after the New Year euphoria passes away, and one is tempted to postpone the resolution to the next year. Plan to remind yourself of it throughout the year. Make a mention of it in the diary, online reminders or if required inform people close to you about your resolution.

Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats

Enhance your strengths, act against your weakness, see what and how you can utilize the opportunities for the year and see if you have to prepare yourself against any threats.

Pamper Yourself

Keep a gift for yourself wrapped beautifully and gift it to yourself if you accomplish your resolution at the end of the year.

So, friends ... start thinking about yours soon :)

Gosh, It's November Already !!!

Here comes the 2nd last month of Year 2007 ... NOVEMBER !!!

This month of every year has always been the busiest and merriest of all ... as there's 3 birthdays (in a row) within the family. Although, I've yet to buy their birthday presents, let alone their birthday celebration plans.

As usual, there will be 2 upcoming "Meet-the-Parents" sessions in school for R1 & R2; to review their past performance.

But there's something new this year - R1's Primary 1 Orientation during mid-Nov. Actually, I'm not too sure what is it all about but I guess it's a "tour" around the school to let the kids familiarize with the new environment, buying of books and uniforms, etc.

Nevertheless, the great thing is ... NC will be back to celebrate their birthdays together! He'll always make it a point to come back (be it a long or short trip back home).

For more updates of the above events, stay tuned !!! ... ha ha ha