Above all, give thanks.

We sincerely thank all of C's teachers, past and present, for their patience, guidance, and love. 

We are eternally grateful.

So we have began our 2-year journey... .

Paid another visit to Dr Kaan who put on the braces for C. A choice between the conventional metal braces and the ceramics ones and it took C no time to decide that the latter was what she wanted.

Dr Kaan worked on her immediately and an hour and a half later, the girl has a new look. His assistant walked her through about taking care of the braces and how to clean her teeth now that this foreign material is in her mouth. She was rather pleased that the procedure was painless (for now). Doc did mention that it would in the hours to come and it would take a while of getting use to.

Doc was extremely accommodating with his schedule; when I told him that we would like to get things in motion before term started, he made changes to his appointments and squeezed C in before he flew off for the year. We still have one more thing to get done- extraction of 4 teeth and then the braces would click into action. So after setting our next appointment, we were off. :) 

When C was much younger, she was a regular at Dr Somu's; she saw him weekly when she had her appliance on.

We knew a long time ago that C would need braces and we are extremely grateful for Dr Somu because his early intervention is saving C from the pain she would be experiencing. She was 10 years old when she wore the appliance that stretched and expanded her jaws. During our last visit with him, Dr Somu explained that it was time for C to do her braces and recommended we consulted Dr Kaan.

This was our second visit and Dr Kaan was taking pictures of C's mouth after getting a mould of her teeth done. Dr Kaan is such a sweet man- gentle and guided C patiently. 

Side note: we were in awe when we first stepped into his office. The numerous terrariums hanging from the ceiling, coupled with wood curving and even the  bark from a tree adorned the walls somehow transformed a man made structure into an organic one  

We will be dropping by this charming office for the next 2 years.

Every year as we draw closer to the season of examinations, it isn't just the students who get jittery, teachers too. But like all previous years, we continue to pray for them. Schools and teachers keep their spirits up with words of encouragement, and little tokens.

It started with an innocent "Girls (my co-form teachers), are you from the era where we made friendship bands?" My extremely obliging friends weren't but they agreed wholeheartedly to learn the art of braiding.

 So we started. We did them in the evenings, in-between classes, and of course, while on those marking breaks and managed to complete the task in time.

Each band was placed into the pouches, complete with a note Ms Fatin wrote for them and they were handed out to the girls in class when we celebrated Teachers' Day. Really thankful and grateful for these wonderful friends / co-form teachers making this come true. :) 

Why friendship bands? Some of the friendships forged during secondary school days would last our lifetime and we wanted the girls to know that. Each band was braided with different colours - to let them know that individually, they are beautiful, but together they become magical. We want them to know that they could always count on each other, to look out for one another.

 Daddy helped too - he faithfully held on the knots in one hand while watching television in the evenings while I braided away. I promised C that she could have 1 too when she asked for it but only after I had completed those for the class. 2 days ago, we went down to a craft shop where she picked out her favourite colours. I made the band into a key holder as her old one was coming apart.

This time of the year is always an exciting time for the both of us. We would busy ourselves with ideas for what we would be giving C's teachers - surf the Internet, examine the possibilities - read: hopefully not too difficult to make and then discuss the materials we need, and finally spend time putting them together.

This year, we came up with this.

We got these lovely mason jars and cut these pretty craft papers which we would use as the cover. What we like about these mason jars: they come with detachable lid. Should the teachers want to reuse the jars for other purposes like storing of spices in the kitchen, they could always put the lids back on and the jars would be air-tight.  

Then it was putting the gifts together that was fun. Baking soda and then essential oils.

She spent some time writing her little notes of appreciation.

And viola! we made scented diffusers for her teachers.

The air plants were for her male teachers while the aroma diffusers were meant for her female ones. 

She was pretty excited about giving them the gifts. Hopefully they would like them. :)

One of C's favourite subjects in school is Food and Consumer Education (FCE) and since the beginning of Term 3, she has been coming back with food like chicken kebabs, chicken stew, and Shepherd's Pie. Then several days back, she told us that a test was coming up and she wanted to cook fried rice. Okay, that is manageable, I thought.  This was until she added, "Mummy, I want my fried rice to be wrapped in egg."

Right...

So what did the good Mummy do? She went groceries shopping for the necessary ingredients. I told C that she would need practice - This dish is not something you can put together without hands-on activity.

We managed to find some time off to put the practice round together.

First try: not too bad. She was a little clumsy while handling the utensils. Although the egg didn't break, and she heaved a huge sign of relief, she wasn't quite pleased with the shape of how it turned out so she asked if she could do another.

So here it is. Second time round, she was definitely a lot more confident. All I did was watch her from the side.  

Taste test: The omurice was absolutely heavenly!

C seemed pretty pleased with herself too. :) No prizes for guessing what our dinner was that evening.

It was a trip that we were looking forward to - The term has been extremely hectic and we were literally counting down to the long weekend.

The resort was everything we had expected! 

We decided to have the BBQ that every evening as we weren't sure if the good weather would hold up. Besides, this was one of our highlights and we didn't want to be disappointed. The experience of sitting by the fire and watching the food cook slowly over the flames was truly one of a kind - we would have enjoyed it even more had we not have to fend off those pesky flies! 

During our 3 short, idyllic days, we did :

1) Dipping in the salt water, azure blue lagoon

2) Segway ride around the lagoon

This 2-wheeler was easy enough to maneuver and handle. With some simple instructions from the guide, we were soon on our way around the lagoon.

3) scooting

C tried riding it too.

Daddy was doing most of the driving. By the end of the second day, all three of us were on this scooter.

4) Spa

This was all me - Daddy and C were relaxing in our tents and idling their time away with a game of Monopoly. 

5) All-Terrain-Vehicle

Both daughter and father enjoyed this activity tremendously! Luckily for C, she was not the least upset when muddy water entered the ATV, nor when they got onto her clothes. She was steady most of the time and could remembered to put the gear back on neutral when we came to a stop. She said if she could do this again, she would. :)

So there you have it - a fun-filled short getaway. 

While we were there, we met someone who asked if we had a blog, to which I answered "yes". The person then introduced himself and said he has been following the blog for several years. At that moment, I felt really awful as I haven't been updating the blog since December 2017, and totally irresponsible of me to just leave the blog hanging.

What was more surprising was to find out that there are others, besides close friends and family members, who take the time to read my posts. "Thank you, again."