We are still here!

With God's grace we are still alive and kicking! It has been a tough month of January for us but things are starting to settle down alot more.
Zac has finally decided to stop the water works every morning when i drop him off to school...he seems to be pretty happy to go now. From the bits and pieces of information i get from him each day on our ride back home, i am starting to piece together what he actually does in school and what he enjoys doing. He has also been role playing scenes from school when he is at home so at the moment, he is Mrs Yap (his teacher), i am Mrs Tan (an assistant teacher) and Nat is Zheng lao shi (his chinese teacher, who happens to be slightly chubby like Natty too!)
Nat is blossoming (literally and figuratively)...she is alot more vocal (read: LOURD) and no longer satisfied with just sitting and watching, she wants in on the action around the house now. Good for her but BAD for mummy...
Eugene...still dragging himself off to work each morning and trying to fill his spare time with meaningful "daddy time" with the kids...
As for me....some days i feel like one of those pet mouse who runs on the spinning wheel continuously, physically and mentally drained but seemingly going nowhere? Does that sentence even make sense? Hard to describe how i feel, but at the end of the day i do still feel like i am at the right place and doing the right thing at this point of my life. This mouse just needs lots of caffeine and chocolate to get through the day....

A new start...

2009 came and went...2010 arrived...wanted to mention something in here but time flew away from me...I just praise and thank God for all that He has seen me through in 2009, giving me a very supportive husband and 2 beautiful children...
Today Zac went to school...the first of many firsts that he will be experiencing as he starts his journey through this labyrinth of education here in Singapore. I thought i would be more eager for him to start...seeing how that would free me from one child so that i have more time to spend with Nat...but i started having weird pangs of emotions building up throughout the week. Think i was a lot more anxious than he was.
He did well today...my brave boy...he held back his tears, held back his desire to ask to go home (although nearing the end of the school day, he did ask his teachers to let him go home!)...he must have held back his urges to go to the toilet to relieve himself as he came home with damp underpants...i thank God for watching over him today.
But i can see and sense that he had a lot going on in his mind today...not himself, and i just wished that i could read his mind and comfort and assure him. But i know he is in good hands...for Someone much higher knows what he needs.
Apart from that...i am BONE TIRED! And to add to that Eugene will be away on reservist for 2 whole weeks!!!! SIGH!!! Bad timing, now i have to explain to my little boy (who is already grappling with school) that he won't see his daddy for awhile as he as to go to the army to fulfill his national duties!!! SIGH!!! At the moment i am not a big fan of the government...

A sign of the times....

Eugene and i had date night, spanning across 2 nights...
- We finally watched "Slum dog millionaire" which has been sitting in our computer for months now.
- We had to use head phones as the volume had to be turned down so low we had problems catching the conversations.
- We couldn't keep our eyes open for long so it had to be continued the next night.
Boy, are we getting old! But it was pretty good movie!

All grown up...

This little boy is embarking on a new adventure come 7th Jan 2010....he is finally off to preschool. Attended orientation last Friday, Zac was bewildered and wide eyed over all the new things he saw and all the new information we were feeding him about school and what happens in school. He was introduced to his new teacher, Mrs Yuck (Yap actually but he can't seem to get the "p" sound going) and new uniforms were collected.
However, I left the place feeling uneasy, over whether i was starting him too early and worrying if he will enjoy school, but most of all enjoy learning. Discovery, curiosity and wonderment are all so important for children at this age and Zac has truck loads of that at the moment, i definitely don't want to kill that.
After much prayer and deliberation we decided that Zac is ready for school...and if we are wrong...then we will just hold him back again. Let's pray that Mrs Yap will turn out to be a wonderful teacher, one that Zac will always remember fondly.
On a side note...Zac has been doing great with toilet training (which is a requirement from the school) so another sign that he is ready i suppose.
Am going to miss my little helper!

Kids 1, Mummy 0

Defeated...that sums up how i felt today!!! Nat was especially clingy and cranky and both refused to take their naps as they should be doing. Both still battling their flu bugs and Eugene and I trying our best to stay healthy.
At least i managed to get dinner on the table.
Sigh...

Just BEING with the kids...

If Zac and Nat could understand me....i would say "mummy's sorry"
I realised that of late i have been bogged down with all the chores i have to complete during the day and providing for their physical needs that i have somewhat forgot to just BE with them. I have forgotten to enjoy the priviledge i have to watch them grow and experience their wonderment at every little thing they discover each day. I have forgotten to just PLAY with them and do silly things together. I forget to sing silly rhymes and play silly games. I forget to smile and laugh my head off with them.
So what if the laundry piles up, or the sink piles up with dirty dishes or the food needs to be prepped....the secret moments of happiness that need to be shared with Zac and Nat cannot wait.

Nat has found her voice...

Yes this little girl has found her voice and she has been exercising her vocal cords diligently be it in the wee hours of the morning or in the wee hours of the night!! But it is not the sweet angelic cooing and ahhing that babies make....she has taken to grunting and growling. She alternates between the two, usually starting by grunting like a pig then if nobody pays her any attention she starts growling like a lion. Her big brother finds it particularly amusing and often adds to the din. I have yet to find the humour in this situation...often it drives me loony when they decide to BOTH grunt and growl in the car.