"happy birthday, baba"

back-dated post: 8th April 2011
HQ: 5y 10m old

Hubby turned a year older wiser on 10th April 2011. Guess who's the one most excited? :-)

My little boy, HQ :-D.

He knew it was his Papa's birthday on that Sunday, and so on Friday morning, he woke up bright and early at 5.30am on his own! Yes, he can wake up very early if he sets his mind to. We were all still sleeping then.

We always have a reading (yellow) light on throughout the night, right above my sewing table. It has proven to be very useful when our kids want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (HQ goes on his own).

So, at 5.30am, unknown to everyone, HQ sat there on my sewing table, and drew a birthday card for his Papa :'). He even took a used envelope and slid his card inside. When he was done, he left the envelope on his Papa's work table. (Yes, besides 1 Queen sized bed and 2 single beds, we have 2 tables and a host of other things in our room).

And he went back to sleep :-).

Well, when hubs and I woke up, as usual we rushed with our usual stuffs getting ready for work. Hubby didn't even notice the envelope that HQ placed on his table.

How do we know about all this? HQ woke up later at 7.30am and he told us all what he did at 5.30 am. We were surprised! But we knew that's the only time he could have done it because nobody saw him drawing/ holding any card at any other time.

When HQ took the envelope and presented to hubby, I could see that hubby was very touched :'). Here's father and son, reading the card. HQ (still in pajamas) looked pretty pleased too :-).
HQ's birthday card to hubby: it's a picture of Papa holding a balloon and a kite under a rainbow, a sunny sun, and flying birds. Papa in the picture was on a grassy land, next to a river with fishes swimming by. That's a little bug on the grass. Overleaf are stars for his Papa. I love the message :-D.
The envelope:I'm sure this card totally made hubby's day :-D.

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

for the children of ishinomaki, japan

(All photos here are of Ishinomaki, Japan.)

I think everyone is aware of the disasters that caused the world crashing and crumbling down on Japan on an early morning 11th March 2011. An earthquake measuring up to 8.9 on the Ritcher scale, followed by tsunami as high as 10m swept many homes away. What's also worrying is the emergency declaration on the state of the nuclear plants... what will become of their future, many generations later? (After the tsunami hit Ishinomaki, Japan. Source.)

When I see the disasters unfold on tv during news at night, I can't help as tears roll down my cheeks. It breaks my heart watching buildings, homes crumble to nothingness and men, women, kids suffering in silent. However, the emotional tremour that I felt in my heart is really nothing compared to the physical pain and emotional sufferings of those who are directly affected. (Japanese coast guards wading through water in search for missing victims after tsunami hit an elementary school in Ishinomaki, Japan. Source.)

I applaud to many efforts put in all around the world to help lessen the sufferings of people in Japan. I believe whatever help you have put in to Japan will benefit human race as a whole. While surfing for news of Japan the other night, I came across this at thesleepytimegal:

"A new Japanese friend of mine has been corresponding with her dear friend in the devastated town of Ishinomaki, Japan. (All of the Japanese photos are from Ishinomaki.) Her friend, Sachiko, is an elementary school teacher in this town. Many of the children of the school have parents that never returned to the school to pick them up. Many of the children, in the cooler weather there, are walking barefooted. Many of these children need our help, we who have so many comforts of life right now."

How heart-breaking it must be for the children waiting for parents who never came... I glanced at my sleeping kids, cozy and safe. And I thought about the kids in Ishinomaki... cold, hungry, helpless, hopeless, and lonely :'(. These children are now residing in the school, waiting for their new school term to start. What is lacking is warm clothing, socks, school supplies, dry food and lots of happiness. (A Self Defence soldier smiles as he holds a four-month-old baby who survived the recent tsunami with her family at Ishinomaki city in Miyagi prefecture on March 14, 2011. Source)

What thesleepytimegal is initiating is sending things that the children of Ishinomaki needs, directly to the people who are looking after these kids. It would be good if we all can contribute to this cause... what's found in our home and gently used is fine. To read more about the effort and to get the delivery address, do hop by her blog .

I've gotten a response from thesleepytimegal on the delivery address, and Hubs and I are going to enlist our kids in this project :-). We're sending a box, probably end of next week, or early following week. If any of our dear readers would like to include some of their things in our box, we will be happy to include them :-). You can leave a comment to this post with your email address, or email directly to boeyjoeyemail@gmail.com and I'll get in touch with you.

(Students of Okawa Elementary School hug each other at a temporary alternate school before the first school day since the earthquake in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture on March 29. The school was damaged and only 34 students out of a total of 108 survived the disaster.

Thank you all :-).

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

if only money grows on trees...

QQ: 3y 8m old

QQ knows the concept of money and that we need money to buy things. However, she does not know that some things cost a LOT more than a ride on the carousal. Other than toys, movies and trips, she begun asking for BIGGER things :-S.
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QQ spilled some honey on the floor, and while waiting for me to mop up the mess, she said:

QQ: The floor is soooo sticky, Mama! The ants are coming already! Mama, why don't we buy another house?

What a reason to buy a new house :-). ....................................................................................................................................

Mum brought her to visit her friend one day. QQ was not shy at all, went exploring at every nook, and refused to leave.

QQ: Popo, this Ah Tai house is soooo big! Popo's house is not so big. And my house is sooooo small only. Popo, can you ask Mama to buy a bigger house for me?

We live in a 3+1 bedroom, 3 bathrooms double-storey terrace house, which in my opinion, just nice for the 4 of us. Looks like my little 3 year old thought otherwise :-S ..................................................................................................................................

QQ is very sensitive to smell, and does not like the smell of cars. She often complains when she rides in cars, and pinches her nose most of the time she's inside a car... anyone's car.

QQ: I don't like the smell! Papa, you have to buy another car for me!

She thought a new car will smell better, which I doubt. She pinches her nose too when riding in her KiuKiu's new Honda Insight Hybrid :-S.
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On her dream holiday:

QQ: Mama, let's go to another planet for holiday.

@.@

Me: Which planet do you want to go to?
QQ: The moon.

Alright, the moon is not exactly a planet, but I decided not to argue with her.

Me: How do you want to go to the moon?
QQ: By rocket! Mama, why don't you buy a rocket for me and we go to the moon? We can put the rocket in the car porch.

o.O"

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

i simply cannot resist...

I received these images from an old friend through an email forward, and I simply cannot resist putting them on this little blog space. Look at each and every one of them... they're so intricately planned and so wickedly cute!

This adorable little girl's mummy is a copywriter in Helsinki, Finland. When she is soundly asleep, her mummy weave magical tales around her. I think these are so precious... what a beautiful surprise to wake up to :-).

Visit her blogsite here - http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/.


(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

funny mandarin

QQ: 3y 8m old

Both my kids were brought up in an English speaking environment. Although I can't say their English is perfect :-). When they started kindy, HQ at 3 years old and QQ at 3.5 years old, they speak not a word of Mandarin.

HQ, I noticed, picked up the language by listening intently and asking lots of questions. After being very sure of himself, he begun to speak in full sentences of Mandarin pretty soon.

QQ, on the other hand, begun mixing her speech with Mandarin words right away. Along the way, making up her own Mandarin words. And often made us wondered what some of the words meant. LOL! She's not shy at all :-).

After 2.5 months schooling in a Mandarin environment, although not perfect, QQ's Mandarin improved significantly. These were the few which I found funny :-).

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My mum was putting QQ to sleep one afternoon. While singing to her, QQ asked:

QQ: Popo, how to say "fart" in Mandarin?
Popo: "Fang pi"

QQ: How to say "buttock" in Mandarin?

Popo: "Pii gu"

QQ: "Wo fang pi ler. Wo de pi gu hen chou!" (Mandarin: I farted. My buttock is very smelly!)

LOL!
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Sometime ago, HQ was taking a day off from school due to fever. When QQ reached school, I heard her telling her teachers:

Teacher Y: Wei sen me ni de Ge Ge mei you lai sue siao? (Mandarin: Why your elder brother didn't come to school?)

QQ: "Wo de Ge Ge sen ping ler. Fa sau ler. Hen lan tuo!" (Mandarin: My elder brother is sick. Having fever. Very lazy!)

o.O"

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My mum went to the kindy to fetch my kids home every week day. One day, when she arrived, a little boy at the age of 5 greeted my Mum:

Little boy: Aunty!

QQ went to him, pat his head and said:

QQ: Guai hai zi! (Mandarin: Good boy!)

Imagine a 3.5 little girl patting a slightly taller 5 year old boy calling him "Guai hai zi"... everyone had a good laugh!

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My kids often look forward to my uni mate, PP and JH's visit. All of them get along very well and enjoy each other's company :-)

PP: Ni mei bu mei? (Mandarin: Are you pretty?)

QQ: Mei!!! Sui suo wo bu mei?!?!? (Mandarin: Pretty!!! Who say I'm not pretty?!?!?)

o.O"

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

"carbotarian"

My daughter was a meat lover. Meat could be the only dish that went with her rice at every meal. Of course I didn't let her eat meat and rice alone, so I made sure she ate her portions of vege and fish as well. After her meals, she'd sit with us adults while we ate, and pecked on the meat dishes. That's how much she loved meat.

After a bout of infection and a host of medicine cocktail last year, QQ seemed to stopped loving meat. In fact, she stopped loving anything other than rice, noodles and breads. With nothing on them. So it's plain rice, plain noodles and plain bread! She screams murder everytime she catches a glimpse of food in her rice, noodles or bread! And rather go hungry!

So for sometime, she was on a carbo diet. We all called her a "carbotarian".

Mum, who looks after my kids, was exasperated. I was exasperated. I didn't think QQ's daily intake of multivitamin supplement counts up to all her vitamins and minerals daily requirement. So we served her more snacks in between meals... various types of fruits, homemade fishballs, homemade meatballs, cereal drinks and nutritious soups.

QQ, who used to be my little guzzler, who used to eat anything with speed and gusto, turned down most of the snacks we tried to trick/ force coax her to eat. Luckily she still loved her soup. So, it's nutritious soup with rice or noodles at every meal. And more soup after she finished her meals. For breakfast it's porridge with lots of ground meat, fish and carrots dumped in and boiled to a paste (so she couldn't spot them and pick them out). And luckily there's one thing she still loved... eggs. Mum made sure she eats one hard-boiled free-range egg every day.

On one hand I was worried that she's not getting sufficient nutrients. On the other hand, I was wondering if this could be her body natural response that's trying to tell us that its not ready for meat yet?

Anyway.

After awhile when her mood was better, we started adding tiny pieces of vege, fish and meat into her meals. She noticed. If we're lucky, she ate them anyway. But when she fusses and refuses to eat, it's back to soup and rice for that particular meal.

Nowadays, it's a hit or miss during mealtimes with QQ. I hope as time goes by, she will start to eat more. And as time goes by, I hope we don't have to be so paranoid about her getting insufficient nutrients :-).

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

tired eyes

The Group was rushing to register close to 5,000 local employees for a service roll-out, and to tell the truth, the process was a nightmare. Seriously. It’s very challenging coordinating between HR departments of more than 70 subsidiary companies, the Operations team, the IT team and the Finance Team to come up with a working solution.

Having spent less than 4 hours of sleep each night for the past 2.5 weeks, I suffer badly from acne and dark rings around my eyes. I’m not so worried about acne, as they will usually subside when I start sleeping well again. I’m worried about the dark rings and wrinkles around my eyes. What made my eyes even more tired is that I have to spend more than 10 hours each day looking at the laptop screen. My eyes are so tired I can sleep while standing, I swear!

Having said that, I cannot deny that although grueling, this project gave me a great sense of achievement :-). Now everything is sorted out, and by end of today, everyone will get to enjoy this additional benefit that our Group is providing to all employees :-). I am just very apprehensive anticipating the next nightmare when we’ll be rolling out our service to overseas employees. Maybe I should consider getting some eye serum to nourish my very tired eyes.

kiddos' talk

The past 2.5 weeks had been crazy... bringing work home every night and only get to sleep at 2.00/ 3.00 am. Even on weekends! My company will be carrying out a new service plan to more than 5,000 local employees next Monday (before we start the next nightmare of overseas employees), so tonight I can at least sleep earlier :-). And blog a little :-).

Today I got to spend some time with my kids too... unlike the past weekends where I was hooked on my laptop all the time. Here are some of my quality time spent with my kids today... they made me laugh so heartily :-D. I missed them so much.
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HQ: 5y 10m old
QQ; 3y 8m old

QQ: I am cooking for my children to eat. My children will eat first, and then only me and my husband eat.
Me: How many children do you have?
QQ: *counting the bowls with spoons in them* Five!
Me: How many of them are girls?
QQ: Just one! I am now feeding our pet dog. I need someone to bring her go out for a walk leh... Korkor, can you bring my dog for a walk? Can you be my husband?
HQ: No, I am busy. (He was playing with the remote car)
QQ: You are busy fixing your car?
HQ: Yes. I will bring our pet dog go for a walk later.
QQ: OK. Remember to come home early for dinner. I'm cooking seafood tonight!
Me: *smiles*
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HQ: Mama, when Chinese New Year comes next year, can I invite my friends to come to my house?
Me: Sure! Who do you want to invite?
HQ: Hui Sin and Koh Jing Sing.
Me: Hui Sin is a girl? Is Koh Jin Sing a boy?
HQ: No! Both are girls la. Koh Jing Sing is Qing Qing lor.
Me: Oh! Are they your girlfriends?
HQ: Yes *shy smile* When they come to my house for Chinese New Year, I want to take picture with them. Hui Sin stand on my right, and Koh Jin Sing stand on my left *grin*
Me: LOL!!!
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Me: Do you know that when I was young, there is no shopping centre? (Actually there was one - Sg. Wang)
HQ: Then where do Gong gong and Popo bring you go on weekends?
Me: To playground.
QQ: Did you see any of korkor's classmates?
HQ: Sa Gua! (Silly!). That time, my classmates not born yet! They are still in their mamas' stomachs, yes or not, Mama?
Me: LOL!!!
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QQ: My Teacher Rajesh call my Popo Grandma wor...
Me: That's correct. Grandma is same as Popo.
QQ: She always ask "Why is your Grandma not here to fetch you home yet?"
Me: You can tell her that your Grandma is busy.
QQ: I ask her "Why you call my Popo Grandma wor?" Maybe I cal tell her that Popo is poo-pooing. hee hee. Popo poo-poo when korkor and me in school more easy! When poo-poo ah, no children will come and open the toilet door!
Me: LOL!!!

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for BoeyJoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.