~ Gladys' Cycling Lesson - Part 3 ~

Earlier this evening, we took the children down for cycling. Due to work committments, Gladys could not practice on a daily basis (as much as she wanted to) but we try to let her cycle once a week.

Gladys still needs more practice on how to start her bicycle and learn to control it better. She still has the tendacy to sway her bike and ends up losing control. Today, she fell down from the bicycle but didn't cry. Gladys may be stubborn but she has the determination to try and get it right.

~ Late night @ Courts Raya Carnival ~

It's FRIDAY! Hubby and the kids picked me up at my work place and we went straight to the Singapore Expo for the Electronics and John Little fair. Didn't manage to grab any stuff except 10 pairs of school socks for Denver.

We drove off to IKEA for our dinner while Gladys played at Smaland. Spent some time at Giant and then popped by Courts to check if there are any cheap deals. Since last week, the Raya carnival has been on-going with a lot of activities.

We came in just on time for another round of supper! Not only there are free assorted Malay Kueh to choose, free popcorn, candy floss, kacang puteh are also available. Gladys was just in time to get a nice fish balloon and the kids had fun at the ball game stations.

Earlier we missed the cheap DVD deal during the 8:45pm hourly special. Since Hubby needs to get a DVD player for my inlaws, we waited patiently for the next round of hourly special which starts at 10:20pm.

While waiting, we roamed around the store and had more free kueh. Heavy stomach and tired feets. Nevertheless, the wait was worthwhile as we finally managed to purchase the Philips DVD player at $35. ^_^ More attractive deals, goodies and fun activities will continue through the weekend.

~ Handicraft - Gladys @ Art & Craft Stall ~

I'm not exactly sure what this handicraft is called but it is commonly seen at the little art & craft stalls in the shopping malls. Simply choose a picture of your preference, apply the colour substance on the art work. Using a toothpick and cotton bud to touch up. Upon completion, it will be heated up in a toaster and the final art work is complete.

We were at Downtown East and Gladys has been pestering me to let her try it. A small art piece is at $5 (prices may vary slightly at different stalls). As an exception case, she finally got to try it. Denver and Mommy also helped to do this together and it's finally completed putting a big smile on Gladys.

~ Where's my Invitation Card? ~

Since last week, Gladys has been telling us that she is going to her classmate's birthday party in a hotel at Sentosa. Hubby and I got so confused by her statement that I gave her teacher a call this morning to seek clarification.

Indeed, Gladys' classmate will be celebrating his birthday in Sentosa but there was no official invitation yet. He got so excited that he told everyone in the class and that got Gladys extremely excited too! Gladys' form teacher helped to explain to the class that you will need an invitation card in order to attend the party.

When we got back home earlier this evening, Gladys very much assumed that she will have the invitation card (from us) and get invited. You can imagine how upset she was when we explained to her that the card needs to come from her classmate's parents and there isn't any concrete plans that she is going to get invited.

After many conversations and persuasion, Gladys still does not want to give up and decided to get her invitation card from her classmate pro-actively. Not only that, she even suggested to have her up-coming birthday party in a hotel! We are not obliging to her requests nor setting up her expectations.

Sometimes, it may be best not to tell the young child on party or travel plans in advance. We had a similar experience with Gladys when she over-heard that we will be going to Genting and she got so excited and broadcast this to her teacher and classmate for a couple of weeks!

It's good to bring out the good news, however, we will also need to manage expectations that may comes along the way.

~ National Youth Business Challenge 2011 ~

Last Saturday, we happened to be around Compass Point and saw the students putting up their own stalls for the NYBC 2011. The items on sale are environmental friendly and we have a look around to see what the students have put up. There are eco bags, plants, hand-made photo frames, pots etc.

We decided to support them by purchasing items from 2 stalls. One hand-made customized pencil box for Gladys and a little eco-friendly bottle of plant which encourages 24x7 photosynthesis effect for Denver.

The students have put up a lot of time and effort for this competition and the rewards will be gaining through this learning experience.

~ Denver's SwimSafer Bronze Award ~

Since NASSA has been replaced by SwimSafer in July 2010, the NASSA Bronze Award which Denver had obtained last year is no longer valid. Hence, for the past few months, Denver re-trained and took his SwimSafer swimming test early last month.

We only managed to collect the certificate from the instructor today as Denver has been absent for a couple of weeks due to vacation and illness. We are also temporary stopping his swimming lesson for the next 2-3 months since Hubby will be away on business trips. Hopefully everything will be back on track soon. :)

~ Gladys' Cycling Lesson - Part 2 ~

It's lesson no. 3 and Gladys needs continuous practice in order to control her bicycle well. This evening, Hubby is teaching Gladys how to start and stop her bicycle. At times, she was able to start peddling, the difficulty comes in getting her to brake.

As Gladys wasn't able to clench on to the brakes, she has greater fears of falling and does not wish to peddle hard. Hubby has already adjusted the brakes for Gladys and hopefully she will be able to bicycle soon with more practices.