Everyone needs to learn their ABC’s, and as the kids are in school, they have been getting these ABC assignments.

Nicole is in Primary 1 and she just got an ABC assignment. She has to find words to describe A to Z.

For example, A is Apple, B is for Ball.

My little Princess decided to be creative, and not do the simple Apple and Ball thing. So she is trying to think out of the box and find words that match the alphabet.

This is what she has so far.

E is for Email

G is for Google

I is for iPhone

W is for Window

Y is for YouTube

M is  for Mouse (Not Mummy )

and of course…she wrote this by herself..without any prompting (I must add)

D is for DADDY

and that is why…she is Daddy’s Princess!

Well, looks like history is in the making! She has ONE shaky tooth, finally! But what an amazing tooth it is! Let me show you a pictorial. Do focus your eyes on those centre pearlies.

Nicole – March 2010

Nicole – December 2011

Nicole – 17 March 2012 (Can you see the gap…?)

Nicole – 31 March 2012 (That one tooth is overlapping the other, while the gap widens)

And this is today—5 April 2012:

My baby’s teeth moved! Or her jaw grew larger! And in God’s miraculous ways, the teeth just moved with it!

We can’t wait to lay our hands on that one tooth and yank it off. But of course, that would mean holding down a very violent and aggressive 7yr old girl. We checked with the dentist too, and he says it’s her jaw growing, and since no adult teeth is out yet, the gap in between teeth naturally increases! *phew!*

So the tooth fairy continues her wait… … ……  Anyone else had teeth move or jaws growing so obviously?

UPDATE – 10 April

The tooth came off! “When I was blowing my nose” . . .

So she wrote her first note to the Tooth Fairy. My oh my… check out her note!

She wants $50 for her tooth, and then she changed her mind and she wanted more. She even wrote down her address so that the Tooth Fairy would not lose her way.

I quickly said, the tooth fairy only comes for your FIRST tooth and never again! As this magical fairy is a bit expensive to keep ALIVE!…Fairy Tales are a bit expensive to upkeep in pragmatic Singapore… hahaha….

For the kids, we have had  a “Milo Party”  for Nicole, a “Mad Science” Party for Nathan, and now for little Nadine…we have decided to hold a:

OREO Party

Yes! I am sure that all children love OREO cookies, and we thought that having games “tailored” around a favourite family snack will add excitement to our party.

We have just got together our invites, and hopefully we can come up with some really fun OREO games for the party!

If you have any good party games, do let us know!

Yes! It’s the time of the year again for Nathan’s Birthday and this year, it was extra special for him, as he had his 1st theme party!

Previously, Nicole had Theme Party’s like “Traffic Light Party” and “Milo Party”, and we were never the type to settle for anything ordinary. And in the same way, if you are tired of the normal Magic Show, you might want to try having a “Mad Science” Party.

All the Kids love parties, and they could not wait to enter the Party room, as soon as the Mad Science Crew arrived.  Check out the excitement in Nathan’s eyes, as he waited for the party to start!

Mad Science is the world’s leading fun science enrichment program which provides in-school workshops, science days, corporate events, school holiday camps and birthday parties. Through their innovative experiments, kids get to discover science in a really fun way.

We chose the “Icky Gooey Bubbly” theme for Nathan’s Party, and through it he discovered the effects of alcohol on fire, the power of carbon dioxide and dry ice bubbles!

Mad Science has many different themes on offer if you are thinking of having a Birthday Party. Besides the “Icky Gooey Bubbly” theme, there are other themes like “Dinosaurs” and “Air Blast”.

The kids’ eyes just opened in delight as they saw the chemical reactions that happened right in front of their eyes.  A BIG Plus point of every experiment is that they got to play with the foam and the bubbles created by the chemical reactions.

A BIG  highlight of the Party were the Dry Ice Balloons that was created by the Mad Scientist.  Check out their curious excitement, as they saw the bubbles being formed in front of them!

The experiments really spark imaginative learning and provides a truly spectacular and unique experience for the children.

Besides the fun tattoos, the kids also get to experiment with making their own Mad Science Slime, which they get to take home!

With 20 years of experience behind them, Mad Science created an atmosphere of fun, while showing how science can affect our environment.

Here’s the Happy Birthday Boy with his “Goody Bag” and no party will be complete without his Birthday Cake!

Once again, many thanks to Mad Science for making Nathan’s day extra special. You can find out more about their programs and birthday parties over here.

Recently, I was clearing up the CD ROMs in my room, and I stumbled upon an unmarked disk.

I popped it into my PC and to my surprise I found my Wedding Power point!

Yes! I got married in 2001, and back then, multi media presentations were still not as easy to create as today.

This presentation was done using a flash player, and I think the project was pretty decent for a 2001 production done by a friend….of course…I am always bias, when it comes to my blog and videos

Anyway…Check out my old photos, as the video takes you back in time!  

One of the main Worries of Every Parent who has a kid in Primary 1 is; how much Pocket Money to give, and how to give it!

Mummy decided that Nicole will only go to School with $1 and a small lunchbox.

Technically, it is only 90 cents, as she has to give 10 cents to God (We teach her that it is important to give to her faith).

Unfortunately, with the effects of inflation, Mummy realized that 90 Cents can only go “so far”, as it costs Nicole 80 Cents to eat her Chicken Rice and horrors… $1 for Nasi Lemak!

On her 1st day, she even overspent! She walked up and down the Canteen surveying the food (as if she was at the shopping mall), and after deciding on a Fish Cake (50 cents), she wanted to WangWang (20 cents) and another packet of biscuits (30 cents). The Snack uncle gave her a discount for the biscuits as she looked helpless and hungry holding on to her remaining coins. (Mummy notes: she totally ignored the lovingly pre-packed sandwich that I did at 6am…claimed it didn’t look “nice”)

As a result, she got a raise in her pocket money on Day 2, and currently it stands at $1.20, before her tithe . Mummy also improved the lunchbox to dried stuff she likes like Cereals, Biscuits etc.

Oh Yes! The Pill Box above – is where she is supposed to collect her pocket money from every morning. If she forgets to take out the money for the day, she is supposed to go without any recess money for the day. We wanted her to take responsibility for her own allowance.

The Sunday box is for Church. The Saturday box is for Savings. And Mon-Fri for each respective day. On Day 3, she saved a total of 10 cents and she was ecstatic … until she realised she couldn’t find anything to buy at the supermarket. She wised up and told Mummy on Day 4, to pack more in the lunchbox, so she just ate chicken rice and saved the rest.

Oh, and every day, she writes down her expenditure in a little notebook. We are mighty ambitious—many lessons and habits that we want to inculcate with her daily allowance  

We are still testing out theory at the moment, as hopefully it will teach her the discipline of a daily routine, tithing and the ability to save as well.

We are hopeful that it works out!

Primary 1 means that from now onwards, 1 Parent has to wake up at 530am to prepare her for school. Both of us never thought that we will need to wake up so early anymore after Secondary School. Just typing about the early hours, is making me Zzzz.

But the consolation about waking up so early, is realizing that we are NOT Alone. The Roads outside were really crowded, and it looked like every parent in Singapore was fetching their kids to school.

Some of the funny moments of this day was that, when Nicole was asked to fill up a questionnaire regarding her details, one of the questions that “stumped” her was that:

“What are some things that you want your teacher to know about you?”

She replied, “At home, I am known as N1!”

And she quickly added, “Can I add that I don’t want them to know, that I drink from the Milk Bottle!”  

N1 was totally funny, and she even thought of what she wants to have for recess time. She wants Chicken Rice and Nasi Lemak!

All this in 1 morning….it is no wonder that her proposed $1 pocket money may not be enough for her!

As we enter the new year, we thought that we should look at the Highlights of each month, so as to remember the different milestones that we experienced each month.

In January, we had the privilege of being featured in the New Paper! I thought that was really cool, considering the fact that Parenting Blogs are practically dominated by Mummies.

In February, Nathan appeared in his first advertisement, as he was featured in print along the NEL Train lines.

In March, the kids had a chance to appear in an OCBC advertisement, and I made my first radio appearance on 93.8 Live. It was definitely a Big Milestone for myself, as my family has some history on the airwaves (My grandfather was Lee Dai Soh).

In April, I got my handy Lumix LX5 Camera which has been following me for most assignments now, as it is more manageable than my DSLR.  Nicole also did one of her performances in school, and my sweet little Nadine celebrated her 3rd Birthday in School.

In May, the kids had a blast, as they were invited to the media launch of “Madagascar” the latest ride at Universal Studios,and HTC also furnished me with their latest tablet – the Flyer. I think these 7 inch tablets are truly under-rated, and I use my Flyer all the time, as it is definitely more handy than my iPad.

In June,  we had a somewhat trying month. We were supposed to go to Beijing on a sponsored trip with Julia Gabriel, but the whole family ended up in hospital. The kids due to food poisoning, and I was down with dengue again.

In July, I managed to win my biggest competition yet. I competed in the Shell Fuel Save Challenge, and I won 1st Prize. That was really cool, as it meant 1 year’s supply of Free Fuel for the family, and I got to represent Singapore in a regional Shell Competition in Malaysia.

In August, the kids performed in their National Day Recital in School, and all 3 kids put up a great show. It was good to see all the kids overcoming their fears and putting up a good public performance.

In September, we had our sponsored “Stay-vacation” at Quincy Hotel off Paragon, and the kids had a blast making muffins and playing in the pool due to the stay. My girls also competed in a Master Chef competition sponsored by Zespri Kiwi Fruit at Asian Food Kitchen.

In October, I completed my 1st Parenting with Confidence class as a facilitator, and it looks like I will be conducting many more classes in 2012. . We also shifted into our new home, and we had a fun time decorating the place. Only thing was that we fell out of love with Ikea furniture.

In November, our family enjoyed a sponsored stay at Hard Rock Hotel Penang. It was definitely a fun outing for the whole extended family, and the kids really loved Adventure Zone in Penang.

In December, Nicole had her milestone recital at Raffles Hotel. This performance marked the coming-of-age of our little girl, as she was going to Primary 1 in 2012.

Looking back, it has certainly been an eventful year, and I am counting my blessings, as we look back at our Adventures. Believing for an even greater year in 2012.

Thanks for being a part of our lives!

If you think that these graduations are still simple affairs, where you just wear your graduation gown and take a photo with a scroll (Remember that photos from your People’s Association Kindergarten), times have changed. In fact, the picture below is the simplest part of the ceremony  

Nicole’s graduation ceremony was at Raffles Hotel with each ticket costing $65, and we had to pay a sum of $400+ for the costumes/graduation ring/calendar.

With prices so steep, even inviting a grandma or a popo will cost us an additional $60/person.

Nicole truly loves the stage and she was really hyped up for her performance. Reporting time was at 845am, and she was up by 7am, making sure that Daddy and Mummy were not late for her performance.

Here are the the pictures of her at her combined graduation performance:

As Nicole also loves to sing and dance, she was also cast as “Mulan” and “Princess Jasmine” in the play Aladdin.

Ok…Mummy has been commenting that these photos are too masculine, so here are the photos of her as Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.

Here are more pictures of her after her performance. She was so happy, as the cameras and all the parents surrounded her.

If you guys want to watch the video of her performance, you can check out the youtube video below. Nicole makes her appearance at 9min in the video and she does a solo item! Daddy and Mummy are of course very proud of her!  

It has been fun getting to know more parents from City Harvest, and I enjoyed finding more about their lives and sharing my Parenting Experiences with them.

I think we all came to a conclusion that Parenting is a journey, where both husband and wife must walk together.  As in every journey, when we have God and encouraging friends to help us along the way, the valleys certainly become less lonely.

We also realized that we should not take ourselves so seriously, and laughter is certainly the best medicine, as we shared about our mistakes

Definitely looking forward to the next class!