Our Weekend

The older girl is Janae Goode and the younger two are Talia and Olivia Bridgeman. Janae sometimes watches Analia at school--she's good with kids.

She wasn't likin' the hat!!

We had a great weekend. On Saturday morning we went to Arab Street to get some things to decorate for graduation. On a whim we stopped at a food shop and had roti prata. They were huge and delicious--not to mention cheap!! Saturday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for a friend. She was really surprised because her birthday is not for another two weeks. It was good to catch up with friends. We had to watch Ana though. They have beautiful pools with waterfalls and she wanted to jump right in.

On Sunday we went to the Cricket Club with the Wongs and sat in the Lounge. Uncle Michael ordered chicken wings, pizza, sausage, samosas, corned beef sandwiches, club sandwiches, and satay. It was all good. The challenging thing was keeping Ana occupied and quiet as there were no high chairs. They had a bouncy castle out. She and Joshua went out for a while, but found it to be too hot!! Matt went out to a student council party, but Ana and I stayed home and watched Fiddler on the Roof--you should see her dance!!

YEAH!!

Our long awaited US immigration paper arrived Friday. This is such a blessing because Matt leaves for China for three weeks on June 8th. We have one week to get all our paperwork notarized that he has to be present for. Isn't God's timing perfect? Just the other day I was all depressed because many of my friends are leaving AND almost everyone else from the school is going back to the States for the summer. God knows when we need a little pick me up!! Also my parents arrive for two weeks in exactly six days! This should be a busy week with graduation and other end of the year activities!

Silly

Laughter is good medicine! She sat there like this for quite a while. You wonder what they're thinking!!

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. E. E. Cummings

A Very Real Part of Life in Singapore

So, this is not the most uplifting post!! When I got Ana up this morning I noticed huge red spots on the back of her legs, one on her hand, and one on her arm. We have a mosquito net on her bed, but sometimes they still manage to sneak in!! Tropical bites are a bit worse than American ones! After putting some itching stuff on it which didn't work, I looked it up on the internet. One site suggested using deoderant. I tried and she hasn't itched since!

The Sit 'n Spin

We bought this from a family that is leaving Singapore. Ana really likes it because of the music (which gets annoying after about two minutes!) Today she took a friend for a ride. I didn't suggest it--this was not a posed shot! Maybe she'll have more fun when she can put a brother on the other side. Anyway, they've altered these from when I was a kid and made them safer and much, much slower. Shhh--don't tell Ana!

PS Megan--there's one of the shirts you bought!!

The Indian Dance

I FINALLY got this to upload--Matt's in the middle in white--enjoy and don't laugh too hard!

The Flu (from school)

Here's Ana sacked out on the bean bag chair!!

Ana is a little dynamo. She NEVER sits still unless she's forced to or is sick. Today she sat with me or Matt for hours. It's nice not to have to chase her, BUT I miss the spunky, glimmer in her eyes! Pray for our recovery. Matt had it too, but is getting over it!

Girls Night Out

The Wongs happened to get some free tickets to the symphony which they couldn't use. (They went to Japan instead!!) So, I went with their daughter-in-law Ivy. We went to a Japanese hawker beforehand with the guys and kids. I had ginger beef and Matt had some pork/egg dish. For dessert we had mango shaved ice--so good as mangos are in season now! Afterward, the girls headed out and the guys stayed, let the kids play in the children's area, and went to look at a fountain. By then it was 8:00 and Analia was ready for bed--so Yu Jin took them home. Meanwhile, we were enjoying Debussy and Rachmaninov. The pianist was very good and played 3 encores!! We used to go to the symphony quite a lot, but now don't!! We might have to try to schedule that back in. Yo-Yo Ma is coming next year!! Thanks Wongs for the tickets!!

A Playdough Rose

OK--I play with playdough way too often. I'm moving on from balls and snakes. Here's my playdough rose!

Cinco de Mustache

Our school staff had a Cinco de Mustache party. Some of the men really grew out their facial hair. The staff had a great time playing softball. Matt brought two mitts from the States and has had very little use for them until today! He pitched for his team and had a couple of good hits. Ana enjoyed walking around with all the older kids. They were very patient with her and even let her pet the frog they caught. Afterwards we all went into the air conditioned staff room for Mexican food. Our Spanish teacher made some great beans as well as some chicken tacos. Fun, fun, fun!!

A City Girl

How do I know we're raising a city girl?

-when the only wildlife she sees are pigeons
-when she sleeps through revving motorcycles and fights right outside her window
-when she cheerfully rides in buses, trains, and taxis, but doesn't like CARS
-when she has to go to a park to see grass
-when most of the plants she sees are in pots

-when she sees and loves people of all races
-when she gets to try many different types of food (Indian is her favorite--she loves to dip all the breads in the sauces.)
-when she has learned to wait (in lines, for buses, for service from slow waiters...)

There are some disadvantages. Sometimes I long for a pet and wide open spaces. (I watch the movie "The Horse Whisperer" just for the scenery!) But city life has its advantages. I've learned a lot here and I'm sure Ana will too.

My Little Helper

Ana always helps me peel my onions. After having completed one she asked for another. I began to chop the first one. Soon after I noticed she had disappeared. Not to worry she came back with a knife from her kitchen and was sawing away on that poor onion!

40th Birthday

One of the challenges at school is getting Ana to take a nap. We just let her sleep in her stroller.

We celebrated Matt's birthday at school a day early. Many of the staff wore black. We hung up the banner and balloons that Matt's mom had brought from the States and had a cake for the office staff. It's nice to celebrate with friends--even though they give you a hard time. Some of them popped balloons, wrote 40th on them, and then spread them all around his office--quite a mess! He got some gift certificates from the high school teachers, some nice cards from his students (and nerds), and a cake from his home room.

We also went to the Wongs on Friday--a public holiday here. They had a special Chinese meal of roast suckling pig, char siew, vegetables, and rice. For the birthday cake they bought egg tarts and inserted a happy birthday sign--very cute and yummy! They gave him a Singapore Cricket Club tie (of which they are members.) He'll be the only one at school with one of those!