Tuesday, July 29, 2008

We've got Guests

It has been a while since we had guests at home except for the usual family. We had Uncle Andrew and Auntie Ruth over for a visit on Sunday night and the girls love having Auntie Ruth around. Although they probably cannot remember they've met Auntie Ruth, both Kieona and Kierra were really confident about talking to Auntie Ruth and showing off whatever possessions they had, including the caterpillar. Mommy is just glad that my girls have grown up and are comfortable talking with other adults. Ahh, life's little sweet successes for bringing up children.....
This one's for the camera

The Angry Caterpillar!

After seeing the osmeterium of the caterpillar, the kids in the family seem to want to imitate that. This is their version:
The Angry Caterpillar
Or is it the Act Cute Caterpillar?

Monday, July 28, 2008

Lifecycle of a Butterfly Part 2

Did you ever know that when a caterpillar gets frightened, it raises two red antennae-like thing on its head? Well, we definitely didn't know until Eugene went to touch one of the caterpillars. We took this photograph just yesterday, after Maria stroked it with a stick.
Look at the orangey-red antennae when it gets frightened

We did a search on this and apparently it is common, just that it is something we didn't know before. For the record, it is called Osmeterium.

Floral Additions to our Garden

Mommy is into growing edible plants but recently the garden looks a little dull with just the green colours. A trip to the nursery on Thursday yielded some floral additions to our otherwise pure green garden. There was a new shipment of plants and many of them were lovely. With our limited space, Mommy allowed the girls to choose only a flower plant each. We finally adopted a yellow rose plant and a red floral plant (we forgot to check with the nursery about the name of the plant). They certainly look beautiful now sitting in our garden.

Kieona and Kierra with the new flowering plants
Oops, Kierra's crying because the plant pee-ed on her

Singapore Garden Festival 2008

Despite feeling tired and a little sick on Friday, we visited the Singapore Garden Festival at Suntec City. Kieona had skipped school that morning as she didn't feel very well, but we had to go in the afternoon since Kierra insisted on attending school at least for half the day.

It was such a sight! The flowers were so beautiful and the landscaping was so well done. Mommy could only gasp in amazement. The girls were equally thrilled to see multitudes of flowers on display. We were particularly wowed by the display that had this underwater theme. Simply magical! Some of the plants used included tulips, apple trees, lavendar and different species of pitcher plants.
All ready to feast our eyes
One of the mascots of the Singapore Garden Festival
Kieona and Kierra looking at the flowers
Daddy and his precious girls
Clever use of colours to an otherwise solid display
Our favourite display - the underwater theme
Can you see Marilyn Monroe?
After visiting the exhibits on level 6, we went to the Orchid show on level 4. The ambience wasn't as fantastic since white lights were used instead of the more calming warm lights used on level 6. Still, it was a pretty visual feast we had. There were so many varieties of orchids that it made Mommy a little giddy. There were the miniature orchids, the large ones, the clustered ones and so on.
The Miniature Orchids
What brilliant colours!
Check out this orchid: each orchid looks like a ballerina close-up

In the same event hall, we also get to see real dragon fruits plants and a variety of other vegetables that made all of us yearn for a little bit more space for our own gardens. There were also quite a few exhibitors and one of particular mention is Hua Hng Trading. Name sounds corny, but they specialize in exotic plants and they also sell the dragon fruit plant. Mommy is definitely going to check out where they are located within Singapore - because I spotted a peppercorn plant which I hope to add to my herbal garden collection.
Dragon fruit plant - we spotted this in the Community In Bloom section

Coconuts?

Now that the girls are starting full day school everyday in a week's time, Mommy wastes no time trying to show them things beyond the classroom. Recently we chanced upon a baby coconut on the ground on a grass patch near our house and so Mommy decided to let Kieona and Kierra explore more about coconuts. Since both girls are so eager to bring coconuts to school, we had to go around the estate looking for more of these baby coconuts that have fallen off the trees so that they each had coconuts to show to their friends.
The baby coconuts we collected
The next day, both girls went to school with two baby coconuts each. Guess what? They came back with three and Kierra started crying in the car and said that Kieona has taken her coconut. Kieona finally explained that she gave one of Kierra's coconut to Don. After some probing, Mommy found out that Kieona had given hers to Don and then conveniently took one of Kierra's, so that she still has two and Kierra is now left with one. Wow, how smart of this girl. In the end, Mommy had to tell Kieona that we cannot give away something that is not ours and that she may want to return the coconut to Kierra. Well, that was not all. She agreed, but insisted that we look for more coconuts for her.

It's been a few days since, and I'm pretty glad that everyone seems to have forgotten about it.

Sleeping Soundly

Sleeping so soundly... will they be so close when they grow up?

Kids Just Wanna have Fun

It's great sometimes when children get to play with children. Kieona and Kierra love going out to the corridor and playing with Tong Tong, our neighbour. So does Eugene.
Kieona, Kierra, Eugene and Tong Tong on their playdate
Kieona looks like a natural....

Lifecycle of a Butterfly Part 1

We got inspired with Chelsea's pupa and Mommy decided to keep one of the caterpillars on our Kaffir Lime plant (although the rest had to be removed to prevent too much of the leaves being eaten up).

We spotted the caterpillars early this week on Monday and it's been seven days since we spotted it. It was originally this black and white caterpillar that was so tiny and had hairs on its body and now on day 7 it looks green and slimy. Our next door neighbour has got two caterpillars on their plant which is growing tandomly with ours and we're enjoying this caterpillar growing up process every single day since Monday. Check them out below.
Our caterpillar on Day 3 from the time we spotted him
Tong Tong's caterpillar - the big one
Tong Tong's caterpillar - the smaller one which is still black and white
Hey look! An hour later, Tong Tong's caterpillar shed its skin and is now green!

Flower Girls?

It has always been Daddy and Mommy's hope that Kieona and Kierra get to be flower girls at least once - just for the fun and the exposure. How happy we were when Uncle Damien announced that he will be getting married next year and asked for their involvement as flower girls.

The girls do not quite yet understand what this is about yet, except that they had gotten their beautiful white long dress that Mommy never bought for them since there has been no occasion for wearing them. And they have been very happy about it since Uncle Damien and Auntie Liana bought them the dresses last weekend.

Just this weekend, Kieona showed Auntie Ruth (who visited today with Uncle Andrew) her dress and told Auntie Ruth that it is for "The Wedding". How cute, the way kids put it.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Kierra's First Dental Visit

We had a terrific time last Friday 18 July. Lucky thing Mommy remembered that there was a school holiday in July and had already made plans for Kieona and Kierra that day. What better way to spend that day than to have Kierra go for her first dental visit? Thanks to Auntie Ellen's suggestion, Mommy booked a dental appointment for both girls in early June at the School Dental Clinic located in SGH, Health and Promotion Board Building.

As it was our first visit to there and we took public transport to expose the girls to the transport system, we got a little bit lost and unsure when we reached Outram MRT station. Thank goodness Mommy sms-ed Auntie Elizabeth, who called back and told us to walk there instead of waiting for the shuttle bus (which we were waiting for at least for half an hour but still have not boarded one). It was such a short walk Mommy felt stupid for waiting, as Eugene burst out crying when we stood in the queue for too long, and even when Maria walked a little faster to catch up with us. My, what a bother!

After making a couple more detours, we finally got there 10 minutes late. Thankfully there wasn't a lot of people waiting to see the dentists. My, we were rather impressed when it was our turn. Although Kierra refused to have her teeth polished, she was brave enough not to cry and stayed still (so won't spoil - she said later) throughout the check-up. It was a good first start for Kierra, definitely.

It was Kieona who behaved beyond Mommy's expectations though. Since it was our first visit there at the School Dental Clinic, Mommy had requested during registration to have the both Kieona and Kierra's teeth checked consecutively by the same dentist so that I can be there for them both during the checks. Since Maria was looking after Eugene, there wasn't a way Mommy could have both girls accompanied by an adult when we went in. Thank goodness although they couldn't have it done that way, Kieona and Kierra were placed in adjacent cubicles with different dentists. I asked Kieona if I could leave her and that I will be in the next cubicle with Kierra. She said yes without any hesitation. I was relieved! Best part? She was joking with the dentist all the way and the dentist found her one of the best 4 year old he had attended to, since she co-operated every step of the way and was such a joy to work with.

My Kieona has grown up. And my Kierra has definitely become braver.

Last Day at Thursday 1.30pm Gymnastics Practice

It's a pity that we have to move out of the Thursday 1.30pm gymnastics class at Prime Gym in Toa Payoh as the girls are moving on to full day school. Kieona has been in the class for maybe more than half a year already and Mommy really enjoyed meeting the same parents and kids there. After Kierra joined the class in late May, the two girls quickly established a comfortable relationship with Yee May and Laila (their coaches).

It is a good thing though that Yee May will still be coaching the class they switched to on Wednesdays in the late afternoon. Well, it was one of the best slots we can get bearing in mind their new school schedule. Mommy is just glad for now that after the first session in the new class, the girls seem comfortable enough and that there isn't very much disruption to their performance. In fact, both Daddy and Mommy thought that this new class was a lot more well-behaved and a lot more involved that the old class... could be the age of the kids.

Kierra enjoying herself at the start of the class
What are Kieona and Kierra doing?
Kieona doing her flip
Kierra strengthening her arm muscles
Our Coach - Laila

Blow Art, with Blo Pens....

We made a trip to Auntie Elizabeth and Chelsea's house two weeks ago to return the books we had borrowed before we went to gym. Auntie Elizabeth showed the girls a pupa (which was turning into a butterfly) but the girls were apparently more interested in Chelsea's make-up set. Even Eugene was running away with Chelsea's lipstick rather than playing with the balls.

Before we left, Auntie Elizabeth was so nice she gave Kieona and Kierra a box of Blo Pens. Well, they sure had fun, judging be the way they vigorously blew the ink out of the pens after their naps that afternoon. Just look at their creations.... thank you Auntie Elizabeth and Chelsea. Pity we missed Christian though.
Kieona & Kierra, working hard at their masterpiece
There you go... the masterpiece!
Kieona's butterfly
Poor Eugene was so sick he look stonedNo wonder he didn't disturb Kieona & Kierra

Assessment Books....

The kids assessment books.....

I definitely never imagined that I will be one of those parents who will end up buying such workbooks for my kids. But the truth be told, no matter how unhurried you are in your child's academic progress, there will come a time when you realize that your child is way behind his or her peers and you start to panic. So as you may all have guessed from the above picture, we have started putting together these study aids for Kieona and Kierra. Well, depends on how you look at it. It seems that Kieona is extremely interested in doing them, at least for now....

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Kieona's Modelling Portfolio

If you have been reading about me talking about Kieona's modelling stunt, then you will know that we haven't signed up for her after her contract expired end of last year. Initially, it is because she was just under 4 yrs old and I didn't want to waste time and money doing the portfolio again without the opportunity for her to enrol in the catwalk course (for above 4yrs). Well, time passed so quickly and I decided to wait after after her 4 year old birthday since we are always either busy with Eugene and sometimes bringing the girls for their enrichments.

As everyone close may have known by now as well, Kieona and Kierra has kept asking for modelling. Kieona more so since she had been exposed before. The lazy mommy said we got to settle in first into our busy schedule..... ahhh... what an excuse as we've taken half a year and everything is still constantly changing.

Recently, some mother on one of the forums Mommy is subscribed to mentioned Impact's website and out of curiosity I went in to check, never once expecting to find Kieona's portfolio in there. As Daddy was hanging around, I just told him about how impressive looking the site was and that I never knew it existed actually. He asked if Kieona was in, and my reply was a curt, "How can it be lah? She's already stopped paying for the contract leh...". Since I was on their page of girl models Com cards, I clicked through some and surprise! There was a familiar picture we also had - it's Kieona! She looks realle lovely. Well, heck the schedules.... maybe we should just plan for a time to send both Kieona and Kierra down - to sign for modelling contracts again....

Check out http://www.impactmodels.com, mouse over the tab "girl" at the top of the site, click on the category "4-12". Scroll down to Kieona Lee.

Hurry, before it gets deleted before I manage to renew her contract.