My birthday

Was s'posed to post these last month but never got to it. Had family dinner at Sura's with the Murphy's & Dominique's children. Birthday cake was home baked by Robert - thanks! The next evening, Mervin and I had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Ponsonby, Pregos.

Year 2 Athletics

Many of you may not know this, but Mervin was a top sprinter in his school days (hard to tell now I know). Well at least the genes got passed on to one of the children. We saw it today at Erica's Athletics Day. All the children in the school had to participate in all 4 events - sprints, throws, high jump, long jump. Erica got gold in the sprints, throws and high jump making her the Overall 7 year old girls champion. We knew she had a very good chance at sprints as she won that last year as well but the win for the throws and high jump was a surprise.

The sprints finals was very exciting as you can see in the video. It was a very close fight!

Sprint finals.....

Prize Giving...

Baseball season

Baseball season has begun... which for Mervin and I mean no more sleep ins on Saturday mornings. We have to be at the games by 1/2 past 8! It's fun watching the kids though. Tim is in the Blue Jays (the red shirt is the Diamond Blacks Club shirt) Under 13s team and Erica's in the Blue Jays T-ball team.

The video shows Tim batting. Looks easy? Not quite. In this age group, you have to wait a while before someone hits the ball and there is action to cheer about! Otherwise you pretty much just sit there and encourage them to keep trying. We had to do that all of last year!!!
We were thrilled today when he got it at first strike! Way to go Tim!

Winter 2009

Today the kids finish Term 2 of the school year. Tim is in Year 6 which is his final year at Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School. Next year, he moves on to Sancta Maria College for Intermediate School. Erica is in Year 2.

I think we have been through the worst of winter. We had some really cold spells these past weeks - a few days of a low of 2 degrees, which was even lower than the temperatures that were being reported for the South Island. Sunny winter days however, are really nice and today we had one of those. It was actually warm and after school, the kids and I drove to the beach to soak in the sunshine which we miss so much. I thanked God to see the kids so happy and contented. Erica picked up a branch and was playing with it in the water and jumping over a little stream that had meandered its way in from the sea onto the beach. She was happy, carefree and free as a lark.

Tim had brought along his soccer & rugby balls and was trying out his new soccer boots which we bought him last weekend. It's his first pair of soccer boots and it was "awesome" he said. When he was done kicking the ball around and showing me some of the stunts he had learnt, he came to join us by the water.

I sat on the beach with my newspaper enjoying the peace and quiet of the afternoon. It was so nice not to have some urgent piece of work on my mind for a change. It was even nicer to watch my two children laughing and having a good time together, which is not always the case. PEACE is what I often pray for and today, I felt PEACE.

The Joy of Motherhood

I had my best my Mother's Day this year. It's so nice to have kids who are finally old enough to understand the significance of the day and make it extra special. Erica had planned a secret "to do list" for her father and brother. It was hilarious. She must have said "I love you" about 10 times to me during the day. I was told I must just "do nothing and relax" all day long. She wouldn't even let me carry the shopping bags. At 8.30pm, just about her bedtime, she was a bit upset and when I asked why, she said she still had something else she wanted to do. I was told to lie down and she and Tim gave me a leg and body massage. It was simply wonderful. Thank you God for such wonderful children and a fantastic husband!

Malacca/ KL 2008

As far as I can remember, there's always a wedding to attend in Malacca during the Christmas season. It was no exception this year. We were in Malacca for one night to attend the wedding of Mervin's cousin then proceeded to KL. Alison & Zac generously hosted us for 3 nights at their new home in USJ. Zac was determined to feed us 5 meals a day but we were of course more interested in shopping. On our last night there, Alison arranged for Santa to visit during our dinner at Elena's house. The kids were looking forward to it but were rather suspicious of Santa. Poor Santa was prodded and poked and eventually stripped.... confirming that it was actually Uncle Jonathan under that suit. We had a fabulous time. Wonderful company!

I told you it was Uncle Jonathan!

The next generation - Mitchell, Ariel, Arlene, Raphael, Tim & Erica

Anne, Mitchell & Alison

Erica and Uncle Zac

Apparently that's how you keep your car cool - KL style

We visited Aunty Jeannie in Malacca

Singapore 2008 - Sentosa with the Stewarts

We spent the day with Andre, Hui Ping and their children, Julian, Megan and my god-daughter Nadine. Tim & Erica enjoyed swimming in the warm sea as it's always too cold to swim in the sea in Auckland, even when the sun is real hot in summer. Mervin and Andre went looking for fish but found a pair of mating crayfish instead.

Singapore 2009 - Titanic poses

You can't go for a cruise and not do the titanic pose so off we went one afternoon looking for the tip of the ship but were told we could not get up there until the ship was anchored. So these are the best shots we got - back in Singapore with Sentosa in the background. Sigh! Would have been so much nicer in the open sea.

Singapore 2009 - Cruise - Thant

Thant was our Myanmese room attendant. He was attentive, friendly and made us smile (and the kids shriek with delight) when we came back to the room one evening and saw these lovely towel animals made up for us. Such talent!

Sinagapore 2009 - Cruise - Room with a view

Mervin took these lovely shots of Penang as we were departing that evening. I love the ones of the Penang Bridge.

Singapore 2009 - Cruise - Penang

In the lantern above me, the upper Chinese character is pronounced

Qiu. That's my surname Khoo

One of the stops we made in Penang was the Khoo Kongsi, the Khoo clan ancestral home. As far as I know, we are not related to this clan but hey, we do share the same surname and are probably linked further back in time. I remember studying about the Khoo Kongsi when studying Penang history in secondary school but though I have visited Penang several times, this is the first time I'm visiting this place. Quite educational I must say!

Singapore 2009 - Cruise

Mum kindly booked us on the Super Star Virgo Cruise that took us to Penang and Phuket. For me the best part of the cruise was the Live Entertainment. There were live musicals and shows with amazing acrobatic performances every night. The cast and the quality of the shows were just outstanding. Food was plentiful, a bit too much actually but the shopping in Penang and Phuket was gooood. More fun than shopping in Singapore anyway.

Singapore 2008 - Wild Wild Wet

This won't be repeated in our bathroom girl!

Don't worry Auntie Priscilla, we're almost there.

Gaby's new garb

The children remembered Wild Wild Wet from the previous Singapore visit and couldn't wait to go. The first time round, we went with Priscilla & Catherine who were also in town. It felt that one of our regular Auckand outings. We made a second trip after Mervin arrived with Andy and gang . The hot favourite was the U lah lah!, where 4 or 5 persons sit in a giant inflatable float and get washed down a giant water slide. The foam machine a la Siloso Beach Foam Party, a new feature at the water park, was also heaps of fluffy fun. It's a great place to spend the day and get the children all tired out.