day 702 | january 26, 2014 | Frozen

The Frozen Fever still hasn't died down. Here's a snap of Princess Red's coronation, with gloves, a blanket/cape, and her makeshift orb and sceptre. The scene is completed with Princess Roo playing along as Anna in the background. :)

The whole family's a "Frozen" fan and not ashamed of it. I especially love the Sami yoik they started the film with, which brings back memories from the Arctic Circle. The girls love the songs, the sparkly cape, and the hair styles; and I'm trying to make sure they pick up more than the pinkish purple frilly things.

Coronation scene from Disney's "Frozen"

day 713 | january 12, 2014 | Biennale 2013

Biennale 2013. From around late October to early February, Singapore Art Museum, National Museum and Peranakan Museum jointly host the the Biennale, gathering carefully curated art from around South East Asia. The theme this year was “If the world changed…”

It's not muted for kids -- and that's good by me. I wanted to expose my little ones (and the not-so-little ones) to many ideas of cultural change, political manipulation, the human cost of development, and art's subjective interpretation. An awereness of what's happening in the global community beyond the mundane everyday.

Stories and images leave lasting impressions, and I hope the kids took at least a couple of deep lingering thoughts from this experience. Not everything is happy and light, and empathy is a muscle we exercise as we consciously step into other people's stories. Sometimes, the artist wishes to convey a certain message, which is not what the viewer may necessarily pick up. Was pleased with the notable participation of Filipino artists.

Kiri Dalena on the Ampatuan Massacre in Mindanao

Sharing some images and ideas that we took away from the exhibits. Far from comprehensive, but best I could manage guiding 4 kids single-handedly. Watch out for the next Biennale!

day 699 | january 1, 2014 | Naughty Mommy, Awesome Kids

2013 has been an amazing year of growing up with my little ones. It's a year we fell in love with Science, and hosted a simple joint birthday party where the kids did an equal share of the work. Roo's experienced ups and downs in her first year of primary school. Our efforts to toilet train Red have been in vain, and she's not showing any signs of readiness on that front. The rest of her is growing though, including her vocabulary. She can argue with her big sister expertly; and they can politely negotiate sharing arrangements. That said, screamfests still do happen. Both Roo and Red perform the most dramatic sing-alongs to most tunes in played in the radio; and dance merengue like nobody's business. They have also both started regularly correcting my grammar, word usage, and Singlish.

Roo and Red reviewing project financials for me in the office. :)

Yet again, 2013 was another year I overcommitted myself, and tried to juggle too many things at the same time. In my juggling, often times, I have pushed and stretched my kids to grow up a little faster. But they're still alive and bullying their daddy, so this naughty mommy hasn't completely failed.

 This first post for the year is a recollection of some of the amazing Roo and Red moments that are now part of my memory box of wonderful things. Their strength shine in my weakness, the cracks in my parenting when there's just too much for me to manage. And I love that they are capable, confident, and caring.