The Smartest Giants in Town

We read The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson, and had a dress-up activity where Chris and Laura got to put on Daddy's clothes. :) It was hilarious! NB: The blue 'pants' that L's wearing are dh's boxers.

Polliwalks shoes

Check these shoes out! My neighbour, author of http://www.oureverydaythings.com, was at the playground holding her kids' shoes, and I just did a double - take to look at the cutest shoes. I learned that they are called Polliwalks shoes. I came home and showed Chris the shoes on the internet, and she had this smile and longing on her face that made me hope Santa Claus would make a mental note and give her a pair for Christmas.

There are different animal styles and really great colours, and the soles of the shoes actually make the footprints of those animals. You can see them at http://www.polliwalks.com. I wish they came in adult sizes too... drool...

Some musings

Alvin said it again after a lunch conversation with his colleague. His colleague has many hobbies like Lego building and he's into steam engines now. Because of his interests and pursuit of knowledge on the things he's interested in, his 3 yr old daughter is also interested in those things, and he imparts his knowledge to her. Alvin reiterated the point that we cannot teach our children what we are not. So it always begins with us. If we are always growing and learning, and if we are truly passionate about life, our children will likely be like that. Which is why I'm drawn to homeschooling, because I am constantly challenged to learn and to grow with my children.

How much does a 3 1/2 yr old really understand?

We attended Timor Nite tonight, a meeting to share about the vision God has given to churches in Singapore to transform this baby nation. It's historical as it's the first time churches, not missions agencies, of different denominations have formed an alliance to reach a nation and be involved in many aspects of the nation building.

We were given a card with the map of Timor on it, and some prayer pointers. While different people were going up to share, I whipped out the coloring pencils and and coloring book for Christen and a snack for Lauren to occupy them.

When it was time to pray for Timor, I gathered the kids and told Christen to pray for the children of Timor, that they would be healthy and strong and not get sick. So Christen prayed, " Dear God, please help the children to be strong and healthy. Help them to have clean water to drink so that they won't get sick." The clean water bit was mentioned by a doctor when he was sharing how the people in Timor didn't really need doctors. The children often suffered from diarrhea because of malnutrition and dirty water. The children and their parents really needed someone to tell them about hygiene and good nutrition.

Was Christen listening while she was coloring?
Did she understand it? Did she 'get' it?

Her prayer said it all.

Dog Phobia

Lauren's been saying this every time we see a dog, "

Foo-foo bite ME!"

Think she's trying to say Woof - woof. Am documenting this because this is good enough reason for Alvin to want a 3rd kid. :) Yes, we think she's beyond the cute limit.

Growing pains for Mommy

I was emotional after a conversation with Christen the other day during lunch. We were just chatting and talking about babies. Then she said, " Lauren is your baby." To which I replied, " And you are my baby too." She retorted, " No, I'm not your baby. I'm growing up! I need to grow up and have my own baby!"

It is painful to think of her growing up and leaving us someday. I really wish I could stop the clock and stop her from growing. I don't want her to grow up. I want her to be my little baby forever. That's when I'm reminded that she doesn't belong to me, but she belongs to God, and He has graciously allowed me to parent her and bring her up to fulfill His purposes for her life.

The Gift of Salvation

August 27, 2008.

This day would have been just another day, maybe even a grouchy one because the kids have leaky noses and it's been rainy, and these 2 combinations make a depressed mom.

But this day turned out to be the climax of my parenting so far. After putting Lauren to sleep, Christen and I read People, by Peter Spier - a really well- written and illustrated book that describes all kinds and types of people in the world, and helps children to appreciate the diversity of cultures, skin colors, and religions of people.

So we were looking at the page on different religions and myriads of gods that people worship, and Christen said, " We must only worship the one true God! We cannot worship other idols!" We had sung the 10 commandments and so she said that.

Something in me just told me to take out the evangecube and share the gospel with her and to ask her if she would like Jesus to come into her heart and life. As we went through the evangecube, she understood it because we've talked about it in devotions. Finally, when I asked her if she wanted to pray and ask Jesus into her heart, she said yes! I told her it's very serious, and asked her if she knew she had sin. She said she knew she did have sin and wanted Jesus into her heart. We knelt down by our red couch and prayed the sinner's prayer, right there in our living room!!! Yippeeee!!!! I had the privilege of bringing my daughter before the throne of God!

We celebrated her decision with dinner at Ikea and a chocolate mousse. :)

It was so heartwarming when Christen told her Daddy about what had happened, and she said, " It's very serious."

As I reflect on what happened, I'm again reminded about how Jesus said that the kingdom of God belongs to the little children. They don't ask tons of questions, they're not skeptical, they're not jaded, they just believe. It was almost anti-climatic. I didn't have to persuade her to believe it, she just did because of the seeds that have been planted.