TJC sports day 2015

A couple of days prior to the sports day, I was asked by the kindy administrator if I could assist to take photos at the event.  That took me by surprise, as I’m not that great a photographer.  I jumped at the opportunity, obviously, as that would allow me up, close and personal access to the happenings J

The event was held on the kindy ground, and started promptly at 8.30am with Teachers Evelyn and Esther as the emcee.  They warmed up the crowd with some fun exercises and many parents participated sportingly.  

This was followed by the children marching in, led by five boys – four flag bearers and another bearing a placard with this year’s theme, Noah’s Ark.

Yan Yan's class marching in

After singing the national anthem, Pastor Chris, Pastor Margaret and principal Teacher Ting Ai delivered their brief speeches, followed by an energetic dance by the 5-year old children.

Pastor Chris, Pastor Margaret and Teacher Ting Ai

 The events then began...

Dove and Leaf

 Rainbow Ark

Raise the Ark

This little cutie pie cried all through his routine :-) 

A short intermission for parents’ game.

Involving finding a pingpong ball hidden beneath some flour, and then blowing it across several cups of water

The event continued for the little one...

Race in the Ark

Rabbits hunt for food

Cheeky monkey feeding the hungry crocodile

  Yan Yan participated in the last game, All aboard, and her team came in second.

Here's a video of her in action.

And one last game for the parents before the medal ceremony, which her papa sportingly participated (much to my surprise!)

And his team came out 1st

This was followed by the medal ceremony, and every child was given a medal.

 Papa and daughter with their medals

Yan Yan’s 6th birthday

Yan Yan turned six on July 22.  As usual, we had a celebration in school followed by family dinner.

She asked for Peppa Pig cupcakes and I ordered from my trusted baker, Jenn.  For the party pack, aside from some snacks and little things like stickers and pen, I also ordered activity books from here.  I prepared the usual fares of macaroni with Bolognese sauce, air fried nuggets and grapes.

The children came into the pantry at about 9.15am and everything was done in quite a bit of a rush, as they had to go for their sports day practice at 10am.

 With all the girls in her class

Birthday dinner was at Retro Kitchen, accompanied by our family’s favourite durian mousse cake.

One for the family 

With their fave nanny and her daughter

Girls enjoying their cake 

Happy 6th birthday sweetie

Izumio & eczema

I worked in the infant milk industry previously and so is fairly familiar with childhood allergy and eczema.  However, I’ve not encountered an adult with severe eczema and so, was quite surprised that adult eczema is not uncommon.  Since being part of the Izumio community, I’ve seen many people who’ve lived with eczema for years and relying on steroid cream or Protopic ointment but without much success.

I’ve been amazed at how Izumio helped these ladies in their battle with eczema.

If you have been battling eczema, or know someone who is, take heart that there’s an effective option that may just be the light at the end of the tunnel in your battle against eczema.  Drop me a note at amomsdiary@yahoo.com if you want to know how Izumio can help with eczema.

My other posts on Izumio & Super Lutein can be found here:
Izumio, hydrogen water
Free radicals, antioxidants and Izumio
My personal story - Izumio for eczema
Super Lutein

FUNtastic Disney! The Musical

The music centre that the girls go to for their piano lessons organized a musical to showcase the talents of their students on March 28. It was also for a good cause as the centre raised RM 10,000 for the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled. The students started practicing for the musical way back in the second half of 2014.

Both girls took part as the mice in Cinderella.

Girls being made up

Little mousey

With Cinderella

The night started with representatives from the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled saying a few words, followed by a video of the foundation. The first performance was the song “Scales and Arpeggios” from Aristocats.

Next up was the two scenes from Cinderella – with the songs “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “Work Song”.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Work Song

The next song was “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast, followed by “I Wanna be Like Other Girls” and "Reflection" from Mulan.

Be Our Guest

I Wanna be Like Other Girls

We then went underwater with the musicians (comprising pianists, violinists, keyboardist, ukulele) performing the song “Under the Sea” followed by singing of the song “Part of That World” from The Little Mermaid.

Under the Sea

Part of That World

Eight year old Yen Ken then sang “Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book. I was totally bowled over by him.

Pocahontas, in the form of 11 year old Yue Tong, then sang “Colors of the Wind”.  She did extremely well too.

The musical would not be complete without Frozen, the all-time favourite of little girls everywhere.  Not surprisingly the songs performed were “Do You Want to Build a Snowman”, “For the First Time in Forever” and “Let it Go”.

The finale of the night was when everyone involved in the production came on stage and danced energetically to “We’re All in This Together” from High School Musical.

Girls in action

The stars of the night were clearly Yen Ken and Yue Tong – both of them sang several songs and performed them so very well. Yiu Yiu and Yan Yan enjoyed themselves tremendously too, and I’m glad they got to be part of this, even though it’s only a small part.

 Group photo - can you spot the girls?

With their piano teacher (L) and principal (R)

Just recently, we found out that the musical was Teacher Hui Kee’s (the principal and owner of the music centre) swansong. She had decided to sell the centre to another fellow musician due to family commitments. Yiu Yiu cried on Teacher Hui Kee’s last day at the centre. The new owner is vocalist and vocal coach Rachel Tan from Dama Orchestra. Hmm…maybe it's time for Yiu Yiu to start vocal lessons :-)