Busy Granny.

It has been a heavy day. Squabbling children, and I also found out that our big girl's teacher won't be continuing with the school next year, even though he's been a lovely teacher.

Granny and the little man had their date today, and he was stoked. They took the bus into the village and explored.

After school, big boy and Granny went out for their own little adventure. Later on, Granny made mee soto and soupy bee hoon for dinner. Yum. 

Later in the evening, she also made kites with the bigs. 

Methinks she's outdone herself today. Needless to say, she knocked out before we did this evening. What a full day! 

Advent Begins.

Who would have guessed that preparing the Christmas tree for Christmas would involve removing its 15 resident snails, ushering out even more spiders and giving it a good dusting? That's exactly what we did before carrying it into the house to decorate this afternoon. Given that it spends most of the year outside, I guess it's reasonable that the critters of the world decide to make it their home.

the children testing out our homemade tree-topper. It fits!

Our prayer space has also seen a transformation as we enter the first week of Advent. The prayer room smells of rosemary now as they were the only evergreen sprigs I could find to create the Advent wreath.

Granny had lunch with the bigs today, and went on a little outing with our big girl. 

Our big girl came home with Meadow, a fox plushie, and was very glad for the granddaughter/granny time. 

Dentist's Chair.

I know it's been a busy day when I look forward to a lie down on the dentist's chair. Granny being here meant that I could book in an appointment for a routine dental check, my first in 3 years. 

I was bracing myself for the worst but was surprised to hear that all was well. It was also a chance to close my eyes and rest after a busy morning that included popping by the pool to watch our big girl swimming with her classmates. 

Our littlest lady burst into tears when she realised her big sister wasn't going home with us, but heading back separately to school. 

Granny Is Here!

Granny surprised the children when she flew in from Singapore and arrived at our home this morning. Our littlest lady was first to notice the taxi pulling up in our driveway and thought it was a police car. She alerted everyone else to it and the children ran to take a look. Big boy was home with a runny nose; he ran straight up to her for a big hug when he realised who it was. "This is so surreal, it feels like I'm dreaming," he later said. 

Our little lady hung back, unsure. This was her first time seeing granny in person. It didn't take her long to warm up, though. 

having a chat with Granny today.

Granny met our big girl at school at pick up. According to her, our big girl walked right by her! Big girl still wore a look of disbelief when she got back to the car. She's not big on surprises but I think she was happy to see granny nonetheless. 

A happy reunion after 3 years. 

Fruitful Day.

Our little man seems to be feeling a little better. We spent the morning outside doing woodwork and making potions. He learned to use a drill driver today to make pilot holes for a screw. The sunshine made for a pleasant time outside. 

Our big girl announced this afternoon that she felt like eating stewed apple. She proceeded to peel, cut and prepare enough apples for the whole family. She set up the steamer with the rice cooker and got it going, all by herself. It was her first time preparing it all my herself and we could see she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. :)

enjoying the fruit of her labours! 

Little Man Down.

The little man has been down with a fever and slight cough since Sunday. He's not been himself and as a result has also not been the best company.

In order to maximise his rest, the husband took on the primary school drop-off this morning so the little man could sleep in. This meant the husband getting into work a little later, and also leaving a little earlier to pick the children up from school.

I'm incredibly grateful for the flexibility the husband was able to have with work today. 

This Is The Day That Never Ends.

The day has stretched on for what seems like forever. We drove to Hamilton for a first birthday party. We then got home and discovered to our dismay, that most of our family has nits, to differing degrees... The bigs probably caught it from school. It's our second time around dealing with nits, unheard of in Singapore but a part of life here. The first time, we freaked out, but this time, we knew what we were dealing with and it was just getting through the process of managing them. Nits aren't too tricky (compared to fleas) as they don't last long away from a host head, but just a tedious job overall. Also contrary to popular belief, they go for clean hair. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent washing and treating everyone for nits. We're all now having a family sleepover downstairs with our camping gear because our bedding is still wet and the husband dreamed up this idea which the children loved. :)

So, when he phoned me from the village to tell me he'd bought me a bottle of Irish Cream because it has been a long day and he thought it might be a nice treat, my heart just about melted. It was the sweetest thing.

We finally sat down to share a glass of Irish cream at 10pm, after the work of the day was done, after the boys were finally done with their tossing and turning and questions and were finally asleep. Peace and quiet. Night prayer, and we finished up Enola Holmes 2, a movie that'd taken us 3 sittings to watch. Life. So chaotic, so full, so exhausting, but with so much to love about it. 

Friday Playdate & Kebabs.

Because their ages mostly match up nicely, they get along so well when we catch up. They made potions and kicked a ball about outside while their mum and i enjoyed tea and a good chat. I appreciate the friendship our families have. 

At home, the husband put the finishing touches on our slow cooker doner kebab dinner so that we came home to a ready meal. :)

Senior Sports Day

Our big boy had his senior Sports Day this morning and we were there to watch him. He nailed one particular game, bowling down ducks on cones. Hand-eye coordination on point! Stellar job, son! Our presence mattered to him, and he made sure we knew it. We also got lots and lots of hugs from our big girl who spotted us in school! 

Him, in green.

Praying mantis babies! After months of waiting and watching, these little critters finally emerged this afternoon. We love seeing praying mantis in the garden and are so stoked the babies made it through winter! :) another highlight of our afternoon. 

Little Artist.

We pulled out the easel from storage today and got out the paints. Our little lady got heaps of painting done, perfect for the rainy day. 

painting her two big brothers. 

It's a different experience from painting at a table, that's for sure. :)

Sticky Chicken!

It was a blessing to be able to pick strawberries from the garden for our big girl's lunchbox today.

"Sticky Chicky" 

Our little man spied a sticky chicken slow cooker recipe this afternoon and said "that looks good! Let's have that for dinner."

Never made it before, but the smells that filled the house were enough to whet the appetite for dinner. He and the little lady helped to prep the chicken and rice before school pick up.

It was a hit and pretty easy to make. We velveted the chicken breast with baking soda before cooking to keep it tender. Would love to make this again. Even our usually meat-picky big boy loved it. (recipe here)

We're into week 4 of the last term of the year. The summer hols can't come soon enough! 

Rest.

When the week has demanded a great deal of us, cheese, homemade crackers and rum are a comforting way to round Friday off.

PillPill.

Pillbugs have earned a special place in our littlies' hearts. Every pillbug is affectionately named "PillPill" and the littlies love hunting for them in the garden.

pillpill.

Thursday is now Playdate day and our neighbour came to spend the day. These boys spent half the day together and had a grand time. Til next week!

With Guy Fawkes Day a few days away, firework sales are on. Fireworks are only allowed for public sale for 3 days in a year. People were setting them off tonight like they are going out of fashion. With sleeping babes, I'm definitely not a fan. 

All Souls Day.

The littlies asked to go rock-climbing after All Souls Day mass this morning. Our little lady improved tremendously since her last climb and is now scaling entire walls like a little monkey. Our little man was his usual energetic self and it was a solid 2 hours of climbing before they allowed me to herd them (already hangry and tired) home for some rest. 

The afternoon found us at Purewa Cemetery walking amongst the gravestones and praying for souls. The unforgiving sun made us grateful for the cover of the trees.

It's been warm lately and the children had difficulty sleeping last night because of it. I bought a pedestal fan this morning and told the older children their bedtime comfort was in their hands. Our big boy took it upon himself to put the fan together and was incredibly pleased with his efforts. Sleep will probably be extra sweet tonight! 

We continue to pray for the souls of our departed relatives this month. I mustered up the courage to approach two neighbours and offer to pray for their departed relatives too. They were kind in accepting the offer, and so that's what we will be doing, every night for the rest of the month. 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. 

All Saints Day.

Today, we celebrate the Church Triumphant, the Saints in heaven who are interceding for us.

Our big boy was home with a sniffly nose. We didn't have mass easily available, but we stopped by church to pray after drop off. 

The children enjoyed a runabout at the playground after. 

At home, we found a skink and spent a bit of time observing it before setting it free.

And Soul Cakes. I made these myself last year as a nod to what's possibly the original trick-or-treat treat, given to soulers who would knock on doors and offer to pray for departed loved ones. This year, i had lots of help. We ended up with wonky crosses and squashed biscuit rounds, (which made our big boy, who likes things just so, very uncomfortable), but to me they were perfect.

Blessed All Saints Day!