Doing something crazy and fun makes for fond memories with our children. This evening, we have our Cozy Closet Night, where J, mommy and daddy all sleep in the closet together.
How exciting and thrilled J was to get the chance to sleep in the closet! Years down the road, he is going to remember his childhood with fond memories about the crazy time together.
Throw in some fake candle lights (for fire safety) and you have made yourselves a cozy and snug den. I read J a Bible story, so that he associates fun with learning about God too. After all, God is the main creator of fun.
Thanks to Daddy for being such a good spot :-)
Most kids would like this. It is simple, does not cost a penny, but provides tons of fun! Try it :-)
Updates 29 December 2016: Here is how we prepared it:
It was a very nice autumn weather Saturday with sunshine. We decided to go to the high-rope park at Frederiksberg after Chinese class. J tried the high-rope (klatring) for the first time today and he enjoyed it very much.
There are 6 tracks with different degree of difficulty:
Yellow track for small children from 3 years old
Green track for bigger children (min. height 110 cm)
Blue track (min. 120 cm)
Red track (min. 140 cm)
Black track for those who like to have an extra challenge.
This park at Carlsberg is unfortunately closed as Carlsberg has chopped down all the trees to make room for building an international school. But the company has two other high-rope parks in other location. Check it from their website above.
Here is a listing of most high-rope parks in Denmark:
I used to make a laugh at the Japanese women spending so much time to make cute bento, which is eaten within minutes and gone. Now I have to eat my words.
It is getting mundane again to have to make lunch boxes for J. I need to challenge myself to do it with passion. So I got inspired to try making some fun and cute bento lunchbox for J. It will be a wonderful way to make memories with J.
The trick is to get some ideas to spice the lunch box up, and I tell myself not to don't get hang up about making the prettiest and most perfect bento. Otherwise, it will take away the joy. Here are some cute ideas I have gathered:
One man spent his life trying to find out if there is a God. His name is Anthoy Flew, a Oxford professor and one of the world's most renowned atheist in modern times. His achievements are astonishing. He wrote books faster than others who wrote essays.
Another man (a woman) knew God and spent her life serving God. Her name is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, commonly known as Mother Teresa. Her achievements are equally great. She is the CEO of approx. 140 charity organizations.
I have respect for both lives, but it made me ponder... there are largely three main groups of people in this world: some people do not search for God in their whole life at all, some people spent their whole life searching for God (like Anthony Flew) and some people (like Mother Teresa) having settled the question of God's existence by faith early in life, spent the large part of their life walking with God, and what they achieved and the insight they gained in God are amazing.
If I have a choice, by the grace of God, I would like to be in the third group. I would like to have settled on the existence of God early in life so that I can put my energy into living my faith purposefully and fruitfully.
Reading this two books made me realize more that some things are cannot be understood with our the mind alone, and it may delude even the best brains in the world. But to be able to understand with your heart and make your life count is a privilege for the few.
May I have the faith to find, know and understand God with both my mind and my heart, that I may use my energy to love and serve Him.
The Bible says:
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3
1. 3 eggs (approx. 250ml)
2. 500ml water
3. 12 pieces of bite size chicken breast
4. 4 shitake mushrooms cut into 4 slices each
5. 4 shrimps
6. 12 pieces of carrots diced (Optional)
7. A handful of green peas (Optional)
8. 12 goji berries (optional)
9. A handful chopped spring onions for garnish
10. 3 tsp soya sauce
11. 1 tsp mirin or rice wine (optional)
12. 1/2 stp corn starch
13. Salt & pepper
Directions:
1. Marinade chicken with 1 tsp soya sauce, corn starch and some pepper.
2. Bring to boil a pot of water with approx. 1 inch of water for steaming egg.
3. Beat eggs, add 2 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp mirin, 1 tsp salt and water.
4. In 4 teacups, add 3 carrots, 3 pieces of chicken, 1 shrimp, 4 slices of shitake mushroom, a handful of green peas and 3 goji berries into each teacup.
5. Cover each teacup with aluminum foil.
6. Place on a stand in the pot of boiling water, cover and steam for 15 minutes on medium-low heat (no. 4.5 on my stove).
7. You can check done-ness by sticking a tooth-pick into it. If it does not stick to the tooth-pick, it is done.
You can add any filings you wish, or leave it out altogether. It will still taste good. To achieve the smooth texture, it is important that you do not add too little or too much water, and do not steam it over high steam. The lower the heat, the smoother the texture. You can use any kind of mushrooms. I like to use shimeji mushrooms, but I ran out of it today, so I used dried shitake mushrooms instead.
I am trying to find good time table songs to prepare J for the memorization of time tables, but it hasn't been easy to find. Many of the songs are rather cheesy, but I have made a list of the better ones, nevertheless:
In Deuteronomy 6:5-8, we are also called to hide God's Word in our child's heart:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads."
I have been wanting to memorize Bible verses with J, but it hasn't been so successful. He didn't find it so fun. Of course, I have forgotten - one of the best ways for children (and adults) to hide the Word of God in our hearts is the sing it. I believed the LORD reminded me of this method last evening.
So now I am very excited to compile a list of Bible memory verse songs to sing with J and will come back to update this post, whenever I found a new song:
We started with learning the Deuteronomy 6:5 song on 17 September. I sang it together with J, after reading the verse from the children's Bible. I chose this as the first song, as "Love the LORD your God" is the first commandment from God to put God first. J really enjoyed it, and we sang it again and again for a few times. It was fun, and there was no pressure to memorize it. Hopefully as we sing it more, it will stick in our heads and we would have memorized it :-) I started playing these songs in the car on the journey to the kindergarten on 18 September 2014.
Update 21 September 2014
Today Sunday is our rest day. I told J that we will rest and worship God. We sang this song together, and J was able to sing the whole song on his own. He really like all these songs. I thank God for it. May God continue to work in J's heart.
