Happiness is... enjoying every family outing and celebration

It's amazing how fast time flies. Every month passes in the twinkling of an eye even though it consists of over four weeks. Sometimes, it feels like we didn't do much yet when I looked back at our photos, we did an incredibly lot, it's just that I fail to remember all of them.

That's also why despite the fact that blogs are dying and people are moving onto social media, I still keep up with these posts. To help me reminisce, to jot down memorable moments, to learn from mistakes and to remember the joy.

In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about enjoying every family outing and celebration.

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We love family walks but with the kids growing up and not being fond of big crowds and long waiting times, I think this might be one of our last few events. This month, we attended Skechers Friendship Walk for the umpteenth time and walked a total of 5km together.

The boys loved the carnival games, the girls were more interested in their phones and for me, I was happy to snag a photo with the lovely Hazelle and thankful that we had a nice family morning despite the initial protests.

Even if we don't join such events next time, I still hope we will go for family hikes and visit nature reserves every once in a while. Because such family outings are just so precious to me.

I went on an excursion with Ansel and his school and knowing me, you know that I can never miss such events. It was a fun-filled morning and we had a parent-child race where all of us had to solve clues, answer trivia, take designated selfies and complete tasks before determining the final meeting point.

And guesd what? Out of over a dozen pairs of parent and child, we emerged... Champion! Yeap, this Mama can be quite determined and competitive, haha. It was also a blessing that Ansel was so cooperative that day, he walked and ran when needed, he took wefies when we were supposed to and he didn't grumble at all. We won the first prize and walked home with a glass tumbler and teacups set. Cool!

He also had lots of fun on the flying fox, climbing through rope obstacles and sweating it out with me. On the journey home, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep on my lap. Awwww, my baby.

Do you love steamboats? We do and one of the ones we frequent most is Thien Kee Steamboat at Golden Mile. This started with my grandma and parents and we are continuing that tradition too as we do like the food here, even the kids do too, and it's always nice to gather together for yummy food.

My boys are still young and love theatre shows so we will always try to support local productions and show up for such events. It was probably Ariel's last time joining us as she is also growing up fast and would prefer to stay home to do her own things or hang out with her own friends. Well, whatever chance we get to spend with our teenager kids, we just gotta cherish it.

That said, water parks are still a hit with all of the kids and they still like to visit places like Wild Wild Wet. The rides are still fun to them and this month, we even met mermaids there.

Back at home, we might not cook every day and I think it gets less and less as the kids grow up, stay back in school more or choose to eat out with friends.

But, we still cook at least a couple of times every week and this month, four of us came together to make homemade mee hoon kueh and that was a really fun session. I think we need to do this more often even if I am not fond of clearing up the mess.

I also made them cheese baked spaghetti which they really liked so it's always awesome to see the smiles on their faces even if they don't say "Thank you" or offer to clean up, haha.

Sooooooo... this is how our living room looks like on a normal day. Toys strewn everywhere, laundry taking up more than half of the sofa, dining table covered up by books, worksheets, snacks, stationery and more. It's pretty normal and we are all used to it already. Of course, we try to clean up but it just gets back to this state within a day so it's really tiring to keep doing it. We have never had a helper and don't intend to ever get one, so we just learn to close one eye and live with a messy home.

The youngest and I still go on our adventures, or rather one-on-one hang out time, every once in a few weeks. We try to visit new places, do new things, try new food and I cherish every of these outings with my lastborn.

I know jolly well that one day he will leave the nest too and have his own social circle. By then, if I don't get back to work,  I will be left on my own on most days to lunch by myself. Which is also why I've been thinking of going to find part-time or online jobs. So if you are reading this and have any job lobang, let me know yeah?

With the two Jiejies growing up fast, some days it feels like I only have two kids left. The boys and I still spend every day together, having lunch and dinner, and we also go out for walks, cycling, scooting and play. Even though they still bicker and throw tantrums, I know how much they love each other and I'm so thankful that they are brothers.

I see them playing pretend fight, shootings, Avengers and cars in a way that the Jiejies would not have played so it is really a blessing that they have each other for companion. Things would have been much different if my lastborn was a girl, though we would have loved her all the same. It's just that having two boys and two girls balances it out more and at least they are never alone.

Three more years till this boy turns a teenager and I can already feel the change in his behaviour and attitude as he navigates the hormonal changes in this adolescence period. Some days are tougher to deal with but I hope he knows that Mama loves him to the moon and back, and I always will.

As for my girls, it feels awesome when we go out together, be it for a workout or just a meal. They had a home based learning day this month so while the boys were in school, three of us went for a spinning session and sweat it out together.

Since Teacher's Day is around the corner, the boys and I got down to packing gift bags for their teachers. We bought stationery like notepads and red pens, folders, book stands, old school snacks and protein bars and added personalised notes for every teacher.

Play dates are always welcome so we made time for a couple of them this month too. I like to welcome friends to our humble home though it means that I have to spend time getting the house presentable - remember the super messy state which is the norm? - and ready for our guests. Still, it's nice to have friends coming over, be it to play, eat or chit chat.

Still into movies? Yeah, very much and it's one of the ways we get to spend time together. This month, we watched Superman and Fantastic 4 and they were both pretty cool movies. The good thing about movies is that it's 老少咸宜, so both the old and the young will enjoy it and that is why it is a good way to gather all my kids too, despite their age gaps. I myself love sitting down to watch a good movie and tuck into some cheesy nachos too, so I hope we will always make time to catch a show or two together.

The girls and I filmed our second dance together, this time it is to "Forever" by Babymonster. But it might also be our last as they are rather shy and don't like it to be posted on social media, or we might just do it discreetly at home for the fun of it. Still, it was nice trying to learn the choreography and the filming, as usual, was full of NG takes, blunders and lots of laughter.

With the year end exams coming, we've been using our dining table as a study/work table where we gather to revise together. I try to help Ariel with Math and Chinese and Asher in all his subjects, while delegating some art or simple writing tasks for the youngest to complete. We would also play pop songs on the speaker to give everyone some motivation and this kind of Sunday might seem boring but it's also pretty awesome to be together in this way too.

Last but not least, August marks our nation's birthday and we usually host a gathering for the extended family members to come over to celebrate together.

We tucked heartily into home cooked food, watched the parade together, stood up to sing to our national anthem and recite our pledge with pride, and celebrated the occasion with some champagne too. It's just so nice to gather together and be merry, to all be clad in red tops and to feel the patrotism in the air.

That marks the end of August and it was a good month spent with our loved ones. But even if I say that, it doesn't mean I didn't have challenges to overcome, and by that I mean lots of arguments, backtalking, defiance behaviour, bad attitude, meltdowns and all. These are all part and parcel of my life and I don't think they will disappear anytime soon in the near future.

So what I've learnt is to accept it, get used to it and stop wondering what I did to deserve it. Being a mum is hard, and will always be hard. But since I chose to be one, time and again, then I just gotta see it till the end.

After all, even if it is daunting at times, it is still the most rewarding and fulfilling journey I've undertaken. I am happy and proud to be a mother. And I hope you are too.

Let's make the most of the time we have with our families and cherish the kids before they are all grown up. Till the next post of "Happiness is...".