Blessed Birthday Sarah!

I have so much thoughts and words to write about our precious first born - she is without a doubt God's blessing to me and Daniel and to the family. And I don't deserve to have a daughter like her...apart from God's grace. Dear Sarah makes me laugh, smile and ponder about God's work of miracle and she blesses my faint heart. That is not to say that she is without faults. She does go into her frenzied excitement, her spates of disobedience and her flares of tantrums, but I think she does much better than her mommy in all these areas:)

Smiles for Everyone

Sarah has a smile for everyone - even during the first waking moments of her long night sleep. She would smile so sweetly at me and kiss me every morning. Sometimes, I could feel her stroke my head and at times, she would imitate her Daddy and try to massage me. God has comforted me much through little Sarah. Sarah knows when I am upset with her and pleads with me, "Mommy, don't be sad with me." That would make me feel so sorry that I even got upset with her. 

Sensitive

Sarah is truly a unique little girl who is very sensitive. She needed to understand that going to BSF toddlers' class was not a permanent separation from her mommy and that her mommy still loves her very much. I admitted that I struggled in this area. I struggled between obligating with the many 'experienced' nursery teachers who told me that my kid would grow out of of the crying phase and all I had to do was to endure the crying, and between a God-given understanding of my own daughter. The understanding I had of Sarah as I observed and grew with her was that she was acutely aware of her surroundings and she needed to understand her surroundings. She wasn't to be "conned" into doing what the adults wanted her to do. And I resisted the idea of letting my child grow into something simply because she just got tired of fighting it. There has got to be a better way of education and learning. But she simply needed time to accept this reality of life - It was just time that she needed. And truly, when the day came for Samuel to go to BSF, Sarah trodded confidently into her class and waved goodbye to me. I remembered one teacher asking, "What did you do?" I could have boasted and said I trained her and disciplined her...haha, but I knew down deep that I did nothing. But to give her space and time. 

Slapstick

Sarah is so very slapstick sometimes that I secretly smile because I know where that slapstick-ness comes from. Just a couple of days ago, she decided it was cool to wear different shoes. One crocs on her right and sandals on her left. I know not where she comes up with these inspirations but I like the free spirit in her  and in a small way, I am thrilled that she is learning that it is ok to question why things are done the way they are. I only hope God would give me the wisdom and patience to guide her learnings and questionings.

Singing

Sarah loves to sing and especially songs of her own creation. It's funny to hear her put words into her own tunes and hear the secret messages in them. And just the other day, she went seamlessly from ABC song to Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars only to educate her Daddy that these two songs are of the same tune. Of course, she has her favourite and she particularly likes Libera, the angelic boys choir and so does the rest of her family now. Sarah also loves to draw and has a great spatial view of things and she has done remarkably in her representation of life and animals. I will post pictures of her black drawing book soon. She can count deliberately nowadays and she does it pretty well, counting anything and everything. 

Still, somethings never change. Our Sarah continues to be a playground maniac and she has a very sweet tooth. 

I do not deny that I am very proud of Sarah...she is really a wonderful blessing. Not perfect,  but just close to perfect for me, Daniel, Samuel and the family. 

Head Turner Designs

I did a double take the other day at Cold Storage when I saw the humble baking powder and baking soda dressed in understated beauty. Woo hoot! I have always had a soft spot for beautiful design and this was just irresistible. Well, it gave me an excuse to do a minor revamp on my baking goods. And it is in good time after many attempts of struggling with plastic bags, ziplock and bottles and spilling stuff onto my kitchen top. Some new spanking containers [which allow me to see if stock is running low] that I got at Robinsons at  a hefty discount, a new baking glove from Daiso and laminated recipe cards... this will surely simplify my baking process not to mention, put a smile on my face whenever I see the lovely and clean designs. 

All said, Daniel thinks it is all but whims and fancies...haha. Well, girls like all things nice:)

Children possess a God Given Mind of Enquiry

I am sure many of us have heard of toddlers entering into the "Why" stage. And I am sure, many of us have heard parents lament about this stage, often wishing their tots would not chatter so much and stop asking these endless questions. What a real pity it is for a parent to go through the most absorbent stage of a child and not know the ease with which one can impart knowledge to them. I believe this mind of enquiry, is a God-given capacity for young minds to begin understanding life and its complexities, and to eventually question the origin and source of all life. It is natural for tots to ask about everything they see. They are curious and inquisitive and we should jump for joy at that. The world is new and exciting to them and they want to know how everything work. Tots should be natural at Science because it deals with asking, testing and experimenting. Tots do the asking and we as adults can encourage them in testing and experimenting. Whether their experiments yield a positive or negative result, it is an experiment nonetheless. It's funny how in our schools, we only start to really try our hand in Science at ages 10 and above. We may have missed out the most opportune time of great learning from ages 3-6. When we want to finally inculcate a mind of inquiry in a teenager, we find that we do so with much difficulty because most probably, the teenager's insatiable hunger for learning and knowledge was curbed when he was a toddler. Let's not dismiss our children and their questions with, "because the sky is blue and the grass is green. " I believe if we looked into the intricacies of why the sky is blue and not purple and red, we would have learnt more about wavelengths and truly marvel at the intelligence and artistry of God. If we only let our children grow naturally, they would be learning more of life than we can ever imagine. 

Some of Sarah's "Why"....

Question 1: Pointing to a mosquito bite on her leg that has reddened, 

Sarah asks, "Mommy, why this color?"

Mommy overhears Daddy explaining to Sarah [and secretly glad she could subcontract out this task]: When a mosquito bites, its saliva enters underneath our body and it gets inflamed. That is why the spot where the mosquito bites turns red. That red spot is an inflammation. And Sarah repeats "Inflammation",

Question 2: Pointing to the water in the canal, Sarah asks, "Mommy, where the water go?" This was manageable for mommy who explains how the water that falls from the sky as rain, enters into the canal and is purified for our drinking purposes. 

After hearing the nursery rhyme, Farmer in a Dell, Sarah asks, "What is a dell?" 
Question 3: Mommy and Grandmama both researched this. "A dell is a wooded valley". Of course we had to draw mountains to explain what a valley is. 

This is definitely hard work:) Haha...do I have all the answers? Absolutely not. But it has made me search and ask and learn for myself alongside my precious daughter. May the Lord give wisdom that I would not curb or oppress her mind of enquiry and provide her the answers to all if not most of her questions. I have much much to learn:)

UK, till a later date...

The turn of events is just amazing and...who would have guessed that Dan's examinations would be postponed?  It has been a hectic past month, reading up on UK and understanding it, researching on appropriate accommodation for the whole family, linking up transportation from London, to Cornwall, to Lake District and finally to Scotland. Bookings at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Cornwall and our special trip to a marine centre are all put on hold. Packages waiting to be collected at Melvin and Viola's house...the list goes on.

In all honesty, I was really looking forward to this trip but you know....I do not feel at all disappointed. Just yesterday, as I had time to pick up a new book to read and look at Sarah and Samuel and my husband...and there's just so much to thank God about. A new lease of life with my God given family:) We still hope to make there - in Oct. 

A Narrative Interpretation of John 4:10

He stands and speaks with an assured but peaceful confidence, "I am the best person to pilot this plane". All eyes search to find the voice that uttered the bold sentence. Their eyes met the most unlikely candidate. He didn't fit their idea of a pilot - He was not suave, but had a forgettable appearance. He was not tall but stands just above the shoulders of an average man. He was not at all impressive. Not at all physically.  

On a normal flight, the passengers would have been bewildered at such a display of pride and snort at such a shameless proclamation by a fellow passenger. But on this day, this man's words were met with NO contempt or disdain. Rather, the passengers looked at the figure with pleading eyes and his words gave a glimmer of hope and life to their already tired bodies, mind and hearts as they clung onto their airplane seats for dear life. Time was running out. The pilot of the small passenger plane who flew the plane out of the airport has collapsed from a sudden heart attack and the plane had hung suspended in mid air for the past few hours and petrol was running dangerously low. They could hope in no one but this man who promised them their only hope. 

As the passengers allowed the man to take the pilot seat, they all held their breath. Through the tiny airplane windows, hopeless delirium turned to unspeakable joy as they saw the plane steer safely towards the landing and glide down the runway towards the empty patch in the field. 

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10

If Christ says to you today , "I am the gift of God and I can give you living water that you will thirst no more and eternal life", what would your response be? Would those life saving words be met with contempt and skepticism? Or would those words be desperately embraced? Your response reflects your understanding of your true spiritual state. May God enlightened us all to the reality of our spiritual condition. If we all know that we are on a plane that is heading for a crash landing, we would embrace Him with all our hearts and mind and life. May you take time out to understand your insufficiency in an efficient world and your poverty in a economically driven society. May you, by God's grace allow Him to take the rightful throne in your life.

As I study the book of John and consider the careful words of Christ, his statements, which may sound apparently confrontational are only but loving words to move us to a deeper knowledge and love with Him. May you experience the deep deep love of Christ.

Oh the Deep, Deep Love

 Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free

Rolling as a mighty ocean

In its fullness over me

Underneath me, all around me

Is the current of Your love

Leading onward, leading homeward

To Your glorious rest above

Chorus        

Oh the deep, deep love

All I need and trust

Is the deep, deep love of Jesus

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

Spread His praise from shore to shore

How He came to pay our ransom

Through the saving cross He bore

How He watches o’er His loved ones

Those He died to make His own

How for them He’s interceding

Pleading now before the throne

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

Far surpassing all the rest

It’s an ocean full of blessing

In the midst of every test

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

Mighty Savior, precious Friend

You will bring us home to glory

Where Your love will never end

Samuel is 21 Months Old!

Our dear little boy is really ....special. Mommy-ness aside, I really think so. God has wired Sammy interestingly, perhaps too interesting for this simple Mommy to keep up with. At least, there is Daddy, phew:) As Sammy tags along everywhere Sarah goes and does whatever she does, he learns at an amazing rate and often startles us with his advances. 

Things he does:

1. Counts 1 to 10.
2. Points to the lift button and says, "16" when we return home. 
3. Did a surprising jump[ legs and buttock off the ground] when we were learning gravity. 
4. Loves puzzles and lego. 
5. Can identify orange color. 
6. Enjoys coloring and drawing. 
7. Looks to the back of the computer screen and wonders where the images come from. 
8. Gets very excited when he knows you are catching him. delirious. 
9. Likes to feed himself nowadays. [much to mommy's delight]
10. Enjoys playing soccer
11. Does a mean throw with a raised leg to gain momentum. Hahah...you should see him. 

Unsolicited responses uttered when:
Sarah and Sammy stands at the door and waved goodbye to mommy when she leaves for BSF, he pushes Sarah aside to catch the last glimpse of me as I enter the lift, "Sarah block me"

When Sammy sees Sarah jumps on the bed, "Didi's turn"

When I want to take away a DVD from him, "I am holding" *whine*

Sammy persistently repeats this phrase for a good 5-10 minutes on our way to church, "Bob the builder, yes we can!"

Sammy says, "Escalator" as he goes onto one at his favorite shopping centre, Kallang. 

Wakes up in the morning and goes to daddy's table and shouts, "Computer"

This morning, he stared out of our window and said, "Good morning cars!"

Whenever, his doting surrogate parents, Dr and Mrs Chua, brings him up to the pulpit on Sunday, "Microphone"

I pray God will give me the wisdom to train and nurture this special boy to fulfill his mission on earth. 

Life to Live for Him

This morning as I looked out the window, God gave peace and assurance that all would be well. Still, a flood of memories rush to my mind...the tears, love and prayers of family and friends, the excruciating pain after Samuel's delivery, the kindness that all hospital staff showed, the unrestrained joy of God's demonstration of His power in our midst...of life and what it all means to Him. I think... I have not yet finished my mission here yet - perhaps it is to my family, perhaps it is to my church or perhaps it is to write the unwritten book. 

CA 125 - 6.1 

Thank you for grace given that I do not fully comprehend,

Thank you for mercies shown that I am not aware,

Thank you for life to give to You.

Teach me to give my life to you.

It has been 3 months

I am going to do my blood test again tomorrow.

Our UK Itinerary

Do you see what Sammy See?

I was in the library with Sammy one day and I picked up a picture book just to check if he is slowly absorbing the world around him. I pointed to a picture of a strawberry. 

Me: "What is this Sammy?"

Sammy: "Drop"

Me: "No, no, What is this Sammy?"

Sammy: "Raindrop" 

Me: "Oh...."[taking a second look, I do see the raindrops]

Me: [pointing to the eggcup, "What is this, Sammy?"

Sammy: "Fish" [he says matter-of-factly and happily runs off and picks up ten other books from the shelf]

Me: [sits there amused and amazed]

That is our very interesting boy with a very interesting perspective. 

Do you see what Sammy see? If you are a genuis, you would:)

Oh, what a truth....

Oh, so Sovereign but oh, so Personally Loving is our Savior. Can you begin to comprehend this awesome truth? Oh my, oh my...I can only exclaim and cry out in my words and thoughts as I contemplate how Christ, in all His power, knowledge and infinite love CHOSE to reveal himself not to the people who have gotten it all together - but to the Samaritan woman who draws water from the well and never in her lifetime would expect that encounter to forever change her life and the people around her,  - to the poor woman who gives all of her two mites and never expected anyone to see her offering, much lest the Son of God Himself - to Zaccheus, the man that everyone loves to hate, who gets to have Christ step into His house...

Layers of coldness and matter-of-fact truths about Christ are slowly peeled away [through God's grace] verse by verse as we study through the book of John and the life of Christ in Sunday School, in BSF and in my devotions. The peeling is more difficult than I thought as many biblical truths have fallen on a heart, calloused with the rituals of church and religiosity. But the peeling is liberating! What a freedom we have in Christ! Lord, help me to understand what a new life in Christ is.

Christ seeks our life, our love, our all. Christ seeks you, your life, your love and your all.

Our Special Good Friday and Easter Weekend

Who would have known that the weekend that I was looking most forward to - to worship our Lord together with my family and church would take a different turn? Who would have known that the little red rashes found between Sam's fingers, palm and toes would be matter-of-factly diagnosed by Daddy as Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease? Who would have imagined that remembering this most important occasion for us would be so enjoyable with just the 4 of us and our helper? We thank God for the sun and the rain - for He giveth all things. 

We went to one end of Singapore, armed with our basket of dyed easter eggs and lunch and guitar and our Easter book and our trusty car and had a Easter picnic. With the light drizzle and cool wind, it was a most pleasant way to remember the Lord's Day with our two toddlers. We sang song after song and the tots peeled egg after egg. Daddy read a bible passage and the Easter Book. It is indeed a happy day - that Christ rose from the dead, many years ago!

The song in my heart

Jesus, Name above all names

Beautiful Savior, Glorious Lord

Emmanuel, God is with Us

Blessed Redeemer, Living Word

The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see the dawn

Of the darkest day:

Christ on the road to Calvary.

Tried by sinful men,

Torn and beaten, then

Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:

This, the pow'r of the cross:

Christ became sin for us;

Took the blame, bore the wrath—

We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain

Written on Your face,

Bearing the awesome weight of sin.

Ev'ry bitter thought,

Ev'ry evil deed

Crowning Your bloodstained brow. 

Now the daylight flees;

Now the ground beneath

Quakes as its Maker bows His head.

Curtain torn in two,

Dead are raised to life;

"Finished!" the vict'ry cry. 

Oh, to see my name

Written in the wounds,

For through Your suffering I am free.

Death is crushed to death;

Life is mine to live,

Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:

This, the pow'r of the cross:

Son of God—slain for us.

What a love! What a cost! 

We stand forgiven at the cross.

The power of the cross...I am only beginning to realize its power. 

Finally...Healthy Banana Apple Chocolate Muffins finishes the breakfast routine.

Ok...I think I have come to the last of my breakfast recipes. Smoothies are churning out at least 3 times a week. Extra smoothie now make simple popsicles for those after mealtime desserts. Apricot and cheese omelette are whipped up in a quick 7 minutes as we rush off to send Daddy to work or somewhere. And Noah's ark is prepared about twice a week for those slower mornings. And for the final recipe, I think I have experimented with about 5 batches of different muffins - from Bananas to Zucchini, to Bananas to Chocolate to Bananas to Apple and Chocolate. 

I think I have finally got the consistency that I am pleased with after experimenting with position of tray in oven, the baking time and the amount of egg used. We have been popping these muffins in during breakfast, during those late nights with Daniel as he studies and for those for fun times when the tummy is growling just before meal times. What I really like about this recipe is that it has NO butter, NO oil [save for the olive oil that greases the tin] and everything is really either gluten free or organic. Investing in organic ingredients seems costly at the outset but knowing that I can make many different batches of muffins and pop them into my mouth and my family's mouth anytime without any guilt is really a worthwhile investment. Nowadays, I go past shops and see fluffy [often means filled with butter and milk] muffins sold for $2 or more, I think it is exorbitant and unhealthy. These are just photos from a couple of attempts. I just got stopped taking after these because I was busying trying to find out what works and what does not:)

[Make a dozen muffins]  - I got this from recipezaar and read the reviews and made the modifications suggested there for a healthier option. 

• 3/4 cup organic whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup gluten free self raising flour
• 1 large organic egg
• 3 ripe bananas [use the same bunch of bananas from smoothies] 
• 4 tablespoons organic applesauce
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of organic brown sugar [vary according to health requirements]
• 1/2 of chopped up dark chocolate [this adds some antioxidant into the muffins]
• 2 chopped organic apples 

The above serves as a base for any other healthy fruits you want to add for added taste. I tried chopped apples and I like it very much. I think it would be fun to experiment with blueberries, raspberries etc. For the more adventurous cooks, mash up pumpkins and other vegetables and add it in. Your tots will never know. The bananas seem to make up for the lack of butter and I am amazed at how such a simple change to the original muffins doesn't much compromise on taste. Pop the extras in the freezer to last the week. 

So here we have it, the close of the chapter on healthy breakfast for kids:)