The Egg Hunt

Easter Weekend

We kicked off Easter weekend with egg dying with the Reids.  Finding white eggs in Singapore are a hunt in itself as most stores carry brown eggs.  We found enough eggs to dye and the kids had a ball coloring and decorating the eggs. 

Talking to a few of our non-American friends we found out that most other countries do not color eggs.  So a few of them ventured a go at attempting to color eggs...the instructions did not say to boil the eggs so lots of broken eggs and messes to clean up.  

Messy messy hands!

Egg hunting is also done differently here.  Most people that participate in egg hunts hunt for chocolate eggs.  Most were surprised that we hunted for plastic eggs filled with sweets, chocolates, or money.  Fortunately for me, one of my friend's here in Singapore told me before we moved over to bring my own plastic eggs as they are hard to find them in the stores.  At least, I did not have to hunt for plastic eggs in the stores.  I was well stocked!

Easter morning the kids awoke to the surprises the Easter Bunny left behind.  They were very happy that the Easter Bunny knew that we moved to Singapore.

We spent the rest of our Easter Sunday at Mary and Brian Dean's house.  To read about and see about our actual Easter Sunday check out this blog.  I forgot my camera but I bet you can spot our kids throughout some of our friend's pictures.  If you are adventurous and scroll through the rest of her blog you might spot Brian...

Surfs Up!

April 16, 2011

Graham experienced his first surfing lesson at The Wavehouse at Sentosa.  It was a big hit among the children as well as the parents that participated as well. Graham's best friend, Austin, celebrated his 8th birthday at The Wavehouse. 

Graham and Austin

By the end Graham had it down.  He loved it!  I hope before we leave Singapore he can learn how to do it standing up...he just needs to grow a little more.

Starlight Ball

 Graham had his first dance to attend at school this past weekend.  He was very excited about it and enjoyed getting new clothes and especially wearing a tie for the first time.  We made it a family event and the girls got to wear their pretty dresses as well.  Brian got huge daddy points for leaving Australia early in order to join the family at the Starlight Ball.

The kids in Graham's class have been preparing for the night for weeks.  They learned 4 different ballroom dances with their partner.  Graham really surprised me at how well he knew the dances and how well behaved and proper he was with his dance partner, Catherine.  He never acted shy with her or silly.  He was all business!  I was so proud of him.

Graham and Catherine

Look how they are holding hands!

Thier first dance.

Graham even asked me to dance and taught me some new moves.

Spinning and turning :)

 After he danced with Catherine he was also able to dance with his sisters throughout the night.  The girls absolutely adored their brother that night.  They LOVED dancing with him and having his attention. 

Look at the joy on Layne's face!

Teaching Bryce the steps.

I love the way Bryce is looking at Graham here!



Since the girls had to share their brother...it was bound to happen that someone would be sad to give up their turn.  Layne was the first to crumble when it was her turn to give up the star of the night.

Basketball Basics

Graham has been playing basketball every Monday after school since January.  This is the first season he has shown interest in the sport.  As the weeks have ticked away you can definitely see an improvement in his skill level as well as his confidence.  It is set up a little different here as the number of kids in certain sports tend to be small compared to back home so the organization of the sport is often quite different from back home.

Here it is a combination of boys and girls as well as 1st and 2nd graders.  They typically spend the first 45 minutes on skills and drills and then the last 15 minutes scrimmaging. I would consider it more of a basketball school as there are not different teams or a set schedule of teams playing against each other. 

Last Monday they had skills and drills contest.

So today, was a day of all games. 

A pass to Graham

You can't see Graham but he just shot the ball and it went in!

These last shots were after Graham got home from school.  I have a new zoom lense so I thought I would try it out outside.  So far, I like it.  It helps that I love my models!

Graham

Graham and Austin

Layne

Bryce

7

March 24, 2011

Seven. years. old.

I have been a mom for seven years now.

This time last year we were waking up to this.

This year Graham woke up a seven year old in a hotel on a holiday in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. I never would of thought he would be waking up there.

We spent the first half of his birthday in a car driving back to Singapore.  We are so lucky and blessed that his best friend in Singapore, Austin, arrived at our door with a tray of cupcakes to celebrate his special day.

 This year Graham opted to forgo a big birthday party in order to receive a special gift as his present.  Now that he has an Itouch I can reclaim my Iphone as mine.

Graham invited 3 friends over to spend the night for pizza, swimming, movies and video games.  It was our first big sleepover and overall a success.  Graham even invited one of the girls' friends over to keep them from bothering the boys.

Graham and his prized possession~ Itouch