Saturday 31 October 2020

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Love is made up of the small things in life


Dumb me... bought a roll of baking paper that is not cut yet 😅

I want to cry as this will take x hours off from my precious stay-at-home-mom’s time which I have traded my job for 😭

Daddy FECS to the rescue and cut them for me... ❤️Must open my eyes big big next time I am in the supermarket 😄 

Love is made of the small things in life... ❤️
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Autumn


Autumn is here... plucking leaves is an activity that thrills the small kids...

Oh Lord, in life sometimes please make us to be like the little kids :-)




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Diary of a Stay-At-Home-Mom

They say your company would not thank you. Only your family will. It’s true and not true.

After 2 months of leaving, my centre asked me if I could attend a meeting yesterday and gave me a surprise present. And I am invited home for dinner with the team when COVID is over. It touched my heart that I am still treated as part of the team. It brought me great comfort as a stay at home mom.

But I was so taken by surprise and didn’t say much. The introvert in me got in the way 😢

If I have a chance to do it again in the meeting, I just want to let my colleagues and bosses know that I am very touched and thankful. I am just not very good with words verbally.

In life, one can’t have it all. I have chosen what I have chosen, given the limited time we all have to prioritize. But I will remember these good memories, which is a part of my life, for the rest of my life.

Wednesday 28 October 2020

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Alternative Ideas for Halloween


Halloween is round the corner. Call me rigid, but I have bravely resisted celebrating Halloween all these years, thereby going against contemporary cultural norms and holding on to our principle that we don’t want to glorify ghosts and devils, no matter how innocent, fun and cute they are made to look. 

But it’s an excellent opportunity to teach Baby FECS (4Y5M11D) the beauty of the human body parts and skeleton. Thanks to a friend for this idea😃

Baby FECS then lie on it to see if she fits the size of the skeleton. We also tried to place the word for the respective body parts on the skeleton drawing.













Tuesday 27 October 2020

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Reflection on What Love Is

 


Love bears all things. Love endures all things. Love never fails.

This is the love we have and will have for our children, even when they are rude, even when they are unreasonable, or even if they desert us in our old age, we will never disown our own kids.

Love bears all things. Love endures all things. Love never fails.

This is the love we should learn to give to our spouse.

Our greatest need isn’t to be loved. Our greatest need is to learn how to love.

Learning to love our children teaches us how to love our spouse, even when we are at times not very lovable, even when the going gets tough in the daily grit of life.

Thank you Daddy FECS, for loving me when I am as unlovable as our children do with us, sometimes, often.

This is how I want to love you back in return too, never taking each other for granted.
Life is short. Teach us to number our days, oh Lord.

Love bears all things. Love endures all things. Love never fails.

Till death do us part.

This is true love ❤️

P.S. This imperfect heart shape is drawn with much care and attention by Baby FECS at the preschool as she learns how to hold the pencil to draw. It’s out-of-shape, beaten perhaps, but she is very proud of it. It signifies the precious love between two very imperfect people that only God can make possible. It endures through the storms of what life may throw at us.
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Diary of a Stay-At-Home-Mom


Before I left for Denmark some 20 years ago, a kind colleague gave me a piece of advice, “E, remember, no matter what, financial independence is the most important for a woman.” Wise words. I held close to my heart.

I remember her words all these years. I worked hard at being financially independent until I could go on no longer this year when I made the switch from being a working mom to a stay-at-home-mom.

I am keenly aware that by making this choice, I am joining the ranks of the other stay-at-home-moms at making ourselves very vulnerable.

Being a stay-at-home-mom is an unpaid career. In all other jobs (if you are not laid off), at the end of your useful years, you get your pension. At the end of the useful years of a stay-at-home-mom, you have nothing (monetarily). There is no pension to fall back on.

It takes trust in God to choose this role.
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Diary of a Stay-At-Home-Mom

 


Motherhood’s career lifespan is as short as the career lifespan of a professional footballer.

A friend said to me, “E, Motherhood is a short-term career of at most 20 years, what are you going to do with the rest of your time, when your children grow up? What are you going to do when you are an empty-nester”

I have thought hard and fast at this before I made the switch to being a stay-at-home-mom. 
I look around me… there are so many needs in our community and our world

My nieces and nephews… they can use my time
 
The children from dysfunctional families… longing for their parents to be there in their lives…

The children from poor families… wishing for their parents to have a day of rest to bring them out, but that day rarely comes…

The children from divorced families… longing for their parents’ undivided attention…

The children from the orphanages… yearning to know a mother’s love…

The grand-children from our own children eventually 😊

Motherhood seen from that perspective is a long long career, and not an easy one. But the training I get from my own children and home does help, I hope.

But motherhood is an unpaid career. It will run out when the money runs out to be a stay-at-home-mom 😊

And the question is how many years I can devote to being a stay-at-home-mom before the fulfillment of the corporate world lures me back. 

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Diary of a Stay-At-Home-Mom


”If it is worth doing, it’s worth doing it well.” Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller

This is the motto that Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller adhered to. These words left a deep impression in my mind and in the mind of Joshua, as we listened to the bioautography of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller on CD during our car trip to Jutland. Joshua repeated the sentence throughout the whole journey, making Daddy FECS feeling ever so proud to be a Dane 😊

I have adhered to the same motto in my life all my career. I have always given my very best, from starting off as a crew at KFC at the age of 14 to working at a Danish MNC upon graduation from the university to quitting my job at the UN this year. (Man, my employers don’t know what they are missing 😊)

This is the same motto I hope our children will hold on to in their lives.

Motherhood is a high calling. If it is worth doing, it’s worth putting in my full-time effort. It is worth devoting my whole life to. 

As I made the career switch, first from being a young ambitious career woman to a working mom to a stay-at-home-mom, my ambition level has not gone down. I am going to give it my best at being the best mom that I can be. 
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Encouragement for Your Marriage: Your husband is far from perfect, right? So are you!

 

   Your husband is far from perfect, right? So are you! A sinner married to a sinner.


This is all a recipe for differences, disagreements. It's amazing how even those little things can escalate. Every marriage has to major in grace.

There is no human being who can love us with perfect love.


References:

https://www.reviveourhearts.com/podcast/revive-our-hearts/how-two-imperfect-people-resolve-conflict/

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Encouragement for Your Marriage: 80% is a good number to thank the Lord for...

 

  80% is a good number to thank the Lord for. You can spend the rest of your life picking away at the other 20%, and you're not going to reduce it by very much.

Think of your husband as a white shirt with a spot on it. A lot of women need to get their eyes off the spot and onto the white part of their husband. 

References:

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Encouragement for Your Marriage: Marriage is two imperfect people coming together...

  

Marriage is two imperfect people coming together, so every marriage has to major in grace.


References:

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Encouragement for Your Marriage: Whomever you marry, he's a sinner.

 

Whomever you marry, he's a sinner. There isn't anything else to marry.


"If a woman gets married she is going to marry a sinful person, a plain, old, human being. You've got to remember, whomever you marry, he's a sinner. There isn't anything else to marry." - Elizabeth Elliot

References:


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Encouragement for Your Marriage: Race to the Cross


Race to the Cross. See who can get there first. 


In our daily lives, sometimes we teach our children, sometimes our children teach us.

It's human nature to want to win.

I often say to our children, "Little FECS, say sorry to your little sister and forgive her. Baby FECS, say sorry to your big brother and forgive him. Let's make a competition. Let's see who can be the first one to say sorry. The first person who says sorry wins."

The other day, Daddy FECS and I had a disagreement over some matter. While I was putting Baby FECS to bed, she said to me (in Mandarin), "Mommy forgives Daddy. Daddy forgives Mommy. Let's make a competition. The one who says I am sorry first wins." 😂

Dear Lord, may You help us to challenge each other to race to the Cross, and see who can get there first. May we win at having a heart of humility. That we may walk our talk, and talk our walk at home.

The Bible says: 
"Outdo one another in showing honor." - Romans 12:10


Chinese Translation:
在日常生活中,有时候是大人教小孩,有时候是小孩教大人。

人的本性就是想赢。

我经常跟大儿子和小女儿说哥哥要原谅妹妹,妹妹要原谅哥哥。你们比赛一下,看谁先说:“对不起,请你原谅我”,谁就赢了。

几天前我和先生对某事的看法有点意见不齐。临睡前小女儿对我说:”妈妈要原谅爸爸,爸爸要原谅妈妈。你们比赛一下,看谁先说对不起,请你原谅我,谁就赢了。”😂

主,请你给我们家每一个成员赢在有一个谦卑的心。

References:

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Encouragement For Your Marriage: Real love is loving your spouse...

 

 Real love is loving your spouse, even when he/she is unlovable.


The children story "Pumpkin Soup" by Helen Cooper illustrates very beautifully what real love is:


Real love is what we can learn from the squirrel and the cat in the story.

Here is the story in Chinese:

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Encouragement For Your Marriage: Ask yourself, "How can I love my spouse today, like he/she has never been loved before and never will be loved?"


 Ask yourself, "How can I love my spouse today, like he/she has never been loved before and never will be loved?"


If our greatest need isn't to be loved, but to learn how to love, what should my goals be?

Being a goal-oriented person, I am prone to set daily goals.

The world teaches us that our well-being is the number one goal and that should trump everything else. 

The most natural thing that comes to us each morning is to wake up asking ourselves, "Am I happier today than I was yesterday? What is going to make me happy today?"

But instead, I should ask myself, "How can I love my spouse today, like he has never been loved before and never will be loved?"

For me, this means that I shouldn't resent it if Daddy FECS comes home late for dinner due to work commitment, even though I absolutely dislike it as it means disruption for the kids' routine.

I know he loves to have dinner with the kids and the kids love to have dinner with him. Thus, it is something I am still working towards improving it. 

Do I succeed every time? 

No.

There is always a tomorrow to try again and... to work on my attitude :-) How to still remain cheerful with the Lord's strength :-)

And no, I have not mastered it yet. And so many times I have failed time and again. Thus, it is not surprising how much opportunities God puts in our days to give me a chance to practice in this area ;-) The opportunities are new every morning. Practice makes perfect, right :-)

It's not easy, but it means to love our spouse in action and in a practical way that makes him/her feel loved.

References:


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Encouragement For Your Marriage: Our greatest need isn't to be loved


 Our greatest need isn't to be loved. It is to learn how to love.


P.S. I am starting a series of words of encouragement to build a strong and healthy marriage, starting from today :-)


References:

Sunday 18 October 2020

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Homemade Brown Rice Noodles Made with Philips VIVA Pasta maker

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1. 125g brown rice whole flour
2. 75g potato starch or corn starch
4. 100 ml boiling water
5. 1g salt (optional)

Directions:

Making noodles:

1. Mix rice flour, potato starch and salt together and add them into the compartment of the pasta maker and close the lid.
2. Turn on Philips pasta maker, select program 1 and press start.
3. Slowly add in 100 ml of boiling water through the opening on the lid. The machine will mix and knead the dough for 3 minutes and start to extrude noodles thereafter.
4. Cut noodles to preferred length.
5. The whole process takes 18 minutes. Make an extra extrusion session for the leftover dough in the machine, if required.

Cooking noodles:

7. In the meantime while the rice noodles are extruding, boil a pot of water.
8. When the water boils, add the rice noodles, gently stir and cook until the water boils again and the noodles float to the top of the water surface.
9. Drain the noodles immediately and rinse it with cold water. 
10. Serve with some sesame oil, soy sauce, meat and vegetables or add into chicken soup and enjoy.

Additional Information:

It is no need to use xanthan gum as a binder. The potato starch helps bind the rice flour and also makes the rice noodles chewier and tastier. If you can live with slightly less chewy rice noodles, you can reduce the potato starch to 60g and brown rice flour 140 g instead. I find this ratio of chewiness is still good for me.

Don't worry if your rice noodles come out from the machine brittle, once cooked and rinsed immediately with cold water, it will be very firm. When boiling your rice noodles, to prevent the strains from breaking, be very gentle while stirring it. 

These rice noodles taste best consumed immediately after making. It doesn't taste so good the day after, even if you place them in the fridge.

P.S. If it's only me eating it, 50g potato starch and 150 g brown rice flour is also good enough for me.

Brown rice noodles is a little heavier than rice noodles, although it is healthier. If you prefer a lighter taste, use rice flour instead. It will of course contains less fiber.

References:


 Organic whole grain brown rice flour















 Freshly made brown rice noodles






When the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook it for around 2 minutes until the water boils again and the noodles float on top of the water surface. Do not overcook it. 

Drain and rinse with cold water.

Drain again.

Now it's done :-) Season with your desired sauce or dressing :-)

This is made of another shape :-)

You can eat the brown rice noodles on its own with some sesame oil and soy sauce as dressing and sprinkled with some spring onions.

This is the portion for Baby FECS.

I made Daddy FECS the brown rice noodles as an appetizer together with his Danish rye-bread lunch.


Little FECS likes it with dumplings

I added prawns to my brown rice noodles :-)

I paired it with some soup on the side for Little FECS. In Singapore, this is called dry noodles with soup on the side.


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