Nel- Spartan Super!

Today Nel, you conquered Spartan Super (15km, 29 obstacles)! I watched you conquer that vertical wall by yourself, watched you attempt the rotating bars again and again and again despite the falls. You showed great determination n perseverance. Im proud of you. 

But today you also showed yourself a super spartan because you stayed true to your word which was to stick with the slowest member (because of her injured ankle,) to make sure you all cross the finish line together. For that I'm doubly proud of you. Well done Nel!! And of course well done to your super team that trained together every week. Proud of you all!!


@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2017

2017 so far

A lot has been going on and we have been busy. Though my intention had been to slow down this year, instead it seems to be busier than ever before.

I don't even know where to catch up on this blog. Some things the kids have been up to:

Jo sent in a resume to Kidzania to be congresskid. She made it past the interview, did a video of herself and campaigned at Kidzania. Unfortunately she didn't get in though personally I think she did great at her speeches. I guess, it's as they said, "if you wanna get in, try singing a song or something."
She didn't sing. Still it was a great life experience, all that public speaking, video making and interview was a worthwhile experience.

Both Jo and Nel are now part of ICC Words Alive group, a group committed to helping young people become better public speakers for a good purpose. Earlier this year the whole group visited Pulau Ketam as a chapter, and presented a drama. They also volunteered by playing games with the local kids and taught them English. For Nel, just being in this drama was a BIG deal!
She really struggled in her first rehearsals, not wanting to say her line because she was so conscious of people looking at her. In the end she did great! She had the role of a teacher, while Jo had the role of a busy body, which she played really well!

The first quarter of this year has also been memorable. Both girls auditioned to be in our church's Easter presentation and got in. Hubby and I decided to hang around their first few practices to observe, but what do you know, hubby got "sucked" in and ended up playing three roles, which he did amazingly well! I'm astounded, having discovered his hidden talent for acting! Proud of him.

Jo played a little child, as well as a seller at the market scene. Most of the time she was observing the director (Vince Chong)  and producers, being very curious about how a whole production is put together. I think she learnt a lot about theatre through this experience.

As for me, I accompanied Nel to her dance rehearsals to encourage her. My goal was to get her out of her comfort zone and try performing arts (dance with drama) to help her blossom out of her "shy"self. So I too hung around and joined in the warm ups. But guess what, I got roped in too, and ended up dancing! We had fun preparing our own costumes, which included ripping and smearing them with paint. Fun was also painting our own faces to look the part of occupants in hell.

The most beautiful part of it all was that, we were actually once, all together in a performance, serving our dear Lord together, as one unit, together with other like minded people. We enjoyed the weekly rehearsals, going together, rehearsing together, it was well worth our time!

Apart from that, there are our usual homeschool activities, too many to list. One memorable one perhaps was the camping trip we had in Perak in the month of March. The river was beautiful, we had great company of good friends and lovely food all cooked by the OAs.

Oh I forgot to mention, a new addition to the family. It was Chinese New Year, and I was preparing Heng Hua Mee Sua and making homemade pizza when hubby brought back a kitten!! We named him Blue. Hés turned out to be quite a tyrant...an alpha kinda male, but I've grown to love this lil fella.

 I'll conclude by saying 2017 has been a really fruitful memorable time so far. God is good!





@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2017

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Nel is a Spartan SPrint finisher!

Two years ago Nel and Jo took part in the junior Spartan race.

This year suddenly she decided that she wanted to try Spartan Sprint for adults. The website estimated that the race would be about 6 km, but turns out it was 8km. She barely trained, but in the final week she managed a few monkey bars practices, one or two jogging sessions where she huffed and puffed away.

The morning of the race came, and I was a little anxious wondering if she'd be able to finish the course safely.

Here's a post I wrote on facebook :

When my first girl was younger she had some problems with coordination. She was also such a timid child that throughout kindergarten n primary one she would hide in toilets during games n sports time. 
When we began homeschooling.. I found her a kind and understanding ballet teacher, I taught her swimming, cycling and we began going for jungle hikes in hopes that all these would help her. 
Today she took part in the adult Spartan sprint.. I have to admit I was nervous for her... She took 4hours but she is a Spartan finisher!! So proud of her!!
It shows never under estimate a child.. And a child can overcome her fears and 'weaknesses' with time and space to grow.. With gentle guidance and patience... Like waiting for a tree to grow.

Anyway, she finished the race! She's a Spartan Finisher, and I'm so PROUD OF YOU NEL!


@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2016
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Nel's Ballet Performance

Nel's ballet teacher challenged her students to choreograph their own ballet performance for this year's concert. Out of the many students in the class, 5 chose to take up the challenge, and one of them was Nel. I'm so proud of her. She and her dance partner, J, took about 3 months to choreograph and perfect it. It was tough going at first as this was a new experience. So I sat with her initially picking the right song, counting out bars and phrases, discussing steps, working on accuracy.

Eventually they took off and worked independently....with a bit of pushing and prodding from me along the way. We had fun shopping for the right dress, buying make up, and sequins to decorate the dress. Lots of hard work, but it all paid off. Beautiful dance!!

Am so proud of her. My girl who has mostly been too shy to even stand before a tiny group of audience took this challenge and danced before a full house at DPAC. Bravo Nel!!

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2016

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Nel Teaching a Class on Atoms.

Nel's come a long way in co-op, specifically in talking in front of her friends. Year before, she could barely stand and talk, and had to hide behind large cardboards. In this respect, she is like me. I've talked to her about  how I used to be like that, and encouraged her to overcome through baby steps in a safe environment.

So she took the challenge and taught the chapter on atoms at co-op. Most of the time she talked quite confidently and managed the class quite well. Yes, baby steps, slowly overcoming. :)

Creating atomic structures using playdough.

This was a cool experiment. 

1. Prepare yeast by mixing it with warm water, then allow to sit for about 3 minutes.

2. In a different bottle, mix Hydrogen Peroxide (6%) with detergent and some food colouring.

3. Pour yeast mixture into H2O2 mixture and watch the reaction! This reaction actually hit my ceiling fan!!! It was fancy and wonderfully exciting for the kids! So they tried it over and over again!

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

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Learning Traditional Dance

When DPAC announced that they were providing free Malay dance classes for two months, we immediately signed up.

Initially I signed up Nel only. Jo would have NOTHING to do with any form of slow dance. So she declined.

When I brought Nel to her first lesson, I wanted to learn too...so I enrolled myself. We really enjoyed ourselves. The teachers were extremely patient, and enthusiastic despite teaching during the fasting month. We learnt how to dance the Joget and Inang. I think we enjoyed the Joget best of all. This month they're teaching Zapin and Asli. I enjoyed the dances as well, but somehow Nel doesn't really like the Zapin music. Perhaps she isn't used to the music.

But it was also a great bonding time for us, especially when they had us dancing in pairs, and I especially enjoyed the group performances with choreography.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

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Templers Rainforest Air BnB

Once a year we get to holiday with this lovely group of friends. It was a lovely trip that came and went by too fast. At the end of it, the children asked if this could be a monthly affair. Hmmm.....

The main organizer, dear SN,  decided we'd try this new place Templer Park Rainforest Retreat. At first I expected it to be somewhere deep in the jungle, but it was really in a housing estate. The area however, is large, 3 acres in total. That meant lots of space for the children to run and go wild.

As for room arrangements...since there were so many of us,  and ALL the children wanted to be together.....we decided that the largest room would go to all the girls, the second largest room to ALL the mums and babies, one large room for the boys, and one for the men. But do you think men being men, would mind  sharing a room? Of course not. Like anti socials, they placed themselves far as possible from one another, and only one took the room, my dear hubby. :)

 It was an interesting night. Felt like I was a teen again at a girl's camp, sharing a dorm.... except that we were all women bunking in the same room and helping to soothe waking babies at night. :)

Food was again prepared by our dear friend Lattifah, who runs a catering business.  All in all..good food and good company always makes a really lovely holiday, and it certainly was!

 

The look-out deck where the children hung out at a lot.

Four main rooms in this chalet. 

Large room which ladies shared. Comes with extra sofa bed and canvas beds.

Lots of Hammocks 

Two small rooms here. Very small rooms, and very low ceiling.

Largest caterpillar I've ever seen, the length of my hand.

Lovely place to breakfast and rest in the hammocks....overlooks the golf course.

The pool that kept the children occupied most of the day.

Spaghetti for the children, and BBQ chicken and fish with sambal for the adults.

The trip happened to coincide with Nel's birthday so we ordered a cake for her from Lattifah.  Nel is a beginner at German, and requested that this be written on the cake. Well...we learnt now that this is not the proper way to say Happy Birthday... Still this was a really delicious cake that the children gulped down immediately.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

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Nel turned 13 this year. How quickly time goes by. She wanted a skating party at the park. So she invited a few good friends to come along. Those who didn't own skates played soccer or hung out by the stream while the rest skated or tried the waveboard.

The weather threatened to rain while we were there. Loud lighting bolts struck and most people at the park left in a hurry. A few guests called to say they were stuck in heavy rains and may not be able to come. We prayed, and miraculously, the black clouds that hovered above began moving away.

All Nel's guests turned up and were amazed at how it was raining everywhere except the park. God's present to Nel. :) God is good. :) She had a lovely lovely day with friends and family.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

Hand sewn design by Nel

Nel surprised me by making this really love shirt for me. She bought a white t-shirt and then designed an owl, which she then stitched on bit by bit over several days. I think it's just really gorgeous and beautiful!!!

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

Helping Flood Victims

Monsoon hit our country hard this year, flooding many villages in the East Coast, and villages near rivers. The OA were badly hit, leaving many stranded in villages without food and water.

My girls and I worked hard to collect items for the OA. The ammount of goods we collected flooded our house so much so we had no space to walk. Thank God for friends who came to help us sort out items....food/clothings/basic necessities etc etc. We loaded more than half of a huge lorry. Many thanks to kind donors who gave.

Nel also followed the team on a 7 hour rough journey, where she helped load items into these boats to be transferred to villagers in need. Proud of her for being willing to help whole heartedly.

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2015

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The Witches and Ballet

Early this year, Jo auditioned for the part of Bruno in the Witches (By Bubblegum Project) and got it! It was about 3 and a half months of intensive rehearsals, during which she had to work very hard on voice projection, diction, memorization of script, actions etc. I never thought she'd make it, considering her playful personality, but hey she did it!! The Witches showed for one week, (20/5-23/5)10 shows, back to back, and daily she had to be up by 6am. It was a struggle, but I think my little gal did well! She received great reviews, and some people came up to her and told her that she was their favourite character! She even got paid. Out of the pay she received, believe it or not, she gave some to me for driving her up and down! :)

As for Nel, she was involved in her ballet school concert, which also meant weekend rehearsals. My not so little gal anymore did well! The teacher says she's come a long way. Nel is an introvert, and when she started, she wouldn't even look the teacher in the eye at all. She still finds it difficult but is improving. She's been involved in the church dance production and ballet school concerts. The fact that she's able to dance on stage and smile is great victory for her.

I'm proud of both my girls. Little steps mean big celebration for us. :)
@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2014

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Mini Street Theatre Performance

Recently, my children, together with their friends, formed a small street theatre  group under the guidance of Shantini Venugopal and Lorna Henderson.

Initially when a parent initiated the class, my older girl was a very reluctant participant. She being an introvert, prefers spending her time reading books in a quiet corner, or spending time with just a few close friends whom she knows  very well. In a group setting, she'd rather watch, observe or daydream without participating. She tends to back away from group activities fearing several things like being "watched", making mistakes, not fitting in, not knowing what to say etc. I understand these fears, as I'm an introvert too.

I'm just so glad that through this group, Nel was able to set aside and overcome some of that fear, and even performed on stage.   :)   Way to go Nel!

As for Jo, she thoroughly enjoyed the classes. I can't say she was a good performer, sometimes participating, sometimes getting distracted by the happenings around her. Still, this was a wonderful experience. At the end of it all, they performed twice at Publika, once at the Agathians Shelter Home (which was awesome!) and at Phyllis Caring Home.

Warming up with teacher Lorna before the show at Publika.

Shantini V, talking to the audience and introducing the children's group.

Wowing the audience with songs, poetry and drama. Also notice the young stilt walkers.

Colourful flags that the children handpainted themselves.

Using drama to touch the community. Performing at Phyllis Caring Home.  The person who runs the home was so touched. She commented "In 20 years I've been here, this is one of the best moments ever for us. "

Performing at the Agathian Home for Boys. Warming up before performance at the Agathians

The Agathian boys performed for us in return. They are fantastic dancers!! The crowd went wild with their performance! (Photo taken by Alison, but I kinda edited pic by "chopping" off  heads to protect privacy of participants.)

@poundthegarlic.blogspot.com 2013

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Lesson learnt through a piece of luggage

My child Nel recently brought up an issue about her luggage. You see, when she attended her first camp, we let her use a small luggage. To make it easier for her to carry, we attached a rope to the luggage for her to pull. She was upset after camp when she said the kids laughed at her about her luggage.

The second camp she went to, she decided to use her trolley bag. Again when she came home, she said "the kids laughed again mum, coz they said this was a school bag and not a luggage." I became overwhelmed with a feeling of anger towards these children, and was just tempted to go out immediately to get her the nicest, best luggage. I was tempted to say unpleasant things about these other kids.

But instead, I sat my child down, and we talked about the hurtful feelings felt when others laugh at us. We talked about whether it is necessary to conform to others' expectations and have nice material things just to be accepted. We talked about how mean words and taunts are hurting, but we can choose to let it go, let it slide by and ignore those taunts. We talked about potential good friends, which to keep which to let go. For there are far more important things in life then how your luggage looks!

So much for my child to learn.


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One tries flying as the other Morphs

Sometime back I wrote on my FB status “Jo came into my room, flapping her imaginary wings wildly, jumping as high as she could while saying “ughh..mmmhph!...uuhh!” as she made each jump. Finally tired, she slumped down on my bed, folded her hands under her chin, frowned and said “it’s no use, it’s not fair. Why can’t I Fly? It’s just not fair mum.”

Well, to date Jo has tried flying by holding a bunch of wings which she’d found at a bird farm, she’s tried holding on to kites, balloons, scarves and huge papers. She's tried many many ways. Then she quit.

Well, I thought she’d quit trying forever, till yesterday. She came into my room, looked in my dressing mirror and started flapping imaginary wings again. This time, she hunched her body forward, stretched her neck forward and moved it jerkily from side to side. Then she said excitedly “See mum, now I look like a bird right mum? Right?” I was rather impressed with her acting skills and replied “Yes, you do look like a bird.”

That spurred her on, and she started jumping (or rather flying) again, from the sofa to my bed to the floor, over and over again. She did a pretty long jump and said excitedly “See mum! I did it; I stayed in the air longer this time, see how far I jumped! I'm flying!!!!”

As she continued, her energy sapped, she again, slumped down on my bed disappointed and said, “Humans are useless mum. We can’t fly, we can’t swim underwater like mermaids, and we can’t dig and stay underground. Useless mum.” Then she sighed, my 5+ year old.

I had to remind her of all the other wonderful things humans could do which birds or mermaids couldn’t do. I ended by promising her a hot air balloon ride, when one comes our way. She got carried away by this proposition and is now thinking of buying her own hot air balloon for future travel plans. haha.. :)

As for Nel, she’s metamorphosing into a preteen fast although she's nowhere near that yet.  She’s so conscious about her hair now, making sure it’s neatly combed to one side. She also wants to grow her bangs and walks with her head tilted to one side, thinking it’s lovely and elegant to hold herself that way. (This is the bad influence of cartoons!). I’ve to constantly remind her that if she continues walking that way with her head tilted she’ll end up with body aches and pain like mine.

She’s also incredibly conscious of how she speaks, and of people looking at her.  Just last week a group of her friends had a race around the badminton court to see who could run the fastest. She refused to run, conscious of people looking at her. I remember a time when I was just like her, refusing to run, trek or do anything because I was over conscious of people’s stares. I understood how she felt, yet I got irritated and told her not to be conscious. Funny how we get irritated with traits that are similar to ours, traits that remind us of our own weaknesses.

As for Nel's relationship with her little sis, sometimes Nel finds Jo’s incessant talking a tad irritating and she wants to be left alone with her books and softtoy doggie. Other times she’s like a little child again, playing pretend games, giggling and laughing with her little sis in the room. These moments when they’re together at peace, I eavesdrop and enjoy and soak in their laughter and giggles, I cherish these moments.

Well..this is where I end. I probably will not be on the net much these few weeks as it’s school break, and I’m off work. I really need the break, and it’s a relief to have these off days, coz I’m so tired from rushing constantly.  So I’m gonna cherish my hols and make the best of it.

A beautiful day, From Nel's Perspective.....................

(This is a repost of something I wrote a few years ago, back when I nicknamed myself Hearts on the blog.)

This is what we often do, me (Nel) and my cousins Lu and Lyd (oh and baby Jo and baby Lo). We love to cycle...to the big big field. Sometimes the cycling gets tough and mum has to push a little to get me up the hill. Little Jo and Lo are still young, so they sit in the stroller, enjoying the breeze..and sometimes they fall asleep.

After a good 15 - 20 mins of cycling we get to the big field and park our bikes under the evening sun. Then we just have fun...

playing ball...

building sandcastles and digging holes in the ground....

picking up rubbish from the ground though mum says we shouldn't do that..but I don't see why we shouldn't. It's fun picking up stuff from the ground.

Sometimes we fight....but today we didn't at all. Not especially since special jet planes kept zooming above our heads. I think they're preparing for the  Celebration of our Country's Independence (31st August.) Lu especially liked the airplanes. He's a guy, so it's natural.

But mostly we just have great fun and are REALLY happy...

coz we're young and free...no cares or worries ...

our energy is boundless like the open sky...

Thank you God for making me, Lu and Ld...oh and for giving us baby J and baby Lo (who are fast asleep... so mummy hasn't taken their photos.)

Well we play tirelessly till the sun sets...

then head home...

for some delicous ice cream.yumm........ Today was beautiful. thank you GOd.
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Linked at Happiness Is

a mini birthday party

Birthdays are never big affairs in our household. It is important though and usually just celebrated amonsgt family members. Well this time my child requested the presence of a few good friends and after some deliberation, I agreed. So it was a busy weekend of shopping for ingredients and cooking.

 As I was preparing the food .. I caught myself regretting a few times and wishing I'd just paid Pizza Hut or Burger King and hosted our party there. But in the end, after all the fun and fellowship, I've no regrets and must say we all had a wonderful time. :)

mangoes for starters

I baked spinach quiche (well 2 actually with different types of cheese)

the sliced up quiche which went pretty quickly

Stuffed eggplant (baked). This was a lot of work.

Green curry which my mum made. (Spices blended and made from scratch.)

A very delicous pie which a friend brought

Then there was the usual, sausages, sandwiches (2 types) dessert and cake.

 For games I hung up a target, gave the children water balloons which they used to hit the target. As I was taking pictures, at one point a water balloon broke in mid air and I got pretty wet.   :) I also bought bubble blowers for every child.

This morning, I think I'll rest a little before heading out to work later.