School Holiday Week 2 (2) - Christmas Hand Prints

I saw some Christmas related craft ideas online and decided to modify some for the kids. I took Alfee's hand and painted Santa Claus on it. He couldn't stand the feel of wet paint on his hand but it was the sticky, stiff feel of dry paint that made hime rush to the bathroom to wash after each print. We even stuck cotton balls as beard for one of the hand prints. After he washed his hands 2-3 times, I decided we had enough of handprints. Instead, I took his thumb to make a candy cane of thumb prints. 

Sophie got very motivated to do the same crafts after she saw Alfee's works. Unlike him, Sophie was able to do the crafts mainly on her own. She even did two candy canes and told me they were dancing candy canes. Of course, she prefered Santarina to Santa Claus. 

Sophie's fast appraoching 5 years old, so I think it's time for her to assume more responsibility in this family. She seems very receptive and positive about the tasks I assigned her so far. She even showed Alfee how she vacuumed the floor after messing up the floor with craft stuff. Good job, girl! 

Sundays With Ah Boh

Sophie wanted to put on her new dress badly. I bought it for her birthday party, together with a can can skirt, to make her look like a little princess in gown. For 2 years, she has been asking for a Disney Princess gown for her birthday but we really don't like to buy her something she would only wear once (that we wouldn't want to be seen with her in it). Thus, we settled for a nice pink dress in the end.

We parked at City Hall and walked to Marina Square for dinner at Jack's Place. Ah Boh was with us. Little Missy always love to hoard Ah Boh so that she will get her exclusive and undivided attention.

The kids love the 'ballistic' X'mas decoration. Alfee tried to take the 'balls' out so many times, I wonder when he's ever going to understand they are fixed there for good.

The highlight of the evening was the walk back to City Hall. We walked past Hershey's and gobbled some samples. Ah Boh also bought us chocolates and candles. It took us a lot of discipline to stop ourselves from eating everything then and there... okay, I speak for myself! 

Yeah... Weekends Again!

I really hate it when Alfee scream but I literally flinch and cower if he screams at our corridor. Our neighbours can hear us very clearly even when we use our normal conversation volume, so his screams would be quite unbearably loud and painful. Yet, the kids love to play and scream just before we take the lift down.

We left home slightly earlier so we ended up sitting at Starbucks while waiting for Sophie's JMC class. Frankly, the joint is quite pathetic with very little variety in the morning. However, we didn't want to join the crowds inside Thomson Plaza. 

Slowly but gradually, Alfee can sit on booster seat or normal chairs with the restraints of straps. He still wiggles off every now and then but he can understand what is required and expected of him. He's also a lot more aware of his environment so he will always take note of where we are and come back ti us when we call out to him.

I think in terms of music sense, Alfee seems to be a little better than Sophie. I suspect it has something to do with their learning styles. Sophie is definitely a more visual person than him and he picks up things way too easily and quickly from what we say. After Sophie's JMC class, we stopped by the video shop to rent some night entertainment. 

When Sophie was in her art class, we went to Kinokuniya. It has been a while since we lingered and bought from there. Nowadays, I browse there for inspirations and buy books online. I still get magazines there though. I might subscribe eventually because it's too costly to buy copy by copy off rack, but it's also a hassle to subscribe. 

It's interesting to watch how Sophie and Alfee grow and develop. Sophie used to whine for the pram because the walking made her tired. And I used to carry Alfee in my arms everywhere for a long time before he grew accustomed to the pram. Now, he's starting to prefer walking.

School Holidays Day 5

We started the day with some seat work. I am slowly starting to realise how bad I have been as a teacher. I was never organised and I hated routine. I always preferred doing something outrageous with my class to following the school SOW and hounding the kids for their homework. Now with my own kids, I really loathe doing work with them. It's super boring to prefect Sophie's penmanship. I just want to show them beautiful pictures of animals in magazines sometimes.

After their nap, we baked some muffins. No, I could only use premix. I lack the precision necessary for the measurement and the discipline to follow instruction. Alfee watched as Sophie did most of the work. He did enjoyed the end product though. 

Reading I could manage. I like to read myself so it's always interesting to share books with the kids. I do however have problems with readers because they are so boring. I recognise how useful they are to promote and assess reading, but they are so flat. 

Sophie's starting to write so I try to encourage her a little. Again, I find it a chore to make her use certain vocabulary etc... so I think I'll just let her write freely for now.