Random pics of the week

Let's start with Charlie - he loves pistachios!

And he was busy playing his Leap-pad the other day and it was so funny watching him like this:

Here's the back-view.  Too cute!

Here's another funny moment for Charlie.  I don't know how he even figured this out today!  It's not actually a headband but something from their toy crane!

And I've decided to move the chaise lounge into the corner where Bobby's chair is.  Unfortunately, that meant shifting his chair even more into the corner!  But he hasn't really used his chair as he has taken over my couch, which is how this whole thing started.  I have to say, this is my favorite spot in the house now!

Except when all the cushions are on the floor.  I left for 1 hour (ok, +15 minutes) today for the gym and I came home to this (under Daddy's supervision).  According to Graham, it's an obstacle course for Charlie!

Speaking of working out, I've also been working on my game a lot these days. Figured out my hip turn a few weeks ago and now my shoulder turn last week.  I'm finally getting closer to the sweet spot of the driver!  Good thing those sweet spots are getting larger and larger, thanks to technology:

On another note, I started making my own pie crust.  You know, sometimes too much butter can actually be a bad thing!  The crust was good but not quite the right texture.  Nonetheless, the apple pie won't go to waste.  I still need to work on my lattice work though :-)

It's really too bad there aren't any trampoline places for adults!  Would be fun to work off those calories.  Graham finally had a chance to try out this place yesterday.  Looked like so much fun!

Show & Tell / Last day of School

International Week at Graham's school actually happened a month or so ago.  I finally had a chance to request for the photos that were taken by his teachers that day.  It was basically an opportunity for Graham to talk about his home country - which is actually two: United States and Malaysia.  We spent the night drawing and coloring up both flags:

And we talked about Chinese New Year - a tradition that I grew up celebrating in Malaysia.  It was a nice coincidence we had a book about it:

Graham got to show off his little outfit.  He has yet to actually wear that during a CNY! It belonged to his cousin in Minnesota:

At the end of the session, the teacher mentioned how quiet and tentative all the kids were, which was a really good thing according to her!

Can't believe school is all over now for the boys.  Graham and Charlie started their summer holiday after last Thursday.  Charlie got to celebrate the last day by having Pajama Day!

What am I going to do with these 2 little monkeys for the next 2 months??!?

Happy Father's Day!

Hmmm... We didn't do too much for Father's Day this year.  Unfortunately, Bobby is still not quite 100% from the episode of a stomach virus.  He is however slowly venturing out beyond soup these days.  A good sign!  We did head out to Dubai to pick up his watch - all nice and shiny now!  The boys were excited about all the new decorations they had out in the Emirates Mall:

It's Ramadan now - which is the fasting month.  I have to say, it's a little tough for the non-Muslims too because we are not allowed to drink and eat in public.  Almost all the restaurants in the mall and on the streets are closed until it's time for Iftar (or breaking fast) which happens around 7:15pm these days.  Thankfully the kids are allowed to eat and drink in public but even so, I try not too.  And that means having to deal with at least one whining kid (i.e. Charlie) because he loves his snacks!

For Father's Day this year, we decided to get Bobby a "shusher".  And you're probably wondering ~ what the heck is a Shusher???  In that case, you'll have to go watch the cartoon/movie "Home" :-)

Here's Bobby practicing his "shushing" skills:

Oops! What happened here???

Charlie was more interested in opening up this new bracelet making kit.  I figured the boys needed something to play with once school is out at the end of this week.  He looked so cute with his blanket over his head like that.  Not sure how he learned to do that or when?!

And of course, Father's Day is not complete without a card from all of us:

Still need to work on Graham's writing!  We haven't been practicing his writing very much these days. I've been slacking a little.  For some reason, I haven't been too strict on him.  Maybe because the summer holidays are coming up!

Graham has been getting better at drawing though.  I thought he did a really good job with his race car here!

Here's a picture down memory lane.  Can't believe this was taken a year ago now at Disney World!

We love you, Daddy!!!

And speaking of Daddy, here's a pic of my dad when he graduated from Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand.  I'm glad Bobby and I were able to visit the campus about 5 years ago during our (belated) honeymoon.  

And there's my mom!  We just celebrated her 8th anniversary. Can't believe she's been "away" for all this time now.  Still miss her lots.  I have yet to donate my hair, which means it's been 2 years now since my last hair cut!  I'll most definitely put that on our itinerary the next time we are back in the US.  I'm starting to get tired of picking up loose strands of hair everywhere around the house!

Night golf practice

The weather here has been super hot during the day.  I would say, we're normally between 40-45C (104-113F).  And it's humid too!  It was up to 70% today!  It definitely felt like being in Malaysia when we were on the driving range the other night - hot and muggy!

Charlie is still sticking to those plastic clubs for now.  Love how he poses after he hits the ball!

Eventually we're going to need lessons for Graham to get that grip right!

The boys got bored of hitting balls pretty quickly this time.  They were much happier digging in the soil with a ball-mark repair tool:

So sweaty! And dirty!

And thirsty!

I've made some swing changes recently.  A month ago, I saw a video of my golf swing and noticed a quirky "hitch" at the top of the swing.  I guess I've had it for a long time but just didn't realize how bad it was!  Anyhow, after reviewing the video for a bit, I noticed that it was actually my turn on the downswing that was causing it.  Almost a month later now and there's a little progress.  Funny enough, having started Cardio Boxing classes have actually taught me how to use some of my bigger muscles.  Hopefully I'm going down the right path here!  In any case, I'm looking forward to qualifying again for the Sime Darby LPGA in Malaysia. Better get my act together soon!

And oh, I just realized that our TV is web-enabled!  We were able to hook it up to the internet and watch some live golf of the US Open.

The golf course looks amazing!  Looks like Bob and I now have Chambers Bay in WA on our bucket list :-)

Happy birthday to me!

Another year older and another year closer to 40!!!  Can you tell that I'm freaking out here??!  Well, in any case, I better at least enjoy a nice free meal - a gift voucher from the golf club.  This was sort of a pre-birthday dinner. YUMMY!

Bobby dared me to pick up the lamb chops and eat it like a cave man, and I said "How else would you eat it?" ;-)

Well, the birthday didn't start out that well actually. Both boys decided I need to do extra laundry that morning.  Not one but BOTH boys decided to have "accidents" that morning:

Things were starting to look up when I turned on my computer after that.  Wow... a birthday note from Google!

And then, the boys singing Happy Birthday to me.  So sweet!

I love my birthday card too!

And a really nice one from my in-laws.  I was very touched!

And onto my birthday present.  Yes, boxing gloves! Looks like Bobby read my mind there.  I just started Cardio Boxing classes at the gym a couple of months ago and it's nice to finally have my own personal gloves.  Thank you, honey! :-x  I promise not to "accidentally" beat you up.  He he...

We went to watch a movie later that morning and for lunch, we decided to go to Cheesecake Factory.

Normally there's a line out the door but since we were early, we thought we'd compare it to the chain restaurant back in the US.

Somehow it seems that the servings are even larger here. Is that even possible??? Look at all those avocado in the Avocado roll!

And of course, we couldn't go home without a slice of cheesecake.  We got the Chocolate marshmallow smores.  The melted marshmallow on top of the cake was quite the touch!

It took us 2 days to finish this one slice.  I really wanted Honey Cake but we didn't go to the other mall on my birthday.  Unfortunately, Bobby was still fighting a stomach virus so we stayed in for dinner.  He'll have to make up for it this weekend instead!

And oh... 363 more days to turning 40!!!

Recent happenings

How is it the boys can't play with their Legos nicely on the table.  Somehow it needs to be spread out ALL OVER the floor!

And here's a new thing with the boys lately - jumping on Bobby as he shouts out an animal.

I'm not exactly sure how it all started but the boys have such a good time with it!

And here's another video, this one of Charlie.  Somehow or rather he discovered that he can move his eye brows.  Kids are so funny sometimes!

On a more serious note, there has been a recent earthquake not too far from my hometown of Kota Kinabalu (in Sabah, Malaysia).  I never thought we could ever experience an earthquake there as it was always known that Malaysia is not on the fault line!  Anyhow, after reading the news, it seems that a few days before the earthquake, there were about 10 tourists that had stripped down naked and peed on the mountain when they reached the peak.  Now why would they do that!  Anyhow, obviously the locals are saying that the Mountain Gods are angry.  No matter - mother nature or the spirits of the mountain, some people ended up not making it down that mountain that day.  I hope people learn this valuable lesson of respect and that we honor the mountain guides - those that helped others to return back from the summit safely and those that unfortunately sacrificed their lives.

I'm hoping to climb the mountain again some day and perhaps Graham and Charlie will too!

Graham graduating from Nursery

Technically, Graham should be completing what they call Foundation Stage FS 2 this June but due to some unexpected twists and turns from the new school last Fall, he ended up being back in a nursery early this year.  It has been such a relief though and we are so excited for him to start back again at a different school next year.  Thankfully he has been adjusting (somewhat) well!

Well, Charlie was quite tired and fell asleep in the car on the way to school.  He decided to continue taking his little nap while we all waited to get into Graham's classroom:

Okay... getting ready!

Somehow, Graham was picked to present the opening lines for the Graduation ceremony.  I suppose he is the oldest in his class!

And then we started with the National Anthem:

Graham is getting quite good at singing other songs in Arabic too!  He can count from 1-10 in Arabic and recite some of the alphabets.  A lot better than me!  Almost one year now in the UAE and so far it's just "hello", "goodbye", and "thank you" in Arabic for me. I had such high hopes in actually learning the language!

Here's to Graham for graduating in the Arabic-English class!  All limbs attached and no injuries to himself or other children in the class these past 6 months :-)

Of course, Charlie wanted to participate as well:

We did end up going to the class party the following day.  Charlie and I tagged along as we don't normally attend school/nursery on a Thursday.  I'm going to miss being able to send both kids to the same school starting next Fall!