Posts from — March 2009

Yesterday, the 29th of March, we went to the Hillsong Live Album Recording at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. As expected, it was a great evening filled with praise and worship to God.

We came in early as we knew a lot of people would be coming. Also, we had to bring our children to the Hillsong Kids programme before the service starts. So when the doors opened, we were relatively ahead in the queue. As we entered the auditorium, we, together with our friends, quickly filled up almost a whole row of seats.

At 6pm, the pastors came up on stage to open up in prayer and ask the Lord for blessings during that time. And shortly, the live music and the praises of God’s people filled the entire place. I certainly thank the Lord for the opportunity to be there with my family and friends.

The Easter Weekend is just around the corner. In less than a couple of weeks, we get another chance to take another long weekend with Friday and the following Monday as public holidays. We, together with some friends, are trying to set up an overnight trip out. We are looking at simple accommodation as we are likely to stay only for one night. But for longer trips, I am sure it is worth it to take on business hotels. Considering that we probably have few choice (since we are making this plan a bit too late), we’ll probably be happy to take anything as long as we can all be together to catch up with what’s going on with life. I’m sure our kids will enjoy it, too!

As my kids come home from school, they would almost surely look for some snack. It seems that all the physical activity that they had in school drained all the energy that is in them. It is quite understandable that there is the need for a ‘refill’. I notice though that in my case, it seems to be the other way around. Exercise or other physical activity tends to be an appetite suppressant. If I think about it, I guess I’d like to keep it that way. Otherwise, any exercise would end up being negated by a surge of calorie intake.

At home, we have this little cupboard which can easily be reached by my daughter CN. I pack it with snacks which she can quickly pull out by herself. Of coure I have to monitor this space frequently not only to make sure that there is sufficient supply, but also to make sure it stays fit and clean to be ‘the cupboard’. It’s good that our place doesn’t have much insects so I do not have to worry too much about that aspect. Though if necessary, there are non-toxic pantry moth traps which can save the day.

I am so excited! This year I will have the chance to attend the Hillsong Colour Your World Conference for the first time. It will be held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Darling Harbour.  I’m looking forward to meet women from all over the world gathered to praise, worship and be empowered by God. And I am sure it will be a great experience for me… encountering my Savior and Creator in a different way and having fellowship with my sisters in Christ.

Colour Your World 09
Sydney Entertainment Centre
Conference One: 26-28 March/Conference Two: 30 March - 1 April

My daughter went to a school camp recently. Weeks before the camp, they were given a long list of things to bring. One (optional) item is an ‘inexpensive camera’. I told my kid to bring a relatively old digital camera. However, she was reluctant in bringing it as she said it wasn’t really inexpensive. With inexpensive, the expectation seem to be to take a disposable film camera.

While looking for this ‘inexpensive camera’, I realized that in the end, it is in fact more expensive compared to digital cameras. Other than being disposable, there are even further costs of developing the film afterwards. So if you were to ask me, I think a better kiddy cam should be a digital cam!

With kids having a relatively short attention span, they are prone to lose a thing or two every now and then. In fact, in my daughter’s school, the ‘found items’ basket does not seem to go empty week after week. This should encourage parents to label their children’s things especially if they do go to school. A custom rubber stamp will be a great tool to label different things. In the event that they do get lost, it somehow increases the chance of the lost to be found.

Next Sunday, 29 March 2009, Hillsong church will come together for its yearly live album recording. This year, it will be held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. It’s more than just recording songs. It’s everyone coming together to praise and worship the Lord. Our family will be coming there, together with our two children. We were actually there last year and really had a great time of worship and look forward for another experience next week!

This was a relatively popular slogan back when I was a kid. This is definitely a regular reminder I get from my parents or teachers. Probably, children do not give that much importance to such advise. After all, kiddy teeth appear to be quite sturdy. There is also that assurance that (if what’s broken is just a milk tooth) a new one is going to come out shortly.

As a parent, it is now my turn to remind my kids to work on their teeth regularly. For things to be more effective, we parents try to explain (or should I say rationalize) why this routine should be done on a regular basis. Sometimes it is almost inevitable to make comparisons. What I mean is telling our children about our how we may have somewhat (yes, trying to downplay things a bit) slipped on brushing our teeth when we were kids… and therefore lead to some tooth decay.

Here in Australia, a dental appointment can really break the budget and hence, preventive care even becomes more important. I do not know if that is the case with other countries. Perhaps not. As I actually plan to see a dentist whenever we get a chance to take a holiday in Manila. Or maybe I should ask some family what their experience is with Los Angeles Dentist. But at the end of it, I think the cost will definitely go a long way as a lost tooth is lost for life. Priceless?

“A computer in every home.” This was how the vision of Microsoft began. Now this is slowly but surely becoming a reality. To families, the computer has become an important tool for education and communication. And perhaps one driving component to the advancement of home computing is the internet. In our family, this is definitely a ‘hit’!

As the internet starts to take over a good portion of communication needs, the need for the traditional home line is starting to be questioned. Hence came different ways to connect including cable, and satellite broadband. I think it is a good idea as it expands the possibilities not only for communication.

With broadband satellite, more families are able to leverage the advantages of this powerful tool. Sometimes it is almost unthinkable to have a computer without the internet! It’s almost as if you can’t have one without the other.

After Australia Day in late January, it looks (and feels) like the next holiday is so far away. The next one is Good Friday in April. I am sure a lot of people are looking forward to that next long weekend! Of course nothing beats a really good holiday break. Perhaps Orlando vacations would be great over a week or two. And to make it even better, doing the holidays over normal working days would help in reducing the crowd in these holiday spots.

I am planning to do some site cleanup in the next week or so. It has been quite some time since I have done some serious maintenance of this site. It sure is hard to keep up with the continuously changing/upgrading versions. With 2 kids always jostling for position on the computer, it looks like the only time to do it is in the odd hours when everyone is asleep. Night shift WAHM?

Here’s another light moment with my daughter CN. Right after dinner, my husband was trying to refill the ice cube tray. Little CN was intently watching what his father is doing. Then she made a smart comment saying ‘ice comes from water!’. ‘Yes Cherie, that’s right’, explained her dad. Trying to take CN a step further, my husband asked ‘Where does ice cream come from?’

Cherie smiled and replied, ‘From the ice cream shop!’

Whenever we go out on a holiday, one of the things that my kids enjoy is exploring the hotel. In the room, they would probably have a look first at the mini bar refrigerator but not without a warning that they should not take anything from it. Other small things to explore are the ‘gadgets’ which may be in the room or other facilities. Even at young ages, the seem to already do some comparisons and make their hotel picks. So when we get a chance to the US, then it may be worth getting them to pick a New York City hotel to book.