Happy Easter Day!

It's Easter Sunday! Egg hunt, chocolates and bunnies? Though it might be for most people here in China, we wanted our kids to learn the real meaning of Easter.

I just kept it simple for the family.  We did a sun catcher of a cross and placed it in our front window for the kids and our neighbours to remember that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.

It was an easy activity for everyone and it was pretty fuss free. We talked to Sophie about the meaning of Easter and what happened on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I have provided directions to make the suncatcher at the end of this blog.

At bedtime, we read our daily bible devotion for children to the kids and taught them the Lord's prayer and we sang some worship songs. 

Next year, when we are back home, we will take the kids to attend Sunday service  with family and friends. 

His love endures forever. Amen.

Materials for Suncatcher:

Hard paper or thin cardboard for frame

Contact paper

Colored cellophane paper

Sticker gems 

Washi tape

Double sided tape

Scissors

Cut out the shape of a cross on a hard colored paper and stuck the contact paper on one side. I used double sided tape to tape the back of the cross (sticky surface facing out) to a window.

I cut out strips of colored cellophane paper and the children cut them into squares or rectangles. We used pink, orange, green and clear as I wanted to have a spring look.

We stuck the colored paper and then I used washi tape to tidy up the borders as some of the colored paper would stick out of the cross. Once finished, we placed some pink sticker gems on the cross on both sides so that it sparkles on both sides.

I hope you enjoy this simple craft with your children. 

Kids friendly coconut macaroons

This weekend, I found a really easy coconut macaroon dessert in one of my favourite cook book. It's so simple and easy that my 4 year old could make it and all I did was to help put it into the oven. It smells and looks good and is also very light.

It makes a great sensory activity as the textures of the ingredients are very different and the kids could feel them and taste them. Just don't offer them raw eggs!

It took about 10 minutes to prepare and another 15 minutes baking time.  C'est simple!

Here's the recipe:
4 tablespoons desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F
Mix all the ingredients into a bowl.
Mould them into small balls and place into a baking tray with parchment paper.
Bake 10-15 minutes

The kids had these little bites with a cup of milk before bedtime. Next time we will invite some friends over for tea and bake some of these lovely coconut macaroons.
Bon appétit!

Time

time

 ¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16)

In my waking moments, I am pulled towards every direction. Every person, animal, activity seem to be calling out for me. Many a times, I do wish I could clone myself and accomplish more and please everyone, including myself. But alas, this is not the case. Then I got thinking about what the bible could teach me about time, reflect on his Word, pen my thoughts and apply his Words to my life.

Recently, a friend had asked for help in being a translator. We live in China and she does not speak mandarin. I do speak some mandarin and can get by with it so far.  She had bought items over the internet and the seller could only transact in mandarin. For one, it’s easy to just see what you like and click to buy even though the site is in mandarin. After all, a picture tells a thousand words. She had asked and so, I had kindly offered my help to be the point of contact for the seller in communications regarding delivery matters. I had highlighted to her my response time would occasionally be delayed when as I needed to care for my 2 year old son and I don’t always carry my phone around. She agreed and said she understood. I started receiving a myriad of calls from sellers and delivery companies asking for information, and timing of delivery. I had no clue what she had bought and what transpired as a simple act of kindness turned into a nightmare. I had become a part time secretary overnight. I had to pick up calls at ungodly hours, arrange with her and get back to them. Should issues arise, I also had to help resolve them and provide solutions to both buyer and sellers. In my 10 months shopping online in China, I never had encounter such problems.

Then, I found out that when she could not reach me, she would contact other friends and this resulted in duplication of efforts and mixed messages to the seller. It became frustrating for me as I had to constantly take time out from the kids to handle those calls. For a while, I tried being optimistic, telling myself to take this as a challenge in improving my mandarin. But deep down, there’s this nagging feeling that says something is not right. Time is so precious to me and what I do has to be worth it.

Today. I decided to look to the Bible. I looked into Ephesians 5:16 and also read Matthew Henry's commentaries for insights. ¹⁶making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil”.

Our time here is short; every moment is an opportunity cost. (I just lost 3 minutes taking a call for that friend instead of writing this post, sharing about God’s word). Why? More often than not, it’s the urgent things that are always pulling us away from the important things. The important things wait quietly and patiently in the background until it can no longer do so and it becomes too late and regrets sets in for us.

How then should we make good use of our time when situations like these arises?

Learn to say NO. In Matthew Henry’s commentaries, he says "Our time is a talent given us by God for some good end, and it is misspent and lost when it is not employed according to his design. If we have lost our time heretofore, we must endeavour to redeem it by doubling our diligence in doing our duty for the future.” All the time I spent taking those calls and getting frustrated in front of my children needs to be fixed with twice the effort now. I had to explain why I was taking those calls and why sometimes I had to be loud on the phone. I had to spend time calming down myself whenever those calls came in with problems while my friend was at the gym working out; unbothered by these problems that she had given me. I thank God that this lesson is not a long drawn out one and that it has made me realize how time should be used. Wisely. Going forward, I shall take time to pray and ask if what I embark will please Him. Taking time to pray and plan will help in the long run. It is never too late to say NO to an activity or an urgent task. In fact, I shall inform my friend tomorrow that I will be unavailable to assist her in her shopping matters in future. What might happen? Lose a friend? Maybe, maybe not.

I ask myself, what if the situation was turned around. What should I do? Be sincere, honest, helpful and appreciative. Don’t take people and their time for granted. This also teaches me to value other’s time and be respectful of their time.

I shall end my note with this: Take good care of time and use it wisely to glorify God. Have courage to say NO.

Keepsake of children drawing

I love Sophie's depiction of people and wanted to create a keepsake of her drawing at this age. I also love making small surprises for the family, so I decided to turn one of Sophie's drawing of daddy and turned it into a pillow case for my husband.
He adored it so much and suggested that we do a series of her 'Picasso' people onto pillows for the family room sofa set.

I traced her drawing on a cloth and used embroidery thread to sew the traced lines. After that, I used some fabric cloth and sewed a simple pillow case.

It took me 2 hours in actual work but with taking Luke for a walk in the park and feeding ducks, lunch and putting him to nap, I took a total of 6 hours from start to finish. I guess I just had to be patient and do it in small steps.

It was an enjoyable experience for me and I know it means a lot to Sophie and daddy too.

Big picture

Feeling down and dreary about being a full time mom?
Here's a quote I picked up from the book "The parenting book" by Nick and Sila Lee
"Parenting requires seeing the big picture.  And every day makes a difference to our child's development and wellbeing"

To all parents out there,  HANG IN THERE!

Living in Shanghai

Shanghai! We've been here almost 2 months. Our art supplies have not arrived and we have been taking time to enjoy our surroundings. Our complex is lovely! It's like an adventure every time we head out.

Exploring and admiring God's work. What a treat!

I hope to share more photos and inspiring activities during our stay here.

Keep checking in! Cheers. 

Healthy snack for the soul

Blueberry soy muffin for a healthy afternoon tea.

I have been looking out for healthy snacks for the children and wanted to use what we had in our pantry instead of going to the grocery...again.
With coconut oil, blueberry, 1 egg and soy milk, and little time, I decided muffins would be best.

Recipe for 7 muffins as follows:
Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 C unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet ingredients:
1 egg (room temperature)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C soy milk
1/4 C coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C fresh blueberries
Coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven 200 degree Celsius.
Line muffin tray with muffin case or spray with non stick spray.

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl,  whisk together egg and sugar until combined. Add in oil, soy milk and vanilla extract. Mixture will be pale yellow.
3. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients in 2 batches. Batter will be thick and lumpy.
4. Fold in blueberries
5. Pour batter into prepared muffin tray, filling all the way to the top. Top with sugar sprinkle if preferred.
6. Bake at 200 degree Celsius for 5 mi s then reduce to 180 degree Celsius for another 10-15 minutes until tops are slightly golden. Test for doneness. 
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before enjoying it.

Sophie totally enjoyed it and had 2 muffins at one seating. Wow!
Perhaps the next time, I'll bake with her as this is really easy for a toddler to have some sensory play and learning about food.