Blessed Christmas and New Year

Blessed Christmas and New YearI'm sure you had a wonderful Christmas! I read some lovely words about Christmas that I would like to share with you! I believe these words are written by Phillip H. Barnhart, in a book "Christmas Is..."

"Christmas is God's love coming to everyone in Jesus Christ.
Christmas is God putting his arms of deep and far reaching love around the world and hugging it to Himself.
Christmas is God in the flesh, making tangible God's feelings about you.
You acknowledge such love when you put up your tree, decorate it with colors and shapes, and light it in joyful anticipation.
You honor such a gift when you choose particular presents for special people and give them in love and appreciation.
You affirm the coming of God in Christ when you read the story, sing the songs, listen to the Word, accept the truth, and feel the touch.
Christmas is knowing God loves you and comes to be with you.
Christmas is God in your heart."

I wish for all of you Christmas in your heart everyday!

We had a great time this Christmas spending time with our oldest and best friends, and in church worshiping. We are truly blessed.

I have been adding to my desktop layout with more holiday photos, this is how it looks now!Credits: Paper from Franziska's Whimsical Wonderland, flowers from Christina Renee's Art Fusion, ricrac by Miss Mint, but I can't remember where the Word Art is from? So sorry to the creator of this lovely word art, can anyone help me?
And I thought maybe someone will like to use the desktop template for their Christmas and holiday photos, so here it is!
This free template can be downloaded from the store here

We're Back

We're Back!
We've been back two days now, after a 25 days trip, what an adventure!! We're coping well with not too much jet lag, I went right back to work, and life is getting back to normal quickly, except the laundry!!!

Thank you to all of you who have been keeping us in prayers, we were truly blessed on the trip, kept safe, and in fine weather throughout, we've taken 5000 photos! Think of all the multi-photo layouts coming up!! I am feeling so homesick only from not getting to scrap for nearly a month! :)

How was the trip? Where do I begin? Amongst other things, these moments come to mind:
The Lockheed BlackBird at the Air and Space Museum (For dh)
The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC
Choosing a 14th Anniversary gift at Tiffany's in New York (For me!!)
Lady Liberty up close (for all!)
Being trained by Obi One Kenobi at the Jedi Academy at Disney (for Jared)
The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
All that toys at FAO Schawtz and Toys R Us (for the 3 boys in my family)
Ground Zero and the St Paul's Chapel
Buying a very special ring at historic Harpers Ferry on our last day (me of course)
The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts
And probably most memorable of all, snow in Central Park!

And here's my first layout for the trip. None of us had ever seen snow falling before, and we were rewarded with our first snow on our second day in New York, our first sight of Central Park was really a winter wonderland - a truly magical morning!
By the way I used a mini kit I made and shared on my blog last year, finally I get a chance to use my own snowy christmasy light colored papers! Thought I'll share them again to say Blessed Christmas to everyone!
sorry these are no longer available

All Ready for Washington DC!

All ready!

We're all ready for our trip! We leave tomorrow night, and arrive in Washington DC friday morning!! Do keep us in your prayers for a safe trip and for good health and great family time! Ryan had a minor asthma attack two days ago, and now I'm armed with inhalers and so on, to help the boys beat the cold!

Yesterday we had a great laugh! Gim had announced yesterday that he bought new memory cards (2GB) for his camera for the trip. When he came home after tennis last evening and was trying to load the new cards, he opened the plastic cover, took off the scotch tape, and stared in unbelief at the card - 256mb?! Jared had replaced the card with the one he had in his camera, and taken 65 photos while Gim was at tennis!!!

Here's the little terror, at one of our beach resort trips in March. Oh, the template link is below

Credits: paper by Autumnsmoon, sun and tags all by Dani Mogstad, curled edge by JG

Below is a layout of Ryan, photos taken in NZ year before last, but sentiments as of now.

Journaling reads:

You knew the alphabet at 18 months.Could spell 50 words at two. But you could not speak in sentences till nearly four. About the same time you started reading! Since then you’ve baffled us & doctors and therapists, and now have an opinion on everything and is doing so well in the gifted class. Only God knew what He has in store for you, and we thank Him for the miracle that is you..

We are exceedingly thankful for all that God has done for him, to us, it is nothing short of a miracle, and we constantly remind ourselves.

Oh, may I share one of my all time favorite songs:

GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART

GIVE THANKSTO THE HOLY ONE

GIVE THANKS FOR HE'S GIVEN JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON

AND NOW LET THE WEAK SAY I AM STRONG

LET THE POOR SAYI AM RICH BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US

GIVE THANKS...

Credits: paper from Michelle Colemans' thankful heart, QP by ksharonk, title by Jen Wilson

And here's my dh who loves keeping fish, at an make shift fish shop in HK. I love that it takes very little to make my dh very happy, love you, dear!

Credits: Paper by Jen Lin, frame by Jen Wilson, arrow by Fernlili, title by Jen Wilson

This is now available as a set in the store here

Being THankful

Being Thankful
Finally I have time to complete a layout and blog a bit. Been wanting to get these thoughts down. Thoughts of thankfulness.
The other day i was at my dear blog friend Tink's blog (http://tinkstribulations.blogspot.com/), and I do so love to read her very interesting entries and how wonderfully she expresses how she feels, and I quote her in her blog entry on 1 Nov on family members she is thankful for : "Finally, but surely not last... my husband... Pan. There is so much I could say about him. His love of life (and Halloween), his infectious smile, how incredibly brilliant he is. How he stood up and took charge of three teenagers when he wasn't much past the stage himself. He became a father the children could love and respect. But what it all boils down to is his belief in me. Thanks honey." Loved that, Tink! You're blessed!

And so am I, and I am prompted to express my thankfulness in specific ways for my husband. Here's one: When Jared was about three, Gim suggested, even insisted that we have date night just for ourselves. At first I resisted (what was I thinking!), but since then, friday night dates have been going on pretty much without fail... I'm so thankful my husband values us so much that he engineered and protected this time for us, it's been 5 years now (!) and I think it's one reason we are going strong. Thanks dear.
And how thankful we are for my parents in law who has babysat for us every friday night without fail either....!

Today I completed a layout I have wanted to do for a while. It's about Ryan and his play battles. He's nearly eleven, but war-play with his toy armies (any toy can be enlisted to his armies, Miffy included) go on everyday, the dialogue is deadly, the plot unpredictable, the fun, guaranteed. Rather too many photos to squeeze in one page, but I didn't want to miss out any!


Credits: Scroll from summerspice by ksharonk, comic star and words by JCrowley, alpha strings from ScrappyBlueStones , brown paper by MistyCato, and blue paper from DaniMogstad's party kit, Word art by ksharonk, and tear from Monika69.
This is now available as a set in the store here

Ebay Queen

Ebay Queen

Well, ok, that's how I feel right now after weeks on ebay. I've bidded and bought and sent forward to my brother, 5 sweaters, 1 wind pants, an air bed, bedding, bionicles, lego, board games, and a jacket!!! That meant staying up or waking up early just to catch the last moments of the auction, and all that. This morning Jared successfully helped me bid on his air bed (for him to sleep on) while I was on the phone - talk about apprenticeship!

Well, I still had time to complete a simple layout - this is Jared with his Knex creations taken a while ago. He is still at it everyday, either with lego or knex. We first found out his "talent" when his childcare teacher showed us the stuff he made with spacelinks - camera, bulldozer, and he was only three! Everything is from Jackie Eckles' Modern Kit. I really enjoyed trying something different and edgy for this layout.

School Year is Ending

School Year is ending

The children have only two more weeks of school before hols until school reopens in January!! I'm happy to report that the boys both did incredibly well in their results, and by that I mean Jared much improved on himself, and Ryan did very well considering this year he was pretty much on his own, since my working hours and his school hours mean I don't see him much on weekdays. We are so pleased and proud of both of them, and we all give glory to God!

As a treat, I gave them some money each to spend on ebay, from my takings when I used to sell digi-designs, and happily, Ryan bought his long-awaited Lord of the Rings Risk game, plus a vintage Stratego game, and Jared bought a couple of Bionicles and quite a few Lego Knights Kingdom mini figures.

Also want to thank everyone who left a word and gave advice for my trip, you are greatly appreciated! We've gotten most of the winter gear now, and now getting the itinery decided. It's really exciting and will be the boys first time in the USA, and our first time in more than 10 years, and our first to the east coast, so it is unbelievably great.

This evening we had great fun again playing hide and seek, we had the most fun screaming and scaring the wits out of each other when "found". When i was hiding, the thought came to me, how happy and blessed our family is! I'm just so grateful!

Here's my Christmas card fashioned out of Melanie Johnson's beautiful Day 2 template, thanks Melanie!!! Unfortunately we don't have a nice photo of all of us altogether, so I made do with these. Loved the colors though :)
Oh, I finished my Photobook ahead of time, and here's the last layout that I managed to get in it.

Credits: Background paper from Scrapartist's Fiesta kit, alpha by Christina Renee, frames by LHill, Glitter star by Carol Abram, and paint circle by CBombria. I think everything I used here was a freebie, thank you ladies for so much goodies!

And here's something I did a while ago when I was designing, I didn't think they looked good enough and did not release them, but I still liked these phrases a lot, so if you like them, feel free to snag them! Tell me if you too like these phrases!sorry this is no longer available

You Rock Together

Fun Times

We are really looking forward to our trip now, got the hotels and flights booked, phew! We're visiting my brother who is living and working in Washington DC, and will take in NYC and Orlando too! It's a huge burden on our pockets but we decided to do it anyway, since the chance may not come by again! Tink, I will definitely wave! Are you near Orlando? Can you imagine, me coming so close to you all? Shawna, I wish we have time to visit Atlanta, it's so on the way!

Actually I do need some advice if any one can help:

- should I take the train from DC to NYC? how about by bus?

- we'll be in NYC in Dec, do we need something as warm as down jackets? do we need scarves, hats?

- besides the usual, is there anything you recommend we do or visit in NYC, DC or Orlando?

Right now the boys are having final exams, it is a big deal in Singapore, I do think we are guilty of "hot-housing" the children somewhat, and I try not to go overboard, but I do spend a lot of time revising with Jared especially (Ryan is pretty cool about revising on his own). I know, he is only eight, but he needs to sit through one and a half hour exams for each subject and the school streams them according to the results for the next school year! This is a huge part of my mothering at least for these few years, hhmmm, I should take some photos to make a layout...

We do take breaks and have fun of course, and I did find time to make this:

I love how the boys are really good with each other, they have always counted each other as their best friend, and I hope it continues always to be that way!

Credits: Background paper is a combination of papers fromSarah Robinson's Oct Collab kit and AmeliaScrap's pink paradise. Frames from Misty Cato, felt square, foil star and black note paper from DaniMogstad's Rock Star, "fun" tag from Brittishdesigns' daydream patches, Wire from Weeds&Wildflower's wire kit, gold alpha by dirtyfeetdesigns, and "U" by MyDigiscraps.Well, I really liked how it turned out, so I made you a template. :) Hope you like it.

This is currently not available

Surely Goodness and Mercy

Catching up

It's wonderful to be back at my blog, finally! Lots to catch up on! What am I busy with? Well, let's see:

1. I was away on a work related trip last week (I felt strangely free without the family with me, but I think four days is long enough rest from them!!)

2. We leave for our trip to the East Coast of USA (where many of my blog friends live, but for us it's a 24 hour flight!) in five weeks or so, and I'm struggling to get all the accomodation and flights booked - urgh!!

3. Frantically getting together a winter wardrobe for the whole family - I've been bidding on ebay, borrowing, sorting, washing - we are not used to winter!!

4. Putting together my first Shutterfly Photobook! There is a 20% discount now till 6 Nov and I'm getting all my layouts for the past one and a half years in it!

And this is gonna be my cover page!This is the back page

You may recognised that I've used Sarah's lovely Wordart from her SimplySarah blog, love your word art, Sarah, thanks! I felt that I can't find better words than these beautiful verses to express how the Lord has blessed us, for our album cover! And I've used paper from ScarletHeelMedia's new full of life kit - look at the texture! Haven't figured out if I should add any elements to them, what do you think?
Well, here's the template for the cover page, hope it comes in useful for you some time. Thank you always for leaving a word for me, they mean a lot!This is now available as a set in the store here

Blessed to Give

Blessed to Give

You're all proof that it is more blessed to give, thanks for leaving so much love! Glad these templates from my layouts are being useful to others too.. I'm receiving so much talented work that is given free this is just a little I can share.

Managed a quick layout using KsharonK's free quick page, I ADORE her work!

This is my son at a window display of Miffys! He has a love affair with Miffy! We can't remember when it started, but now our family has a collection of four Miffys - mama Miffy who is 15 inches tall, Miffy original who is no longer white, Biffy (named for his rounded beafier look), and Wiffy (the latest white addition). One or more of them always travel with us on our trips, Miffy has been to New Zealand and Hong Kong, and multiple trips to Malaysia! They are an inseparable part of our family as of today, and we think they are here to stay. We are not sure why our boys like them so much, and wonder now and then if they are becoming sissies, but those thoughts dispel every time the boys use the rabbits as "soldiers" in fearsome battles with the robots in their toy battallion. Haha! So we just accept and join in the love for Miffy-ia.

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek
Last evening dh and I played hide and seek with Jared. It was such fun he begged us to go again and again. Of course we had the privilege only because Ryan was asleep. (Ryan has to wake up at 6 for school everyday). It was hilarious, we were too big to hide anywhere, whereas he manages to squeeze hmself to impossible corners!
It is hard to avoid "scolding" Jared in the course of everyday because he just tend to get into so much trouble, so we relish every moment of "fun & happy times" with him. I thank God we're able to build his "bank of happy mom and dad time" to balance up the "bank of discipline by mom and dad time". And I think he does understand why we have to do what we do, but it still sucks in those moments when my child doesn't like me!! Well, that's my thought for the day. :)
I had been down with a sinus and throat infection for the past 5 days and am home on medical leave today. My fingers are trembling from too much medication but still able to finally stay up and scrap. heehee. I think it may be the last layout of our trip to Hong Kong. I'm really rushing to complete them, which explains so many photos all on one page!
Credits: Glitter swirl by Kim Clark, stitched border by Kim Christensen, background paper from Miss Vivi's back to school kit, word art by ShellyRae, tag from Mary's Scrapgallerie

This is now available as a set in the store here