Pre-Vacation Excitement

Last week was a slightly crazy week while we were preparing for our mini-vacation.  Blake had school which was good because he asked each day, several times a day, if it was time to go on the airplane.  The excitement was taking over pretty much every conversation we had with the kids.  Blake finally started to understand that we were going to Thailand to a hotel and not to Grandma's house, but only after explaining it repeatedly!  I think all this talk about the airplane has also worn off on Joslyn.  She was also starting to ask if we can go to the airplane and when I said not yet, she pouts and says, "Why not?"  It's pretty cute!

Joslyn was still under the weather until mid week but she did return to school on Wednesday.  She did a lot better at drop off and I think she really likes her teacher which is so great to see.  Blake had a great week of school and I was able to go into his classroom for the day on Thursday to see what he does on a daily basis.  It was fun to have him show me around and to play with his friends!

Joslyn with her puzzle book from Aunt Ali and Uncle Nate.

Blake at gymnastics.

Fun at Home

Not much to report on this week as our girl has been pretty sick and we've been taking it easy until she feels better.  Josh and I went to Blake's parent teacher conferences on Wednesday and as a result of the conferences, Blake had Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off from school.  So needless to say it's been a long week/weekend especially with Joslyn not feeling well.  Luckily Joslyn was also off from school last week which was good so she wasn't missing days.  I finally took her into the doctor Saturday morning because she was on day four of 104 temps and they gave her antibiotics she must take for 10 days.  She doesn't like the medicine but it does seem that she's feeling a little better.

Blake's conference went well.  He gets high marks for being friendly and kind to his friends and teachers.  He especially enjoys cutting paper and creating things with sticky tape, Mandarin {especially songs} and inviting friends to play when he is busy at work in his classroom.  Blake is also kinda shy to try new things and seems to be exerting his independence and refusing to do certain activities without an adult with him, so we're looking into ways to help him gain confidence to do these things on his own and to be ok with new things too.  We are just so grateful Blake has such fantastic teachers and is able to attend such a great school.  We couldn't be more pleased with how well he is doing overall!

So since Joslyn wasn't feeling well, our high hopes to go to the zoo, the aquarium, or the water park were dashed late last week.  Instead we had to come up with fun things to do around the house.  One of our ideas was to get out the shaving cream, water buckets, and squirt bottles, and it turned into lots of fun!

Our fun with the shaving cream then turned into having a car wash!

Josh also hooked up our Wii this past weekend and Blake especially loves it!  He is able to play the speed slice game where you cut fruit and objects.  He laughs so hard when he plays that he almost can't continue.  Blake also tried bowling {which he is surprisingly good at} and the airplane flying game.  Joslyn can fly the airplane too!  I'm not a huge fan of video games for kids but I'm also ok with breaking the rules every now and then.

Friday night Josh and I got out for a date night at one of our favorite Mexican places, Cafe Iguana.  We're really lucky that here in Singapore you really kind find any kind of food you might crave if you know where to look.  The food is really more Mexican than Tex-Mex which I think is why we love it so much.  Carnitas corn tortilla tacos and mini chimichangas...YUM!  We also made the poor decision to have a pitcher of margaritas.  {Note to self:  this is for when you're out with four ppl minimum!}  This weekend also being St. Patrick's Day we headed out to a party with a few of our friends.  Live bands, Guinness, and some pretty good food make for fun any time!  I especially liked that it was a good excuse to get a new dress...  

Now it's Monday and we're off on a new week.  We leave on Saturday for Phuket, Thailand for some beach time with the kids!  They are counting down the days with paper rings {they take one down each night}...the excitement is palatable!  Especially for Blake who can't think of anything but riding an airplane!  CAN'T WAIT!

Blake, The Star of the Week

Last week Blake was "Star of the Week" at his preschool.  Being star of the week means you have to choose three of your favorite books from home and bring them to school as well as five pictures to share with the class.  Blake also got to have a job every day {which preschoolers actually like!}.  His choices included: line leader, bell ringer, or pet feeder.  As "Star" he also got to choose which activity he wanted to do first during center time and which school songs to sing with his friends.  He shared and told about his pictures.  The pictures we chose together were:

Blake's 4th Birthday

Blake's Fish

Blake and Joslyn with Kyla and Dominick {cousins}

Blake also took the picture of him in his Chinese New Year outfit {which I posted to the blog on Friday} and the picture of all of us at Joslyn's party {which is in the previous blog post}.  

As for his book choices, Blake brought the old favorite "Corduroy"as well as "The Splendid Spotted Snake".   Ms Jennifer, Blake's preschool teacher, also took a video of Blake reading one of his favorite books, Planes, to his class.  Blake is an excellent reader and loves to read books all the time {especially ones about airplanes}.  At this point we think Blake might end up being a pilot when he grows up, but maybe a teacher based on this video.  :)

Joslyn's 2nd Birthday Party!

Last month, on February 17th, Joslyn turned 2 years old!  How the time has FLOWN and I am amazed every day by how much bigger she seems all the sudden.  It's amazing how event filled and memorable our time has been with her.  I'm so completely blessed as she is truly a beautiful ray of sunshine in my life!  So to celebrate her second year, we had a bumble bee birthday party.  Buzzzzzzzzzz

The Invitations

My new favorite thing is making customized paper products for parties in Photoshop.  It was a great way to personalize the party and it was so fun to do!

The Room

Welcome Banner

Food Table and Birthday Banner

The Beehive Cake

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

The cake was possible because of a website I found on Pinterest!  I decided to make this myself as it looked super easy.  It's actually a regular round cake, with another half of a cake mix baked in a metal bowl that was close to the same size round as the regular cake pans.  I then just frosted with regular buttercream {no food coloring needed, the butter alone made the frosting the perfect color} and bought the sugar bees on Amazon of all places.  I think it turned out so cute and it was yummy too!

The Food

Toddler Food!  We also had pizza delivered half way through the party!

My attempt at making these fit our colors was a miss.  They were cute but got soggy!

The Favors

Craft Table
The kids made a yellow handprint on canvas then we added black strips, antennae, and a smiley face to make them look like bumble bees!  They were really cute!  I will get a picture on here of the finished product {eventually}.

Another fun project was making these antennae for each child to take home.  They are plastic headbands wrapped in black ribbon, black and yellow pipe cleaners for the antennae with a black pom pom on each end.

The Fun

The Bouncy Castle

Ride On Cars

Joslyn in her bumble bee dress!

The Big Moment!

When I look back on Joslyn's party, I think I will always remember the excitement she had when we first came into the room, before her friends arrived, and she realized she had the bouncy castle all {almost} to herself.  I could tell she knew it was for her and those moments of shear joy that come over your child's face are the moments you really remember and cherish, this one definitely included.  :)  We have such nice friends here in Singapore who all made her party especially fun.  The noise and excitement sent everyone home happy and tired, the best combo for a two year old! 

After 2 1/2 Years...

 I've been away from blogging for a long time, though I've been meaning to get back at it.  Mostly I like the idea of an online record, especially one the kids could maybe look back on when they're older.  Eventually I'd like to go back and also update more on what we've done here and in our travels, but that will have to wait for another day.  For now, I'll just give an update:

Blake

Blake in his traditional Chinese New Year outfit

Blake is over half way through his first year at the Singapore American School as a preschooler.  Next year he will be in pre-K.  He loves his teacher and all his friends and especially loves to ride his bus to and from school.  Blake also really looks forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays when I pick him up from school {I choose to believe it's because he gets to ride with mommy in the car!}.  On those days Blake then goes to Bubbles Gymnastics for one hour and he loves it!  He's now jumping on the couches, the beds, and climbing on EVERYTHING!  I guess that comes with gaining confidence in his abilities!  It's so great to watch him and I enjoy spending this time with him twice a week.  Blake also takes swim lessons once a week with two other friends and his instructor Gina, who he also really likes and looks forward to seeing every week.  He has become a fish!

Joslyn

A little serious, but could she get any cuter?!?!

Joslyn just started her drop off class at PlayDays.  Her and I were going to an accompanied class together but decided that she could start going without me and gaining some independence.  She's loving it, aside from drop off {read separation anxiety}, but she's getting much more used to it.  Even today she asked if she could go see Lina, her teacher.  She loves all the fun they have, from singing songs, working on beautiful art projects, and learning Mandarin with her new friends, we just know she'll love it just as much as her big brother did/does!  She's a smart little cookie and everyday surprises us with all the new things she knows.  Joslyn is also taking swim lessons with daddy once a week and soon will likely be swimming at the same level as her brother!

Josh
Josh is busy as always with work, but we've been lucky he hasn't traveled as much {so far} this year as he has in the past.  He just returned from four days in Hong Kong but I don't feel too bad for him because at least he got to experience some 65 degree days versus our heat and humidity here in Singapore!  Josh is also busy studying for the GMAT to apply for grad school so needless to say, there's never a moment that's not busy!

Chinese Character for "fu"

Me
As for me, I LOVE being home with my kiddos and taking them to and fro various activities.  I also volunteer at Blake's school and have been active with the American Women's Association here in Singapore.  I've been quite busy with all that.  I love that the kids are really jumping into life and that we have so many opportunities for fun!  We are very lucky, or  as the Chinese say, we must have "fu" {good fortune}.



Well, that's all I've got for now.  More to come...