September 2015 - Beginning of School and Regular Happy Antics

The school year was off to a good start!
Beau was so precious and so brave, because it was really, really hard for him at first. He was so anxious and so unsure about things. But, his teacher worked with us to understand him, and then once she understood him and the situation, his anxiety, and his good heart for what it is, she really gave him a lot of positive reinforcement and he warmed right up. After a couple weeks, he was a happy camper in her class! And Lewis, well, he did quite well. He was a bit nervous, but eager as well from the beginning. As it turned out, the months that followed would solidify for us that he had an absolutely rubbish teacher who was incredibly passive and created a terrible culture in the classroom. Lewis ended up needing to do lots of hard things across the school year, because this was a tough one for him. But, he made it!

The other big change for us for September was that we sent Fina off on holiday to the Philipies for about 3 weeks. We were so happy to be able to do this for her, especially just before we ended her employment and sent her off to another family. Who knows if she would have been able to be part of this special family reunion of hers if she has been with another family. But, we were very happy to provide that for her. She had a wonderful time.

While she was away, I tried my hand at life in Singapore and life with 3 on my own! And, I loved it! It was quite tiring, especially at first. I felt like I had to have things organized to the Nth degree to survive. But, I really enjoyed it, and knew that while I'd miss her babysitting and cooking, it was absolutely the right thing for me and for our family to go back to it being just us.

That said, once she was back for the end of September, Mike and I did sneak out just about every night we could! A few dinners out, a few evenings with friends. Some walks. That was the part we definitely missed the most!!! Although, we did have a great set of babysitters lined up for when Fina was gone!

Here is our Beau, who is always happy when he's trying on clothes or costumes - Daddy's shirt and David's jumper.

I love reading to my boys!

Our perfect egg chef!

Lewis is endlessly creative! Here he set up a book shop outside our condo and tried to sell books to people passing by!

 All smiles and double chins for Daddy!

I love pictures of this one's bright blue eyes while he's digging into a piece of fruit!

Brotherly love!

The boys' school pictures from White Lodge came!

Family dance party!

 Cute munchkin!

More dancing!

Sillies at bath time

August 2015 - Holiday Fun and Ready for International School

Once we were back from Thailand, the boys had a couple weeks off before beginning at their new international school. We finished up and said our goodbyes at White Lodge before we left for holiday. We certainly missed a lot of things about that little school, including the great teachers that Lewis and Beau had at the end. (Lewis the whole time through! Beau had a terrible teacher for the first few months, and then a completely lovely teacher for the second half of our time there!) Lewis had Ms. Guythrie and Ms. Frances. Beau had Ms. Naomi (and previously Ms. Kim).

The boys had made a chart with me of some special activities that they wanted to do during our holiday before school started. Making real gingerbread houses was at the top of the list!!! And why not have gingerbread houses in August!?!

Snuggling David is always at the top of Beau's list!

Lewis with awesome, crazy hair!

 Beau has been really enjoying Tae Kwon Do, and we're so proud of the hard work he has done there!

Lewis having such a sweet moment helping with his baby David
while we watch Beau's Tae Kwon Do class.

Mike and I had a couple fun date night's out. Here we are at the Epicurean Festival at MBS with a celebrity chef, David Myers. The festival was so fun!

 We also had a fabulous time at the Singapore Night Festival tasting from the food trucks, seeing performances, and visiting the Peranakan Museum. I think my photos from that may have been lost with my phone that was stolen from the back of a cab. Sad!

Before the school year started, we decided to have a fancy dinner and kick off our theme for the school year - We Can Do Hard Things!

We planned out a lesson that we shared with the boys and then unveiled our Hard Things poster where we could write the hard things we had accomplished or experienced that week. It was a great part of our year!

And, here is just cuteness!

The picture above embodies the loving, compassionate heart that I hope Beau always nurtures!

And the picture below embodies his free, creative spirit that I hope always thrives!

And the big day was here!

We spent an hour or so visiting the classrooms on an orientation day for new students. 

Then on Wednesday, Aug 26th, the boys were dressed in freshly pressed uniforms and ready to go!

Here are our friends Rin, Mai, and Alex waiting with us at the bus stop at our condo. Plus Lewis (minus Beau, because he was quite anxious leaving for school for weeks to come after this! Poor thing...we can do hard things!) And happy David seeing his brothers off!

There go my cuties in the back seat! (We ended up requesting a swap to the front seat a couple weeks later as Lewis struggled with getting car sick, especially on the bus ride home. Shame!)

While we were having this big first week off at school, Mike was taking the last Asia business trip he would take for J&J - to India. It was a wonderful experience for him! 

Here are a couple pics of him learning about infant massage and bathing practices.

And, he sadly wasn't able to go to the Taj Mahal as it was holy day when he was there, but he was able to see it from afar, as well as go in this incredible fort. 

Finally, I ended the month with a concert with my choir at Esplanade. The boys and Mike all came to this one (minus David!). It was a collaborative arts project with our choir, the philharmonic orchestra, and a modern dance troupe. The music was all comissioned from local artists, and the original choreography told the story of Singapore's maritime history. It was so engaging with the dancers and orchestra on the stage and the choir in the loft behind the stage that I thought the boys would love it, and they did!