Rod The Bod Stewart!!!

Feb. 28, 2009

Mike and I had a rockin' good time at the Rod Stewart concert here in Singapore! I saw Rod in concert in Seattle with my sister about 18-19 years ago and remembered that he forgot the words to Maggie May b/c he was so drunk. Now he's sober and still rockin' in his 60's! His daughter, Ruby Stewart, performed 2 songs and she was really good too!
I wanted an up close experience so I went down to the front by myself (Mike wasn't interested) and I took some photos of him and his back-up girls. I was right next to his latest wife (who is about a foot taller than her husband) and Ruby Stewart so I took a photo of them too...so cheeky, I know!

Goodbye Party

We had a rager of a goodbye party for the Escher kids who are moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico. On a "normal day" our pool maximum limit is 7 kids. Somehow at this party I counted 16 kids in the pool area, 14 in the swimming pool itself. You gotta love "exceptions" to a rule.
As a side note...Wesley Dimond, the boy on the far right, motioned to Bailey the other day as his bus was pulling away from the school, "I Love You." and he made a heart with his fingers. Bailey is obviously flattered but insists that she doesn't like him any more than a friend. Thanks to the internet now the whole world gets to witness Bailey's first big crush on her. He is a cute and funny boy and of course, he has great taste in girls! Isn't third grade a little bit early for this?

All I Want for Easter...

Carson has lost both of his front teeth now. He seems too young for that! He got 2 Singapore dollars for each tooth. He got them in coins which he loved b/c it looks just like Captain Jack Sparrow's treasure. Carson still loves to play pirates with sword fighting and treasure being a favorite part of the pirating activities.

Losing BFF's

These are all good buddies that are leaving Singapore this week for the U.S...Sammy is not the only one losing her friends. Carson is losing 2 best pals this week: Trey (with the long hair) is moving to Arizona tomorrow and Weston is moving to New Mexico.
Bailey is losing her friend Hollie who is moving to New Mexico also (same family as Sammy, Bailey & Jack's friends).
Jack is also losing his friend Shaylie who is also heading off to New Mexico.
Singapore is a transient place for expats for sure and the economy isn't helping out with that...

Carson's Soccer Season

Carson just finished his soccer season on Saturday. He played last year but wasn't into it. This year to say he was into it is an understatement. He counted down the days to his game all week every week. In his league they try to keep the kid's focus on good sportsmanship, having fun and trying your best. The coaches would tell the kids it was a tie whenever they asked the score of the game. Carson couldn't handle that and usually spent his entire time on the sidelines asking what the score was and who was ahead. He averaged about 2-3 goals per game, ending the season as the high scorer for his team.
As his mom, I'm very happy to see him excelling at something, anything! He still doesn't care much for schoolwork so I was glad that this was a successful soccer season for him...a boost of confidence every Saturday at his games was just what this mommy was happy about.

Bailey's 1st Basketball Season

Bailey just finished her first season of girls b-ball. She played in a girls 3rd/4th grade league. She got lucky and had a great coach - a former college basketball player himself. The coach had them doing tons of plays and was going crazy with the b-ball whiteboard at every time-out.
Bailey really liked the social aspect of this game...goofing around with her friends on her team and the opposing teams. She didn't care too much about the competitive part of it until...the last 2 games when Mike decided to make things a little bit interesting...
Money Talks!!!
Mike told Bailey he would pay her 5 bucks (Singapore dollars) for every basket she scored and 2 bucks for every rebound or steal. Suddenly Bailey woke up to the game of basketball! She finally took her first shots and actually scored a basket in the last 2 games. I had to leave the game where she scored her first basket (Jack had a dirty diaper conveniently) but my friend sent me a text saying, "Bailey just scored a basket!" I was in tears! I remember those feelings of scoring a basket for the first time in a game. It really is one of the best feelings out there. Apparently Bailey's smile could have lit up the barges of the Brother of Jared with how brightly it gleamed after that basket.
Bails ended up with $20 and then another $18 for the last 2 games of the season.
After the last game the coach awarded her the "Play Me" award b/c she was the kid on the team who was constantly asking the coach to put her in the game and was mad when he took her out. Way to go Bails!

Sammy & Cassie

Sammy is sad these days because she's losing her 4 best friends...by this June all 4 will have moved back to the U.S.  Her friend Lisel left at Christmas time, her friend Cassie leaves in 1 week, Lydia and Ross leave in June.  When I explained to Sammy that all of them were leaving due to the changes in the economy she said, "I hate the economy!"  I think that sums it up for all of us.

Here's some fun pictures of Sammy and her friend Cassie.  We took her out for a birthday outing one day when Sammy was out of school.  

This is what 6th & 7th graders like to do on birthday outings for those of you who are just entering the exciting world of parenting:

First stop was the Coffee Bean for a chocolate ice blended.

Second stop was a couple of hours at Kunokuniya - a Japanese bookstore.  The girls each picked out a book and had them half read by the time I came back to pick them up.  

Next stop was lunch at Hard Rock Cafe...Mike met us there since it's right next to his office. Wow our burgers tasted divine!  We satisfied our craving fix there.  Living in Asia is sort of like being pregant in the sense that you're always trying to satisfy your cravings for authentic American food.  This is one of the few places in Singapore where you can find a good burger.

Next stop was Mike's office to show Cassie the sharks hanging from the ceilings and the Disney On Ice wallpaper.  Cassie thought Sammy's dad had a much cooler job than her dad!

Bye Cassie...Good luck in New Mexico.  We miss you already.