The Wedding

“Simplicity in its purest form amplifies natural beauty.”

This is what I thought of when I saw the bride enter the ballroom. She was glowing from the crown of her head to the sole of her feet. The wedding gown she donned on was so unique that all eyes stayed peeled on her and all were swept by the grace she carried in it.

“She looks SO BEAUTIFUL!!”

“The Sarong Kebaya looks SO GOOD on her!”

“What a great choice of wedding gown!”

“Her mah mah and mom must been so proud and happy to see her wearing their traditional outfit for women….”

“Look at her groom! He puts on a shirt of matching colour with her Kebaya! So sweet! So lovely!”

“They look so beautiful and perfect as a couple!”

On and on went all the guests in the banquet room. I echoed all these comments in my heart too. Tears welled up. Blessings were spoken forth for the couple as they went up the stage hand in hand. “Bless them abundantly, Father. Bless them.”

It seems just not too long ago when I went to the bride’s house weekly for tuition. We usually had 1.5 to 2hr session. She was a very diligent student. She usually did all the work assigned. She worked on the topics she was weak in conscientiously. She was one of my students with very excellent attitude towards studies. I enjoyed tutoring her.

Time just whizzed past too quickly and she has grown up. She is such a fine, young lady. Her beau is very blessed to have her as his wife. She is well-mannered and considerate. She is well brought up by her parents and she loves God. She is a daughter every mom dreams of having. I know my Principal is very proud to be her mom and to see her walk the aisle and start a family of her own. It is definitely a time whereby it is joy heaping upon joy, on Joy. I rejoice greatly with you, Mrs Y!

Dinner was like reunion with colleagues of old. These people were my very first group of colleagues in my teaching career. We talked about the days of old. The bus drivers were also invited. It was very heartwarming to catch up with one another and to be addressed as “Ah Liau” again. Only at this Kindergarten, I used my maiden surname. I still got teased till this day by my ex-colleagues. One put it aptly, as far as Miss Liau was concerned when she was in school, to the children, it would always be, “Be still. And know that Miss Liau is here.” No pun intended. Just to show how fierce I was back then. I only needed to look at the kids and they would sit nicely and pretended to be angels. 😛 I miss teaching in that Kindergarten. However, we all move on, in the different seasons in our lives, don’t we?

I met an ex-student. She is 18 now and just gotten her “A” levels’ results. She did very well and she will be applying for NUS, to do Psychology. I pray she will be blessed with the course she desires. She remembers Uncle R, the bus driver who faithfully picked and sent her to and fro school for the good 3 years she was with the school. She still calls him “Green Star Bus Uncle” and we all burst out laughing. Such a wonderful moment for me to savour, to be remembered fondly is precious. This is the best thing about teaching — you touch your students’ lives and they in turn touch you with theirs. God is good.

The bride’s other gown was simple and elegant. She looked fantastic in it. Her groom wore matching colours with her gown again. They really looked terrific together. This was one dinner, I stayed through. I usually leave early when I attend wedding dinners, at times even before the group photo-taking. This time, I told myself, I must take a shot with the bride. 🙂 Bonus, I had a shot with J, her younger brother too. 🙂 My two grown up students, what a comfort they bring. They are such a joy. Mr and Mrs Y have indeed brought them up very well. It can be evidently seen in their children’s lives. I pray God’s richest blessings to be upon their household(s) always. Amen.

This wedding is indeed the most memorable and heartwarming wedding I have attended thus far. Mrs Y is a lady I love much. I know she loves me too. 🙂

Last but most importantly, I thank Josh for taking care of the children, each time I shopped and the time I was away. Without his willingness to chip in to help me with the children, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the wedding so much. My mind was at ease knowing that the children were in perfect hands. Thank You, Father, for my husband. Rare gem, I know. Taken and treasured. Amen.

Pre-wedding excitement and thoughts

The bride was 9yo when I first knew her, rather taught her. She told her mom that she had to track her Miss Liau down and invite Miss Liau to her wedding.

I believe tomorrow when I see her enters the ballroom, I will definitely cry. Little J has grown up and becoming someone’s wife. She is going to have a place of her own and soon a family. I can’t believe that it is the same 2yo flower girl photo I saw at her place.

I share her mother’s joy. She is indeed a daughter every mom dreams to have. She is beautiful not only on the outside, but also her personality.

I see this as the most important wedding I am attending thus far and I am putting effort into it. I hardly make a big fuss over wedding dinners.

So, over two days, I have shopped and bought :

1. An Arthur Yen’s Dress

2. Marks and Spencer’s inner beauty because of the dress.

3. A Zara Shawl

and tomorrow, I will hunt for a pair of black high heels after church. 🙂

I am really very happy for my student and I can’t wait to see her in her bridal gown tomorrow!

Will blog again after the wedding dinner. Sure will!

A First ever Christmas Party for the children

in my humble 30 years old abode. 🙂

The only thing I have at my place is SPACE. When we first bought over the flat, we did not do a full renovation as budget did not allow since we bought the flat during the property boom time (1998). On hind sight, we knew we paid through our nose for this flat. Haiz …

Anyway, I always enjoy hosting at my place, esp for little ones. I am glad I have very understanding small guests and big guests all the time. They know that to expect tip-top condition is beyond me given that I do not have a live in helper.

To be honest, to be ready for last Saturday’s party for my students and Zoe, I started the cleaning on Thursday. Divide and conquer. Divided and conquered. By 12 noon on Sat, all was done and I was glad. I froze in front of the lap top for a good 30 mins before getting the miscellaneous done.

The guests started streaming in steadily from 3pm … by 4plus, all were here. This round, as a few of the regulars were not in town, I invited a couple more children whom we do not get to meet the last two years. The children warmed up to one another very quickly. Most of them grew up together, so as to speak. They were in the same class since Nursery days. We had a couple who only joined us in K1 and K2. But all this did not matter. Fun, friendship, games and laughter brought them all together again.

Most of the mothers stayed around and that helped a lot. How to cope if I were to be left with 14 children, including a special needs boy and a baby? These mums were so considerate, thoughtful and helpful. With their extra pairs of hands, feet and eyes, I could do more for the children. I could teach a group how to play Monopoly Deal. I could conduct two party games. I could distribute the  Christmas gifts and prizes. I could organised the play spaces for the children . All was so well-ran ! Thank you mums!

By now, this small group of mums know my place so well that they are so comfortable moving around the dining and kitchen areas to get what they needed and did what they thought should be done to minimize after-party work for me. They were really super considerate.

In fact, after the last guests left, the house was almost like when it first began. I only needed to vac and mop the floor, that was all! Cool yeah? This is one group of children and adults I won’t mind having. Our parting words? “See you next year!” Sure, we’ll do so.

My students have grown from 3 years old preschoolers to going P3 kids. Time flown passed us (adults) just like that. We used to discuss developmental growth, emerging academic skills to evolving social skills to now the primary school’s syllabus and systems etc … How interesting. Think give us some more years, we will be chatting about adolescence and BGR issues for our “littles”. 😛

Truly, the children have grown and matured. Their social skills matured and preferences shown. This is the age whereby the boys and girls play with the same gender. I also had 3 guests and their aunt kept close watch on them. There were also a couple of students whose parents dropped them here with their siblings and came back at 6+ to pick them. Thankfully my students’ siblings were managable. I just use my Mrs Ng’s voice. Ha … and the other mums also kept an watchful eye over these non-accompanied children. Thus, all went well. No child was injured due to rough play or whatsoever.

I know these parents surely trust me, but I have a handful myself. For one family, I gladly babysat for them as they just had a new baby and do not have confinement help. But, I must say for the other mum who placed her children here and went home to do house chores ?! Hmmm …. I’ll let it pass as I love her daughter to bits.

I hope all the children and mums had fun too ! My daughter came to me more than once to hug and thank me for organizing the party. That is so heartwarming.

The most unexpected blessings from this party were that a Christmas Tree with its ornaments and lights were gifted to us two nights before the event and the generous parents who shared the food costs with me. That gave me the budget to bless all the little guests with little gifts. I told the children that the gifts will be small and just for the fun of gift exchange. Children this day and age expect big and fanciful gifts from adults. I guess we will leave this to the parents, grandparents, close family members and friends, I am just their Kindergarten teacher, kekeke ….

Thank you for coming, despite the heavy downpour. It was a great party. It turned out better than I expected it to be. It was because all of you were here and you mums helped SO MUCH !! Thanks a lot !! See you  2010 !!

The girls' team

The boys' team (aiya, this little boy gotta stand up during the clicked moment. :p)

Teaching the children "sheng2 diao1 xia2 lu4"

Trial play

Actual play

Two finalists - Ben and Jen

Surprise Birthday for Jerome and Zoe, our December babies

Singing for Birthday Boy, Jerome

Singing for Birthday Girl, Zoe

Jeff wanted to be in the gift exchange too. But he didn't bring a gift. The girls were thinking whether they should pass him a gift. Hmmmm ...

The gifted gift and K's mum spent some time grooming it. She couldn't stand its slim state. Hahaha ...

Jeff’s First Gerber’s Graduates Puffs

 

My family went to T3 on Tuesday evening, after staying away for sooooooo long due to H1N1. Zane misses the place and it is usually relaxing to walk or chill there. Jeff was super curious over everything. Though it was past his bedtime, he worked hard to stay awake, refused milk lest he dozed off while drinking. It was also my first time wrestling with him at a cafe.

However, there was one moment when he sat in his stroller, contented and happy .

Why ??

new food !!

Thanks Reuel, for choosing this for him. He is enjoying them now. What flavour will you choose for Jeff the next time you see him? You bought for Jeff the sweet potato flavour. See how much he loves it???

Kor Kor Reuel bought me this when we first met at IMM McDonalds. Nice huggable size. 🙂

 

Very yummy too! And they come in stars. "Yummy, Yummy, little stars, how I wonder what you are. In this bottle, long and nice. Like some minis in my hand. Yummy, Yummy, little stars, how I wonder what you are."

 

https://jjzzj.wordpress.com/category/students-talks/

🙂

A boy very dear to my heart

 

After I quit from the previous Kindergarten I worked in, as I looked back, I know that I was placed there for 3 years for a purpose. It was the second time in my teaching career whereby I taught a nursery group. The group started at 17 and it grew over the two years. I followed the same batch of children till they graduated.

In my second year with the Kindergarten, I had 4 new students. One of them left a very deep first impression on the first day because he was the smallest sized among the boys and yet the oldest in terms of the birth month among the cohort. He was vocal, inquisitive and active. He played well with both genders. Not the most popular as he always tried to lead and take charge. Small wonder that his peers saw him as being a little too bossy.

I watched this boy grew in character. He has a very teachable spirit. He needs guidance and he is at the same time a very brilliant boy. You can always count on him to problem-solve but also be assured that he is capable in being the master of mischief. Each day did not pass without his name being mentioned to me. Well, girls being girls, they are softer, more sensitive and petty, hahhaha …. I guessed there and then that he may be one of those “disturb girls out for the sheer fun of it” boys when he enters primary school. You know, like one of those male schoolmates you used to had? One who pulled your hair or made fun of your name and ran off, thinking that you would chase him? I had my fair share of that during my primary school days. Boys !!!! With this in mind, I emphatise with his elder sister, kekeke ….  I really do, Lady R.

R has grown taller over the years. He has matured in thoughts and vocal expressions. He is still restless and likes to be engaged. He overdid his McCafe’s experiment a little but it was no harm done as long as the wastage was not excessive.

The sweetest thing he did was to wait for Giant to open, so that he could select biscuits for baby Jeff. He wanted Jeff to try one immediately.

“My dear, he will …. when his pincer grip is better. You have been most thoughtful.”

R’s mum, J, is a very thoughtful lady. Like mother, like son hur? She remembers the things which my special son likes and she collects them from time to time to gift him when we do meet. So Zane’s Sesame Street’s collection has grown! 🙂 This gesture touches me deeply. Thank you, my dear friend.

Baby Jeff likes both J and R instantly. He did not cry on them too. Guess he can sense that J and R are very dear to his mum.

This dear boy has been waiting to be the next person to be featured on this blog. Thus I shall not disappoint him .

Love you, R. May the Lord bless you all the days of your life. May He makes His face shines upon you always and all your steps will be directed by Him. Love God. Serve God and love His people. Amen :).

 

yeah ! I finally get to carry Jeff ! (look at J's grip on Jeff? In case her son drops my son. hahaha ...)

 

yeah, Kor Kor R is carrying me !

 

aiyo ... I am slipping .... hang on to me, Kor Kor R !!

 

Don't worry lah! I don't have license to carry babies but I WON'T drop you, ok ? hee ...

 

How long is this going to last, Mummy?

 

My student for 2 years. 🙂 Precious child ! My best and most reliable main narrator for my Moses' play. Everyone was full of praise for him that night and so did I !

 

May our Good Lord cover you under the shadows of your wings always. Amen.

 

The blur blur look .... hahaha ....

😀