Beautiful weekend

The good news is, this mum survived 5 days and 4 nights alone with her 2 active kids! So, daddy dearest wanted to make up for lost time by bringing us on a long weekend trip to Wanganui and to see the West Coast. When I was planning for the weekend and booking the hotel, the weather forecast said that it would be a cold, wet and gloomy weekend. We decided we'd just go by faith and enjoy our family time together. By the grace of God, the weather was perfect. It was even warmer than we'd expected! We had a great time. The highlight of our trip was going up Mt Taranaki, seeing Dawson Falls, and the one and a half hour trek through a trail while covered in clouds. The best bit was on the way out of the trail, che K was voted the best downhill walker of all time, jumping over roots and muddy patches. Such a change from the grouch we had on the way in who even pretended to sleep on daddy's shoulder so that she could be carried. 

The better news is still to come!!!

Weight lost to date: 1kg!!!!(WOOT!)

Still too slow... but this will spur me on!!!

Exercise Log:

Tuesday walk with stroller:

Time: 1 hour

Route: Trentham Kindy  8    Messines Ave  8    Moonshine Park  8     Moonshine Walk   8   Trentham Kindy

It's been the least exercise I've done in a week!!! Sigh...

Now I know...

I've been bringing the girls to the Upper Hutt Baptist Church Playgroup on Tuesdays for 3 weeks now. It's at the church we've been visiting, and will probably settle at for this year. It's a really nice place for mothers and fathers alike to bring their kids, and just have time to sit around talking over coffee with other parents, while the children have 2 hours of free-play. And it's packed with about 30-40 kids in total, but about 25 turn up each week. The 1st week I went, we filled up the last slots of the playgroup. Like one of the mothers I spoke to told me, it's a relief for her to go to these playgroups, so she doesn't have to think of how to entertain them without leaving them in front of the TV. 

Well, today while at playgroup, the lady who leads the group mentioned during the last 10 min of singing that anyone was welcomed to take over the singing time. They usually sing kiddie songs like  from the Wiggles, or just nursery rhymes etc. At that time, it didn't strum a chord in me. I just remember thinking that the singing time could be done better. Just lying in bed putting the girls to sleep, I suddenly had a shiver down my spine, and saw a vision of the someone singing sunday school songs, and another person reading bible stories to the kids in that same hall with the very same kids at the playgroup! I asked the Lord what it meant, and He showed me that I could be the one doing those things. The playgroup attracts mothers from the community, who do not go to the church at all. I've only seen 1 familiar face from Sunday service at that playgroup(other than the group leader). I felt that the Lord was showing me that this could be a good way of evangelising to the innocent minds of the children through songs and bible stories! At the moment, I'm still unsure if this is really the vision of the people who started the playgroup, and if they had intentionally made it secular. The Lord willing, I'll try to come out of my shell and approach the organiser to share my vision, and volunteer my help. 

Perhaps this is my purpose...

1st netball match!

Played for the first time yesterday! Only for 1 half... but that was quite good enough. What an experience! My first ever competitive netball match. I think I might not have done much good to the team being on the court as WA for 1 quarter, then WD for the next quarter, but the coach said that I played alright for my first time on court. Perhaps if I had stayed off the court, they would have kept their 2 goal lead at half-time:P But who knows... the shooters were quite tired at the end, and they lost quite a number of the balls. 

Well, looking forward to more court time now...

Papa K is away. Left for Auckland today, and back on Thursday. I'm really glad that I've established a routine for the kids with most days packed with activities. Makes the day go by quicker. Today was great. Che K was so cooperative at dinner, she fed herself, and helped me to oversee mei K while they played in the garden. Mei K also liked dinner today, and was one of the rare meals where I was not fighting with her to sit and eat her meal... sigh... gives me such pressure to prepare yummy meals for them. I must say, though, that I think my cooking seems to be improving, although, I still stand in front of the freezer everyday and wonder "what on earth should I cook today?" My repertoire of dishes only stretches so far. Eating everyday for so many weeks, really challenges my creativity. On top of that, the limited availability, or rather the extraordinary premium you have to pay for asian spices, and the rarity of things like pork bones and fresh fish, and even prawns(!), makes it more difficult. Up till today, the only stir-fried veg I've cooked is with oyster sauce or just with garlic and soy sauce... Of course my loving husband says it's his fav veg, and truth be told, I've never really seen him eat that much veg before... I'm the one getting bored with cooking the same styled veg just with different types of vegetables! I also stumbled upon a traditional Maori dish called 'Boiled up' on my own quite by accident. I saw some pork bones in the supermarket, which was labelled at 'bacon bones'. Not quite knowing what the difference was, I bought it thinking that I could use it to make soup with water cress which we got from the weekend market. After making the soup the first time, I realised that the bones were actually smoked, and gave the whole soup a bacon-y taste, which was alright as I'd thrown in carrots and potatoes as well, it was very tasty, albeit a little salty. Yesterday, we had a netball team potluck, and our coach made that traditional Maori dish especially for us to try, and what do you know, it was exactly like the soup I had made twice in the last 2 weeks! Her soup had pumpkin and celery, I think, on top of what I had put in, boiled till there was much less soup than mine, but the overall taste was the same! 

Will try and update with pics on special dishes I do here. 

For now, it's just cooking to please the little one...

Some photos for now, Happy Mother's day!

I've put up some more photos on my Kodak Gallery. Some taken by K's new toy. I haven't figured out how to link it to my blog. 

Anyway, a friend made a comment about my last post about hitting children being illegal in NZ. She said that in UK, it's the hitting of the child on their head that's illegal, so I thought it might be the case here too. Yesterday at church, I read in the newsletter that they are getting a petition signed. It read "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be criminal offence". So perhaps, the case here is that any form of hitting is against the law here!!!

Was pulled out of bed and asked to go running this Mother's day! It was nice though. Came home to find the breakfast was ready, and che K ran up to me and wished me Happy Mother's day with a hug and kiss! Thank you all... 

Exercise log:

Thurs pm run/walk with stroller

Time: 50min

Route: Trentham Kindy 8    Trentham Memorial Park  8   Moonshine Park    

Sun am run

Time: 40 mins

Route: Moonshine Park 8   Trentham Memorial Park  8  Fergusson Drive

Spare the rod, spoil the child

This is something I've believed in, and practiced back home with a cane. Sparingly used, and a very good deterrent. This was affirmed by a pastor at SAC (forgot his name) as being obedient to God's word. 

Proverbs 13:24 " He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."

Since arriving in NZ though, things have been very different. We had been informed by someone in Singapore, and was later confirmed when we got here, that it is illegal to hit children here. I could be sent to prison for it! Thank God that the kids have been rather good, and it has not been a problem so far. I guess behind closed doors, who knows right? But I'm determined to exercise self-control, and try to reason with the girls, rather than to resort to that sort of discipline...

Met a mother in K's school from India. She commented about how the kids here have no respect for their teachers by calling them by their first names, and just leaving the class as and when they wish. 

One wonders if juvenile problems result from this lack of respect for authority...

1st day of school...

Thanks to all who have been praying for us. Che K is probably one of the few who has been able to jump the waiting list for school, and she attended her first day of school today! Thank God for that. She attends Trentham Kindergarten. The system here is really different. Kindergarten here is only for 3-4 year-olds, and it's provided free for all living in NZ, even if it's just for a short spell like us. The 3 year-olds start going 3 days a week for 2 hrs each day. All they do each time is to play and play and play. There are maybe 2 teachers and 2 helpers for close to 30 kids (though not all 30 turn up each day). They are supervised (somewhat), just to make sure they don't eat the dough, or injure themselves in the playground etc... The teacher told me it's more to familiarise the kids to being at school before they turn 4, when a more structured programme is then used. Perhaps I'm just brought up in such a structured society, where everything done must have a purpose and structure, with goals set for either the teacher or the child to meet, this system is just too radical for me. Most Singaporean parents would probably think this is a waste of time, and if money was involved, waste of money too. While the fact that kids learn best through play is true, I just feel it needs to be guided play, where an adult explains and teaches things while playing. Well, I'm obviously a product of the 'rigid' Singapore education system. 

Oh well, that aside, che K really enjoyed herself in school today, which is more important than anything else. To my surprise, she stayed by herself for the 2 hours without much complaint. Thank God for that. I managed to hold mei K's nap off till the afternoon, so I got about 1 hour plus to myself. I've never appreciated time alone for myself like that before. So many things I can do... but I must remind myself to keep this time for the Lord. 

Mon am run:

Time: 35 mins

Route: Ararino St 8 Messines Ave 8 Fergusson Dr

Netball crazy!

Netball... a sport I've long 'admired' but never had a chance to try... Now, being in NZ, netball is the biggest sport here, for girls, that is, only second to rugby of course. I've finally had a chance to try my hand at the game. Very different for me, it being a team sport, but all the same, ball skills and hand-eye-coordination are required. Maoribank. That's the team I'm in. We're playing in the Hutt Valley Netball Championships. Been for 2 training sesh. May not be ready for the real game yet... maybe I'll just be a bench-warmer this weekend, but the experience is just amazing. The quality of the game, at this level is quite high, being easily the shortest and maybe the 2nd smallest player will make it difficult for me. I like it though... for once, I'm one of the smallest!!! Even the jersey which I was given was size S, and it's too big for me!!! I like it here!!!

Only thing is, I'm a 'lil unfit... after a whole day of sitting around with the kids, watching them at the playground, at last mon sesh, I pulled a groin muscle... OUCH! After last 2 days of self-inflicting painful stretches and some self treatment, it's pretty much well now. Managed a run this morning. Pretty happy with my progress so far, keeping in mind my target for the end of the year.

Today also marked the first time I took the kids out of Upper Hutt. Took a 30 min drive (think Bukit Batok to Simei with no traffic) to Lower Hutt. We went to one of the biggest shopping centres in NZ(so say the guidebooks), Westfield (Queensgate). Before you imagine anything like the malls back home, this 'mega-mall' is 3 levels, with the top level being the cinema... So 2 levels of shops, each level maybe just the size of Park Mall. Still, not bad for NZ, and being in a suburb. Can't complain. Best thing was, there's an indoor playground for the kids!!! Best thing for the rain storms we've had over the last 2 days. i thought it only rained like that in the tropics! Well, I'm also learning not to read the weather by looking into the sky. I've been played out by the fine weather more than 3 times now, having left my laundry in the sunny cloudless weather, only to regret it when I'm too far away to turn around... Someone adviced that jere in Wellington, you have to be prepared. You can experience all 4 seasons in  single day. 

How's that for unpredictable!

Morning Run

Time: 30mins

Route: Miro street8 Martin Street 8 Fergusson