FUN BEFORE 2008 ENDS ~ NEW YEAR'S EVE

On the morning of New Year's eve, we went to Downtown East, a recreation place cum chalets at Pasir Ris. Besides the chalets, there is also the Escape Theme Park.

We have always wanted to bring Jonathan for the ferris wheel ride there. It's a miniature of the Singapore Flyer ... but I prefer this because it's smaller and it moves faster.

The ferris wheel is located at the E-hub. The whole section of this area has 5 floors. There is a supermarket, an adventure playground with lots of tunnels for children to play in {of course tickets have to be purchased}, lots of eateries and a movie theatre on the highest level.

We were blessed that morning. First, we were the only family taking the ride. Secondly, the price of one ticket is SGD6.50 {whether child or adult} but for 3 pax, we paid SGD15.50. Two complete rounds per ride. The 2 young men operating the ferris wheel gave us a surprise by adding another whole round. What a day for Jonathan!

Pictures from the start of our morning ...

Went to Burger King for breakfast.

After purchasing tickets, Harith carried Jonathan up the ramp.

Got into the "cabin" that resembled a bird cage. Very spacious.

Beginning of the ride.

As we moved higher, we got a great view of a part of the Pasir Ris estate, including the sea on the left side.

A view from our cabin of the ferris wheel mechanism.

The ferrise wheel is about 5 storeys high. We went up to the 3rd floor and took this picture.

This is from the 4th floor.

We had a great morning and Jonathan said he enjoyed the ride. PTL!

PASAR MALAM

There is a pasar malam {night market "pasar means market", "malam means night"} just down the street where we live. For our international friends ... it is sort of like a flea market. The organisers will pitch shelter-tents along the pavement of the street and stalls will be opened. They range from selling potted plants, to clothes, to bags, snacks and lots more.

So the whole stretch {about 200 meters} will be lined with these stalls.

This pasar malam has 3 game stalls and we decided to let Jonathan play the spinning wheel game because it looked like the Wheel of Fortune. He was so eager! For $3, we get to spin the wheel. The "prizes" were labelled alphabetically. If you landed on A, you will get a prize of a set of plastic pick-up sticks.

I helped Jonathan spin and it stopped at G. His prize? A set of police apparatus that included a plastic gun with bullets, handcuffs and a grenade. LOL!

He said he wanted to play with it but we haven't done it yet. Soon ...

I'm just glad we got to do this. I bought a package of sweet & sour prunes. Then we ended at Macdonald's for a drink before heading home.

Here's Jonathan in front of the wheel

DREAM

I had a dream yesterday morning. Jonathan woke up at 9am and wanted to go back to sleep.
So I let him do it and laid down beside him and had this dream:

The 3 of us, H, Jonathan and myself were in a taxi, going to a party hosted by Eslin. She's Jonathan's school ex-teacher who has become a good friend.

We reached our destination and she showed us around. She brought us to the basement and told us that the swimming pool and buffet spread were there.

While walking down the stairs, we saw the swimming pool. A big pool divided into half by a wall right up to the height of the water level. Jonathan being adventurous, started running along the narrow wall. Then suddenly, he fell into the pool! We shouted for an elderly man who was in the pool but he said he doesn't know how to dive.

Next moment, we saw Jonathan's head coming out of the pool. In the dream, he seemed to know how to swim but soon he was in the water again. By this time, H already jumped in, with his clothes and sneakers fully intact, and brought Jonathan out of the pool, still gasping for air.

I ran across the divider and H handed Jonathan to me. I remembered very clearly what I said to Jonathan next, "Why did you run across the divider like that!?!"

Then I woke up, with Jonathan's hand touching my face...

As I laid on the bed next to Jonathan, I kept recalling the dream again and again in my mind. The part that excited me was not him falling into the pool {he was saved!}.

The most exciting part was that he was walking and running. That was what made me recall it and to be sure I didn't forget the details.

I believe one day my dreams will come true ... and this is not the first time I dreamed of Jonathan walking :)

OUR VERY OWN CHRISTMAS TREE

As promise ... this is our very own Christmas tree, done by Harith {Jonathan's daddy}!

Materials:

1. Plastic Board
2. Wooden Star
3. Gold Glitter for the star
4. Christmas Lights
5. Sticky Tapes

Cost: About $6 {excluding lights}

I accidentally shook my camera while taking pictures of the tree and found the lights to be distorted some way and decided to sway my camera on the next take and came up with this. Isn't it beautiful? Harith says I can use it for my next Christmas card design..LOL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to all!

Hope everyone had a joyous Christmas celebration!

Christmas eve was a quiet one for our family of 3 ... went down to have dinner and then later Harith and I wrapped presents. He wanted the house to be merry for Jonathan. So instead of buying a Christmas tree that have become more costly lately, he decided to go arty.

And the Christmas tree turned out really fantastic and we love it! {Picture later}.

the only dampen thing was that it rained on Christmas eve so we could go out but to stay home and watch television, cleaned up the house a little.

Harith's family had a dinner gathering tonight and we had a good time catching up cos it's really hard to meet each other on a regular basis.

Jonathan got his pressies from his aunties and uncles and I forgot to take pictures of his cute face and him showing a "thank-you" sign language to them.

And me? at 42 years of age ... still like a little girl ... got a big present from Valerie and a good friend Mabel. {Pictures later}!

BOOKMARK ORDERS ~ COMPLETED!

Finished my paid project! Yay! \o/!

I'm so happy that I took 2 days to finished them. Had a hard time trying to come up with the design for these bookmarks. I'm thankful to God for helping me out. He gave me the creativity that I needed.

Their new owner will be collecting them this afternoon.

Since the name of the group is called Joyful Sparks, I decided to use glitter paper as the base. How to print words on glitter paper with ink jet printer? Simply "no...no". Cos the ink smudged when I tried. The only solution, either print on cardstock or vellum.

I found some thick vellum stash in my cupboard and got to use them. The next problem ... it looked awful in my mock-up when I pasted the vellum on the glitter cardstock. So the next best solution ... to stick the sides onto the back of the cardstock and leave the main part free and "dangling". That kinda gave it a nice effect actually :)

My friend wanted words to be printed on the bookmark as well. So I got some white textured cardstock and designed the page. For both the vellum and the cardstock, I sprayed Krylon Acid Free Workable Fixative to prevent the words from smudging when in contact with moisture or water. {below}

Finally, provided envelopes for the individual bookmarks cos they are going out as Christmas gifts. Did some doodling on them {below}

Praise the Lord for this completed project. Very happy.

SATURDAY ORCHARD ROAD

Finally! We brought Jonathan to Orchard Road to see the lights and experience the crowd ... of which he didn't really liked the "crampy" street ... LOL!

Original plan was to alight from cab at Far East Plaza but traffic was so heavy we stopped at Goodwood Park Hotel ... then made our way by foot.

From Goodwood Park Hotel, we walked down to Far East, then passed Marriott Hotel. In front of Tangs Store, a group was getting ready to present carols. But because the crowd was thick there, we decided to move on.

Headed towards Ngee Ann City where lots of carolling were going on. Bands could be heard playing. People crowding around them. These carollers and band performers were from various churches who organised the big Christmas Float display on Friday night {which ...thankfully ... we didn't go for}. The area there was the most crowded. Jonathan didn't like it.

First destination ... Heeren {where HMV is ... and guess who wanted to go there? haha}. They had a very unique light display {although cannot be seen clearly in these pictures}.




This was taken outside of Heeren {below} while waiting to cross the road. We were heading towards Centrepoint.

Here outside Centrepoint. They had lights streaming down the pillars {below}. Thought it was a nice place to take a picture and everybody else was doing the same LOL!

Went into Centrepoint and caught this 3-piece band playing Christmas songs. Jonathan liked them.

Had some time so went to Marks and Spencer {@ Centrepoint} for tea and hot scones and fed Jonathan before heading to Plaza Singapura. We wanted to catch a church group singing carols at 10pm. But by the time we fed Jonathan and walked over to Plaza Singapura, the carollers were just finishing and saying "good night and Merry Christmas!" haha.

They had a whole lot of nativity displays there at the big compound. Enjoy the pictures {although I wish the lights were brighter ...}

We finally walked all the way near Bras Basah. By then it was already 11pm. took a cab from there and headed home. Jonathan was good that night. He said he liked it but would not come down again...LOL! :)

WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK?

15 DECEMBER 2008

Got a call from my sister that this package from Valerie arrived safely in her office. Instructions given to me via email from Val is ... "not to open until 25th!". Did I take heed? For me to know ... for you to find out. Asked my ta jie to bring it back to her home and I will pick it up.



We wanted to bring Jonathan to Orchard Road today but decided against it and brought him to the airport instead. We went to Terminal 3 and stayed there. The theme this year was Christmas with Mickey Mouse ... all Disney characters.



Picture taken at the entrance of the new Airport Hotel.

This was taken from the 2nd floor of the Airport Hotel.

16 DECEMBER 2008

Did this birthday tag for my grand-nephew who turned 2. Cute little boy who's getting smarter everyday.

Then ... finished up the rest of my Christmas cards for family and friends. Mailed them all out and happy to hear some of them received their cards.







17 DECEMBER 2008

Had a date with Kevin this morning to order the equipment for our big setup. Before going to Touch & Print, we dropped by ta jie's home to collect the package from Valerie. Initial plan was to deliver the equipment before Christmas. I'm glad I changed my mind cos there are loads of things to do now till Christmas! but I can't wait for them to arrive after Christmas ... date not fixed yet.

WHAT AM I BUSY WITH?

I don't know what I'm busy with but I'm beginning to feel the heat! Everything seem to come together at one go! Projects and housework doesn't mix ... i just found out! haha!

Bookmark orders not done! Another project coming ... and buying equipment tomorrow ... need to set up new blog ... ah!!!!!!!!!!

NVM...I shall overcome with HIS help!

FREE DOWNLOAD @ FAITH SISTERS

I got this cute free download from a Christian scrapbooking site {Faith Sisters}. It's by Kreative Karma. Click HERE. It's for a limited time only.

Did this layout with a photograph I took recently {featured in my earlier post}. I didn't use all the materials given in the kit. For the headers "enjoying christmas", I used word art to create them {font: wonkers}

Materials used:

1. Mint Goodies as base
2. Creamy Snowballs as base for photograph
3. TMC9of9 Ribbon as frame over photograph
4. Ribbon Bow
5. Green Jute string

IKEA

Went to Ikea Tampines today to look for furniture for my big set up in the dining room area. Jonathan found the place to cluttered to his liking ... don't know why. Halfway walking through the displays, he was already fussing to get out of the area.

Towards the end of Ikea ... when we were at the self-collection section, he started smiling and talking loudly. It was an open space area with lots of high racks. He preferred that.

Well ... here's proof of us being there today! Too bad we didn't have time to have lunch at their restaurant, they have really nice meatball spaghetti there. Next time ...

EARLY CHRISTMAS?

We were at Watson's the other day and they had this reindeer headgear. Just couldn't resist...lol..so cute.

SAY A PRAYER BEFORE LEAVE HOME

Everytime, before we leave our home to go out, whether it's to the market across the street or Orchard Road or just Tampines Central, we will pray for God's protection and safe journey.

I thank God for protecting us today.

We went to town because I needed some art materials. Our destination was Bras Basah.

When we got there, we decided to go to a hawker centre at Victoria Street for brunch first. After our meal, we had to cross the busy road to Bras Basah Complex.

At normal traffic junctions, the pedestrian crossings are straight through the whole road.

Not this one. It's actually right in the middle of the whole stretch of road just right in front of Allson Hotel. But instead of a straight crossing, it's split and divided at the centre divider.

We crossed from Victoria Street first then walked to the centre divider. Waited for the traffic lights from the centre divider to turn red before crossing to Bras Basah side. There were about 8 people waiting to cross over while only two of us plus Jonathan were at the centre divider.

When the lights turned red, we waited for a few seconds before crossing as what we usually do. The people from the opposite side were already getting off the pavement and moving.

We took off from the centre divider and I looked left. There was a car driving towards the crossing. But to my horror ... instead of stopping, he just drove on! He went through the red stop light!

He wasn't driving at a hight speed but fast enough that he actually could knock someone off the road.

All the people crossing {including us} were stunned! A lady who passed by me said "good thing you didn't cross first." of which I replied "he wasn't paying attention!" A man who crossed first {probably in a hurry} was almosted knocked down by the car!

I saw the driver's side profile. He was probably in his late 20s or early 30s. He wasn't on the phone. He just drove straight, didn't even flicker when he saw people crossing ... didn't jam his breaks. He just drove on.

I took down his license plate number. But there was not a traffic police camera to capture the mistake he's made. But still ... the number is 9992 U. The front initials I saw were SPD but then I realised there's no SP yet. So it's either SFD or SED or whatever!

May your car break down! haha! But in any case, he may be sick or feeling dazed ... we will never know.

So ... always say a prayer before you leave home ... and ... wait for a while before crossing the road. Make sure the coast is clear.

I AM SO ...

How should I say it? I am so ... jealous? Jealous is a strong word. Envious? Perhaps.

Why? Because my prince ... dear, darling Jonathan, who is the love of my life ... calls his papa and mama in different tones.

This I found out quite recently.

When calling his papa, he will give a very gentle tone of "urh" sound.

But ...

When calling me ... a hard tone "URH!"

Proof? I noticed it one day when he kept calling his papa 2 days ago. But when he called me, it was totally a different tone.

So ... I asked him. Gave him 2 choices of answers to choose from.

My question was: "How do you call papa? Do you use {right hand} soft voice or {left hand} hard voice? He chose the right hand.

Now I don't even have to tell you what he chose for me! haha!

So ... shall I be jealous or envious? I leave it to you ... LOL!

But because he's my darling after all ... I SHALL BE NEITHER!

PTL! ;-)

MY MOTHER AND FATHER

When I was clearing my dining area where I had stashes of my art materials, I found this picture of my mother and father. The size was larger than 4R and I printed it on HP photo paper more than 3 years ago.

My father is in heaven now ... since September 2001 ... and my mother ... is still gracious, full of love for her children, grandchildren and a great grandchild {with another on the way}. The Lord continue to bless her abundantly with good health and good memory!

CLEAN-UP

Today, I did a major clean-up at my dining area. I cleared all my art papers {not scrapbooking ones} that I have kept for many years! They were all kept in one-inch thick box files and I have about 7 of them! they were all placed in a tiny metal rack.

Because I'm going to use that area for something big coming ... I had to clear off the area, take my scrapbooking stuff off the dining table {that has been lying there for a few months now :( } and then repack them in plastic crates I bought from a local bookstore and put them on the metal rack.

Now the dining table is clear! {happiness for H ... who bore with me for the longest time ... tks dear!} ... and I'm all ready to clear the cupboard that's next to the metal rack. Maybe next week.

Jonathan was good ... sooooo good, in fact, to stay on his buggy for more than 2 hours, watching Wheel of Fortune while I worked. Even when his diaper leaked and he was wet, he didn't bother me at all, until I finished about 3pm. Didn't want him lying around near the dust and all.

Sometimes it's hard to do this myself cos someone needs to watch over Jonathan. But I'm glad I did cos H had to work today.

My great accomplishment today without H helping me!

ps ... I will take a photo of that area when my something big is setup!

25 TIMES 2 PAPERS

Scrap-n-Crop is having a daily paper sale from 1 to 25th December.

2 types of patterned paper will be on 25% discount each day.

Lovely papers...i must say. So worth it too!

Check their BLOG everyday to see what's new on sale each day!

A TRIP WORTH SHARING

My sister-in-law Mary {aka Ah Sor ~ eldest brother's wife ~ to me} and her son, Ruel {10 yr old today ... happy birthday!} went on a trip to Thailand and were stuck there when the protestors stomped the airports. But God opened a way for them while they were there to return home safely with 15 other children and friends from their church.

They were there for a special mission. I find her testimony truly touching and want to share it with you.

Here's what my Ah Sor wrote ...


Dearest all,

Thank you for keeping us in prayer. Thank you very much, Arina.

17 of us went to Khon Kuen, Thailand on a mission trip. We ministered tothe poor, mainly those living in squatters near railway track, in handicapped school, public schools and to the orphans. Because the airports were closed, we could not return.

Many parents from our church were panicking because their children as young as 7 yrs were with us. We were told flights were full till 10 Dec but we prayed and one lady in our group saw a vision of Moses parting the Red Sea while I had the story of Jesus calming the storm in my mind. We knew God will make a way when there seems no way and He will take care of us.

True enough, after our prayers, someone from Silkair (we were booked on Thai Airway)called and he said, "You guys are lucky. We have exactly 17 seats for you". They told us that there were not enough food for all. Guess what? other passengers somehow didn't want their dinner and we were given the food!

In order to board the flight back to Singapore, we have to endure 11 hours of winding, dangerous, bumpy coach ride through the mountains to Chiangmai. The journey was terrible, many of us vomited. I was the worst hit. Thank God, we survive.

During one session, as I was praying, I could feel the strong presence ofthe Holy Spirit. I suddenly had this strong taste of blood in my mouth. I knew it could not be my teeth because I visited the dentist before the trip. I asked the Lord what it means, was there a message? Then I noticed a young girl about 7 yrs holding a pin and pricking her feet. I took it away and hid it in the crack on the floor. I later realised from the staff she is a HIV patient, orphaned, living in a charity home run by an Australian lady. At that point, I never thought what if she had pricked me. I guess it is the love of Christ that dispel all fears. My feeling was Jesus using my arms to hug her and showing her that someone cares.

At another encounter, I was asked by our leader to go pray for a 15 yrs old girl in the hospital. She had a mental breakdown. When I saw her, she looked dazed and sleepy. Her mum said she was under medication to control her emotion. I prayed for her while she was lying down sleeping. She suddenly sat up (startled all of us) and the interpreter asked us to continue to pray as she could feel something. I had the impression to whisper into her ears that Jesus loves her. She started singing and asking Jesus to help her. She sang Jesus, Lover of My Soul in Thai. I don't understand what is wrong with her but had the feeling she will testify the goodness of the Lord when she is well.

This trip makes me understood what Jesus said, harvest is plentiful but labourers are few. Thanks again for praying and the patience to hear my sharing of the presence and glory of God.

Praise be unto God.

Love
Mary

I'VE BEEN AWARDED BY SHARMAINE KRUIJVER!

I have been awarded this by Sharmaine Kruijver who is currently a designer with Scrap-n-Crop.com's Kit Club. A lady with amazing techniques in paint and sprays. You can see her creations at the SnC Gallery.

I was splendidly surprised when she left a comment in one of my posts about the award. Here's what Sharmaine wrote {CLICK HERE!}. Thanks Sharmaine!

Here are the rules for the award ~
1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Provide links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

So...now I nominate 5 blogs {can I make it 6? lol!!}

Of course I nominate Sharmaine Kruijver because for a lady with 4 young girls, she certainly can produce scrapbooking projects with amazing speed!

Then there's Penny Gan ... who, together with sister Valerie of Scrap-n-Crop, share the same passion with me about spreading the awareness of special needs and doing charity.

I nominate 3 students from Jonathan school ... {1} Phua Kin Yong ... who is a special needs 18 yr old boy from Jonathan's school, for boldly sharing his life journeys despite difficulty in hand functions. {2} Bing Yao, who is hearing impaired but able to write the cutest entries in his blog.
Finally {3} I nominate Teck Yong ... who just graduated from school and is going to work at the Spastic Children's Association GROW workshop.

Why do I nominate these 3 young men? They learned how to blog through our online guidance and did them all on their own. I am very proud of them!

BUSY PREPARING CHRISTMAS

I had time to prepare some cards. Thought I couldn't make them on time.

But I finished them {some duplicated designs} Praise The Lord!

Simple designs and easy to make cards. I enjoyed doing them.

SPECIAL CHAIR

Jonathan used this customized wheelchair seat when he was about 5 or 6 yrs old. Now...it's become too tight for him to sit in. So on Wednesday {3 December 08}, we decided to donate this wheelchair to Eugene from www.kg-senang.org.sg.

What they do is pick up the donated wheelchairs or equipment, service them and either give them or loan them to low income families with special needs members.

A company sponsored this wheelchair to Jonathan so it's right we give it back to society.

SHENTON WAY ~ BUSINESS DISTRICT

Enjoy ...