Daddy and I were delighted to see what C came back with. Apparently she made a little craft piece very appropriate for the festival.

A cute little mobile

Cheryl's greetings to all muslims, "Selamat Hari Raya"!

I guess this will truly be a dream come through if I could catch one of the world's most talented artistes; Lea Salonga on stage doing what she does best.

I first heard her when I was in secondary school and she sang Kim in Miss Saigon and I was completely blown away by her very powerful and crystal clear voice. And then on, although I had wanted to catch Miss Saigon and see how the production crew managed a helicopter on stage, I didn't see it when Miss Saigon came to Singapore some years back because Lea didn't play that part. I guess, I just couldn't accept anyone else playing Kim after that. She also played in other equally successful musicals like Les Misérables.

Then I saw this on the papers and I really hope I can see her in person and be mesmerized by her angelic voice again... .

Just a little treat:
here is a clip of Lea doing a real classic, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"


And this is my favoutite song from Miss Saigon:

Cheryl is resting at home today.

Yesterday, she complained of itchy eyes and I thought it was because she had rubbed them a little too hard. I brushed her off and thought nothing about it and then in the evening, I realised that something was terribly wrong.

This morning, I decided to bring her to the doc and I told him it is scary to see mucus coming out from Cheryl's eyes. Doc flipped through her records and said he was not surprised as she has a history of blocked nose.

He went on to say that its the back flow of mucus. For people with no breathing problems, the mucus flows down naturally and out through our nose or our throats. But for people with blocked nose, more often than not, the mucus can't flow out through the normal passage ways so they flow backwards. So he gave her some medicines to clear her nose and eye drops for her inflamed eyes.

Cheryl finally got her hands on the rain coat I bought for her.

Since her Espirit brollie gave up on us, I thought it was time to get her a raincoat as it would definitely provide her with more coverage. She was extremely happy when she saw it and tried it on immediately.

Nice!

We decided that we would give Grand Mummy a surprise for her birthday this year so Aunt Diana went all out to plan and prepare dinner.

Ever since we had our prawn noodles the last time, we decided that we should have some variety every weekend with other kinds of noodles and soups so this time round, it is Grand Mummy's favourite; Laksa!

The noodles were great! Grand Daddy even ate two bowls of it!

This was what Daddy and I went to pick up just before we went over. Longevity buns!

Grand Mummy was definitely pleased and surprised when she saw them. We were trying our might to hide the basketful of buns from her.

And to top things, Grand Mummy even had a home-made ice cream cake.

Oh, Cheryl was all smiles when she realised it was an ice cream cake.

Every Saturday morning, it is ritual for Daddy to sit himself down with the laptop and enjoy his cuppa of latte and lately, C has also started to indulge in her own cuppa of warm milk with marshmallows and then she will head off to class.

In class today, there are more practices on note values.

Today is Aunt Amanda and Uncle Alvin's big day and we were invited to witness the wedding. It was a sweet little affair and we had a wonderful time although we were kind of extremely late.

China is in the news these days for all the wrong reasons. Actually, they have always been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

I remembered some years back, I was completely flabbergasted when news of Chinese making eggs; yes, "making" because the eggs were fake and people fell ill after consuming them, broke out. Then not so long ago: 1 year back, many dogs and cats died because of melamine poisoning. There was a similar incident which happened where babies died after drinking tainted milk formula!

And it looks like some things do not change as of some people.

The latest scandal of Superpower China has millions around the world on the feet and worried sick if they would be the next victims to develop kidney stones, failure and die.

This is the latest news on The Straits Times dated 25th September and it looks like more items have been identified to be unsuitable for consumption. Initially, most of the items highlighted were dairy products and since C's milk formulas come from the Netherlands, there is no cause for concern, right?

Err, NO!! Because China is such a Santa Claus these days, all toys, clothes, furniture, and food seem to be their products or by-products!

Why can't these people be more responsible? Oh, for crying out loud! Children have died drinking these milk and it is not like these kids could feed themselves with other stuff! Milk is their staple for now and for many more months until they are able to eat solids!

When I heard the news over the radio this morning while in the car with Daddy, I thought a name sounded vaguely familiar. The first thing I did when I came to work was to peer into my stash of biscuits and look what I found:

Damn! One of the items on that dreaded list! And the best part, I am already into my second packet of these tainted biscuits. Not funny!

This is the entire list of products that are found to be unsafe by AVA. Of course we shouldn't be alarm because apparently, the amount of melamine found is too little to cause real harm to us but you know what? Poison is still poison no matter in what amounts!

UPDATES: as of 1 Oct 08
More products have been identified!

Latest here.

We celebrated Yeva's birthday today and like I always say, no one knows how to throw a party like the Aws.

The balloons were very beautifully crafted and they were used to do up the entire place. What was initially very bare was transformed into an eye-catching attraction.

The kids went for a swim while the adults busy themselves with the decor and after the kids returned, they ate and made merry!

And what's a party with games and more games?

The Aws!

I had a real scare today during music class.

We all know the Alphabet Song and Teacher Siew Li even brought in a microphone to let the children sing into it. C had to take turns and sing the song in verses. She did very well of course and then Teacher Siew Li wanted the children to sing the notes of the song! In the same manner: verses.

My heart was in my throat because it had been a while since Cheryl played the song and I was wondering if I should just take out her music book to let her refer to it. What if she couldn't remember and make a mess of the song? Yes, the song shares the same tune as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but some notes were played in quavers so I anxiously asked C.

Mummy : "Baby, do you know your notes?"
Cheryl : "Yes, Mummy."
Mummy : (really worried now as C would be starting the song in a few seconds.) "Are you sure?"
Cheryl : (rather firmly) "I know, Mummy!"

And then she went on to sing out the notes! Of not only her verse, but the entire song as well.

Phew! I should give her more credit in the future and learn to trust her more. Looks like she really knows what she is doing.

For lesson today, Teacher Siew Li taught the children new note values.

quaver - 1/2 count






semi-quaver - 1/4 count







rest
Cheryl doesn't know yet that this is quarter note rest though.

This is the piece that C will be performing for the upcoming Christmas performance by Seimpi. Teacher Siew Li hasn't gone through the score with C yet but I tried to do it with her this evening.

I think it will be rather challenging because it is quite a long piece.

It's August 15th according to the Lunar calender and it is a time for celebration.

So, we had more mooncakes! A very sweet and generous Mummy offered C these moonies. Cheryl was thrilled when she saw them and she couldn't stop smiling. And they taste good too!

I finally got my moon tarts and these Ritz Carlton moonies were for Aunt Margaret.

You will know that C's music class is getting more serious when she gets exposed to more classical pieces. 2 weeks ago, she learned Ode to Joy: my favourite piece and this week, she learned Peer Gynt Suite.

Teacher Siew Li got the children to revise their notes by letting them play on bells. C had to strike the bell with it was a particular note and she managed well. The children loved it and they were promised that they could do it again next week.

C pasting the stickers to the corresponding sounds: f - forte for loud and p - piano for soft.

and finally, music mapping! C had to listen to a piece and then try to map out what she hears. C liked this activity!

In the evening, we went to Aunt Esther's place for a little celebration: it's her 35th birthday!

We got the cake from Chocz and C picked it out because she loved the music score they printed on the chocolate. :)

We had plans to have crabs initially and I should have called to make enquiries but I didn't and it was at the very last minute that we decided to go to another place for buffet.

Well, it wasn't not much of a gastronomical experience to speak of, but I guess, great company made up for it.

Just some of the food we had.

C kept herself busy by doodling and writing some letters she learned.

Our girls had similar blouses on! haha!