Ballet Concert, Temple of Fine Art, Brickfield 15 December 2013

First ballet concert for them. 

It wasn't easy to watch both of them dancing on the same performance.

 My eyes kept moving back and forth and back and forth., trying to catch the sight of both as much as possible. The little one was beaming and smiling brightly like a little star while the older one was so focus and serious. :)

Burden on a mom shoulders 5 July 2015

I was asked,

"Do you put more burden on your shoulders compared to your hubby when it comes to your kids? Such as parenting choices or homeschooling or anything pertaining to the kids? i.e. their diet, daily routine, medical needs, friends, etc etc?
If anything goes "wrong"or any hiccups surfaced, do you take them harder compared to hubby? "


I love questions. It makes me think harder and deeper.

I personally feel yes. But it doesn't mean that my gorgeous hubby feels any easier than me.

I take more burden in taking care of the kids from A to Z. Firstly because, I love what I am doing. I want to take more. Secondly, I like to lighten my hubby 's load, who work so hard.

 Yes it is tiring at times and I will take a little time away, be it a half an hour waking up early to spend time with just myself ( I just did that this morning. An hour to myself, in the kitchen with a cup of hot water, listening to "One Direction" and staring out the window) or at the cafe ( and tried hard not to feel guilty on spending some money on a cup of Americano).

I take it harder, yes. My hubby is more relaxed. I think generally men are more relax and I have being trying to learn from them in this way.
I am not only taking it harder but also longer. (not a good thing I know)

Skytrek Shah Alam 9 December 2013

Finally,  it was the 6.5 year old Hui 's turn to take "Little Adventure" . She has reached the minimum height. :) She sailed through each challenge bravely.  Much better than me!

Cultural Appreciation Show and Tell (France) 2 December 2013

Ballet Steps.

From Malaysia, the Cultural Appreciation Co-op moved to France. This time round, En Hui teamed up with their friends F and S to present the topic "French Ballet."  

It was nice to see the them taking little 4 year old S in as part of their team gently.  During the discussion, En Hui went through "working with others" and "putting things together" difficulties. 

I like that. :) "Win-Win", "Win-Lose" and "Lose-Win" of Sean Covey became a subject of discussion. 

Here is Ratatouille, our french dinner. :D

Kids In Charge 3rd meeting at Thistle Hotel, Port Dickson November 2013

At the third meeting, the children selected three areas out of a list given.  There are "Arrival, Pool, Dining/Food, Outdoor Fun, Evening/Night, Family, Activities/Sport, Educational and Health/Safety" and write ideas on how to improve the area within an hour.

At 9 years old, writing and spelling is not En 's forte yet.

There is no drilling on writing and spelling at home. She writes when there is a reason or a purpose to do so. For an example, write a shopping list, reply a letter or email, send a "SMS" (short messaging), write a story ectera. It is not as much as compare to school work.

Hence, producing words,sentences and paragraphs in such a short one hour is a real challenge to her. From this experience, she saw the purpose of writing in another form and her writing improved tremendously with another sense of purpose.  

This is the poster that shows the workshop created by En. It was done at home. 

She would need to present the workshop at the next meeting. 

The part that I like the most, is "Free For Special Needs Children" and "Your Kids Must Agree To Come". What a thoughtful thinking!    

Read the 2nd meeting here. 

Russian Ballet Workshop conducted by Dawn Weller 30 November 2013

When I told En about this workshop, she replied "YES" instantly, while hopping from left to right.  Her love for ballet grows and she takes each opportunity with open arms. 

This workshop came with a brief introduction to jazz. It looked really fun but she doesn't quite like this type of dance.   

Essential Skill for Kids by Leo Babauta November 2013

I have so much to learn from this unschooling dad.

Here is one of the many thoughs-provoking write up.

Essential Skill for Kids

Camping at Hutlista 2, Ulu Yam Selangor 23 November 2013

The entrance by the roadside of Jalan Sg. Tua.  

The parking fees. 

One tent per night is RM 10. Bring your own tent. 

Our tent is the purple one. 

The campsite is a walking distance to the river.  

At times, the sound of vechicle could be heard from the campsite as Hutlista is located by the roadside. 

As always, the kids had great fun at the river.

I personally prefer camping @ Sg Sendat much much more. It is just further down the road from here.

"Flowers for Free" 13 November 2013

A HS mom suggested we make paper flowers that comes with positive messages to giveaway to people. with the hope to spread love.

With much enthusiasm, they both brought the flowers they folded, to the ice rink on their skating day meet-up with friends.

They started to distribute the flowers to some skaters and then walked to the mall that is next to the ice rink, to give the flowers away to shoppers.

At the mall, many shoppers rejected the flowers and some were scared of them. On the other hand, there were some shoppers who took them happily and politely.

They both gave out all the flowers regardless of the response.

When some shoppers didn't take the flower, En was scared that they would hit her instead, thinking that she had ill-intention.
She feels that the response will be better at the ice rink because she is a skater and that helps to put the other skaters at ease. So the intention of spreading love will reach the recipient better.

True enough, the ice rink staffs and other skaters took the remainder of the paper flowers with open arms.

The paper flowers they made, with positive messages written on them. Messages like "You Are Special", "You Are Beautiful" etc.

Garage Sale 12 November 2013

The Garage Sale initiated out of helping with the fund for their pair of ice skate shoes

Both of them hold a garage sale at a cafetaria, all by themselves. En said "She was able to communicate with the customers in Bahasa Malaysia and understand their questions." 

They came home telling me what goods are highly sought after. While preparing for the next garage sale, they advised what price tag we can put for some of the goods. We also talked about how to rebrand the unsold goods to be more attractive. And how to sell the goods better. 

The money that they earned from the sale was used to fund the cost of their ice skate shoes needed for their lessons. 

Cultural Appreciation Show and Tell (Malaysia) 11 November 2013

 6 year old Hui answering questions from her fellow HS-friends joyfully. 

. After seeing what her friends and En did at the first "Show and Tell", Hui said she wanted to present a topic too. Today, she presented " Chinese Hair Combing Ceremony" at ease.  

Titan of The Past exhibition, Singapore Science Centre 3 November 2013

The real skull fossil of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex !!!

Light and Sound show at Marina Bay Sand 3 November 2013

A HS mommy I spoke to, suggested that I watch "Light and Sound" show at Marina Bay Sand. It is free of charge.   

So I brought the kids here for the 8 pm show. I was really taken by surprised on how good the show was. I only wish it could be longer.