Happiness is... making the most of our time together

I recently read an article that struck home. It says:

"75% of the time you'll ever get to spend with your kids is over by the time they turn 12. 90% of your time with them is gone by the time they're 18."

Yup, a little shocking but I guess the truth can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Having been a stay-at-home mum for nearly one and a half decades, there are days when I question my choice and wonder if there is more to life for me, and I ponder about what lies ahead as the kids grow up. Yet whenever I think about how this is the time when I can be by their side every day, when I can be the one they can depend on, when I can witness their every milestone, I know I can't give this opportunity up for anything in the whole wide world. 

I mean, I blinked and my firstborn is now turning 15. My youngest is now three and before I know it, all of my four kids would have grown their wings, learnt to soar and would be leaving our nest. That is why I still maintain my stance, I still want to be a full-time mum and I still deeply cherish every single day that I get to be with my kids.

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about making the most and cherishing the time that we get to be together.

My kids still love water play so we were very happy and thankful to get the chance to visit Splashtopia in Sentosa. They enjoyed themselves playing on the floats, see-saws and paddle boats. Ariel and Asher loved this long, slippery blue slide that let them whizz down at fast speeds and slide all the way into a small pool at the end.

We also went on carnival rides and I took the boys on this mini ferris wheel. Every time I do this, I wonder how many times I would be able to do it before the kids are all too grown up for kiddy rides. So nope, I do not think it is a waste of time, I do not find it childish nor do I hope time will pass by faster so that the ride will end sooner. More than anything, I treasure such opportunities for us to spend quality time together and make memories that will stay in our hearts.

As of now, I only have one kid left for me to go on school excursions with and he is also the one who will hold my hand when we are on the bus, lean on my shoulder and sleep on my lap when he gets tired. Honestly, I find the excursions a little costly and him being in school for only three hours a day means that school trips are very short and might not be worth the money, time and hassle. 

Nonetheless, I have not missed a single excursion so far because I really, really cherish each and every opportunity that I get to go on such learning journeys with him and let him know just how much I love him. We visited KidsSTOP with his teachers and school mates and he had lots of fun digging for fossils, picking up balls, seeing small critters and going down slides - he is still a bit afraid of tall slides so he would ask me to go down with him so he could sit on my lap. Well, no reason to reject, right? 

I know this phase is not going to last much more and I also know jolly well that I will miss it lots, just like how I will miss breastfeeding now that I am trying to wean this lastborn of mine.

With the girls spending more time in school for CCAs and extra lessons, I get to lunch with my two boys and bring them out gai gai every once in a while. This time, we made our way to IKEA to get some household supplies and they were over the moon to get to each eat a 50cents soft serve. Yesh, it is one of my favourites too and I hope the price, and the feeling, will never change.

When the boys saw the playground, they wanted to have fun together but alas Ansel was disallowed to enter as he was not of age yet. On the other hand, Asher is now growing so fast and so tall that the staff told me this would be the last time he could enter as he has exceeded the maximum height. Yup, some things are gone once you lose the opportunity to do so.

It was so sweet to see how the two of them would high five each other and attempt to talk to each other through the glass. If anything, I am just thankful that my boys have each other and I hope their brotherhood will see them through hardship in life and that they can always have each other's back.

The boys would also cut their hair together and having the older siblings around makes the toddler feel so much more at ease. He is a pro at sitting still nowadays and doesn't fidget much, making the job easier for the hairdresser. And you know what excites him most? He gets a sweet every time when he is done! 

Check out our new hair! By the way, do you think we look alike?

My boys loving to scoot and the heartwarming thing is to know that they still like to scoot together - by that, I mean that the two of them like to share one scooter so that Korkor can ferry Didi. This blue scooter is over a decade year old and was passed down from Angel to the rest of the siblings.

Also, I love that two of them still like to wear matching clothes because it looks too cute to me. I know jolly well that it won't last very long so I'm cherishing these precious moments and memorable years.

Back at home, things are still more or less the same. The house is still very messy as usual, we still try to have home cooked meals from time to time, and the kids and I eat together every night since the hubby doesn't come home till wee hours. Sometimes we would watch TV shows like Wheel of Fortune and LEGO Masters, sometimes we would chat about school or anything under the sun, One day, the kids will be all grown up and I will be eating by myself, and that is when I will really miss moments like this and can't wait for weekends where the kids will come home for family reunions.

The highlight of March for us was our LEGOLAND trip with my parents. Yes, we made our way there for a good 4D3N again since my parents still had their annual passes from the previous visit. This time, the hubby could hardly join us as a relative had passed away and he had to help out at the wake. So it was mostly just me, the kids and my parents most of the time.

As usual, we booked a nearby apartment instead of staying at the hotel in order to save money. The apartment cost us less than S$100 per night and considering we had a 2-bedroom apartment connected to another 1-bedroom apartment which fit all of us nicely, we couldn't ask for anything more. It would have been nice to have a buffet breakfast but we made do with milk, bread, cereal, eggs, muffins and biscuits that we got from the supermarket.

Apart from LEGOLAND, the kids love to visit these small arcade shops called FunkieZon and Fun Max which have kiddy rides, claw machines, shooting games, basketball and more. They always run here excitedly and would be over the moon whenever they got any tokens. I'm not sure how long more this would last but seeing how the firstborn still enjoys coming to these places, I think we still have a good, long way to go and every visit will be a cherished one.

Among my four babies, the middle children are the water babies and they love swimming and splashing around. So when they asked if we could go for a swim after our visit to the water park, I had to do it and I asked the parents to take the other kids up to the apartment first. Even if I can't always fork out time for one-on-one dates, having two kids is a refreshing change too and I enjoy such one-on-two sessions too where we get to talk, play and bond.

At night, the hubby came over to join us and took us out for dinner at Chua Kee. It's one of the places we will always visit because the food is delicious, the seafood is fresh and the prices are affordable. After dinner, we would go back to the apartment and have a movie night because it is one of the must-do things on a vacation. Well, actually the hubby was tired so he rested, likewise for my mum, and for my Dad, we helped him to turn on the TV and find a movie he liked and gave him his peaceful me-time. That means it was just me and the kids over at our apartment but I guess I wouldn't have had it any other way too. This time, we watched 'The Lost City' starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum and it was such an entertaining movie that we all enjoyed.

There is this open space outside LEGOLAND where there will usually be kiddy car rides and these cars are so huge that they can fit one or even two adults. So when the younger kids said they wanted to ride, my mum gamely said to count her in too and it was nice seeing her smile and how she enjoyed being with the grandkids.

In LEGOLAND, the good thing was the rides were not that crowded and we managed to cover quite a lot of them. We took photos with the Master Wu mascot because the kids have been watching lot of Ninjago cartoons at home. It was also my parent's first time going on the LEGOLAND Express because it was closed the previous time and it was just nice to be able to sit in the train together as we choo-chooed through the park.

Even though my parents said that they can't take some of the more thrilling rides like VR Ride and The Dragon Roller Coast for fear that their hearts couldn't take the excitement, they did take as many as they could and honestly, it was quite a handful already. So kudos to you, Daddy and Mummy! I hope that I get such opportunities when I am a grandma too, haha. For now, I really treasure these outings that we have and the memories we created are jut priceless.

My mum loves the water so it was nice that she got to go for a dip in the water theme park. I also love seeing how my parents each sat on an aeroplane and used the joystick to fly upwards and downwards at LEGO City Airport. It was a treasured opportunity for me to see them acting like kids and feeling young all over again and I was glad I got to do that with them on this trip.

As for the kids, Ansel was of course as happy as a lark when we were in LEGOLAND and he simply loved all the rides, even if he still couldn't go on the more exciting ones. He overcame his fear for many of them already, including Ninjago and Lost Kingdom Adventure - he was previously very scared of this kind of rides in the dark and would have a meltdown whenever we tried to bring him in. So I was already very proud of his progress and thankful to see that he had a jolly good time. We might not be able to bring you to far places yet, my love, and you have yet to go on an aeroplane at the age of three, but at least we try to bring you to fun places and make sure you have a good time. 要永远懂得知足常乐，知道吗？

As for the other older kids, well, Asher is still at the phase where he totally digs and enjoys car rides, train rides and playing with LEGO so he is still a very happy and excited boy whenever we go to LEGOLAND. Ariel loves roller coaster rides and she says she doesn't get tired of coming here, which is a good thing. As for the teenager Angel, I was worried if she would be bored to come here time and again but thankfully, she still sees the joy and well, she loves claw machines too. Having Ansel is a huge blessing for all three of them because it makes them be proud to accompany him for rides, assure him, protect him and teach him a thing or two from their experiences. 

So yes, we will probably still visit LEGOLAND for a few more years before all of my kids outgrow the child ticket age and not look forward to rides anymore. That is the reason why every visit nowadays is such a deeply cherished one - as a mum, you can just feel the kids growing up so fast - and I honestly don't take any of it for granted.

Before we headed for home sweet home, we made our way to AEON Mall to get dinner, snacks, frozen yoghurt as well as let the kids play on the kiddy rides. I think that was the last time Ariel was willing to get into a kiddy car because come next year, she will become a teenager too. Yup, two teen girls in the house who are no longer into princesses, unicorns, fairies, dresses or anything girly and cute. I guess the dynamics of every household changes as we grow - kids get bigger and adults get older - but that is also the beauty of life as we await for all the joy, blessings and challenges that every stage of our lives bring.

So that's all for this post of "Happiness is...", yup, I know I still have months of posts to catch up on and I'll get there slowly but surely. If you've been reading our posts and keeping up with our stories and updates, thank you for being so ever patient. Till the next time!

Happiness is... holding dear to family celebrations

February is a special and happy month because it marks the arrival of Chinese New Year, which is my favourite festive celebration, and the birthday of the littlest in our family, which also reminds me of the memorable day when I gave birth to this preemie lastborn of mine.

I love Chinese New Year because we get so many opportunities to gather with family and friends. I love listening to the catchy CNY songs, I love dressing the kids up in traditional costumes, I love giving out ang paos and well wishes, I love having reunion meals with the people who matter so much to me in my life.

It's like the older you get, the more you realise that this kind of opportunity might not happen for many more years. People age, people fall sick and people leave this world before we know it. I still feel saddened every time I think of my beloved grandma because CNY just isn't the same without her with us and how I wish I had the chance to celebrate with her once more and let her know just how much I love and miss her.

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about holding dear to family celebrations and cherishing every chance that we get to come together.

We are lucky to still have our parents around and every year, my in-laws and my parents will take turns to whip up a yummy meal for us. From my mum-in-law's home cooked shark fins and father-in-law's pig stomach soup to my Dad's fried chicken drumsticks and Mum's stir-fried spinach, I don't take any of these for granted and am always thankful for having these 美味佳肴 on our table. The most important thing is that we get to gather and enjoy family bliss with the extended family and the kids get to play and hang out with their cousins.

I love watching lion dance so every year, we will watch some performances on TV and I will also check where the live performances are so that I can bring the littlest with me to watch. Yup, he is the only one who can still skip school so I love bringing him along. This year, we were very lucky as to be able to get a dragon plushie which was caught by an auntie beside us who passed it to Ansel and made him overjoyed.

See his big happy smile? Yeah, just that smile made all the wait worthwhile - we arrived early as we wanted a good seat where he would be able to see the lions. When we got home, he took the blanket and started to pretend to do the lion dance while I sang the "Dong Qiang, Dong Qiang”. It was so cute when the Korkor came to join him and they even tried to do stunts like doing a crouching lion and the big brother also lifted the toddler up and told him to do flutter kicks. Awww, too cute.

I was lucky to be able to visit Bird Paradise and do a review on it as a freelance writer for Singapore Women's Weekly. This meant the kids got the opportunity to explore the park once more and this time, we got to feed both the cassowaries and pelicans as well as watched both of the animal presentations, woohoo!

It is very expensive to visit such attractions because we are a big family and the cost only increases as the kids age like how the eldest is now considered an adult already. So I am always very grateful for any media invites or any opportunity for us to review any attraction, even if it means I have to get busy the whole time as I film our experience and write down important information.

I don't meet up with friends often enough but every time I do, I am indeed very thankful. This time, I brought the two boys to meet up with two of my sisters whom I've known since secondary school. While the boys entertained themselves by scooting and playing ball in the field, we caught up with each other's lives and chatted about anything under the sun. It isn't easy finding friends who remain close for decades and feel like family, so I'm definitely holding our friendship dear for as long as possible.

I love eating out with the kids because it means that I don't need to cook or wash the dishes, haha. Yup, that is the truth that I'm not afraid to confess because it's really exhausting if you were to cook every day of the week, without a helper. Anyway, we made our way to Yakiniku and Ding Tai Fung this month and both restaurants are among our favourites because we love having grilled meat in the former and nothing beats having Xiao Long Bao in the latter.

A big highlight of the month was Ansel turning 3! Yup, how has this tiny baby of mine turned three years old in the blink of an eye? I still remember pushing him out into this world and just reading his birth story still brings tears to my eyes. Those vivid memories are things that I would hold dear in my heart forever.

The hubby and I made time to go to his school to celebrate his birthday on his actual day. We brought along a cake filled with Spider-Man toppers, brought along goodies bags for his schoolmates and also let him wear a hand-me-down that had a number '3' on it.

What happened after that was something totally funny and unexpected. His teachers were shocked to find out that he was only three years old because all along, they had put him in the N2 class because they thought he was turning four. A quick check into his records and some investigation later showed his birth year had been written wrongly as 2020 instead of 2021 and it was an honest mistake made by one of the teachers. No one would have known about it if we didn't decide to celebrate his 3rd birthday in school.

What surprised me was that the teachers said they didn't suspect a thing because he could keep up with the activities that the N2 kids were doing. He would do all the writing as best as he could and learn whatever they taught him. I was half wondering why he was learning difficult phonics and numbers at three years old and it all suddenly made sense to me when they explained it. Way to go, Ansel!

After the birthday boy was dismissed from school, I went for a one-on-one lunch with him and he was ecstatic to hear that we were going to eat McDonald's! It's one of the simple things that bring him lots of joy and I was thankful that we got to spend some time together, just the two of us.

While the eldest had to stay back in school for CCA, the rest came back promptly after school and the first thing they did was to wish the little brother "Happy birthday" and shower him with lots of hugs and kisses. I bought a small piece of Coco Exotic - which is one of our favourite cakes - from Four Leaves and had a mini cake cutting ceremony for him. Yup, this boy loves blowing out candles so I made sure he got to do it a few times in a day.

In the afternoon, we made our way for Heguru class and his teachers gave him a sweet card and also let the whole class sing a song for him. Awwww.

In the evening, we reunited all the kids and made our way to Swensen's for a yummy dinner. For desserts, we had a rare treat and ordered a waffle with ice cream as well as a chocolate fondue which is always a hit with the kids. We brought along our Spider-Man toppers - which are laminated printed cutouts that had toothpicks pasted behind - just to add a personalised touch for Ansel, who was a truly happy boy that day.

The fun continued all the way into the weekend where we had a happy, memorable, one-of-a-kind DIY Spider-Man party which was filled with games, costumes, water play, presents, laughter and lots of family joy. If you have not read about it yet, do hop over here to find out more about all the exciting highlights from the party.

Besides seeing the happy smiles on the birthday's boy face, another thing that warmed my heart was seeing how the siblings were willing to get into action and do all the fun things together with him, even if some of them were much older. For instance, the big sister wore the Gwen outfit that I bought even if it was a little tight and suffocating for her. The second elder sister was very patient with him as she taught him how to shoot the 'villains' at the water play games and took time to accompany him around the pool as he tried to do it himself. 

It is always my hope that the four of them will grow up to be close siblings who love, protect and watch out for one another. It's one of the things that I hope will never change, no matter how old they grow or how far apart they are in the world.

Yup, I know I've shared these photos in the party post but I just need to put them here once more to conclude that lovely weekend that we had. It wasn't a lavish or over-the-top party but it was one that brought joy and created lots of beautiful memories for our family, especially the birthday boy who was beaming from ear to ear. 

I hope you felt our love for you, dear Ansel, because you are truly one of the best things that has happened to our family and you bring about endless bliss and joy. I'm not sure how many more themed birthday celebrations you would like to have but I would gladly plan parties and do it for you for as long as you want. Your milestones mean the world to me, and so do you.

Here's to more family celebrations ahead of us and may we learn to be thankful, to treasure and to never take anything in our lives for granted.

Till the next post of "Happiness is..."!