It's about time...a LONG time.

Well, is anybody even coming to this blog anymore?  I know, I know it's about time. A.LONG.TIME.   It has been so long that Blogger has changed its format and I am lost and relearning this new way of uploading pictures.  So far, I don't like it.  It is not letting me arrange things the way I like it and it is messing up my spacing...but that is for another day to sort through.



We are finally getting settled here in Singapore.  A sense of the new normal is washing over us and I am pretty sure we can all get use to living here.
Now that the house is basically put together and activities for the kids are under way I am hoping I can do a better job of keeping up with pictures of the kids on the blog.


I am going to keep this blog as the "kids" blog but dare I say I am going to start another blog more about Singapore.  As soon as I get it up and running I will be sure to let you know because I know you all are on pins and needles wanting to know about life on this metropolitan island.


Enough babble on with the kids!


The kids have been wanting to go to a beach since we got here.  We finally made it to one.  It was more of a park but it was near the water and there was sand so the kids had a great time.  We will take them to one of the nicer beaches once we have more free time on the weekend.  But for now East Coast Park satisfied everyone.

The kids forgot their ginormous bag of beach tools at the house.  Luckily they were able to improvise and use their hands to build sandcastles.

Graham also became very daring in his water adventure and kept going deeper and deeper into the ocean. 

Bryce preferred to hunt for seashells while Graham and Layne ran in and out of the water.

The beach was probably the highlight of Singapore living so far for the kids.  That is until it was time to go home and sand was everywhere.  So, after we got home Brian dropped us at the pool and we rinsed off at the shower at the pool and swam some more.

These are just some random shots of the kids since we have been here.

Layne has started to be more cooperative in her photo shoots.  She actually has started asking me to take pictures of her.  Her new pose is the head tilt!

Of course, we all know Bryce loves to have her picture taken.

Finally, we took the kids to the movies one weekend.  Can you guess what we saw?

Seriously, do you think I would take my kids to see Eclipse?  Ok. I probably would but we took them to see Toy Story 3.  They all loved it and so did I.  I even got teary eyed.


Ok.  I am going to attempt to start the Singapore blog.  I have a lot say about this place.  I hope I can make it interesting...

Singa what? Singapore.

Well, we have been here in Singapore for about a week. We are definitely still adjusting to life on an island on the complete opposite side of the world. Graham thinks he will find a treasure here since it is an island. Do you think he has seen one to many pirate adventures? Bryce keeps asking if we are still in Singapore everytime we leave the house. And sweet Layne is STARVING all the time since the food here is slightly different from our normal cuisine. But like I said, we are adjusting...how long can that take????

Our first night in Singapore we stayed in a hotel while we waited for our rented furniture to arrive at our house. All that planning ahead back in early May really paid off. NOT! Our stuff still is not here and I have no idea when it will get here. But I digress....

This is the view from the hotel.
Everything is so green and lush here. It is beyond beautiful. In order to get all this greenery there must be rain. We have had rain every.single.day since we arrived. It just rains in short increments and the sun shines again.

This is Cafe Iguana...A MEXICAN RESTAURANT 5 minutes walking distance from our place. We have not tried it yet but still surely I will be able to find something compareable. It was voted one of the 10 best places to watch the World Cup because of its "mind boggling" tequilas. I can't wait to try a margarita there!

After eating and drinking at Cafe Iguana you may want to work off those calories. Our condo has gym facilities OR you can work out right outside next to a relaxing water fall. My kids like to play on it!

or you can swim it off at the pool. I choose the pool as well.

If you want to cook at home we have a small grocery store named, Cold Storage, a 5 minute walk from our house as well. When I say small, I mean small. Check out the skinny aisles. On most occassions I doubt it would be a family affair but we were just checking out our surroundings. Grocery shopping on its own is worthy of its own blogpost. One day I will!

Here are the kids and a dog right in front of teh grocery store. DO you see the skinny entry way? I told you it was small.

When you cant find what you need at the grocery store, you can always head out to one of the many, many malls for a bite to eat. The kids chose Burger King while the adults preferred the local food.

That concludes the first week of Singapore. I left out a bunch of boring stuff like me learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road, our leak in the wall of our BRAND NNEW house, taxi rides, helpers, and on and on. I had to tease you a little to keep you coming back to the blog!

Moving Madness part 3

Are we there yet?

Sunday, June 6, 2010 The afternoon before departure.

This is all the luggage that we took onto the airplane. Crazy amount!
1 car seat
2 booster seats
1 double stroller
4 backpacks
1 snack bag
13 suitcases/bags

Our last family picture taken in Texas before we headed out to the airport.

3 little monkeys hanging around and getting anxious to get on the airplane.

Finally boarded the plane. Thank goodness my mom went with us. It was nice having an extra set of hands around.

Bryce and Layne checking out the controls. There were so many kid friendly things to do on the plane. movies, video games and music galore. And lets not forget about all the sweets they had...ice cream, candy bars, sugary drinks flowed!

After all was said and done, the kids did a great job flying over. 24 hours on a plane is no fun for adults so you can imagine how awful it is for kids.

Next stop Singapore!

MovingMadness part 2

and so the journey to Singapore.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

We had a big lunch with both sides of the family at Guadalajara's Mexican restaurant. It was soooo good. I miss it already. Considering there were 8 children and 11 adults I think we all left the restaurant pretty happy. No major meltdowns or drama so i would say it was a successful lunch.

Afterwards we headed back to The Doffings and visited until we had to head to the airport.

Moving Madness part 1

Well, we have made it here to Singapore safe and sound. However, our adventures leading up to our arrival would have driven any sane person crazy. It is a good thing I am already CRAZY. I would have to be to cram so much into such a short span.
Friday: June 4, 2010

Graham finished up his last day of school as a Kindergartener with a party. So the girls and I joined him and the celebrations. All I have to say is it was HOT.

Thursday, June 3 and Saturday, June 5, 2010

Then the girls had their Ballet/Tap rehearsal and recital. Talk about craziness. Getting 2 girls ready for this was a mad rush but we did it and of course the girls looked adorable. At the recital both girls performed perfectly BUT at the actual recital not so much. Still cute but no dancing occured. So frustrating to say the least. At one point Bryce looked like she was going to cry. She even did the eye rub with her hands. The entire audience let out a big awwww.

They weren't dancing but all eyes were on them.

After the recital we loaded up into the car and drove south to Houston to spend our last night with our family.

I'll attempt to blog about the rest of our adventures tomorrow. Now that we have internet here I will be able to keep everyone updated. I just have to catch up on few posts before we get to Singapore :) I havent even written about the girls' birthday party. I haven't forgotten just trying to find the time and energy to get it all done.