Happiness is... enjoying the mid-year break

June is always a happy time as it means that we get an entire month of school holidays and can look forward to late mornings, late nights, family trips, mum-and-kids outings, movies, play dates and lots of other fun activities.

It's what all of us need after working hard in the last few months, be it the hubby slogging in the navy, the kids studying hard in school (yes, it's not easy for them too and they totally deserve a good, long break) or me just trying my best to manage the duties of a stay-at-home mum. It gives me great joy to be able to live each day of the holidays spontaneously, to take the kids to places that we have never been to, to turn off the numerous wake-up alarms - it's a little complicated when you have four kids who have different schedules, classes CCAs - and finally not have to wake up before dawn, to be able to go on staycays or short road trips, and simply take life at a more leisurely pace.

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about all the things we did as a family as we rejoiced and celebrated the mid-year break.

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Hello, Minions! It's nice to see you all again! To be frank, I was never a Minion fan and did not watch the few couple of movies in the Despicable Me franchise because I honestly didn't know what was the appeal factor of these yellow creatures who can only blabber. Then I caught The Rise of Gru and found it to be pretty entertaining.

This month, the kids and I watched Despicable Me 4 which was not only hilarious but also displayed the poignant, funny and heartwarming scenes between Gru and his kids, especially the newly arrived Gru Jr - who by the way loves Mama to carry him and frowns when Dada tries, sounds familiar?

Movie outings are something we cherish and don't take for granted. From the looks of it, I think we are not gonna stop any time soon when it comes to movie dates and we still have our weekly movie nights on Fridays - a family tradition that I will keep up for as long as I can.

Besides movies, we also love watching live theatrical shows because they always entertain the kids and some even help to inculcate good values. We watched Bluey's Big Play and while most of it was just light-hearted humour, there were also some important takeaways like how siblings should love and care for each other and how parents should learn to put their electronic devices away and engage in quality family bonding time. 

The Gruffalo has always been a classic book that delights the kids and I think starting from the firstborn to now Ansel, I've probably read it hundreds of times already. Yup, we can recite most of the text in the book already! Still, we will never miss out on a chance fo watch the live adaptation of The Gruffalo on stage and that was what we did at KidsFest 2024.

While the boys truly enjoyed the live show, especially Ansel who is delighted whenever we get to watch any theatrica performance, I have to give credit to the big sisters too. Why? Well, they are turning 12 and 15, so it's nice of them for tagging along and accompanying the younger ones even though they probably prefer to watch drama, dance to Kpop or hang out with friends. After all, it's all about spending family time, isn't it?

Talking about family time, one of the highlights this month for us was Skechers Friendship Walk where we walked together as a family for 5km, took photos with celebrites like Edmund Chen, Chongqing and Lee Teng, spotted mascots, went on inflatables, listened to Qiu Feng Ze sing and had an afternoon of fun. All of us have been wearing Skechers footwear for years and we think they are nice and comfy!

Since it's the holidays after all, a lot of time is dedicated to play and this time, we visited a new playground called Kidodo Space in Suntec. What warmed my heart most was seeing how the kids played tag and hide and seek together - I mean, my girls are teenagers already! - and I'm deeply cherishing these fleeting moments before they all outgrow being young kids who love to play.

Besides indoor playground, we also go to outdoor playgrounds which are fun and best of all, free! We went to the infamous 26-slides playground at Admiralty Park late one night and the kids had lots of fun with their cousins.

Well, there was this steep, rough wall that the kids were trying to scale and it ain't an easy feat because of the gradient and height and you have to try to reach the bars at the top and pull yourself up. In a spur of the moment, I just wanted to try it too - yes, this Mama likes to be involved in the action instead of just watching by the side - and lo and behold, I did it a few times even if it meant I scratched my legs a few times when sliding down.

I also found pieces of cardboard and went on the fun, long roller slides with the boys many times, much to their delight as they let out squeals of joy. 

The boys still enjoy playing with LEGO very much and were more than happy to go for a event at Nex where they got to be space adventurers and play station games before being rewarded with a mini space shuttle which they quickly assembled on the spot.

They also enjoy Zoomoov rides, something that the girls have outgrown and will not ride again unless it is to accompany the toddler brother. Yeah, kids grow up just too fast, trust me, so if your kids still love kiddy rides, bring them, accompany them, watch them and take photos of these precious moments to look back on.

While the youngest is still a toddler and has much cuteness to offer, I am enjoying my daily one-on-one time with him since only goes for three hours of school and gets back home at 11-ish on weekdays. Sometimes we would head out to eat and you can see how his face lights up as he talks about school, his friends, cartoons, his siblings and anything he can think of.

In contrast, the Korkor is growing up and will soon be a tween when he turns nine in December. The big sisters always chide him for being babyish and kiddy because he still loves toys, kiddy rides and lots of things that young kids love. But I love that about him and will hold onto this phase for as long as it lasts because it is nice to see him playing pretend fight with the brother and watching kiddy cartoons like Paw Patrol and Sheriff Labrador together. 光阴似箭，孩子们都会很快长大，不愿催促，只想珍惜。

I'm not embarassed to say that the boys still sleep with me and we like it that way. Ansel sleeps on the bed with me while Asher has his own IKEA kid's bed but joined to ours. It works for us because while the sisters share and take up another bedroom, the last bedroom is left for the navy hubby who works into wee hours and comes back only on certain days, not to mention he might be smelling of diesel or alcohol, and it would be disturbing for the boys or myself to hear him coming back in the dead of night. Yup, so I'm essentially solo parenting five days a week so this sleep arrangement fits us best for now.

The boys are really entertaining and on some nights, they would put on a 'show' for me at bedtimes, which is usually a dance or song that Asher made up. They would introduce themselves and sing and dance together and I probably should record more of such moments to look back on in future. The Korkor is also very sweet and would help us make the bed when we are bathing so we would come out to a neatly set up bed with the comforter laid nicely and even books for Ansel to read with me. The toddler would always exclaim "Wow! Like hotel like that!". How cute!

We did a spontaneous 3D2N road trip to Johor Bahru and it was one of the best things we did. We literally decided on it days before the trip and even when we were there, we were planning the itinerary as we went along and had to adapt to last minute changes.

I will share more about it in a separate post but the highlights of the trip include visiting Desarau Mini Zoo, Legoland, Paradigm mall where the girls went ice skating and the boys went to Baby Shark playground, interacting with the cute furries at Chow Q 2.0, watching I Not Stupid 3, having a yummy dinner at the infamous Dai Tow Lala Pot and more.

As you know, my kids do not have tuition but we have been faithfully attending right brain training classes at Heguru. I will be writing a review to share about Ariel's journey so stay tuned for that. In any case, I am cherishing the last few months that I get to accompany my toddler for class before he moves into the next independent learning class. He is always very happy to join in the activities and the beam on his face says it all.

As for their other enrichment class, the kids all passed their recent Taekwondo grading and Angel now officially has a black belt, Ariel a poom belt (black belt for those under 15yo) and Asher has a black tip. Yes, I am pretty amazed and stoked that they have stuck with what was meant to be a holiday class till the end, so well done, kiddos!

Father's Day falls in June and this time, Ariel did something special for Papa by making Vietnamese spring rolls for the first time. It turned out to be sticky and not as pretty as we envisioned but it was delicious and we still ate all of it. Most importantly, it was made with love and that was what truly mattered.

We also treated our parents to an expensive meal at a kopitiam - yes, it was very expensive because we ordered seafood and Buddha jump over the wall - and I hope they felt our love as they chatted over drinks and good food.

Then we also met up with my brother-in-law's family and had a good steamboat meal Thien Kee at Golden Mile, which after decades remains as our of our favourite hotpot places to visit.

Oh, by the way, while the parents were talking and eating, the kids were happily playing with helium balloons! I was so amazed to see that there were balloons, strings and a huge helium tank for patrons to use and we filled up balloon after balloon to see whose could rise the highest. Such simple joy, such wondrous moments, such precious memories.

This being a month long holiday, we also took time to visit one of the kids' favourite places - arcade! I know, it is very time and money consuming but since we don't usually play there when it is the school term, I supposed it is fine to let them indulge during the school holidays. It can also be an opportunity for sibling and family bonding when we play games together, right?

We also went indoor climbing with our friends and the kids still enjoy the challenge of the sport as they attempt to scale to the top of every wall. I think it helps to build resilience, confidence and also provides a sense of satisfaction too.

It's been long since we visited Universal Studios Singapore so I was truly, truly thankful that we managed to get tickets and the best part was, we got to go in at night and stay till 1am. Media invites are far and few between as the kids get older and I post less of our life on social media. So whatever that comes, I remind the kids to be grateful and not take it for granted.

The one who surprised me most this time was dear Ansel, who not only qualified for rides like Puss in Boots, Enchanted Airways, Canopy Flyer and Transformers, but was brave enough to conquer them all! I mean, I always thought he would be intimidated by roller coasters and fast rides since he is only three so he really surprised me that night by how much he enjoyed the rides, even when he bumped his head a few times against the side cos' he is just too small and light. Well done, my dear!

The rest of us had a blast too, especially the older three kids who went on Battlestar Galatica - both Human and Cylon - over half a dozen times with their friends because by the time it was nearly 1am, there was literally no queue. It was like a dream come true!

Back at home, we still have home cooked meals from time to time though I must admit we also do takeaways quite frequently too. It's tiring to cook and wash up and on some days, I just don't have the energy or willpower to take these tasks up. But on some days, I feel more inspired and will head to the supermarket to get groceries and whip up a home cooked meal for the kids. Nothing fancy, just 家常便饭，but good enough for us.

While the eldest doesn't like to swim, the rest of the kids still love to hit the pool when they are free. Since both Ariel and Asher are pretty accomplished in swimming already, they can help to take care of the little one which gives me time to take a breather. I still love seeing them play, giggle, hug and have fun together and I hope we can still do this for a few more years.

Ariel and I had a one-on-one date..... to the gym! Haha. The gym at our place has a minimum age limit of 12, is tiny and offers very limited machines but nonetheless, it is adequate for us to have a good run or workout. I am definitely looking forward to more exercise sessions with my girls.

Some of you still ask me on what game or console we use when we dance and the answer is... we don't use any! What we do is simply search on YouTube and dance along. If you type 'just dance', you can find a lot of songs to choose from and the kids still love dancing together from time to time. Some songs require one person to be lifted up so that is partly why Ansel loves it so much too - yes, of course he is the one on top.

Last but not least, we also took time off one night to have a 'camping' session at home again since the kids enjoyed the last one tremendously. We used chairs, tripods, banner stand, cushions, blankets, tents and anything we could find to build a fort in our living room. Then we had our movie night coupled with lots of snacks. I was telling the kids it actually wasn't that comfy for me because the TV screen was partially blocked and my back aching after sitting inside the fort for some time. Haha. 年轻人和中年人有很大差别，好不好? Still, they said they loved it so we kept the fort till the end of the night. Well, I'm happy as long as you all are happy,  my loves.

That marks the end of a very fulfilling and happening month of June for us. Was it really a break since we did so much and played so much more than usual? Haha. Oh well. 大家开心，一家人在一起，才是最重要的。I don't want to let the PSLE stress get to us although we are only a few months away from this huge milestone for Ariel. So let's continue doint what we always do, keep life simple, stay happy and make the most of the time we have together.

Till the next post of "Happiness is..."!

Rise of the Mummy - Happy Halloween 2024

Halloween has always been a special time for me. When we were living in Sweden, the hubby and I would dress up - I remember our first costumes were a witch and wizard, DIY as usual - and go to parties with our friends.

Ever since I started our themed parties at home in 2020, it has become a tradition for our family to come together to celebrate Halloween. It is always a cosy affair for our family, with just us and the kids - which expanded over the years. I did ask if the kids would wanna venture out or if we should get friends to join but they rejected and said they preferred it to stay as a closed-door annual event for just ourselves. Well, I gladly obliged because these are fond, priceless memories during their growing up years.

That said, Halloween 2024 seemed harder for me than before and at a point, I wondered if the effort was worthwhile and if I should keep up with the tradition. It might be because the kids are growing up or that primary schoolers and teens are just generally harder to manage - many a time it felt like the effort was taken for granted and it didn't help that they would make snide comments at times. Being the emo mama I am, I teared and then got mocked at because no one could understand my whirlwind emotions.

But, I pushed through that and the kids became more supportive when they were in a good mood and we made Halloween 2024 happen after all. If you had seen our social media postings, you would know the theme by now, right? Yes, it is the Rise of the Mummy and this time, we were all transformed into mummies. Why? Well, because I didn't want to spend money on outfits like our Skeleton ones and then keep them under the bed for years. So I thought we could just buy gauze and wrap ourselves up - which we did.

Here's sharing in full detail about our Halloween 2024 celebration, including the characters, decor, activities, bakes, finale and more.

THE SETUP

To get the kids all excited, I gave them each an exclusive invite to the party and we would count down the days to the big day. This time, we held the party on 31st October since it was a Deepavali holiday. I had my concerns as the next day was a school day for the three older ones and as for Ansel, it was gonna be his first ever school concert and he had four dances to perform. Still, with some determination, we made it work and I was happy that we could celebrate on the actual Halloween day itself.

Thanks to our past parties, we have a whole stash of Halloween decorations that we reuse year after year. These include hanging skeletons, inflatable black cat, ghost plushies, pumpkin figuries, vines, bloody footprints, spiders, webs, buckets and more.

However, every year, I would add on a couple of items and this time, they included a tinsel foil curtain and a themed tablecloth. To add on the mood, we also bought some Halloween candies and chocolates from Marks & Spencer which I think were overpriced and not very tasty.

The highlight decoration was this backdrop done using garbage bags and I also printed out Mummy font alphabets and pictures of mummies to stick on it. See the Evil Mummy in the middle? Yeah, that was what we named it and guess what it is made of? Well, newspapers, aluminium foil and gauze, topped with a Daiso mask. I hung it from the air con unit using steel wire as fishing line didn't work. Do you like our backdrop for this year?

The big girl was in the mood to bake cookies and make some chocolate so together with the sister, they went shopping for the ingredients on their own and got to work. 

The chocolate chip cookies were yummy without being overly sweet and the ghost themed was perfect for the night. Well done, girls!

THE CHARACTERS

Time to dress up! We emptied a whole box of gauze and started to wrap ourselves up one by one. The process took longer than expected because it took time to keep the gauze in place and we were also envisioning our designs and improvising as we went along.

The good thing was we had many pairs of hands so we could help each other out. I think dressing up is a must for Halloween and it's fun doing it together and seeing how each other's look and outfit pan out in the end.

Initially, the hubby added this Ninja Turtle looking eye mask for the boys and it looked pretty cute for a while. But it wasn't practical as it was itchy and affected their vision so we had to remove it eventually. Well, at least the hubby tried and I can't be thankful enough that he still makes time to party with us year after year.

Well, mummies don't bleed, I know, but these bloody gauze were just hard to resist and I guess they helped to add some colour to our plain outfits. We also put on black paint on our faces just to get a more gothic look.

Check out our final looks!

- The Invincible Mummy

Strong and powerful, he is the man of the family and our pillar of support.

- The Sleepy Mummy

She amazes us by how she can sleep anywhere, anytime, especially on weekends.

- The Graduate Mummy

The one has just graduated from primary school so the mortarboard was the perfect accessory for her.

- The Sporty Mummy

This boy loves to play all kinds of sports and is always keen to learn and improve his skills.

- The Playful Mummy

The youngest of us all, he can play all day long and enjoy a carefree life.

- The Stay-at-home Mummy

As a mum of four, household chores never end for her, not even when she is mummified.

The Games

Now, let's move on with the games!

1) Charades

Each of us took turns to act out a Halloween related word for the rest to guess. These included vampire, zombie, werewolf, scarecrow, nightmare and more. We had a lot of laughs from this game and if you watch the video below, you will know why too.

2) Tic Tac Toe

Using Vitamin water bottles - which we eventually drank so there was no wastage at all - the kids had to take turns to glide them across the table to play a game of Tic Tac Toe. Fun!

We always include a dance on Halloween and this time round, we had two short ones - "APT" and "Bye Bye Bye". I love it when we all come together to groove to the beat and these moments are special to me, which is why I definitely had to film it. Actually, I filmed almost everything during our Halloween party so that I could make a video for the kids to remember, so bear with me when I have to do NGs or adjust the cameras and tripods, or run around like a busy bee filming everyone in action.

By this time, as our dinner had arrived and the kids were hungry, we took a break so everyone could fill their tummies first. Yesh, we eat the same thing every year on this night - McDonalds! It's always a treat for the kids and they can never say no to nuggets and fries, so let's just feast and indulge for this one night.

3) Shake it off

The next game was one of my favourites! All we had to do was shake and wiggle and get every single ball out of the tissue box tied on our backs. The kids squealed and laughed so much when they saw Papa and Mama competing against each other - it was really hilarious and so fun at the same time.

4) Mummify the pets and babies

Next, the kids were tasked to each mummify a pet or baby using the remaining gauze. It was so cute to see how they each turned out and they would serve a purpose for our finale later on.

5) Bowling

This was a simple game of bowling but with a twist as we wrapped the pins up as tiny mummies. 

6) Mystery Box

Since I had this box from a media drop, I thought of playing Mystery Box where the kids had to take turns to be blindfolded and guesd what was inside. The items were chosen by the rest of the siblings so that everyone had a say.

7) Animal Racing

This was an animal racing game and all the animals had turned into mummies, thanks to Ansel who helped wrap them. The task was to pull the toilet paper towards you and cross the finishing line without breaking - if you move too fast, the water would spill and your paper would definitely break.

8) The Finale

For our finale, which the kids still like to call it as Trick or Treat, the mission was basically to go around the first level to hunt for treats. As always, I like to add a plot so I had the hubby do a voice recording beforehand.

The gist of it was that Papa had been possessed by the Evil Mummy and the kids had to go and save him by removing his mask. Along the way, they also needed to rescue their babies and pets which had been strategically placed in bushes and hidden corners.

Once they had saved Papa, the mission was accomplished and we could finally call it a night. 

As always, we would come together to watch a late night Halloween movie. We did this the next day which was a Friday and everyone could sleep late - yes, I'm not very particular about bedtime and our movie nights usually end at midnight or later. This time, we watched Haunted Mansion starring Danny DeVito and Owen Wilson and the kids enjoyed it a lot, along with the yummy snacks - check out our Halloween Fangs.

So that concludes our Halloween 2024 and it was a blast that would hopefully leave behind precious, happy memories in everyone's hearts. Let's see if we will still do it this year, yeah?

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Here's sharing the video of all the highlights that happened that night, including the NG parts which are really hilarious. Have a good laugh when you watch!