(Last week of the June hols) - Matching boys' wear, walk down memory lane

 

Oh the holiday would be over in a flash. How time flew. Ha, the boys were into matching wear recently. Tong was more keen on it than Jun but Jun would oblige him sometimes.

 

The very adorable and handsome little boys.

 

Went to the play session at the library and Tong dressed up as a fireman. He was learning about the fire engine in school. Jun loved fire trucks too. That was why he chose to be the fire dog, Marshall, in the Paw Patrol team.

 

Ha, the kids were up to no good as we headed to Central ITE for the Tues soccer session. Papa was away so our ever dutiful and doting Ah Gong drove us all the way there and found out, to our dismay, that it was the Hari Raya long break and there was no training! At least we got to enjoy having dinner with ah gong. SIGH.

 

Ha, they even wore similar shorts, they were actually both pictures of Mcqueen the car!

 

On the way to Waipo's house, Tong espied this cat nestled up at the bottom of the tree, taking a little snooze. He wanted me to take a photo to show papa. He was the only one who kept talking about calling papa, asking what the time was in UK and what papa was doing there. He was the most endearing child out of the three. Jie was pretty aloof and burying her nose in her books all the time. Jun was too young to be bothered by papa's absence...ha

 

We went to the Dumpling Festival at Kembangan CC with Ah Gong. Well, a simple sword balloon could keep them entertained for a long time. Here, they were pretending to spear the fish with the swords. These wacky boys...

 

Jun had a habit of lining things up. It was most peculiar and amusing. He was turning 3 in late October and simply refused to be potty-trained (he never said anything when he pooped in his diapers). When asked when he would start school, he always remarked, "3 years old" in that cute voice and barely decipherable words of his.

 

I could not get him sometimes and he would get really frustrated and annoyed. Ha, he would be agitated and shout the exact same words which we did not comprehend, as if saying them more loudly would help things. Haaha. Jie and I were amused by his antics most of the time.

 

Well, the obstinate boy certainly liked to have his way. He loved to shout for mama and mama did not respond or go to him right away sometimes. He would go ballistic and cry...he also refused to cede any grounds when he was engaged in a battle with mama Say, he was in the room and yelled for mama to go. Mama told him to come out and look for her instead. Then, he would be bawling his eyes out and standing at the door, refusing to step out at all. Rascal.

 

In his endearing ways, he showed his love for the family. Jie liked to rest on the bench and read her books while gor gor delighted in going to the far side where the lush trees were. He would insist that she followed us and not be left behind.

 

He liked to race against gor gor and yet would complain vociferously when gor gor sprinted off like lightning, leaving him in the dust. He would wallow in his loss and moaned and whined until gor gor came back and let him run ahead of him instead. Ha, sore loser.

 

ha, but we could never imagine our lives without this little light bulb who really lit up our days and brought such joy and delight to us.

 

Down memory lane

 

Found a shoebox of memories in Waipo's house and took it back to look through the old cards, photos and letters... gosh....memories...

 

The days when papa and I were young and carefree...

 

Oh my, papa was indeed handsome and slim when he was younger. haha...well, I believed that our boys would grow up to be so dashing like papa...

 

 

Eh... I thought I looked better now. Ha, praise the Lord, for renewing my youth like the eagles and letting me be more glorious from year to year.

 

 

 

Old friends whom I did not keep in touch with...Sigh, that night was filled with somber thoughts and laments too...

 

 

So tada, the shoebox joined the rest of my memories tucked away in a nondescript corner in the storeroom. I always lamented about how I was a shadow of whom I used to be. The witty, humorous, daring, salacious one with lofty ideals...now...prim and proper, grounded, practical, and all together so boring running a mundane house doing routine things like using the magic wipe broom to sweep the floor and wiping the table top for the 10000th time...oh my youth...and brilliance...all extinguished by motherhood. hahahah

 

See what FB prompts showed...orrr our jovial cheerleader! Showed it to Jie and she ginned.

 

All of you were growing up so fast. May you continue to thrive and prosper.

 

Psalm 127:3-5 New International Version (NIV)

³ Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward from him.
⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
    are children born in one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man
    whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
    when they contend with their opponents in court.

 

Praying that all of you would grow up to be tall and lanky, big and strong. Be salt and light of the world. Be movers and shakers. Make the world a little better by you being in it. Keep shining, my three little light bulbs. Ha, at this point, if Tong were here, he would break into the song....

 

This Little Light Of Mine Lyrics

 

[Chorus]
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!

[Verse 1]
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine
Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!

[Chorus]
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!

[Verse 2]
All up in my house, I'm gonna let it shine
All up in my house, I'm gonna let it shine
All up in my house, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!

 

I know, all of you had definitely inherited my very wry and lame sense of humor. Keep shining, babies. In Jesus' name, Amen.

update on 18 Jul 18

Was going through the old blog posts to find photos to print for the baby books...



Saw that you were wearing matching wear even when Jun was just one year old! ha.


Nov 16 (ha at the point of writing in July 18, the two of you still have this top!)

 

This was taken in April 17. yeah, dapper in polo ralph.

 

 

May 17

 

 

 

 

(June 18) National Gallery

A lazy afternoon....

 

 

We took 961 and alighted right at the entrance of the National Gallery.

 

Ah, the interactive work by TeamLab. Their signature style of having splendid images with a kaleidoscope of colours...

 

Different scenes depicted the different seasons

 

Whimsical and quirky rabbits and frogs sauntered around, making funny noises to the background of jaunty music...

 

Oooo...we treaded cautiously on this bridge with deceiving depths...

 

Not a walk for the faint-hearted, it gave me horripilation (ha, I came across this amazing book titled "Big words for little geniuses" and it had these bombastic, mind-boggling words that I had never encountered ever in my life. Yup, so one of the words was horripilation, which meant the erection of hairs on the skin due to cold, fear, or excitement, I supposed it meant goose bumps in layman terms. hahaha.)

 

They added this new exhibits on the walls, one was like looking into never ceasing reflections. Jun reached out to touch the nut.

 

Oh, they always had this one room with crazy splashes of colours and some hands-on activities.

 

Used noodles to form colourful shapes - reminded me of the show "Trolls" with their effervescent characters and scenes...

 

Oh Tong was trapped by the noodles

 

We tried to make a rainbow...I could sing a rainbow...sing a rainbow...sing a rainbow too

 

Ha, what an adorable little jail and jailbird

 

Guessed what the backdrop was made of?

 

Sponges! How amazing that the artists used everyday objects to create such breathtaking murals!

 

Oh, they were able to create their own pottery on the computers and see them on the wall

 

Jun had such fun there. He created a few pots and asked to be photographed with his creations.

 

Another room with a marine theme. Ha, they claimed that this was their secret hideout or cave.

 

And their monstrous humongous cap

 

I loved this room. It was so serene...

 

Ha the rocks were actually cushions.

The boys refused to grant entry to Jie, declaring it was for boys only.

 

 

 

another interactive exhibit whereby they chose the clothes for the characters on a computer screen and the characters would appear in the village.

 

A noisy installation. The kids were allowed to make a din with all these pots, bells and mundane tools. Boy, was it a racket.

 

 

Ha, my cute peas in a pod. erm. Pot.

 

Yet another installation.

 

Ha, art and play combined into one...

 

They enjoyed themselves climbing through the holes and going up and down the ramp.

 

I was delighted with the trip. Tong said he liked the National Museum while Jie preferred the Art Museum. How fortunate we were to be able to get free entry into the museums to get to see these enthralling exhibits.

 

The school holiday was coming to an end. ha, I was looking forward to the usual routine we had during the school term. The two of you pouted and whined...heh. It had been a blast, this June holiday. I could not wait to go for our next holiday! Yay Birmingham.

 

We thank Jesus for blessing us, watching over us and making all things work for our good. We thank God for guiding all of our steps all of our days. In Jesus' name, amen.