Chinese New Year is not just a season of Ang Pows and an exchanging of greetings, but it is also the time of the year, where Nicole has her yearly performance in school.

As usual, Nicole was “pumped up” for her performance.

However, this year, the performance was going to carry a deeper meaning for the family: As it was also….drum roll…Nathan’s 1st Public Performance.

Nathan has been attending Pre-School for only 1 Month, and naturally this was going to be a BIG time of adjustment in his life.

Naturally, Nathan was not at his  ***cough*** cough *** “VERY BEST”

Just look at him and his friends…I think the anticipation is killing them…check out the “NOT Happy face”

Nathan has not “broken out of his shell” yet, so he does like the public attention.

Check out him and our friends daughter in comparison:

Yes…That is him crying…despite the fact that Daddy was standing in front of him.

When the music started, the kids were supposed to pick up their tambourines and do some simple dance steps.

This is what the situation was like 1 min into the music…

Yes…All the kids in the back row had stage fright…and were basically stoic throughout the performance. (I think the “not-so-good” performers are all put behind!)

Don’t worry, he was alright…and Daddy gave him a big hug after the performance. My boy will definitely do better next year!

Meanwhile, Nicole was looking forward to her performance…

It was a Chinese Ribbon Dance and she performed well!

Overall, the kids enjoyed the whole outing, as the school organized a mini carnival after the event, and the kids enjoyed themselves with the food and the games!

MeiMei was there as well and she loves playing with the drums!

Here’s a picture with the 2 girls and their teacher wishing everybody a Happy CNY!

We are constantly looking for new things to do with the kids, and with the success of the last bake out with the kids, we decided to something along those lines again.

The picture is really enticing – and the moment I picked it off the shelves at the supermarket, Nicole was super-duper excited! She was jumping up and down the trolley!

Upon reaching home, the kids were more than ready to bake their Oreo Cake.

Advice for parents

The kids actually love getting involved in the whole process of getting the cake done.

Here are some pictures of the kids getting the cake done:

Little Nadine was fighting to get involved as well. U can see her peeping from the the bottom of the table top!

At the end of the day, making the cake was more fun than eating it…as we did not even manage to finish eating the cake.

But mummy and the kids certainly had fun in the kitchen!

What makes a family?

I believe a family is a unit that spends time together.

The children are a real blessing and we really had a fun time together as a family in Melaka.

Auntie Weng (Our Domestic Helper) has gone for about 2 weeks, but the children are getting used to having her not around. We just spent loads of time with them after she left. It just proves that we really need to spend time with the kids, as they do not seem to have very long memories when they are young (Aside: it is no wonder how young Christians seem to forget God very easily).

But this extra time with the family seems to have gone a long way with little Nadine!

Just a couple of days ago, my 1year 6 month old daughter allowed Daddy to bring her out alone, and we went to visit a friend together. (In the past, we noticed that she didn’t like to be carried by Daddy!) What a change in our relationship! She was very easy and did not make much of a fuss, when we spent some time together.

The most difficult part about having 3 kids, is that you need to spend personal time with each of them. This is something that I am still learning today!

Before I go, here are also some interesting places that you can see in Melaka:

There is an Observatory Tower that gives you a picturesque view of the old Melaka city.

At just $20 ringget/adult, you will get a real good view of the city.

The Pirate Ship pictured above is also a museum which the kids can visit. Inside, there are various exhibits which will give you a history of Malacca.

Malacca also has it’s own version of the Singapore Flyer.

It is called the “Eye on Malaysia”

This gigantic ferris wheel is much smaller than the one found in Singapore, and at $20 ringget, you will get to go about 4 rounds on this big ferris wheel.

The capsules are much smaller than the ones found in Singapore, and it actually feels as spacious as a Sentosa Cable car.

The ferris wheel actually goes quite fast, so don’t expect the slow rides that u get on the “Singapore Flyer” or on the “London Eye”.

If I have money for just 1 ride, which ride would I go for?

The Observatory tower wins hands down!

Firstly, it is higher than the “Eye on Malaysia” and it also offers a better view. The “Eye” is located too far away from the main city to give a good view of city!

One sad thing that I noticed was that – the machines were not well maintained. Despite being less than 2 years old, the parts were already rusting! I’m not sure if these machines can last long at this rate! 

However, the kids enjoyed every moment of the ride!

Parents are naturally very over protective of their children.

Just the other day, Nicole told me that she has not 1 but 3 boyfriends!

Daddy naturally wanted to see who they were…

In my mind, I was mentally scanning through her classmates and wondering who they were…

Was it candidate A?

Was it candidate B?

Or was it candidate c?

I wonder if all Fathers are like me: even if the candidate was:

Brad Pitt…Zac Efron…Johnny Depp…Matthew McConaughey…Daddy has his reservations about any guy she brings home…

Pitt – the name sounds pathetic…

Zac – Don’t trust those boys who are in high school…

Depp – Sounds a bit shallow…

McConaughey – too difficult to pronounce…

Yes…I know…All lame excuses… Daddy seems to have reservations about every MAN!!!

In fact, I convinced Nicole to choose only ONE boyfriend…and that boyfriend is…

I wonder if all parents are so protective over their children

Will Nicole and Nadine’s husbands meet Daddy’s stringent criteria?

Parenting 301 – will most probably be learning to let go…Only God can help me!!!

Last week was Grandpa’s birthday, and the kids went to the family’s favourite Cantonese restaurant at Tanjong Pagar.

It was Grandpa’s 72th birthday, and we are so glad to celebrate his birthday together with him!

It was also extra significant, as this is Dad’s first birthday as a Christian! He was so excited when his Cell group celebrated his bdae for him a few days earlier. He even asked me to make sure that I get him to cg early…(He doesn’t make many requests, so to get one, is already not the norm)

As usual, the kids loved the celebrations even more, especially when there were cakes and candles included.

Nathan and Nicole fought over the blowing of candles and the cake cutting! (Look at Nathan stretching his hands over his sister, so as to cut the cake!)

The kids loved the celebration and even Nadine enjoyed her moments with grandma!

We had great fun and we are looking forward to Grandpa’s next birthday!