Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Both Anya and Vai LOVE ‘Shrek the Third‘ movie.

They could watch the movie again and again, although they both exactly KNOW what happens in every single scene.

[This explains why they totally love ‘Far Far Away’ at the Universal Studios, heh!]

Anyway.

The other day as I was tidying up the table (and its MANY scraps of paper), … I found these.

Apparently Anya wrote about Shrek the movie, in her own simple words.

Hehe.

I love finding such little treasures amongst the mess at our home.

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[Below: I think she’s trying to write about ‘Lancelot’ *smile*]

[Vai and Daddy at Toa Payoh Public Library last week. I love how Vai still looks so small in comparison to Daddy right now]

Father’s Day is coming (June 20th), and I thought it’d be timely to share three insightful articles (from Focus on the Family) on how important a Daddy’s role is in the family.

Here they are:

– Fathers Matter
Dads parent differently from moms, and that difference matters greatly for children

– Tips on How Dads can stay Involved
One of the tips is: Get on your child’s level — squatting, kneeling or lying on the floor — when talking to or playing with him or her.

– Make Time to be Dad
No one is guaranteed tomorrow, invest in your children’s lives today.

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As for a book for Dads to read (Moms can too!), I’d personally recommend, ‘What a Difference a Daddy Makes‘, by Dr. Kevin Leman. I shared an extract of the book last year, click HERE to have a quick read.

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One last thing.

I’m a little curious about how YOU would normally spend Father’s Day with your family.

Any ideas to share for our upcoming Father’s Day? (gift ideas and/or ideas on how to spend the day)

Here’s one cool Iphone application I’d like to share with you.

It’s called “Hipstamatic”!

And as described on its web:

“The Hipstamatic for iPhone is an application that brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past”.

Read more about it here: http://hipstamaticapp.com

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I love the effects and the colours!

We have so much fun experimenting.

And the kids LOVE it too! Especially Vai, who took photo 2 and 3 above!

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[Photos]

No. 1-3 : Taken in Singapore
No. 4-6 : Taken in Batam, Indonesia

No cropping nor photo editing were done on the six images above.

During our recent trip to Batam, we stayed at the Pacific Palace Hotel, which was built to look like an actual huge ship.

It was a little after 6pm when we thought of checking out the ‘back’ of the hotel building (which actually is the ‘front of the ship shape’).

And.

As we walked towards the back … we were all greeted with THIS!

Really.

I can’t remember the last time I saw such a sight.

Beautiful sunset!

And I totally LOVE the colours of the sky.

[One of our ‘must-have’ shots, heh]

Simply. Impossible. To not stand in awe of God’s beautiful works.

…

How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works-

I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

– Psalms 104 : 24, 31, 33

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[Photos: Taken with Canon Powershot S90]

We just got back from Batam, Indonesia.

And I have SO much to share!

We walked. We ate. We had our own little adventure there.

A nice and simple family getaway.

Anyway.

Today, let me share with you … one of Batam’s roadside satay stalls!

Name of stall: “Kampung Jawa Asli”.

The four of us had satays and ‘Tong Seng’ there for dinner.

And for the first time, the kids saw how the satays were prepared, and heard ‘live music’ performed by a man who went from one stall to another with his guitar.

The food was okay. But the experience, especially for these little ones, was priceless.

More photos (and stories) to come!

[That was our very first look at Anya, our firstborn who was still 5cm long in August 2003]

I was spring cleaning our home the other day and came across a box full of keepsakes. Stuff I kept when I was pregnant with both Anya and Vai.

Their ultra-sound photos, their tiny hospital ID plastic bracelets, … even my hospital bills!

Now you see, I’m more of a ‘keeper’, rather than a ‘thrower’.

Although I know these things take up space and should probably be thrown out, I find it very hard to get rid of them.

I mean, they carry sentimental values with them.

[Anya’s tiny hospital ID bracelet]

But here’s the reality.

Our Singapore home is not big at all. And our storeroom is even smaller. YET, it is packed with too many things.

Toys. Tools. Old clothes. Junks. All sorts of stuff.

And so in the end (after looking through them again for a long time), I made the decision to throw away these keepsakes, but only AFTER I took photos of every single one of them (well, … except for the bills!)

Yes. They’re all now in a big rubbish bag.

Errr … but THAT rubbish bag is still in my bedroom.

Sigh.

I’m such a bad thrower.

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Btw, do you still keep these stuff? Or do you throw them away?

Or, do you keep certain things and throw away certain others?

[Took this shot in February 2009, when Vai was still 2.5 years old]

A widow sewed day and night, working tirelessly to raise and feed her 7 young sons and 1 daughter.

And she once said, ‘I may be poor. I may not have any savings in the bank. But I am okay. Because my children ARE my savings. They are my treasures. And I pray for them every single day’

THAT was in the 1940s and 1950s.

Today, five of her sons have become great blessings to millions of people around the world.

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Career and money can indeed come and go.

But children are souls, … eternal beings who are entrusted in our hands.

They are our treasures.

Our precious gifts from God.

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The question is:

Are spending excessive time pursuing material abundance and neglecting the very treasures we have at our home?

Last weekend we went to check out NTUC’s event – May Day Family Fiesta 2010 – at Downtown East!

It was PACKED with people.

And I mean, it was VERY VERY crowded.

[Ufamily’s resident bloggers like myself received complimentary tickets to the event. Thanks Billie for arranging it all!]

Anyway.

We went and had water fun at Wild Wild Wet, and I tested out my Canon Powershot S90‘s COLOUR ACCENT feature too!

[You choose just ONE colour you want to highlight, and it makes everything else in the shot black and white!]

Cool!