Merry Christmas

This Christmas is quiet and it is good. We had too much time and didn't know what to do...we just go with the flow and it is now almost over. We watched Home Alone. The kids enjoyed it and were laughing so hard especially on the tricks Kevin played on the 2 thieves.

Merry Christmas all.

Chloe has been nagging on me for days to bake ginger bread. We finally managed to find some time on the eve to bake those cookies. They just wanted to decorate the cookies, not so much in making them or eating them.

Lucas's work. The right cookie in red and yellow is supposed to be the gingerbread man in bikini.

 Chloe's work

 

The yearly pose with the grandparents.

Opening presents on the eve at the grandparents'house

Opening presents on their own home on Christmas day.

 

They end their Christmas Day with a White Christmas, ie bubble bath

Boxing Day

If I am in Europe or US, I will be busy shopping on Boxing Day, but instead I was busy doing errands. The contractor came to fix the water pump and I took the opportunity to ask him to check some leaks and replaced some hardware. I am now back to shower in my own bathroom. yoo hoo.
I managed to sort out the soft toys. 2 big bags to give away, 1 bag to throw and 1 bag to send for recycling. I am reorganizing the kids' playroom. The room now has to make way for more books and kids' toy. Baby and toddler stuff all need to go.
Also, I surfed Ikea website and now has all the item numbers of the shelves I need to get to the kids' room. Just need to find time to go Ikea to buy them, and ask Ikea to deliver and assemble them. My day off is too precious to be spending on assembling Ikea furniture. The target is to get the kids' room done before I return to work.
Next 4 days will be busy busy. Catching up with friends and a well deserved massage.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day is usually a quiet day for us. We had our usual Christmas brunch at home, which has ham, salmon, croissant, grapefruit, nuts, fruits and home made cookies. We went for biking after brunch and followed by a nap. At night,we went to my aunt's place for a full family gathering from my mother's side. It was very merry. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures to show.

Opening presents from us. Lucas bought the story that the Santa Claus are mom and Dad, and not someone from North Pole.

Christmas Eve

The tradition of Lim's family is have dinner together on the eve. After dinner we get to open the presents. This year, as last year, we have lobster salad and steak, and all home cooked. Sure yummy.

Our yearly pose.

Lucas looking for his gold bar.

Unsure which to open first.

Grandfather and grandson making snow in the tropical weather.

Party Begins

The festive celebration started on Saturday, 22nd Dec. It was my sister's marriage registration and my father's 70th birthday based on lunar calendar. It was sure a busy but happy day. My sister's ceremony was in the morning and the birthday party was in the evening. Here's lots of picture...

Holding the flower bouquet waiting for the bride.

My sister is now officially Mrs Tan.

The best friends playing in the playground. Lucas, Chloe are with my niece, Tung Tung.

Me and my sweetheart. Some people said Chloe looks like me but she is definitely a better version of me.

Making funny faces.

Daddy's sweethearts.

My family.

Santa Claus comes early.

Tree is Up!

Counting down to Christmas.....my angels corner and Christmas tree is up!
In fact, I'm having my first Christmas party today.

This is my angel corner. I'm collecting cute little angels.

My live Christmas tree. We are ready for Christmas.

Christmas Is Around the Corner

Yup, it is the festive season again. Less than one month to Christmas. So looking forward to the holidays. Between now and Christmas, I am planning to meet up with 3 groups of friends i.e. secondary classmates, colleagues from previous companies. Also having a party at home with the kids' playdates aka my mommies group. Will also be celebrating my Dad's 70th birthday and my sister registration of marriage. Really very happening!
I'm on vacation from work from 24th Dec 2012 to 6th Jan 2013. Planning to take the kids to Legoland and Hello Kitty World on first week of January. And lots of shopping to do! I'm updating my Christmas deco this year. The color theme is royal blue and silver. Bought some china and Christmas baubles, and now I need the similar color for my table runner, table cloth, napkins. Need to stock up my cellar too. Oh...the kids are very keen to bake gingerbread man and cookies. Need to get the ingredients soon to practice baking. I'll have to start writing down when I should do what or else I will never get around to do all.
In another 2 weeks, the kids are having their term break. One month holiday for them. Lucas's Mandarin teacher is away for a month, and Lucas has a lot of free time in his hand. He agreed to take up swimming lessons during his school holiday. The deal is once he can swim, we will go to Hard Rock Hotel again. That is his motivation. Now I need to find a swimming instructor for him. As for Chloe, I just found an Arts & Craft teacher for her. Chloe is the arty one. She can draw and color for hours! Thought this might make her happy.

Merry Christmas

Christmas weekend is coming to and end....how did we spend our holidays??
Nothing much except to laze around and eat. On Eve, we had our brunch. We had honey glazed ham and croissant. The ham was highly recommended by the butcher but it was a disappointment. Our usual French ham would have been a better choice. But nevertheless, the strawberries and juices were good. Then for dinner we head to our in-laws' place for sumptuous lobster and beef.

Christmas day was really lazy day. We had the same brunch as the eve, as I bought 1.5kg of ham (and we still have half untouched). Then we pretty much sat in front of the TV or take a nap until dinner time. Dinner was wedding dinner. Food was good and it was good that we actually get out of the house.

Boxing Day is better. We went for a swim and I will be cooking proper dinner tonight - roast pork, potatoes, grilled capcisum and pumpkin.

Enjoying time with my kids and dear husband. Merry Christmas, my dear friends.

Chloe started her meal with chocolate.

Lucas started his meal with strawberries.

7 Days to Christmas

Yes, only 7 days to Christmas and we have yet to buy the most important presents i.e. presents to my in-laws. We have no clue what to buy!
I survived my first week of work....yah! I had to go office everyday but luckily the traffic was good as most people are on holidays. I won't dare to say the same in January. The job, the boss and the colleagues are not bad at all, but I can't work from home all the time....bummer. I'll see how I balance my time and office as I go along. The first day where both of us have to go office, Lucas was telling his father 'It is not fun when both of you are not at home'. Chloe got rather confused and asked 'Why are you going to Daddy's car?' Sigh.....When school starts in January, it is going to be a challenge sending and picking up the kids from schools. Sigh again....need to find alternative transportation.

The kids have been watching this cartoon called Peppa Pig. So, one day Lucas came to me and said, 'Mom, we have to put a glass of milk and mince pie near the Christmas tree so that Santa Claus can drink and eat them when he comes to deliver the present. And we will also know that Santa has come'. Guess who has to drink and eat on behalf of the Santa?? Daddy of course.

Putting up the tree.

Proud of their work.

Deep in concentration. What were they watching?

Watching carolling.

Chloe's Ready for Nursery

Well, Chloe completed her playschool and will be starting Nursery in January. She will then be in school Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to noon. And, I will have some peace and quiet in the morning when both kids are in school.......yah!

On her last day, her Playschool had a Christmas party. The teachers turned the classroom into a playroom and lots of music, dancing, Santa Claus, presents and food. She had a great time, and now I will have difficulty telling her she is not going to school for the next 6 weeks.

She is 11.5kg and 88cm tall. Grown 2 kgs heavier and 4 cm taller since June. Not bad. She has been eating well lately - she eats meat more than her brother.

Getting her hand painted.

Her favourite toy, the balls.

Another favourite of hers, musical insturment, maracas.

Little gardener at home.

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year!
How do we spent the last 2 months of 2010?
Not very exciting, I must say - we spent the time by trying to recover from virus after virus and visits to paed.
The kids recovered on time to go to Singapore. The trip to Singapore was so-so. Orchard Road was so packed with people that we can hardly walk. It was just too crowded. No more Singapore on weekend in December. After the trip, the kids felt sick again.

Then, they recovered on time to go to Penang. Penang was a change from Singapore. We stayed in a beach resort and therefore more relaxing. Somehow, on the last day, the whole family felt sick!! The next 2 weeks were recovering time. Lucas recovered on time for Christmas. He was pretty happy on Christmas. Chloe recovered 2 days after Christmas and she had a good new year's eve. I was so-so on new year's eve. Dominic couldn't care more and behaving like a normal person and recovered the fastest.

So, I am all happy now that we purged the virus in 2010! (hopefully).

I so like my presents. More please....

Packing bubbles can be confetti. Let grandma worries about cleaning up after that.

Can I open my presents now?

Hmmm...how do you like my artwork, how I put up the ribbon?

We are very nice to each others, for these few minutes.

Deep in thoughts.

Look at my yogurt mustache.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Tree is Up

My Christmas tree is up. Dominic's father helped us transport the fresh cut 6 foot tree from Ikea to home. This is the second year we are getting the fresh cut tree. It is nice and not too expensive. And the best part is there is no worry if the tree is not growing too well during the year for next Christmas. It is a new tree every year!
Lucas is older and hence understand more. He helped unpacked the decoration and passed on to Dominic to hang on the tree. At times, he even pointed the exact spots to hang the decorations. Maybe next year, he can hang those ornaments himself. Having said that, Lucas hanged THE ornament, the star on top of the tree.
Chloe was watching from her bouncer. Next year, she can participate.

Lucas is admiring the star he put up earlier.

Chloe is fascinated by the chasing lights.

Merry Christmas

Not interested

A few weeks ago we were toying with the idea of putting up the Christmas tree or not. Our main worry was Lucas bringing down the tree and hurt himself. Then, when we were at shopping malls, Lucas was all excited about the Christmas deco. Pointing his tiny finger at the ornaments and said 'ball'. That was what prompted us to decide so swiftly. Now that our tree is up, he is not interested at all, which is good for us - not worry that he will bring the tree down; and sad cause we wanted him to enjoy looking at the tree like when he is in the mall. I was planning to get him some gifts so that he can have some fun unwrapping presents, and now I am having my second thought.
This month also saw us breaking a number of rules. We minimise Lucas's intake of sugar, salt,spice and oily food. But these few days, we allowed him to have a small piece of chocolate every day. Dominic got Lucas an advent calendar. Advent is an European tradition where children get small gift everyday in December leading to Christmas day. Most Advent calendar has a window for everyday in December and a picture of an ice-cream, candy, lollipop etc. The Advent calendar Dominic got has windows that open to real chocolate. And since it is Christmas, we do not want to deprive Lucas. We just decided to allow Lucas to have some adult food on Christmas day with us. It will not be memorable for him and us if Christmas day is just another ordinary day.
Christmas eve is usually spent at my in-laws' place. We had our dinner there and then had our presents open. Christmas day itself is a quiet day for us. We get to relax at home. This year we are cooking roast duck with red cabbage. I had to google the recipe and prepared our shopping list. Hmmm..can't wait...

In the mood for Christmas

Initially, I planned to involve Lucas in our Christmas tree decoration...just like how he is involved in doing laundry. But he doesn't seem to be interested in a bare tree. So, I have to do it myself. I will see how he will react tomorrow when he sees the tree with the decoration.
This year, we bought a fresh cut tree from Ikea and a new set of ornaments. I got bored with the ornaments that we have been using from the last five years. I changed the color theme to sky blue, and Dominic bought some very nice ornaments from Germany. There is a sentimental ornament we have for Lucas. It is a musical ball which says 'my 1st christmas'. It plays Silent Night. This is Lucas's second Christmas...how time flies. Last year he was sleeping throughout the eve's dinner. This year, I think we will have a hard time trying to get him to sit on his chair throughout the eve's dinner.