Confessions of a headless chicken

This is what homeschool looks like these days: messy and pretty random. We do most of our "schoolwork" during Baby J's nap. However, these days I've been finding that time frame really tight, as many times Baby J wakes up after a sleep cycle and screams for me. Sometimes I manage to get him back to sleep, sometimes I don't. Whatever the case, it means I'm usually trying to make the boys scurry along with regards to their "schooling", and that rushed feeling isn't something I'm enjoying. Many times, we are still doing stuff when Baby J wakes, and I end up having a baby in my lap trying to draw on our books as I try to read to the older two.

Our schedule has been rather full. We are out of the house 3-4 times a week, for co-ops or swim class. (Junior J does piano class but my dad accompanies him to class, since it's parent accompanied and I can't bring the other 2 along.) So mornings are usually a mad dash to get everyone ready and out of the door on time. (Seriously, how do you mums get your kids out of the door in the mornings? Does it get easier?)

I think the rushing about and the having to juggle baby amidst doing school has been taking a toll on me. (I won't even start on the mummy guilt!) Most days I feel like a headless chicken. Each day, I am so tired after a day of scurrying that I end up sleeping early with the baby. I guess that is a good thing as I get more sleep, but it means goodbye to blog posts and crafting, and I am very behind replying my emails.

So this headless chicken has been trying to find a head, and I've been thinking. The craziness I can't really help, since life at home with three is like that, and it is a season in our family we'll have to grow through and work out. The toddler is busy learning, he is busy climbing, grabbing pencils and drawing on everything he finds. However, I could make some sense of the madness if I try to organize myself a little, and engage the youngest in more activities. Also, we've decided to only attend one of our co-ops every other week, so that I get some breathing room.

Blog-wise, I realize I haven't been able to do much of the things I enjoy: sharing about books that we love, doing DIY projects for the home, or crafts with the kids, or taking pictures. I realize these are the things that make me happy, and I hope to dabble more in these in time to come, when we are more settled homeschool-wise. I've been introducing more crafts with the older two these days, and I admit these are the times I really enjoy, just that I've no time to blog about them! Meanwhile, you'll find more snippets over at our Instagram rather than here.

So here's to a blessed weekend!

Prune: The stories we tell

This is my life. It's made of simple things like three little boys in jammies,
bad days, good days, split milk and tears. So this is also what my blog is about.

The advertisers and companies naturally started writing after the blog awards. It was nice, at first, getting emails and requests to review this or that, and getting stuff for the kids or our family to try. It felt great, being able to run giveaways where readers could win something, where we could "give back" to our supporters. So the blog became like one of the happening lifestyle or parenting blogs. We reviewed stuff. We gave away stuff. I had shout-outs on social media. I busied myself replying emails to this and that company. I slept less, because I was up late trying to write.

But after awhile, it started getting very, very tiring. And I realized that this whole review / giveaway / "hey look here's the latest cafe to check out with your kids" thing wasn't me. It was me, trying to be like a popular blogger. It was me, trying on a blogging persona that didn't fit. Some bloggers do it very well: they are prompt and regular in their posts, they write honest reviews, they enjoy sharing about places to check out or dine in. But me? I like staying home with my kids to read. I find reviews tough, and they took a lot of time (and energy) to write. In fact, some bloggers have shared that they are cutting down on advertorials and reviews because it's not easy. Then why do we do it? To benefit others with knowledge or information? To get some free deal? To gain more readers? 

After being very honest with myself, I've concluded that reviews and advertorials are not the thing for me. So for this year, in line with my intent to prune, we would be very very selective with what we say yes to. The occasional review for things that are useful and needed by our kids, yes. Reviews for little start-up companies, yes, simply because I know first-hand how difficult it is to start and keep a business running. Write-ups about things we use and love, yes. Book reviews are likely a yes in most cases, because we cannot seem to say no to a good book! But those things aside, it would most probably be a no, because there are bloggers out there who can do a better job at those reviews, and there's only that much time I have for this blog.

This blog was started as a repository of our stories: of the books we read together, of the crafts we made together, of our learning, our struggles and our journey as a family. If this blog is an ongoing storybook of our family, then reviews and giveaways don't really fit into the chapters very nicely. I know it means my readership is bound to go down (who wants to read about having to discipline so and so the nth time anyway?), but at least I know that I have not lost my voice in the writing of this blog. 

For the year ahead, I'm hoping to continue to write about our homeschooling journey, so hopefully we'll be able to share about the learning that's going on at home, our struggles and what is working for us. That aside, I'll keep doing my Thankful Tuesday posts, because those keep me looking out and up, as well as Our Week posts, because they help me to look back and reflect on the week that has past. I also hope to share more about our decluttering efforts and home projects.

Whatever the case, thank you so much for reading and following us on our journey. Do hang around still, ok? 

Enough

I've been thinking hard about the year ahead. What do we want to achieve as a family? What do I want to achieve in 2015? And the one word that came to mind for the past few days is:

PRUNE.

I've been feeling the intense need to prune. To cut down, to weed away the unnecessary. To scrape away what might just be rotting away. It doesn't apply just to our possessions, but to various aspects of our lives. Our schedules. The stuff we do. The things we say. The time we spend on doing various things. Bad habits.

So for the first half of 2015, "prune" is going to be my one little word. I am currently decluttering our closets (read here on why starting on clothes is a good idea). After those closets, I hope to tackle our books (that would be tough though). I've been spending a lot less time online (more about pruning the blog in another post), and getting more sleep in general.

All in all, pruning can be somewhat painful, but I think it does trim away so that growth can happen. And pruning can be liberating, because it makes you realize that what you do have is enough, and where you are is enough.

Do you have a little word for the year ahead? What's it going to be?

Thankful Tuesday: 2014

2014 was a fruitful year. It was the year of learning to care for three little boys, something that I still am learning how to do better. It was the year of seeing all three of them grow, bit by little bit.

It was the year we "officially" started homeschooling (here are our reasons why we chose to do so). We started using our blackboard wall for lessons. We built, we explored, we learnt together as a family. We started attending co-ops with other homeschoolers. 

2014 was our year of discovery. The hubs and I made a trip to Australia with Baby J, and it was our first year travelling without the older two. For me, it was a year of learning more about why I blog, and further refining my voice over in this space. It was also a time of picking up new skills, and learning how to run an online shop. 

2014 was a year of surprises and blessings. It was a time of laughter and tears, of Junior J learning how to read, of walking alongside Lil J as he went through the terrible twos, of baby cuddles and kisses and time with family. It was having the privilege of winning the Singapore blog awards, and of making new friends. 

It had its fair share of challenges, but it was a blessed year. As we look back at 2014, I cannot help but notice how remarkably full our lives are now, and I am thankful. 

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Onward 2015

Hello 2015! I must say I'm looking forward to you. 2014 was a year of adjusting with 3 littles, and I must say it was rather tough. Now that baby J is older, I'm hoping things would be a little easier. Here's to more learning, more exploring, and more growing in the year ahead!

I know things have been really quiet on the blog for the past two months or so. I guess there haven't been many noteworthy things to write about, and I was feeling rather tired about the whole blogging thing. We've recently been on an overseas trip with two other homeschooling families, so I've been focusing more on being with family and friends. (Baby J really enjoyed his time at the beach. He makes a bee-line for the waves like a baby turtle, and isn't fazed when the waves splash on him!) It's been a refreshing break being away from the computer, but I am looking forward blogging regularly in the weeks to come. 

Have a blessed week, folks!

Another year older

December is a month of birthdays. The hubs and I are born in this last month of the year, and we just celebrated baby J turning 1. It was a simple celebration: both pairs of grandparents, a home-cooked dinner, and an agar agar cake made by my mum for the little boy. He was most happy to eat it!

Anyway, this boy's birthday is really close to mine. (We were wondering if he would actually arrive on my birthday!) And so, I'm another year older, and hopefully, another year wiser.

I guess as we grow older, birthdays tend to lose their significance. But on this day, I am thankful for the year that has passed, learning how to be Mama to three little boys. It has been quite a fruitful year, and I hope that the rest of the year can be spent with family, resetting and getting ready for a new year ahead.

Here's to a blessed weekend!

Once there was a girl...

... who loved animals very much. She wanted to be a vet. She would spend her recesses trying to catch tadpoles in drains, and even tried to bring some to her father in a Vitagen bottle as a get well soon gift when he was in hospital (her mother was aghast, and made her release the tadpoles, amidst alot of tears). She poured over books by James Herriot. She brought stray cats home, much to her mother's horror. Her parents told her gently that you had to go overseas to study if you wanted to be a vet, so she contented herself with taking her of her stuffed animals instead.

She had a pet lamb, whom she named Lammy, and he was like Mary's little lamb: he followed her wherever she went.

As she grew older, those dreams about being a vet slowly faded away. These were replaced by dreams of being an interior designer. The dreams started when she first chanced upon an Ikea catalogue in her grandparent's house. She started drawing out possible layouts of her rooms, and proposing all sorts of room re-dos. Her parents acceded to some of her requests, and ignored some others. She even took part in an Ikea teenage room design competition, and was delighted that she got to eat in the staff area, and have Swedish meatballs for lunch everyday. She hung on to those dreams and those Ikea catalogues... until she was again reminded that there was no local uni degree on interior design.

She went on to study... and eventually became a teacher. There, she scratched her design itch designing covers of her students' notes. Her love for animals meant she enjoyed teaching Biology.

Now many years later... she is still a teacher, but to three little boys who call her Mama. She is happy because she gets to design the rooms in her own home. She still gets looks of horror, this time from her hubby, when she proposes crazy DIY projects. And Lammy? He now has new owners, who don't treat him as well. They don't want to be vets, but one is a self-proclaimed paleontologist, another likes being a doctor and pretending to poke people with syringes, and the third just likes chewing on Lamy.

Those Ikea catalogues got thrown out after almost 20 years (she kept every single catalogue from 1992 to 2010!)... but those dreams and memories tied up in Lammy? Those still stay... but are slowly being replaced by the hopes and dreams of three little boys.

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." 

- Tom Stoppard 

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This post is part of a blog train hosted by Agatha from Green Issues by Agy on "I Didn't Throw It Away". Tomorrow, hop over to Dominique's Desk. Dominique, who is a supermum of three, will be sharing about the oldest item she has at home: her piano.

About this blog train: We have become such a throw-away society, but there are some things in our households that we still keep. Why is that so? Perhaps this blog train can unlock the reasons behind it! Follow the daily posts on this blog train and read about the stories behind the things we have kept for many years and why we didn't throw them away.  

Weekend wonderings: Thank you

We went for the Singapore Blog Awards ceremony yesterday. We were told it was going to be a derby theme, so me and a couple of other mum blogger friends turned up in our big hats. Hubby came along with me, and so did baby J, who gamely endured his Mama's attempts to dress him up as a horse. 

It was baby J's lunch time, so I was busy feeding him his oatmeal when they announced the results. Our blog won the "Best Family Blog" award! I was standing there, shocked, a thermos of oatmeal in my hand, my fingers sticky with oatmeal and clutching some rather gummy wet wipes. I wasn't sure if I'd heard correctly, since I'd just recovered from the flu and my hearing was still fuzzy. 

Hubby told me to "GO!", and all I could ask him was the silliest thing ever: Where do I put the oatmeal? (It was a standing event and there was no nearby table.) Anyway, he grabbed the thermos, and gave me a gentle push and I somehow made it to the stage.

Everything right now feels rather surreal, but oh, I do so want to say a big "Thank You!". To my husband, who has been the blog's most faithful reader, and my pillar of strength. To my kids, who give me so many reasons to write. To my parents and in-laws, who have been so supportive. To all my friends, who have been reading, and encouraging me and praying for me. To all my mum blogger friends, for all your warmth and friendships. To all you dear readers, who drop by, and always leave me heartened by your comments, emails, and presence. 

Thank you for voting for us, for sharing in this amazing journey we call parenthood, for just being there. And thank You, God, for all these opportunities, and for giving me so much to be thankful for. 

We give thanks. 

I hope you've been having a blessed weekend!

Thinking aloud, and a thank you

I sat down just now, intending to write up a post on the books we read about the solar system. But there were so many thoughts churning around in my head I felt I just needed to think aloud over here:

:: Life at home has been pretty full. We've been managing our time a little better, and now we manage to squeeze in some English and Chinese reading each day. Lil J now asks to do Math when he sees his brother doing his lessons, so we've been practicing counting. The boys play pretty well together, and nowadays, the baby tries to join in the fun. Lil J isn't too happy with him drooling on the toy biscuits or grabbing his construction vehicles, but Junior J has been most happy to play with baby J. I love watching them hang around each other, and I am loving this noisy, messy reality which we call family.

:: The terrible twos have been quite a challenge. Gettting Lil J to nap these days usually takes time, and sometimes gets frustrating. But on days that he senses you are getting angry, he flashes his smile at you and tells you sweetly that he loves you. Also, the boys can also get up to all sorts of mischief, like finding my spray bottle and leaving large wet puddles of water everywhere, including on the piano. Home design these days has been less about aesthetics, and more about functionality. And about keeping everything that may be used to damage other things out of their reach. Like spray bottles, or permanent markers.

:: There are so many things I would like to do with the boys. And there are so many projects I would like to work on, and so many ideas I want to try out! These days I find that there seems to be more and more balls to juggle. I am reminded that I need to simplify, remember my priorities, and keep focused. So this season, we focus on getting our rhythm of learning going. And making our home and learning spaces work for us.

:: Getting into the finals of the Singapore Blog Awards has been such an eye-opener. Friends and family telling you they are voting and rooting for you. Learning that our little Thankful Tuesday linky helps to remind others to count their blessings. Having people write in to say they are encouraged, or wanting to know more about homeschooling.

For me, the past few weeks have already made me feel like a winner. For me, just knowing that these posts might make a tiny difference is all that matters when it comes to blogging.

So I really want to say thank you. For voting, for your encouragement, for just popping by to read or leave a line or two. All your kind words, your support, these matter and have blessed me so so much!

Monday Musings: Reflections on blogging

This is how blogging looks like these days.
I only get to write after the kids are asleep, and I use the time spent writing to unwind,
with the buzzing baby monitor for company, as well as a nice hot cup of milo.
I blog on my laptop, which has one key cover missing courtesy of Lil J's itchy fingers. I
ronically, the letter that is missing is the most used alphabet for us: J. 

Writing this blog has been quite a journey. It started off as a means to record our life as a family and Junior J's milestones, and along the way, our learning activities and crafts got added to the mix. I've discovered that I love to share what we do, as I've been inspired greatly by the sharing of other mums. Blogging also builds community in a variety of ways, and I've been blessed by the people I've gotten to know through this blog. I'm thankful that God gives these avenues for self-expression and for linking up with others.

Speaking of community, I'm really excited that we've been selected as a finalist in the Family Blog category in the Singapore Blog Awards! I'm still in shock, but also very thankful, especially for all the support we've gotten from our friends and family. Thank you, dear readers, for reading, for leaving comments, for your encouragement and prayers. I thank God for all of you. 

That's us, at the bottom right corner. (But I think the pictures do shift each day.)

Here's how you can vote:
1. Hop over to this page. 
2. You should get a prompt to sign into your Facebook account, if you are not signed in.
3. Sign in, and click on the "Family category", and click the vote button! We are signed up under the blog's name "Mum in the Making". :)

You can vote once a day for each category, for the whole month of July, and I'm really grateful for those who have voted for us. Thank you so much! I'm feeling rather shy to ask for votes, so I guess I'm not going to mention about voting anymore. Do check out the other blogs, and I'm sure you'll be able to find some that you might like to bookmark for your reading. 

~~~~~~~

The blog awards aside, I've been invited by another mum blogger, Estella, to blog about my writing process as part of a blog hop. I enjoy reading Estella's blog, especially her posts on home and design (after all, most of my regular reads are design blogs). I also admire her optimistic nature, and how it shines in her posts, since I know it must tough doing solo-parenting as her hubby is now based overseas. You can read her about her writing process here.

Anyway, I thought it was apt to take you behind the scenes of this blog, especially as an introduction for those who are hopping over from the blog awards page, so here goes:

a. What am I working on? 

I'm currently trying to finish a few reviews, while trying to sort out the boys' homeschooling activities. I'm hoping to share more about homeschool and our journey, as we stumble along figuring out how to live and learn with the boys. It's both exciting and a little scary at times, having the responsibility of education placed squarely on our shoulders, and I hope to share more in the future. I'm also hoping to work on more crafty ideas, which I would love to share in time to come!

b. How does my work differ from others in its genre?  

The blog is a reflection of our life. As each family is unique, our experiences and journey would differ too, and I guess that means each blog tells a different story. In general, I tend to shy away from most reviews, and as a family we like pottering in parks, so we are probably not quite the usual parenting lifestyle blog you'd go to for the latest happenings and giveaways. We homeschool, so you'll be reading a lot more about learning, and not so much about tips on surviving or preparing for Primary school. 

c. Why do I write what I do? 

I guess I write because I enjoy the process of writing, of putting feelings and thoughts into words. I also like the idea of chronicling down the story of our family, and telling our story through text as well as photos. I've learnt that words can be powerful, and with the internet and social media, words do have a lot of impact, and can be either a positive or negative influence. I am hoping that this blog can be used for good: for championing social causes (like our recent fund-raiser for MINDS), for sharing how motherhood can be tough, life can be messy, but how children are such blessings. Also, I hope that by writing about homeschooling, we can increase awareness about this alternative for education, and also remove common misconceptions about socialization and the need to be perfect parent educators. 

d. How does my writing process work? 

I don't really follow a set process for writing. Most times, I have a topic that I wish to write about, and then it usually takes a few days to slowly write a post (Writing relaxes me, but I am a slow writer and words do not come easily to me.). Sometimes I already have photos I would like to use, sometimes I go about snapping and editing photos to suit the post. Sometimes, the photos are the ones that inspire the post. It's relatively free-flow!

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To continue this blog hop, I've invited two of my favourite bloggers to share their own writing process:

Evelyn is a mum to two, and one of the coolest mums I know. I really enjoy reading her blog because of her ability to write well, and I've invited her because I am so curious to find out more about her writing process. 

You'd enjoy reading the thoughts and reflections on her blog, as well as the crafts that she shares. She blogs over at "The Bottomups Blog", and you can read about her blogging process here.

Susan is mum to little Sophie, and I take my hat off to how she manages to juggle between work, motherhood, crafting, preparing healthy meals and exercising. She is also a fellow "washi-oholic" who loves her tapes! She is a great example and shows that it is possible to find time amidst our busyness to get moving and get fit, and she blogs over at "A Juggling Mum". You can find out more about her writing process here. 

The ride of our life

We left the hotel Wednesday afternoon and headed home.  We only managed to check out at around one, since we all overslept and then Junior J and the hubby went to the pool.  Baby J threw up for the fourth time, and I ended up trying to pack up with him strapped to me.  Junior J threw a tantrum while we were trying to pack, insisting that we carried him.  Before that, he tried to do a WWF stunt on his brother by jumping off the side of the sofa onto the bed on which baby J was lying on, and got smacked for that.  Understandably we weren't in too good a mood by the time we left, but everything proceeded smoothly and we reached Seremban (after getting lost for a bit) and had a yummy beef noodle lunch (everything else was already closed!).

We were leaving Seremban when the hubby heard a "pop" sound, and the car's air con DIED.  So we had to drive 3 hours in sweltering hot weather (it was 30 plus outside and sunny) back to Singapore, without any air con.  We couldn't open the windows, since the wind would have caused a lot of drag.  We had two options: either use the fan to circulate warm air around the car, or pipe air from outside into the car.  Either way, it just meant we were traveling in a sauna.  At high speed.  In the end, we opted for both: we piped air in most of the time, and switched to just circulating the air when we drove near heavy vehicles belching exhaust fumes.  Thankfully, when the heat began to get unbearable, it started to rain.  I have never been so thankful for rain in my whole life!  But the rain stopped after about 20 minutes, and things started heating up again.

Then we made a rest stop to feed baby J, plus check on him, since we were worried he might overheat.  He was drenched so we decided to just leave him in only his diaper! So we zoomed all the way back to SG and crossed customs (the immigration folk must be wondering why our baby was almost naked).  Breathed a sigh of relief, only to get stuck in a jam.  One that crawled on for 30 minutes.  Baby J started to cry, so I managed to squirm to the back to carry him.  After inching forward bit by bit for what seemed like eternity, I started feeling claustrophobic.  The back of the car was even hotter than the front, and I was wedged between 2 car seats, holding the sweaty hand of a toddler and carrying a very hot, bothered and squirmy baby.  I think if the jam continued, I might have opened the door and make a run for it.  To anywhere, just away from that furnace of a car!

Finally made it home.  Cool showers have never felt so good before!  All in all, we're thankful that even though we were traveling in terrible conditions, Junior J didn't fuss at all, and was content to nap for the first part and then drink his cold juice for the second part.  Baby J also managed to nap for some time, even in the heat.  Whatever the case, we've decided that for March's trip back to Penang, we'd better fly back instead!

Thankful Tuesdays: Away on adventures

We've been away on an adventure.  We went on this trip to Malaysia to settle Baby J's application for Malaysian citizenship, as well as to collect Junior J's documents for citizenship.  Our first venture overseas as a family of four!  Its been quite a trip... We survived the almost 5 hour drive up to Putrajaya.  We timed it during Junior J's nap, but the brothers took turns waking each other up (baby J had a couple of long-drawn screaming sessions in the car seat), so the older boy hardly napped and had a meltdown when we reached the hotel ("I don't want to be in KL! I want to go hooooommmmmeeeee! GO HOME GO HOME!", along with screaming and crying).

Baby J has been having bad reflux and threw up on me 3 times thus far, and Junior J also threw up once when he got too excited playing after a heavy breakfast.  The baby also had a mega poop that leaked all over us.  The toilet seems to always be filled with a whole line of dripping laundry... and I think the hotel staff aren't too fond of us at the rate we've been requesting for changes in quilts and bedsheets.  They might probably ban us from there in the future!

Puke aside, its been quite a pleasant trip, and I think we've all been enjoying ourselves.  We've not visited many places, save for the Alamanda shopping centre to get a few things, JPN for citizenship matters and the wetlands park area where there were storks, pelicans and ducks galore... plus loads of white furry caterpillars (we saw one and thought it was cute, then we spotted 2 more, and thought that was cool... and then we realized the whole ground was actually crawling with them, and decided to make a run for it!).  We've been taking things easy, just hanging out at the pool and having long leisurely breakfasts.

So this week, I am thankful for:

:: God's protection and journey mercies.

:: This short break of 4 days where we can just hang out together as a family, making up silly songs (like about baby J being "the smallest fry with the loudest cry") and having meals together.

:: Being able to catch up on sleep for the past few days (I've been sleeping much earlier as we have to keep the lights off for the kids, and its nice not having to wake up earlier to prepare breakfast!).

:: The warm sunny weather in Malaysia... and ice-cold drinks when it gets too hot.

Pink drink in pink cup.  Don't you love the cheery colour of bundung?

:: Lovely staff at JPN that helped to make the application process as quick as possible (even though their  computer systems went down for some time), seeing that we had a 3 month old baby in tow.

:: Yummy curry and local food.  Yummy Japanese food.  Hearty breakfasts.

:: Having a nice big bed with clean sheets to collapse into at the end of each day:

:: Simple things that keep little minds occupied.  I didn't bring any toys for the kids this round (save for some art materials, Junior J's bear and a magnifying glass that the boy has been fascinated with).  Baby J has been content to just gurgle at us, while Junior J has been finding his own things to play with: leaves gleaned from walks, shells from a Japanese dinner that can be shaken in a coffee cup...

:: Splashing good times at the pool for the big boys...

... and fuzzy robes to wrap those who aren't too fond of the water (he screamed when we tried to put him in!):

:: New milestones: Baby J has been playing with his hands nowadays and loves trying to pat our faces... And his brother is now able to poop in public toilets (something he used to be afraid of doing, which meant that we had to stay home if he didn't go for a day)!  That also means the boy is eating a lot better.  I'm glad that we decided to cook his meals (so that we didn't have to worry about MSG, and we get to eat our spicy food), so no regrets dragging the mini-steamer along with all the food to cook!

Have a blessed week, friends, and don't forget to count your blessings!  

What are you thankful for?

PS: We'll be having our first grateful gathering on the 31st of Jan, where you can link up on Tuesdays and give thanks along with other bloggers. Stay tuned for more details!

Weekend wanderings: Older

It was the hubby's birthday yesterday, and we made this little "art piece" for him.  Just our handprints on a little canvas, which I thought would be pretty simple, and I stuck on the words and the heart first on the canvas:

The hand-printing part wasn't as easy as expected though.  Junior J got all excited and said he wanted to print all over the canvas, and I had to restrain him and promise that he could do his printing on another piece of paper after that.  Baby J screamed his head off when I applied paint on his hand, and refused to open his palm, and after a few tries the best I got was a smushed up version of his handprint.  Then the paint seeped behind the lettering so I ended up patching it up with white paint while hiding from the hubby in the study.  Anyway, not one of our best projects, but the hubby loved it, so we're really glad. :) 

Junior J also made a card, and I held his hand to write the words:

The inside was layered thick with paint, along with all sorts of texture (he recently made the discovery that he could scrap paint off using the end of his paintbrush):

Didn't have time to do anything nicer like making a cake or breakfast in bed, but we did have dinner at Labrador Seafood (we've never gone there before and I thought it would be nice to bring the family for a walk around the area before dinner, only it rained buckets and we nearly even ditched our plans to visit the place!).  The hubby loves seafood, especially crab, so I thought the place would be perfect.  The crab was pretty yummy...

... but the rest of the food (the supposedly good mee goring and satay) wasn't fantastic.  They do have a pretty wide range of dishes there though:

We had a good laugh about the giant squid.  Heehee.  

Junior J did enjoy the satay though (give him anything on a stick and a sauce for dipping and he's good to go!), and promptly helped himself to one before any of us had started on dinner!

Caught in the act!

All in all, I think the hubby had a pretty good time.  Happy birthday dear, we love you!

Its nearly impossible to catch a shot of everyone looking at the camera!

Thoughts on passing thirty

I turn 31 today.  I went back to look at this list written more than a year ago, and realized that I've managed to cross out slightly more than two thirds of the list.  And how about the remaining things?  Well... the habit of having quiet time in the morning is still something I'm trying to do.  The book remains half read.  Taking more photos as a family?  Still something that we have to work on.  And of course, there are some items on the list that I didn't manage to make...

However, as I look back on the year that's past, I've realized that its been one that has been filled.  Full of God's grace and blessings.  Packed with loving, learning and making.  We battled poop problems and saw Junior J grow up and become brave enough to sleep on his own each night.  We welcomed another boy into the family.  We made new friends, and kept in contact with the old ones.  There were falls, and stitches, laughter, smiles.  We worried, we prayed, we learnt to trust God more.

The wedding album didn't surface.  But a baby album and a whole load of scrapping went on.  There was a lot of art messes made, and a lot of paint used.  We read loads of books.  

It has been one challenging year, but looking back, it has been also one wonderful year.  So we're looking ahead...

... and trusting that God will bring us through the coming year, as He always has.   Guess growing one year older just means that you've experienced God's grace for another year!

PS: The two boys gave very different presents to their mama: the little one decided to throw up all over me this morning, while the older boy managed to poop.  Junior J went to the potty with his penguin, made the penguin poop, and then strained hard and declared "I can poopoo and I don't need the medicine to help me, come out naughty poopoo!" (we had to give him something yesterday as he was stuck again), and out came a big pile of poop (ok sorry, too much info).  That to me, was probably one of the best presents ever, even though it was a tad too... um, fragrant!

Thankful Tuesdays: The ministry of the mundane

I woke up this morning, did my quiet time and read this verse:

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

- 1 Corinthians 10:31

The stay home mum and/or homemaker's job is challenging and many a times, a thankless task.  After all, most days, you won't notice how the clothes end up neatly folded or hung in the wardrobe, until the article of clothing you urgently need is in the laundry bin.  Or how baby smells fresh and clean even though he's been pooping 12 times a day.

Little thought usually is spent wondering how dinner ends up on the table, and how the plates get miraculously washed up at the end of the day.  Or about how much effort it actually takes to keep the house neat and tidy.  It is the things that are not done that are glaringly obvious:  the overflowing laundry basket, the dust on the shelves, the tornado of toys that are strewn across the whole house, or the dinner that is late... while things that are done are usually just fade into the background.  Its no wonder that some of our mums who stay home end up becoming rather bitter about not being appreciated, or become very tired of it all.  There is no promotion for washing dishes well, no performance bonus for consistently getting home-cooked meals on the table everyday.  The work is never-ending, and the rewards, hardly tangible.

I do admit that in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of daily chores and the caring of my family, I sometimes forget that home-making, staying home and even the care of children is a ministry in itself.  What sometimes is seen as a maid's job are ways that I can serve the needs of my family.  That my time spent in wiping spills, cleaning art messes, wiping poopy butts are part and parcel of the journey in raising boys, who might eventually be the heads of their own households.  That cooking healthy meals to fill the stomach of my family can matter, even though there is no certificate or award to show for it.

So today, with this reminder, I am most thankful for this blessing of being able to stay home and manage my own little household.  To be able to spend time with my boys, cuddling the baby while cheering the older one as he valiantly tries to poop in his potty ("go away poopoo, you cannot escape", we shout).  Being fed play food throughout the day from an imaginary fruit stall.  Having random birthday parties where everyone (including a whole menagerie of animals) wears "sugar hats" and sings "Happy birthday to mama and Juju!" and eats birthday cake that looks suspiciously like alphabets:

I am also thankful that while it is a tiring job, there is someone to share the journey and the burdens with, and that he is so willing to help out at home.  Of course, the days where we take a break from the mundane and eat out are nice too!

And I am most thankful that while some days may be overwhelming (like when baby refuses to naps and cries and you end up having to cook with one hand and nurse the baby in the other... or when everything seems to go wrong), we can always lean on the promise that we can do all things through Him.  And that He will give us strength for each day.

It is a ministry of the mundane.  But I am thankful that it is a ministry that matters, and that I can be a part of it.  What are you thankful today?

Baby J's birth story

Its already been 1 week since Baby J arrived!  Time really seems to have zoomed by.  Thought I should pen down his birth story before the post-pregnancy amnesia sinks in...

Those of you following this blog would know that the Braxton Hicks contractions for the previous few weeks were pretty strong (and we had a few false alarms too).  I wasn't too sure how to tell if it was going to be the real thing or not, and hubby kept asking me "How far apart are they?  Are they regular?".  Last Thursday, the contractions were coming on and off at a rate of 2-3 an hour, and I think I freaked my hairdresser out by constantly timing my contractions while he was trimming my hair (good thing I did get that haircut, since we ended up at the hospital the next day!).

Friday (21st Oct) rolled by, and the contractions were still pretty frequent.  My gynae did a check that morning, and told us it was going to be soon, probably the next day, or even that night itself!  Then she told us some bad news: she was going to be in KL to give a talk on Sunday, so she would have to arrange for back-up if I happened to need to deliver on Sunday.

What followed was a whole flurry of activity.  We decided to go for a nice lunch with Junior J (just in case it was Mama's "last supper" before she had to go on the confinement diet), then it was back home for the boy's nap.  We had to rush down to the hospital after the boy woke up, to sign the forms for the cord blood banking (we had totally forgot to arrange for this!).  Little boy insisted on playing at the playground after that, and since the contractions seemed to be getting more frequent, I decided to sit in the car to rest while waiting for them.  I started timing them properly, and realized with a start, that they were actually coming at a regular interval of 7 minutes!

We decided to risk it and went to drop off the boy at my parent's place (initially I had hoped we'd be able to put him to bed first, since he was used to us doing so), gobbled down dinner (my mum would have been most upset if we didn't eat since she had cooked for us, and even tried to make us "tabao" fruits along to the hospital!), ran back home to get some stuff, and rushed back to the hospital again, reaching there at about 8 pm.

Half an hour later, we were all settled in and I got my epidural (yes, I'm a ninny wrt pain, and anyway, the hubby says all his female anaesthetist colleagues opted for epidurals, which more or less vouches for the safety of the procedure).  My gynae popped by, did a check, and thought it'll probably take awhile, and left.  Thinking it'll be a long wait, the hubby settled down to clear some urgent work, while I was googling about how to push (again, it's post-pregnancy amnesia to blame).  Time passed rather uneventfully, except for the time I rolled to my side, and Baby J's heart rate started to drop dramatically (but that was remedied once I rolled to lie on my back).

Then at about 10 plus, the nurse did a check, and decided it was time.  She called my gynae, and then I was asked to wait until she arrived.  She came, and the pushing started.  A couple of eye-ball popping pushes later (I thought I was going to burst the capillaries in my eyes), and Baby J arrived, just slightly after 11 pm!

All in all, I'm really thankful that God saw us through those 9 months, and:

:: That the whole labour process was pretty quick this round (a friend commented that it took a shorter time for me to give birth than for her to finish her beer!), and recovery has been much faster as well.  I'm still not back to normal, but at least I was able to get up and about the next day.

:: That the epidural worked pretty well.  I had the minor side-effects like shivering, nausea and a slight headache, but the pain relief this time was really effective.  I was rather worried about this, since in Junior J's case the epidural didn't cover some of the pain, and they had to give me a second one... (it was supposedly what tends to happen to the spouses of anaesthetists, where pain relief procedures seem to go wrong!)

:: We managed to settle Junior J under my parents' care before going to the hospital (one of our initial worries was that we'd be unable to get them by phone when the time came), and even though it was his first time ever having to go to sleep without papa or mama being around, he was a champ and didn't give his grandparents any problems (in fact, he reportedly told them what to do in our usual routine!).

:: For the quiet week we had, since this round we decided to have a "no visitors rule" for the first week (save for very close friends), to let us settle down and allow for Junior J to get used to his brother's presence.

:: For our parents' help in taking care of Junior J, helping around the house, and my mum, who has been helping in the chores and cooking my confinement food.

So we are still one small happy family, but this family just got a lil' bigger!