creative kids

Joseph is quite excited with our impending trip. He came up with this song about going to the airport all by himself. Sung to the tune of "How did Moses cross the Red Sea".

He says he wants to go see the kangaroos and penguins in Australia. And he understands that Australia is not as far as Hawaii because we only need 1 aeroplane to get there.

As for Joy-Anne.... I think she wants to go by boat. She turned our stool upside down (all by herself), sat in it and said "boat".

We're all quite excited. I've been doing a lot of 'research' on the places we want to visit. We've also rented a 8-seater for 2 days or driving around Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley.

Five more days till we fly...

my messy eater

Feeding Joy-Anne drives me and my mother nuts! She refuses to eat most of the time. We're at our wits end thinking of ways to get her to eat.

We're not feeding her s**t. It's actually Secret Recipe's Chocolate Indulgence. Guess she wanted a chocolate facial...it's the in-thing now isn't it?

I'm just wondering how she got to be 10.5kg.

for the YongPengTribe

Thank you for the early birthday present!

CG Retreat at OMF Bungalow, Cameron Highlands

Our long-awaited, much-anticipated CG retreat finally materialised last weekend at the very lovely OMF Bungalow in Cameron Highlands. This old but very well-kept bungalow is truly a gem, tucked away from the main Tanah Rata-Brinchang road. The serene surroundings make your burden and worries dissappear as soon as you step into the compound.
I dread the journey, but it is worth every winding bend up the mountain road.

We arrived early and had a picnic lunch in the garden, inhaling fresh cool mountain air. It was lovely to just soak in all that scenery. At 3.30pm, the bell rang and we went in for tea - yummy scones fresh out of the oven with home-made strawberry jam.

After tea, we had some telematch games. Joseph was very happy to participate.

Joy-Anne napped and then woke up refreshed to enjoy the swing.

I thought she looked so cute all bundled up.

Somehow she seems more cuddly and huggable with all those extra layers.

We stayed in cosy Room6 again. This is our third time at the bungalow and we've had Room6 every time.
It's large enough for extra mattresses on the floor and has it's own en-suite bathroom.

The kids were like birds out of a cage in those beautiful surroundings.

Joseph enjoyed running around and kicking a ball with the other boys. (They are kicking a tennis ball because the football rolled down the ravine and is lost forever).

Being up in the mountains always make me feel closer to God and the beauty of His creation reminds me of his great love.

It reminds me of how blessed I am and all the wonderful things (and people) I have to be thankful for.

The second night there, we had a steamboat dinner.

Mmmm.....what a lovely way to keep warm.

Mrs Chye, the caretaker cooked a very yummy soup that seemed like a cross between bak kut teh and the ngap thui meen (herbal duck noodle) soup.

I had a very relaxing time there. It's a real holiday. You don't have to think about what to eat, where to go, what to do. Just relax and enjoy. In fact, I did not leave the place from the time we arrived, till the time we left.

Joseph tried to cycle but he still needs the training wheels. So for his birthday, he said he wants a bicycle with the 2 small wheels.

Joy-Anne enjoyed looking at the flowers and saying, "flower".

We had some group photos before leaving the place.

The 2 most photogenic kids, Aaron and Chung Way are now Joseph's role models and buddies.

It was indeed a lovely weekend, with good food, great company at a fantastic location.

All the lovely children!

Update march 2012 -this bungalow is not open for booking by the general public. To my understanding, it is for pastors, missionaries, full-time Christian workers and the likes for the purpose of rest and retreat and thereafter open to church groups, cell groups for similar purpose.

My clever cutie-pie

I spent some time with Joy-Anne before going to work the last couple of days and caught this on video.

Happy to vroom vroom on kor kor's 'car'.

This was this morning...I asked her where her belly button is and then I realized she was wearing a bodysuit underneath and couldn't find her bellybutton. So she said, "bohhh".

She can say "flower" when she sees one (real flowers in the garden and also in pictures). When she sees a picture of a lion, she says, "roar".

B-I-B-L-E

Since going to school, Joseph has become so much more independent at Children's Church. While previously he would just hide in his stroller and sleep or cling to me like a koala on an eucalyptus tree, now he happily participates and does all the action during the worship.

I suspect it's because he has Super Fun Time in school which is similar to Children's Church.

He's even more happy when it's papa on stage leading worship.

The last couple of weeks, the kids have been singing 'The B-I-B-L-E" song because the 6-11 year olds are doing the Walk Thru the Old Testament series.

Last night at bedtime, after reading some stories, I said to Joseph that we should read his Bible. So he went to get it and then said, "Bible is God's Word. It is very important. Must read".

And then he proceeded to sing this song complete with action...

Of course I was happy. It's wonderful to see how fast they learn just by observing their surroundings.

Joy-Anne drinking from a cup....to make Yee Yee laugh

wisdom for Joseph

Last Saturday at Children's Church, Joseph learnt about King Solomon. The teaching team did a skit about King Solomon (acted out by papa) and the 2 women who were fighting over a baby.

Then on Sunday, while we were having dinner, Joseph said to me, "Mama...I want to ask God for wisdom. I want to be like King Solomon."

Pleased, I was going to tell him that that was an excellent thing and that God would surely grant his request when he stopped me in my thoughts and said, "So that I can cut Joy-Anne into 2!!!!!"



Joseph has this love-hate relationship with Joy-Anne.

I suspect he doesn't quite know how to deal with his emotions.


When we ask him if he loves his sister, he says he does. If someone threatens to take his sister away, he will protest strongly. He wants to take his sister everywhere he goes (except to school because babies are not allowed to go to school).

our boatride at the Lake Gardens

In spite of all the nonsense he says, I doubt he has any ill-intention. He probably finds it very funny.

Deep down, I know he loves his sister dearly and will protect her from any bad guy (in his words).

Nana's Birthday

Nana turned 62 yesterday. She's now 62 years young.

On Sunday, Nana and Kong Kong went out for some couple time to indulge in gluttony at the Bintang Revolving Restaurant on the 18th floor of the Federal Hotel. This is courtesy of Yee Yee and Yee Teow.

Senior Citizens pay only RM25++ each. The novelty of the buffet here is that there is a Juice Bar which will prepare on-the-spot pure freshly squeezed juice of your choice (no water added). Most other buffets serve only water, coffee and tea.
Nana loved the carrot+ginger+apple juice. They came home so full, they skipped dinner.


Then yesterday (the real birthday), we had a tiny celebration at home.

Joseph wanted to decorate the cake with his BobTheBuilder toys (again!)


We had one of Nana's old (old means we've known her for many years...not that she's actually thatt old) friends over.

Of course Ah Ku and Aunty Joanne was around too. Ah Ku did some magic to help make the food disappear.

Joe sang "Happy Birthday!" loudest of all.

Then he helped blow out the candles.

I think Nana was also very happy with her birthday present which was a photobook of all the nice photos that Aunty Grace took for us.

Happy Birthday Nana... May God bless you with many more years of good health and strength and many many more grandchildren (i.e. cousins for Joe and Joy!) soon!!!!