Wir sind Ausländern!!

Over the last months, moving & packing has occupied most of my brain cells - in the last week, i have finally managed to kick myself & get started on the actual process of packing - hurray! There is of cos lots more packing to do in the 3weeks to come & then the move & then the unpacking - sigh! Anyone wants to lend a hand? ;)

But now on to things of great fun - we have a new toy ;) YEP! We finally got ourselves a Wii - we have been eyeing one since it 1st come out but could never part with the amount of money it cost. Last Sat we were out looking for something completely unrelated & saw that there was a special offer - the Wii & Wii Fit bundled together for a good price - so we jumped at it & now are proud owners of a Wii with the WiiFit board & WiiPlay - having great fun with it (it is taking time away from my packing - hehhehee)!

Presenting our Wii:
(notice that great joy on his face)


Here's father & son having fun with it:


Here's a video of Tobias playing bowling on Wii:

syc

So Father's Day was 2 weekends ago & i completely forgot to show off what we did this year.
This year's Father's Gift (all the kids in church got to make this too) is inspired by Nino, over at Cease Cows, Life is Short. She made Candy Bouquets for her gals' teacher's end-of-year gifts - so i follow suit & we made Sweet Bouquets for the dads.

Here's the sample i made up for the kids to follow (not as full with sweets as it should be but we do have 30 kids & limited budget - so i had to settle for 1 Sweet for Dad & 1 sweet for the kid):


Here's the one which Tobias made for Daddy - Tobias waited patiently till we got home & Daddy took his sweet before having his own ;)


Dads have a most special place in my heart - My Dad is My Hero, My Inspiration!
My husband is my son's Hero as well - they simply love each other to bits & i simply love watching them love each other.
My hubby is My Strength & i Thank God daily for him.
syc

About a week & a half ago, we went for the introduction day at Tobias' Kindergarten. He starts in Aug ;)

Tobias was very excited - he can't wait to actually go to Kindergarten. He woke early, no arguments over breakfast & dressing. Then we all (yes all 3 of us) set out to walk to Kindergarten. The kids here are expected to walk to school by themselves after the initial few months. Sometimes a mum will walk a group or the older kids will walk with the little ones or the little ones walk as a group. They teach independence early here. Everyone has to go to the Kindergarten in their village & all schools are at most a 20 or 25mins walk away (this is at kid-speed, not adult speed). This also helps to teach the older ones to care for the little ones. They prepare the kids well by having a police offier come & talk to them about traffic safety - some time within the 1st few months.

So this is how the 1.5hrs was spent.

We got there (we were the 2nd family there) - welcomed warmly by the teacher. i noticed sadly that half the garden of the kindergarten was given over to the construction happening at the neighbouring supermarket - hopefully they get it back after the construction is done.

Once most kids have arrived, they are all asked to take a seat - cute little wooden chairs, arranged in a circle. They played a cute game - a child gets to throw a large foam dice & everyone calls out the number of dots & counts along as the kid jumps over the dice that number of times.

Then the teachers introduced themselves - Frau ImHof & Frau Kasermann. Frau Imhof is the main teacher & Frau Kasermann teaches only on fridays as she also teach 1st grad in the school. Very nice ladies both.

The kids are then allocated them groups - one is SilverFish & the other is GoldenFish - Tobias is in GoldenFish group. After which they work on their cushion - the teachers have prepared huge cloth fishes in yellow for Golden group & blue for Silver group. The kids got to stamp "scales" on their own fish (using round foam pieces as stamps) It was very nice. The teachers will then let them dry over the holidays & stuff them, all ready for the kids to use come 1st day of Kindi ;)

There was another dice game & then the teachers gave out their letters for parents, their traffic safety triangle thingy which they wear when walking to school & a box of little round "scales". The kids get to pick either a black or grey fish to take home. The number of scales in the box equal to the number of days till the 1st day of school - so the kids are told that they have to paste a scale a day & when they have finished all the scales - it's time to come back to Kindi :D

At the end, we collected his "fish" timetable & other info sheets. It was nice to see that we already know some of the kids from our neighbour going to the same class as Tobias.

i'm so impressed by the efforts which the teachers have put in - it makes me feel more at ease about sending him to school :) i don't remember having such an introduction day when i went to Kindergarten - thot i must say that i loved my Kindergarten & fondly remember those days & the Rev.Mother.

Here are some pictures - i did not take pictures on the actual day cos i felt it was disturb the other kids - so these are done at home:

Fish Timetable


Grey Fish & Scales - putting scales on


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That's right - mummy got to enjoy time to herself - well, with friends - enjoying an exhibition of one of my fav artist - Vincent Van Gogh.

The Art Museum in Basel is staging a special on Van Gogh - his landscapes! Many i have not seen before & quite a few on loan from various places & private collections.

The exhibition runs from April 26 - September 27 & costs CHF28 which is reasonable. You will also get to see an exhibition of Van Gogh's comtemporaries on a different floor. You not only get to view the words but you get to know more about Van Gogh's life if you don't already. There is a guided tour (you need to book) or you can choose to have an iPod audio guide for CHF5.

If you plan to go, do book your tickets ahead as tickets are allocated an entry time slot - which means you can only enter the exhibit on that day, in that hour. i believe this is for crowd control purposes.

If you love art, especially the impressionist period - go see! No cameras allowed so i have no pictures.
syc

 
       

These are all of Tobias at 3 mths - they are a few which shows why i had friends calling him "succulent", "juicy",  & me calling him "fat cheeks".
Now i think most would agree that's a big baby with very fat cheeks ;p
ahhhhh... memories ....
syc

Yes yes once again i'm late putting up Tobias' Birthday Parties photos. This year he had 4 small parties - all at the various classes he attends.

The 1st one was at K. Club - i made little cup cakes for each child (there are only 12 of them) - they celebrated it with him. i was not there, the teacher very kindly offered to take photos with our camera :)

Here's Tobias with his cupcake & the K. Club birthday candle (it's a special one they use for the kids' brithdays):
   

The second party which was on his actual birthday day was at Chinese Class - but i only baked a very simple lemon cake, no deco, hence no photo & we just gave out sweets & cut the cake for everyone to eat during break time - so it wasn't quite a celebration or party at all.

The third party was at the Krippe (Daycare) on Friday that week - that one i did a big cake with icing & deco & big monster truck - it was the last one he was to have with the kids there. He starts Kindi in Aug & will no longer go there.

So here's the monster truck cake (the icing is a light green, thot you can't see it from the photo) & a shot from the garden party:
   

The fourth & final party was at church. For this one, i baked the cake which Tobias had asked for - a racing track cars cake - it did not turn out as my cake deco book showed. The center part of the cake (white icing) was supposed to be one big circle but i did not have a cookie cutter that big, on hindsight i could have just used a big bowl to cut the circle from the icing ... ahhh... hindsight, if only it came before an event...
Anyhow, the pink icing around was supposed to be red (did not have enough colouring or more like made too much icing). It was also supposed to be a clean line around but i did not have enough icing sugar to make it sift enough to hold the shape. So it was all improvished! It turned out ok - but i would really really have liked the pink icing to be bright red - sigh! But it made no difference to Tobias - it was a race track & it had cars on it - that was all that mattered. i simply love the way kids see things - so simple - i wish so much for that point of view sometimes.
So enough babbling!
Here's a pitcure of the cake & us singing Happy Birthday to Tobias (as well as to my friend Jacquelyn):
   

Here's a couple of photos of Tobias with his stash of presents:
   

He is consistently spoilt by 2 sets of grandparents, a doting uncle, 3 sets of godparents & of cos us, his parents, not to mention all the other uncles & aunties in his little life.
Thanks to all of you for your love for our little guy ;)

syc

Yep that's right we are moving ... moving to another apartment ... just across the courtyard (playground) - basically the same place, just the next block. This new place is on the second floor, with a pretty view of the mountains on a clear day :D
There will be no terrace/backyard/garden in this new place, just a balcony but it's ok - seeing how we did not use the terrace as much as we should have. The kitchen is much smaller but it is an open concept plan living/dining/kitchen so i think it will be fine. Overall it is a smaller living area but i like the fact that the apartment is the top one so that means we have a little area outside, near the stairs, where we can put all our shoes & other potentially muddy things.

We have been looking for another place since April - so it is nice to at last know that we got one! *grins from ear to ear*

For those who are not familiar, apartment hunting in Switzerland is much dependent on whether the renters like you or not, or whether you are the first in with your application, or whether you qualify under certain conditions (eg no debts, no pets etc...). So this means that you don't necessarily get the first apartment you apply for. And sometimes you need to wait up to a week for a reply as to whether you got the apartment or not. Needless to say, we have been rejected, we have also missed out on a couple as we were too late. All in all i think we viewed about 5 apartments & missed out on about 3 others. It was frustrating at times to have found a nice apartment, only to find out at the viewing that there is no play area for kids & or the play area is not safe or the rooms are way too small or there are no other kids in the building etc...

There was also the consideration that we wanted to stay in our village if possible & ours is a very popular village so there is very little available - this makes it even more precious that we not only managed to stay in our village but we got a place in the same quartier :D - this means that Tobias will get to keep the friends he has made over the last year at the playground & would be going to school with some of them as well.

i also think it is definitely God's provision - we had viewed this apartment a couple of weeks ago but i was in doubt as there is no lift - which might mean lugging my heavy book boxes up & down 2 flights each time i had a sale to do. Then we asked about a Bastelraum (hobby room) which is located in the basement but was told that none was available. Then darling Walter came up with the idea of getting me one of those tall dolly trolley (like the ones they move bottles drinks with) - mainly cos there were a couple of apartments we were looking at which had no lifts. So i felt better about it & as the days passed, i felt better & better about this apartment.

After waiting almost 5 or 6 days for a reply, i finally got hold of the lady in charge who then said that the apartment was available only 1st Aug - not 1st July as stated in the ad. There was a mistake in the ad. We had already given notice & had to be out of our current place by end of June so... God had it all planned - this lady was also in charge of our current place so she said that she could give us 1 more month in our current place & then we can move over to the new place. And when i asked about moving in & getting more time to clean our current place (we need to give it a super thorough clean, as is the law here), she said we could possibly move in near the end of July & she could give us a week more to clean our place as the people interested to take over from us here will only move in 1st Sept.

So it all worked out!! i can't believe how well it has worked out. Thank You God!
Now we are just waiting for the contract & letter to come so we can sign & confirm the new place is ours ;)
Then it's onto packing, moving & cleaning - praying hard that all goes well & that there will be no problems at our apartment handover (cleaning inspection).

syc

That's right - exactly 2 days & 14hrs ago, my little boy turned 5. i'm not sure why ... but this birthday of his seems to hold more significance than the others ... maybe cos he will be going to Kindergarten in August, the start of another chapter in his little life ... maybe cos i have just realised, truly am aware of how much he has grown, from that chubby baby of 3.5kg, 52cm to this constant bundle of energy of 19kg (i think), 115cm.

Here's the birth story, which i have never recorded in written form before:
So exactly 5 years, 3 days & 16 hrs ago, i felt the 1st labour pains ... they weren't actually pains, more like a tightening of muscles ... didn't think much about them. Had breakfast, quietly told Walter about it (we had Tobias' Godparents staying with us, they came especially for his arrival), rang the hospital - they said stay at home till labour is closer. Took his Godpa to the pharmacy to get medication for his gout, then came home for lunch. Labour by this time was 15mins apart but still not strong, however there was greenish discharge so we decided to ring the hospital again - the nurse decided they needed to see me as it was a sign that baby was in distress - so we told his Godparents & went to the hospital. Spent the rest of the day just walking around the ward, trying to induce faster labour & dilation. Didn't work, had to spend the night. They gave me something to allow me to sleep. Twice in the night i felt the need to push but the nurse said not time yet. Then finally at 6am, they said we were ready to go. So off we went. Now i had wanted a water birth (i love being in the water) but cos of the signs of distress & less than strong contractions, they won't not let me in the water at all. Anyhow, so on the birthing bed i was, pushing for about 2 hours, by which time my doctor had arrived (before that it was the lovely midwives who took care of me), she decided that labour had been too long & baby's heartbeat was not ideal, so they pulled him out (vacuum). They asked Walter if he wanted to cut the cord, which he did & then he was allowed to give Tobias his very 1st bath. Cleaned & wrinkled he was given to me & my heart swelled :D All in all it was a great experience!

Here's a pictorial view of Tobias from birth till 4 years old:

At birth                                          At one month                               
        

Sleeping with Daddy (1 mth)                   In the bath (6 mths)
    

At 1 year old                                 At 2 years old                        
         

At 3 years old                                                At 4 years old
    

i can't believe how he has changed & grown - i miss my little "fat cheeks" - sigh!

i'll post up pictures of him at 5 years old & birthday photos next week once i am done with all the baking & parties he is having this week ;p
syc

Since getting the Mama Mia VCD from Singapore & watching it, then listening to the original musical soundtrack in the car, songs from Abba have become a favourite of Tobias'. Here's a video of Tobias singing Money, Money Money:


Actually, his favourite of all time is Dancing Queen & Lay All Of Your Love On Me but i did not manage a video of those as he refused to sing anymore after this video was shot.

Why am i blogging about this now? Well, cos it's the 54th Eurovision Song Contest now & Abba who won it 35 years ago in 1974 are once again in the spotlight. & most importantly, Tobias is soooo cute when he sings the songs ...

By the way, Tobias singing this song is in no way a reflection of what we hope he would make his life's work ...
syc

Ever since becoming a mother myself, i appreciate all that my mother has done for me, & is still doing, even more than before. i have always had a wonderful relationship with my mother, she is not openly overly affectionate or expressive, being Asian, but she loves us to bits. She would wake early (like 5am) to make sure breakfast was all ready for us before we go to school, to wake us to make we are on time for school & work, she makes sure that there is always, not just food to eat, but she make sure that our fav foods were always available to us. She buys clothes & everything we need for us so that we will not lack. She sacrifices her time, energies, emotions all for us. No words can ever express fully what a terrific mother she is & how very very grateful i am to have her as my mother ...

I Love You Mummy!

How much I love you I can't say:
It's more than words can hold.
You're all at once my rich, red clay,
My potter and my mold.

Yours the words that shaped my voice,
The spirit within mine.
Yours the will that shaped my choice,
My fortune, and my sign.

How lucky I was to have had you
At the core of me!
Wise and good, you always knew
Just what I could be.

And so I came to be someone
Whom I could be proud of.
For this I give my swollen sum
Of gratitude and love.

To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!!
You are doing a great job & mothering is one of the more fantastic thing in the world :D

syc

i have been noticing that since our return from Singapore, Tobias has been very much wanting to do lots with Walter. Here are a couple of things they have done together:


Reading & cooking with Daddy have been fav activities recently.
A couple of weeks ago i posted one about Tobias twirling with Daddy

Tobias has also preferred Daddy for storytime before bed - Mummy's a little green but mostly happy that they are enjoying each other so much :D

syc

Here are some photos i took of Spring Flowers:



Now does anyone know the names of these flowers?
Which is your favourite photo? Mine is the one of the flower bud coming out of the really thorny branch.

syc

We went to a Easter Party - our 1st one! It was held by & at Gymboree Bern. Tobias had lots of fun - there was follow-the-train, story-time, touching a real-live rabbit, wearing bunny ears, of course the Easter Egg hunt & egg painting.

Here's Tobias wearing his ears & being a bunny:


Tobias & his painted eggs:


The lengths a boy would go through for chocolate eggs - hehhee:


Tobias & his spoils:


i had fun watching & taking lots of photos! The only unfortunate thing that came out of this was that i think Tobias is allergic to rabbit as well as cats. Cats we knew from last year but rabbits is just now. i hope he is not allergic to more furry creatures cos he really likes them lots.

Tobias has spent the last 4 yrs - happily attending classes at Gymboree - it is a little sad to see that it will all be ending soon. One can only be at Gymboree till 5 yrs old & Tobias will be 5 in less than a month.

syc

A few weeks ago, Tobias got some streamers from somewhere - i can't seem to remember where - but he did not want to throw them away - Daddy suggested we tape them to wooden sticks & he can twirl them.

So here are the results:


Oh how i love them :D

Daddy left today to go to Turkey on business. Sigh! It's strange that he is away again after being home (not flying off) for almost 7 weeks. As i sit here typing, part of me is still expecting him to come home from work (thot today is Easter Monday & a public holiday). But it was lovely to have him here for such a long stretch for a change - we normally only get like 3 such weeks before he has to fly off somewhere.

syc

Here's what happens when you put the 3 together:



syc

That's right - Awesomewords - Sandra's online bookshop is up - check it out & let me know what you think.

Actually it has been up for a month now - i have not been brave enough to ask u guys to have a look.
The design is decided by the publisher can't do anything about that - but i welcome comments on text in the different sections.
Thanks
syc

They do & here's the proof:

Swiss Mountain Cleaners Wanted.

Enjoy.
syc

Yes it's true... i'm at it again - this time writing a script! i haven't written a script since Poly days so this would be a bit of a challenge. i already had ideas bubbling since March but haven't penciled anything at all.
100pages in 30days - which translate into 100minutes on screen/stage - anyone care to join me?? Never too late to sign up!
It's April & it's time for Script Frenzy!!



syc

We did a couple of close-ups, trying to asses how good the mirco is on our lovely new digital camera - here are the results:



So what do you think?
syc

We went to the 79th Motor Show, in Geneva about 3 weeks ago, with a couple of Walter's colleagues.
It was huge & the boys had lots of fun looking, or should i say ogling, over the cool cars, super cars, cute cars & of cos the booth babes - or at least one of them was looking out for booth babes - hehheee ;)

Here's some of my fav shots:

Tobias standing next to a suped up car.

Sony & the gaming industry certainly cashed in on the crowds which were there. It makes sense, doesn't it - the same people who are interested in cars would also be the same ones into gaming. They had a whole hall dedicated to gaming - of cos it was all car games - there was also go-karts but the queue was too long to even attempt the wait.

Tobias behind the wheel of one of my fav cars - the Mini.

This is a really cool motorcycle which has 2 front wheels, 1 back wheel & you can drive it with a car license - no need to take another test to drive if you are into motorcycles. Tobias certainly was - he didn't want to get off.

We shot lots & lots of cars but i shall not bore the non-car-enthus. So check the official website if you wanna see the new concept cars etc.
syc