Cheeks to Cheeks

Friday is here. Yay!!! You cannot believe what a challenging week it has been.

We had to wake up early just so Belle gets to school on time. Apart from that, both Jon and I get interrupted sleep from the older girl ‘cos she insists to have her diaper changed whenever it gets soiled…middle of the night!

Things ain’t that fun during the day too when all I have been doing was packing, filing, packing and more packing. At 1.15pm sharp, I had to be out of the door to pick up the girl and her friend, Abby, for after-school.  Then it is back to more packing and sorting things out for our future garage sale. In between that I will squeeze in lunch. At 5pm it is off to getting the younger one from preschool and head over to the older one’s after-school place.  We would straight away head over to my in-laws’ place for dinner.

After a lot of threatening, scolding, cajoling the kids over dinner time, we would return home by 7.30pm for a quick shower. Then it is bedtime for the kids by 8.30pm. Sometimes I will konk out with them but the book, “The Girl who played with Fire” kept calling out to me. Both Jon and I would hit the sack before midnight and of course, get woken up by Ms. Belle some time between 12am and 7am.

So, yea, I’m glad it is Friday! That means more packing to do on Saturday. Both of us are so dead tired and we can’t wait for this (packing) to be over.

Last night I was in bed reading the girls a couple of story books. Then Belle struck up a conversation that went (somewhat) like this:

Belle: Mommy,  look at this picture. The illustrator write (draw) it.
Mom: Draw it (tried to correct her when she said write).
Belle: Ok, draw it. The illustrator is good.
Mom: Yes, she sure is. That is a very big word you used: Illustrator. Who taught you that?
Belle: Nobody.
Mom: Really? Was it your teacher?
Belle: I dunno.

Oh well, it doesn’t matter who taught her but I’m amazed that she has begun to use big words. I don’t think I have ever used that word when I was four and a half. Lately, we have been borrowing the book series, Fancy Nancy, from the local library. Fancy Nancy introduces kids to fancy words and I’m guessing it is rubbing onto the girl. For what I know, she may start to speak a word or two in French.

So much to do and so little time to fulfill it. We have been busy since last week. First with Belle’s dance recital. The girl has been taking dance lessons in her preschool for over a year and we (the parents of the little dancers) finally get to see them perform. They were taught a variety of dance lessons from beginning ballet to tap. We have recorded the performance and I just need time to edit it. (For my sis: Yes, you will get to view it very soon).

Then I was told of a Teddy Bear picnic for Cassie’s class, which took place this Wednesday. I baked some cookies and the girls and I had a great early dinner in school. Last night the husband and I were up till 2am finalizing our Disneyland trip. All I can say that we weren’t shown any love by Priceline ‘cos we couldn’t get the hotel we wanted within our budget. Anyhow, the hotel and tix are done, now we just need to plan the driving route and pit-stops.

On top of that, our first born is graduating from preschool this Saturday. Can you believe it?! Our baby is starting Kindergarten this fall. She is pretty nonchalant about graduation and going to a new school. I guess it hasn’t really sunk in to her that she will not be seeing some of her friends and teachers after August 20th.

Photos will be posted after we are back from our Disney trip. Stay tuned!

I can’t believe how stubborn the girl is. Told her to go pee-pee before going to the park. She refused and decided to lie on the bathroom floor. Yes, it is eeky but she’s determine to stay there. So, I let her be.

Five minutes later, I went to check on her ‘cos I heard noise in the bathroom. She peed…….on the floor! I was so mad. I scolded her told her “No park!” Now, we’re having a silent war. She’s lying on the carpet and I’m here blogging about my experience. I’m letting her know how angry and disappointed I am with her by not talking to her.

This girl is gonna be a handful as she grows older. There must be a way to break her stubborn streak but as of now I don’t have a solution for it. Time out doesn’t seem to work on her as she rather takes it and freezes up. Yep, you heard me right. She will freeze up as in not moving during the entire time-out.

Today is just not my day. I think I’ll have to feed her an early lunch and put her down for her nap. I need some sanity back.

Halloween photos will be postponed till both mother and daughter are feeling better. Both of us probably caught the flu bug from preschool last Friday. I’m coughing madly and Belle has been running a high fever of 102F, and coughing and having runny nose. I will be bringing her in to the clinic today at 1.30pm. Hopefully, it is just a mild case of flu. Daddy is getting paranoid as there were a few death cases from H1N1 flu in the East Bay. I guess both of us will be wearing the mask when we get into the clinic.

My body is aching as we speak. So, I’m gonna pen off here and get my rest.

I must be a Bear in past life. I feel the urge to hibernate when the season gets cooler. Yes, Fall/Autumn is here and my beloved Summer days are gone. It has been getting more difficult to wake ourselves up in the mornings. Cold morning + Warm Blankets = “Give me 5 more minutes.” Hence, Belle has been late to school. Thank goodness it is only Preschool and not Kindy.

Lately I have been keeping myself busy with projects. This year I will be making the kids’ Halloween costumes and I’m soooo glad there are only finishing touches to it (I’m 97% to finishing both costumes). I’m no Martha Stewart; therefore, I’m only making the necessary part of the costumes. I will post preview photos once I’m done with Cassie’s wings.

Today I will finish up with those wings and embark on another project. The inner rubber rim of our washing machine has been plagued with black mouldy spots. For the life of me, I could not get those blasty spots off. I tried all sorts of chemicals and bleach might be my last resort. Anyway, I tried googling on “How to clean those spots” and chanced upon a post/blog on Eco-enzyme cleaners. The writer wrote very convincing posts and I can’t help but to try it out myself. So, for the past 2 days I have been juicing (oranges) like crazy! I didn’t use my power juicer this time and went back to the basics–Squeezed oranges.

If I get any good results, you will be seeing a post on this Eco-enzyme cleaner in a month’s time. Wish me luck!

Any significance to me? Nah. It’s just another day for me: A day filled with babbling with my 19-mth old girl. She is beginning to pick up words and showing signs of willing to speak.

It must be an exhausting day for both girls today. I had just put both girls to bed and they fell asleep quite fast. Hopefully, they will not wake up middle of the night.

I love sleeping between them and hear them breathe. It is quite soothing until Belle snores.

Anyway, if today is a special day for you, a Happy day to you. Then again, today is almost coming to an end. Have a nice one.

Selamat Hari Merdeka, Malaysia!

The girl fell asleep while watching “Barney & Friends” this (late) morning. I guess “Barney & Friends” just isn’t her cuppa tea.

That was how long Cass napped today. Did I tire her out that much today? LOL!

Anyway, tomorrow this little girl is turning 18 months old. I have both girls with me and maybe I will take them out for some photo sessions. I’m sure some of you are dying to see the girls photos.

Okay, gotta go now. Cass is pulling my hand and wanting me to go somewhere with her. I have so much to update on the girls and I’m planning to spend at least one hour a day to blog now.