Birthday

Here's our big 5 Year Old!  I really can't believe Madeline is 5.  She LOVED every second of being 4 and I'm sure she's going to love every moment of being 5.  When she woke up, she got to open the presents from family.  We planned a birthday party at our condo starting at 10:00 am.  It was just a simple party with only the friends that were in town and able to come.  Madeline had a ball!

We decorated the function room.  

We made candy necklaces with string and fruit loops.

Chalking was a big hit!

We had a race to fill up the buckets with water, using a sponge or a spoon.

Of course, there was cake.  Madeline decorated it herself!

The birthday girl and Dad!  I love this picture!!

Family photo!

I think the highlight was when Sean (pictured left) and Scott decided that they knew the entire Firework! dance and they got up and performed it for all the moms and kids.  Awesome!

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Twas the week before Christmas...

It's New Years Eve.  I haven't blogged in ages.  I have so much to say about what we've been up to for the last 2 weeks.  I hope everybody has enjoyed their holidays!  We sure have.

Let's get started....

Scott's growing a beard...  You'll see more of this as my photographic timeline continues...

Madeline asked to go to Build A Bear for her birthday.  There is a Build A Bear at The Nex, so the first weekend of our holiday, we headed over.  The kids have been to Build A Bear in Austin, twice.  Once for a fundraiser/charity.  We didn't keep the bears they made.  A second time for a birthday party.  This was the first time they have the privilege of selecting any animal they wanted.  Scott had never been.  We had a good time!

Madeline was excited!

Meet Princess.  A GIANT pink Hello Kitty!  Complete with purple (of course) dress, sparkle shoes and a purse.

This is Fairy.  A German Shepard dressed in a rainbow fairy costume, complete with wings and pink dress shoes.

This is Fuego.  A dragon with wings and an egg.  Dressed to go skateboarding with a helmet, knee and elbow pads.  The dragon is special because the next year is the Year of the Dragon in Chinese astrology.

Well...  Monday, December 19th started our first week of the school break.  Scott was working all week and I just knew that the time would get away from me if I didn't plan a daily schedule.  I wanted to take advantage of this time home with my kids to see some of the sites around Singapore and do some fun activities.

Monday, we had some friends over to do some cookie baking.  It was pretty messy and a little chaotic, but I think all the kids had fun!

Tuesday, we stayed home and swam and did laundry and house cleaning.  Not too fun, but it has to be done!

On Wednesday, we went to the Zoo!

We had a great time!  The highlight was definitely riding the elephants!  I don't get to take too many pictures when it's just me and the kids out and about.  The elephant below is the one we rode!  There's a man standing next to it, so you can see how tall they are!  The Asian Elephants are not as big as the African Elephants (usually the kind in the US Zoos).  Later in January we are planning a trip to Thailand and an elephant excursion is part of our plans.  I wanted the kids and I to try out an elephant ride before that trip. 

I let the kids take some pictures with my camera when we were waiting in line for the elephant ride.  These two cracked me up!

There are painted elephants all over Singapore!  It's called the Elephant-Parade and it's an art fundraiser to save the Asian Elephants.  Right now, it's in Singapore and it's amazing!  The kids are really loving it and so am I!  We've seen a bunch of them.  In January, all of the Elephants will be auctioned off.  Before the Auction, all of them will be on display in the Botanic Garden.  I hope we can  make it over to see them all lined up!

On Thursday, we had some friends over for a play date and we built fairy houses!  I moved all of the furniture aside and put down some splat mats.  The kids were very creative with paint and stickers and flowers and feathers!  

Wyatt is pictured here with our new chalkboard fabric!  We can't really use sidewalk chalk around the condo.  The guards and cleaning staff don't appreciate it.  At a play date at a friend's house, she brought out some chalkboard fabric!  I thought it was brilliant!  I headed off to the craft store and picked up a couple of meters.  The kids love it.  It's easy to clean too.

On Friday, I took the kids to Sentosa!  Our plan was to go to the Butterfly Garden.  The train let us off near the Merlion and we decided to check it out first.  To my amazement, we could go inside and up to the top!  The inside was very cave like with carvings of mermaids and ships.  There was a little animated video about how Singapore got its name and how the Merlion became the city mascot.  The kids and I really enjoyed it!

This is us at the top of the Merlion.

This one is inside the Merlion's mouth.

Sentosa is such a fun place!  There are things to explore around every corner.  

This one is inside the butterfly park.  I didn't get too many pictures because I was busy trying to keep up with the kids.  We were very impressed with the size of some of the butterflies.  Some of them were larger than my hand!  Amazing!

Tired girl...  Big day.

Next up, Madeline's Birthday and Christmas!!

Firework!

Holiday Blurr...

Whoa...  Life has been going so fast this month.  Wow.  Think about how busy December always is, and how busy May is with the end of the school year.  Now combine them and you have my life this month.  Whoa!  

Yesterday was the last day of the school year for my kids.  Now we have 5 weeks off and the new school year starts on January 25th.  Lily will start Year 1 and Madeline will start Prep.  Both girls will be 5 days a week, full time.  

Over the last two weeks, we've had class parties, performances, gift exchanges, our condo Christmas party, farewells and the regularly scheduled play dates, gymnastics, etc.  Many people go home for the holidays.  A lot of our friends are leaving on their holidays today or sometime this weekend.  Since this is the break between school years, if any of our Australian friends are moving, returning home or changing careers, this is the time to do it.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to do my Christmas shopping.  I've been going out after we finish dinner.  Scott's been putting the kids to bed a lot and I've been braving the Singapore shopping malls at night.  I'm mostly finished.  I just need a couple of things for Scott...  But, I have a week to do it.

I'm feeling a little disorganized.  My plan is to make a list today of all of the things that I want to do and see in Singapore over this holiday.  The kids are really tired.  They just need a day of rest and hanging at home.  I need it too.

Here are some pictures from our life these last couple of weeks...

Me, seen through Madeline's eyes (and my iphone).

Santa visited our condo!  The kids were so excited!  He had a wrapped gift for each child.  So fun!

I know it's blurry, but you can still see the joy on Madeline's face.

Madeline's preschool class celebrated her birthday on the last day of school.  I brought in a Yule Log for the occasion.

We visited the Botanical Gardens (finally).  It was gorgeous!  I plan to go back a few times over this holiday to get a better feel for it.  It's very large.  Absolutely lovely!

This is how Wyatt did much of the Botanical Garden.

Family photo, Orchard Road in front of one of the many Christmas trees.  Orchard Road is a special place in Singapore.  Each year, the government commissions an artist to design the Christmas decorations.  It's gorgeous!  

Madeline is in the front and center.  This is her preschool class.  They sang some Christmas songs for us at their Christmas party.  Beautiful!

Every night at our house.  

The final Unit of Inquiry for Lily was about dance and movement.  All of the prep classes made up a dance routine and performed it at their concert called Friday Fever.  It was amazing!

The decorations were made by the children in their Art class.  The song was chosen by democratic process in class.  Lily's class chose Firework by Katy Perry.  Each child made up one move and then they put the movements together to make up the dance routine.

Friday Fever started with a Flash Mob.  It was awesome.  In addition to the class dances, the children also learned a Chinese Fan Dance and the Mexican Hat Dance and the Macarana!

Needless to say, I was impressed.  

Giving The Gift of Love

I am really excited about our advent calendar this year. 

The theme is LOVE.  Love in all the languages of LOVE.  It's beautiful!  I am giving my children the gift of love each day.

It works like this...  There are 24 days in the advent calendar.  There are 5 love languages plus we need a little chocolate.  So, in days 1 - 5, there will be one gift for each child on each day from a different love language.  Day 6 - chocolate for everyone!  And then we start again.  At the end of the month, everyone will have received 4 gifts from each of the 5 languages and 4 days of chocolate.  Follow me?

Words - An affirmation.  A love letter.  I am writing them each a letter.  Scott will write them each a letter.  I'm asking each of them to write their siblings a letter.  

Time - Special 1 on 1 time.  Whatever they want to do or talk about.  They get to stay up 15 minutes past bedtime with either mom or dad.  An extra book, time with mom or dad.

Gift - An item.  A toy, an ornament for the tree, a new book or stickers.  

Service - This one is a gift for mom.  Clear the table after dinner.  Make the beds.  Pick up the toys.  Put away the laundry.

Touch - Hugs.  A foot massage.  A back massage.  An extra cuddle.  This one is easy.

When I told the kids about the calendar they were very interested in the 5 different love languages.  Right away Lily started helping me with the house chores and telling me that she was doing it because she loved me.  It's beautiful.  It's going to be a fun month!

I bought special hand made cards for the love letters.  I'm using a scrap of of wrapping paper to write the notes for extra time or service or touch and then rolling them up into a scroll and tying them with a little ribbon.  The gifts are easy, just wrapping them and the chocolate is easy too.

I found this calendar already made for pretty cheap and I thought it'd be perfect!  The pockets are large, about 3 inches wide.  I can fit everything I need in it.