Dance Recital

Madeline had her last dance recital at Dance Academy the other night, and she is very sad. She actually had 2 recitals this year, one on Wednesday and Friday night, and she did amazing job!


This year she had 4 dances in the show and loved every minute of it. She had her Competition Team dance, Tap, Ballet, and a Jazz dance. If she had her way, she would have signed up for a solo too! :) She has already informed me that she plans on doing a solo this next year. After the show on Friday night she was very upset and feeling very sad that she would have to be at a new studio in Singapore. The teachers, staff and owners of Dance Academy are like family to us. (pictured above with the owners Christine and Micheal) She has been dancing with them since they opened their doors three years ago, and she spends a lot of time, almost 3 hours each week. We will certainly miss all the kids, parents, and staff over the next 2 years. We actually had people coming up to us after the recital telling us that they wanted to meet Maddie, and that they thought she would be famous one day....she certainly is comfortable on stage and loves to dance! Maybe our little curly girl will be on Broadway, in a World Tour Ballet, or on "So You Think You Can Dance?" one day. :) ha ha

"Sibley Sling" blog name-what does it mean?

When we decided to make a blog, I asked Brian if he could think of a name for our page. Of course, at first he came up with some crazy names for it. But after a few minutes he came up with "Sibley Sling". What does that mean, you might wonder? Our page is named after the famous drink, The Singapore Sling, which I did have a few while on our househunting trip! :) It is a YUMMY cocktail that is famous at The Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

Here is the history that I found online about the drink:

Way back in 1915, a Chinese bartender of Hainese dialect, living in Singapore, concocted a cocktail of gin, cherry brandy, pineapple juice, lime juice, Dom Benedictine, grenadine with a dash of angostura bitters and garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry. It was aptly named Singapore Sling and originally this drink was meant as a woman's drink, hence the attractive pink colour. Today, the world famous cocktail is very definitely a drink enjoyed by all, without which any visit to Singapore is incomplete.

And if you can't make it to Raffles Long Bar or the Ritz's Lobby Lounge here's what's needed to create one for yourself (and save yourself the $18+ dollars for one).

1oz - Gin

1/2oz - Cherry Brandy

4oz - Pineapple Juice

1/2oz - Limejuice

Dash Cointreau

Dash Dom Benedictine

Dash Grenadine

A Dash of Angostura Bitters

Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry

Place ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and add the gin, cherry brandy, limejuice, Cointreau, Grenadine pineapple juice and bitters. Shake well and strain into a highball glass. Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry.

Those of you in my Book Club seemed to enjoy them when we had our "Singapore" theme when we found out we were moving-we went through a pitcher pretty quickly! :)

Hence the name "Sibley Sling" for our page.

Poor little kitty Oaky!

Today we spent most of the day with the cat at the Vet.

Due to Singapore rules, he has to undergo a bunch of things to be "imported" into the country AND then be in Quarantine for 30 days once he arrives!! We are shipping him ahead of us, so he can get his time over with and be in our new house as soon as possible. Oaky will be leaving in a week and we have hired a Pet Relocation company to do the move for us-so glad for that. But very sad that he is leaving us soon. We are able to visit him at the Quuarantine Facility as much as we want, and the vet recommended as frequent as we can. Knowing the kids, we will end up being there every day until his 30 days are up. Poor kitty Oaky!

Oaky now has a Microchip in him, has been poked and proded and had so many vaccines he is safe from any and all possible diseases that an animal might get! Ahhh, the joy of moving overseas with an animal. But he is worth it! He could be the best cat in the world! :)

Moving to Singapore!

We are moving to Singapore! Can you believe it? We are sort of in a state of panic and excitement. The flight arrangements have been made and now we have about a month left before we move.

After a few requests, I decided to try this whole BLOGGING thing and make a blog of our move and time there. Maybe people (friends & family) will actually read it, and feel like they are sharing our experience over there. Maybe? Maybe not?

It's funny how I meet people and everyone seems to know someone who has lived in Singapore. And they all say that they "love it!". Hoping for the same thing for our family-I think it will be great.

Here is a photo of our house over there, hoping they sign the final lease this week so I can actually be sure we have a house to live in.