Yixuan is in Primary 1

As Yixuan is a year-end child, it seems like it takes ages before it is turn for her birthday to come. As such, we always felt that her "speed" of turning older is slower than the rest. (Of course, Yixuan will be glad that she turns older than others later when she is much older)

Well, our baby is finally in Primary 1.

A few weeks have passed and we can say she fitted into the school environment and the routine very well. She is also able to manage her activities and time maturely. Routine stuff like packing her bag at night and doing her homework assigned... she actually does it without being told.

Oh.. so our baby is no longer a baby. (thumbs up for Xuan)

One of the best thing is she will come home to teach us like how her teacher teaches her. She will also rely things that her teacher mentioned. Such as "My teacher said this way of writing is good, you first say why you like the story, then say what the story teaches you, then say one funny part you like. This way of writing very good".  Eh... not bad... we also get to learn how to write a Big Book Journal now. Thanks to our Yixuan teacher.

好好加油哦, 怿萱, 你行的.

Our funny GE experience

Our son brought home his English GE worksheet. On it was the title "Beg, Borrow or Steal".

Eye catching title but it left us totally clueless what it is all about. Upon reading the introductory paragraph, we realised that the worksheet aims to find out what are some of the words in our English vocabulary that actually came from another language origin. An example will be "deck" as in the ship deck. We didn't even know it was not an English word actually. It came from a Dutch word.

Sounds interesting... but still clueless how to complete the worksheet. Then Jiaheng showed us another piece of paper that contains the "borrowed or stolen" words.

OMG....as we scanned through the list, our responses were "Ah, you mean this is not an English word?" (e.g. piano)

OR the other extreme "Eh, what word is this? How to pronounce? What is the meaning har?" (e.g. schlemozzel)

Hope you are getting an idea how "panicky" we were.... of course, if we could not complete the worksheet, we are sure his teacher will shed some light for him. But parents are parents, sure panic one.

As my wife ran through the list again, she declared "Ah.. this one Italian, this one also Italian, ok this one Indian". Can you imagine the look of admiration on my face as she announced the answers? Wow, my wife is a born linguist.

Just then, she shoved the paper into my arms. She pointed to the word "Spaghetti" then announced "this one Italian". Next she runs her finger a few rows down to "Ravioli" and said "this one also Italian". Followed by the word "Chapatti" and concluded "this one Indian".

What! All food names?? Like that, I also can be a linguist!!!

Don't ask me how the worksheet was completed... but we eventually did. It was indeed a great learning experience for all of us. And not forgetting the good laugh we had over the "food trail discovery".

儿的生日是娘的苦日

有人对我说过这句话。。。“儿的生日是娘的苦日”

想想这句话还真有道理。从前，生孩子哪里有现在这么先进的妇产科设备。生产是又不可以要求麻醉，而且还有生命的危险。生个孩子就像是从鬼门关走了一趟回来。

现在的人生孩子还真宝贝。而且，还有不同的生产设备可以选择。久而久之，儿的生日就只注重在如何为儿庆生。还有谁会记得自己的母亲？说句老实话，我这么多年来的生日都没有想起我的妈，也没想到感谢她。

今年，家亨的生日那个早上，他拉着我走到沙发。叫我坐下，然后双脚一弯，跪在我面前，对我说了一句“妈妈，谢谢您生我。”

天啊，我的儿啊。太令妈妈感动了。我也要说，“家亨，谢谢你来到我们的家，当我们的儿子"

They are just different

Last June holiday, we signed Jiaheng and Yixuan up for a Children Yoga class at our nearby CC. They enjoyed it and requested for another session this holiday.

Today is the first lesson, it is real interesting watching them do the different Yoga poses. Especially Yixuan, who on one hand wanted to do the difficult poses like the other older children in the class while doing her best to balance.

When the class was dismissed, the children swarmed out of the classroom. But Jiaheng and Yixuan was no where in sight. I peeped into the class and upon seeing me, Yixuan ran forward and very enthusiastically explained why they were still in class. Apparently, the other children can't wait to leave after class was dismissed and randomly threw the yoga mat at the mat corner. As a result, the whole pile of mat collapsed. Jiaheng and Yixuan stayed behind to help tidy up.

As I approached the kids and the Yoga teacher who were tidying up the area, the teacher commented affectionately "They are just different". I am so proud of my 2 children.

----- posted by Mommy

Comic Reliefs

Our daughter brings so much joy and laughter to our family.

On days that we are down, we just need to recall some thing she said or some actions she made and that will naturally bring a smile to our faces.

Just to share some comical moments of her...

Monday Morning - at the dining table

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Papa just brought a metal container with two half-boiled eggs in it from the kitchen. Laid the metal container on the table and asked "Who wants half-BOILED eggs?" And of course Jiaheng will be eagerly waving his hand.

Then Yixuan asked "What about half-GIRL egg?" At this moment, you can literally see question mark shooting off Papa's head. (like those you see from comics when the cartoon character is simply clueless to what is happening)

And the mystery is solved when Yixuan continued "I only want half-GIRL egg, don't want half-BOY egg"

Ha Ha Ha... Oh man!

Wednesday Evening - at Grandma's home

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Grandma has the habit of offering incense to the Buddha in the evening. Yixuan volunteered to help. After seeing Grandma does it so many times, Yixuan also knew the protocol. So she took over the joss sticks, and started mumbling something.

Well, if you listen close enough, you will understand what she is saying... "Please bless my gor gor so that he will be a good boy, bless my ma ma so that she will be a good girl, bless my papa so that he will be a good boy, bless my gong gong ...."

The chanting repeated itself and went on till she covered all family members. Finally satisfied, Yixuan handed over the joss stick to Grandma.

Of course, Grandma is so proud of her granddaughter for having done such a good job (thumbs up). This is clearly evident from the smile on Grandma face. Just when Grandma is about the place the joss stick in the holder, Yixuan shouted out "Thank you, GOD"

Oops! she must have been confused between the GOD in her school church and the "GOD" that Grandma worships to.

In response to Yixuan's unexpected last statement, Grandma immediately chanted and asked for Buddha's forgiveness for what the little girl said while choking on her own laughter.

That's how comical our girl can be. :)

Sweet nothings...

While sitting next to me on the sofa this evening, Jiaheng was making this "Uh hmm" sound (like clearing throat). I asked him not to do it and then why is he doing it?

Then he said "There is something stuck in my throat, and its Mama, I want to digest you so that you can go into my heart and i will always remember Mama."

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The other day, while Kai Hock was chatting with him. Kai Hock mentioned something like "next time your wife will laugh at you if you keep doing this". Can't really catch their conversation, but definitely can hear what Jiaheng's reply was. He said "I don't want a wife, I only want Papa and Mama".

So so sweet....

----------- posted by Mommy

Jiaheng's Newest Goals

Jiaheng sets many goals for himself.

He has a goal for his Mental-Arithmetic. It is 1st May 2011, I am a 1 Dan-Level student.

His newest goal as of 9:57pm, 13 June 2010, is as follows:
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This is my goal.

I want to play golf at the age of 8. And I want to be a PRO when I am age 10. When I am a PRO, I will like to go to 3 places.

The first place is St. Andrews, Scotland. The second place is Augusta National, USA, which has the famous Amen Corner. The Amen corner consist of three of the hardest holes on the course. The third place is Pebble Beach, USA, where Tiger Woods won the record breaking of 15 shots!

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By the way, he got inspired after reading a book on Golfing which he borrowed from the library. Well, Kai Hock and I don't play golf. So we got to rely on his uncle to do that for us. hmm... I hope my bro will get the hint. :)

-------------posted by Mommy

Family Team

I was with my wife at the Hong Kong Convention just last weekend. We were there for 3 days. It is amazing how strong the partnership can be when it comes to a family team.

We saw husband-wife team, father-son team, mother-son team, brother-sister team. It is so motivating and touching to see family members succeed together. When the family has a common goal, the bonding and drive is doubly strong.

Nothing beats the support coming from your family members. In times of weakness, it is always support from family that gives me the strength. In times of doubt, it is always the support from family that gives me the clarity and direction.

I am grateful that my wife is with me in the business. I am grateful that my sister is with me in the business. We are all working towards our Freedom. The feeling is great.