Her Version

XY wrote a 'story' of her Sports Day and showed it to me this morning. I think she did quite a good job (ahem... syiok sendiri, obviously :D) although there were some spelling and grammatical mistakes.

In case you can't see it clearly (too colourful for your eyes hahaha), here's the original script :
Today was sports day.
Papa sent me to school.
Me and my friends lined up in front of my class.
My class teacher brought us to the field.
We waited till it was finally our turn.
We lined up and walked to the starting line.
We sat on the soft grass as we waited for a while.
After a while, it was time to play.
After the others played, It was time for me and my partner, Vinutana to play.
After the whole class played, it was announced that I was forth.
After that, I went for prize giving. I was fourth but still get medal. He He.
After prize giving, my family was ready to go.
I was tired, but happy.

She even wrote "He He" for laughter. Coz she saw that in the blog. :D Yeah, she likes to read blogs. Will stand next to me when I'm drafting a post or blog-hopping. Hmmm... since I'm quite slack in updating my blog these days, maybe I could "outsource" it to my little writer. hehehe

First Sports Day

XY had her 1st Sports Day (in primary school) today. It's her first because she missed it last year due to a mild case of HFMD. Her class' event is three-legged race. Her team got last. But everyone still got a medal. The weather was quite good, not too hot. Moreover, a big part of the field was shaded by a tall building near the school. I doubt there's any shade in the afternoon. Imagine them being "baked" while having activities on the field (for afternoon sessions). No wonder she's not as fair as before. :-)

~ waiting for her event to start ~

~ jie jie with funny-looking didi ~

Exam Pointers

XY's mid-year exam results are all back except for Art. I'm really satisfied with her results. I try not to make a big deal out of the marks (of coz the higher the better hehehe) but more on how she fared in the subjects. I'm very happy that she showed improvement in terms of careless mistakes. A good gauge is the Maths papers. For Paper 2 (subjective paper), she made 1 mistake and lost marks for 2 questions because she didn't show the complete workings. Definitely a big improvement. And that's truly rewarding for her "tutor". *big smile*

Everyday during the exam, I had to keep reminding her about the pointers we've discussed. Well, I'm no expert, just helping her to score better. :p Do share with us your exam pointers too. Some pointers that I drill into her :
* read the questions carefully.
* check back all your answers after you've finished the paper, as many times as time permits. Or at least 2 rounds.
* in Maths, use different calculations for checking. For example, if the question is an addition, take the answer to do subtraction for checking.
* for fill-in-the-blanks or matching questions, fill/match the answers that you are very sure of first. If you're lucky, whatever's left is the answer for the question you've left out. If there are more than 1, no choice but to make the best guess. :-)
* check your spelling. Although you choose the right answer, you may/will not get any marks for spelling it wrongly.
* check the back of the paper. Some are printed on both sides. Don't miss out any questions.
* for Maths, show the workings (how you get the answer). Otherwise, even though you get the right answer, you won't get full marks for that question. This was how she lost some marks. (Refer to picture below.) That was really tricky. So after this "lesson", I told her to show ALL the workings in future tests/exams, to be on the safe side.

~ so tricky, got the right answer, but no full marks ~

School Holidays With Grandparents

We went back to Penang to visit Po Po in the first week. Then Ye Ye and Mah Mah came to visit in the second week. The kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins. We didn't go out much when we're back in Penang. They spent a big chunk of time playing with PSP and my SIL's handphone. *shake head* Brought them to Youth Park to play at the playground one evening. There's quite a lot of people, although it was a weekday. I haven't been there for many many years already and the place has changed so much. The playgrounds and exercise equipments are well-maintained. Especially love the big trees surrounding the area, providing shades everywhere.

I also had a gathering with my secondary schoolmates. Finally got to meet Olive, SP and sweetie DQ, after a few unsuccessful arrangements. I think we haven't seen each other for 7 years. Had a great time catching up with the gang at McD. Did the right decision to choose a venue with an indoor playground (although that was just a mini one). I brought XY along and left didi at home with SIL. Smart move coz I was able to truly enjoy the food and company. Just needed to keep an eye on her from our table (we sat very near to the play area).

Ye Ye and Mah Mah stayed at BIL's house. The kids are very happy every time they are here coz they get to spend the whole day (except nap time) playing together with their cousins. And they also love the fact that we go out for breakfast often when their grandparents are here.

CE complained of toothache since Sunday (5/6). Brought him to the dentist on Wed (8/6) and was told there was nothing wrong with his teeth. But there's an ulcer on his gum. Glad to hear his set of teeth are in good condition but have to take note that his upper left molar is a bit dirty. Got to make sure we brush and clean it properly. I asked the dentist to clean his teeth and he was very cooperative, considering that was his first dental visit. But he disliked the taste of the toothpaste so he had to gargle very soon after the dentist started the cleaning work. So it was a few rounds of cleaning and gargling, with the chair adjusted up and down, up and down.

Within a week, XY lost 2 teeth. They came out on their own. And she's really cool about them, although there was a bit of blood. Upper right lateral incisor on 5/6 (just dropped out by itself) and upper left lateral incisor on 9/6 (while playing rough with didi). So now she's RM1 richer. Yes, this tooth fairy is quite stingy one. Only 50 sen per tooth. hahaha

CE's Birthday Celebration

CE turned 5 on Sunday. We had a small do for him at home, together with BIL and family. The birthday boy wanted to eat pizza so we had pizza, KFC and fried noodles for dinner. I did some simple decorations with alphabets (from the alphabet mats) and balloons (a must-have for their birthday parties). I don't think the balloons are hung nicely (and always at the same boring place) but I doubt the boy minded. As long as there're balloons, he's a happy camper.

~ I asked him to pose near the wall deco, he wanted
to "pose" with his artwork from Art class ~

~ the very simple balloon deco ~

As for the cake, he actually requested for a number 5 cake. I checked with the bakery, the minimum weight is 2kg. Last year, we got him a 2kg number 4 cake and we took many many days to finish it. I'm not going to torture ourselves again. So I drew a big circle with a number 5 inside it and showed it to him for approval. Luckily he agreed. Phew... problem solved. I ordered a mango cake from Suki Bakery. It was very nice -- soft and fresh, with mango chunks inside and mango slices on top.

~ mango cake with number 5 on top ~

In order to make the kids sit still after dinner, I let them do sand art. Haiyo! It's not so easy to do when you don't have big containers for sprinkling the colours. And messy too! Luckily I covered the table and floor with newspapers. I'm not sure if those are of low quality stuff (RM3 per pack), but the boys had difficulty peeling it off. So I peeled for them but they decided on the colours to use. Good thing jie jie can do it all by herself. They really enjoyed it and were very proud of their masterpieces. Now that I know they like it, the next time we see sand art at the malls, will let them try again. No more doing sand art at home. :-)

~ sitting still doing sand art ~

After the arts and crafts activity, it's sing-birthday-songs (have to sing in 3 languages -- I guess they followed the custom in kindy :D), blow-candles, cut-cake and eat-cake time. XN (CH's mei mei) missed this part coz she was napping on the sofa.

~ halfway through singing the 3 birthday songs, he put his
hand around jie jie's shoulder. Awww... I think he was shy ~

~ the boys giving their thumbs-up ~

~ his presents -- the t-shirt he's wearing, a cheapo tool set with
belt and helmet, and a Swatch watch (from CH and family) ~

1st Semester Progress Report

Went to kindy to collect CE's exam results and discussed his progress with his class teacher, Ms W. He did quite well in his exam. His scores are all above 90, with full marks for English. Anyway, I'm sure the teacher helped/guided him during the exam coz I saw some erased pencil marks for the wrong answers. hehehe Anyway, to me, exam at this level is not important. It's just to gauge how much the children understood what was being taught in class.

In the developments grading (social and emotional, language, cognitive and motor), he got mostly average and good. The teacher highlighted that he's not very good at cutting with scissors and doing tear and paste work.

Behaviour wise, he's generally ok in school. Ms W commented that he's not the talkative type. She said 5-year-olds are usually quite talkative (probably coz they're more familiar with the surroundings, especially for those who started at 3 or 4 years old). He doesn't really mix and talk much with his friends. He'll answer when teacher asked him questions in class but he usually won't initiate a conversation. I suppose he's the type that only opens his mouth when necessary. :-) In a way, isn't that good? hahaha

The teacher's note in his Report Card :
CE gets along well with his classmates. He can follow teacher's instructions very well. He is good in BM & English reading. He can further improve in Mandarin writing.

Hello Everybody!

Long time no see! Wow... this is the longest break I've taken in the cyber world. Whoosh! 3 months just flew by. Better clear the cobwebs and get back in action before I lose all my blogger friends. hehehe As it is, some have already given me warnings. o.O But seriously, it's really heartwarming to know that there are friends out there (you know who you are) who care and wonder how you're doing when you've been "missing" for some time. Thank you so much for your warm thoughts, girls!

Hmmm, where do I start? Ok, here are some random updates :
* Mother's Day 2011 -- we went back to PaPa's hometown on Saturday to attend his grandma's 80th birthday celebration. We only spent a night there. Didn't even celebrate Mother's Day for MIL as we left after lunch. No celebration for me either. No mood anyway coz CE was sick. I got a card each from the kids.


* CE had his first exam last week. But he has 2 more papers to go because he was sick. Had high fever due to throat infection/gastroenteritis -- diarrhea and stomach cramps.
* Due to his prolonged cough, doctor suggested that CE take Alvesco Inhaler (started on 24 Mac). It's not sprayed directly into the mouth, but used with the AeroChamber. His condition improved after 1 month of usage. He still coughs every now and then, but for a much shorter period compared to last time.
* 19 Mac -- went to the dentist to extract XY's lower right lateral incisor.
* XY started piano lessons in March.
* CE started Mandarin classes in April -- once a week after school hours in his kindy.
* Brought the kids for a haircut in April. Finally snipped off XY's over-the-shoulder-length hair to chin level.
* I went back to Penang for Cheng Beng, alone. It was a good 3D/2N trip away from the kids. :D But too bad I had diarrhea so didn't get to enjoy all the hawker food that I've been craving for. Never mind, will be bringing the kids back again end of May, during the school holidays. Then it's payback time. muahahaha
* Have been watching a lot of tv series -- Hong Kong and Singapore dramas.
* Started eating oats for breakfast (not everyday though) and exercising on the trampoline 2 to 3 times a week to control my cholesterol level. Really hope to keep this up.
* Will be busy preparing XY for her mid-year exam, which will start on 23 May.