Happy Christmas!

Hendrik played a Christmas medley during our Christmas Eve dinner. It was his first ever public performance with family and friends as his audience.

Christmas Medley | 3.5 years old

Our Christmas theme for this year is blue and silver:

On 24 December, while waiting for the clock to strike 12:00 midnight to officially welcome Christmas, our family and friends had a photo shoot at home courtesy of Daddy Joseph:

 Tita Charme with Kuya Liam & Hendrik

 

 Hendrik likes the tree... and also the gifts!

 Tito Aldrin, Tita Leomie, Kuya Liam & Tatay

 Lola & Mommy

  family picture for 2011

 family picture with Lola

 the ladies... with the little boys

 group picture - serious mode

 group picture - wacky mode 1

 group picture - wacky mode 2

 Daddy & Hendrik

 Mommy & her "mi love"

 Tito Cyril & Tita Charme

(Too bad Tito Cy was not able to join the group photo as he was still at a party.)

After the photo shoot, it was exactly 12:00 midnight and already Christmas! Practicing the Filipino tradition, we started our "Noche Buena". We shared the food especially prepared by Tito Cyril, Tito Aldrin and Daddy - our male chefs... =)

 

  

Not only did we share the yummy food, but also shared laughter and smiles which made it the more joyous.

  

 

It was already past 1:00am when we ended our "Noche Buena". After tidying up at around 2:00am we headed for sleep to regain our energies for the morning's activities.

On Christmas morning, after eating a hearty breakfast at around 9:00am, Kuya Liam and Hendrik were very ready to open their Christmas presents...

It was indeed a very happy and merry Christmas, not only for the kids but for the adults as well...  =)

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3rd Birthday Celebration

We started celebrating Hendrik’s 3^rd birthday on Friday, 17 June 2011 - 4 days away from his actual birth date of 20 June. I took leave from work that Friday with the intention of bringing Hendrik to see Bob the Builder show at Millennia Walk. I learned about this show when I was flipping the local newspaper a few weeks ago. When I saw the ad on the paper I thought that it was just perfect for my boy who is a fan of Bob the Builder, which also happens to be the theme of his 3^rd birthday party! We brought his yellow construction hard hat (which Joseph and I bought on Tuesday, 14 June, along with the rest of the construction deco to be used during his party) to the show at Millennia Walk; and he surely stood out because he was the only one with the yellow hat among the kids who also turned up for the show. He had a good time watching Bob, Wendy and Spud. He danced to the tune of Bob the Builder songs and also posed for snaps with replicas of Roley and Muck that were displayed at the event hall.

18 June – Hendrik’s 3^rd birthday party: this was a busy as well as fun and memorable day for us since this is the party date. We had a lot of things to do from cleaning the house (especially the living room and dining area), decorating the walls and ceilings with Bob the Builder posters and construction deco items, blowing the balloons, getting the cake and preparing the food (although we catered some foods for the party as Joseph cannot handle to cook for 20+ confirmed guests). All of us at home, including our housemates were busy in helping us prepare for the party.

happy birthday Hendrik!

Bob the Builder cake & cupcakes (thanks to Tita Gracey...)

the birthday boy

Tita Dey + housemates

food + guests

w/ Tito Mark & Tita Leahn

blowing of candles

cupcake topper from Hendrik

w/ the kids

happy family =)

19 June: we went to Church for our regular Sunday service. Since this was also Father’s day, Hendrik went to the pulpit during Sacrament meeting together with the rest of the Primary kids and sang 2 Father’s Day songs. After church our ward prepared some food to celebrate Father’s Day and it was during this time that YW girls (Gail, Marissa, Marie and Jesmine) serenaded Hendrik with a birthday song.

Sunday night, our friends Ann and Michel came over and had dinner with us. They also gave Hendrik a keyboard which Ann is no longer using. At first, Hendrik dare not touch the keyboard, but when I brought it to the bedroom and started playing with it, he started to warm up and after a few minutes his fingers were already on the keyboard with head swinging to the notes and tunes! =)

20 June – Hendrik’s actual birth date: This was a special day for us so Joseph and I took leave from work to be with the birthday boy…  =) Since we had the party on 18 June, I planned to spend his actual birth date by going to the Singapore Arts Museum (SAM) where they have an interactive art display for children. The “Art Garden”, as they call it, runs from 03 June to 30 August only. But before we headed to SAM, we let Hendrik opened his birthday gifts first. He was so thrilled when I helped him open the presents one by one and you can see the joy and excitement on his face! 

Photos from SAM:

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