Family Reunion at Last!

It's been 9 years since my whole family has been together in the same country. We see each other at least twice a year but its either in Singapore or in Perth when we visit and not all of us are together. This time Jono's graduation was in September and it fell on a Saturday. My ticket was booked thanks to Dan and really looked forward to that day as finally the four of us could have meal together We haven't had one all together since my wedding day!

It was a wonderful trip as I saw my younger brother graduate from Curtin. I am really so proud of him as he has grown up from the mischevious little boy he was to a young man full of ideals, ambition and dreams.Most importantly, he has grown to be a God-fearing man too. So it was a very heartwarming trip to be able to witness this milestone in his life and celebrate it with my parents. Had a great time too catching up with his girlfriend Est and my aunt. A very memorable moment I will always hold dear to my heart. Am very proud of you smelly bro!!!! hahaha!

 

Dan was a great help and I really couldn't have done this trip without him sacrificing himself to be SAHD for the weekend with the kids. Hee guess he knows know what my life feels like 24/7. The kids had fun of course as the tiger mummy was not around nagging away about homework and tidying toys etc etc. Thanks dear. Appreciate it so much! :)

 

Now the next chapter begins and I'm really looking forward to have my entire family back. Now my brother is back and living with us and the kids are having a great bonding time with him so its very heartwarming to see. A great time to catch up with my brother too as its been so many years! Next year will be a new beginning once my folks are back and it will be great to finally have the support of family and loved ones. It's honestly been tough these past 9 years juggling the kids and the chores and my work on an ad hoc basis without much support at all. Dan and I mainly had to rely on each other and the Lord's strength. I guess family will always be the ones to be there to help you at the end of the day. I'm thankful.

Ballet Shoes

Krisalyn loves to dance and she has been learning ballet since she was about 3. I have been tempted many times to pull her out of the classess as they are not cheap and at times I wondered whether she did learn anything!But am glad we let her continue as she moved from Creative Dance to Pre-Primary and now she is at the Primary level of ballet.

She just recieved a recommendation letter from her teacher to take the Royal Academy of Dance Examination to move up to Grade 1 ballet by April next year. Very proud of you Krisalyn! But the price of the exam is super expensive too as it includes the examination fee and the coaching classess. *wallet pain* Dan felt that if its her interest to let her go for it. The fees get higher with each grade too! So we'll see how it goes step by step.

 

For now, well done Princess Krisalyn! May you be a beautiful dancer for the Lord!

Jedi's First Medal

 Jedidiah was so excited when he came home on evening holding this like it was made of real gold! The school has a sports day for the lower primary and his team had come in first. All of them in his team recieved a gold medal each and he was very proud to have his own medal that he could keep and hang in his room. Most importantly he had lots of fun with his friends!

Gifts for My Mei Meis

I was really proud of Jedi today for thinking of his younger sisters. He told them:

"Today Kor Kor will buy you something from school!"

And these were the two gifts he got them, 20 cents each....which means 40 cents off his allowance. That's alot for him as he eats alot these days with his $1.50 allowance.

 

The girls loved them although they were just tissue packs. Keziah asked to sleep with it too!  Am glad that Jedi is becoming more of a big brother now to them depsite the squabbles here and there. :)

Butterfly Wings!

The kids had much fun watching the creepy crawlie caterpillars morph into pupas. But sadly only 1 butterfly made it. One died in its cocoon, and the other was blown down by the wind. The last emerged but couldn't hang on to its cocoon to dry its wings and as a result couldn't become a proper butterfly. But it was so interesting to watch all the same.

This is a picture of one still a caterpillar and the other one that is hanging just turned into a pupa and spinning a cocoon.

Here is a picture of the butterfly as it emerged from the cocoon and it left behind red liquid as it dried its wings. Jedi was fortunate to have caught this part as he was at home in the morning.

The butterfly was ready to fly by early afternoon and the girls had the chance to say goodbye to it as we released it to the nearby park.

 And this was all that was left of our beautiful friend....

This whole experience was a wonderful opportunity to tell the kids about how marvellous God's creation is. How something so ugly (to me as I hate bugs) can turn into something so beautiful. Most of all, I reminded them that He makes all things beautiful in His time. It was only when the butterfly was ready that it could emerge and become what the Lord meant it to be. Indeed, he makes all things beautiful in His time!

Flowers from Afar....

Thanks dear for the lovely flowers! :) Nice to feel loved even though you are away this week. Love you!

Little Artist at Work!

Amongst the three, Krisalyn loves art and craft the most and is always ransacking my recyled bin for paper and cutting or pasting stuff. The mess drives me nuts at times and I have to remind myself not to let my cleanliness streak stifle her creativity. She's into painting recently.

 And today she was very proud of herself for completing this sand art with mummy's help! Well done Krisa! :)