Saturday, January 6, 2018

Bye 2017, Hellooo Twenty-18 !!

In a blink of an eye, 2017 just flew past. I felt that days passed extremely fast in 2017, not sure if it was because there was an additional subject (Science) to work on with Xav, plus the almost daily evening trainings.

Everyday, I wished for 48 hours, time was not enough. But I have to say, I was well occupied for the year. The whole year was kept occupied with school, shuffling from point A to point B, making time out for family and friends, travelling as a family and solo trips to allow the us (the adults) to recharge.

And it took me a week to complete this post. Well, better late than never! I gave thanks and counted my blessings that I received in 2017. There were many "first" for the family in 2017. I summarized my 2017with a summary below.

January - Vera's official school started after having to have it delayed for half a year due to her eczema. We went through a tough phase from going for intensive treatments and working on her diet change before her skin healed beautifully. Here's how it you would love to read it and pass it on to people whom you think may benefit from it - Eczema Management.

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February - We were selected to shoot an ad for Curél Singapore. Our first time and indeed an
unforgettable experience. I guess that was the only time when our place looks really neat! The clip was then screened in March 2017.



With no tears on her first day of boarding the school bus, definately a moment to be proud of Vera !



March - Xav turned 9 ! A wish for the new milestone  - get lesser scoldings. Oh well, parenting nowadays is challening. I need more enlightenment and thankful for some friends who have been by my side, shedding some light and sharing their experiences. I hope I can be a better mom and he, a better son.



April - Almost a month of solo parenting, to be exact, 29 days. I survived.



May - My first school event with Vera. I watched her first performance as a tribute to the mums for Mother's Day. My heart swelled with pride and I could hardly contain my tears.

|12th May 2017: 3y 9m 12d| What a surprise! The mums were invited for a Zumba session as part of Mother's Day celebration, I didn't know that the kids were taught to put up a performance for the moms. I sat there, with a lump in my throat as I watched Vera's first performance. . We had our very first #Zumba together and had my gift created by her. I asked if she would love to draw a flower, she did it her way (which looks like a rose to me). I asked how about some leaves ? She used lines to represent her leaves. How creative of her and that's her interpretation. Thank you, Vera ! . Thank you to the management and staff of #MCNS for putting this together. It's such a joy to watch them progress as they grow! . . #MyChamp #Mindchampspreschool #Preschool #Sgpreschool #sgkids #kidstagram #Sg #HappyMothersDay #
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Launched of LeBox Sg !  Something which I had always wanted to do a few years back since I love to diy learning materials for Xav when he was a preschooler. The wish came true in May 2017. It was not an easy journey with hiccups along the way and faced some nasty competitor. But listen there, this is not going to get us down. The challenges you gave us, made us emerged stronger than before.

We have done up the following boxes for 2017: Dumpling Festival , Shapes, National Day, Mid Autumn Festival, Christmas and in between, we took up adhoc orders for Travel, Party packs for birthday and Christmas too! Keep your eyes peel for the Chinese New Year Box!

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Non kids related. I have my first eyebrow microblading done after considering for a few years. Finally, I plucked up my courage and no regrets! Thank you, MissyBrow88

Can I shamelessly ask if I look good, LOL ? I can accept negative feedback, so no worries. I am friendly, just tell me Yay or Nay =) #Lookgoodfeelgood . . Most of you may have gone through it, this is totally new for me. It took me a few years to think about and finally plucked up the courage to get it done. . If you are a total noob to #Eyebrow #Microblading and looking for a trust worthy techinician to do it and yes, the price is definately more afforable than going to do it in the malls, look for Elaine @missybrow88 #LinkInBio . This certified eyebrow technician has 15 years of experience in the beauty industry under her belt. Very patient too if you look at the amount of questions I asked her before I agree to entrust my brows to her and am so satisfied with the outcome ! No more struggling with drawing brows and I can go on the streets looking more presentable ! #nomorenakedbrows #browsmatter #instabeauty #beauty #service #review #Missybrow #beautybloggerwannnabe #sporemombloggers #sgblogger #sahm #Momsofinstagram #sgmum #igers #Instagram_sg #geminthewest #sg #sgig
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June - An unforgettable trip to Japan for the kids and for us, yes, it was our 10th wedding anniversary trip. It did not have to be a couple trip, we loved bringing the kids along and see the world with them. Yet to be blogged and I hope I can do up the posts soon. #Backlog



July - This is always the most happening month. Don's birthday at the beginning, wedding anniversary in the mid-month and Vera turned 4 at the end of the month! She was over the moon when we brought in a Pokemon Jelly cake to her school. To her, a cake regardless of which type, is so precious to her as she does not get to eat it so often due to her food allergies.



August - A goal which was met few months ago and a dream come true.

You are elated and proud to see my picture appear on the #HallofFame You are the main reason that made me decided to embark on this wellness journey. You are the one who made me set my goal and worked towards when you asked me when is my photo going to be up on the wall 😰 Just like the way I worked with you to set goals for yourself. This journey is not just about rank and money but it gave me personal development. Gradually, I built up a wealth of knowledge learning from other leaders (and yes am still learning) on how to improve the quality of our health and lifestyle. Let's Oil On! Want to embark on this journey, feel free to drop me a DM =) #YoungLivingSg #OneDropper #EssentiallyspOILed #MyOilyBusiness #wellnessjourney #health #wellness #Sporemombloggers #sahm #Momsofinstagram #goalsachieved
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Thanks to Don, I had a solo trip to United States, stepped foot on two Young Living Farms. St Maries Farm and Idaho Highland Flats during the Gold Retreat. I think it was indeed a blessing. I have never travelled to our neighboring country, Malaysia, as much as I travelled to the States in these 3 years. But Young Living has given me the opportunity to travel, to learn and grow my knowledge, gave me the liberty to work at my own free time and yes, I am really thankful for the financial independance as I embarked on building up as a business. To be honest, I suck at being a sales person for I could not sell for nuts. Thank you to all who have the same beliefs, joined and supported me these years.



Yesterday was awesome, together with new friends from Michigan and Texas, we visited @younglivingeo #HighlandFlats Tree Farm where members can participate in the annual winter harvest, harvesting #BalsamFir ! I have always love its woodsy and refreshing aroma and have commonly used it for those overworked muscles, respiratory and emotional support ! . . There is no other essential oil companies like #YoungLiving which opens up the farm to the public for visiting the distilleries, watch the distillation process and taking time to answer all the queries. #FarmTour #seedtoseal #YoungLivingrocks . Saw the cute balsam fir trees after restoration, jumped right onto the heaps of dried balsam fir wood chips! . #everythingisawesome #lifeisgood #Highlandflats #ylgoldretreat2017 #YLGold17 #ExploreUSA #Idaho #Travel #Travelmom #Traveller #Igers #Throwback #Nature #Naturephotography #Myoilybusiness #Essentiallyspoilt
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For the first time, Lebox Sg was featured on Channel 8 News 流行挖哇WOW , featuring our Singapore Themed Learning Kit. Definately a proud moment for us!



Say what ? Star chasing at my age ? No, not only me, together with my friend, Renee, her mum and her son, we actually went for Battleship Meet and Greet just to catch a glimpse of Song Joong Ki after hours of waiting. Once in our lifetime is enough, no more second time!



And how I missed going on field trips. I stopped when Xav was promoted to Kindergarten One where parents were no longer allowed. My first field trip with Vera was to Bollywood Veggie. I bet she felt a bit more special because her mummy was there with the class !

| 11th August 2017: 4y 12d| Field trips involving parents totally stopped when Xav was promoted to K1 as parents were no longer allowed to go with them. After 5 years, am so happy to be able to join again, this time with Vera. When the school asked for parents volunteers, I readily jumped on it! Today, we went #bollywoodveggies supposingly for a farm tour but no thanks to the heavy downpour, they ended up with a mini show and tell plus making their rainbow #fruit 🥗 and this sweetie pie here had a sudden change of mind on the way back and wanted only her Mummy to sit next to her, nobody else was allowed and fell asleep on my arms shortly after. #zzz #lovethemoment #happymoments #Cherishthemoment #mindchampspreschool #mindchampsSg #LearningJourney #Veggie #Farm #instamoment #instafriday #FridayFriyay #Momsofinstagram #Momslife #sahm #sporemombloggers #sgparent #sgmom #sgkids #instakids #kidstagram #preschooler #preschooleducation #sg
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My first run in 2017 ! No training before that and I have not been active in running for years.  I set to complete it within an hour. My own personal best, 5.2km within 33 mins. I think I have surpassed my own target ! 

| 19th August 2017 | Thank you @mizunoekidensg for the invitation to run. This is my first real run for 2017, this may not be the best timing in the eyes of seasoned runners out there but I set my own target ( to complete within an hour) and I met my target of completing 5.2km in 33 mins. #pushinglimits #NeverGiveUp I guess it's not too bad as my last run was probably in 2005 or 2006 for my IPPT and I have never continued running ever since I embarked on Motherhood journey, not to mentioned an almost non-stop 5km. . I joined because of a group of like-minded friends. It was great #teamwork to complete the half marathon regardless of what the timing clocked as timing was secondary. Thank you Team #RacyMamas and #RunawayMamas It was great fun and definately motivating for me to run more after this. #MizunoEkidenSg #MizunoEkiden2017 #MizunoAsia #SgRun #Run #Sgevents #RunningMoms #Runstagram #instarun #Fitness #Healthy #Lifestyle #Sporemombloggers #Sgmoms #Momsofinstagram #Sgmoms #Sahm #Momslife #Saturday #instamoments #Instagram_sg #Igsg #Sgig #Sg #Singapore #ExploreSg
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First field trip with Xav ever since he officially entered primary school. Finally, I managed to get my turn through balloting. I believed all kids hope that their parents could be with them for learning journey just like Xav. His teacher told me he had observed that Xav was happier than any other days on the day I joined them,  I was glad to be there.



I was more than thankful to be able to meet up with this special someone, my lecturer when I did my Marine Engineering course back then. Just like a dad to me, who is always ready to lend me his listening ears and enlightened me whenever I lost my way. So, so glad that we have been in touch after I have graduated.

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September - The kids first prawning experience! This used to be one of the activities before we got married. It was brought to a complete stop when kids came along, as long as for a decade. We were happy to introduce prawning to them.



Making connection to me is important and I try as much as possible to make time to connect with friends and ex-colleagues. Apart from the uniform group, this is another group of colleagues turned friends during my two years with Institute of Mental Health. This group of wonderful people are still making a difference in the patients' lives. Another great team I have worked with. =)

Been 4 years since I last saw them, my former team mates from Institute of Mental Health. After my first (extraordinary) career with SPF, IMH was the second organization I was with, as a Job Placement Office for the outpatients, which was a really meaningful job. Admin work aside, the daily morning briefing of cases, networking with employers, placed outpatients on jobs to help them integrate back to the society, job sites visits to make sure that they are coping well. These was what I did but the rest of them held different designation, did much more and sacrificed alot of their personal time and till date, though all are in different organization, their hearts are still as beautiful to commit their time, patience and care. Continue to inspire and make a difference in the lives of those who needed help. So glad to have met up with all of you after 4 years =) #LongOverdue #catchup #TeamJobClub #Friends #Sg
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October - Decided on changing to a new preschool for Vera. Am so sorry to pull you out of your comfort zone but I believe you are easily adaptable to new places and new friends.



November - A month of recognition for his best effort put in. He set his goals for 2017 to be among the top 3 in class but never did he thought that he would get the Best in Science. It is a breakthrough for himself and this serves as a motivation to maintain his standard and get the award again. Thank you again Stagmatch !

I have to shout out loud " I AM PROUD OF YOU!" You set your goals, achieved it and this time round, even better! The journey have not been easy for you with the almost daily evening trainings and but you made it there. Thank you for enduring and the willingness to take on the high dosage of papers from me so that you can maintain your performance without tuition and minimal enrichment. Continue to have the humility towards learning new knowledge, the drive to excel and at the same time continue to be the lovely and helpful boy to all around you. You are very blessed to have these three caring and dedicated teachers who had worked hand in hand with me to make you a better person. Many more thanks to give, @stagmatch teachers who have taught and passed on knowledge to Xav through your hands-on classes. He has benefitted thoroughly and mummy friends and sis who have been so generous in sharing with me what resources to get to help him with his work, thank you! You know who you are, I really appreciate it. Without all of you and Xav's perseverance, TOP 3 in class and BEST IN SCIENCE for the cohort will not be made possible. =) #EndofPrimary3 #Proudmama #Proudparents #AchievementDay #2017 #GoalsAchieved #Goals #Instadaily #instamoments #Primaryschoollife #PrimarySchoolEducation #Holidaystarts #sgfamilies #sgkids #kidstagram #Sporemombloggers #sgmom #Momslife #Sgparentblogger #Momsofinstagram
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Vera's first concert and her last with Mindchamps Preschool! #ProudParentsMoment



December
- Our annual gathering with the other three families took a step further. This time, we organised a trip out of Singapore. The four families went on a 4d3n Malacca Trip together. The four days were simply just playing tourist, sight-seeing, shopping and hunting down nice food to feed the happy bellies.



A busy and eventful year and I hope for 2018, I can be more organized, can let go of Xav and focus on Vera instead, manage my emotions better, sleep earlier (very hard but am trying hard), heathier and happier!

Had a small talk with Xav, these are what he is going to work on for 2018.



I wish the same for all of you ! May this year be another rewarding year filled with abundance of joy, love and good health for all ! Cheers ! 

  @ Wine Bonanza  Photo credit: Raising Faith

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