Paint The Town...err...Walls Red!

Look what Levi did while I was drying my hair.

The "artist" posing by his work (this pic was taken long after he was punished for coloring on the walls...because he wasn't smiling when I scolded him and sent him to time-out!)

Me, scrubbing the crayon off. (It will all come off, but it's going to take a while.)

Apparently he thought our bare white walls needing some sprucing up. He colored on all 3 walls in the hallway.

Quiet Time with Small Children

A sweet friend emailed me today and said it had been a long time since she'd had a quiet time, especially since the birth of her baby. She was asking my advice on how to start spending time in God's Word again. I thought I'd share my answer here because I know that the two of us aren't the only moms of small children struggling to find quite time with God in the midst of dirty diapers, cranky babies, and toddlers who don't stop talking from sun-up to sun-down. I surely don't have all the answers, but in the almost 4 years I've been a mom of small kids, I've learned some things from other moms, more seasoned moms, and from my own struggles...

"Well, I'll tell you that I don't have a quiet time every day. While that's my goal, it doesn't happen. I go through periods where I do pretty well, but I just can't seem to discipline myself enough yet where it happens every day. BUT, I have been in the Word more lately, which is a good thing. It always helps if I'm a part of a study with other people because it forces me to get my work done by the next week! I lack seriously in the self-control and discipline areas.

If you're like me, you struggle with an "all or nothing" kind of personality sometimes. It can be so detrimental to our walk with God. Let me tell you NOT to start one of those Bible in a year things. I tried to do that recently and am already behind, so that's just not gonna work right now; it just makes me feel guilty and I don't need anymore of that. While I wish I could read the Bible in a year, and hope to do so regularly just as a part of my everyday life, it's not happening right now. Since Levi got up at 6:15 this morning, every plan I had to get up early and get my quiet time done before the kids got up just went out the window. I recently started getting up an hour or two earlier than normal, and about 9 times out of 10 Levi has been up within 15 minutes of my new wake time. It's very frustrating. And the middle of the day for me isn't much easier a lot of days. Caleb stopped napping when he was 2 1/2, so there hasn't been a break in the middle of the day in a long time. Now that he's older, he can entertain himself for a while, so sometimes I can grab a little time to do my Bible study then, but it never goes uninterrupted. That's just life with little kids!

I think you and I might have to let go of the "quiet" in quiet time for a while. There's just so little time for quiet in my day, and when Justin gets home, I need to spend that time with him. A lot of times I will stay up after he goes to bed and do my Bible study, but we don't like going to bed at different times, so that's not a good option most of the time.

So, here's my advice:

1) Pick a book of the Bible. Any one. Don't stress...pray about it and see where God leads you. "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." ~Psalm 119:11

2) Don't set a goal to read the whole thing by a certain date, just read some each day.

3) If you can find 5-30 minutes of retreat in your day, GREAT! If not, then just be in His Word. Read to your kid(s) as you're playing or eating or whatever. Listen to the Bible on the Internet or on CD as you go about your day. God understands our situations as moms of small children, and He wants us in His Word. That's what He wants. He doesn't want us to be legalistic about trying to have 30 minutes or an hour of quiet time like we did before kids. That is not the season we're in, so let's stop beating ourselves up about it. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." ~Hebrews 4:12

4)Just read His Word. That's it. Don't plan to read 3 chapters a day or 10 verses or whatever. Just start reading. When something strikes you, stop. Meditate on it. Repeat it. Write it down and memorize it if that would help. Think about it. Pray it back to Him. "Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this." ~2 Tim. 2:7

5) Read a little more the next day or later the same day.

6) Don't let Satan make you feel like a failure because you made a plan and fell through with it. Just pick it back up and keep going. God desires for us to be in His Word to know Him and be able to share what we know with others. It's for our encouragement and benefit. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." ~2 Tim. 3:16-17

7) Pray and ask God to help you find time in your day to be quiet before Him.

8) Don't make reading the Bible another box to be checked off on a to-do list. Ask God to help you fall in love with His Word and crave it like you do food. I want to be able to say each day, "I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word...Your statues are my delight; they are my counselors." ~Psalm 119: 16, 24

9) "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. " ~ 1Thes. 5:12-18. This is the legacy we want to leave our children.


Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. ~Psalm 1:1-3

Now I'm off to take my own advice...

Anyone out there have any more/different advice about how to stay in God's Word with little ones around?

Walking

When the kids are in school, I walk a lot more. :-) The other day I took the bus by their school and stopped off at the wet market for some fruits and vegetables. Here's the view from the pedestrian bridge over Farrer Road. All that construction you see is for the new Circle Line MRT. We are very anxious for them to finish so that we will have an MRT station within walking distance of our condo.
A view of the HDB (Housing Development Board) flats (apartments) by the Empress Market...

The stairs down from the pedestrian bridge. (There are 38, in case you're wondering. And an equal set on the other side of the street.)
The church where I attend Bible study and MOPS is just behind the Empress Market, and about a 20-minute walk from our place. On Monday morning I decided to take Caleb in the stroller (so there'd be no complaining from him!) and walk to Bible study. There is no crosswalk on Farrer Road, so we have to go up the stairs, over the pedestrian bridge, and down the stairs to get to the other side (I made Caleb get out and walk then, of course). Needless to say, the walk was great exercise, but I was soaking wet by the time I arrived and we won't be doing that again. We'll stick to the bus. But I do enjoy that walk when we don't need to look presentable, and if I'm by myself. Lugging Levi and/or the stroller up and down those stairs is not fun!

And, lastly, a picture of the boys. They were both playing computer games yesterday. Levi must do whatever his big brother is doing, which more often than not gets him in trouble, but here they were content to side side by side and play together. Siblings are so fun!

The Things Caleb Says, Part IV

"Disobeying is not a good idea." :-) (We were discussing their Bible class lesson on Adam and Eve. Apparently he actually learned something!)


"Cool idea, dude!"

"Mom, you know why it's raining? Because God's spitting."
"Who told you that?"
"God-ey"(his name for God).
Then he looks up at the sky and says, "Spit, God!"



"Miss Val is a proomper-weeder!"

-Again, one of his made-up words. This one is a noun and just means something silly. We then discussed that he is never to use that word at school because they would not understand what he was saying and might think he meant something bad. We only say that at home. :-) Miss Val is his teacher.

Sentosa!

Saturday we took the boys to Sentosa Island, just to the south of Singapore's main island. We did the luge ride, which was tons of fun, and then played on the beach. Here are a few pics, including some of me! My cousin, Kerri, emailed and asked for more pictures of me on the blog. I'm usually very happy being behind the camera, and usually I'm the only one around to take the pictures, but Justin was with us and was able to snap a few. Enjoy!

Caleb on the sky ride to the luge...

Haircuts

We took the boys to get haircuts last Saturday. They have a great children's style salon here (much like Cool Cuts for Kids in the States), and after they are done they let the boys pick a colored hairspray. Levi got red hair, and Caleb chose blue. It was fun, and they looked cute. Justin has the pictures of Caleb's blue hair on his phone, but he's not here, so I'll have to update his pics later.

The Things Caleb Says, Part III

Saturday we took the boys to Sentosa Island. We rode the luge and played at the beach. Here's the conversation that ensued as we were walking out the door to leave...

Caleb: How do we get to the beach?
Daddy: Drive.
Caleb: Does the car turn into a boat?
Daddy: No...(stifling a laugh)
Caleb: (very emphatically) But we didn't buy a swimsuit for the car!

On the way home, we were telling knock-knock jokes. Caleb tried to get in on the action...

Caleb: Knock, Knock!
Us: Who's there?
Caleb: ummm...(long pause)...it was ME, Caleb!

:-) We love that boy!

I Guess This Means We've Only Got 31 Years Left...

Today Justin and I are celebrating 7 years of marriage. Anyone remember what he said on our 4th anniversary? I do love that man.

While marriage is never easy and difficulties arise just from living life together, it's surely not hard with Justin. (Out of the two of us, trust me when I say I'm the harder one to be married to!) Seven years ago when we got married, we never imagined the path God would have taken our family. We've been through a lot together, and the last two years with my depression and anxiety has been the hardest on both of us. But our marriage has never been stronger, and this time away from everything we are familiar with, aside from our little family of four, is drawing us closer together.

Justin and I have a great marriage. That's due to a lot of grace from God and each other, and a lot of work! Here are some things I'm so glad we've done:

-we did a lot of premarital counseling. I highly recommend it! We read books about marriage, but we also talked to couples at our church that had been married for decades about what made it work. Whether before or after marriage, it's always a good idea to get advice from godly couples who have marriage success stories. Just sitting and listening to them talk about each other and their marriages is enough to make you feel better!

-we say "I'm sorry" a lot. We're not perfect, so we sometimes snap at each other in moments of frustration or unintentionally hurt each other's feelings. We always say we're sorry. Maybe not right then, but always. And we say "please" and "thank you" and are just generally respectful of one another. It helps a lot.

-we don't intentionally hurt each other's feelings. We've been married a while now, so we know exactly which buttons to push that would make the other person hurt. We just don't push them. Justin is the person I love most on this earth, so why would I want to hurt him? It's not worth it. Hurting him intentionally with my words or actions is just out of the question.

-we've centered our marriage on Christ. He is what brought us together and what sustains us still. It's the most important thing. And we're committed to bringing up our children to know and love our Savior.

Justin won't write a post on here, so I wondered what he'd say about me if he did. ;-) Here's what I came up with (because he surely wouldn't be super sappy in front of you all!)

"She has a flair for the dramatic, she's surprisingly good with numbers, she has a crazy good memory, and I love her a lot." ;-)

(Did I do a good job, babe?)

I'm much more wordy than he'll ever be.

So, it's our 7th anniversary and we're living in Singapore. It's a roller coaster, babe, but I'm so glad you're the one on this ride with me.

I think I'll keep ya.

If you're interested in "Our Story" of how we met, fell in love, and how I almost totally ruined Justin's proposal...you can find those posts below. I wrote them a couple of years ago, so they're in the archives.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Update on the Ice Cream Flavor

The real flavor is toffee and butterscotch. I assumed it would be a rainbow sherbet or cotton candy type thing. At least it wasn't Durian or Green Tea or Yam (all real flavors here).

Good guesses, though, people! :-)

Can You Guess The Flavor?

Caleb saw this rainbow ice cream at the store and wanted to get it. I bought it without looking at the flavor. Can you guess what it is?

Registering for School

Updated to add: Hubby has already told me that Levi looks like a girl in that shirt...guess I'll be buying some smaller ones next week. :-)

I took the boys to register for school today. Here's the list of things we had to take with us:

registration forms (4 or 5, I can't remember)
immunization records for each child
copy of passport for each child
copy of birth certificate for each child
copy of dependent pass for each child
copy of my dependent pass
copy of my passport
copy of Justin's dependent pass
copy of Justin's passport

I think that's it. I guess they are serious about verifying that my kids are who we say they are!

Since I don't have the car during the day, we've been trying to figure out the best way to get to school. It's probably 1.5-2 miles from our place. The bus is the cheapest way (not the fastest or the easiest), so the boys and I headed out to the bus. I went ahead and took them in the stroller because I knew Caleb would complain about the walk to the bus stop.

In order to get to the bus stop that has a bus going in the direction of the school, we had to walk 12 minutes...yes, I timed it. (This was me pushing both boys mostly downhill in the stroller.) When we reached the bus stop, I got both kids out of the stroller and folded it up. We didn't have to wait long for the bus, but getting on the bus with two toddlers and a humongous stroller was quite a sight. It took a long time. Then had to go 5 stops. Levi tried to get off the seat while we were going, but then when it was time to get off, he wouldn't budge. I was already headed toward the back of the bus dragging the humongous stroller and trying to coerce my children to follow me. Levi still wouldn't budge. A sweet, older Singaporean woman got up and lifted Levi off of his seat. "Thank you," I said, still dragging the stroller. Ugh. This isn't easy.

We alighted (Singaporean/British for "got off the bus") at the Singapore Bible College, and then walked across the street, past the Adam Food Centre, down the street and around the corner to their school. It took us 25 minutes from our place.

It took me 10 minutes to stop wiping sweat from my face after we arrived. One of the classes was outside playing with the ride-on toys, so the teacher there watched my two so I could go inside and get the registration taken care of. This school doesn't have uniforms like a lot of schools here, but they have a school t-shirt that the kids wear everyday. I picked up a few of those, paid the fees, and then it was time to go. Neither of the boys wanted to leave, which is a good sign for later on.

Here are the kids wearing their t-shirts, and my oldest not cooperating at all. :-)

Are you thinking that Levi's shirt is really big? It is. The boys were outside, and I have no idea what size shirt they wear in the sizes here. I figured it would be easier to get them both the same size and not have to worry about separating them or getting the wrong shirt on the wrong boy. See...smart! I got them both a size 28...I have no idea what size that equates to in the US. He'll have lots of room to grow!

By the time we left the school, it was really hot, both boys were sweaty from playing outside, and I was just ready to get home. I hailed the first taxi I found!

They have a holiday programme next week, so the teacher said I could bring them in so they can get used to the school. Starting August 25, Caleb will attend school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (he goes to BSF with me on Mondays), and Levi will go on Wednesday and Thursday (he goes to MOPS with me on Tuesdays). We'll be pretty busy, but the boys are going to love it! The school is small, and the teachers are so sweet. I love the environment there. Of all the schools that I contemplated sending them, it was the only one without a waitlist of a year or more. We're thankful to get spots in this one!

The teacher that was helping me with registration commented on how hard it is with two kids to get anything done, get them to school, etc. YES! It is!! She said I needed to drop them off, go for a coffee, and explore a little.

I think I'll be taking that advice. :-)

The Transition

I've had a lot of comments here, emails, and posts on my Facebook account that all say basically the same thing, "I can't believe you're doing so well in Singapore!"

Trust me, I'm a little surprised myself, and it surely isn't because of me. My God is BIG, faithful, and has been preparing me for this time for many years.

My friends and family and long-time readers of this blog know that I suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of our second child in 2007. It took me 4 months to realize I had PPD, and then it was over a year before I felt like the fog had lifted on my life. Then this spring I started having anxiety attacks (severe nausea) about our upcoming move. That year and a half, from September 2007 to May 2009, was a hard time for all of us, the darkest time in my life, and probably the roughest time in our marriage (because Justin had to pick up a lot of slack). My prayer this past spring was that I would be in a healthy place emotionally when we moved because I knew moving to a foreign country with two toddlers was enough to make a sane person crazy! God faithfully answered that prayer, and I feel better emotionally than I have in probably years. It's such a blessing!

And here are come cool ways God prepared me for this time:

1. I was able to visit Singapore twice - years ago, so I at least had a picture in my head of what this country we were moving to looked like.

2. I lived in Thailand for 6 months during my senior year of college, so I knew what it felt like to live in a foreign country...being away from family, missing familiar foods, etc. I always thought my time there was preparing me for foreign mission work, but it helped me to move across the world with two small children.

3. An amazing family moved here at the same time we did! God gave me a sweet, godly friend to walk this journey with me. And she parented toddlers several years ago, so she's also a great mentor! You're such a blessing, Andrea!

4. Last fall I received an email from a friend that said, "Did you know Camille lives in Singapore?" Camille and I went to the same church during our time at Texas A&M, and even though we didn't know each other well, we had mutual friends. And she has a little boy who is just between my boys in ages, so we were very excited to know someone who already lived here. I'm still amazed that we ended up in this tiny country at the same time! God is so cool!! Camille invited me into her sweet circle of friends, and what cool people they are! It's such a blessing to have friends who are also expats and know what all that entails.

So, while I was just living my life, God knew this huge move was in my future. And for years now He has been preparing me step by step to make this transition as smooth as possible.

The love of my God amazes me daily!

"God's love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.
How exquisite your love, O God!
How eager we are to run under your wings"
~Psalm 36:5-7a, The Message

Things Caleb Says, Part II

"Mom, I don't ever, never want to go to the North Pole." (oooookkaaaay?? apparently he had a bad dream that included the north pole.)




"Mom, Levi just splayed the TV." (He's taken to making up words.)


"What does that mean, Caleb?"


"It won't play, and I can't hear it."



"You're the ticklers and we're the proompers." (Proomp is his new made-up word. It has lots of meanings.)



"I'm going to proomp you." (in this context, it usually means hit.)

Me: Caleb, what do you want for breakfast? A cereal bar? A granola bar?

Caleb: I want something that goes with chopsticks.

For Mimi, Granddad, Poppa, and Grandma

We miss you so much! With love from Caleb and Levi.


If you're having trouble viewing it, go here.

A VIDEO!!!

I'm finally posting a video. The quality is not good and neither is the lighting, but I figure the grandparents won't complain! This phone of mine is good for so many things. :-)

Daddy was late coming home from work, and dinner wasn't going so well. Life with little boys is always interesting. And loud. (Oh, and "proomp" is Caleb's new word. It has lots of meanings. In this context it obviously means "hit." Joy.)



If you can't view it, go here.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

Now that we don't live near an MRT station, the bus is the best/cheapest way for us to get around. This book comes in really handy...(especially now that I know how to read and use it!)
Last weekend we had to go down near Little India to pick something up, so we decided the bus was easier than trying to find a place to park the car. One of the bus #s that comes by our place...

You can search by street name, and it shows all the buses that come to each stop. Ours is at the bottom..."Holland Gems."

We scored and got a double-decker bus. Caleb was super-excited to ride on the top, even though he's giving his angry face here.

Levi looking down on people at Plaza Singapura

Just had to take a picture of this, since some people think that's where we got Levi's name. (Although a Jewish woman at Holland Village the other day said we need to pray and ask God if we're Jewish since both our boys have strong Hebrew names. She was really sweet, and pretty persistent about us being Jewish.) :-)

It's always an adventure getting around the city. I had coffee with a sweet lady yesterday (who's a friend of a friend of ours in Houston), and I picked her up in our car. We drove to Starbucks and had to wait about 10 minutes for a parking spot to open up. It felt like I was in school at A&M again, sitting in my car and waiting for a parking spot to open. Except here, there were only about 20 spots in the lot.

Indian Food

We went to an Indian place tonight...CURRY GARDENn (spelled just like that!), and Caleb was not too happy about the choices for food. There was a pizza place just a couple of stalls down that had chicken nuggets, but we wanted them to try to eat the food, so we didn't mention the chicken nuggets.

LOOK! He ate it. He's super picky, so this was quite a feat. (It may have involved a little bribery.)





And another thing...we found a FREE parking lot next to this place, and a FREE parking lot right in front of Giant (Singapore's Wal-Mart). We pulled right up there, did our shopping, loaded the car and went home. It was almost like we lived in Texas. A great find, indeed!

All Moved In

We moved in last week. It's been a long process to unpack everything and find a place for it. We're so blessed that we were able to bring things from home; it helps a lot. I still haven't washed all the dishes. I wash as many as can dry at one time, and then we eat and use those up...then I have a kitchen FULL of dishes again. :-) It'll get done, eventually, right? Good thing I'm not type-A...it would drive me nuts.

The boys got all their toys back! They haven't seen their toys in two months, so this was like a HUMONGOUS Christmas morning. (By the way, humongous is Caleb's new favorite word!)

Here they are enjoying their "new" toys in their playroom...

This is the new bookshelf I bought them at IKEA. We could open up a children's library out of their playroom. Makes this former English teacher really happy. :-)

I'd like to tell you it doesn't look like this all the time...

They take turns hiding in the toy box their Granddad made for them, which of course means all the toys end up on the floor. What are playrooms for, right?

Today I asked one of the teenagers whose dad works with Justin to watch the boys while I did a bit of grocery shopping and had some time to myself. I walked to the bus stop on the other side of the street (about a 10-min walk...down and under the overpass) and headed down to Holland Village. My first stop was Starbucks. A vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin later and I was on my way. Saw a foot reflexology place that had been recommended, so I stopped in. They had a special for "first timers" that included a 30-minute foot massage and a 30-minute back and shoulder massage for S$38 ($26 US!). I couldn't say yes fast enough. It was wonderful! After that I headed to get a Brita water pitcher (the water here doesn't taste very good, but it's perfectly safe) and then to the grocery store for bread and milk and bananas.

I'd like to write an open letter to the Singapore radio stations. It would go something like this:

Dear Singapore Radio Stations,

As an American citizen, I appreciate good American music. You play a lot of American music from the 70s and 80s, most of it not the best from that time period. I am often puzzled as to why you have chosen those particular songs. Do you know that decades have passed since then and lots of new music has been played? There are thousands of songs, millions maybe, that you could choose from.

Please, I'm begging you to find something new.

Thank you very much.

Monkey Wrench

Caleb came over to me holding his tool box that he had put some of his daddy's tools in.

"Wanna see?" he says.

"Sure."

He opens the box, and I look in.

"Do you know what that one is?" I ask.

"No."

"It's a monkey wrench."

"Is it for real monkeys???"

Quirks

I'm starting to learn all the quirks of living in this new apartment. You know that saying, "you learn something new every day?" Well, when you live in a foreign country, you learn about 10 new things every day. On Wednesday when we had to take a taxi to Ikea, I learned that in Singapore you don't pronounce it "eye-key-uh," you pronounce it "ick-ee-uh." Good to know. The taxi driver and I had a hard time communicating about where I wanted to go. I wanted to scream, "It's the BIG BLUE BUILDING on Tampines Rd." Except you don't pronounce Tampines "tam-peens," like I thought. It's "tam-pin-ess." Good grief. Are we speaking the same language or not? Definitely not.

Here are some things we're learning about our new place:

1. If you go outside the front door and it closes, you're locked out even if the deadbolt isn't locked. There is a button you can push on the door itself to be able to use the door handle from the outside, but as soon as you've locked the door, the button releases and you've got to do it all over again. Luckily we've only been locked out when an adult is on the inside.

2. The doors on the elevator close very quickly. I'm the only one who's been crushed by them yet, but I've put the fear in the boys that they've got to hurry when we're getting out. No dawdling, Levi!

3. There's not an air conditioner in the kitchen. During the morning and early afternoon, it's not too bad if you leave the door open and let some air in from the dining room. But by late afternoon and with a gas stove going, it gets HOT! We're definitely going fan shopping this weekend!!

4. We only have one plug in the laundry area, so only the dryer OR washer can be used at one time. The ladies who turned our apartment over to us said we could just get one of those plug adapters that allows you to plug in two things at once. However, the men at the electronics store said you cannot plug a dryer into one of those plugs because they pull too much electricity and we'd need to get an electrician out here to create a double plug. So, for now it takes all day to wash and dry two loads.

5. I'm going to wash every dish we own by hand today (no dishwasher) because they're all dusty from the packing paper and have been touched by two sets of movers. I went in there earlier to get things organized and realized we have no drain stopper.

6. I bought a coffee pot in Houston before we left that I could use here without an adapter. It's a Black & Decker. When I opened it up a few days ago, I realized that everything printed on the pot is in Spanish. It's a good thing I know a little Spanish and coffee pots aren't too difficult to figure out! I still laugh every time I look at that coffee pot, so it's good in the mornings when I'm not in a very good mood. :-) It tells me where to turn the lid to "servir" and how to "abrir or cerrar." It's a hoot!

7. We have 7 air conditioning units in this apartment. They are sort of like window units in the States because they only cool that space, but they are actually installed into the walls. We've been experimenting all week with which ones to leave on (there are 3 in the main living space) and what temperature is comfortable.

8. There are quite a few kitchen cabinets, for which I am very thankful! My big dinner plates even fit nicely, so that is a plus. The only thing lacking was a pantry space. All my cooking stuff and dishes took up all the cabinets, so I was lacking space to put food. I found two bookshelves at Ikea that were the perfect size to go against the wall in the kitchen and serve as a pantry. And they were only S$29 each. (Thanks Tori, Jakeb, and Andrea for helping put them together! And thanks Anna for keeping the boys occupied!)

It's fun getting to know a new place. I've been able to navigate two taxi drivers here from various locations, so that was a relief!

In this week's episode of "What My Kids Have Broken," we add one laptop. (Before you freak too much, Justin was able to fix it!) Levi decided it was a good idea to put play coins from his cash register into the DVD player of the laptop. Daddy was NOT a happy camper when the computer wouldn't even turn on at all. He took it apart, and was finally able to slide them out with a rounded knife w/o hurting the computer at all.

Let's just hope next week's episode has to be cancelled for lack of material. *fingers crossed*

We Found A Preschool

We looked at two preschools today for the boys. One was a local preschool, which was nice and very structured. It was a 5 days a week program. I just couldn't put Caleb (let alone Levi) in school 5 days a week from 9am-3pm. That's like real school! I'm not ready for that and neither is he.

So, we checked out one of the more affordable international preschools and really liked it. We got a very quick tour and some information to take home, which I was thankful for because I wasn't feeling well (more on that later). Caleb and Levi will be able to attend the same school, so I'm very thankful for that! I wasn't sure how I was going to manage getting them to different schools without a car. I'd lose my mind for sure!

Caleb's tuition is included as part of our "expat package" because he's school age here. For Levi to go we'll be paying about 4 times what we paid in the States for Caleb to go last year and that's still very reasonable by Singapore's international preschool standards!

So, I've had a stomach virus this week. It's been awful. For three days I only managed to choke down 6 saltine crackers, 1/4 piece of toast, 4 bites of Rice Krispies cereal, and 5 grapes. I drank enough 100 Plus (the closest thing to Gatorade here) to keep me just barely hydrated. I was finally feeling hungry this evening and knew my weak stomach could not stand the smell of local food, so we headed to Chili's. We had the skillet queso and it was awesome! I needed a little taste of home for my sick tummy. My stomach shrank quite a bit this week, so I only could eat about 1/4 of the chicken breast I ordered, but now we have leftovers. I lost 6 pounds in 2 days, so that makes my total since we've arrived here at 16 pounds lost. Not the best way to lose weight, but I'll take what I can get!

We drove to Chili's tonight! I cannot tell you the pleasure I had at taking the elevator down to the carpark in the basement of our building, driving to Chili's in the mall (of course it's in a mall!), parking in the basement, and riding the escalator up. Very little walking. No waiting. And NO sweating! It was glorious!! We definitely took our cars for granted in Texas.

My mom sent me a package that arrived today. It included Bounce dryer sheets, decaf family size tea bags, a Bible study workbook I wanted, some CDs for the kids, and a few other things. Everything smells like Bounce! Our whole apartment smells dryer sheet fresh. I'm hoping it didn't soak into the tea bags too much. One thing I don't want is April Fresh tea. :-)


Our first family outing in the car...

Chili's! Yummy!!
Check out these steak prices! They fly everything in from the US...

We get the keys to our place on Saturday and our stuff arrives on Monday, so we're really close to not living out of suitcases!!

Prices in Singapore

I took this picture tonight at Cold Storage because I still can't believe Haagen-Dazs costs this much! S$15.65 for a PINT (US $11.18)! I refuse to pay those prices (until I'm really desperate), so we buy the local store brand for about S$5 for 1.5 Liters. A much better deal. :-)

4th of July Weekend and Things On our To Do List

I'll start with the pictures. These first few are of our new place. It was previously the show flat, so this is not our furniture...

Looking from the dining room into the living room...at the far end are the bedrooms.
Entry "hallway" and bedroom doors...(the lady in the pink skirt is our realtor, Ann)

Jack and Jill bath between the boys rooms...there's a shower behind the doors

Master bedroom (you should see the built-in closets...quite big for here in Singapore! Not walk-in or anything, but a whole wall of closet space w/ a built-in light.)

The pool (office/gym/lounge area is in the two-story building).

Our unit is on the 4th floor and we asked them to install plexiglass on the iron railing on the balcony so our children cannot climb up on it! There are locks to the balcony with keys, so the keys will be hidden from the kids for sure! My mom was so concerned about us living in a high-rise building w/ our boys who like to climb! (So was I!)

I'll post new pictures once our stuff arrives and we're unpacked.

Here's Caleb upset because there were too many kids playing on the bouncy house at the 4th of July celebration.

There were people everywhere at the American Association's 4th Celebration...can you spot Justin in the background? This picture doesn't do justice to the thousands of people at this place!

This is as far as Caleb would get in to the bouncy castle. The other kids were running into him and knocking him down, and he kept getting upset. Plus it was really hot and humid!

We've had a great holiday weekend...although the 4th of July is obviously not a holiday here in Singapore!

I started the weekend by getting a pedicure with my friend, Andrea. It was much-needed (the pedicure and the girl time!). It was a tiny place with only two chairs, so it was just the two of us. I mostly understood what the girl was saying to me, and definitely understood when she asked if I wanted to add the scrub as part of my pedicure and that it would be an extra $20. Ummm...no thanks!

We had a BBQ Saturday at lunch with the other expats from Justin's company here at our temporary housing (where almost everyone is still living). We ordered meat from a butcher that Andrea had heard of, and it was SO yummy! Even with very few seasonings on hand (salt and pepper), the steaks/hamburgers/kebas was really good. We'll definitely be ordering from that butcher again, and they deliver, which is ALWAYS a plus! Andrea also got the number for the "Chicken Man," who delivers chicken breasts to your house at a really great price. Once he's delivered to you, you can just text him your future orders (or SMS him as it's called here). Cool, huh? I'm definitely finding all the places who will deliver instead of dragging the kids everywhere.

Saturday night we headed to the Terror Club (named after a British ship, the HMS Terror) for the American Association's 4th of July celebration. They had bouncy houses/castles/slides, face painting, hot dogs, balloon animals, etc. It was SO hot and there were SO many people that we didn't enjoy ourselves very much. Caleb wouldn't even lay on the bouncy things because there were tons of kids on each one...they were regulating how many kids were on there. We also waited in line for an hour and 15 minutes for a nasty hot dog. Then a balloon popped and Caleb thought it was fireworks and he started freaking out! We hadn't told him there would be fireworks because we were trying to test the waters and see if his fear of fireworks was still there. Apparently, it is. So, we promptly left before the fireworks began.

This morning we tried church #4. :-) It was great! The pastor and his wife are from South Africa, so we loved listening to their accent. It was a wonderful church with very authentic worship and great Bible teaching. We haven't made a decision yet on which church we'll attend on a regular basis, but this one seems to be a great fit for our whole family.

The next thing on our list is preschools for Caleb. It's quite an undertaking to find a preschool that is close to where we'll be living, or at least close to a bus stop w/ a short walk after the bus. Sometime this next week Justin and I will be visiting preschools to find the best fit for Caleb. There is a Christian preschool close to where we'll be living, so I hope that one will work (I'm afraid they have a long waiting list, though). Levi is too young to attend there, but I hope to find a good place for him to attend a couple of days a week as well. I love that they will be going to school with children from other countries!

We now have a car, so I'm hoping that will help in getting to some places and with trips to the grocery store! Justin will have it at work most of the time, but if I need it he can ride with someone else.

And next week we move to our permanent place! We'll get the keys on Saturday and then the movers will bring our sea shipment and unload it on Monday. We are SO excited to not live out of suitcases anymore! And we're excited to sleep in our OWN beds!!! Asian beds are really hard.

That's it for now!

Were You Wondering, Too?

A friend emailed me recently and said something to the effect of, "Your blog sounds like you're doing great, but how are you really doing?" (Thanks, Lisa!) I emailed back and told her that was definitely an email from someone who's lived on the other side of the world before, and someone who also currently lives away from her family. :-)

So, in case you were wondering how I'm really doing, too, here it is.

I'm actually doing well. :-) I do have a tendency to protect my family from any sadness and hard times I might feel by not going into tremendous detail, especially when they are so far away and can't do a thing about it!

I do have moments/sections of days that are really sad. I miss my family so much. I miss my friends so much. I miss loading my kids in the car, driving to Target, strapping them both in a basket, and walking around getting the things I need. And knowing where those things are in the store.

I'm tired of carrying Levi on my back everywhere we go (unless Justin's with us, then he does it). I'm tired of going to the grocery store and only being able to get as much as I can carry with a child on my back and chasing after a straying 3-year-old.

We're finally moving out of that stage where it feels like a vacation. We've been here for 3 1/2 weeks now, so the reality of it all is starting to sink in.

But, overall, I'm really glad to be here. Honestly. I'm in a very healthy place emotionally and mentally, which is what I prayed for so often last Spring when I wasn't. And what so many people have been praying for me!

Do I wish I could call my mom 4 times a day and ask her any number of questions and tell her random things the boys are doing? Yes! Do I wish I was going to be there when my sister goes into labor sometime in the next few weeks? Of course! Do I wish I could go get Sonic Jr. Candy Sundaes and go hang out with my friend, Kim, and her sweet kids? You betcha!

But that's where we're at right now, and I'm okay with that. God has really blessed us and given us friends here already that care about us and are going through this experience at the same time. We definitely feel protected and loved. And we are!

So, thanks for all your concern, spoken or not. I'm sure things will get harder in some ways and easier in others. There will still be sad times about things I'm missing back home, and there will be special things we'll experience here that never would have been possible there.

And did you know that you can fly from Houston to Singapore for under $700. It's true. :-)

Come see us! We have a guest room that we'd love to fill anytime!