The Bub in the Belly

We had a packed Sunday. Richard brought Ryan for his swimming class while I brought the pets to the vet for a check-up. Everything is fine - our cat, Tiger, is doing really well, he's eating and drinking and in high spirits. Max the dog had an episode of ticks and mites but it looks like he's free of them now so he's happy. A little overweight, but happy.

After that, we rushed over to Hort Park for Happee Day, which was a charity event benefiting the Children's Cancer Foundation, spearheaded by Mother, Inc. The event started at 9 am so we were really late but we managed to catch Jimmy the Juggler's performance, which was superb. Ryan seemed to be quite interested in watching him juggle his machetes (!) and other stuff.

The event was strongly supported by lots of volunteers and I think there was something to interest everyone - bouncy castle for the older children, lawn activities for the outdoorsy types, balloon sculpting, facepainting and caricatures for the indoorsy types, food for the hungry, performances for the bored, arts and crafts and cake decorating for the creative, PS3 and Wii consoles for the tech-y types, mascots and superheroes to entertain the children, phototaking and printing for the families and fantastic goodie bags for everyone else.

Seeing the Happee smiles on the CCF children's faces was amazing and all kudos goes to Daphne of Mother, Inc. and her husband, Kelvin, and of course the army of volunteers and sponsors. I didn't do anything to help out with the event (but got so much in return) so if you're like me or if you couldn't make it and would still like to assist the Children's Cancer Foundation, please consider making a cash donation. Just click the button at Mother, Inc.

After the event wound down, we went for a quiet lunch at Blooie's with the gang - Shann's family, Alicia's family and Florinda's family. Then it was off to Shichida. We missed last week's class because Ryan fell asleep. This week, we made it to class but that was the only difference - Ryan still slept through it and he woke up just before it ended, in time to wave his hands along to the Sayonara song. His sensei was very amused. We went home and I spent some time playing and reading with Ryan while Richard took a short nap.

In the evening, we met up with Shann's family and Belinda's family for dinner at Casa Verde at The Botanic Gardens. The weather was nice and cool and the children were delighted to be outdoors. Ryan was a little tired by then but couldn't sleep until he had expended all his energy so he wanted to hop, skip and run about. When he was done, he fell asleep in my arms, while we continued chatting at the table. He woke up as we were leaving, which was close to 10 pm. His routine went completely out the window today but I think he had a great day.

Hello October!

When October rolls around, I can feel the end of the year coming. At work, there are performance evaluations to do, bonuses to decide, next year's budgets to put together, marketing plans to consolidate, leave to clear, all the little signals that we've done what we can for this year. At the same time, there are more thoughts of family activities and year-end holidays. I can almost smell Christmas, the wait for it begins now!

Having said that, there's still a lot of stuff to be done before Christmas. The main thing we are busy with right now is getting our new place ready. Well, I shouldn't say that we're "busy" because we haven't actually done much and the place is still empty. I'll just say that it's top priority? Er... perhaps I should just say that we're working on it. At the rate we're moving (a couple of hours of conversation every two days), it's almost like a hobby rather than a life-changing shake-up.

Anyhooo....

I do have some updates from last week (including an update on how we celebrated Richard's birthday) but let me put the photos together first. For today, I want to let you know about an event that is happening on 31 October 2010. Yes, it's Halloween, but that's not what I'm talking about. It's a mini-carnival at Hort Park from 9 am till noon - there will be mascots, balloon sculptors, face painting, magic shows, a truckload of balloons and tons of more cool stuff.  The event, called "HAPPEE DAY", is organised by Daphne of Mother, Inc. with the Children's Cancer Foundation and it's essentially a morning out with 30 children suffering from childhood cancer.

As Daphne put it, "I know the carnival is just one day of fun for these kids who have to be brave and go through years of jabs and treatment. Thing is, we can’t be there through it all, but one day is a start. To let them know that they’re not facing this alone. That there are people who care and are proud of them for fighting and are cheering them on. It’s a day we get to meet them and spend a morning together."

So, if you are free on the morning of 31 October 2010 (which is a Sunday), do consider dropping by. Bring some friends, bring your children and have some fun. Hop on over to Mother, Inc. to find out more.