We have a foggy X'mas eve this year, weather for the whole day was foggy...can barely see beyond 100m...we hope that it will snow...but no chance at all...
This year christmas party was held on the eve at Beny et Kym's little smurf house. We have gifts presentations by Santa to all kids. The food spread was good too, we have roast chicken, prawns, bulots, oysters, makis, sashimi, cannapes, cold soba, chicken/ fish nuggets, ice-cream log cakes...yum yum...
Btw, Avril has make X'mas craftworks in school, do lookout for her masterpieces...
Over in Singapore, the main X'mas lightings is at Orchard Road but over here in France, our main X'mas lightings where we can enjoy is decorated residence houses along one of the alleys.
We have a few celebrations here over in France and I'm going to update you guys here one at a time...
The 1st X'mas celebration is held at hubby's workplace, Cazaux Airbase on the 17 Dec 2008. On this day, Avril's mood is lousy as she was still feeling sick. She has been having fever for the past few days and the fever just come and go away...but on that day seeing her feeling better, so I brought her to the celebration to feel the festive mood. The highlights for this year was Santa arriving via HELICOPTER, a stage show for the kids and of course presents for the kids! Here are some snapshots:
"Am I putting up a strong front?" This is one of the queries which I always ask myself. Maybe in the eyes of the others, when they see me still acts as per normal, they might think that I am putting up a strong front. But to us, after experiencing so much obstacles in life, we have learnt to be strong and face reality to move forward because it's fated. Right now, I'm not alone or just between hubby and me, we still have Avril to love.
I want to strike TOTO but no luck but I have never expect that I have this unusual luck to strike this unusual prize twice...so "heng".
Well, life has to go on, when it comes it will come, if it does not belongs to you no matter how hard you try to keep it going, it will fail, like what I have quoted, it's fated.
PS: Specially for our three darlings, our love will always be with you.
Halloween falls on the 31st October and to me, this day is just like us, the chinese celebrating 清明节。During this time of the year, you will notice that pots of flowers especially chrysanthemums are selling everywhere and more cars are seen near to cemetries. So this derives to, Westerners are just like Easterners, we do practice the same kind of festivals.
On this special day, its the happy time for the kids, Trick or Treats! They get the chance to dress into different types of characters and goes house to house to ask for Bonbons aka sweets. This year round, I have arranged a small Halloween Party for most of the kids who has caught the HMFD before and this is the 1st gathering after the incident to BOO away the disease...
The theme of the party: DIY Halloween Just for Kids! All mummies has to start cracking their brains on how to dress the kids up without buying costumes and preparing the potluck dishes. The best dressed kid will walk away with a prize and the judges are all the Daddys.
You must be wondering what kind of characters do we have? Well, there are Superman, Miss Shrek, Baby Rabbit, Fairy, Dracula, Black Cat, Darth Vader and Baby Bumble Bee.
Eager to see them in person? Here it is, presenting Halloween 2008 snapshots:
And the winner is.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AVRIL, the Black Cat with 72 points!(Kelong! Kelong! Kelong! kekeke)
As we are the host of the event, we have decided to present the prize to the next winner Zavier, the Superman with 68 points! Well done mummy Serene and Zavier!
It's back to school time for Avril after the long quarantine which lasted for 3 weeks. This means that she can attend gym and dance officially too...YEAH! She's so happy and looking forward to go to school and joining all the activities.
Last night, she has already given instructions on how she wants to be dressed, Dora socks is a MUST et Dora Tee. This morning when she woke up I was expecting her to greet me Good Morning Mummy...but sad to say..the 1st thing she says is,"Must wear Dora socks!"..sob...
Gosh! I think it's really been a long time since we last went to school as we were rushing like mad today...the gate is open from 0850hrs to 0900hrs...and we left the house at 0850hrs...maybe you are wondering why we are so late...kekeke... My intention is for gal to sleep awhile longer but I didin expect that today, she's taking her own sweet time to drink milk, brush teeth, etc... luckily when we reached the school at 0900hrs, the gate is still open...phew...and poor Serene is still waiting for us with Damian in the car outside the school... so sorry Serene...kekkeke....
Since it has been quite some time we didin go to school, we have to check the notices for any updates. The latest one is, there will be a class photo taking session tomorrow, 14 October, so tomorrow must wake up earlier to dress up gal for the photo taking session...kekekek...
Ok, now its R&R time, I shall stop here and enjoy my long awaited 1st 3hrs of freetime...
Eversince I showed Avril on the usage of the camera last year, she is so excited about it. Every now and then she will take the camera and shoot whatever pictures she think is interesting. After shooting, she will show us the pictures and explain what was it or the story behind the picture...her creativity level is high..kekeke...
I must says that Avril is growing up well as she has becomes bossy no.2..all thanks to me the mummy who is bossy no.1...kekeke....
There were several occasions where she's such a bossy that Bok and I really can't stand it till we either tell her off or laughs our heads out. Here are some of the many scenarios.
Scene 1: Remembering a few nights ago, I was supposed to tell her a story where we always do that during bedtime. She covered herself with the blanket and getting ready to listen to the story but was interrupted by daddy everytime I wanted to start the story then suddenly she says,"Papa, don't talk so much." At that time, Bok and I was caught off guard by what she said...Bok says he felt like somebody had slapped him and ask him to stop talking..so LL he shut himself..and we laughs our heads off..hahhaaaa...
Scene 2: Over here in France, we Singaporeans are really baby boomers...one after the other, friends are getting pregnant. Avril gets to see and feel the process of pregnancy and then the delivery of the baby. So now she always touch her belly and says that: - "I have bb in my 肚子(stomach), you have bb in your 肚子 also mummy.."(pengz man cos I'm not pregnant at all...) - "My bb is hungry, quick cook mummy, quick" - "My 肚子 is pain, bb coming out alrdy.."(pengzz..) Sometimes, I must says that I really takes my hat off her...she remembers that when stomach is pain means bb coming out...kekekke
Scene 3: Whenever Bok or me is doing something or preparing dinner, she will walk/run to us asking:
Gal: What you doing huh mummy? Me: Doing something. Gal: Something what? Me: aiyah, I'm going to cut the vegetables. Gal: I can do it So this time round she helps to prepare the vegs.
Gal: Papa what you doing huh? Papa: Cutting nails. Gal: I can do it, I help you to cut. Papa: NO NO NO, go 躺躺(lie down) on the sofa. And this time round, she kenna shoo away...sobbing away on the sofa...
See. these are really the live examples of growing up kids...sometimes we really don't know how to react to them and sometimes I really wonder has gal grow too fast? kekeke...
Here are some pictures to share on her dressing for school and dance.
Finally, this marks the finale for my backlogs...kekeke...here it goes...
14 Sept 2008: Mid Autumn Festival Celebration We had a celebration at Jasmine's place and I must say that they really did the effort in decorating and putting up the lanterns in the house and garden to create the heart warming atmosphere. We have gorgeous food as it's a potluck session and we get to eat other delicacies made by other families and of course the main dish, The Mooncakes..YUMMY!
Well, the kids as usual has lots of fun with the lanterns, fire sparks and mini fireworks. Well, from this celebration, I have learnt something new but maybe to others its nothing new anymore...kekeke...the lesson is we can use tealight instead of candles in the lanterns which is safer!! Maybe this method had been used for quite some time already but I'm still a "mountain tortoise" till now then I knew about it..kekkee...
Here are some pictures:
17 Sept 2008: Yoga for Kids We have wanted to let our kids try out yoga here so while attending a yoga session for the wives conducted by a S'porean wife who is a yoga instructor, its Jasmine again who pop out this question to Dawn and she agreed to conduct a trial class for the kids..YIPPEE...
So we gathered 7 kids ages from 2.5yrs to 6 yrs old to attend the trial class. Sad to say, this session did not last long as this is the first and last session for the kids..kekkee...the reason behind for this is distractions which is inevitable for them..so hiazz..there goes away the kids' yoga...
Luckily, Jasmine still managed to take some pictures, here it goes:
And this is our yoga instructor, Dawn. Cool pose!
PS: All pictures are with courtesy from Jasmine again..(she sure takes lots of pictures!)
10 Sept 2008: Trial Class for kids' dancing in La Teste Over here in France, there are limited activities for kids below 4 years of age to participate except for baby gym which caters for children of these age group. I tried to call and ask around in our "kampong" but sad to say, they only accept kids with a minimum age of 4 years old...
Without giving up the chances for our kids to learn, I approached one of the dancing school in La Teste which I have aimed for a long time, and now is the period to enrol (in France, annual enrollment for activities is during September). When I ask the directrice, she looked at Avril and ask her if she likes dancing in french, Avril nodded her head...so the directrice suggests to let Avril try for it and I "shun bian" tell her that another kid is interested too...and its GRANTED!! I am so happy on that day, as finally, there's another activity for Avril to attend besides gym. So I "jio" Jasmine to bring Shannon along on that day for the trial class(which is free).
While waiting for the kids, I was feeling abit worried if the dance school will accept them as they are only 3 years old although the kids can follow the instructions and dance together with the instructress so after the class, we approached the instructress to ask for their progress...and it turns out BON! Phew, we are really relieved to hear that and we moved them to another branch in our area(Gujan Mestras) which is nearer...
Here are some pics and videos to share:
PS: Pictures and videos with courtesy from Jasmine :)
2 Sept 2008: 1st day of Nursery Class at L'Ecole Chambrelent in France Avril is so excited on this day. Although the school gate opens at 0850hrs, but Avril has woken up as early as 0600hrs by herself and pester me to go school. For myself, I think I'm also getting excited about it too as I couldn't get to sleep for the past 2 nights...heheee..here are some pics to share...
4 Sept 2008: The Making of Mooncake Before we begin to make the Mooncake, Jasmine had prepared almost all the ingredients except for those impt items like alkaline water, gao fen for snow skin mooncakes, hong kong flour for oven baked mooncakes...hehee.so funny rite..so we helped to source for the items and replacement of certain items if possible...and luckily we did manage to solve these...On this day, a few wives and me gathered at Jasmine's place and getting ready to make mooncakes ourselves and you know wat...all of us know nuts about making mooncakes...kekekee...
Actually, the process of mooncake making process seems to be easy when you have all the ingredients ready...the difficult part is the outcome of the product. For the baked mooncakes, once it is cracked, its considered as failed..but to us..who cares..as long as its edible we'll eat it anyway kekeke..cos it's our hard work and mooncakes are hard to get it here..tho there are S'poreans selling the mooncakes at 5/6 euros per piece depending on snow skin or baked mooncakes and flavour...
Here are some pics on our final products:
PS: Mooncake pictures are with courtesy from Jasmine's Blog...
Phew..taking a rest after cleaning and disinfecting the house, more chores to come...cleaning on the mountainess of toys...
No one will know how HFMD is like if you have never encountered one yourself. As parents, it really pains to see the child being struck with any disease and having poor appetite. Other mums whose child has caught this disease says that their child are not able to consume any food except fluids, this is really saddening although my gal can still eat alittle which is a blessing in disguise.
For today HFMD Continue issue, I will be adding more information and precautions for AWARENESS as sometimes IGNORANCE really HURTS which I have derived from this learnt lesson.
Some Informations to share to create AWARENESS:
1) Usually we can find all the information we want through doctors, web, etc but I personally feel that experience with the disease is also a credit. This is one info which I have known from a mum whose kids has encountered with HFMD and I guess not many people are aware of this. Do you know that besides the first week after symptoms appear or while there is fluid in the affected child’s blisters is the most contagious period, there is actually another period to be aware of? When she told me, I was really caught off guard, let me disclose this, another period which is the most contagious is during the recovery stage. I don't think many people are aware of this..so pls bear this point in mind.
3) Here are some general information to share: Transmission and Incubation Period HFMD is transmitted from person to person by direct contact with the fluid in the child’s blisters or from direct contact with secretions from their nose and throat. The virus is also present in the child’s faeces, so inadequate hand washing after toileting or changing a nappy can also cause the virus to be spread. Once infection with the HFMD virus has occurred, the time until symptoms appear (incubation period) is usually between three and six days. HFMD is most contagious in the first week after symptoms appear or while there is fluid in the affected child’s blisters. However, the virus can remain present in the faeces for several weeks. Extracted from: http://www.southerncross.co.nz/index.cfm?0743A3A8-9C04-4A0B-A412-CFA4E366320C
From MOH: Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a common childhood disease caused by a group of viruses known as Enteroviruses which includes Coxsackie A16 (CA16) and Enterovirus 71 (EV71). The infection is spread through direct contact with the nasal discharge, saliva, faeces or blister fluid of an infected person and indirectly by contaminated articles. Young children, particularly those aged less than five years, are most susceptible. The infected person can present with the following symptoms: • fever • sore throat and runny nose • rash with blisters on the palms, soles or buttocks • mouth ulcers While this disease is typically mild and self-limiting, on rare occasions, complications involving the heart and brain could occur and result in death.
Precautions: The following is a set of advice to help you and your family to manage HFMD at home. 1. Parents should consult a doctor early if their child has fever, mouth ulcers and rashes on the palms, soles or buttocks. 2. Maintain high standards of personal and environmental hygiene to minimise the spread of HFMD. Parents should ensure that their children adopt the following good practices: • Wash hands with soap before eating and after going to the toilet; • Cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; • Do not share eating utensils. • Do not share any food or drinks.
Today, instead of publishing the activities photos here, here I am attaching photos of the HMFD (Hand Mouth Foot Disease).
Yes, you are right. Avril has caught the disease with symptoms of redness on the tongue since Saturday and developing to ulcers till date. The PD had confirmed and was immediately diagnosed as HFMD. The surprising thing is before I depart to the PD, I did a check on Avril but found nothing on the hand and foot. But at the PD, there were red spots on the hand and the PD says that more are coming out...and just now, reached back home, I found some red spots on her foot...so all we have to do is check and check and check...
Well, all we have to do now is to disinfect the whole house and the toys!! Maintain cleanliness and practicing good hygiene for the next 2 months or so...
Although the PD said that she can go back to school next week, but the management here had enforce all kids to be quarantine at home for 2 weeks with no school and activities.
How do you like my blog layout?I think I have taken too much time trying to figure out how and where to get all the additional gadgets to be added or modified for my blog eversince I've created it. As much as you have guessed I am definitely a blogger dummy...heheee... But with the help of some advisors like Jasmine, Peishan and informations in BB's Blog it's definitely a great step forward for me. Thanks Gals!
Phew, this September 2008 is defintely an eventful and exciting month for me and my gal, Avril. Ok, here's a list of events which had taken place and hopefully I will post the pics up soon...
Busy September 2008: 2 Sept 2008: 1st day of Nursery Class at a Public School in France 4 Sept 2008: The Making of Mooncake 6 Sept 2008: Registration day for Kids' Gym 9 Sept 2008: 1st day of Yoga 10 Sept 2008: Trial Class for kids' dancing in La Teste 12 Sept 2008: Registration cum Trial Class for kids' dancing in Gujan Mestras 14 Sept 2008: Mid Autumn Festival Celebration 17 Sept 2008: Yoga for Kids 19 Sept 2008: Wedding Anniversary
Okok, seems that there's too much activities listed here, I will stop till this date as for now. Hopefully I will get all the pics ready for each event to be posted here soon...
Here I am, re-joining the blogging community after a failed attempt. Sad to say I'm still new to blogging. Hope that there's always something for me to write in my little corner.
