The year end is always a busy time for us because it symbolises the start of many birthday celebrations in our family. It also means that we are done and dusted with exams and yet another academic year.
In other words, it's time to..... party, play, get out and celebrate!
It doesn't mean that we need to travel far or spend a bomb because celebrations can be simple yet fun-filled and memorable too. In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about celebrating the sweet moments in life and remembering that the journey matters more than the outcome.
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We went to Jewel to check out The Gift of Disney Cruise Line where we saw exhibits inspired by the themed areas on board the ship. Well, though we love cruises and have been honoured to be invited by Royal Caribbean and Genting Dreams on board, I'm pretty sure we won't get a chance to go for the highly sought after Disney cruise. So it felt rather nice that we at least managed to go for this event and come up close with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy.
It is also a huge relief and joy to know that the big kids are still willing to come for such events with us and together, we explored Canopy Park where we went through the mazes and bounced on the nets.
You know what is one big occasion we are celebrating this month? Well, it's Ariel's graduation from primary school, woohoo! The icing on the cake is that she also obtained her target score for PSLE. Yeap, phew! I was there for her graduation ceremony and seeing her dancing and performing on stage brought tears to my eyes. You are a star, Ariel, don't let anyone dim your spark.
The hubby and I also accompanied her on result release day and despite this being my second time, I still felt the jitters and I could only imagine how nerve-racking it must be for my girl.
I was the first to hug her when she got back her results and her relieved smile was all I needed when she said that she just managed to hit her target score. She was disappointed in her Chinese score as she dropped a couple of grades but she managed to pull that back in other subjects. So overall, she still did better in her PSLE than her Prelims and that is definitely an achievement worth celebrating.
You know what is another amazing thing about this girl? She loves doing handicrafts and the thing is, she doesn't just do it for herself but for the people who matter to her. Yeap, I guess that aspect is a lot like me because I used to do lots of crafty gifts for friends and family too. Check out the creative and cute fidget boards she did for her friends to congratulate them on graduation day. How thoughtful and sweet, right?
Another kid who achieved a milestone this month is none other than... Ansel! Yeap, this 3yo took to the stage and performed at his first ever concert where he even dressed up as an adorable sea star! Haha. I will be writing and sharing about this in a separate post so stay tuned for more.
To kickstart the start of the year end holidays, we decided to go for a karaoke session and sing our hearts out. Yup, I love to go for KTV sessions with the kids even if it means we have to take turns to use the mics and wait for our favourite songs. The good thing is we have a common love for some songs so we can sing together, with or without mic, and just enjoy the music and each other's company.
Eating out is something we do regularly during the holidays since we are usually not at home. While we try to limit our expenses and keep to kopitiams, food courts and hawker centres, we sometimes also indulge in yummy and slightly more expensive meals — one of the kids' favourites is is Yakiniku where they can cook their own meat.
We also made our own pancakes at Slappy Cakes and this was something fun for the kids who loved drawing creative shapes with the batter and even signing their names too.
Airport again? Yup, it's one of our favourite places to hang out as always and this time, we celebrated Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary at Changi Festive Village. The kids were thrilled to visit the carnival and play lots of games, get up close with Sanrio characters like Pompompurin and Kuromi, and have a splashing good time at Cosmic HydroPark.
It was so fun that we went twice and as usual, I made sure I got into the water so I could play tag, run around, ride on the banana boat and splash in the water with the kids. We also took turns to whizz down the 8.5-metre tall giant water slide which sent us flying and squealing in delight. Never forget to join in the fun and do it while we still can, yar?
This month also marked my mum's birthday so I brought her for a treat at Chao Niu Hotpot. Being beef lovers, we simply couldn't get enough of the fresh, tender beef slices so this was our second visit and my parents gave their thumbs up for the meal. The kids also presented Popo with their handwritten cards and we had a cake-cutting ceremony to remember that special moment. Thank you for raising me, Mama, so that I can now raise my own kids too.
The kids are still small enough to enjoy kiddy rides though I know this won't be the case in a few years' time. So while they still like to sit, ride and play with each other, we will cherish such moments — well, it doesn't mean we have to spend money cos' most of the time, I just tell them to sit, pretend and imagine.
But well, we still do spend on indoor playgrounds once in a while, especially during the school holidays, because they entertain the kids and bring joy.
Seeing how Ansel dress up as a policeman, how Asher velcro-ed himself to the wall, how Ariel still likes to play tag and hide and seek, how we all love to do indoor climbing, it's all the smiles on the kids' faces that draws us to these playgrounds. Thankfully Ansel is still young so we will likely get to enjoy such joy for a while longer because of him — yup, he is very much loved and doted on in the family because he is our 小宝贝.
My elder kids love high element courses and I can see how it gives them a sense of satisfaction and achievement upon conquering the challenge. Thus, any indoor playground that comes with a rope or high element course is a bonus for us and one that we would always look forward to.
We don't usually head to town but come school holidays, we would do it just to take a walk down Orchard Road, go window shopping, take photos, find our favourite traditional ice cream, and just soak in the festive atmosphere.
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I always think that I don't do enough art and craft with the younger kids, considering how much I did with the firstborn where we had art and craft sessions every fortnightly.
So I cherish every opportunity that helps to unleash their creativity and this time, we did clay creations and their end products were really cute. By the way, Ansel loves Hello Kitty and that is totally cool in my view.
Ansel still loves theatre shows and as long as he wants, I am more than happy to bring him. Yes, that is provided that we still get media invites because these diminish as the kids get older and as my following gets surpassed by other up-and-coming mum influencers. I have learnt to make my peace with that fact and all I wish for is to continue to have an outlet to write my parenting thoughts and to share heartfelt, genuine experiences with my readers.
Do your kids love babies? Well, mine do and that isn't a surprise considering how much I love babies too. Anyway, my kids are already aunts and uncles and we visited their nephew and niece this month — we were all thrilled to be carrying an infant once more. So adorable! My kids keep asking me to have another baby but I tell them no thanks, I think four kids is just nice for our family and together, the four of them keep me pretty busy day in day out already.
Do you love shopping at IKEA too? Our sofa was kind of spoilt and for over a year, I had been eyeing a sofa bed from IKEA which would come in handy for our weekly movie nights. So this month, we finally made the purchase, much to the kids' delight. Guess what? The hubby was out of town when the delivery came so the kids and I took up the task of assembling the new sofa. Yup, call me the DIY, ambitious mum. It took us hours to do it but it was so, so satisfying to see the end product.
We even disposed of the old set ourselves and even Ansel helped too. It feels different sitting on the sofa, knowing that you contributed to the process of putting it together so we are loving our new sofa bed lots.
The eldest turned 15 this month and to celebrate her special day, we went for a family mookata lunch, tried out aerial hammock, went to the arcade, had her favourite Saizeriya for dinner, caught a movie and also gathered with the extended family. More details here. Birthdays don't have to be fanciful or lavish in order to be fun and memorable, right? I find that the older I get, the more I value simplicity and it's probably something that the kids will realise as they get older too.
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Remember the crazy thing we did when we went to join in the crowded autograph session when Energy was in town? Well, this month, it was their concert, woohoo! It's something I finally wanted for myself and I am still very happy and thankful that I got for myself a pair of tickets. Asher was my companion for the night so that I wouldn't be alone and I thank him for accompanying me to 追星 and being patient enough to last the night, even though he did end up playing games on the phone because he couldn't see the big screen clearly. Haha.
It's like I finally 圆梦 to see my long-time idols on stage in person and I think I probably shed a tear or two, especially when they encouraged us not to give up on our dreams even when the going gets tough. I will definitely try to do better from now because of the renewed confidence that I can do it. 谢谢你们，启发了42岁，已是四个宝妈的我。
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