One thing that Robin really wants to do with the boys, in particular with Calvin, is to draw with them. During our recent family holiday, he had such opportunity.

I was quite pleased that Calvin enjoyed the drawing time with his dad and he did not whinge. He tried his best. Well, the boy tend to refuse drawing as he thinks he can’t draw well. I guess drawing side by side with his dad must be a very special time to him. Here’s what they have drawn:

Calvin was obviously conscious with his own drawing as compared to his dad’s. I have to say Robin has done a good job in encouraging Calvin to draw what he can see. So, what were they drawing? Here’s a picture of the jetty that they were trying to draw:

It’s probably still early days to tell whether any of the boys has inherited Robin’s artistic talents at this stage. I hope at least one of them has!

We went away for 4 days last week. We had a little family holiday! Well, the husband had a week break from teaching and he suggested we go away and spend some time together …. and so we went.

We managed to book a really lovely accommodation right in front of the beach. We had a great time together. The husband spent a lot of time with the boys on the beach, everyday. They simply loved it. They would easily spend an hour at the beach doing stuff that they enjoyed together, e.g. looking for shells or crabs or anything that looked interesting. For me, I usually take a nice long walk along the beach by myself. I appreciated the walks that I had — it was relaxing and refreshing. The people there were all friendly too. They would say “hi” or “good morning” to me as I walked past them. It made me realise that I should be more relaxed and friendly too! It was true. I should relax because I did not have to rush anywhere or plan for anything. I was on holiday (and so was my brain).

The boys loved the beach so much that when I asked Calvin whether he had fun with papa at the beach, his reply was “yes I did, until you came”. When I asked him what he meant by that he said “because when you come, you want us to go home!”. I was speechless. It is good, in some way, that the boys had such good time with their father. They needed the time to bond.

Thought I’d end by sharing one of my favourite pictures:

I love to see the boys walking on the beach together and having a chat. Calvin would tell Athan stories that he made up along the way and Athan would respond with lots of enthusiasm. Beautiful.

“God is so good, God is so good, God is so good …..” I heard Calvin humming and singing this song when we returned home from church this afternoon. Think he must have sung or have been taught this hymn at Sunday school today. It makes me happy when I see my little guy singing praises to God although he might not be aware of it. I have to say that Calvin likes to sing. When I asked him why he think God is so good, he said “um… because He is powerful”. Well, I took the chance to remind him of what God has blessed him with, namely family, friends, toys, food, school etc. He seemed to understand.

The hymn, though simple, serves as a good reminder to me, that God indeed is good for He has provided all that we ever need. Here’s the full hymn (one version of it):

God Is So Good

God is so good,

God is so good,

God is so good,

He’s so good to me!

He cares for me,

He cares for me,

He cares for me,

He’s so good to me!

I love Him so,

I love Him so,

I love Him so,

He’s so good to me!

I praise His Name,

I praise His Name,

I praise His Name,

He’s so good to me!

Hope this hymn has brought encouragement to you too.

We had our family holiday over the last weekend. We went to the beautiful south-west of the country. We were with good friends. We were so blessed. We returned home safe and sound. We are all refreshed. Thank God.

I endeavour to write more about our trip in the near future. For now, just want to share a couple of pictures of the beautiful scenery at the countryside:

The boys found *treasures*. We were at a riverside reserve situated rather close to where we live. The views that the reserve offered was fantastic too. There was a shallow part of the riverside where one could walk across to the other side and that was where the boys found their treasures — shells.

Calvin, I have to say, is a bit of a *collector*. He loves to collect stones, pieces of rocks or nuts that have fallen from trees and shells at he beach, and put them in his pocket. Very often after day care or a day at school, I can find *treasures* in his sand-filled pockets. The carers at his day care used to give him a plastic bag or a zip lock bag to store his collections! The boy is ever so proud to show off his collections to us and he always has a story or two to tell too. So, this time at the riverside reserve, he was so happy to find so many types of shells, especially the tiny ones that he has not seen before. He simply could not resist from picking the shells and bringing them home. Of course Mr A wanted a share too.

We saw beautiful black swans too. Lots of them. Some of them came right up close to us thinking we have food. Unfortunately we did not bring any. Maybe next time.

Here are the happy boys:

The reserve is quite a family-friendly place to spend the day. It has barbeque facilities, a jetty where lots of people go fishing, a cafe, a very well shaded playground area for kids and lots of space to run around. I have, on many occasions, brought the boys to the playground area, and they really love it. However, I never brought them to walk along the riverside by myself. I am glad we took the walk this trip, especially when the husband was with us. We all had a lovely time together. Looks like we will be visiting the reserve again. Pretty soon, I would say.

Many friends and family have asked about our well being after they heard the news about the freak hail storm we had on Monday.We really appreciate all your care and concerns.  I want to share that we are very very thankful to God for keeping everyone at home safe. Our cars and home were spared from damage too.  We even had power throughout the whole storm ordeal.  We are truly blessed. We did not realise the extent of the damage the storm has caused until we heard the news on radio the next day.

Apparently, the roads on that Monday evening was very very chaotic. Police cars, ambulances and fire-engines took up many lanes on the roads and freeways (I am sure the boys would be very excited if they witnessed that! :)). I was told that the visibility on the road was very bad on the freeway with the heavy rain.  At one stage, hail stones of the size of golf balls were falling from the sky.  This has caused widespread damage to thousands of homes and cars. Many homes were left without power. I was home with the boys when the storm started.  I knew a storm was coming, but I did not know how bad it was. Robin was still at work then.  Within minutes, the boys and I heard very loud banging on our roof and windows.  The boys thought someone was firing at our home!! We saw lightning, heard thunder and then we saw hail stones hitting our lawn and one of the boys said “mum, is it snowing?” I was worried about R, but he returned home safe and sound. Thank God.

Then we heard a knock in our door.  It was our neighbour’s daughter.  They needed help.  The entrance to their home was flooded. Water was beginning to get into their home. R immediately took the shovel and joined them in the rain, digging away. They were digging a trench in the hope that the water would flow through there, thereby easing the flood. Our front car porch and entrance was beginning to flood at one stage too.  I was called in to help.  R and I madly tried to “sweep” the water to the main road. After about half an hour, the water began to recede. The rain had eased by then. The boys were in the house watching us the whole time.  They were well-behaved although a little worried.

After thought: I am just so very thankful that I did not have to work on Monday. If I did, I would be caught in the traffic on the freeway and in horrible rain, on my way home with a little boy at the back of the car. I just can’t imagine what it would be like to be in that situation. Thank God.

Besides the storm, I have been extremely busy at work these few weeks. I have 3 presentations to prepare and deliver by next week. I have been working at home all weekend and every night when the boys are in bed.  Writing a post here is just my distraction!  I needed one.

As for the boys,  my first born son asked me yesterday if I knew what “o-p-i-v-a-rous”mean. That’s so not a word, I thought. He did not pronounce the word correctly, I was sure. After asking him to repeat a few times, I realized that he was  trying to say “oviparous”. I did not respond to him immediately as I was trying to be sure if the word meant “egg-laying animals”.  Upon sensing my silence (for just 2 seconds!), the boy was happy to announce to me that “so mum, you don’t know what oviparous mean? “It is a word for animals that lay eggs”, he said to me.  Geezz….was he happy to be “smarter” than me! Well, truth is, I am sure he will be learning many more things that I do not know.  I have to admit it when the time comes.

Mr A has been having a cough and cold for the past week.  He is not that sick anymore since he is now eating and playing like before.  He is also due for his 3-yr-old immunisation which he has been protesting to go.  I think the father should bring him to the clinic once the runny nose clears up.   I know Mr A will scream at the sight of the needle and will struggle, and so I am leaving the task to the father …

Calvin has been a good eater thus far.  I am really thankful for that.  Mr A is also a good eater, but he likes to play with his toys or talk when eating his dinner. As a result, he is always slow to finish his food. Whenever he sees Calvin finish his dinner and ready to play, A will also announce that he has finished when his bowl is still half full of food! It has been hard to sit him down to finish his dinner until I came up with this:

Calvin feeding Athan.

Yup, I asked Calvin to feed Athan! Calvin was happy to help.  In fact, he was instructing Athan to open his mouth etc while feeding him.  He sounded just like me!  Anyway, I thought this is a good way for Calvin, as a big brother to help his little brother.

Athan turned 3 on Monday. It was 3 years ago when he was born. If you asked me what I remembered of that day, it would be that my baby was very loud! The way he cried, the deafening screaming from a tiny little baby (only 3kg) was just both amazing and overwhelming for me, a second-time mum. Nevertheless, I was very very thankful for the safe and smooth delivery as well as the healthy baby. Three years on, the boy still has his trademark loud voice (I would like to think he has a set of very healthy lungs :)).

How did we celebrate Athan’s birthday?  Well, I have to admit I have been very slack.:( I thought of throwing a party for him, but at his age, he really does not know much about birthday parties. I think he will appreciate it better when he is a little older. I shall endeavour to organise a birthday bash for him next year, God willing. Instead, the husband and I decided to have a dinner at a restaurant with some church friends whose children play well with Athan. One of the families even invited us to  their home for cake after the dinner so that the kids could play.  We were so thankful and blessed.  I told R afterward that it is very important to have good church family. He agreed.

And so, after dinner we went to our friend’s home and the children went “wild”. Athan was very very excited.  He seemed to know the night was all about him. He was given some presents and his favourite was the helicopter that made sound when he pressed a button. I have to say he was much more interested in his new toy than his cake!

Happy 3rd birthday Athan! Notice the helicopter in his hand?

Athan loves eating cake, so does Calvin. Both have inherited the sweet tooth from the father, I think.

Athan smiling for photo shoot between mouthfuls of cake. He is very happy.

Mr C also received a little gift from our very kind friends. How thoughtful is that? I was so touched by their gesture. Calvin received a little “Toy Story” electronic hand held game which he loved. Here’s the happy boys:

 Two very happy boys dressed in the same red shirt.

While the kids played, the adults chatted amongst themselves. Somehow, I ended up with the mums talking about our favourite topic — kids! The night went quickly and before we knew it, it was time to go. It was hard to get the kids to the door! They were having so much fun. It was so great to see the kids play well together.  We hope and pray that they will grow up together in the church and become friends when they grow up.

A quick update on Athan. He is picking up English really quickly at day care as well as his 3-yr-old kindy class.  His pronounciation is still not quite exact but we can understand him.  Mandarin is still his main language. He loves to talk and asks questions. The other day we had this conversation:

Athan: Mum, I am stress!

Me: (shocked) Why?

Athan: Because, because, because (trying to find a reason because he doesn’t know what “stress” is!:)) “gor gor” (big brother) don’t give me the car ……

Me: LOL!

He has picked up the “stress” word from me for sure.

I am happy to report that Mr A has stopped crying when left to his carers at his day care.  He has been crying all the time when left at day care since we returned from our trip couple of months ago.   Thank God.  I am also happy to report that his toilet training is going really well. He only wears nappy at nap time and bedtime at the moment.  I think I am more anxious than him when we are out of the house.  I almost want to put on a pair of nappy pants for him just in case …. but this will not help him learn and so I have decided to stop myself from doing that. So far he only has a couple of accidents, mainly because he left it too late. Well, this is all part of learning.

He is also doing well at his 3-yr-old kindy.  He tends to be clingy to me when I drop him off, but he quickly attaches himself to the teacher when I leave.  The teachers are great, I have to say. He is always happy when I pick him up after school.

When it comes to playing with his brother, Athan can be an angel.  The boys can play very nicely together, however, from time to time, Mr A can also be unreasonable, snatching toys and destroying his brother’s creation. This makes Calvin really upset and he will always come complaining to me. What do I do? Well, I have to discipline Mr A as well as try to teach them to reconcile with each other.  I think this is important.

Athan is playful. He loves to jump on his father and have a wrestle. He loves to sit on his father’s back for a ride. He loves playing aeroplanes with his brother…….

I love his cuddles in the morning and at night. I love how he comes to me for a cuddle when he is tired (even though he disagrees with himself :)). I love how he always come sit on my lap at story time before bed. I love being close to him. To me, he is still my baby!

We thank God for Athan, and as this little boy continues to grow, we pray that his knowledge of God will continue to grow too.

Note: All photos in this post are taken by our friend.

We had a very very very hot week last week.  The mercury tipped over 40 deg C one day!  The heat was unbearable, especially when I had to drive in this heat after work to pick the boys up from day care.  They were cranky and unreasonable — so was I! Of course we went to the beach to cool down. But one evening, we decided to have a picnic dinner at a park nearby.

I was too hot and lazy (excuses excuses ….) to cook and so the husband declared we were going to buy pizza and eat at the park. I welcomed the idea, so did the boys … except for Mr A who is not a big fan of pizza.

It was still very warm that evening and the park was filled with families chilling out, having picnic dinners. We found a nice spot facing the river to have our pizza dinner.

Boys eating pizza. Notice the new haircut?

Mr A did eat some pizza, especially the crust. As for Mr C, he loves pizza. He just sat there and ate quietly while enjoying his surrounding. Yup, we gave the boys a haircut that day too. Cool eh? The husband had a haircut too — by me! I did not do a good job, but the husband was grateful.

After dinner, we went for a walk around the park. The boys went crazy chasing each other while the father tried his best to take a shot of the beautiful night skyline of the city.  Unfortunately, his efforts proved to be futile. :(  It was really hard to get a good shot. The pictures were either fuzzy or too dark…hmmm…perhaps we need another camera.

This week has been much cooler. Thank God. Thank God also for keeping us and our home safe during the hot days.

The other evening, we brought the boys to a nearby football field for some exercise.  Before we unbuckled him from his car seat, we reminded (more like warned) Mr A about the “no carry” policy when at the field — for some reason, this boy has a tendency of wanting to be carried. He gave us a big nod.It was all good.

We stood in a circle in the middle of the field, the four of us, with the intention of kicking the ball to each other.  Athan, being the Mr A that he is, defied all the rules, running after the ball every time it was being kicked to someone and hand-passing it to each one of us in turn.  I felt tired for him, but he was happy to be running. No kidding. Calvin and the father ended up playing a game whereby they had to run and kick the ball from goal post to goal post.  That was exhausting, well, at least to me. But the boy wanted more! I stopped. And when they got tired of kicking ball, the father wanted to get on with his kicking and punching (part of his martial arts training) exercises. I took over the boys.

All they wanted to do was to run — again! One of them wanted to be “Astro Boy” while  the other wanted to be “Iron Man” that could fly like an aeroplane — guess who wanted to be what?

Mr A stretched his arms out in front of himself and “whhhooooooo”, he was off flying like Astro Boy while Mr C lifted his arms out by his side like an aeroplane and pretended to be the flying Iron Man. They were having a race. They won’t let me off the hook — they wanted me to be “Bumble-Bee”(from the toy known as transformers, and I was supposed be the girl-bumblebee! LOL!). Well, being the good sport that I am (ahem), of course I obliged to their request.  We had a race. Numerous races in fact, till I *begged* them to take a rest.

The boys really have boundless of energy that I am so envious of.  I felt old. I really did. My fitness level has definitely dropped over the years due to the lack of exercise. I would love to have loads of energy so that I am able to run with the boys and enjoy the time with them.  Got to build up my stamina, I told myself.  For a start, I am thinking I should go to the field more often with the boys and run after them.

By the way, Mr A did not asked to be carried, not even once, when we were on the field.

Summer Days. Warm evenings. Long days. Perfect for evening outings with the family.

Besides the beach, our little family truly love spending the warm summer evenings having picnic dinners by the foreshore or have a walk after dinner follow by ice-cream somewhere and not to forget to mention, at our very own backyard.

Since we returned from our trip, we have not done any gardening or put in much effort to clean up the messy yard. Our backyard is so *over-grown*! By that I mean, we have over-grown lawn (back and front) that is crying out for a good mow, over-grown weeds that need to be dug out (such a pest!) and over-grown branches from especially the huge mulberry tree at the back of the yard.  There’s indeed a work to be done.

And so yesterday from late afternoon onwards, the husband decided to take charge of things. He mowed the lawn, both front and back. Brought he boys to the backyard to trim the over-grown branches of the huge mulberry tree — getting them to carry the branches to one side. Boys being boys, they lose interest after a while. Guess what they end up doing? Here’s a picture of them, have a guess:

 There was a tiny hole in the water hose and they wanted to stop the water from coming out by putting the green open-ended cap and lemons over it!

The boys really know how to entertain themselves when they are at the backyard. They proudly showed me their *ingenious* idea after they have *successfully* stop water from coming out of the hose. After that, they ride on their bikes and car and when they had enough of riding, they chased each other silly ….. what fun.

I have my share of chores too. I prepared dinner, cleaned up the outdoor dining set (at the same time keeping an eye at the boys)– getting it ready for our dinner. Before long, the husband announced he has finished cleaning up the yard and the result: viola! we had a neat, tidy and clean backyard. Very inviting indeed to have dine out there!

Athan enjoying his dinner.

We are constantly getting ideas to improve the backyard, to make it appealing to the eyes as well as safe for the kids. I have to admit we are slow to implement any of our ideas mainly due to time and budget. However, the one thing that the husband wants to get soon is an outdoor tent for the boys! He reckoned they will have loads of fun with the tent. Well, I think he is right.