Grant's 1rst Grade Holiday show

Grant's 1rst grade class, Mrs. Brill's, had their Holiday show last week, so cute to see how hard they worked on this show. Grant had a speaking part which he was so proud of. :) He was nervous but did FABULOUS!

Five of the 1rst grade classes were in our show, but there are 13 first grade classes at The Singapore American School. This show was a great way to get into the Holiday spirit!

Mrs. Brill's class sang "Ling Ling The Red Nose Reindeer", the Singapore version of "Rudolph". Ling Ling has a nose like a firecracker, she wants to play Mahjong games, wants to be famous like Raffles, and she says "OK Lah"-the Singapore slang that is said frequently around here. :)




All the classes also sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" in 3 languages- English, Mandarin and Malay. LOVED IT!!! :)

Thanksgiving in Singapore

Our Thanksgiving was very nice, but honestly didn't feel like Thanksgiving at all.

Everyone has work here... but Brian took the day off :)

No Macy's Thanksgiving day parade ....what used to be our traditional a.m. activity

Stores are open, business as usual....

No football on tv ....except British "football" which would be soccer to us

This year we made reservations at The American Club for dinner with friends. So there wasn't the yummy turkey smell permeating throughout the house....

I could say that it was nice to not have to be slaving away in the kitchen, but I would be lying. I truly LOVE cooking Thanksgiving dinner. But sadly, our ovens are soo stinkin tiny, it is impossible to make a big turkey in them. You would be lucky to get a turkey breast in it. :) Last year we went over to our friends house, she had a much bigger oven than I have and it was great fun. This year, we decided to try out the Club.

The dinner at the club was yummy, and they had all the traditional Thanksgiving items (and it was a HUGE spread of it). Sweet little emotional Maddie, bless her heart, started to cry as we sat down to eat. She explained that she liked Thanksgiving at home, and that it wasn't the same eating at the Club. :) I promised her a late Thanksgiving dinner when we go home for Christmas. We did have such a great time sitting with our friends The Erhardts who are moving back to the USA soon. So sad they are leaving.

After dinner at the club we drove around and looked at ALL the Christmas lights decorating our downtown area. Amazing and beautiful. Will post those photos later

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! gobble gobble

Singapore American School "Variety Show "Auditions

Yes, it's that time of year again for Miss Madeline...the auditions for the SAS Variety Show 2009!!

She's been working with a teacher at her dance studio, Miss Emily, for about a month and they choreographed a cute little dance for the auditions. She tried out last Monday after school, even though she has been very sick with a respiratory infection (which made her asthma flare up-horribly). She was adamant about trying out, and did not want to miss the opportunity. We will not find out if she makes it until right before Christmas and the show isn't until February. Here is the link of the video that I put up on YouTube so all our family could see it....

UPDATE: SHE MADE IT!! :) Just found out a few days ago and were are so excited and proud of her again! I sent her a text at school (during lunch hour) so she would know. :) Looking forward to an amazing fun entertaining show in Feb.

Late post...I took this photo on Nov. 1st

I am sooo late to post this, but just had the chance to upload some more photos off my camera. I was sitting at a light by our house, off of Orchard Rd. and here is what was staring at me on Nov. 1rst. Amazing how quickly they got up these decorations...and as of last week, the entire Orchard Road is LIT UP with lights for Christmas. Truly amazing.

Grant's last soccer game of the season

We had a crazy busy day yesterday, as Grant had his last Soccer game of the season, had a little end of season party, Maddie preformed at a school-wide event at SAS, and then she had Clara practice for the upcoming Nutcracker performance (yes, she was asked to be Clara again this year-so excited for her). PHEW...I am still tired as I am typing all of this.

Grant had a blast, they lost, but had so much fun. Our two coaches were so amazing with the boys and taught them how to play (as this is just 6-7 yr olds) but most importantly to have FUN. He got a cool trophy at the end of the game with his name on it, which he is SOO jacked up about! :)

Grant (he is on the far left) and his buddies; Aidan, Matthew and Cole


Grant and his coach, Coach Lascall (his friend Aidan's dad)

Halloween 2008

Deepavali and Little India Tour

Deepavali is the "Festival of Lights", and the celebration of good over evil, light over dark. The 1rst grade kids at the Singapore American School (SAS) took a field trip this past week to tour Little India and learn more about Deepavali ,as the Holiday is this Monday Oct. 27th.

It was a rainy day so our original plans were changed due to the weather. Instead we first took the kids for an Indian snack of poori (fried bread), potatoes, and mild dahl on a banana leaf.


Amazing how the kids are adventurous when their parents aren't around. Most of my friends swore their kids wouldn't try it, but I have photo evidence showing them eating it and LOVING it. :)

We then visited the Sri Veerama Kaliamann Temple where there were lots of school children, tourists and devotees wandering around. Everyone is accepted here, no one excluded and they are quite used to tourists, especially this time of the year. Before entering your senses are peaked as the sounds of Indian music and the smells of jasmine and oil lamp incense burning. The temple is decorated beautifully with garlands of flowers and fabric decorating the gods.




Our last stop was the Deepavali market at Campbell Lane. There are bangles, lanterns, handicrafts, costumes, henna stalls, and the ever popular peacock feathers. It seemed like every school in Singapore was having a field trip to Little India today, but it made for brisk business for the stall holders.




We were given a list of things to buy from their teacher, and the kids in my group were excited and loved searching for those items.


When they returned to school, a mother of one of the students in his class came in and did a presentation about Deepavali. She brought in traditional Indian spices, goodies, and henna. Grant learned so much and was excited to come home and share that knowledge of Deepavali to Brian, Maddie and I.

"Fall" in Singapore

It truly is hard to get into the Fall spirit when it is 87 degrees out, as I have mentioned before (many times I think).

The good news is that I DON'T miss having to layer turtlenecks and shirts under costumes, that's for sure! :) I also don't miss being so cold Trick-or-Treating that the kids don't last for many houses before they want to go inside and get warm.

But, I DO miss decorating my house with cornstalks and pumpkins. Feeling the crisp fall air and hearing the crunching of leaves under your feet. I also miss taking the kids to the local Pumpkin Patch and picking out our pumpkins and gourds.

People in Singapore don't decorate a lot with pumpkins, or if they do, they wait until the day before Halloween to carve it. It's just too HOT and humid to do it any sooner. Also, there aren't ANY pumpkin patches on this tiny tropical island...so the next best thing is to buy it at the grocery store....OR????..... at The Singapore American School. :)

The PTA ships over thousands, truly THOUSANDS of pumpkins to Singapore. They get cleaned and washed and put on display for people to buy, it is the greatest thing ever. And for the little kids, they have an annual Pumpkin Patch set up! It is amazing and so cute to see the kids walk into it. Some of these kids have lived abroad their whole lives and have never seen what a pumpkin patch might look like. Every year the PTA gals decorate a big room, fill it with tons of little pumpkins and gourds and every child from pre-school to 2nd grade goes to the Pumpkin Patch and gets to pick 3 things from the "patch" to take home.

Today was Pumpkin Patch day for Grant's 1rst grade class. It was nice to feel a little more like "Fall" -when you crank the A/C down...it was almost CHILLY in the Pumpkin Patch! BRRRRR!! :)

Big News for Miss Maddie!

After working/stretching/preparing for months and months...Madeline took her Pointe Ballet exam last week and passed! So proud of her! She was so excited, more excited than, well, almost like it was Christmas morning!!!

We had a wonderful informative meeting at her dance studio that helped her (and I) know about safety and how-to's for Pointe shoes. (I never was a dancer, so this a whole new world to me...)

She couldn't wait to have the ties sewn on and put them on for the first time. She looks so natural on them and very graceful. So proud of her!!

She also has her first JOB! She is an "Assistant Teacher" at her dance studio and helps to teach the little girls ballet/tap/jazz classes. She even got her first paycheck a few weeks ago-sad day when my 10 yr old is making more money than me! :) She is doing an amazing job keeping up with her studies and dancing 4 days a week. I think that being so busy forces her to be more organized and less time to procrastinate.

Congrats to sweet little Maddie, who is growing up WAY to fast. :(

The American Club Novice Swim Meet

The Sibley Swim Team and Erhardt Swim Team!

I signed the kids up at The American Club for a Novice Swim Meet on Saturday. Both kids take swim lessons there and practically LIVE in our pool, so I thought it would be great fun for them to be in an actual swim meet. (it was a good thought...right?)
It was an all day event, broken down by swim stroke and age. Maddie competed for Butterfly, Freestyle and Breaststroke. Grant signed up for Freestyle and Kickboard (that was a special event-for the under 7 crowd).

Maddie doing the Freestyle race

Grant getting set for the 6yr old Freestyle event

Maddie was NOT happy for most of the day, as she is the kind of girl that if she isn't PERFECT...she doesn't want to do it.

After realizing her brother possibly earned a medal, she was then determined to do the same, so she signed up for more races (but scowled at me for most of the day). That's love!

At the end of the looonnnnnggg day...Maddie got a bronze medal for Breastroke and Grant got a bronze for Kickboard.


Not sure they will be rushing to sign up again for this event, but I think it was a great experience (even if I got frowned at all day!) Their muscles ached after swimming for the 5 hours, both were almost too tired to walk to the car. But they slept like logs that night...another fun Fall Break DAY!
Pssst....I wouldn't be looking for the Sibley name in any future Olympic swimming events! :) hee hee

Fall Break week for the kids

We've had this WHOLE week off from school as the kids have "Fall Break" from SAS (Singapore American School). Since Brian is traveling in the USA right now, going on a mini-vacation is out of the question (i'm not brave enough to go to some of these countries all by myself with the kids)...so we are doing cool Singapore things each day.

We went with friends to the Singapore Zoo yesterday and then stayed for the amazing Night Safari. It was a LONG night, didn't get the kids home and in bed until 10:30 or so..but we had so much fun. The Night Safari is an amazing concept-for the kids to see animals in their normal habitat at night is truly cool. We spent a long time in the Bat area-so much time that I received a "gift" on my shirt! EEEWWW, gross! That's bat love. :)

Today we went to WILD WILD WET, a great water park here in Singapore. Maddie and Grant are at a good age to let them run wild and then can ride all the slides without height restrictions anymore! HIP HIP HOORAY! We went with the Erhardt family, our favorite family to hang out with. Fun day for all!

More fun events planned for the kids over the next few days.

Maddie having fun in the wave pool area and Maddie and sweet Emily!





Grant being...well...Grant!


Who doesn't LOVE McDonalds icecream?

UN Day Celebration and "Where the H*** is Matt?" off of Youtube

The Singapore American School Primary Division (Grades K-3) celebrated United Nations Day (UN Day) today.

The children were asked to come dressed in attire that reflected where they were born, lived, or nationality of their family. The entire division had an assembly where they had a Parade of Nations Flag Presentation depicting the 50 countries and flags represented amongst The Singapore American School. We then listened to children speak about the UN and how it was formed. Then we saw amazing dancers and performers in amazing costumes. Lastly, we watched the following video about a man named Matt who traveled around the world to DANCE with everyone. Amazing stories Matt has about his adventures. The kids read outloud each country and cheered on their "home" country. They cheered really loudy when Singapore came up! :)

As M. Scott Peck once said "Share our similarities, celebrate our differences."


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Formula 1 Weekend in Singapore!

What an amazing and exciting weekend we had with the Formula 1 in town!!

I have to be honest, racing isn't MY thing-but it is Brian's, so when I agreed to go on Saturday all day to the F1 events I was not sure how much fun it would be. I was SO pleasantly surprised at what a great time we had! The people, the cars, the excitement-it was contagious. Brian and I had so much fun!

After hearing about how much fun Grant had on Friday, and then my day on Saturday-sweet Madeline was a little sad that she didn't agree to go when we bought the tickets 6 months ago. :) She wishes now that she would have.

Singapore put so much into the weekend, and the year long preparations were evident. Hosting the FIRST night Formula 1 race is a big deal, but to also have it look so effortless and go off without a hitch is amazing. The city was lit up and it made for a beautiful backdrop to the event. Looking forward to (maybe?) going again next year?!?!? ....not sure if we will be here for it, but crossing fingers and toes that we will be. :)

Here are a few more photos of our fun F1 weekend.