Butterfly Fly Fly

What a tiring day. Our first stop in Penang today was the Butterfly Farm. I figured the girls would love the butterflies. It turns out that I was the most impressed.

The feeling of having the pretty butterflies fluttering around me was adequately exciting and inspiring. You must know a ferris wheel ride can be too scary for me, especially big ones.

I'm tired, so I'm hoping the pictures will tell the story.

The Best Day of My Life

Treasure: I love you, you funny girl...
Queenie: I love you, you funny joke... haha

Hours later...
Queenie to Treasure: I am having the best day of my life.. When you said you love me.

Moments like these must go on record.

Penang one

Our first day in penang.. We stay at Holiday Inn in an amazingly large room. A room I would be happy to call a hotel room, unlike rooms in Hong Kong, Taipei and Tai Dong, which I would be happier to call hotel store rooms.

Anyway, I was looking through my gallery and all I found were these pictures.

1. This speaks of my luke warm feelings towards taking photos everywhere.
2. The most interesting part of my trip must be when Treasure coloured Anna Green and confidently declared she liked colouring aliens. Highly gratifying to know Anna is an alien.

What did we do today. . Mainly we spent lots of time looking at the kids at the pool, looking at them doing art, and eating.  Er. I should be happy.

Days of our Birth

Recently, Queenie turned 5. She has been looking forward to her birthday for the longest time, like since January?

I have always been amazed with how she can stay obsessed with looking forward to her birthday. I wouldn't dare look forward to a day too much, because I think that would lead to greater disappointment. It takes much courage to be as excited as her. To be honest, I was afraid she would be disappointed too.

Afterall, we are not the kind to throw elaborate parties or buy big gifts. I guess we are sort of lazy in that way.

But hey, the girl was not disappointed one bit. Her first mini birthday celebration was with her classmates. They were awesome. The kids were literally jumping when they sang the birthday song... the total opposite of how we adults sing that tired old song. She was regal in school, clothed in a long Elsa-inspired dress and she tried to fit the feel of the dress. She carried a gracious smile and was mostly subdued. But it was clear from her eyes that she loved it when the kids jumped in joy when they sang the song for her.

A few days later, we let Queenie choose a cake to celebrate with Moses' family.  She did not get her first choice of a cake with balloons pictures, because it was too big. But she was happy with her second choice, a square chocolate cake covered with curled chocolate shavings.

For her birthday present, she chose a fascinating kaleidoscope from the Science Centre.

Two days later, it was time to celebrate her day with my family. My parents were surprisingly enthusiastic, setting up a Disney Princess themed decor in their home. This time, we got Queenie her first choice cake, a fairy cake from Polar.

We had lots of fun. And I know Queenie wasn't disappointed. There was no elaborate party, no big gift, and at times, we couldn't get her the cake age really wanted. But she was happy. I don't know what's the secret to being so easily happy. But maybe one day I will.

Partners in Parenting

When I'm feeling frustrated and tired, there's one person who is likely feeling the same. When I'm happy, so is that person.

I shall talk about the young man I call my husband. Well, he looks pretty young I think.

I'm happy he's born with more muscles than me. Look at that picture of him lugging the kids up a slope. He does many more things that I'm not good at, like taking care of the laundry, boiling drinking water, vacuuming, and other stuff that require more muscles. Don't say this is an excuse, it's a REASON.

I'm happy that he's as happy as I am when the kids are happy. The picture of him pushing Queenie on the swing is a picture of him making her happy. And the girls know he loves them.

We share our frustration too. One of my most frustrating tasks, is getting Treasure to eat.  Just look at his irritated face.  I'm kind of sad for him at this point, but secretly happy I'm not the one feeding her at this point.

To sum up, parenting is a job that requires partners in love.  And I have found mine. 

A Sacrifice for the Team

Today, we forced Treasure to take a selfie with us. We literally forced her head into the frame. I just love this picture.  It tells so much. 

First, it shows that it is sometimes very hard to get Treasure to cooperate with us. She often has a different agenda from us.

Second, a selfie is worth forcing your child into.  One day, Treasure will look at this picture and see how much we value group shots (over her feelings). Ok, I'm laughing again! 

Third, sometimes we have to sacrifice our wants to achieve a group objective. A family is a team.  We must be willing to sacrifice our happiness for the team's good. I'm sure a selfie will do much good for the team. And yes, I'm laughing again!

Dear kids, I hope you learnt something. :)

For the moment

For the last few days, a culmination of Treasure's naughty moments have been driving me crazy!

I decided to snap shots of some naughty moments. 

The first is of her shouting at me to throw my phone to her.  Look at that defiant face.  So irritating!

The second is of her whining for me to give her my phone.  This is obviously part 2 of the first photo.

The third is of her crying after moses and I told her not to pick the filling of the bun with her fingers.

Looking at these photos now, they actually look cute.  You might not even understand how I could have gotten angry. But seriously, when you are trapped in the naughty moment with her, you can only see how bad she is.