How I know they're growing up

We moved J up to an older class in Sunday School, so instead of being one of the older kids, he's probably the youngest, or at least one of the youngest, in this class.

So after service this past Sunday, I picked J up from his class as usual, and we left church. In the car, quite out of the blue, J asked "Why did that boy push me?". He was on the verge of tears. After a few probing questions, I finally figured out that while playing at the playground in church, one of the older boys in his class had pushed him and no adult had seen it happen. I've never seen J quite so upset with something like this before. And his moodiness lasted.

It was really hard for me to see him so upset. It was hard to explain why other people can be mean or rough when they play. And it was hard to explain why sometimes these acts go unpunished (because sometimes they are unseen by others). It was hard to explain why such injustice sometimes happens (and in his young eyes, it was a HUGE injustice). It was hard for me to explain what his reaction should be, particularly since he wasn't just angry at the boy, but hurt too. It was hard to explain what forgiveness is to a young three-year-old boy (when I wanted to find this boy who pushed him and tell him off myself).

I am reminded of how much I need God's wisdom in being a parent. I came so close to not knowing what words to use when I saw how hurt he was. And it truly was divine intervention that I remembered to talk about forgiveness at all.

Objets d'Amour

J's objets d'amour: his toy racing cars from the movie 'Cars'.
He sleeps with them almost every night, tucked under his pillow to avoid painful pokes and bumps. E's so used to seeing him sleep with them that she'll actually go get them from his toy box and put them under the pillow for him. On occasion, he'll switch to something different like a new aeroplane, or dinosaurs (a very new interest). But invariably, he'll go back to have the same cars under his pillow again the next night.

E's objet d'amour: me.
She'll come calling out for me if I'm not in her line of vision for too long. I've taken to showering when she's taking a nap. On some days, I don't manage to - once she realises that she can't see me, she'll go running around the house looking for me. Eventually, she'll figure that I'm in the bathroom, and then it'll start. She'll bang on the door, calling out "Mama, Mama" most piteously. It sounds very traumatising for her. She'll be inconsolable until I appear, and then she doesn't even always need me to carry her. It's enough that she can see me.

A Date and A Movie

More milestones.

I've found a group of mums here in Claremont who meet up regularly for their kids to play together, so we joined their playdate yesterday at Wheeler Park. E found a friend. Or rather, a friend found E. This sweet little girl just came up to E, and held her hand and walked her around. She also gave E several hugs! Very sweet.





There's a cinema nearby that screens kids' movies for FREE on Tuesdays, so we brought the kids to see Curious George today. The first time we're watching a movie at the cinema with them. The cinema was packed with families! J was a little nervous, being in the dark cinema, but eventually he conceded that he liked the movie (although he did qualify it by saying "a little bit"). E sat quietly watching through most of the movie, surprising me actually. She only got restless near the end. I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie myself! This soundtrack was really good.


PS. Our take on pizza, using tortillas as the base. The one with shrimp was especially yummy. Just like those thin-crust ones we love.

Victoria Gardens

We brought the kids out after church today to Victoria Gardens, a huge mall that's laid out like a small town, with street names and everything, at Rancho Cucamonga (koo ka mong ga - how fun is it to say this name?), which is one of the towns near Claremont.

Highlights:

Lunch at Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ - babyback ribs, beef tri-tip and chicken.

I think the kids' favourite part of the meal are the lollipops that you can grab on your way out. That's lollipop juice dripping down E's chin.

There's a water fountain at Victoria Gardens, just like the one that they have at Bugis Junction, with water shooting out of the ground. With the sweltering temperatures in summer, there's always a group of little kids playing there. This time, I was well-prepared and had J's swim trunks and E's swim diaper, as well as sunblock and an extra towel, with me. So they had fun.

Here's J getting shot in the face with a jet of water. He was shrieking.

On This Day

It's been SIX years!! Yay!

Six years sounds like such a long time, but it doesn't feel that way. Which is a good thing!

Flowers that my sweetheart got me for our wedding anniversary... Awww... He also got me four pedicure sessions!!! He's great and I love him.

I've finally finished Harry Potter, after staying up until nearly three last night... I was quite zonked today, and I was alone with the kids too since K had a full day of school. But it was worth it. K finished reading earlier this week. I love that the story had proper closure, so it was a very satisfying read.


Oh, and here's E yesterday afternoon; she just drifted off to sleep while watching TV with J in the afternoon! So cute.

God sent music

With His perfect timing, God allowed K to find a great Christian radio station - KSGN. This after almost three months of radio surfing, trying to find something good to listen to while we're on the road.

Just today alone, I've heard wonderful versions of two songs I love - Blessed be Your Name and How Great is Our God - on the radio. It has been greatly uplifting, at a time when I need it. I periodically go through periods of angst about various things. This time, I've been wondering about being a good mum to J and E, a good steward of this gift that God's given to us. So I was feeling a bit down. But listening to the music on this radio station has really helped to lift my spirits: I'm reminded of how even in being a mum, God is with me. In all the things I do, God is with me.

How Great is Our God!

What's new

J's at summer camp now. E's watching Sesame Street! It's the first show that she'll actually sit down quietly to watch. Which is why I can blog now.


New recipes:

Pasta Carbonara - my first attempt at this.

Bacon and cream - what's not to like.

Although in mitigation, I used turkey bacon to try to lower the fat level in this.

Golden cake from Nigella Lawson's Feast.

I think I used too many peaches - the cake was falling apart at the sides. But it was still yummy. This is the first cake I've made using instant polenta, which adds a nice gritty texture to the cake.

New license plate: we finally got it after close to three months. There was a mix-up with our address, so K had to go down to DMV personally to get this.

New basil plant - it smells lovely and I'm looking forward to using to in our meals. It's my favourite herb.

Coming Soon

In a couple of weeks, we're flying up to Seattle for a wedding - K's one of the groomsmen.

Then back to Claremont for another couple of weeks, before we head off on a road-trip to San Francisco to be tourists. Clam chowder! Dim sum!

In between, we'd like to:

- visit Griffiths Park, where there's apparently a (FREE!) transportation musuem, with vintage trains!
- catch some (FREE) family movies in La Verne (a town nearby)
- join in some playdates for the kids
- and most of all, have K finish up his summer modules, readings and papers. Fall term begins in September and it's gonna be a tough one!

First Day at Summer Camp

I have to admit, I was a little worried dropping J off at summer camp this morning. He didn't know anyone there, neither did we for that matter. We've never been to the club where the camp is held. Would the camp counsellors understand him if he wanted to use the toilet? (Yeah, except for at night, J is potty trained! Yay!) And it would have been the first time J was away from us for so long since coming to Claremont. So, I was the anxious mother this morning.


But once again, he was fine without me. In fact, he had been so looking forward to going. When I picked him up, all the kids were watching The Little Mermaid, J included. He came out showing off his artwork (see below). He told me he went to the toilet by himself "two times". He had biscuits for snack time. And he even went swimming too. (Although I think wading is probably a more accurate description.)



The house was strangely quiet with J out. Poor E was so bored without Kor-kor around. She didn't know what to do with herself. When I asked her if she wanted to come with me to pick J up, she just ran to get her shoes!

Here's K clowning around with the kids one night after dinner.

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter".

Genesis 21:6

There are few sounds more wonderful than J and E's belly laughs. And how I thank God for those beautiful sounds.

PS. We had our first rain since arriving in Claremont this morning. It only took us almost three months to see rain. It was just a shower, but still it was rain! I never was that keen on rain back home, but with all the aridity here, rain is a blessing!

Making Friends

We were invited over to have lunch after church today with one of the families from church. They were so nice to invite us over; they have three kids, with the two younger ones being just slightly older than J and E respectively. It's been a while since J's had so much time to play with kids his own age, and I think he really missed it. Getting him to leave was the hardest thing. He had such a great time. He should enjoy summer camp tomorrow. And K and I enjoyed having adult conversation too. Granted a lot of the conversation centered around the kids (exchanging potty training stories - hilarious!), but it was great still! We also got some tips for where to bring the kids (apparently there's a cool train museum near the LA zoo). God blessed us today!

We moved J up to the older 3-4-year-old class in Sunday School today. It went well; he went in with nary a glance back at me. Mum who? I think it's better for him here, they do more Bible stories. They did Daniel in the Lions' Den today, and his teacher told me he was a little disappointed because there weren't any crocodiles in the story. He's in a bit of a crocodile phase right now. But he was a good sport about it still, he took on the role of a lion and roared appropriately.

In completely unrelated news - K and I have managed to watch two movies that we rented in the past couple of weeks. That's DOUBLE the number of movies we watched since J was born! We watched Freedom Writers and Shall We Dance?. And thoroughly enjoyed both. So nice. Being away from home has given K a little more free time at night (when he's not doing reading or homework); otherwise at home, he's usually busy with either work or church stuff after the kids go to bed. So I'm enjoying watching movies with my husband again! Yay! I want to catch the orignal Japanese Shall We Dance too.

Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard

We made a day trip out to Santa Monica today - the beach is very Baywatch! The highlight - J trying out a couple of rides at the amusement park on the pier by himself! He definitely enjoyed it.

Water in the Park, and a Recipe

It was a bright sunny day today, so the kids tried out the wading pool at Memorial Park nearby. Evidently we weren't the only ones who thought it was the perfect day for playing in the water - it was crowded! But the kids had a wonderful time. Can you spot J here?

We'd brought some water toys for the kids, so it was a good lesson in sharing and taking turns, with all the kids there. Apparently, they didn't use to allow any toys in the wading pool, but no one stopped us today, so it was ok. What's the fun without any toys?



We brought a picnic out for lunch too but E was only interested in the grapes. When J was in the water and I asked him if he wanted any food, he said "I'm having fun now, Mum." Like that was the silliest question to ask. Anyway, he did make it a point to remind us not to finish up all the food, so he'd have some too!

We've also discovered Quaker's Granola Bites - and the kids and K love it!!! Here's E, quietly sitting at the sofa, enjoying her bowl of granola bites.

I've been catching a lot of Rachel Ray on TV - she's quite big here, and is most famous for making 30-minute meals (meaning she makes an entire meal, inclusive of food preparation time, in 30 minutes)! Every time J sees her show on TV, he tells me "Your favourite show, Mum!" So tonight, I tried out a recipe I caught on TV some time ago, with a few modifications (Rachel Ray's original version didn't have the shrimp, and she used broccolini). I'm putting the recipe here, just so I don't forget it and can replicate it again later. K and I loved it!


Pasta with ricotta-sauce, sauteed shrimp and broccoli.

1. Cook pasta according the package instructions. Just before draining, reserve about half a cup of pasta water.
2. Sautee shrimp and broccoli in extra-virgin olive oil and butter. Season with salt, a little pepper, a pinch of sugar and some dried basil. (Yum already.)
3. To make the sauce, mix about a tsp or two of thyme, lemon zest, juice from one lemon (or maybe less? Taste and see), about half a tub of ricotta, a couple of small handfuls of grated parmesan-romano and about a quarter cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss everything (the shrimp, broccoli and pasta) in the sauce. If it's too dry, just add a little more pasta water. To serve, top with more grated parmesan-romano and chopped fresh parsley. (I left out the lemon this time, cos we didn't have any. I forgot to buy from the supermarket, and the lemons on our tree weren't ripe yet. But K and I both agree that the lemon will give the meal an additional lift.)



Yum Yum Yum! K and I loved it. Rachel Ray rocks. J didn't like the broccoli, of course. And E ate only broccoli and some shrimp (no pasta). For the kids, a meal in parts.

Ok, so this isn't the best picture of it, but it was near the end of the meal. I had, once again, forgotten to take my camera out earlier. It's tough to remember when you have two kids at the dinner table asking (or yelling) for different things. E always salivates at the sight of broccoli so she's yelling for us to give her some, while J insists that he won't eat it and is whining for us to take it off his plate.

We Are Cooking!

It's been a while since a new post! K was busy last week with a pretty big paper, so we kept a low profile. It was a pretty quiet week.

The kids have had water play outside all week. What will we do when the cold weather comes?


Some random updates:

1. The good news - E slept through the night two nights ago. For the first time in more than a month! The bad news - she woke up at 6.30am and was ready for the day. 6.30am! It was super bright already by then.

2. We went down to the LA Farmer's Market again on Saturday so that I could attend a cooking class at Sur La Table: Summer Pies and Tarts. I forgot to bring the camera along, but I've just recreated a Mixed Berry Galette at home today. Pie crust from scratch. It's not perfect... but it's from scratch. And yes, it's supposed to look rustic.

3. J had his first taste of cooking. Well, preparing food, at least. K promised him he could help make meatballs, so he was really excited. And as K was getting everything ready, he was running around, chanting, "We are cooking! We are cooking!". So here he is, making meatballs. His are on the yellow tray. (Ok, so they're not quite balls, but who cares.)

4. 9 days and counting. Yay! We've seen the longest stretch of cooking and having dinner (and most lunches) at home. We've never had to cook so often before, but eating out here is not only quite expensive, the food's not all that great either. Food courts here are bleah. And with E, it's lots easier to eat at home even though it means a huge clean-up afterwards.

5. We checked out the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens today, just a five-minute drive away. J insisted on getting a green rubber lizard at the gift shop. It appears we are at that stage of a boy's life already, when he's fascinated with creepy crawlies. He says it's a good lizard because it eats mosquitoes and flies. And he decided it was a girl lizard and named it Ammam.

Conversations in Pilates Class

I've managed to attend pilates sessions quite regularly. It's been interesting talking and listening to the ladies and instructors there. Some recent conversation topics:

1. Jury duty - apparently you get called up for jury duty about once a year here. And some people, like my instructor, don't like it at all, cos it's just takes up time and she'd rather be working. Another lady in my class was looking forward to serving hers though. Since juries are an alien concept in Singapore, it was quite interesting to meet people who do serve on them. My instructor was dismissed from jury duty just a few days ago - some case about a superintendent who brought a knife to school!

2. Self-defence - the ladies talked about this today too, like how they never park beside vans (so as to avoid being abducted), and how they walk with their keys held facing out (so as to inflict more damage if attacked), and how they (well, one of them) only goes for walks with her dog (for protection). It's a reminder of how much more unsafe this country is. I was just reading an article about a boy who was snatched while he was playing on the street outside his home! At church, before we leave the kids at Sunday School, we have to sign them in, get name-tags for them and corresponding tags that we're supposed to show before we can pick them up. And at J's summer camp application form, we had to put down a password that we have to give to the camp counsellor before picking him up. It's kinda creepy, but I appreciate the precautions.

3. It doesn't seem like it, but this is a country at war. There are small reminders though. I've met a lady whose son is serving in the military in Iraq. And in some of the neighbouring towns, there are banners along the roads that salute and name people from that town who are serving in the military. When we were at the Shamu show at SeaWorld, they called for members of the military (past and present), people who had family members in the military, and people from countries allied to the US, to stand up, and gave them an ovation. One of the ladies in my pilates class said that after 911, she took out all her nice crystal and china and started using them. It's pretty sobering. 911 happened to this country, and these people. It makes real what we read in the papers and see on the news.

Current Faves

E's current faves: Corn on the cob, fried chicken and most of all, feeding myself. Imitating Kor kor as much as I can, even holding onto a car as I fall asleep, just as Kor kor does.


She cried and cried when I tried to feed her dinner yesterday, and it took me forever to figure out that she wanted to feed herself. Once she's set her mind on something, there's no changing it. So this is the glass half full - she's learning to feed herself a lot earlier than J ever did. And making more of a mess of the floor than J did too.

She wants everything he has, so I always have to have two of everything. Two cups of apple juice, two cups of milk, two bowls of fruit.

J's current faves: Herbie Fully Loaded. Climbing trees.

We just rented the movie this evening and he was rapt! He loved watching the racing cars. And I think he was actually rooting for all the cars apart from Herbie because they looked like real racing cars, and Herbie didn't. After watching, he was so inspired, he insisted on having a car race with his toy racing cars.

The weather over the past couple of days has been great, much cooler than it was last week. Unfortunately, it looks to be only a brief respite, it'll get hotter by the weekend. Anyway, we took advantage of the nice weather to bring the kids out to Memorial Park nearby around 7-plus this evening, where we caught a children's concert.

But as you can see, J was more interested in climbing trees. Proof that he's a city boy: he calls out "help me, help me" the WHOLE time.

I've been trying really hard to think of ways to keep J occupied - school doesn't start until early September, so we have a couple of months to go! We just managed to sign him up for summer camp at the Claremont Club nearby - it'll be a half-day programme for a week in July and a week in August. Still more than a week to go before the July camp starts though. At least he'll have Herbie to occupy him over the next couple of days.

Another Goodbye

K's parents left for home today.

We sent them to the airport this morning. This time, J was quite distracted with a new toy that they had gotten for him, one that he had wanted for quite a while, so it didn't quite sink in that they were leaving then. It did sink in later though. He was much quieter and more subdued today. At dinner time, he morosely put his head in one hand. When I asked him what was wrong, he said he missed Ah-ma and Kong-kong.

And even though E is so young, it does seem to register with her too. She was more cranky than usual, especially around mealtimes. Maybe she felt the loss more because K's parents clearly weren't at the dining table with us.

Poor babies. They miss their grandparents. And K and I do too!

The Getty

K had a field trip to the Getty Center today, as part of one of his courses. So we tagged along too. We went to the Family Room, which is basically a series of small cubicles for kids to do their thing. They got to make animal masks (J's in a lion mask below), lounge on a French renaissance-style bed, play with a bunch of tubes to make a sculpture, and trace pictures of different insects.

You have to admit - J's doing a really good job of lounging.

In between, the kids had to entertain themselves somehow, so they discovered pole-dancing. All by themselves. My kids - pole-dancing at the Getty. Bet no one else can say they've done that there.

This is the first time we've tried to bring the kids to a museum. It wasn't really a success, I have to admit. I brought J into a room of French tapestries, and all he kept asking me was "What can I do, Mum?" Still, the Getty is beautiful architecturally, and has lovely gardens.

Baby tomato update: This one lone fruit was all that survived the onslaught of the squirrel. K, being the gardener, had the honour of eating it. He reports that it was sweet!

The Pilferer

So we were away for just three days. And what do we find when we come home?

Someone/something has nibbled on our baby tomatoes! We think this is the culprit:

Can you spot the squirrel?

One of our plants had toppled over under the weight of the tomatoes growing on it, and that's the one that was nibbled upon. K's parents have tried to bolster the remaining plants with more soil below so that they won't topple over too. Anyone who has any other suggestions as to how to get our tomato plants to grow tall and proud, with plenty of fruit for us, pls leave a comment or email me.

Squirrels are not cute.

Solvang is too cute

We arrived back home yesterday afternoon from our roadtrip up to Solvang, a cute little town close to Santa Barbara. Solvang's like an ode to all things Danish, complete with windmills (yes, there are more than one!), cobblestone streets and all.

Solvang's close to plenty of wineries, so that's what most people do. We were looking forward to going berry-picking, but the farm was closed on the days that we were there. Very disappointing! Still, we managed to bring the kids to check out a miniature horse farm. Very cute. The farm breeds horses for sale, but of course, J and E didn't need to know that.





We were in Solvang for Fourth of July too, so we caught the parade in town before heading back to Claremont. It had a very small-town feel to it, which was nice - different from the organisation and scale that we see in our National Day celebrations. Everyone just started lining the main street, plonking down wherever there was room, and waited for the parade to start. Someone gave E a small little American flag, so she was waving that too. We saw cowboys on horses, a school band, Harley Davidsons (including a little kid on a little motorbike) and two Nordic boats go by. Not what you would see in a parade normally. We drove back to Claremont and then caught the fireworks here, so K was very happy. The kids enjoyed it too.





It's a heatwave right now! Here's how we try to keep our cool:

Wear shades! Although E usually only has it on top on her head (as would any fashionista), or in her hands.

Eat lots of ice-cream. In sugar cones. Preferably while wearing as little as possible.

Back from the dead

"If there were water
And no rock
If there were rock
And also water
And water
A spring
A pool among the rock
If there were the sound of water only
Not the cicada
And dry grass singing
But sound of water over a rock
Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees
Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop
But there is no water"

from T S Eliot, The Wasteland (1922)

When we first moved into our house on Indian Hill Boulevard, it had not been lived in for over a month. Despite the sprinkler system, many of the plants in the front and back yard had not been watered. And the plants had not received any rain; Fiona's earlier post already noted how the past year has been the driest on record, since the 1880s. I didn't even bothered about the plants that I thought were already dead. There were some, in the front yard, that were completely brown and dry. In the back yard, there were bushes that still clung on to life, but I paid a lot more attention to the plants that I had bought and planted myself -- the lavender, tomatoes, gardenias, geraniums and baby's breath -- or to the plants that I wanted to use and thus wanted to survive, like the rosemary and the lemon tree.

Over the past month, the plants have surprised me. Some that I bought are now long dead; they probably didn't even survive the shock of my amateurish transplantation. Some are clinging on to life, and others, like the geraniums and the tomatoes, appear to be thriving (for now).





















Some of the plants that I transplanted withered away quickly, but soon came back again. I have two baby's breaths in the front yard. One thrived right from the beginning, but the other died (or so I thought) within a few days. Its tiny, delicate flowers turned brown and all dried up into a small, pathetic patch of brown. But I kept watering it (it was just next to the surviving one anyway), and eventually, new branches and flowers emerged. Now, the earlier survivor is showing signs of decline, while the fighter has grown stronger. Its roots have taken hold, and I think it will survive and thrive.


But it is the plants that I had earlier given up on that have surprised me the most. Out in our front yard, there was a brown, dry little shrub that had been planted by the previous tenant. I didn't even know what it was. It was lifeless, shriveled up and ugly. I never watered it. But something must have happened as I was watering the other plants around it. A few weeks ago, I noticed a new branch coming out of it. A week later, a new flower -- I think it's a geranium, though I cannot be sure -- began budding. New branches have started growing, and I have resumed watering it, cheering it, rooting for it to grow strong once again.


A similar experience happened in the back yard. I had always paid more attention to the rose bushes there, since roses, in their haughty and prickly self-assurance, unfairly arrogate more attention. There were some other shrubs and bushes in the back yard, but these I did not tend to much. But a few days ago, I noticed a new flower coming up from some of these neglected bushes -- a lovely species of lily, I think. In a similar way, our lemon tree, which only had a few lemons when we first noticed it, has started to put out a lot more tiny, baby lemons and blossoms.

















Life clings on, survives, and even thrives, in unexpected and neglected places. These unexpected occasions of luminous grace have added a heightened dimension to the beauty around me. I want these flowers and plants to bloom and grow. I enjoy the colour they bring. But in a deeper way, I am grateful for the reminder they have served to me, of how surprising true life can be.


In the hardest and driest of soils, a plant can cling on, waiting only for the water from a distant rain or a clumsy gardener to struggle back to life, and not to some half-hearted attempt at life, but a full blossoming of what God intended its life to be. The flowers don't come half-formed; the lemons don't stay green, but ripen to their glorious buttery yellow.


And so it is in the serest and most arid landscape of all -- the broken human heart. One of the characters in Eugene O'Neill's play, The Great God Brown, declared: "Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue." Perhaps it is not so much glue that we need, but water. Plants which I had given up as dead can struggle fully back to life, with just a little watering. Surely God's watering can accomplish even greater things in the dusty and bitter soil of a human heart. New life can spring from the unlikeliest of places. New fruit can emerge from the driest and dreariest of lives. And in the seasons when there is no water, only the sound of "dry grass singing", we can wait -- impatiently, thirstily, angrily, but always expectantly -- for the rain to come once again.

E's postscript

I. HATE. DRESSES. YEEEECH.


F: She sees me holding a dress, and takes off running. Then after I catch a hold of her and put her in it, she starts tugging at it, like I've put her in a straitjacket, complaining all the while. Then all of us have to assure her that she looks very pretty. And still she's complaining. She only settles after her Kong-kong takes her to the mirror to put some powder on her face. Only then is she convinced that she looks good enough and she quietens down.

Pretty what, right. SIGH.