Archive for the ‘family’ Category

Church Camp.

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

We were at church camp last weekend. I have really enjoyed myself at the camp this year. If you asked me what I enjoyed most, my answer will be “the people”. We are truly blessed to have a very supportive and encouraging congregation at our church. This year at the camp, for some reason, Athan has become more independent, in that I did not have to sit with him the whole time at the creche or follow him everywhere he went or have to carry him all the time. He was actually quite happy to follow his brother and this other 4-year-old girl around. They played very well together. I am not only happy for my little boy but also for the fact that I could sit in to listen to the talks as well as chatting with my friends. Thank God!

The boys had a ball at the camp. They played really well with their friends. It is great that the boys have friends at church who will grow up with them. Hopefully they will remain as friends when they grow up and become good Christians together. That’s our prayer.

When I asked Calvin what he liked best about the camp, his first answer was “the dessert”. The second time I asked him, he said “my friends because they play with me”. On our way home after staying overnight, his answer was “the best thing was the toilet”! Why? “Because it was nice and clean”. Well, the bathrooms are newly renovated and hence they are very new and clean. What about Mr A? His best thing about the camp was “the bed”! 🙂

I shall finish by sharing this picture of Calvin up in the tree with his friends. The photo was taken with my phone, so please excuse the poor resolution.

Early Days II.

Monday, October 4th, 2010

So, I was going through my photo archives again. I enjoy doing that as I love seeing photos of the boys when they were babies. I found this picture of me and Calvin taken when the boy was only 4 months old. He was so chubby then! All those baby fats have long gone. The boy is now tall and lanky. But one thing remains the same. He loves his food and he eats a lot. 🙂

Early Days.

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

This picture was taken when we were in Singapore couple of years ago when Athan was only about nine months old. It was his first trip to Singapore. We were having breakfast at a nearby food centre. Tables were arranged closely to each other, it was sweaty, noisy and crowded. The whole place was covered with strong food smell coming from each stall. The variety of food for breakfast was just amazing. I couldn’t decide. 🙂 It was a new experience for the boys. But for us, we loved it. We missed having breakfast like that.

Photo Post.

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

This is one of my favourite pictures taken during our recent family holiday. It was taken with my mobile phone as I did not have my camera with me then (again!). I have to say the quality of the picture is pretty good. Enjoy.

Precious Time II.

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

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! 🙂

Precious Time.

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

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.

Sunday Hymn.

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

“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.

On Holiday.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

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:

Treasures.

Friday, April 16th, 2010

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.

Freak Hail Storm And Other Things.

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

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. 🙂