Annie is 13!

So Annie celebrated her birthday two days earlier. It was a triple celebration, as mid-year exams had just finished and also Allyson's birthday is 6 days after hers. The two of them are now 13! Officially teenagers!

We had a simple party at the condo poolside and the girls invited their classmates. It's so much easier now that they're teenagers and can take care of themselves! I remember when Annie did her 8th birthday at the poolside and invited her whole class. I was pooped at the end of the day after keeping an eye on 20 kids at a pool and playground! 

After that, birthday parties with many little guests were only held at indoor, contained venues! Lol!

Anyway, here are the photos.

Slabs of chocolate from her classmates!! They know her well!

We bought some KFC and a cheesecake to celebrate her actual birthday.

Happy birthday Annie! You are a wonderful daughter and a great big sister! We love you very much!

56th MSSM national track and field meet @ Kedah

 On the first week of May, Annie and her other 80 plus team mates from the Sarawak contingent flew to Alor Setar, Kedah to participate in the 56th MSSM national track and field meet. They had trained hard for two whole weeks in Sarikei to prepare for this big event.

Annie competed in the high jump event for girls under 15. She and her buddy Gladys were the only two representing Sarawak in this event.

Annie cleared 1.45m to get 6th placing, whereas Gladys cleared 1.53m bag the silver. Annie was a bit disappointed that she did not do her personal best, 1.50m. However, she is only 13 years old this year, and has many more years ahead. Her opponents were all older than her and she even beat a girl who was training in Bukit Jalil, the country's top sports school. 6th ranking in Malaysia is nothing  to scoff at! We are all very proud of her!

A 2 hour torrential downpour on the night of their event flooded the stadium! So it was brought forward to the next morning.

warming up

measuring and marking their starting point with masking tape

the lineup; announcing the competitors from various states

with her buddy Gladys. Well done girls!

Sarawak was leading and won overall

the Sarawak contingent received a big welcome at the airport

the national champions!

with their high jump coach, Cikgu Mustapha

Annie really enjoyed the experience; making so many new friends and learning a lot. Before we knew it, 3 weeks had passed and it was back to school with mid-year exams waiting!

Here's the link to Annie's high jump results:
http://www.bpmssm2014.msskedah.net/index.php?option=com_pingatviu&view=pingatviu&Itemid=144??cat=&event=19_P15&kodpil=J

the soul

So the kids and their cousins were watching tv in the living room and I could hear them talking from my bedroom. There must have been a mention of 'soul' on whatever show they were watching;

Cousin Amelie:  What's a 'soul'?

Annie:                It's like when you die, only the soul is left.

Claire:               It's like Tom and Jerry! When Tom gets very scared, his soul comes out!!

Lol!

mother's day treasures

Mother's Day falls on every second Sunday of May. This year, we had our Mother's Day dinner at Hilton the night before because I was joining a Zumba event the next day.

Here are the awesome cards I got from my darlings.

Thank you dears! You are the best children in the world!

*muaks*

Happy Mother's Day to all Supermums out there!!

Easter holiday

Cousin Hughie had a long Easter break from school. So he came over to Kuching with Popo and spent a few nights sleeping over at our house. He is such a mature, independent young man, and boy can he talk! Lol!

All ready to go swimming. He used to be afraid of the water but not anymore!

Pit stop at Mc Donald's before going to Tai Ku's house for the afternoon.

Play Doh session with the girls.

Playing big brother to Cousin Adam.

The boys 'helping' me at the market! ;)

ballet concert 2014

all ready for the concert

The girls' ballet school holds a reporting concert every two years. This year it was held at Four Points Hotel again and there are now so many more students (around 500) compared to when Annie and Allyson first started ballet 8 years ago.

Anyway, this year, Claire, Eva and Cousin Allyson performed. Annie was also supposed to do three dances with Allyson, but could not come back from her sports training in Sarikei, so she had to miss the concert this year. She didn't mind at all, as she was having a great time with her fellow athlete friends at training.

Well, here are the photos of the performance. I didn't manage to get very nice photos of them, as we were sitting quite far away and they were constantly moving. I'll post the photos taken by the professional photographer when we receive them.

backstage with a friend

backstage

Eva was a fairy godmother in the 'Cinderella' dance

Claire was a coral in the 'Under the sea' dance.

Allyson in 'Dancing Queen'

'Music box dancer'

a little kids class performing in the same costumes Annie and Allyson wore when they were 4 years old!