Thursday, May 11, 2017
Finding a cause to support
Inspired by "The Year Without a Purchade", I prayed which cause I should give of my money to, should I want to give away more money to furthering God's key ngdom. As I closed my eyes on the train and mentally ran through the different people groups and causes, nothing really stood out to me until I reached the elderly as a group. Something in my heart leapt. Something about th elderly.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
How I Spent Vesak Day
Vesak Day came upon me as a surprise mid-week, and having just come back from legoland Malaysia last weekend (more on that in my next post), I was totally unprepared. What to do with the kids? Should we bring them out AGAIN? Should we just buy that lego X-Wing toy my elder boy has been badgering us to buy and so gain some peace in the household (as he will be busy fixing up those thousands of pieces)?
In the end, my body sort of dictated what to do. As I was coming down with a bad case of runny nose with lots of mucus that would suddenly flow from my nose and demand blowing it in a most vigorous manner, and a tight throat that would lend itself to incessant coughing bouts, I decided in my muggy state of mind on Tue night that I really needed a good sleep on the public holiday, and that is what I did. I turned in relatively early, pleading feeling ill to get my Husband to do more of the chores of putting the kids to bed, and fell asleep at a decent time. Just so happened that since I slept relatively early, I ended up waking up at 7 plus am bright and chipper and feeling much better (ah the powers of sleeping early!). So seized by my newfound sense of well-being, I decided to make a batch of banana pancakes, after mentally taking stock and confirming I had all the ingredients I would need on hand. Turns out the website with the recipe is a little misleading on the prep time and cooking time for the pancakes. Digging in my overstuffed fridge to locate that bottle of baking powder and walking back and forth from the dish rack to get all manner of bowls and spoons and forks took me quite a while and ended up with quite a respectable mess of bowls and dishes for he maid to clean at the end. However, the end result? Respectable pancakes that fed each of my sleepy children as they woke up and I took care to feed them milk later, so they would have appetite to eat. My mum, Husband and maid also each got a pancake and my maid was most appreciative, saying the pancakes were very yummy and she could taste the banana. I realised the pancakes went better with a big dollop of jam and even better with Nutella. Eventually my Daughter caught on and only wanted to eat spoonfuls that were 3/4 Nutella and 1/4 pancake.
Then after a nutritious breakfast, I actually left my kids to their own devices for a while (not before defrosting some meat for lunch) and actually sat down to organise my research for "Difficult Teachings of Christ" which I am facilitating in a few weeks time and to plan my lesson(s). I ended up with about 10-12 possible lessons. And I was scratching my head how not to make it another "lesson" on anger or overcoming sin, but that is a lesson that would challenge them to do something specific and out of the ordinary. And that they would slowly but gradually change to become different from the mould of society and stand out as Christ followers.
Anyway, I spent a good 15 minutes doing this to classical music and was thoroughly enjoying myself when I got distracted by some kid needing attention. Could also be my own short attention span. So I bathed each kid and got them changed into day clothes and then did some exercise book on phonics with Hao En. Again I'm amazed at his memory cos he seems to recall poems we read many days or even weeks ago. The night before when my hubby was reading a book to them, he asked Hao En to read some pages and I was quite pleased to note he can read common words like "the" and "it".
Ok then I started cooking their pasta pork lunch and after again googling for recipes, I saw a picture I liked with pumpkin and kale, confirmed Hao En didn't like the tomato based kind, and started cooking. The satisfaction was in setting out the food really early and letting it cool, and at around 11 plus am when I think the kids would start to get hungry, I just set the food out on the table and they started eating! Easy roast. Then needing a bit of me time, I went off to Tampines Mall food court armed with my latest book (this hilarious, laugh-out-loud book called "The Year Without a Purchase" written by a genuinely funny guy) and had a peaceful Long lunch. Then I headed back and realised both my Father and hubby think it's a bad idea to swim right after a rain (something about pool water being dirty). So after a bit, including my kids asking for another round of the pasta, I had the idea that we should pump the tires of my hubby's bike and take the kids out for a bike ride. We got ready and I set off with Jeanine to go to Tampines interchange to collect my bike which was parked there while the men went to pump the tires with the boys. To cut a Long story short, we cycled around the Neighbourhood with each kid and then ended the day with yummy and cheap zi char at the Coffeeshop near my house. What I realised was that it is difficult to have a deep conversation with one's parents, even if the kids are not there to distract you.
Then we got back and I hit the sack with the kids and fell asleep with them soon after. It was quite a good holiday and I think I do enjoy cooking for my family and indulging in free and healthy past times :)
In the end, my body sort of dictated what to do. As I was coming down with a bad case of runny nose with lots of mucus that would suddenly flow from my nose and demand blowing it in a most vigorous manner, and a tight throat that would lend itself to incessant coughing bouts, I decided in my muggy state of mind on Tue night that I really needed a good sleep on the public holiday, and that is what I did. I turned in relatively early, pleading feeling ill to get my Husband to do more of the chores of putting the kids to bed, and fell asleep at a decent time. Just so happened that since I slept relatively early, I ended up waking up at 7 plus am bright and chipper and feeling much better (ah the powers of sleeping early!). So seized by my newfound sense of well-being, I decided to make a batch of banana pancakes, after mentally taking stock and confirming I had all the ingredients I would need on hand. Turns out the website with the recipe is a little misleading on the prep time and cooking time for the pancakes. Digging in my overstuffed fridge to locate that bottle of baking powder and walking back and forth from the dish rack to get all manner of bowls and spoons and forks took me quite a while and ended up with quite a respectable mess of bowls and dishes for he maid to clean at the end. However, the end result? Respectable pancakes that fed each of my sleepy children as they woke up and I took care to feed them milk later, so they would have appetite to eat. My mum, Husband and maid also each got a pancake and my maid was most appreciative, saying the pancakes were very yummy and she could taste the banana. I realised the pancakes went better with a big dollop of jam and even better with Nutella. Eventually my Daughter caught on and only wanted to eat spoonfuls that were 3/4 Nutella and 1/4 pancake.
Then after a nutritious breakfast, I actually left my kids to their own devices for a while (not before defrosting some meat for lunch) and actually sat down to organise my research for "Difficult Teachings of Christ" which I am facilitating in a few weeks time and to plan my lesson(s). I ended up with about 10-12 possible lessons. And I was scratching my head how not to make it another "lesson" on anger or overcoming sin, but that is a lesson that would challenge them to do something specific and out of the ordinary. And that they would slowly but gradually change to become different from the mould of society and stand out as Christ followers.
Anyway, I spent a good 15 minutes doing this to classical music and was thoroughly enjoying myself when I got distracted by some kid needing attention. Could also be my own short attention span. So I bathed each kid and got them changed into day clothes and then did some exercise book on phonics with Hao En. Again I'm amazed at his memory cos he seems to recall poems we read many days or even weeks ago. The night before when my hubby was reading a book to them, he asked Hao En to read some pages and I was quite pleased to note he can read common words like "the" and "it".
Ok then I started cooking their pasta pork lunch and after again googling for recipes, I saw a picture I liked with pumpkin and kale, confirmed Hao En didn't like the tomato based kind, and started cooking. The satisfaction was in setting out the food really early and letting it cool, and at around 11 plus am when I think the kids would start to get hungry, I just set the food out on the table and they started eating! Easy roast. Then needing a bit of me time, I went off to Tampines Mall food court armed with my latest book (this hilarious, laugh-out-loud book called "The Year Without a Purchase" written by a genuinely funny guy) and had a peaceful Long lunch. Then I headed back and realised both my Father and hubby think it's a bad idea to swim right after a rain (something about pool water being dirty). So after a bit, including my kids asking for another round of the pasta, I had the idea that we should pump the tires of my hubby's bike and take the kids out for a bike ride. We got ready and I set off with Jeanine to go to Tampines interchange to collect my bike which was parked there while the men went to pump the tires with the boys. To cut a Long story short, we cycled around the Neighbourhood with each kid and then ended the day with yummy and cheap zi char at the Coffeeshop near my house. What I realised was that it is difficult to have a deep conversation with one's parents, even if the kids are not there to distract you.
Then we got back and I hit the sack with the kids and fell asleep with them soon after. It was quite a good holiday and I think I do enjoy cooking for my family and indulging in free and healthy past times :)
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