2014 - MY YEAR

It's true when they say that the older you get, time passes by faster! I barely have time to take a breather and that's it.....the year has passed.

Anyway, this is the customary year in review post....

My baby went to school!

We organized a *spy theme* party for Bryan

Then one month later, we also put together a *My Little Pony* party for Venice at her school!

Venice looking shy of all the attention...

Before this, Venice also had her first Sports Day where she cried buckets....

Had some pretty good family bonding time...which is priceless!

Realized Andrick had some potential being the next Korean heartthrob!

Brought Andrick to the zoo for the very first time!

My Granny.....

Having fun with 3D art....

And poof!...just like that, one year had gone....

Went to Jump Street

And Andrick's putting on a show of his own at Jump Street....standing on a bin

This is considered our X'mas meal....coz we don't get to have one

This little critter had his first haircut!

At one glance, I thought that my picture doesn't look as interesting as other people's but to me, these are the precious memories that I will hold dear to me....where nothing can replace. Thank you Wei, Juan, Hao, Venice and Andrick for a spectacular year and hopefully with many more to come!

OUR LONG OVERDUE VACATION!

We are so desperate for a holiday (rather I am...hehe) that we planned for one first day of the school holiday. Yup...we went to Penang for a 3D2N vacay...yay!

Before that, I searched and searched for a nice and afforadable hotel coz I want to find somewhere where we can enjoy without constantly having to travel out (the reason is obviously a very active baby by the name of Andrick). As by such glorious coincidence, I managed to book a room at Parkroyal Penang for a very cheap price! It's only about RM300 after tax, cheap right?

We we start our journey bright (actually it's still dark lol) and early after a McD brekkie. After having a lunch of CKT in town, we headed straight for the resort. Luckily, the room's vacant...so we checked in early. The kids can't wait to check out the beach once checked in. And they loved the resort! So we threw on our beach clothes and headed straight down...

Andrick being a bit scared of the sand and sea

Venice too a bit apprehensive of the waves

Bryan taking a pic with Venice

Wei taking a dip in the sea

Wei said that the sea's quite deep though...so no going into it. The kids though are just content playing by the beach.

A rare moment of peace

I simply love this picture of them playing sand...or rather playing Andrick lol.

Sand wording courtesy of Nic

Andrick seemed content to just sit in the sand and let the kokos build a moat around him

Venice calling out to the sea....

And Venice Chow made a new friend....it's called Waferrrrrr.......here she is calling out to 'wafer' (a nickname for wave lol).

Water rushing in!

This is the reason for their moat.....to see the bubbly seawater filling it up. Nice!

Ahhhhhhh.......

And while the boys (and girls) play, I can finally put up my feet.....literally.

Some pool pics...

A puffer fish in the pool...

Andrick relaxing on the bed after a tiring day...

Venice's customized brekkie!

Strolling in the garden after a sumptious breakfast...

Venice and her 'sand castle'.......

A pic with the little bum bum.....

Some of the stuff we consumed there

Penang...we'll be back!

Overall, it's a pleasant and relaxing trip...we seriously contemplated extending our stay but held back last minute.

VENICE'S AMAZING ATTENTION TO DETAILS

Daddy with his princess!

My, my, dunno why but I'm always amazed by Venice!

The things she say always had me stumped. Just one of our conversation today:


I was bathing her and got to talking about the beach (coz I am planning a beach holiday).


Me : Wern, do you like the beach?
Venice : Yes!
Me : What do you like about the beach?
Venice : *thinking but not saying anything*
Me : Do you know what's a beach? What do you have at the beach?
Venice: .......umm, bouncy ball, umbrella to cover from the sun, bucket and spade.....sand castle! I know how to make a sand castle! First, you take a pail, then put sand in it, then take out the sand and you have a sand castle already!
Me : *speechless*

Venice and her princess obsession

Oh yeah, and did I mention where did she get this insights to detail? Peppa Pig....

Continuing her pink obsession

With her 4 Chopin class teacher, Mrs Kwong

On Friday, she had her year end class party and also to celebrate Children's Day. As I might be changing her school next year, I thought it'd be a good idea to snap some pictures of her with her friends. End up they don't want to take pictures....dunno what's on the minds of children these days. So just a pic with her teacher.

PRE-HOLIDAY UPDATES

 Holidays are almost starting, and we can feel our stress level going down because we don't have to be so strict with school time what with Nic already beginning his hols with the SPM exams. Also, we can feel our business picking up. Hope that it's a good sign, that it can last for a long, long time. Quite a few times already, we get random last minute calls for balloon or clown jobs which is good as some are on weekdays which didn't coincide with our other events. But somehow, all the rushing leads to a decrease in quality which I'm not too happy about.

Having to help with Wei sometimes and looking after Andrick is VERY, VERY TIRING!!! He is super active, moving non-stop, and is especially irritating when we are busy lol. Right now though, he's so cute crawling around the house making really fast thumping sounds on the floor....THUM, THUM, THUM, THUM,.....this boy can really crawl at high speed!

Andrick....

Always having so much to say....

But not making any sense....

And today is Wei's birthday.....44th birthday to be exact....wow, I feel old already! Here's one for the album...

And another....

 

And another...

Just a simple fluffy cheesecake...nothing too fancy. Hehe....ok, that's all.

REFLECTION...

Wow, so much have happened these 2 weeks! MIL passed away at 2 something early morning of 21 October. The ensuing drama (what I meant was the traditional rites...the dong dong chiang) was....eye-opening!

We have to 'buy' two maids and a driver for mom, then name them, fixed a salary for them, etc. If it wasn't a sombre affair, it would have been quite funny. Anyway, just wanted to say this.....RIP Mom. It's so sudden that sometimes I think back and wonder....how could this happen in so short a time???

Ahhhhhhh!!!

On another note, today's another milestone for Andrick! I think he just learned his first word. By first I mean that he consistently form the same sound over and over again when being prompted. And the word is..........wait for it, COME. Though it came out sounding like DUM....DUM....DUM..... What an anti-climax huh? You would have thought it'll be DADDY or MOMMY or KOKO or CHE CHE. It was when I was feeding him his dinner and being Andrick, he's walking around being busy, and I have to keep saying...come, come....Andrick come....when suddenly he started imitating me! Hahahaha.......silly boy.

DARK CLOUDS AND RAINY DAYS

What a gloomy day! Early today, there was a yellowish fog enveloping the area. Then later on there's a heavy downpour that goes through the night. We were just going out to run some errands in the evening when Wei's sis called to say that it's time to fetch MIL home. The BAD NEWS that we dreaded has arrived.....

And so begin a long night of preparing the discharge, waiting for ambulance and then mourning the unavoidable. When we arrived home, I'm so surprised to see that awning is being set up, and the people in charge of the funeral services are already there! What, can't it wait? The family members aren't even done with the mourning yet, the body is still warm and breathing, and you are ready and waiting??!!!??Hellooo.... we don't give out awards for efficiency man!

The time now is 12.34am, and MIL is still alive, albeit not kickin'. So I feel that all the process of sending her home and doing a proper mourning is a waste of time when you are already shooing her along. Just my two cents though. I can never fully understand Chinese tradition.

CONTINUATION OF MY MIRACLE

My baby's so excited as Che Che bounced the see-saw up and down!

I think something strange, or rather wonderful happened to me recently. As I said in my previous post, it's like the Almighty God has washed my brain or given me a new one.

To market, to market, to buy a FAT PIG!!!

I used to detest sleeping with Andrick. I feel so tired looking after him the whole day with little rest in between that I need this break and my beauty sleep badly. So all this while since his birth, he's been sleeping with Wei in the living room. I can't help it I just can't.

Andrick loves doing what Che Che is doing...with a dash of cheekiness!

Then recently I voluntarily slept with the whole lot of them outside while asking Wei to get some rest and sleep alone in the room! We even pretended that we are setting up tent and camping outside! To be honest, I don't get a very restful sleep these few nights but I'm happy. WHAT SORCERY IS THIS??!!?

Getting checked by the doctor (for diarrhea)....he looked SO SUSPICIOUS!!!

Bob the Builder, CAN WE FIX IT? Yes, we can!!