Visit to Daddy's work place..

It was a rare opportunity to visit Daddy's workplace as his company was having a "safety contest" on a Saturday.

The mood amongst the staff was good and all were set to compete to win back the trophy for the event. It was indeed crucial to note the importance of safety at workplace to protect your own life, and that of your colleagues. The final round was a presentation of safety innovations that can be implemented at their workplace.

Daddy gave a speech in Mandarin at the end to thank the teams that contributed to the event. Doubt that the kids understood the content but they looked pleased to be part of it!

Activities for the kids

The kids got bored after awhile playing at home. Mummy decided to take a stroll with the kids around the lake within the compound of "环湖 garden". Weather was good and breezy, very 诗情画意。

The kids also had a mini-sports day at home, using daddy's socks to double-up as bean bags. Lleyton claimed that Leanne "play-cheat". He must have learnt the term from school.

The kids also liked to play hide and seek in the "new house". But mummy has indeed run out of new hiding places, while Lleyton's spot is always under the blanket.

Lleyton likes to tidy up the house while Leanne (sometimes Mummy) was napping, even though the part-time cleaner comes in twice a week. The kids even helped out with the preparation of ingredients for cooking.

Life of a 1 week SAHM (in F.S.)

The entire family woke up at 6am in the morning (despite the fact that only Daddy needs to leave for work at 7.45am). The bright sunshine here makes it look like it was already 9am.

As a result, the day started early. Mummy has no idea what to do except to steam some Baos and make milk for the kids. Leanne's milk bottle was totally ruined as adventurous mummy tried the disinfectant "machine" in the kitchen and the whole bottle melted! That's it.. She has to use a cup from now on. No spare.

After entertaining the kids with Lego, workbooks, iPad for half a morning, mummy can't resist and started working on the laptop and clearing work emails. Of course, that was after preparing the lunch ingredients (Mee-sua with chicken and mushroom).

Time to cook lunch at 11am..

Best! The gas stove was not working properly. So Mummy had to use the rice cooker to cook the Mee sua instead. Alas, lunch was settled...

Dinner was chicken rice with bak ku teh, using pre-packed ingredients brought over from Singapore.

Trip to Genting

A quick decision was made to drive up to Genting Highlands. The last trip was around 2 years back, Daddy thought that Leanne will probably enjoy the rides more this time.

Besides the usual rides at the theme park, the family went for bowling games and KTV. The favourite song that the kids chose (5 Little Ducks) was so action-packed that Leanne was moving around the room, quacking away. Lleyton took more than 10 rides on the junior bumper car.

Pics on CNY

Usually, most pics are taken on the first few days of CNY as everyone is dressed in their new clothes. Some collages for sharing..

Transformers Ride!

A year has past since Daddy purchased the annual USS pass. Fortunately the pass was extended such that the family was in time to catch the long-awaited transformers ride. Lleyton took his turn with Daddy, while Mummy waited outside with Leanne.

After Lleyton had his go at it, he decided that was enough, leaving mummy to join the "single-rider" queue.

Not too bad for the price spent. Mummy made a quick count.. At least 8 entries to the USS were clocked!

Brownie baking day

Mummy decided to use her new combination oven on some brownies, hence sought the help on 2 greedy monsters. They really had fun stirring the mixture and watching Mummy load it into the oven. The end product was finally shared with their cousins when they visited ah yi's house in the afternoon.

Best friends..

One moment, they are best of friends..

The next moment, they are fighting over the minutest thing...

Month of celebrations

A large part of September was in a mess.. literally, due to the massive renovation works to the kitchen that started since early September. The entire kitchen was torn down and re-constructed with replacement of most of the equipment, including sink, cabinets, oven. Even the living area was not suitable for any activities as it was extremely dusty. The temporary kitchen was set up in the study.. that said, Daddy was lucky to be outstationed in the week when most of the hacking was done.

October is a more joyful month. With the kitchen completed, it's time to hold birthday parties for the October babies - , Weiwei, Daddy, Lleyton & Leanne, each of them less than 1 week apart from each other. The parties were kept simple, and they were held over a few Saturdays when the families gather during the weekends. In addition, both Lleyton and Leanne also had a joint birthday celebration in school!

Reward to the zoo!

Mummy has implemented a reward chart system for Lleyton: for every 5 stars awarded in each category, he will get his reward upon request.
1) Brush teeth twice a day = 1 big chocolate
2) Feed himself and finishes food in 30 min = Go to the Playground
3) Keep toys after playing = Go to the Zoo
He was keen in the initial stage, and was actively monitoring his stars. There were some negotiations along the way (including removing stars if he refused to do certain things) or swapping for stars with other categories. Finally when he received his full 5 stars for the "Zoo" category, Mummy arranged one big outing together with his cousins and Ah Ma, Ah Gong, Ah Yi etc.. Ah Yi kindly helped to obtain 2 corporate passes (= 8 adult entries) and off they went!

The 2 boys were seated comfortably in the push-cart, while Leanne sat in the stroller.. only weiwei has to complete the entire course on feet (which explains her grumpy look?) :)

Besides stopping to look at the animals along the way, the first show was the Splash Safari. The highlight of the day was a proposal that was pre-planned by one of the audiences, in collaboration with the zoo management. It was indeed touching though.. and all their family members were present to witness the event. What's more unforgettable was the "BIG SPLASH" that got Lleyton & Leanne totally drenched! Well, that again explains the change of clothes before they proceed to the Elephant Show.

For the rest of the day, the kids were enjoying themselves at the kids' playground and the kids' pool. Let the pictures do the talking...