Rodent Pets

Have I shared about Vic and Will's pet hamsters?  I can't seem to find a post on them.  Oh well... here's one as a tribute to them.  

Hamsters.  Not my idea of cute pets.  Not my idea of pets even, to say the least.

But one fine day when mummy was attending a talk in church, I came home to find two additional "family members."  Kids were quick and elated to show me their new "babies."  Apparently daddy brought them out to the pet store and in the spur of the moment, they decided to own a hamster each.  Daddy, in his wisdom, feels that this will give them a sense of ownership and cultivate responsibility.  But just to be very sure we don't suddenly end up with a multitude of hamsters out of our control, daddy got them to choose from the same gender.

Sparkle and Cutie Pie

So the first generation of hamsters was Sparkle (Vic's) and Cutie Pie (William's)

Cutie Pie

My condition to have these babies were to keep them safely outside the house so their fur and whatever germs will not contaminate the indoors.  Kids abode.  

They would dry bath their babies every weekend.  Most of the times they'd remember, and at other times mummy would remind them.  The hamsters are quite picky on food, and they'd bite a little on some, and leave the rest mixed with the hamster wood.  Probably marinaded with some of their urine.  

The hamsters didn't last long.  I can't remember the dates they arrived or left, but Sparkle left us first.  The day we came back from one of our holiday trips, and our helper Jo sadly broke the news to us.  She gestured towards Spark's cage, where a white clothe covered it.  

Spark or Sparkie (as we fondly called her) left us hours before we came back.  She couldn't wait.  Vic was sad, but no tears.  I presume the sadness came from the shock of something dying, and dying so unexpectedly fast, eventhough the shop has adviced us on their lifespan.  

We buried Spark in front of our garden, near some flowers, and placed a flower pot on top to secure it.  The "funeral service" was quick and painless.  We said something nice about Spark, maybe a prayer too, then in went the stiff body and some soil.  

Bye bye Sparkle

Cutie Pie died a couple of months later.  The same burial was done for Cutie Pie in the same plot, just on top of Spark.  

Nico and Cutie Pie II

Fast forward a couple of months later, we had the second generation of hamster.  This time, with an objective to MATE!  *shock mode on*

Vic named hers Nico, after the Mercedes F1 driver, Nico Rosberg whilst William - the ever sentimental guy - kept the name of Cutie Pie II for his pet.  Vic's obviously was the male hamster, and William had the female hamster.  If you find that odd, that's because Vic didn't want the risk of her hamster dying after or during pregnancy.  So she calculated her risk and did a deal with her brother, who had no problems agreeing.  

Cutie Pie II

This round, we were in the pet shop picking something up for Lewis the dog, and saw a new batch of young hamsters.  I think these were the winter hamsters.  Since they were younger, they should have a longer lifespan.  They were only 3 months old when we bought them, and the shop told us that in another 3 months, we could start putting the hamsters together to mate.  *gulp*

So the kids kept track of the time.  Nearing the end of the countdown, I decided to use my veto power to say no to mating, since that might give us a lot more problem than joy.  Think mess, think death, think germs, think space, think think think...

So the hamsters didn't get to mate.  Sometime in January, Cutie Pie died. Vic gave her Nico to her brother to replace his loss.  But a week later, Nico died too.  I guess they couldn't live without each other.  So these were both buried at the other end of the garden, and to secure it, we place something over too. Now that we have a pup who likes to dig, we wouldn't want to find a chewed up corpse in the middle of our porch, or God forbid, on one of our shoes, right??  

So that's the end of the hamster stories.  So short life.  So sad.  But glad at least I got a video of William playing catch with his CPII the Sunday before CPII left.  Kids were matured to handle this, although William showed more sadness than his sister.  

And mummy?  Mummy's pretty happy to have no more hamster in the house.  (I. Have. Nothing. To. Do. With. Their. Demise. OK?)

First Time Experience Paragliding in Penang

Kids went for their first experience in paragliding on Ferringhi beach, Penang during our 3D2N stay from 11-13th September 2015.  We stayed at the Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort during the Porsche Family Day event.

A picture first before letting them "fly off"

Gearing up!

One more pic... I think I told the guy he better bring my son back!

Now this is where the fun starts... 

Coming down... first thing to check if he's crying.  Don't have wor : )

                                       

Next, Victoria's turn.  She wanted to chicken out but we told her not to coz 1) price negotiated 2) brother went, she should too and 3) we don't know when's the next opportunity

You can do it, girl!  

A Family Holiday in Club Med

24-26 September 2015

Uncle Julian came back from the States to spend some quality family time with us last September. Unfortunately, auntie Winnie and cousin Joshua couldn't come back this round.  

Gong Gong planned a beautiful short getaway to Club Med Cherating for a family holiday.  Daddy had to work and unable to take leave in his new job.  We missed him, but we had loads of fun with everyone and the activities.  

I will write less, and post up more pictures here!  

Gong Gong with the boys!

With mummy dearest... she deserve the best holiday!

See the beautiful lake just outside our block where our rooms are located?  I have more to say about the condition, service and quality of Club Med but I will refrain from that now and just cherish the wonderful memories

We walked along this road to the beachside.  Thank God no snakes or monkeys 

An evening show after dinner with dances and a lame storyline

William was brave to go up the flying trapeze first.  Even I got jelly legs when I tried the next day.  Confession:  I went up only because Yi Yi and Uncle Julian did, and I had to do it to show Vic that mummy is brave too. (Vic didn't go because she was just like me... jelly legs)

Here's a video of William up on the flying trapeze...

I forgot what this place was called, but I remembered what we did.  Some went for a swim, and the rest of us who don't swim ie Popo, Yi Yi and myself, plus Uncle Julian who joined us later... we just chilled on the lounge chairs with our alcoholic drinks

Great song and great dance moves!  The party just started...

Kids, it's time to get wet!

She was reserved in the beginning and slowly warmed up and got the idea of a foam party

Come join us, Gong Gong!

This boy was mesmerized and in deep thoughts when he observed others play snooker.  I watched him from afar and thought he looked so serious.  Maybe he was trying to hypnotize the balls. ;P

Practicing their archery skills.  Actually this is their first time experience, even for myself.  Vic was lukewarm to this sport, but William was very excited and wanted more turns.  Sadly he didn't get more turns because "time's up".

After checking out of Club Med, we dropped into the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary which was located just outside the club.  Entrance fee was free.  Allocated 30 minutes which is more than sufficient.

This was a wonderful holiday and I'm glad we all had fun.  God gave us good weather and good health.  The kids definitely had a great bonding time as they paired off for the Kids Club activities and almost everything else.  We thank Gong Gong for footing the bills, and the next time we can have another family holiday again but with us chipping in too : ) 

The November that past

I must say, I still love this blog.  It's still a part of me, albeit neglected many months now.  We did not go overseas in the last school holiday, which is something different.  I think it's a good change to just hang around, rest and catch up on... work and errands?  

For Vic, she had a week of Maths classes at her new school (transferred to William's homeschool center in January 2016) in the last week of November, which was also the beginning of the school holidays.  

Every morning, I'd send her to the center for a 3 hour maths class which is only for the five new kids joining Year 5 this year.  The objective of the class was to close the gap between the Malaysian maths syllabus and the Cambridge/Singapore syllabus that they will be embarking on.  Back at home, it's good I also grilled gave them with additional maths work, so those that came from the teacher was relatively easier.  

For William, he joined a 3 days Vacation Bible School from 26-28 November at SSMC.  We signed him up after an invitation came from his classmate Justin, which was way before our own church announced their VBS.  I personally think VBS is a good way to expose the kids to some form of independence by spending the whole day at church - singing, learning, dancing, arts and crafts, discussion and whatever else they do.  

William made a name for himself with his cell leader and pastor at the VBS, for being over "enthusiastic" and energetic during the whole time.  When we found out at the end of the VBS, mommy and daddy were definitely not pleased to say the least.  

Singing their theme song

Happy 90th Birthday to Ah Chor

My grandma, whom I fondly call Ah Ma, and the children's Ah Chor, celebrated her 90th birthday on August 8th this year in Sitiawan.

If I recall correctly, there were 8 tables filled with close friends, church friends, relatives and family members from near and far as we ate and sang at Restaurant Beiking.

Ah Ma was in high spirits.  She sang cheerfully and loudly and despite deteriorating heath over the past few years, she reflected her old gusty self that night.

I pray and wish her God's richest blessings of good health, surrounded by good friends, assurance of His love and family's, dwelling in His peace and may His joy be her strength.

My 4th Uncle and his wife and their son Anthony, together with Uncle John came back from the United States to celebrate this happy occasion.  It's also a good time too as our ringgit continued to weakened against the American Dollar.

A rare and precious picture with Ah Chor but somehow someone had to close his eyes 

A simple surprise birthday for Popo

Popo comes up to PJ as often as she can on weekends that she's free and not away.  Some months, she can be up here every alternate weekends and we really appreciate her time and sacrifice.  Her single trip travel here takes on average 2 hours with one change of train. 

The weekend before her birthday, she was up in PJ with us.  She intended to take the earlier train back the next day ie Sunday and did not know that Gong Gong and I had pre-arranged a surprise lunch and special pick up for her in PJ.  

A bit of challenge to juggle the timing, as we were all ready to leave the house but Gong Gong, Yi Yi and gang were still on the way.  They stopped along the way to purchase a birthday cake because if I did, it would have been very obvious that we were going to celebrate her birthday.  To her, she wanted only a simple lunch before she left. 

She also wanted to drop by my aunt's place to see Tai Gong.  So after some messages and hurrying, we headed to the Restaurant in Paramount Garden where we were supposed to "bump into" Gong Gong, Yi Yi and family.  

It was so much fun to see her surprised face as Grace ran towards her in the restaurant and how she came to realization that we had all these planned for her special day.

I love it that Popo Gong Gong are such simple folks, and Popo's birthday wish every year is always the same loving wish - for everyone to be healthy and happy.  We wish her the same, health and happiness too, on top of every other blessings from God to overflow in her life, and that she may have long life to see even her grand children marry and carry her great grand kids with Gong Gong! 

I love you Mi, from the bottom of my heart and you are indeed a role model for our two generations to follow.  

William's School Sports Day

William had his school sports day on Saturday, August 15th.

All children from Years 1 to 6 were required to arrived latest by 7:45am at the Stadium (forgotten the name but it's near our house).  I did not know that there were food stalls set up at the Stadium where we could get our breakfast, so we stopped by the dim sum shop along the way to buy "pau" and "lo mai kai" for the kids to eat in the car.

William was in the Galatians team, and the team color was purple.  Therefore, all team mates had to wear purple tee.  The other teams were Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians.  In each team, they had children from different age and class.

The team banner

Doing the team march followed by the team cheer in front of the judges

Team Ephesians

Team Philippians

Team Colossians

We initially took the seats up on the gallery before we and many other parents started moving around to get better angles and also away from the heat of the morning sun

Waiting with two feathers stuck to his head

The event started with the school song, national anthem and the team march and cheer.  After some introductions, the teams then moved on to the first event, which was the race, followed by many other games.

William took part in the 100m run but did not win.  However, he did well and was the second last standing in the Dodgeball competition, which the team eventually won first place.

William had so much fun playing the Dodgeball; he teased and danced during the game too.

                         

The team won the Dodgeball competition

Tug of War was fun

Kids tug of war first, then the parents were invited to join in the fun

He is so happy with his gold medal.  The team won second place in the overall games.

All the teams played well and thank God for good weather, and great bonding and fun.

It is so wonderful to see everyone had fun and teamwork.  There were no tears but many cheers!  The Sports Day was supposed to end at 12noon but we ended about half an hour earlier which was a good thing as the sun was getting too hot for comfort.  We tapau-ed a simple lunch on the way home.  William was still so charged up and tells me that he wants everyday to be Sport Day.