Baby Jayne will start Nursery II only next year, so for the rest of this year, she still spends all her time at home. Yesterday after we sent Joey to her school bus, we brought Jayne out for lunch. It's a joy to spend time with this little baby of mine because she's all sweet and lovely. Without her partner-in-crime (someone whose name starts with J as well), Jayne is very obedient, so bringing her out is no hassle at all. And did I mention she is absolutely my favourite second kid? Definitely biased.

It was a short trip out to a nearby mall for a quick lunch, but we had a great time nevertheless. :)

When Baby Jayne starts school next year, Monday will truly be a rest day for me when both kids are in school. But I keep reminding myself to treasure the time that I can have with the little one now. When she starts schooling, and life becomes more complicated, things will not be the same as now. For now, she is just my baby and happy to be mine alone. Kids grow up so fast, it's scary. Yet, I can't wait for them to grow up. You know what I mean?

This smile always cheers me up and cheers me on. No wonder she's my favourite!

Not as if we don't have enough fries to go around and these two fellows got to share. =.= But agree, very sweet indeed (Totally staged).

So often, I feel thankful that through blogging, I've learnt to appreciate my kids a lot more. While they drive me crazy often with their unceasing noise levels, when I sit down at the end of the day and go through the photographs I've taken for the day, I can only remember how much laughter they've brought me that day. Mummy-amnesia is for real, and I suspect, a mechanism that God has so wisely put into mummies to get us through each day with a sound mind. =P

Last weekend has been a really busy one for me because of the Emerge Conference 2012, but it was such great fun!

The Emerge Conference is the annual youth conference in my church where young people below 25 years old are given a platform to showcase their talents and to dream big for their lives. The youths in the church volunteered and participated in community projects, took part in various competitions and contests, and also put up all types of performances and led praise and worship during the services etc. I was there for all three days of the Conference as I was overseeing the Games Fiesta happening in between services. At the Fiesta, members from various zones set up 16 fixed and 3 mobile game stalls, and members are encouraged to play the games at as many stalls as possible to win prizes such as Emerge badges and T-shirts etc.

I am still recuperating from over exhaustion, so it's going to be a short post today on some photographs I snapped at the Games Fiesta. I am immensely proud of the young people in my church - their love for God and love for the people around them is really touching and encouraging. I am thankful that my kids are going to grow up in such a wonderful church and grow up to be young people who have a passion for God as well. =)

The 3-day Emerge Conference also ended on a high note with a video recording of a song written by 23 youths in the church, in support of the Church and the leadership. It was such a heart-warming video. =)

Did you know that kiwifruits have 5 times the nutrition of apples and more essential nutrients than many other popular fruits?? I am not a fan of sour things, so I tend to avoid all fruits that has a tangy taste to it. But when I was introduced to golden kiwis, I loved that it was sweeter than normal kiwis and had just as much nutrients in it. I feed my kids kiwis too and they love it too.

Sometime this week, I got home and found a bag of goodies delivered to me by Zespri. The girls and I had fun ripping the bag apart and pouring out all the contents inside!

There's a metallic green bag..

A book of recipes on Zespri kiwifruits!

Saw interesting recipes inside that I wanna try out soon!!

A colourful apron & glove set!

Bento boxes for storing kiwis! If you bring kiwis out in these containers, you can be assured they won't be squashed in your bag. Coolness! =D

And many other small items that we found inside the goody bag. All Zespri kiwi- related!

But my absolute favourite has got to be this thumb drive - It's furry and really resembles the skin of a kiwi fruit! Cuteness magnified. I can totally visualize it sticking in the USB port in my laptop.

Of course, there were boxes of real kiwi fruits in the goody bags, much to the delight of my girls. They immediately made me cut it for them.

I cut the kiwifruits into halves and they used the plastic spoons given by Zespri to scoop up the flesh. They enjoyed every single bit of it and kept asking me for more! This is a snack I feel safe and happy feeding my kids, for sure! =D

I'll be working with Zespri on a fun project and in the coming weeks, I hope to be able to share with you some healthy recipes using kiwifruits! The weekend's near, so have a really good one with your loved ones! =D

I had this conversation with my colleagues over lunch yesterday about what determines the number of kids we want to have. Is it a personal preference, our financial status or how much time we have to spend with those kids?

In recent news, NTUC has proposed that the maternity leave for mothers be increased to six months, to encourage birth rate. That is of course good news for many people who plan to have more kids, but really, will a six-month maternity leave really make that BIG a difference?

The truth, at least for me personally, is that even though I may be able to spend the first six months of my baby's life bonding with him/her, it does not guarantee that I am able to provide a lifestyle of an acceptable quality for the child thereafter. I admit that baby bonuses help in some ways, but what is that sum of money in the whole spectrum of things? We are talking about a financial commitment for everything a child needs until he can earn his own keeps, and that is quite an astronomical figure in case you still do not know.

What about couples who do not have the help of grandparents to take care of their kids when they are young? If both parents want to continue working to maintain their household incomes, the only way is to either place the kids in an infant care, childcare/student care or to employ a maid and leave the kids with the maid at home the whole day. I don't know which is the lesser evil. By the way, infant care is extremely expensive. If you have twins or triplets, all the best.

Raising a kid in Singapore is an expensive affair, everyone knows that. And that is the main reason why I am keeping to two. Yes I admit I complain now and then about how high up the walls my kids drive me to, and how my sanity is often compromised, but the truth is I do love kids and watching my own ones grow up day-by-day has been one of my greatest joys in life. Still, if I want to maintain a certain quality of lifestyle that I would feel happy with, two kids is definitely enough for me at this moment.

Money aside, I really think it's quite a stretch to have to divide time equally among the kids. As a full-time working mum, I already have so little time with my two kids, and I still need to squeeze in couple-time and me-time amidst everything. With a limited amount of time I have everyday, the amount of time I can give to an individual child is also limited. The more kids I have, the more thinly my time is divided. Of course, that is only me. If you are great with planning your time and can devote quality time to your kids, by all means have more! =)

By the way, I really love Singapore as a country and there is no where else I want to live in. But this part about Singapore drives me nut sometimes. Isn't it rather ridiculous that registration for Primary School education (which is compulsory by the way) is done in phases, and those who put in hours to 'serve' the schools get priority entry into the school for their kids??? But of course, rationally speaking, the system had become like that because of kiasu parents who want to place their kids in the best school possible, to give their kids a good head start in life. When some schools are more popular than others, some kind of system has to be developed to decide who gets to go in. This might never change in a thousand years. But seriously, it's so not healthy! Why must parents be subjected to such stress??!

So what are some of your considerations when deciding how many kids to have? Is it the more the merrier for you? Or is it keep it few and maintain the quality? :)

Linking up with www.sanses.com!

While no kid can resist a dry playground, water playgrounds are a different league altogether.

Whenever I run out of ideas on where to bring my kids to, and I desperately want to get out of the house for sanity sake, I bring my kids to the rooftop playground at Sembawang Shopping Centre. That place is perfect for me because it's relatively near to my place, and it has both dry and wet playgrounds in one place. Plus, parents can feast and rest at one of the two restaurants on the rooftop, while keeping a close watch on the kids. I absolutely love being there especially on a Monday when it's super quiet and peaceful.

We were there at around 5pm, but the sun was still shining brightly. That's why water playgrounds are way more awesome than dry ones. They are totally made for the tropical climate we have on our side of the world. The best way to cool down is to get soaked at the water playground!

On a Monday 5pm, the whole playground was deserted. That was just great because the girls ran and chased after each other in the whole playground. I didn't even need to feel embarrassed when they screamed and shouted too loudly because there was on others around! =P

I didn't let them wear their swimsuits because Joey's was getting too tight for comfort. The girls had fun any way! Look how soaked this little Jayne was. =P

It used to be that both girls dared not run through this water tunnel. Now, they loved it.

Yep, definitely a sign of her love for the water tunnel.

The dry playground usually becomes not-so-dry after a while when all the kids, wet from the water playground, come over to play. I wonder if we should have more social consciousness to stop our kids from jumping here and there and wetting the dry playground for those kids who were not dressed for water play. But really, on a crowded day where there are many kids, it's virtually impossible to ensure that.

The whole time my girls were going crazy at the water playground, I was just lounging at the Hong Kong cafe, sipping on my longan tea and reading my novel. It was too therapeutic and satisfying - Just the way I love my Monday rest day to be.

After all the play, she was happy to have a piping hot bowl of wanton noodles. I can imagine how awesome that must be.  =)