The worldview of a 4-year-old...

Incident #1

We were traveling home in the car late one night and when we thought the girls were already falling sleep, when Janelle excitedly exclaimed, "Hey! The moon is following us home!!". Both Royston and myself smiled to each other, amused at how a child sees things differently from adults.

 

Janelle then went on to say, "How come the moon is following us home? But the moon can't sleep in our house. It can only fly in the sky, like a bird."

 

 

Incident #2

I was going to a friend's baby shower one day (baby shower is a celebration that takes place before the arrival of a baby where the mother-to-be and baby are showered with gifts and blessings), and was just informing Janelle that "mummy is going to attend a baby shower". She looked at me with big curious eyes and asked "Are you going to put the baby in the water???"

Janelle is 4!

Janelle turns 4 today! Can't believe my little baby has grown up to be a big 4-year-old now! It does sound ridiculous but it just felt like moments ago that she was being cradled in my arms as a little baby, and now she's turned 4.

 

We had a little outdoor BBQ party for her on Saturday and she absolutely loved it! Plus, the cake was simply beautiful - made by her best school friend's mother who's a genius at making cakes. And she had a pretty fairy dress bought by Louise as a birthday present, which she proudly wore for her fairy princess party.

 

We thank God for this little girl who has grown up to be a very sensible and charming girl. She absolutely dotes on her little sister Janine and when told that daddy was going to take her out today for something special just to celebrate her birthday, she asked how come Janine wasn't coming along! And she added that she would like Janine to come too because "Janine is so silly and funny" (quoted by Janelle). Still, I shall leave Royston to spend some special one-to-one moments with Janelle since it's her birthday.

 

Janelle is now 4, able to write, loves drawing, and has a tendency to be extremely organized, systematic and meticulous. I wonder who she inherited this trait from? We are thankful for her being just the way she is - uniquely and wonderfully made!

 

Happy 4th Birthday Janelle :)

One and a half years

Time flies. It's been 1.5 years since we've moved to Sydney! We arrived here 2 July 2008, and now it's end of 2009 already!

Praise the Lord for His goodness and grace in our lives! It's been so evident how He has provided for our every single need. It's just too much to list down everything, but more recently, the following changes have taken place:

SEPTEMBER 
- I went back to work full-time 5 days a week. Both girls are at the childcare full-time now that I'm working. We are thankful for this childcare centre where we can be assured the girls are in good care! It also helps that the girls both love going to 'school' (as they call it)!

This is a picture of the Christmas present the childcare made for us parents:

 

 

 

OCTOBER
- We moved house! Bought our own place and happy to live in our own place rather than a rented property. Praise God for His miraculous providence of this house (that in itself is another story). Now that we have moved house, the girls' childcare centre is just walking distance from our new place. Amazing how it all turned out huh?

We also tried our hand at gardening (for the very first time) since we now have a garden. Considering the fact that we don't have very green fingers, the plants are surviving pretty well!

 

 

DECEMBER
- Did a 5-hour road trip to Young to pick cherries. It was lovely!! Fresh and beautiful cherries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- I started a new permanent job at a different company. Wrote a testimony about how God provided for this job in my church blog site: http://www.ilife.org.au/index.php/2009/12/who-gets-hired-in-december/

- It's also Janine's 2nd birthday tomorrow (31 Dec). Time flies! She a really cheerful and cheeky girl with a loud voice and cry!

Janelle & Janine absolutely love playing together. They both keep each other entertained annd can play together for hours on end. This makes life much easier for us as parents, which we are extremely thankful for! 

Feeding the ducks

Or rather, this is an attempt to feed the ducks. Maybe it should be titled "Chasing the ducks" instead of feeding them.

5 Years

5 years = half a decade

That's exactly how long Royston and I have been married.
 
Can't believe we have been married for 5 years already! It means the term "newlyweds" or "newly-marrieds" does not apply to us anymore. Yet, when we look at our parents who have been married for more than 30 years, 5 years seem like such a small fraction of a married life.
 
Thank God for these past 5 years of married life and for a wonderful loving husband! Seems like we have gone through so many different phases in these short 5 years!
 
19 June 2004 - our wedding
19 January 2006 - Janelle's birth
31 December 2007 - Janine's birth
2 July 2008 - move to Australia
 
We have been kept really busy the past 5 years with major family transitions in almost every year! But I'm thankful for all that has happened because we have been brought closer together as a family through all these, and we have experienced so much of God's blessings upon our lives that we are really in awe of our Almighty and Loving Father

A 3-year-old's take on marriage

Day 1
Janelle: "Daddy, are you married?"
Royston: "Yes of course I'm married! I'm married to your mummy."
*look of utter surprise on Janelle's face*
Janelle smiles in great amusement: "You're married to my mummy?!?"

Janelle: "Mummy, are you married also?"
Me: "Of course I am. I'm married to your daddy, that's how we had you and mei-mei."
Janelle smiles in great amusement, obviously not fully understanding this thing about marriage.

Day 2
Janelle: "Daddy, mummy, I want to get married!!"
Royston: "You're too young to get married."
Me: "Who do you want to marry?"
Janelle thinks for a while, then proudly proclaims: "My sister!!"

Day 3
We let Janelle watch part of our church wedding video and she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Day 4
Janelle *sadly*: "But I'm not at your wedding. Janine also not at your wedding. Joie and Clarice also not there."
Me: "Oh darling, but that's because you were all not born yet, so you couldn't be at our wedding."

 

First "Professional" Haircut

2 weeks' back, I went to the hairdresser's with Janelle as I needed a haircut. When we reached there, Janelle kept requesting for her hair to be cut!! So I obliged and she had her very first haircut by someone other than her mummy! Here's how she looked after her haircut. Basically the hairstylist cut it all straight, but it's definitely much straighter than how I usually cut Janelle's hair :)