Playing soldiers

Earlier last month...
Right: Jon and Ben got to try out the different hats of a young man playing the part of a soldier at the annual World War II Weekend's battle re-enactment. What a treat it was for them, so happened there was no Chinese class that Sunday, and we got Jon a red beret, and Ben, a plastic green helmet, as souvenirs!

Monday night...
Left: Birthday boy Ben and funny Jon in their army headgrear; Jon juggling more than one hat at a time!

And that was how we capped off Ben's birthday celebrations -- with an impromptu little cake of our own, he really wanted that, never mind that it was from the remaining Pillsbury cakemix for the cupcakes for his classmates (right; baked them late one night, frosted them the next, and used Reynolds' jumbo foil baking cups for extra large cupcakes). That was about the only thing I managed to make for his birthday, besides the regular dinner (can't go wrong with chicken drumsticks), and we were running late after the pizza and snow-cone party in the park (celebrating with his classmates, pictures later).

On his cake I put these two Star Wars figurines from our present for Ben, and Jon added the strawberry slices for a decorative touch!

Now what you don't see here, but the boys think is "noteworthy"... after the birthday song, they fought over who really got to blow the candles! No, it was not pleasant, but ah (aaargh, this is one of those times I have to admit...) boys are boys!

THANK YOU! The green berets and the insignias have come a long way from Singapore (Beach Rd!). Like the other thoughtful gifts and gestures we receive during the year, from our families back home, and our kids' godparents, and dear friends old and new, we are thankful for all of them. It's not possible for me to single each one out, you can sometimes glimpse them from our pictures, but it's for the same reason -- knowing how much trouble everyone goes through to get something to us, I do not play it up.

There are many more moments to try and savour again with such make-up posts. The words are easy to write but the pictures themselves say so much more. I hope to be able to make sense of all the rest of the pictures I have not sorted out -- someday, when it's not such a luxury to sit down like this. Only so many hours in a day, and oh, how time flies!