Miracle healing service

Raeyen has high fever last night at 39.9. Sponged and gave him Ibrufen. He slept into the night with no fever.

This morning, his condition was well and we did not bring him to the PD.

In the evening, together with the Yoongs, hubby, Kieran and I went to a church in Tampines on Miracle healing service. It was our first time there and I felt I was quite comfortable there.

During the miracle service, I prayed for recovery for a few people... some close to my hearts (Raeyen and Yin) and another I only met once (my colleague Wang's wife who suffered from Crohn's disease and some sort of depression and she seemed to have lost her will to live as she resides in Shanghai and Wang in Singapore). I don't know why I got emotional during the service as a church member came to "heal" for those I care. She spoke in tongue (which I cannot comprehend) and prayed for them. I was very touched but in dilemma if I should still attend as it's kind of meaningless to go alone without my family on a Saturday evening.

At 9pm, Siti called that Raeyen's fever was high again. I rushed home while the rest went for dinner. His fever read 38.8, I gave him Ibrufen, played with him and tucked him in. He is now sound asleep, I am now busy updating this blog while hubby and Kieran are not home yet.

I would like to thank May for taking us to the service. Happy belated birthday and I love you.

New experience learning

Kieran has been very active physically. He could do cart-wheel without being taught, though not in perfection. He loves jumping on trampoline, climbing the monkey bars, swinging on flying fox, etc.

While he does not seem to keen in music, I have since terminated his lessons at Yamaha and thought it might be good to look at other areas that he may be interested in.

This afternoon, I took him to Prime Gymnastic Club for his first lesson in the Beginners level.

It took him 40 minutes to feel more at ease and started to do cart-wheel on his own, jumped around and joined the class, which ended after an hour. The coach said he was unfamiliar with the environment hence took a long time to join in. She felt that he should join; I asked him, he said he enjoyed and would like to come again, which reaction was a contrary to before coming to the club.

As parents, we try to give our kids the opportunities to try new things and skills, and hopefully to discover their "hidden" talents. Unlike during our time, my hubby and I were less lucky.

Horsing around

Had wanted to bring the boys to the zoo on Saturday morning but the hot sun was turning us off (yes, it's better than raining). I could already imagine us sweltering!

We went to Vivocity for the space and cooler air.

After some shopping (got Raeyen a birthday pressie), we hopped to Long John Silver for light lunch where the boys enjoyed LJS's crispy fries. They dashed to the outdoor playground and got themselves wet after playing at the water feature. We changed them into fresh clothings and chanced upon an area where mobile ponies were up for rent.

Kieran got on a black one and trying to ride it like a steed. The ride wasn't cheap at $3.20 every 5 miserable minutes! Raeyen rode on a brownie for free as we played ignorant this time and the minder didn't seem to notice (haha).

Shopped awhile more and those horsing around at the playground tire them into little slumberheads *zzzzz* on our way home.

Hubby and I then went out to get a Sony portable DVD player (to keep the boys occupied when we go on holidays on wheels, among others).

Got home, boys awoke, bathed them and hubby brought Kieran out to catch the movie - Fantastic 4; while I took Raeyen out for groceries at nearby shopping mall.

Ditching milk bottle

Kieran at 4 years and nine months old, I had him ditched his milk bottle in a hard way 2 nights ago.

We have tried many times to get him drink from a cup but unsuccessful until that evening.

I was about to make him milk in his milk bottle and realised there was water inside. I asked Kieran and he said he drank water from it, and that was already the second time it happened. I warned him the first time and this incident simply put me in fumes!

I gave him an ultimatum - milk in cup or NO MILK!

He cried but eventually chose milk in cup. From that night on, he has been drinking from cup. Hope it stays that way.

Raeyen's 2nd Birthday invite

Yeah, the theme for his birthday is about polka dots and stripes.

It will be a tea party on Sunday 8 July.

I have ordered cupcakes from Cocoa & Butterscotch, though I am still clueless what to get for food.

I will visit The Concourse for party ware, etc. I like pinatas very much but it is difficult to "hang" one for the kids to "hit".

Kind angels

After picking Kieran up from the childcare centre, we walked towards the bus-stop. As we were walking about 200 odd metres away, 2 cars already passed us by (from the centre), then one car stopped. The driver (a daddy who came to pick his son up) drew the window down and asked if we would like a lift.

Wasn't he kind and sweet? He asked where we were heading, I replied and he gestured to send us there (which I later realised was a little further from his home). We hopped in and thanked him and his son, who is a K2 boy.

If I were driving today, I would also do what he did. Such people make your day, don't they?

Kieran's 1st camp-out

Our dearie first-born camped in his childcare center compound for the first time. The first time he ever slept outside without his family around.

It was a hot Friday afternoon and all parents were invited to join the kids from 3.30pm till 6.30pm. I took afternoon leave to witness and to lend moral support to him.

The kids were segregated into 5 teams and each team sent 1-2 representatives to explain the projects they had done in the early afternoon. Kieran and a friend represented his team - Fantastic 15 by explaining "National Day".



It carried on with a quiz, telematch and treasure hunt where knowledge, self-help skills and teamwork played a major role. The kids helped to pitch tents while some daddies prepared for the campfire. Suddenly I realised my boy has grown up to be more independent and self-assured. Though he has his fair share of mischief.

OK, gotta go as I have to pick him up at about 10.30am today.

Angmo jiak

Last Sunday, we went angmo jiak at a kopitiam at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 with Kieran.

Angmo jiak means Western food and the stall is Botak Jones.

We ordered beef sausage, double burger, sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions. The prices are reasonable and the serving is just right. Most importantly, the food is shiok-a-doo! Kieran, as usual, loved the fries.

Will we return? Definitely!

Birthday planning

Our little angel Raeyen will turn 2 on 10 July.

Was discussing with hubby if we should throw him an intimate party with families and good pals. After much deliberation, we decided to go ahead as Kieran received a similar 2nd birthday party. We initially wanted to give them a big-bang birthday celebration only on their 1st birthday, but things didn't turn out that way.

So, now his big day shall be Sunday, 8 July but mommy doesn't know what to do in terms of:

Cake: cupcakes, gourmet cake?
Food: self-cook, cater, finger food, lunch, dinner, menu?
Theme: cars, trucks, Brum, Thomas the Engine?

For cake alone, I am already torn with choices as I was looking at various bakers: Evangeline, Canele Patisserie, Cocoa & Butterscotch, Cupcake Momma

Faceworks

A dear friend returned from a whirlwind holiday in Japan and managed to grab some stuff - lipstick, spice blush, mascara and lip gloss from Majolica Majorca by Shiseido.

I read alot of rave about MM products and have since longing to try them. Shall use tomorrow! The prices are very reasonable (like Loreal's) and packaging is oh-so-sweet. With such a combination, how could I ever resist? I heard a couple of shops here carry MM but at exorbitant prices. These retailers should know better that people nowadays travel widely and ain't no "mountain tortoises".

Today, I placed an order of mineral makeup from Alima for myself, sisters-in-law and some girlfriends. Am so happy already and just can't wait to get hold of them!

Mineral goodness

Lately I have been reading so much about the goodness of mineral makeup. To defy the sign of aging, I need all the goodness I can find to help retain (and hopefully prolong *grin*) my youth.

In particular the brand Alima from the US.

I found a shop in Singapore that carries Alima products and bought two samples yesterday for myself among others. The two samples are satin matte foundation and luminous shimmer blush in soft rose-pink.

Couldn't contain my excitement, I applied them this morning and I LIKE THEM.

The foundation powder makes my skin feels like it was airbrushed and velvety smooth. The shimmer blush makes me look radiant with a tinge of pinkie glow. At first I was skeptical for it felt strange to apply foundation powder and blush in loose form. I applied them gingerly with my brush and they glided oh-so-easily. The foundation covers my skin well and I didn't feel at all cakey after a few hours. Only a light touch-up was required after lunch.

Convinced, I am going to buy online for the sake of beauty. Hah!

Plant story

I was reading a story from Bob the Builder book to Kieran last night and there was a scene where Farmer Pickles was looking gloomy as Bob approached him.

Below is my conversation with Kieran.

Me: When a person is gloomy, is he happy or sad?
Kieran: Sad
Me: Why is Farmer Pickles sad?
Kieran: Because it rained the whole time
Me: What happens when it rained so much to a farm?
Kieran: The plants cannot grow, they will FAINT
Me: Hahahahahaha

Movie

Raeyen was fine today after his "Merlion" act last night that shocked us.

As hubby felt a little better, we thought of bringing Kieran for a movie in the afternoon until his tummy took a wrong turn again. In the end, I had to take Kieran.

We headed to Tampines Mall.

Since hubby couldn't join us, we decided to catch Shrek 3 instead of Pirates of the Caribbean.

The movie was funny with the usual fairy tale characters and storyline along the good ones versus the villains (such as the stepsisters in Cinderella, Captain Hook). While it's weird to see Snow White in kungfu, the ending is endearing. After the movie, I got him the Shrek ear-band from McDonald's at $2.

Kieran didn't quite understand the movie as he said it wasn't funny when movie-goers laughed at some scenes. I guess he's more to "action" movies for he wanted to watch Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Transformers and Harry Potter.

Road trip to Terengganu

We returned home exhausted last evening after an exhausted but fun trip to Terengganu.

Friday, 1 June
We set off from home at 5.30am to Komoco for the flag off at 6.30am. After customs, about 30 cars drove to Yong Peng for the famous fishball mee, which we found it tasted OK. We proceeded to Kuantan then Terengganu and checked into our hotel at Awana Kijal at about 5pm. The hotel is not in supreme condition but bearable.


Saturday, 2 June
Started in the morning, we went for our village tour. The first stop was the Sungai Pandan waterfall in Kuantan where we experienced walking on a hanging bridge overlooking the kid-friendly waterfall. Hubby and Kieran went for a dip there and Raeyen joined just before they returned. Then we went to the Turtle Sanctuary for the kids to release baby turtles into the ocean. It was a fantastic experience, never mind about the donation of RM60 per baby turtle. We went to see monkey working on a coconut tree and drank the famous Hai Peng coffee at Chukai. Returned to the hotel in the afternoon and the kids had a fun time in the kiddie pool.

Video of Raeyen by the pool


Sunday, 3 June
Checked out in the morning as we embarked our journey home. While driving towards Yong Peng, the convoy ordered the famous Muar otah. Bought some local foodstuff at the wholesale centre and had sumptuous lunch at the Mexica restaurant. At 6pm we drove towards JB in the rain and caught up in a massive traffic jam as there were 3 accidents! It took us 2 hours odd to get through to the Malaysian customs. After sending my sis home. Raeyen vomitted while hubby had tummy problem.

The trip could have been more fun if the weather was not scorching hot. While we cannot change the weather, it was still good fun zipping around the less-trodden path. The kids got to enjoy a different type of holiday, the adults got to learn how to handle the kids in confined space. I had become a make shift DVD portable player console for the kids during the road trip to kill some boredom. Trying to constraint Raeyen's movement in the car or strapping him in his booster seat which he doesn't fancy. Kieran was no problem at all. My sis was a great help and hubby's stamina to drive and skill in cutting lane in a single-lane 2-way road was admirable.

To me, a holiday is everyone's job to make sure each and every person in the travelling group enjoys the trip and stay happy. Getting angry over trivial matters is not worth the while.