I know I am biased but our 6th blessing is really a cutie pie! Ok - when she's not bawling in my ear or waking up countless times in the middle of the night!

But it is amazing how she is able to charm the whole family with her antics and her totally cheeky grins. No matter how annoying she has been, her siblings adore her to bits. Every night, each will give thanks to the Lord that she is "very cute".

Someone with one child would tend to assume that by the time one has her 3rd or 4th or in our case, the 6th baby, mom and dad gets a bit jaded. But I can honestly tell you that it is not the case. Truly the person who said "love multiplies" is a wise one indeed.

I just can't help melting at her first smile, her first chuckle, her first everything! It still amazes me that the antics the 6th child gets up to can still make us smile as though she's our first.

Dh is similarly charmed. The moment she hears his keys jangling at the door, she drops everything and crawls to him and woe to him should he not acknowledge her presence immediately. She would protest loudly till he picks her up. And then she'd beam - triumphantly. Too cute!

Yes, having a large family is tiring and it would seemingly be easier if we had stopped at 2 children. But then I think of all the joy and sweetness we would have missed out on! Now if only the baby will sleep through the night.....................

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

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So this Sunday is Mother's Day.

Do you think you'll be getting presents and cards telling you how much you are loved and appreciated? I hope so! But hey! If you don't, it's ok.

HE who made and called you to be a mother sees and knows what you have done and HE appreciates you!

Mothering is often a thankless job. (Think : how many times have you thanked your mom? I know I haven't done it much! ) But we still keep on doing what we need to do, right?

Personally, I don't like the big fuss over Mother's Day, just like the way I dislike the fuss made over Valentine's Day. The only people that benefit from all the fuss are the retailers and the restuarants! Eating out on those days are awful. The crowds are everywhere!

But enough about me. I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about someone who has been blessing our family with her love.

In the past months, our whole family has been "adopted" by Aunty Helen, the mom of one of my good friends. Aunty Helen has taken to mothering us by cooking delicious meals for us! This has been a real blessing to me, especially! Why? Coz I really dislike cooking! So, to have someone provide yummy home-cooked meals is a god-send!

Just yesterday, I was wondering glumly what to cook for dinner when the phone rang and it was Aunty Helen! She wanted to bring over food! Oh my! Talk about an answered prayer!

THANK YOU AUNTY HELEN
and
HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY !!!

Thank you for being such a blessing to us!

And for the rest of you mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day to you too!

A funny : For the past few years, our older children would ask dh what he is getting me for Mother's Day and he would reply, "Nothing!". To which they would ask, "Why?" And he would answer, "Coz she's not my mother!" Lol!

When I used to stay under my parents' roof, my room was constantly in a mess. I would clean and de-clutter it maybe once a year. But a weird thing happened after I moved out and into my own marital home.

I suddenly dislike mess. And the more children I have, the less tolerance I have for dirt, dust and clutter. I think it enroaches too much into our already limited space that causes me to feel claustrophobic!

I know that in the larger scheme of things, dust, dirt and clutter do not matter at all. But I just dislike it!

Last week, I was as sick as a dog and couldn't clean the house. Thankfully, ds (10 years old) rose to the occasion and vacuumed and mopped downstairs for me. But the bedrooms were not done. Today, I managed to clean up the whole house and the I just love, love, love the feeling of squeaky clean floors on bare feet!

If only the house can feel so clean daily!

I guess that's why people have live-in maids, huh? Even with a part timer, you can never achieve this state of clean-ness! You just need to mop daily. Now who has that kind of time and energy?

In order to achieve that feeling of clean-ness, Vacuuming alone is not enough. You need to mop! And preferably with as little liquid detergent as possible. The best cleaner to date that I have used is good old vinegar! Yep, vinegar and water gives you squeaky clean floors! We have ceramic tiles all over and this works out well for us. I don't know if it'll do for marble or parquet floors though.

Unfortunately, since we live near the park, our place is often windy and dusty! So the clean squeaky feeling lasts all of a day unless I keep all the windows closed. I used to mop after the kids have gone to bed just so I can enjoy waking up to clean squeaky floors! Lol!

I have some friends who simply had to be forced to live with less than squeaky clean floors after giving up their maids. They tried to keep up the daily routine of vacuuming/sweeping and mopping that the maid used to perform but found that it was physically not possible when you have young children in the house.

But I hear the Scooba is a good buy. It is the counterpart to the Roomba. Very tempting to buy one.....

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

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Oh man! To be sick is bad enough but to be sick with sick young children is totally not a good combination!

And I don't even know where and how we caught this bug!

I was the first one to be hit - had raging high fever the whole of Saturday nite and Sunday. I was alternating between cold and hot. And the body aches I had were so painful it was an agony nursing the baby in bed. And I kept dozing off through out the day. I lived for when the baby napped so that I could crash out too. Otherwise I drifted in and out of consciousness.

Thankfully the children have been well taught to be very independent so that when I manage to rouse myself from the stupor, the house wasn't thrashed.

Then on Monday, the 2 younger ones got hit. The suddeness onset of the fever was what really shocked me. One moment the 3 year old was jumping over me and singing and then shortly after, she started becoming very listless and by lunch, she had a high fever of 39.2. And then she threw up....twice.

Thankfully dh was around and he could help to clean up while I kept the baby away from the mess. (The last time this happened, I had to deal with a screaming baby who wanted to crawl to me while I was cleaning up vomit - not pleasant at all!). She then promptly fell asleep on the sofa.

The baby then went to take her afternoon nap while I crashed out again. But then when she woke up, she had a high fever too! 38.5!

I was like - huh? How come they were well one minute and totally wiped out the next? It was scary.

Then came more drama - she threw up on me 4 times! She wasn't crying or coughing. She was being carried in my arms. She popped out her thumb, turned her face and threw up copious amount of milk and part of her lunch. We got her changed and then she threw up again and again and again! It was really scary. But the thing was she was totally unfazed by it all.

It was already 7pm when the drama happened. Our paed does not run a night clinic. So we called him to ask if we should go and check into the A & E department or just wait till the morning to see him. He told us that unless there is blood in her stools or bile in her vomit then we could wait till the morning to see him. The worry was dehydration with all that throwing up. In that case, she needed to be warded and be put on a drip.

Oh man! I did not want that!

So we prayed and I sms-ed our prayer warriors to pray for us.

Amazingly, the baby's fever cleared with no medication within an hour's time! And the 3 year old's fever was brought under control thru nurofen.

More drama - Wednesday, #3 was hit. Again, the fever was high, 39.2. And on Thursday, #2 was next. And again, her fever hit 39 degrees. And when she woke up this morning, Friday, she threw up 4 times. Thankfully, she threw up in the toilet and not in bed!

It has been a long tiring week.

Most of us are on the road to recovery - I hope! And I pray that the bug stops here! A friend said that she had a bug go round and round the kids for 3 weeks! Yikes!

I really thank God that dh has been able to be around for us all this week. Otherwise, it'd really be a Herculean task trying to function alone with kids falling sick left, right and centre!

Thank you saints for praying for us. It is really appreciated!!!

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

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I know I have written about this before but the lack of manners is something that irks me to no end.

People shoving you aside to get to the front of the queue, service people ignoring the child in the queue, shoppers leaving their trolley in the middle of the aisle, who then glare at you when you move it aside to pass.......the list goes on.

But the one thing that irritates me to no end is when I make time and effort to provide information to those who ask and recieve not even an acknowledgement that my information was received! How can someone who drafts a long message to me not have the courtesy to write 2 words, "Thank You" back to me?!

Do they think I am very free? Or perhaps they think they are doing me a favour by providing me mental stimulation when I write a response?

Why is a simple and short "thank you" email or sms so hard to come by these days? Are people really that busy? Or are they plain self-absorbed?

And so, as I was fuming over a series of non acknowledgement/response to emails I have written the past week, emails that I took time to write, to people I don't even know, a small voice pipes up, "Think of Jesus!" And a light bulb goes on!

Yes, think of Jesus! He died on the cross for the sins of all man.

Sure there are those who say "thank you Lord" everyday and remain in awe and amazement at the great act of sacrifice He did for them. But there are lots more who don't care about it, those who outrightly laugh at the act and then there are Christains who look upon the cross with embarrassment and say - well......there are many ways to get to heaven, Jesus is but one of the many ways!

How it must hurt Him tremendously!

Ah! As I was myself on a road of self-absorption, I thank the Holy Spirit for reminding me that whatever hurt I may have experienced from the lack of gratitude from those I have taken time to help, it is nothing compared to what Jesus endured and is still enduring as Man turns away from the one and only way into the Kingdom!

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who faithfully read my blog. Yes, thank you for reading and for commenting! Thank you for letting me know that sometimes, I have helped you somehow. It is much appreciated.

Now just remember, the next time you ask someone (not just me!) for help and advice, say THANK YOU when you have received it! Whether or not the advice was correct!

And yes, do remember to daily thank God for the gift of eternal life that He so graciously gave to us!

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Incident #1

Tuesday afternoon, the older 3 followed daddy to the supermarket. The younger 2 were napping and so I was left with a very chatty 4.5year old.

She started asking all sorts of questions about mammals (our science topic this week) and when she'd finished her long list of questions she proceeded to put her box of books back on her bookshelf. However, she was frustrated with a file that kept falling over into the space where her box was to be placed. She tried to hold the file upright with one arm and shove her box in with the other but the box was too heavy for her. She sighed.

I stood at the side of the room watching her, wondering what she was going to do and if she was going to burst into tears in frustration. She turned to me and said, "Mama, I need help. I just need someone to hold the file for me and I can put the box in."

So I went to help her. As she was pushing her box in, she turns to me with a bright smile and said, "God gives us ideas!"

Hilarious!

Incident #2

Then when it was her turn to take her afternoon rest, she turns to me and asked, "Mama why is it this way? Why did D comes 1st and then S and then A and then me?

"Coz God choose you to be #4 that's why." I said with a smile.

"Chose," she corrected me and skipped away happily to take her rest.

Ah! She's been paying attention to those grammar lessons we've been doing in school!

This is the same sweet child who told me solemnly one night after her nighttime prayers, "Mama, when I grow up, I want to be a Christian just like you." When I told her that she need not be grown up to be a Christian, her eyes widened in amazement. And so, I led her to a prayer of salvation.

Ahh!!! I live for these moments. I am just so blessed to be able to be there to witness them and most of all, lead them into the Kingdom.

Actually, I have been super blessed to have been there to say that special prayer of salvation with the 4 older children. I don't ever take it for granted that just coz I am home with them, I'll naturally be the one who gets the privilege. I am sure daddy is eating his heart out on this one!

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Straits Times supplement, Mind Your Body, reported that,

"In Singapore, less than 1% of six-month old babies are breastfed exclusively." Breastfeeding is best feeding, Shefali Srinivas, 9th April 2008.

It further reports that, "The National Breastfeeding Survey done in 2001 showeed that 95% of Singaporean mothers attempt to breastfeed their babies...(but)... exclusive breastfeeding is not a common practice in Singapore."

I am not here to gloat over those who may have tried and failed in breastfeeding. Since I know that ironically while breastfeeding is a natural act, yet it is something that does not come naturally. It does not help that we have lost a generation, or two, to formula milk and so many of us do not have many breastfeeding knowledgeable women to turn to for help and support.

But it is sad that the common reasons given for not breastfeeding exclusively or for stopping breastfeeding are "insufficeint milk, sore nipples, engorgement, returning to work and the baby preferring formula milk."

It definitely does not need to be so, as Sister Kang Phaik Gaik, lactation consultant at Mount Alvernia Hospital says. The problem is that many women give up without seeking proper help. 

Proper help means seeking either professionally trained lactation consultants like Sister Kang or Doris Fok (handphone : 9638 7660) or Cynthia Pang at KKH or women who have breastfed successfully.

If you do seek advise from friends, do make sure they themselves have succeeded in breastfeeding. It is amazing the amount of advice women who have never breastfed or have failed in breastfeeding have to offer!

Personally, by the grace of God, I have managed to nurse all our 6 babies. All nursed exclusively (no water or solids) till they were at least 6 months old, with most preferring not to eat any solids till they were 8 to 12 months old. They were all very different and so lovely experiences that I am glad to be a part of.

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If you would like to receive my blog postings but do not always have the time to check out my site, why not sign up for my updates via email?

I have put up the subscription form on the side bar on the left. But here it is for you for ease of use. Just key in the email address you want the updates to be sent to and you are set!

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The HSB Front Porch is having a contest and you can win a $50 gift certificate just for blogging about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo before midnight April 30, 2008. Subscribe now to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and receive 25 BONUS gifts valued at over $550! The Winter Promo sold out, don't miss out on the free gifts this time!

They are also giving away a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store. All print subscribers (new or renewing) between April 3 - 30, 2008 will be automatically entered into a drawing. No purchase neccessary to win. To enter without subscribing, please send a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and email address to:

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo Contest
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If you are a homeschooler and need encouragement, I often recommend The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. It offers a huge amount of articles and reviews. If you prefer to have a hard copy in your hand to slowly savour it, then you would want to subscribe to the print edition by clicking on this banner.

If budget is a constraint, here's the good news - they have the entire magazine in digital format at a fraction of the cost of the print edition! Check it out by clicking on this banner!

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Child #5 did it AGAIN!

A few months ago, as a 2.5yr old toddler, she locked herself in the bedroom during nap time. Today, now 3, she locked herself in the toilet after doing her big business!

Sigh.

Things are never boring around here.

The thing was I was nursing the baby when she locked herself in this time. I heard lots of screaming and "Oh no!"s from my oldest (I was nursing the baby in the master bedroom) and my heart sank. After being a mom for a long time  you sorta know when a scream means blood and gore (serious) and when a scream is just an annoyance (just ignore).

Well, this was a serious kind of scream. I quickly unlatched the baby and ran downstairs. The little miss was truly stuck in the toilet.

Just get the spare keys you may be thinking, right? Well, our toilets have sliding doors. And the sliding doors have locks that come WITHOUT keys!!!

God certainly has equipped me to handle her antics. All the other children were gathered at the door to watch the show. Calmly, I told her to get on to the stool and push the button DOWN.

Click!

Ahh!!! The sweet sound of freedom!!! And so, she was released, with tears streaming down her cheeks and a messy bottom!  

The last time she locked herself in the bedroom, we couldn't find the spare set of keys coz we had hidden them so well!

As with today, the little miss was able to obey my instructions to get on a stool (yes, we have stools in every room) and turn the door knob and release herself without the required key.

Frustrating as it all was, I thank God for watching over her. And that she is able to take my instructions well. And it sure helps that God gives me an extra dose of calmness whenever such crisis arises

On a lighter note, this little miss at 3 years old surprised me yesterday when she spelt her name for me! She wanted me to write down her name on her notebook and just to tease her, I said I didn't know how to spell it. I asked her to spell it for me. And she did!

She did it three times! So it wasn't a fluke shot. Ok, so it helps that her name is a short one and not something like Nebuchanedzzer but hey! It was pretty amazing to me since I have not been consciously doing anything schoolish with her until last week!

So don't underestimate your little ones. They can lock and un-lock doors and spell their names - all without formal teaching! Haha!

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Yes, that's what large families are reduced to whenever they go out. Everybody stares and stares and stares.

And should you, heaven forbid, shout at one of your children or have one of them throw a temper tantrum, you can just hear the voices going, "See? Too many children, can't handle!"

It doesn't seem fair, does it?

Well, you should read what Julie wrote on her blog, Seeking The Old Paths. She writes about an unwritten rule large families abide by, no matter where they are. It's kinda sad that we have to abide by it if we do not want to hear unwanted and positively rude comments!

Go read her You should have thought about that before.... post. 

The next time you see a large family, cut us some slack, ok? We have our off-days too.

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

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Everyone knows that the cost of everything is going up! From rice to coffee and now, electricity. So everyone is obviously trying to cut down unnecessary expenses.

So it is with great interest (and slight horror I must admit!) that I read in today's Sunday Times' article :Power hikes : Low-income families to feel pinch most that a 4-member family can have utility bills of up to $400 a month! And these are families living in 4- or 5-bedroom flats!

And then comes the next bombshell - all these families have more than one tv in the home.

One  family profiled owned 4 tvs while another had 3! And get this - the TVs are swtiched on up to 9 - 10hours A DAY!!!

Oh wow!

Computers left on I can understand since you don't really want to keep switching it on and off. But TVs?! And it is reported that all 4 TVs are turned on a the same time if the children are home. That means probably a TV in each room.

Oh wow!

Btw our family of 8 has a utility bill of an average of $180 t0 $200 per month, depending on whether it is cool or hot weather. I would love to be able to cut down to $150 per month though.

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

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Some time ago, I had someone tell me that her doctor told her to eat SUGAR to put on weight for her pregnancy!!!

Then yesterday, while giving the Experiencing God In Your Pregnancy talk, a lady shared that her doctor told her that Asians can't birth naturally!!! That natural childbirth is only for Caucasians!

Amazing that these doctors are allowed to practice medicine!!!

If you are expecting or are planning to start a family, you may be interested to attend our talk at Wesley Methodist Church.

Titled, Experiencing God In Pregnancy, my dh and I will share a Christian perspective on pregnancy and childbirth.

Date : 29th March 2008 (Saturday)

Time : 2:15pm - 6:00pm

Venue : Level 3 Hall, Wesley Methodist Church

Cost : $2.00 per participant
(light refreshment will be provided)

We will cover the following topics :

• knowing your position in Christ,
• our Birth Stories,
• the Chrisitian's antenatal response,
• preparing to be parents and
• Q & A

If you are interested in attending, please contact Evangeline Leong at 68378610. Do pass this on to your friends who may be interested. But please note that this is not a medical talk.

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

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Straits Times, 15th March 2008, "Wooing women back to work", Insight, S8

A recent government survey found that one in three women mid-lifers has never held a job and the 2007 Report on Singapore's Labour Force identifies 3 main reasons.

They are : housework, poor health and raising children.

Few will dispute the merit of staying home to care for the children and home

But, as sociologist Jennifer Jarman from the National University of Singapore puts it : "The question that many will have to answer is whether the financial, social and personal rewards for working outweigh the costs of that kind of work."

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Hmm......what does that say to you? Well, it got me worked up again lah!

That kind of work vs financial, social and personal rewards.

Is that all it boils down to? Ahh!!! Here we go, worldy wisdom again!

That kind of work is raising souls for eternity, that kind of work impacts future generations and in turn, the state of the world depends on that kind of work. Grrr..............

Then in Sunday Times, the next day, there was an advertisement by the National Family Council titled, "The best of both worlds". It tells women how it is "possible to have the best of both worlds at home and the workplace".

Their solution is one where everyone work their way around you and your needs so that YOU can have the best of both worlds! The sub-head reads "A supportive husband and an understanding boss allow Madam xxx to enjoy both motherhood and a fulfilling career".

Let's get real here - can we really have the best of both worlds all the time? Maybe for a season but all the time?

Coz ultimately something has to go. Now who or what is it that has to let that something go? Husband? Children? Grandparents? High powered career path? Spiritual health?

Obviously, this is my very opiniated opinion  - it is not possible to have your cake and eat it all the time. You may pull it off for a period of time but it is not sustainable. Someone/something will suffer. The superwoman myth is just that - a myth.

Back to the question posed by the sociologist -

Have YOU, dear SAHM, done your sums, so to speak and concluded that it IS worth it to give up the financial, social and personal rewards for that kind of work that you are doing now?

On some days I am not sure! Especially when there are whiney and sick babies to tend to and a temper tantrum throwing child to discipline and train.

But Yes, it IS worth it to me. I do not want to give that kind of work up to get the so-called financial, social and personal, rewards that the world has to offer. Thanks but no thanks!

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Now this brought a smile to my otherwise dreary week of dealing with a sick baby that has kept me up 3 nights in a row already.

I don't know who the original autjhor is but I read this off Tawra's blog.

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember.... Noah was a drunk Abraham was too old Isaac was a daydreamer Jacob was a liar Leah was ugly Joseph was abused Moses had a stuttering problem Gideon was afraid Samson had long hair and was a womanizer Jeremiah and Timothy were too young David had an affair and was a murderer Elijah was suicidal Isaiah preached naked Jonah ran from God Naomi was a widow Job went bankrupt Peter denied Christ The Disciples fell asleep while praying Martha worried about everything The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once Zaccheus was too small Paul was too religious Timothy had an ulcer..AND Lazarus was dead! And Don't forget Jesus Helped them all!!!!

Now don't we serve an awesome God? Not only did Jesus helped them all, He used them all! Now remember - it's never about us, it's always about Him!

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Every time we have a school break, weI try to bring the children out on a Field Trip. Sometimes it is just to the pool or the library. This week, we decided to bring them to Hay Dairies.

But we almost didn't make it as it poured heavily as we started off at 8:30am! But thankfully, the skies cleared and we managed to have an enjoyable outing.

If you go between 9 and 11am, you get to see the goats being milked. The children actually noticed that the goats being milked had extremely swollen udders - ouch?! As we watched, we could see the udders slowly deflating! I wondered if the goats felt pain with such swollen udders! And I am so glad I haven't had to pump milk for my babies for the past 7 years! Lol!

It was interesting to me to see how well-trained the goats were. They knew how to position their heads into the slats to eat while they were milked and they knew exactly when and how to duck their heads out of the slats when they heard the click of the slats being unlocked for them!

The kids, er I mean the children, had a blast feeding the goats. They spent close to 45 minutes just feeding and playing with the animals! And they each even had a favourite goat by the time they were done feeding them!

Now I am soooo not an animal person so I got bored after a while and left to nurse my own baby while the children continued playing with the goats. 

Some time ago, I used to buy goat milk from Hay Dairies for my oldest dd to drink as it was supposed to help heal eczema. No, it didn't work and I sure did not like the taste or smell of goat milk! (I don't eat lamb or mutton either!) Ooh! And if you should burp after drinking it..........................

But the children loved it and we bought some to take home to drink. They actually chose to drink the milk as it was instead of drinking the chocoloate flavoured one!

I suppose we could have ventured out further and visited the other farms around the area but dh had a meeting to run off to and the baby was grumpy since she was sick so we left for lunch shortly after.

We shall be planning to trip to visit Qian Hu Fish Farm next since I hear that the children can get to fish (for a fee) while adults can get their feet exfoliated by dipping their feet into a foot bath of sorts while the fish nibble off dead skin! Is that cool or what!

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Just read I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog titled, "If it bothers you, change it!". She has a quotation taken from Success Magazine's website which I just love!

“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”  As written by Maya Angelou for Succes

May this inspire us to go do something instead of just opening our mouths to complain!

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Yet another high profile, crusader of family values leader was caught with his pants down!

Last week, Eliot Spitzer was found out to have paid for the services of a high class call girl. It was especially embarrassing for him since he had been targeting prostition rings during his reign as governor of New York.

Some months/years?! back there was a another high profile case of a church leader who was found out to have been leading a closet homosexual life while publicly denouncing it.

What does one make of it?

Were they set up by their enemies? Were they just making a stand for morality publicly to win voters and look good?

I don't know. But I do know that all of us are really just one step away from the edge when we toy with sin.

Romans 3:23
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".

This scenario brought to mind the three common sins that snare great men and women, even godly men and women : girls (sexual sin), glory and greed.

I remember reading about this in John Crowder's book, Miracle Workers, Reformers and the New Mystics. He'd mentioned that these great men and women of God who walked so closely with God and were allowed the privilege of being God's vessel moving in great signs and wonders, were not immune to these sins either.

Speaking of The New Mystics (Crowder uses this term to refer to Godly people performing powerful signs and wonders as the apostles did), after I read the book, I was left wondering if only unmarried and childless men and women of God are allowed that kind of privilege of moving in signs and wonders. Afterall, one can only received that kind of power after long, long hours of communion with God. Now how is one supposed to have long hours of communion with God when you have a houseful of children?!

But then you have people like Brother Lawrence who says that even the simple act of cutting vegetables or gardening can be an act of worship!

Did you just go, "Huh?"

Well, I did until yesterday when I watched Rob Bell's Everything is Spiritual DVD. I finally accepted what my dh has been saying all along - "everything IS spiritual".  We've been so well trained to think one ought to be either spiritual OR practical but that is wrong.

Watch that DVD if you get a chance to (it's available at SKS Books) - Rob Bell says it so clearly and simply - everything should be spiritual with us because that's how God made us to be. There is no either/or. It just is.

Now - please don't ask me how to be spiritual while cutting vegetables or wiping someone's snot.  Obviously I am not there yet! I am still a work in progress and I truly thank God that He does not and will not give up on me.

Phil 1:6
"he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

www.BuildingUpMoms.com

No, I am not talking about using up 8 tubes of lipstick per year but INGESTING it!!!!

Thursday's (13th March 2008) Urban*, reported that it was calculated that a woman who uses lipstick daily ends up ingesting 8 tubes of it per year! Yucks!

And the best part is most women (me included) don't even know what goes into a tube of lipstick. Does it make you think twice before slopping it on? Actually, I think most of us won't!

Why?

Coz vanity often comes first.

Now those of us who don't use lipstick must be now patting themselves on their backs for going au naturale.

Do I use lipstick? No, I don't. Though I must confess not by choice. After the birth of #5, my body rebelled against it. Lol! Everytime I put it on (and trust me, I tried many brands), my lips would itch like crazy. So now I have gone sans lipstick for 4 years already.

Actually even without it, my lips still itch like crazy. I developed dry lips despite the numerous times I apply lip balm (not vaseline) per day.  Sometimes I wonder if it is the result of wearing lipstick constantly since university days? Afterall, I developed dry eyes afte wearing contact lenses for 10 years.

Oh well, I guess I really have to focus on inner beauty, eh?

* Urban is a free fashion paper that comes free with Straits Times every Thursday.

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at

www.BuildingUpMoms.com