Finna's PINK Blog

For the past week, Phebe has been wearing either Collin's or my T-shirt to sleep. It all started when her art Teacher requested her to bring an old T-shirt from either parent to school.

She looked really adorable in our oversize Ts, together with her mischievous acts .... that’s my little imp

Phebe started complaining "Tooth Ache" on New Year's eve, 31 Dec 2009. She opened her mouth and pointed to the spot where the pain came from - lower front tooth. I touched it and felt a shaky tooth.

I got pretty emotional but fought back my tears, cos I needed to comfort her. I told her that this is a sign of growing up, and mentioned names of her friends that already lost their teeth. I went on to tell her how the adult or permanent teeth needed space to replace the existing milk teeth, therefore she has to start shaking it with her tongue, otherwise the new tooth might find other empty space to sprout then she might not have straight rows of teeth.

I believed she has been shaking that loose tooth. Days later, she told me TWO of her teeth were shaky!! I wondered if she could have been shaking the wrong tooth

Anyway .... till date, the 2 teeth are still hanging there, I wonder when they might drop ....

Finally, our new piano has arrived!!! That afternoon, we were sticking our necks out of the window each time a heavy vehicle passed by. And when our truck came, we were thrilled. I grabbed my camera and Phebe was waving and shouting her "HELLOs", the delivery men also waved back at us. While I opened my gate to the fullness, Phebe ran all the way out to the lift to direct the delivery. She spoke to them in mandarin, and directed them to bring the piano into her room. She waited impatiently for them to unwrap the piano and positioned it well. She was playing on it while one of them gave me some simple maintenance instructions.









With the piano in place, it completed my new arrangement for Phebe's room.

Basically I ...

- kept her easel, just repositioned it
- brought my study table from the other room over, so now the table is hers
- re-arrange the CD player, table lamp, books especially dictionaries and some other items for easy access
- installed wheels on the shelf for Total Development Program
- kept the trolley that store Phebe's art & craft materials
- kept the blue swivel egg chair
- bought a mini vaccum cleaner to clean her desk
- removed toddler table/chair and portable keyboard to the other room
- removed / re-arranged items on the walls

And she is all ready for the New Year and more.

With much anxiety, Collin and I brought Phebe to school. Everything was new! New school, new uniform, new shoes, new bag, new books, new hair accessories, new classmates, new friends, new teachers, .... AND ..... new enrichment programme, more new friends, .... AND ..... new after school care and even more new friends !!!

Day 1 - 04 Jan 2010 (Mon) - we were told to be in school by 8am. After putting Phebe in the queue of her class, in the designated area for P1, we stood by the side waiting patiently for the ordeal, then waved goodbye when the respective form teachers led them to their classrooms.

We were then being invited to a parent workshop on 'Happy Girls, Happy Learners', which I will pen down my takeaway in a separate entry. The content was useful but the opportunity to meet and exchange contacts with other parents of Phebe's classmates was grateful.

The workshop ended in time for parents to see their children at the canteen. We opted in for the 2-weeks catered recess for Phebe. We saw each P1 child being paired up with a P5 buddy. Phebe was hand held by her buddy, Alicia, to the canteen, specifically her designated bench. The buddy system will go on for 4 weeks, which I appreciate.

I noticed that Alicia kept petting Phebe's head and explaining every single thing they saw or arrived upon. She really treated Phebe like her little baby sister.

With the remaining time, Alicia brought Phebe around the school, before settling back in the assemble point, afterwhich the form teachers led the children back to their respective classrooms again.

This time, parents were invited to leave the school and return after 1pm to pick up the kids.

The security guard came to open the school gates only at 1pm to let us in. Collin waited patiently for Phebe at the canteen, while I was settling some administrative matters with her transportation.

Soon we saw Phebe and other kids running out for lunch, all changed into their ballet outfit. We asked her to buy her own lunch but she was a tad too short to see what's in the trays from the Oriental store, then Daddy Collin came in to rescue.

When lunch was done, the ballet teachers came out to bring them into dance studio, while we were asked to leave and return after 3pm to pick her up. We came back at 3pm, to bring her to her After-school care, since the CCA bus was not ready.

(P.S. Did you spot a mistake on Phebe's uniform? I have placed Phebe's name tag and badge in the wrong order !!! :-X)

At the after-school care, we saw several other parents from Phebe's primary school. While the kids were ushered to shower, we chatted up with another parent and exchange contacts.

Collin and I left shortly, to give Phebe time to adapt. She did, it helps cos she was not alone, there were at least 4 or 5 other girls from the same school taking ballet classes and going to the same after school care.

All in all, she really enjoyed her day, both in school and after school care.

Me - I was tearing! I was worried that she might cry cos she did during her orientation day, though only at the beginning when we have to leave her. We prep her, got her involved in all possible aspects (talk about making new friends, having new teachers, taking school bus, having pocket money, differences, bigger classroom etc etc). To see her moving off happily, I have mixed feelings - proud to see her being brave, independent and happy while it also means that a step away from my hand holding. I know this is inevitable and I have to learn to accept it.

Day 2 - 05 Jan 2010 (Tue) - Pretty much the same as Day 1, since no enrichment class after school, she waited for her bus at the designated spot upon dismissal. We watched her get up the school bus, waved goodbye and then we drove to her after school care to wait for her. She reached about 2pm, 30 mins after school dismissal. After removing her shoes, they were to take their shower before proceeding for lunch.

We left and returned only after 6pm to pick her up. When we were there, the kids were having a ball of time at the playground, on the big field (one of the reasons why we picked this after school care)
















Video Links

Video 1 - Click here [Day 2 morning, see how Phebe swings her blue art bag!]
Video 2 - Click here [Day 2 recess, see Phebe's dancing feet, she just cannot stand still!]
Video 3 - Click here [Day 2 dismissal, see how Phebe runs to wait for her bus!]

I requested Phebe to tell me 2 new friend's name each day. My intention was for her to make new friends and get to know them better.

Day 1 - Phebe only gave me her buddy's name, Alicia.

Day 2 - She gave me one of her classmates name, Naomi & another from her after-school care, also named Phoebe.

Day 3 - She showed me this piece of paper, with TWENTY-SEVEN names, 23 from her class, and 4 from other classes of the same level. She told me that she personally went to each and everyone to get their names, so she don't have to give me 2 names everyday!!!

A friend of mine recommended an oxygen bubble mask. I bought and tried it and it was so much fun. Phebe saw me using it and requested to try it too ....

Video - Click here

Phebe requested to play Wii but we just got home and I needed to shower and have my dinner, so I told her to play on her own and this was what she did ....

Video - Click here

[She chose our Mii Characters, handled both remote controls, played ..... and eventually PHEBE won, of course!!! ]

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him an leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, Sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story:

Just because you can't see God,
Doesn't mean He is not there.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."

A day at the Bird Park and my pictures said it all ....

List of videos:

Video 1 - Click here [Performance on Capoeira]
Video 2 - Click here [Phebe fed the parrots]
Video 3 - Click here [Collin lured and got rid of the parrot]
Video 4 - Click here [Parrot refused to leave branch, stretched to drink from Collin's cup]
Video 5 - Click here [Phebe, a Dino Paleontologist - don't think she made a good one cos she aint gentle at all!!!]

To Phebe, Boxing Day = Open Christmas Presents Day.

I truly hope that she is mindful of the real meaning of Christmas and how Boxing Day came about ...





History of Boxing Day

To help the poor - An 'Alms Box' was placed in every church on Christmas Day, into which worshippers placed a gift for the poor of parish. These boxes were always opened the day after Christmas, which is why that day became known as Boxing Day.

Wearing angel's wings and Santa's hat, Phebe was all dressed up and ready to go.

This was the Christmas party we have been planning and waiting for.

Several changes made to this year's Christmas party ...

- Venue: we held the party at Menu Cafe, Cheng San Community Club instead of CE's place.

- F&B: instead of pot luck, we catered from Menu Cafe.

- Performance: instead of a group play, which we have zero time for rehearsal, I suggested performance by the kids. I was so glad to see the effort put in by all the mummies and children, despite initial reluctance. Big round of applause for all

- Christmas Carol: added this segment to spice up the party, and we did pretty well too

The rest of the programme were pretty much the same, welcome, craft, games, lunch, gifts exchange etc




Greetings & Welcome

After gathering everyone, Mummy CE greeted Merry Christmas and led the welcome session by getting the kids introduce the person on the left.

And just like our previous Wild Idea session, we really need to get to know each other better!











X'mas Craft

Mummy CE then passed the baton to Mummy Meilan, who led the children to do an interesting Christmas craft - A Little Christmas Tree.

I find it extremely captivating to see the little ones focusing on their work!









Performances

Next, names were picked to determine the sequence of performance and we have ...

Xingyi, who recited a Chinese poem with a little dance.
Video 1 - Click here



Adriel, with some help from his mummy, re-enacted a skit from Madagascar (Christmas version)
Video 2 - Click here



Phebe danced while Zen Teng sang to the song Witch Doctor from the soundtrack of Alvin & The Chipmunks.
Video 3 - Click here



(They were suppose to perform individually, ZT chose to sing Witch Doctor while Phebe sing and dance to How We Roll. When Phebe came to know that ZT was going to sing from the same soundtrack, she told me she had a 'BETTER IDEA', and that was to perform together; and ZT agreed cos he was hovering with the intention of pulling out from the performance! I was so glad Phebe managed to dance to the song, with zero practice and rehearsal!!!)

Ben sang and played a few Christmas songs on the keyboard, his brother Keith joined in on the last song.
Video 4 - Click here



Luyi did a magic trick using 2 straws, amazing. She did it so fast, we have to request her to do it twice!
Video 5 - Click here



Jaycin sang and dance to the song Top of The World.
Video 6 - Click here





Christmas Carol

Together, we sang the following:

- Winter Wonderland
- Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
- Let It Snow
- Joy To The World
- Frosty The Snowman
- We Wish You A Merry Christmas & Auld Lang Syne









Games

Mummy Chia came out with 2 games, namely Squirrels, Trees & Earthquake and Blanket Game.









Video 7 - Click here [Game on Squirrels, Trees & Earthquake]








Lunch

After a hearty morning of activities, we were all ready to feast!







Gifts Exchange, Free Play, Chats & Home Sweet Home

After lunch, the children were gathered back for gifts exchange.

This year, we tweaked the format and drew names in advance for the person we were buying gifts for. So every child took turn to present their gifts and wishing them the best for the coming year.

So many pairs of hands and gifts exchanging, and we were all drown in gifts and laughter .... until next year, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !!!

Three parties - I made (1) Japanese Cheesecake (2) Chocolate Fondue with Fruits (3) Tiramisu with strawberies, Kahlua and Cointreau

Food for the fouth X'mas party was catered.

This year, no need to cook pasta, curry nor fried mifen!!!

1) DIY Xmas Cards

I knew my DIY X'mas gifts will take some time to do, therefore I've got Phebe started working on them days in advance. Especially the cards, personalized with Phebe's greetings, drawings and colouring. Phebe was given a finger printing kit for her birthday present and we put it to good use, and she had great fun with it. Once she started on it, she can't stop!!! Here are some of the cards she did, so many more ...
















2) DIY Gingerbread

Gingerbread baking and decorating started when the cards were done. Collin was pulled in to help with the decorating work. Our house became a factory overnight, I was busy molding and baking while Phebe who initially helped me went over to help Collin with the decorating. Then back to me for packing after the icing has harden. We made closed to 30 of them. Together with the cards and added a heart shape glittering white Christmas favor, we gave them out to Phebe's Shekinah classmates, Wild Idea friends, cousins and some of my colleagues and their kids (met during office Christmas parties).


















For Phebe's Shekinah Teachers, namely Ms Sue, Ms Liana and Ms Hao, other than the above, I gave them a small box containing Phebe's graduation speech and photos of Phebe, either with the teacher and/or her classmates over the years.

I hope this will make a good keepsake.

Merry Christmas to you all & may you have a better year ahead!!!

From the pink glutinous flour mix that we bought from the wet market we visited the other day, we made mini glutinous rice balls with a twist!!!

Since Phebe does not like glutinous rice balls, I enticed her by using mini MMs as the fillings.

For consumption, we made only 10 mini balls in honey rock sugar syrup, while she played with the rest of the dough.

The melted chocolate filling was surprisingly nice!

We happened to walk pass a wet market in Bedok North and on an impulse, I bought a 'Fighting Fish'.

I had wanted it for myself, thinking I could bring it to my office but Phebe KIPNAPPED it!

- In the car on our way home, she was hugging and talking to the fish ...
- She muttered something about asking the fish to nap for a while, and giving the fish a pillow when we get home ...
- She hugged the fish all the way home ...
- She put her fingers into the tank till her Daddy told her off, then she turned to playing with the water and the pebbles inside ...
- Plus, she fed the fish numerous times ...

Sigh .... I hope the fish will survive long enough to see 2010 ...