“Ask Jesus, he knows”

Ammachi's retells...

Noticing that Nixon’s water bottle was not on the table, taatha asked Nixon where it was. “Did you forget to bring it home from school?” taatha asked him.

“I brought it back.” Nizon claimed.

“Then why is it not where it’s supposed to be?”

“I am telling you the truth. I brought it back.. you can ask Jesus. I AM telling the truth.” Nixon claimed.

Apparently, he just forgot to take the bottle out of his bag and place it on the table...

Another incident of the Sunday’s teachings are setting in :)

“I am the truth”

Ammachi retells...

As usual, taatha fetched me from office after the boys finished their swimming lessons. Since it was looking like it was going to rain, we headed straight back home instead of the usual routine of having tea & snack at the shop. The boys claimed that they were hungry (they should be.. since they just came after their swimming lessons). I told them that I would prepare noodles with their favourite dim sum and fish balls instead.

As we were getting off the car, I asked Nixon to get the bag containing their wet clothes. He refused, and took umbrella instead. When I got down, I noticed that the pointed end of the umbrella was bent. I blamed Nixon for it and told him that he will have to get me a new one.

“I am not bluffing. The umbrella was like that.” Nixon claimed.

All of us (taatha , Thytus and me) refuted his claims and continued to say, “No, you’re a BLUFFER!”

“I am not bluffing. I AM THE TRUTH” he exclaimed.

“I AM THE TRUTH” he repeated.

We can see that the Sunday’s teachings are setting in :)

Note : the umbrella was an old one.. and would have given way with the slightest knock.

One trip, three visits

After attending a wedding in Bayan Lepas, Penang, we brought the boys to visit the Snake Temple which was right next to temple where the wedding was held. After the boys had their ice cream and we have had our coconut drink, we headed to St. Anne’s church in Bukit Mertajam.

After praying, apps, thambhi, appa, me and the boys climbed the St. Anne’s Hill. Amma decided to stay down since it would be a difficult walk up. Hmm, she was right to do so. As much as I wanted to walk up, I also found it difficult to walk myself up! My legs were all wobbly for some time when we got down.

Since learning about Jesus in Sunday school, the boys were excited to see the statue of Jesus.

The one day trip definitely made us tired. But we were too excited about amma's SUPRISE birthday party we were organising the next day to feel tired!

We are relieved

Last night around 10.20 p.m., appa called to tell me that Rina (our Miniature Pincher) had run out of the house, and it had been a few minutes before he realised that it was missing..

He frantically searched for Rina.. but couldn't find her anywhere. Amma and SIL who had gone to church joined in the search later with thambhi.

We even thought that someone could have taken it.. as the dog can be sold at good price.

I could not sleep thinking of Rina.. of how dear it is to appa and amma. All I could do is pray to St. Anthony for Reena to be found.

This morning, amma spoke to me.. saying that someone might have taken Rina.. They even went out early in the morning to continue searching for Reena. Then she said, "We will have to just pray."

Appa had prepared posters with a picture of Reena which he, thambhi and SIL circulated in the housing area during his lunch time today. Just half hour after they had distributed the posters, appa gets a phone call.. that this person found Reena last night. Apparently, he was from another neighbourhood and had come there for his dinner (about 200m from our house). He came back this afternoon to see if anyone had put up any posters of a missing dog! How sweet...

The news was such a relieve to all of us.

When I spoke to amma, she shared with me that, she too, had prayed to St. Anthony. Both of us just couldn't deny how much the prayer had helped! Praise the Lord!

Blessed trip

I only knew I was 2 months pregnant with lil’ President after I had confirmed myself for the 2 ½ weeks business trip to Geneva, Switzerland and Rome, Italy in 2004.

I felt healthy enough to travel. All I had to do is stock-up my luggage with more food than clothes. I had a really heavy luggage! ;)

When I arrived in Rome, I was determined to visit the Vatican City. Accompanied by my colleague, we went to the Vatican City on a wet Sunday morning. As we were arriving at the entrance of the Vatican City, there was a band performance.

After that, we headed to the St. Peter’s Square where thousands of people were gathered. Aaah, just in time, I thought. We joined them in waiting for the Pope who will make an appearance from his room for short period and bless the people there after a short prayer.

After waiting for about 15 minutes, the Pope appeared. During this time, it started raining.. but no one budged. Only after he said a prayer in French (I think) and blessed us. After that, we joined the long queue to get in the church. We had to go through the thorough check on our belongings and walk though the metal detector before we were allowed to get in.

. Band playing on the streets outside the Vatican . The Pope at his widow . Watching the Pope's window from afar . Inside the church . The dome . The Swiss guard's costume designed by Michealangelo hidden under the raincoat . The St. Peters Basilica . The chuch bell .

Inside the church, I was in awe. While I was touring the church, I noticed that there was a mass going on, and it was time for Holy Communion. Even though I was not there for the whole mass, I walked up to receive the communion.. and prayed.

I remember amma saying that she didn’t receive communion when she visited the Vatican City as there was no mass going on at that time as it was not a Sunday. Such a pity..

I remember amma asking to look out for the Swiss guards outside the church, who are dressed in the costumes designed by Michealangelo. Unfortunately, it was raining, and they were all wearing rain coats. Hmpphh!

Just as we were leaving, the church bell rings.. Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! With that, I completed my trip to the Vatican City. This trip was definitely a blessed one!

. The unprofessional shot of the St. Peter's Square .

This is the way..

Apps was home late. He had some work to do.. and I was a bit tired. I wanted to head to bed earlier than usual, but Champion wanted his daily dose of Barney or Thomas and Friends. So, I put on the Thomas and Friends CD and let him watch.

I was afraid that he would fuss to watch more Thomas and Friends once the CD has ended, which he does once in a while..

So, while he was watching, I told him “Okay, this is the last show okay. After this, we are going to sleep..” He just kept quite watching the show.

While I was being distracted, I didn’t notice whether the show had ended or not.. All I knew was, Champion had off the TV and told me, “Ma, let’s go sleep. I off the TV already.”

“Huh?!” So obedient and easy ah? I thought. But I was glad. Sometimes it can be tough! ;)

Quickly, I told them both, "Lets go pray.."

I told them to hold to my T-shirt and move like a train to the altar. After a big round around the living room, we headed to the altar.

In front of the alter.. “Stop!!”

“Let’s pray” I said and put my palms together and watched them to see what they are doing.

Champion immediately put his hands together, ready to pray. Lil’ President did too.. but his palms were clasps instead of put together. Champion who was watching him, went next to him and corrected his palm position.. “Like this.. aaaa.. yes.”

When lil’ President had got it right, Champion got back to his position and was ready to pray. When I said the Sign of the Cross, Champion roughly moved his hands in a similar motion as mine. He hasn’t got the Sign of the Cross motion right yet.

Both of them never fail to request for the Holy Water cup to dip in their finger and do the Sign of the Cross. Champion makes two lines which sometimes doesn't cross on the forehead, while lil' President puts a dot on the forehead. They even do it for apps and me!

After my Amen, Champion said a loud Amen and looked at his brother.. Lil’ President does say his Amen but sometimes gets distracted. I can’t wait for another day that Champion looks at him and waits for him to complete his prayer with an Amen!

Lil' role model

Champion was bald 2 years consecutively during St. Anne’s feast in 2004 and 2005. Similarly, we wanted to bald lil’ President twice during St. Anne’s feast too. We bald him last year and we did the same this year.

We were afraid of how he might react when he was being bald.. will he scream, cry, fuss, push away? With all those possibilities, we headed to the barber the moment we came back from the St. Anne’s feast trip.

Surprisingly, lil’ President didn’t fuss. He happily let the barber wet his head and start shaving his head! He was even smiling when he looked himself in the mirror.

In the mean time, Champion was getting himself familiar to the barber shop. Though he has been here before, he was feeling better b’coz it was not him having a hair cut. Then he asked to be seated in the chair next to apps. While he was entertaining himself watching the mirror in front of him and talking to himself, I made sure lil’ President was cooperating with the barber.

We were so glad that lil’ President made it very easy for the barber as well as for us :)

After paying the barber, we asked Champion to get off the chair to leave the shop. But he sat there and said, “Cut for me also.” Huh? We were shocked. We looked at each other, Is he serious?

He said it again.. and didn’t want to get down. Wow! Happily, we asked him to shift chairs and sit on the platform to make him higher. He sat there with no fuss! A bigger Wow!

Since he just had a hair cut two weeks ago, we told him to modify the hair style. Even the last time he made a fuss. The barber was not able to do a good job. So, the barber was very happy that he agreed to sit there by himself and get himself a proper haircut. After a scissor cut, he had a machine cut. Then the barber ask about shaving the edges. Apps said, “Do it while he is okay with it!” And so the barber completes Champion’s hair cut with a neat shaving at the edges.

Actually we were in shock and disbelieve till he let the barber start snipping his hair. The barber even commented that he is now satisfied that he did a complete hair cut, compared to the one two weeks ago.



Apps and I were so proud of both of them. Champion had overcome his fear for hair cutting, while lil’ President was the role model for his brother.

All this while, he hasn’t watched lil’ President cut his hair as we were waiting for St. Anne’s feast. Little did we realize that Champion could be convinced into cutting his hair by just watching his brave thambhi do it without any fuss.

St. Anne’s Feast

We made a 2 day trip to Bukit Mertajam for the St. Anne’s Feast this year. We left at about 8.45 a.m. on Saturday. All together, there were 3 cars; 9 adults and 6 children.

It was Champion’s 2nd time, while it was lil’ President’s 1st time attending the feast. We brought Champion for the feast the year he was born. As lil’ President was only about 2 months old, we only attended the feast at the St. Anne’s church in Port Klang. As for me, it was my 3rd time attending the feast.

We checked in the hotel in Butterworth around noon. After lunch, everybody had a short nap before we left to BM for the 7.30 p.m. mass.

I was so crowded. We managed ourselves through the crowd to get to the field in front of the new church. We waited there for a while the ‘drivers’ parked the cars.

Side view of the new church

While we were waiting, we spotted a rainbow at the back of the old church.. just a small stretch though. The kids kept themselves amazed with the amount of helium balloons flying in the air… like kites. Every few seconds there was a balloon flying off into the sky.

Rainbow at the back of the old church

As the mass inside the church ended, we headed to the church entrance. Only then we realised we got the mass time wrong. The next mass was at 8.30 p.m. As we didn’t want to wait too long, we headed for the 7.30 p.m. Tamil mass held at the hall across the road. Unfortunately, it was very crowded as well. We only managed to linger in the ground outside the hall. We were worried the kids would get cranky amongst the crowd.

While we were there, we received a packet of rice with chicken.. an offering. Champion had a few mouthfuls while lil’ President was not very hungry.

I wanted to follow the procession at about 10.00 p.m. as I did in 2003 (my 1st time). But as we having the kids, it was very difficult to bring them along in between the crowd holding candles. So, we decided not to wait for it.

Nightime at the old church

Again, after the mass, we had to make ourselves out of the crowd. On our way, we did notice a few interesting stuffs sold at the stall. Due to the crowd, we decided to get it the next day. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel at about 11.15 p.m.

On Sunday, we prayed at the old church before heading to the new church for the Tamil mass at noon. I was guiding Champion to the altar while apps was carrying lil’ President. At the altar, Champion handed the flowers to the person in charge. Then, Champion tried to put the offering into the donation box by himself. As the gate was a bit high, it was tough for him. But he didn’t give up. He stretched his arms and managed to put the money in.

Then, we arrived at the St. Anne’s statue. I was dumbfounded when Champion, on his own, put his palms together and prayed.. After that he touched the statue and kissed his palm. All I could do was to follow suit.

After that, we washed our hands at the pipes of holy water and headed to the new church for the mass. After lunch, we left BM at about 2.45 p.m. Our entourage arrived at the Sungai Buloh rest area at 7.30 p.m. We had a drink before heading back home.

A little prayer for the 11 victims of the bus tragedy along the North-South Expressway which was heading to Bukit Mertajam for the St. Anne's feast.

Eternal rest given unto the souls O Lord,
May the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their sould rest in peace, Amen.

What’s in their names?

For the first time in my life, I attended St. Anne’s feast in 2003, the first year of our marriage. I have been to the St. Anne church in Bukit Mertajam before, but on the non feast days. I was happy to be there that day, as I have always wanted to attend the feast since I was young. The feast and candle light procession was definitely a beautiful and memorable one for me.

I remember interceding to St. Anne for my prayers.. but the prayer I remember most is my intention of having a baby.

After the procession and a walk at the stall outside the church, we went back to our hotel. We spent the night there.

The next morning, I told apps, I feel heavy. But I left the thoughts just like that. Weeks later, we got the good news.. I was pregnant!

I also remember that I had said the same prayer to St. Anthony of Padua.

They have fulfilled our prayers and we were truly overjoyed!

Just then, I told apps, Let's name our child based on saint’s names.

So, when our child was born, we chose the name Thytus. His name is actually derived from the saint’s name Titus. The name Titus when used alone, can refer to several different historical figures and fictional characters. When most of characters refers to great people, he was easily referred to as the Champion!

Then, when our second son was born, we wanted to follow the same way of naming him. We choose the name Nixon, based on Saint Nicholas. Nixon is one of the many variants of the name Nicholas. The name Nixon refers to many distinctive people, but when we mention that his name is Nixon, they will immediately say, "Oooo, the President!"

So, that’s how both of them are referred to as Champion and lil’ President... its all in their name. May be when they grow up, it may be in their personalities :)

On both cases, we changed the spelling of the names, just to make their names special and distinctive ;)

We went for St. Anne's feast in 2004, when Champion was about 4 months old (in picture, at the hotel) as thanksgiving. We even bald him on that occasion. We have yet to bring lil' President to St. Anne's feast. He was only about 2 months old during the feast last year, but we did bald him too. So, this year, we are determined to bring both of them for St. Anne's feast. In fact, we want to try to go for the feast every year :)

Happy Easter

I remember, when I was young, my mother used to get us chocolate Easter eggs. Remembering the excitement I had, I wanted to make sure my boys experience it too.

I wanted to try some of the craft ideas from the net to decorate real eggs. So much in mind, with so little time, I resorted to coloring the blown out eggs using food colouring. Unfortunately, it didn't come out as I wanted it to. The colour didn't stick well. I guess I didn't have much time to prepare it. May be next year I will start to work on it earlier.

I resorted to buying the little chocolate biscuits (in the shape of eggs) and packed in small packets for the boys and their cousins and placed the packets into a basket. Champion was all excited. He wanted to carry it to my in-laws place himself. He said he wanted to give the packets to his cousins..

As I expected, the children were happy to receive the little Easter packets. Champion and lil’ President even received little painted eggs from Leedia and Sharon akka.

Together with my SILs, we helped MIL to cook lunch. It actually took us a few hours, and lunch was served around 1.30 pm.

After lunch, the kids were getting tired already. One by one, they were dozing off. We headed home, to get freshen up before we head to my parents place later in the evening.

Before that, I managed to bake a cake for apps for his birthday. A chocolate almond cake. Yum, Yum! After tea, we left to my parents place.

To my surprise, my mum revived my childhood memories of Easter by presenting me a large chocolate Easter egg, about 15 cm in height. I was just able to hold it in my palm. Aaah, just like my younger days. How sweet.

Thanks appa and amma. I found that Easter egg really really special.

Since the boys were not feeling really well, we decided to buy in dinner. Appa went to buy Champion’s favourite... mee! Champion loves kung fu ca, hokkien mee, Cantonese yee mee.

Waiting for appa to come back with the mee, amma fed lil’ President some rice. Champion came over and said he wants some. Then he noticed the mutton in the plate, and asked for “Mutton, mutton”. Wow, my boy really knows what he wants. It was a bit spicy, but he still ate it. Hmmm, his taste bud is getting better now :)

We left my parents place at about 11.00 p.m. Champion stayed back. He wanted to spend the night there. So, we headed home with lil’ President.

@ Easter egg painted by Leedia and Sharon
@ Large chocolate Easter egg from my parents
@ My attempt to prepare Easter eggs using real eggs

It was a good Easter celebration.. and I will not forget that egg appa amma got me, at this age. I just love it. I have yet to chip the chocolate egg and eat it...

I found this article informative... Easter Symbols, Icons,
Legend, Lore and Customs

Holy week

With the start of Holy Week, we are approaching Easter. Six weeks really went off real fast. It seemed like Lent just started, and now we're going to celebrate Easter already.

Holy Week is the final week of Lent and commemorates the events of our Lord's last week before His death. The chief festivals of Holy Week are Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil (Holy Saturday). Holy Week, together with Easter, is the most sacred part of the Christian calendar -- the celebration of the death and resurrection Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Learn more...
Questions and Answers about Holy Week
The Days of Holy Week

'Lent' begins...

Lent begins, with today being Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Lent, being the seventh Wednesday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind them of death, of the sorrow they should feel for their sins, and of the necessity of changing their lives.

Ash Wednesday, and questions you may have....

Lent is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of baptism, and preparation for the celebration of Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the day on which they faithful have their foreheads signed with ashes in the form of a Cross. It ends at noon on Holy Saturday.

Everything you wanted to know on Lent

Previously, I had observed the abstinence during the whole of Lent only twice so far. Now, its time I got back in track...

This year, hubby has decided to join me in observing abstinence during the 40days of Lent. It's gonna be a bit tough for hubby though, since he is a person who prefers to have some kind of meat dish during meals. But, being firm with his decision,he asked me to prepare him 'papadam' for his meals. He said it can help him through with the vege meals for 40 days. "Will do that. Hope it helps, dear."

Today, we shall be going to church for the 7.30 p.m. Ash Wednesday mass. I wonder what time I will arrive at the church, as the church I go to is situated along MRR2. Arrghh! The jam!

I hope I don't reach there towards the end of mass. *sigh*

A quite weekend

I am always touched by Champion when he kneels down in church when he sees others kneeling down. He even brings his palms together as a gesture of praying. At home, he joins me in saying ‘Amen’ at the end of our prayers. Nowadays, he knows he has to pray before going out of the house. So, when he is ready, he will say ‘pray’. Seeing this, I always pray that I won't fail to provide the best guidance in their journey of faith.

After church, we headed straight back home, since my parents were coming over. They wanted to bring Champion off for the weekend to their place. Champion was all excited. He loves going out with his taatha and ammachi.

So, this weekend, it was just apps, lil President and me. After a late night watching TV, we only woke up at about 9 a.m. the next day. Who woke us up? Mr. President! He sat up, and was watching around. When we both acted like we were still sleeping, he came next to me, fell on my arms and lied down for a while. I open my eyes in front of his face. He gave me a lazy smile. So cute. I love it when the boys do this. In the morning, when they fall back on me to laze around... my, my, my, its such a wonderful feeling!

The day was pretty quite, with Champion not being around. We were just lazing around. Late breakfast, late lunch, late tea and late dinner. We brought Mr. President for a hair cut. We did some gardening. That’s about it.

It was not only a relaxing weekend for us, but it was for lil President too...

And then Champion arrives at 10.00 p.m.. Hmmm, just a day, and we missed him already :) After spending some time with him, we hit the bed at 11.30 p.m. Even if we didn’t do much, we were feeling so tired!
______________________________
taatha : maternal grandpa
ammachi : maternal grandma

Godparents to another

I feel honoured. Apps and I were just chosen by his friend to be the godparents to his son, Adrian. So, that makes godparents to two children.

When I carried Adrian, I felt him fragile... *careful*
The best part is that he fell asleep in my hands within minutes of carrying him. That felt good. He loved my arms. He must have felt comfy.

Eventhough I am a mother to two already, I think I am still afraid that I may handle a newly born baby wrongly. I can't say that I am an expert already. Thank god I got through this tender days of my sons without much trouble, thanks to my family.

He touched our hearts

I just can't forget how my son was so angry with us that we left him at my sil's place as we had to go out... He didn't even want to get into our arms when we came to fetch him. So young and he is showing that he was not happy with us... ;) But of course, how long will he lasts... he still loves his mummy and daddy :)

But, he was really cute in the night.. he really caught our hearts. We told him it was time to go to bed, and we walked him to go upstairs. Apparently, we forgot to pray before going upstairs, and he actually redirected us and went to the altar and knelt down to pray... WOW! Now we know that whatever we teach him is in him already... But it is definitely amazing how a one year old is able to teach us!