Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

It was one late afternoon, and when I looked out the window, I saw this unusual view.

Immediately whipped out my iphone and took this shot.

I thought it kind of looked like a scene from a movie.

Like a scene from the movie ‘Armageddon’, or something, … no?

[Photo was taken the night before he turned six =) ]

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Our little guy turned six years old last week!

He was SO happy that he’s now older and bigger.

He was like, ‘Mommy, I’m NO longer five. I’m SIX now!’ =)

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As for the preparation of his birthday cake,  well … here’s a little ‘behind the scene’ story on how it went :

Vai asked if he could have a car themed birthday cake this year, and I thought to myself, ‘Hmm, that should be possible.’

BUT, apparently it’s not as straight forward as usual this year because:

– We’re moving to our own place only next year, and our current rented home is tiny, which explained why the oven’s still in a box at my parents’ place.

– We’d need to somehow find a place to fit that oven in our tiny kitchen

– We had a one-week holiday before Vai’s birthday (the Hari Raya holiday break), and that meant we’re busy, extra busy, every day. We either stayed at grandparents’ place, or went around checking out different places around Jakarta.

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In the end, I decided to bring my oven over.

Because somehow, I just couldn’t bring myself to ‘buy a cake’, though it’s perhaps the simplest and fastest way out.

(Somehow, since I started baking cakes for my own kids’ birthdays two years ago, I feel however simple the cake is, it’ll be meaningful if it’s a personalised one, made by their mommy on their special day)

The oven is now on top of my fridge btw (and I have no plans of putting it back into the box! =)

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As for Vai’s cakes, well … I thought it should just be kept simple and nice.

I decided to go for cupcakes, because … it’d be faster for me to make.

AND, also because the round baking pan is still somewhere in one of the boxes, and I still haven’t found it! =)

I bought the ready-to-use fondant and did the shaping of tiny cars etc the night before.

I used paper to make the track, 2 flags and ‘podium’ (so I didn’t have to use my 0.5kg fondant)

(Note:  I wanted some of the cupcakes to be ‘elevated’ so I drew the black boxes – using a black marker and crayon – on a strip of white paper and wrapped the strip around a round metal bowl. I used to sticky tape to ‘laminate’ it too, to avoid smudging etc =)

Vai happily helped out in the kitchen on the day we baked our cupcakes.

(I used this recipe for the cupcakes, and they turned out well!)

And, … the birthday boy was very happy with how his race car birthday cupcakes turned out! *YAY* =)

We took heaps of photos during our family get together, and here’s one of them : a shot of us five with my grandparents – who are 92 and 88!

It was a simple get-together, but I think it was a nice and memorable one for our little man.

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A little note to Vai :

Dearest Vai,

You’re a cheerful little man who feels happy when you can make other people feel happy. You forgive others easily, and more often than not, you’ll share what you have with others. 

You like to give cuddles, hugs and kisses out of the blue, and I love it every time you do that to us.

God, who has entrusted you in our care, has always watched over you these past six years, and HE will continue to do so till the day you meet HIM face to face.

God is good, very good, and we pray that you learn to put your trust in Him every day, giving your very best in everything you do for His glory, and becoming a blessing to many.

We are blessed to have you in our family, and we love you very much.

“Do you love your children?”

Most parents would immediately say, “Yes, of course!” to that question.

But continuing from what I blogged about earlier, loving our children means so much more than merely giving them toys and meeting their physical needs.

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I have recently been reminded (by this article) that loving our child also means … praying for them as well.

And today I’d like to share with you these Ten Biblical Virtues that we can pray FOR our children.

Here they are:

1. Salvation
“Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”

2. Self-Control
“Help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be alert and self-controlled in all they do.”

3. Purity
“Create in them a pure heart, O God, and let that purity of heart be shown in their actions.”

4. Contentment
“Teach my children the secret of being content in any and every situation, through YOU who give them strength.”

5. Passion for God
“Lord, please instill in my children a soul that ‘followeth hard after thee,’ one that clings passionately to You.”

6. Self-Discipline
“Father, I pray that my children may acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.”

7. Gratitude
“Help my children to live lives that are always overflowing with thankfulness and always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

8. Respect (for self, others, and authority)
“Father, grant that my children may show proper respect to everyone, as Your Word commands.”

9. Honesty and Integrity
“May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection.”

10. Love
“Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them.”

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May you all have a blessed Sunday!

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[Photo: Love the colour and background in this family shot. Taken at Kota Tua which literally means ‘Old Town’]

When it comes to engaging kids in activities, I believe it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Many things can be created at home, using the very everyday things we find at home.

(Yes, let’s recycle whenever we can please)

And, the other day, we made this ‘wall track’ for Vai’s cars!

Simple and fast to make, and the little guy had fun with it!

(This idea is great for homes with limited spaces, I reckon)

Here’s what we used:

– Used cereal box
– Milk carton
– Scotch tape
– Scissors

What we did : 

– Cut the cereal box in such a way that you only get the two sides and the bottom part (Refer to the photo below)

– Stick the cut-out box using scotch tape (Tips: It needs to be a downward slope)

– We placed an opened luggage bag to ‘catch’ the flying cars so they don’t fall onto the floor

And that’s it!  =)

[Tips : Use small-sized toy cars, as heavy and bigger cars will ‘damage’ the paper carton wall track]

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Btw, some few minutes later, we improvised.

We  cut and ‘separated’ the bottom part (see above), and placed a cut-out milk carton at the very end, making it look like the ‘final tunnel’ that the cars need to pass through before they all ‘fly off’ the edge!

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End result : So much more fun! =)

Other ideas :

– Cut out the bottom and top part of a 1-litre plastic bottle and use it as a ‘tunnel’
– Add paper strips at the end of that ‘tunnel’, making it more fun when the car ‘zooms’ through it

Do add more ideas to the list yeah! =)

Have fun creating and making things with your little ones, everyone!

If you wish to enjoy a good stroll along the wooden jetty in the late afternoon, you may want to check this out.

You’d need to go to ‘Dermaga Hati’, inside Ancol complex.

We went there in the afternoon around 2pm.

Emm, not quite a good idea.

It was very glary and warmmm … =)

The wonderful thing about living in Jakarta is that when it’s Hari Raya, we all – and I mean companies and schools – get to enjoy a one week holiday!

It’s not ‘officially’ declared in our calendar, but it’s just what ‘everyone’ does here =)

So.

This week, we’ve been out and about a lot.

As a family.

I’ve been sharing quite a few photos of the places we check out, the things that we do too, on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Do join and follow me if you haven’t yeah! The buttons are on the right sidebar.

If you’re on Instagram, you can follow me @leonny_oureverydaythings

[Countless ‘love graffiti’ at Dermaga Hati, Ancol]

Anyway.

Earlier in the week our little guy turned 6 years old.

Yes, Vai is now SIX (but is still as playful and cheeky as usual =)

[Brie and me at Godongijo, while the men continued fishing]

We checked out Kota Tua (read: ‘Old Town’).

We went to Ancol (the ‘seaside’ part of Jakarta) … and gee, it’s my first time seeing sooooo many people crowding near the beach and roadside!

And together with some friends, we also went fishing at Godongijo, about 1 hour drive from Jakarta.

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I’ve never had such a long ‘holiday break’ back in Singapore, unless it’s an official school holiday.

And hey hey hey … it’s actually a very nice thing to have =)

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PS: I’ve been very busy these days (especially since my part-time helper also has gone back to her hometown for Hari Raya, and will only be back after 2.5 weeks). BUT, I’ll try my best to post more photos!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Parents today are generally busy.

Very busy if you have more than one child.

Extremely busy if you have more than two children, no domestic helper AND work and deadlines to clear.

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Today I’d like to share this parenting thought with you :

As parents, we can always provide our children with food, toys, holiday trips, the best school and tuitions, gadgets, TV, computer games, and many more.

But.

The big question is, do we provide to them what they really need the most – that is, our time and affection?

How about our patience and love, especially when things get difficult with them?

It’s generally EASIER to keep the kids occupied with things that actually ‘keep them away’ from us, eg. TV, games, gadgets, tuitions, etc.

Realistically, it’s not easy to set aside time with our little ones when there are deadlines to clear and house mess to clean.

It’s tough to be cool-headed and loving when the kids seem to test our patience with their misbehaviour and attitude.

In fact, it’s generally EASIER to keep the kids occupied with things that actually ‘keep them away’ from us, eg. TV, games, gadgets, tuitions, etc.

(To some, … the longer, the better?)

Less interaction. Less energy used. Less whining heard. Less headaches.

And.

More work completed. More housework done. More ‘me time’. More ‘manageable parenting days’.

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While I personally am not totally against those in the list (that can keep the kiddos occupied), the questions I tend to ask myself every now and then are:

– Am I using all these activities as the kids’ babysitter, to keep them occupied while I myself am immersed in my own daily busy-ness?

– Am I escaping from my responsibilities as their parent?

– Am I really playing my role as the parent the way I’m supposed to, and to my best capability?

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Here are five important facts that I tell and remind myself  over the years:

– The less I interact and address the relationship and behaviour issues, the less understanding, bond and connection I have with my kids

– The smaller the children, the better we can influence and teach them what’s right and good (so, our time is NOW)

– Children grow up REAL fast, and there’s no way we can turn back time. Once childhood years are over and lost, that’s it.

– Children NEED our presence, patience, love, guidance and our involvement in their day to day lives, even MORE than they need their games and toys (though they probably tell us that they prefer to watch TV, play games and own a mobile phone compared to having us around)

– When we are busy, it’s too easy to ‘sidetrack’ and lose our main parenting purpose, so it’s really important for us to introspect ourselves, review and re-evaluate our parenting values and approaches regularly, for our children’s sake.

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Parenting is so not easy.

And to me, it’s simply not possible to be one without God’s help and mercy.

May God give us the strength to be the kind of parents God wants us to be.

Hari Raya is in a few days and millions of people apparently have started leaving Jakarta, and off to their own respective hometowns to get together with their families.

Which means, NO TRAFFIC JAMS, … if you stay IN Jakarta, that is!

(read: You’ll see very few vehicles on the roads, but if you’re heading towards certain directions away from Jakarta, the traffic can be horrific, because millions of others are also sharing the same roads as you! I saw in the news how countless vehicles are ‘stuck’ in traffic for more than 12 hours *YIKES*)

Anyway.

We of course took advantage of this clear traffic condition.

And off we went towards the mountainside, to this nice open space called ‘Rancamaya’.

(Just felt nice to be away from the city once in a while, from the four walls of everything)

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We took our shoes off and walked on grass.

We chatted and got to know new people.

The kids had fun running around out in the field.

And with such a beautiful mountain view as the backdrop, it’s just … priceless.

Thank God for such a refreshingly nice time, and for the beautiful weather too.

[Photo was taken with my iphone. Colour was enhanced in ‘Photo Wonder’. Text was added using ‘Phonto’]