My new baby

Hubby asked me to meet him after work today at Westgate. So I took a cab down with D while the trio stayed home with my busy-packing-for-China-trip in-laws. 

We had dim sum at Tim Ho Wan! Waited like 10 min only and we were ushered to our table. 

The dim sum was goood.

Then Hubby brought us to JEM and walked straight in to the Apple shop there. He wanted to get me a new iPad mini as an early bday present. I was reluctant as I only wanted a new iPhone 5C/S. Getting the mini would seriously eat into our budget I thought. But he insisted. He knew how jialat the first gen iPad he passed to me has been. That oldie keeps hanging if I were to tax it a little bit by watching videos or if the page was graphic-intensive. Even online articles (jmainly words) can cause the Safari app to hang/shut down.

So yes, we got the mini and I chose a cool blue cover to go with it. I'm typing this post via the blogger app. Yays! 

From Abraham to Isaac..........to Jesus?!

It was awesome cool to see the kids being awestruck that the gynealogy of Jesus can be traced back to Abraham & Isaac when their Daddy read the chapter on Abraham and Sarah from the Jesus Storybook Bible.

James 1:2-8 (Hard Life, Good God)

So much to think through and learn from!
http://marshill.com/media/james-jesus-s-bold-little-brother/james-1-2-8

Catching up

Sat: Spent it at my parents' place since Hubby is in Taiwan.
Sun: Skipped church, girls have a cold infection, stayed home.
Mon: Had a nice Coffee Bean tea time alone while waiting for the girls to finish piano.
Tues: At night, D slept late due to FaceTime with Hubby, I dozed off after he finally slept at 11pm or so. Woke up after midnight, had to wash bottles, prep laundry, bed sheets before Shama came on Wed. Slept around 2.30am without showering.
Wed: I overslept! Woke up at 6.45am I think. At least I got extra 45 min of zzz! Mad rush to prep kids for sch and get the house ready for Shama to clean (yes it's ridiculous). And then rushed to Claire's place for the Mothers' Group meeting. Good to share and know fellow mums in similar journeys, though different stages.

Tonight, Hubby comes home! :)

Walking!

After waiting for almost one week shy of 16 months, D finally starts walking bravely! Now I've to start working on my sprints to catch up with this toddling tot!! He is fast and dangerous!

Taiwan

Hubby's on the way to Taiwan with his class for a school trip.

Stomachache

Yesterday, #3 had a stomachache from school. He was hunched over, miserable, could hardly eat his lunch. So I took a step of faith, prayed for God to heal him, remove the pain. He was touched, teared a little (just like how i normally would when loved ones pray for me!). And about 10 min later he got well, was up and eating normally again. I reminded him of the prayer. He looked up and said "Thank You, God" with a smile.

Thank You, God!

Last weekend

Had breakfast with my folks at IMM then we joined Hubby at Taka to shop. Ended up buying lotsa books at Kino. Bought Tori-Q takeaways for the family with nowhere to sit down to eat, so we ended up at the Botanic Gardens again to have our lunch. HOT 1pm+ sun scorching down on my back. The kids all looked like peaches by the end of the meal. Good to get some sunshine and sweat it out, I say!

Sunday was church, followed by lunch at the uncrowded J-Cube. Canton Paradise is actually reasonably priced. It worked out to be about $10 per head.

Monday. Oh Monday. #2 had to poop but took like 20 min to get it out. Sent #1 down to tell bus driver to wait but after 15 min he left!! 😡😡 Called him and thankfully he was still in the condo premises so he managed to send #2 to school. It was a pretty stressful Monday morning!

I got my me-time after I dropped off the girls at piano class and got my ice blended original mocha at Coffee Bean. It was gooooood. Just me and my iPhone and a cupful of caffeine, sugar and mocha. No kids, no whinings, no diapers to change, no cries. I so need more of this! 

Developing a distaste

Sometimes half the battle is won when I reason out, figure out, and am convinced that something is either not worth the time or money, or is bad for me.

I hardly play computer games because it is a waste of time to me. I go meh when loved ones ask me to play computer games with them, unless it is Kinect games and the family bonds over the silly action games and I get to sweat it out a bit.

I think it's ridiculous and an absolute waste of money to pay for a Birkin. Status symbol my foot. No matter how filthy rich you are, a Birkin is NOT worth its price tag. If you buy it as a status symbol then I feel sorry for you. Is your sense of identiy and self-worth based on that piece of overpriced leather on your arm?

I heard from a sermon once that when people try so hard to impress others with what they wear or own (flashy car, flashy house, flashy yacht, etc), they are actually trying to impress people who don't really matter! Do you buy a Rolex to impress your spouse? Your best friend? Your parents or kids? Would they care if you wear a Prada or a Bata? People who truly matter are your family and close friends. You don't need to do anything to impress them or win them over. They accept you and LOVE you, just as you are, not for what you own or wear. If you own an object that represents a status symbol to impress distant relatives (hello CNY!), acquaintances, colleagues, or even strangers, does that *not* make any sense? Why try so hard to impress people who are not important in your life?

I develop a distaste for things that don't make sense, are illogical, wasteful or unhelpful. That helps me to filter out very quickly how I spend my time and money.

But developing a distaste is only half the battle won. When I choose to be content with what I have, I realise I have so much more.
Contentment is a choice.
Thankfulness is a choice.
Thankfulness changes everything.
Battle won.

Legacy

What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind?

I want to see my family all loving and serving God together.
I want to see my kids marry godly people and worship God together with their children.
I want to see my parents and brother saved.

That is my dream.

Honour

God gave us His best, PERFECT, unblemished gift.
How can we give Him damaged, unwanted, leftovers of what we have? Bring a dirty, lame and blind lamb to the altar? Where is the honour?
Do we give a damaged, broken toy to our kids for their birthday?
Do we give the President a half-drunk bottle of cheap beer as a gift?

Weariness

It is okay to be weary from ministry.
It's not good to be weary of ministry.

Tired? Exhausted?

Be tired for the right things.

First bus ride

I seldom get to travel with #3 on the public bus ever since he started kindy. So today, I had to bring him alone to attend a briefing in the girls' school (to make it easier for MIL to manage the other 3), and he was so thrilled by the short bus ride. Tapping the EZ-link card, pressing the button to alight, tapping the card again... He thought it was so fun! I asked him if he remembered the times when I brought him out to plaza to do grocery shopping with me, carrying him in the pouch sling, or holding my hand, then being carried up to the bus by me, sitting together on the bus.... ALL these memories and experiences, he cannot remember at all. Today's bus ride was almost like his first one all over again.
Well I remember, and I do miss the adorable toddler years. How I wish I could video record all my kids' toddler years. I miss my toddler-stage kids.

Eternity in the hearts of man

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

~:Ecclesiastes 3:11:~

Attend a church service while ironing clothes

Okay not exactly attend a church service.
I've realised that putting the iPad on the kid's bed in front of me while I iron away the family's clothes is really killing two birds with one stone. I get fed with God's Word through the sermon that I watch online (from Mars Hill Church) and I also get to clear my piles of laundry. I HATE spending time on ironing, but watching sermons while doing this chore is making it something that I'm looking forward to.

But what happens when my toddler stops taking his morning naps? Aiyaya. When will I ever find time to do my ironing and sermon thing? God, please help me to figure this one out.

You know you're tired when...

... You fall asleep halfway while waiting to feed your toddler the next scoop of porridge.
... You fall asleep while waiting for the same toddler to fall asleep and you wake up to find that the toddler hasn't slept yet but has pooped a smelly diaper while you concussed for 40 winks.
.. You find the iPad screen still switched on while you took your 40 winks... you must have left your finger on the screen and "liked" a dozen random posts while your brain was switched off in lalaland.

Go home, hormones, you're drunk.

PMS sux.

Fri, Sat

Fri morning was spent clearing about half of my ironing load. Too much backlog, too little time.

Sat morning, breakfast with my parents at IMM's McDonald's. Pathetic serving of their breakfast wrap, the Sunrise Roll. This is evidence:

It's smaller than a hash brown. 

School reopens!

Kids are back in school and Hubby starts work. I restart my going to the supermarket with D in my pouch sling routine again while all of them are away in their various schools. Had a Toffee Nut Frap to err, celebrate. Yeah I love my kids and all that but boy, they can be SO NOISY when stuck at home.
Cheers!