This term, C learned about the different races and their cultures and she also returned with a reader.

She was really excited and wanted to read it to me before bedtime.



Although she still isn't very accurate with the pronunciation with some characters, I believe she will in time. :)

Today is a special day ...

Brion turns 7 and his lovely parents put together an awesome party.

The magician and balloon sculpture artist stole the show with their performance and the children couldn't have a better time.

It was also Aunt Maureen's hatch day and the sweet lady was pleasantly surprised with a cake of her own.

We are so honoured to be part of their celebrations and may the Good Lord bless them always. :)

Several days ago, Cheryl received a letter from Warren. That very evening, she got down to writing her own.

This morning, she mailed it out. :)

The whole experience of writing letter was quite good. C said she wanted to drop it in the letter box herself so we allowed her to do it.

On Sunday evening, before Daddy and  I retired for the night, I said this, "Some how, I feel alright. I know for 2 years running, parents had to go through balloting for Phase 2B but I have been praying that we will get by this year."

Daddy's reply was: "I am at peace too."

Some how, it just felt surreal. I mean, I had ran through this scene a million times in my head. I had visualised myself terrified and extremely worried. What would Plan B be should Precious not get in the school of choice? Many names popped up but Daddy and I never really seriously considered any of them. So, there. We left it all to faith and Him.

On 19th July; the last day of registration for Phase 2B at around 6.15pm, my mobile went off and Daddy had texted me a message "Cheryl is a PLMGS girl! No ballot required! 76 out of 86!" I could hardly believe my eyes. We were just 10 applicants shy from the balloting process. Though I wanted to say we were lucky, we knew that luck had nothing to do with it. It was Him. It was amazing that we felt at peace with the registration though at times, our insecurities took over and we remembered that past records had proven the school to be a popular choice. This day, we truly understood what it really meant to leave all in our Father's hands and he will provide for us.

We received the notification from the School informing us of our successful application and the date of Orientation. :) Will be marking that date down on all of our calenders. 

Cheryl has mail! Warren is into writing letter lately and Aunt Hazel was wondering how he could write to. Our Precious responded . :)


It was such a cute letter and Warren had put it up behind the "ice cream" he coloured. C got down to writing her very own last night and she would be posting it out on Saturday.

C was looking forward to this day. She was running a temperature the day before but she took her medication dutifully because she wanted to recover in time for her celebrations in school.

Daddy and I were in half minds and really wanted to keep her in should she not be well enough but this morning, C woke up all chirpy and happy.

Our little Singapore Girl. :)

Usually I would order some snacks from the food stalls near her school but I didn't as we were sure if we would let her go to school. But she pleaded for a chance to go and we bought our snacks from the 7-11 store near home.

C together with her peers spent the entire morning at Casuarina Primary School. She had reminded me repeatedly to give her pocket money as it was "instructed" by Ms Novelle.

At 2 pm, C rang me and gave me an update on what she did at the school. She said that she ate chicken rice at the canteen and that the plate of food cost $1. Then she lamented that she didn't have money with her and Renee was sweet enough to pay for her meal. Apparently, Grand mother had removed C's pouch by mistake.

Well, C was excited as she recounted her experience at the school. :)

After about 3 weeks of agonizing wait, phase 2B: registration for church members started. We initially wanted to do it in the morning but because I wasn't able to take time off from work, we went in the afternoon. It was a good move too because C came along with us after her school.

After lunch, we made our way down...

The place was undergoing renovation works.

But we saw that the school was huge and even had its own running tracks. The guard at the entrance directed us to the General Office where the clerk checked that we had all the documents ready. We discovered that we were number 58 on the list. My heart skipped a beat when I saw our number tag. That meant that the school already has 57 other applicants out of a total of 86 openings.

Then we proceeded to a room and waited for our number to be called. C seemed pretty calm about the whole thing; she entertained herself with an e-book.

After all our documents were thoroughly checked, we were handed a registration form to fill in. 

Gosh! It was such a nerve-wrecking experience really because as we sat there to fill up the form, the door would open periodically and a new pair of parent would walk in. The lady at the final station who handed the registration told us that based on history, applicants living out of the 2 km radius of the school had to go through balloting and she said results would only be out in 2 days.

We just checked the updated status from the Ministry's website and saw that a total of 62 girls registered today. Well, tomorrow will be the final day for registration for this phase and at 6pm tomorrow, if the number does not exceed 86, we are safe.

We have been blessed this far and we will continue to have that faith.

(praying hard also for our friend, Sheldon, as his turn will be next.)

Towards the end of the year, school / work was kind of chaotic as we were clearing out and getting ready to move to a Holding School. The school at the current premises would be torn down and rebuilt and would only be ready in 2013.

We took the opportunity to do stock-taking for our library books and 'condemned' many boxes of books. Instead of simply throwing the books away, we hooked up with a High School in Philippines and donated the many boxes of books to the students there.

These were the students from Ramon Torres High School in Bago City, who benefitted from our donation and they were so grateful. :) so were we.

For a few weeks, C's reply to me when I asked her what craft did she do for Art was, "I made a puppet." 

Daddy and I were looking forward to her bringing it back from class and finally, this afternoon, she did.

Mr. Beak from Natalie Lian on Vimeo.

Josiah Montessori has scheduled for the K2 children to visit a primary school. This is part of their programme where they help ease these pre-schoolers into their primary education.

Ms Novelle informed that C and her peers will be visiting Casuarina Primary some time later in July and reminded parents to give the children some pocket money. The children will have a chance to buy some food from the school canteen and also probably do some shopping at the school book shop.

Cheryl is looking forward to making this trip.

Some time in March, Precious took her ballet exam. Though one of the youngest girls in her class, Ms Blue, her teacher, felt that C was ready.



She didn't disappoint us and received a merit award for her effort. Precious was extremely happy when she received her shiny medal and certificate. Ms Blue even pinned the medal on her leotard.

However, when she spoke to us about it after class, she expressed her disappointment that she didn't get the distinction award. Daddy and I immediately affirmed her effort and said that as long as she did her best, she should be proud of herself because we definitely were.

Little Princess is 1.


The lovely family :)

Latest art piece from class.


Pretty! :)

How time flies...

Wasn't it only yesterday that C was born? No? 6 years seem to go by so quickly and now, it is time for us to register Princess for Primary One.

Thank God for the Internet really because updates about the number of vacancies are done regularly and anxious parents like myself, do not need to physically be at MOE to inquire about the status of the registration. Armed with a letter from Church, we will be enrolling C to a fairly popular and much sought-after school. 

It will be another 2 weeks before it is our turn to register and until then, Daddy and I will be religiously checking up on the website.