Chalk Drawing

It was a Sunday evening. The children were enjoying their favourite cartoon (Ice Age) but I did not enjoy it as they had watched it multiple times. I wouldn't want them to just spend their evening with the cartoon so, I took out some colourful chalks and the girls started to jump up and down, "Hurray! We are going to draw again!" I told them this time we are not going to draw on the blackboard or paper. This time we are going to draw it on the FLOOR! The girls were so excited, they switched off the television, put on their slippers, took a chalk or two and started to draw on the floor. Of course, I joined in the fun too.

Li Ning used both hands to draw again.

I drew a mushroom house for Li Syuen to colour.

A turtle, drew by Li Syuen.

A fish, drew by Li Ning. I clearly remember that Li Syuen used to draw fish exactly like Li Ning's fish.

I drew a whale and Li Syuen added the waves.

Then, we drew our hand and foot.

Flowers drawing, flower drew by me...stem, leaf and grass drew by Li Syuen.

Li Ning was stamping on the drawing with her bare feet.

A very mischievous look.

Out of the sudden, she felt uneasy with her bare feet.

I encouraged the girls to run around without the slipper, letting them to feel the floor. Li Syuen was doing well but Li Ning still couldn't adapt barefoot.

Last drawing by Li Syuen..TuTu Train..

Our big big drawing.

Li Syuen wanted me to take this photo, with her posing the KungFu Panda :D

Zoo Negara

This is a very sudden trip. We went without much planning ahead. We didn't enquire about the Zoo Negara facility and I thought that they will have the tow-car for children just like the Singapore Zoo but I was so wrong. And the worst part is that we didn't bring the stroller. So, I guess that we all had to walk then. We had so much fun especially when all the birds flew down right in front of us. We were so excited!
After a couple of hours, Li Syuen began to cry as one of her feet is in pain. Then only I realised that I had forgotten to put on her socks, causing her ankle's skin peeled off. We had no choice but to carry her. My hubby had done a great job in carrying her. Although we took turn to carry her, most of the time is my hubby who was carrying her. Li Ning wanted to be carried too. Both my hubby and I were so tired carrying them but we had a great time!
A sneak preview of the photos.

For more photos, please click here.

MIL Birthday Celebration 2011

We had a small birthday celebration for my MIL, together with her sisters and brothers. She is very happy that night and we all enjoyed ourselves too. This is a very good opportunity for us to show our love to our parents. This is also a very good opportunity for us to show our two little girls how to love someone, verbally and non-verbally.

A sneak preview of our family photos.
Elder brother's family.

Second brother's family, this time without second sister-in-law as she is still feeling not well. Hope that she can get well soon.

Third brother's family.

Finally, us...the youngest.

MIL with her greatest sons and goddaughter.

MIL with all her grandchildren.

Lovely cake homemade by my MIL's goddaughter.

With all the nice people around and nice foods, we all had a great night.

For more photos, please go to my Facebook.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2011

This year we had a very simple celebration due to an unexpected issue. We didn't pray to the moon this year, hopefully we can have a better celebration next year. My hubby and I made two dinosaur lanterns for our girls. At first, we are so worried that they will not like the lantern or it might be turn out to be a failure work but thank god, the lanterns turned out to be just fine. What make us feel content and happy is that the girls love the lantern so much. They carried it wherever they went and kept on praising the lanterns to be beautiful and 'cute'. Hahahaha...Li Ning will say 'cute' whenever she feel that the thing is beautiful.

This is the lantern that we made for Li Syuen.

This is the lantern that we made for Li Ning.

The girls are so excited over their dinosaur lanterns that we decided to play it the day before Mid-Autumn Festival. Not only the girls are overjoyed, but also my hubby and I. We really enjoyed ourselves that night.

Then, we had our second round of celebration on the Mid-Autumn night. This time with the whole Heng family.

Although Mid-Autumn Festival is a Chinese festival, we had KFC and home-made pizza.

Exam! Exam! Exam!

I do not know about you guys. As for me, until now I still had dreams that I was late for the exam, I was sitting for the exam, I couldn't finish my exam and so much dreams on exam. I guess that exam did somehow had an impact in my life.

Can you imagine that Li Syuen will be sitting for her exam next week? This is her second exam and she is only 4 years old! Can you imagine that she will be sitting for exam from now until the age of 22 (that's if she gets into the U)?

Luckily, my husband and I have the same thinking. We just let everything goes naturally. We do revise with her as usual but in her own PACE. We go SLOW if she doesn't understand, we do not RUSH her, we do not SCOLD and we do not CANE. Our activity still goes on with or without the exam. We did not change our routine or plan due to the exam. We did not work EXTRA HARD for the exam. We just treat it naturally. The MARK is always the last to take note.

Reading and learning still continue on, sitting for the exam is a must since we didn't homeschool her but result is the last or perhaps I should say result or mark is INVISIBLE to us.

This is a very good opportunity for my hubby and I to reassure ourselves of our aims and what we had holding on to for so long.

There are always arguments between the pros and cons of the examination. I wouldn't want to discuss this here as I knew that it will be endless and there is no right or wrong answer. One thing that I realised is that some school changed the name of 'exam' to 'assessment' with the aim of 'less stressing' in exam for both children and parents. In my opinion, it is an useless effort. Whatsoever of it's pro and cons, it is important to set a HEALTHY MIND of both parents and children.

To us, it is just another worksheet for my little girl :) We will take this opportunity to teach my girl that WE STUDY FOR OURSELVES, NOT FOR THE EXAM.

Hugs and Kisses

Both Li Syuen and Li Ning loves to hug. They simply love to hug each other, perhaps there is some sort of chemistry between them. Mummy and Daddy really don't understand why both loves to hug so much. You girls simply hug without any reason, perhaps this is what we call Sister Love. Somehow, Mummy and Daddy just love to see both of you hugging each other and laughing away.

More Than Just Responsibility

When I'm doing my cook in the kitchen every night, SyuenSyuen will take out her homework to do. I wouldn't have to spend time nagging at her and this is what I'm glad of. I do not like to urge her to do her homework as I do not want her to feel antipathy in learning. Maybe because we provide her a learning environment for her since she was young, she loves to learn. We want her to enjoy the process of learning, not just her responsibility. But, one thing I realised is that responsibility and independence work hand in hand.

This is what had happened. One night, when SyuenSyuen was doing her homework, she accidentally spilled the pencil dust all over the floor. Without hesitation, she quickly got her tools and started to sweep the floor. It's late at night already yet she hadn't finish her homework. Most parents will stop their children from cleaning and hurried them to do their homework. I had that in my mind too but I stopped myself just in time. Yup, I understand that it's late already but what she did is because she knew that it is her RESPONSIBILITY. She didn't want anyone to help her because she wants to be INDEPENDENT.

Since she was young, we let her to do her own things, from taking care of herself to doing work for others. She had done well, just that sometimes need some encouragement from us. So far, TIMID is her only obstacle in the process of learning to become more independent. As parents, we should let go our hands, let the children explore, don't be afraid that our children will get hurt or whatsoever. Sometimes, we just need to think out of the box :)

妈咪最喜欢你笑！

妈咪最喜欢你这张照片。你的笑容是多么地迷人。每当看到这张照片，你那哈哈大笑的笑声呈现在脑海里，不知不觉妈咪的内心也在偷偷地笑，嘴角也不知不觉地往上扬。希望你永远都是那么地快乐！

Sponge Printing

As rainy season is not over yet, we still keep ourselves occupied with some indoor activities. This is what we needed for the activity. Any poster/water colours, a plate and some sponges. I cut the sponge into shapes so, I can teach Syuen shapes.

We used a plate because we wanted to create mixed-colour effect.

I asked Ning to take the sponge and press it on the paper but she went wild with it.

She is not interested to work with the sponge. In the end, she asked for the paint brush.

Her second round of painting...hehehe..

Syuen is doing her sponge printing happily.

Tips of the day:

• To prevent the water from spilling, I used a wide adhesive tape as the cup holder. It is heavy enough to prevent the cup from falling as the girls stirring or washing their brushes. Note: an used-up adhesive tape is not heavy enough to hold the cup in place.

• This is our recycle brush holder. A fantastic way to organize the brush and to dry the brush after wash.

A sneak preview of the master piece :)

Syuen's master piece, the outcome is not what we expected. The print is not clear due to the sponge quality. We will try to use other type of sponge the next time, hopefully we can get a better print.

Ning's master piece,

Ning's another master piece,