BDP : AT THE AIRPORT

(From now on, posts that's older will be tagged BDP : Back-dated Post !)

This was when we went to the airport. When I checked the date of when the pictures were taken, it was 1st of November 2009!

Hah! almost a year to the date.

I hang my head in shame!

I am such a bad, bad blogger!

 They even smile alike!

Photographic proof that we were at the airport - here we have a pic of planes.

AN MRT RIDE UPDATE

We haven't been taking the MRT much, as a family these days. What with Hubby being very busy-&-hard-at-work these days, with his new job, Ryan with school & me ... being ahem ... lazy busy busy busy.

Just a simple update (these were taken in January 2010). Ryan now loves taking the train. What a world of difference compared to the early days, when he used to stiffen & look ultra-nervous. He enjoys the train rides these days. He never wants to sit ... he prefers to stand & hold the railings. Which is ok if the train is rather empty, not so good when its packed to the gills with people.

Oh well ...

Talk about these pics being "ancient", Ryan can't fit into the outfit anymore. He's grown!

HOW I EAT

Wanna see how Ryan eats his favourite egg prata?

Wanna see how he "tortures" his Daddy ... after eating said eggy prata?

Well, I'm gonna show you anyway!

See what I go through ... on an almost daily basis.

Some days are good, some days are are. not. so. good.

But everyday ... with my boy ... is a blessing!

Prata ... here I come!

Ryan : Let's see how many poses I can come out with.

BREAKFAST WITH MY DADDY

Ryan just loves his egg prata. And since our Precious loves prata for brekkie, we as a family have to suffer eat prata too. I've taken many photos of father & son having their usual morning pratas, here are two of them.

They both look very happy here - looking at them in the photos, puts a smile on my face.

Big smiles all around!

Aren't we feeling happy today!

OF SPIDERS, SNAKES & CREEPY CRAWLIES

Do all boys love creepy crawlies?! I was under the impression that they all do. Evidently, my Hubby said "No, not all boys love insects & other creepy crawlies. Don't know why Ryan likes them".

So when my boy recently displayed a keen interest in things that make my hair stand on ends (yucks! I can't stand insects), I was willing to overlook my sheer & utter disgust of all things insect ... just to humour my kid.

Isn't that what we call ... love? ... hehe!

For a while now, there has been a small black spider that lived in our toilet (haha ... yep you read that right!). She has since made herself very comfortable in our loo. How did I know that it was a female spider? Well, she has since reproduced 2 baby spiders. Ryan just adore his pet(-roam-free)-spiders. Every morning he will never fail to greet them "Good morning, Spider!" before he starts his morning shower for school. Yep, that's the innocence of a 3 year old. Lately, the Mummy spider seem to have gone AWOL. My boy has been asking me - "Where's Mummy spider?" Errm ... I just don't have the heart to tell him that she might be dead. I don't think spiders got a long life span. Now that she spawned offsprings, she can go to Spider Heaven peacefully. Amen!

I don't so much love spiders but I was brought up not to kill or harm them. So this mum taught her son the same. So now Ryan just loves spiders too ... well, only the small ones (he's still petrified of huge spiders like tarantulas). He's also into snakes, ladybugs, snails, butterflies, etc.

So whenever we come across a bookstore, I will never fail to drop in to see if they have affordable books on sale. I've always loved reading so I am not at all aghast at spending a small fortune to encourage my son to read & explore his current interests. If snakes & spiders are what he likes right now ... that's what I am willing to encourage him on.

Busy showing his Daddy the finer points in insect study ... whilst waiting for our breakfast prata to be ready.

Ryan : Daddy, come read my book with me!

MY TWO PRECIOUS BOYS !

The title says it all, ya!

They are both oh so precious to me ... but I'm sometimes ... their harshest critic, & at times ... push them the hardest.

Why do we do that?

Why are we the worst critics, of the ones we love most?

I guess its because we want only the best for them, nothing less! I am far more guilty of that, than most people would like to admit. I know I have to be strong ... & let them make their own mistakes, some-times. I know that its better to be loving & supportive than be destructive verbally but most times, its hard for me.

"Hold thy tongue ... & let love show you the way."

HERE WE GO AGAIN ...

Dear loved ones,

It's a public holiday today (we get to drive) but we were at home the entire day, rotting away (we usually don't). Ermm .... what was wrong?? Well, my poor baby, Ryan is down with high fever (once again!) since Wednesday & hasn't recovered yet. He's (so) frequently falling sick these days ... that my heart skips-many-a-beat (not in the good-excited way, ok!) whenever he has a slight temperature!

Dear God, please make my baby better ... he's had a tough couple of months recently & just when he's over the bend ... he falls sick again. Poor thing! I'm sometimes so tired & drained but I am very relieved that Hubby is around to help me these couple of months. As much as I grumble (& nag), I'm very glad & extremely grateful to have his love, support & helping hands, during these tough times.

Why you might wonder am I on the blog yakking away, all of a sudden? Errm ... Hubby finally starts on his 2nd job today. Whilst his 1st job is more on an adhoc basis & doesn't bring money in all the time, Hubby had to take on a 2nd job that feeds the family, regularly. Unfortunately, the 2nd job entails long hours & regular night shifts. There are times that I wonder ... whether we did the right thing? .... Hubby left his old job for so many reasons. Our current situation might never make us millionaires, heck it might not even make his old pay but all I can say is that - there's no turning back now!

Whatever may come,
Whatever will be ...
We will face it together, as a family.

We will stay strong,
We will be resilient,
We will stand united,
We will defy the naysayers,
We will make it ... no matter what!
Heck! There's no other damn way ....!

Its sometimes hard to stay positive. Its sometimes hard to be super-duper optimistic ... but we have to try the best that we can. We have chosen this path for our family & we will be moving forward, not backwards, damn it! Deep in my heart, I really do believe that we made the right decision ... but there are times, when even the strongest supporter (muah!) has lingering-doubts of her own.

I may not know a lot of things ... but the one thing that I am sure of is this - Ryan just loves having his Daddy around the home, all day long! During the pass six months or so, these 2 guys have built a bond so strong that recently Ryan sprouted this priceless gem :

Ryan : Daddy, go where?

Me : Daddy, go work, darling.

(I sometimes tell Ryan that his Daddy is working, when he's out of the home like attending courses or running some errands for the day. I know its 'cruel' but its just easier that way. When his Daddy's home, he will ... never fail, to ask again).

Ryan : Daddy, go where?

Hubby : Daddy, go work.

Ryan : No! Daddy dun go work, (sometimes he will also say : Mummy, dun go work, too ... haha!)

Hubby : Daddy, have to go to work darling.

Ryan : Daddy, dun go work. Daddy, stay at home. I go work!

(Oh! how I wish that was true! Especially ... when you are much older & get to read this blog entry, I will hold you to your word, my little angel)!

If you ask Hubby whether leaving his job was worth it, just to hear those precious words from his only son, he'll probably give you a resounding Y-E-S! The 2 boys have forged a relationship so strong that its so endearing & heartfelt, its such a fulfillment that brings so much joy, in Hubby's eyes. That alone ... makes everything worth it!

Your kid is only 3 (years old) once, for when that (certain) age passed ... you will never, ever get it back! Spending precious time with his son, has made it all worthwhile. We may never have riches, we may never be rich, heck ... we may never have a lot of money ... but the one thing that we have is a close-knitted family that is full of love & devotion. Nothing can buy that!

If it means that we have to eat home-cooked meals everyday, shop less, buy less, own less ... then so be it! At least, we have each other. Coz if we were to die tomorrow, we will have died with less regrets, coz we spent those precious & priceless moments with our son. He will always know that we love him so much & everything that we do is for him, alone. He will never have to question our love for him, he will always know that we will do everything within our power to give him a wonderful, stable & loving environment. He will always be loved & he will always know that we love him. That will never ever change!

I will try to blog more frequently & upload some photos real soon, to get everyone up to speed ... on all the on-goings these pass couple of months. Till then .... stay strong everyone!

Always, Lynn.

220TH POST!

Haha ... wasn't my intention, to write about the the 220th entry but it had a nice ring to it. Besides, this will be probably my last entry for 2009, so I just wanna end it on a nicer figure ... haha! Yes, I know ... lame excuse.

My other excuse ... is to put up pictures of my 2 boys. They have given me some cute poses lately, so I just wanted to put them up here ... to round up my year.

Although life has been extremely tough, both of them make .... everything worthwhile. We may have our rough patches, we may have our disagreements, we may have our arguments ... but I love them both, with all my heart & soul. I don't know where I'll be, without them .... in my life.

To my two darlings, I love you both ... more now, than ever! Please stay the course with me & I know .... we will make it through, on the other side!

(P.S : Yes ... I'm being nostalgic & mushy. So sue me! )

TO THE FISH FARM WE WENT

P.S : I blogged about this here, earlier. So here's the long version, folks! Yes ... its full of photos, haha!
We have been to Qian Hu a couple of times before but I managed to get many nice pics, this time round. This time we remembered to drop by earlier, so we didn't have to rush. This was a last minute outing as we had earlier wanted to go to Ikea (to survey something) but cancelled it at the last minute.

What a coincidence, Ryan was wearing his "Fish" shirt on that day! It was easy to decide on the place because it was nearby plus the entry & parking was free. The fish food however was not ... haha! Oh well, you can't have everything free ... I guess!

At the entrance, the kids started getting excited about seeing the fishes.
My niece, Ayra ... starts to pose for me. Ryan ... he's busy looking at the kois.

Wow! So many fishes.

The two cousins, enjoying the view. They were getting very excited ... just looking at the kois in the special pond.

A quick pose!

Aaah! Now we have some food for the fishes.

Hubby, giving the kids a helping hand. Aiyah! the man in green, stood too close to my niece ... spoilt my photo!

Ayra, smiling for me.

Photo's a bit blur (blame my digicam!) ... but they still look cute ya?

Ayra : Nah! Fish ... I give you some more food.

Ok, one last burst of food for them. Let's move on to the other stations.

Well, here we are at the turtle pond. Hey ... where are all the turtles? (I realised that I didn't take any photos of the green turtles. Oh well, there's always next time. By the way, their pond was dirty & a bit disgusting though .... )

Hubby : Take some for the turtles, Ryan.

Ryan : Let me count the pellets ... one, two, three ...

Ryan, taking a handful from Daddy (lucky its just fish food pellets & not money huh .... haha!)

Hubby ... looking at something rather interesting?

Ryan's turn to look at something interesting, whilst Ayra keeps doing her thing.

Can you see Ryan's Fish T-shirt (from Osh Gosh - cheap, less than 10 bucks)? Its says "Genuine Fish" ... haha ... so funny & apt, rite?

By this time, we have bought 3 packs of fish food. I think a packet is a dollar (not cheap ok). I think they can easily make a "fortune" every weekend, if you see the crowds of kids there.

More please, Papa.

Hubby : This is how you throw the food!

Can you see in the foreground, a group of ladies sitting on the ground. Errrm, you won't catch me doing that! Besides I'm too busy snapping photos & I have to stand to get nice ones .... ok, excuses excuses. To tell you the truth, I find sitting on the floor in a public place too dirty for my comfort ... so there, sue me!

  Ayra, stays true to her peace sign ... whilst Ryan acts nonchalant (as usual).

Seems like Ayra was trying to get Ryan interested in the peace sign but my boy, ain't buying any of it! Can you see his bo-chap attitude? Complete with legs on the bench ... so ah beng rite?

Ayra still smiley ... but Ryan's getting really bored with all these photo-taking ... haha!

Ok one last pose kids! Ayra gives me a sweet pose & Ryan finally manages to smile ... aiyah, the ah beng pose is still there!

More feeding ... I think this is a new packet of food. Lucky fishes!

Look how tall my girl has grown!

Yes, I'm counting ... Papa!

Oops! I dropped some ... into the pond!

Yeah! I give the fishes some ...

I need more Papa ... I need more, can't you see!

Looking spacey, I see.

Them lucky fishes. Some are rather chubby ... & why not?

Hubby : My supply is running low, kids.

The two kids grabbing what few precious pellets are left.

Ayra, throwing some love to the kois. Doesn't she look pretty here?

Eh! I need more ....

Whilst the kids are busying themselves, Hubby was on the phone ....

Let's grab more, since he's not looking!

Ryan (must be) looking at his Daddy ... & giving a cheeky smile!

Ryan walking back for more fish food. Can you see in the foreground (the kid in orange), lying down on the ground, yep! he's catching the poor longkang fish ... commando style!

Well, its time to admire the tanks of fish.

Ayra giving the small (shorter) boy a lift.

Hi, Sucker Fish! Its just me, Ryan ... & Kakak Ayra!

Ryan : Oooooh! What's that Mummy?
Mummy : Its a sting-ray, darling.

Too cute to eat rite? Besides, its too expensive lah! Better as a pet.

Ok, look at these strange creatures ... at first I thought they were mutated, but then there's a whole tank-full of them. So I guess its a species? Don't know the name though. Is this God's work? Or the work of people ... who wanna make money-business from odd looking fishes? Beats me!

Another look at those strange looking fishes. They look like they have bent-out-of-shape bodies. No they weren't wriggling or contorting themselves, they were shaped that way! I was pretty amazed & kept looking at them.

A lone ranger?

See how much they cost each? Not cheap huh? I guess you have to pay ... for being weird & different!

Another sting-ray.

This giant fake arowana fish was atop the entrance of the air-conditioned room that the real expensive arowanas were in. Yep, that's the luxury you get to taste, if you are born a arowana ... you get to stay in a special room that's fully air-conditioned, in tropical-warm Singapore.

From another angle.

At the exit, I made the kids pose awhile (yes, I do that sometimes. I know ... its evil isn't it). Ayra's always game for a photo, whilst my son ... is not! Oh well!

Ayra gives me a sweet pose, as usual Ryan cannot be bothered to look at the camera (so what's new?).