August wrap up
Week of Aug 20 - 31
The last 2 weeks of August we spent getting back into the groove of school. First was me & Shaun attempting to make English Muffins at home. He has been asking for them quite a bit since they got back from NY and I haven't been able to find any so I decided how hard could it be to make them at home? I mean I do make bread rolls and bake cakes so it shouldn't be too hard you would think but I was wrong. I thought it would be fun to make them together but Shaun wasn't very interested after about 30min in the kitchen so I ended up doing the baking experiment myself. The recipe that I found looked pretty easy but my mistake was trying to modify it before I ever tried to make it as directed. The most important ingredient was bread flour, apparently, and I didn't have any so I just used all purpose flour. Also, I was suppose to boil the milk then cool the milk then add the yeast but that took about 3 tries before I got it right. The first time I boiled out half of the milk the next time I put the yeast in to soon and I am pretty sure most of them died by the third time I figured out how to be patient. Sometime around 11:30pm I finished my first try at English Muffins and the results were not even close to the real thing but they tasted ok and Shaun was happy to have one the next day. Tuesday I had my first PTA meeting of the 2018-2019 school year...it was tough to stomach. So much talk and never any actions. We always say we will make a decision the next meeting but never do. I'm not exactly enjoying this group but maybe its just to early. I think Sonja feels the same way as me so that is comforting but not good for the primary school because if we both decide to leave who will lead the primary team??? A problem for another day. Wednesday was another random bank holiday and we ended up spending the whole day at home because it was rainy. We did play a family game of Yahtzee which was fun. Daddy is seriously the Yahtzee king and he got about 3 Yahtzee's so it was pointless to finish the game. Once Lino realized it wasn't going to be easy to win so he lost interest in the game. We played another round and it didn't last as long as the first because we used up all of the boys patience so it ended up being me & Mike and I don't have the same sort of dedication that Mike has to getting the highest scores for each section so I was blowing through my card and would have won if I would have got a Yahtzee but I didn't so Mike some how beat me even though I was well in the lead for the majority of the game. While we were playing Mike & I noticed how much Lino's voice was changing. He has been doing a lot of coughing and clearing his throat and you can hear his voice is getting deeper or changing somehow. He is growing up and there is no stopping it. To end our mid-week holiday day we played family tennis.
This was not fun but it was not boring either. It was very interesting to say the least. Mike & I play around every once in a while and we are no experts at all and then we decide to bring the boys out with us who think the tennis ball is a baseball!!! Lets just say there would have been more talk about us around the condo if it was earlier in the evening. It was a funny and we all had a bunch of laughs so I can't complain. I didn't exactly plan for the boys to join us but since it was a holiday and they were up we said we would give it a try. We ended up taking turns playing because we only have 2 rackets. So the boys started it off and Mike & I were helping them but that was getting very dangerous very fast so we had them switch out for a while so that we could play. Then we ended up challenging each other which was fun and at the end the boys played against each other. There was no winner of course because neither of them could return the ball from the other persons serve. They would have stayed out there all night playing so maybe we will have to do this again...maybe. On Thursday Mariza left us which was a long time coming. I wasn't sad at all just ready for her to go and she had already extended her stay more than I had wanted so I couldn't wait for her to go. Our new helper Ning has already been a great addition to the family. Also today I had a phone interview with RB...again. I am so mixed about this job thing its crazy. I need to be logical about it so I try to put all my worries aside and open my mind up to all the possibilities. The phone interview ended up not being a real interview but more of a Q&A session for me to the manager of the position which was nice because I wasn't exactly sure what the position was all about. So I got to spend a little while asking questions about the position and as I was talking to the guy, who is based in the UK, I really really started to get excited about the position. Its crazy because even when I was talking to the guy and telling him how hard it is to establish my career again due to the moving of my husband he was like well with RB just because you leave Singapore doesn't mean you have to leave RB because there are so many locations all over the world. So that is exactly what I want! I mean there is no guarantee that if I do get the job and when the time comes for us to move that I will be able to continue to work with RB but the chances are much higher and it would be easier to get a job in the next place. So all signs say go for it because there isn't much to loose other than 1 or 2 trips due to my lack of vacation time and a few activities at the school. And worse case, if I don't like it I can always quit or try to find another job. So lets see how this plays out.
On Friday I met up with Mike and the Pepsi crew for an escape room adventure. It was kind of funny being with the Pepsi crew because there are some really strong personalities that I didn't realize until that evening. The room that we were in was a medical facility where a deadly virus was released and we had to find out how to control the virus to save the world. We did escape and I was pretty sure we would or we would be very close to escaping because the team was pretty sharp.
We only needed 2 clues in the first room then we figured out the rest on our own. We didn't even open one of the clue boxes which shows how good we were...they were. After that we went to get some food and drinks at this Mexican restaurant in Clark Quay. JJ ended up getting a bottle of Tequila for the table, because it was cheaper than just ordering a bunch of shots and somehow between 3 guys and 1 lady they finished the bottle in about 40min! I was quite impressed but I guess I shouldn't have been since JJ & Violetta are Mexican and know how to handle their Tequila. I did not partake in those activities because I know how me & Tequila are...not good! Well one guy had to be carted off home early due to too much Tequila and when Mike got home he was completely dead...gotta love the Tequila. Saturday morning Mike was still dead to the world so I let him sleep and me & Ning took the boys to swimming/soccer. When Mike did wake up he said he didn't have a hangover which was good. We have learned that the secret to Tequila is to have a full glass of water between every 1-2 drinks and Tequila is to be sipped not taken as a shot.
So we had lunch then took a long ride out to Changi to go fishing. The boys have been asking to go fishing for ever and finally I have agreed to it. I spent most of the week looking for places that we could go and just rent the equipment but the only thing I could find was tours which was too expensive and to serious for what we were looking for. So I decided to just invest in 2 fishing polls for the boys and see what happens.
I was not interested in taking the MRT all the way there which would have taken us a good hour so we got a taxi which dropped us right off at near the shopping area by the beach. There were a bunch of fishing shops so we didn't have any problem getting gear. The boys were so excited because we got them their own polls, cheap but who cares, then we headed to the fishing spots. It was a little strange because I assumed that we would be fishing off of the pier or jetty or bridge or something like that but when we followed all the other little fishing groups everyone found a spot along the beach...so that is what we did.
It didn't take to long to get us set up and the boys were super excited to throw out the lines but I was so nervous that a hook was going to get caught in someones eye so I kept fussing at them about how to throw the line out the right way. Eventually they got it and they were fishing!!! The first time ever!!! I barely got a picture of them fishing before they were over it!
The method that they were using was to throw the line out and then after about 30 sec pull the line back in to see if they caught anything. Hahahaha Well of course they hadn't but they wouldn't listen to us so we kept throwing the line back out and pulling in the line empty. Well not exactly empty, it will almost always covered in seaweed of some sort and half of the time the bait would be gone too. Shaun lost interest first and was in the water playing then Lino joined him and finally we had to concede and we let them strip down to their underwear and get into the water. Then it was just me & Mike fishing...and enjoying it! We fished for a good 1.5hrs and might have lasted a little longer but the sun was intense and we didn't have hats and I had forgot my sunglasses so it wasn't enjoyable. By the time we had got our gear and to the beach it was already 2:30pm so it was the hottest part of the day. The fish must have been out further or we were just not doing it right because we didn't catch anything. Well, Mike caught a fish and when he pulled it in and I went to get the camera the little (I mean little) fish ended up releasing itself from the hook and swam off. I didn't even get a picture of it leaving...it was just too fast. Before we ended our fishing adventure Lino wanted another go so I was helping him for a while before we called it quits. We had a good time and the kids fishing polls that we got only cost us $40 so it wasn't too much. I am sure we will end up going again sometime so it was well worth the money.
Sunday we went back to the mega church, because I had promised Lino we would and it was just as bad as the first time but the boys were happy. Our friends weren't there so we didn't have to stay for lunch which was good. There was a new pizza place that opened up near the condo that the boys had been hounding us about going to so we went there for dinner. On the way there Lino got a chance to chat with his buddy Patrick in Ireland...their conversation was too funny. We also ran into a swarm of fire ants and almost stepped in them! We were just walking and talking and I happen to look down at the brown spots all over the sidewalk and we realized it was a swarm of fire ants!!!! Why the heck they were on the side walk I have no idea.
Shaun was completely freaked out from his last experience with them so he stayed back. This must have been the first time Mike has seen them so he was super curious. We couldn't tell what happen to the nest but it looked like it was disturbed and all the worker ants were defending the area. Man I'm glad we saw it because it could have been bad if we stepped into it. Crisis averted...on to pizza...the restaurant was pretty busy for its first few days open and it took a while to get our pizza so they gave us some free cookies. While we were waiting the boys were playing with the phone and Lino gave Shaun his best "smile" picture...this kid has some serious anger management issues. His parents need to work on him! The pizza was really good and the cookies were amazing so it was well worth the wait!!!! We all agreed that we would have to come back again soon because it was just so good. I think it will be dangerous so I'm going to have to be careful.
On Monday I got the call from RB offering me the position. I told them that I needed some time to think and they seemed a little baffled that I didn't just accept the offer right away. I mean I could have because it was pretty much the same as the previous offer but more vacation time and extra benefits but I was still not sure I wanted to give up the freedom to come and go as I wish. But on the other hand I have nothing to do any more so why hold back??? Anyway, I told them to give me a couple days and even though the lady didn't like it she said ok. On Tuesday and Wednesday Mike & I spent the evenings at the school attending the curriculum night events where the teachers are suppose to explain what the plans are for the classes for the school year. The idea was good but the actual roll out left a lot to be desired. First of all the presentation/overview that they had in the lobby was not very good. I saw it but it was just a slide projected onto a board. I am not sure what it said because the writing was pretty small. Then it was to the classes for the informational session with the teachers. It was ok but I felt like it was pretty general and there was no reason to have each class cover pretty much the same information (besides the credentials for the teachers) and there wasn't any time in between sessions to talk to the teachers much so it was crazy. We kind of got an idea what was going on but not much. And we got about 2min to talk to the teachers but that was just a general "how are the boys doing in class?" kind of questions. On Wednesday morning I also went to get my hair done by my favorite Malaysian stylist and he gave me some sad news that he was going to be going back to Malaysia in less than a month!!!! Damn this place! Everyone is always coming and going I seriously can't keep up. Who the heck is going to do my hair and for such a reasonable price too??? I made one more appointment with him but I will have to figure out other options soon...or just go back to braids which is probably what I will do. So sad. Another sad thing this week was the science experiment that Mike & I were doing with the sleeping arrangements. Mike is always so serious about having to sleep on the right side of the bed (when facing the bed) and he comes up with all these excuses to justify it but after we talked for a while about it became a thing. So this week we tested it out...switching sides. Well it wasn't too bad at first and Mike said the same but after about 3 nights of it it started to get harder and I can't explain how or why. By the end of the week I was over the science experiment and we went back to our own sides of the bed...talk about resting easy at last. This weekend we had no plans which means that daddy was partially in charge and we didn't do much. Mike always fusses at me when I asked him to plan the weekend and its not because I want to punish him but because some times I get tired of making all the plans and I know that he sometimes wants to do things but if he doesn't tell me early enough then I fill up our days with other stuff. So I've asked him a few weekends to pick what we would do and each time he only gives me a sketchy idea of some of the things he wants to do and he expects me to put it together into a plan. Of course he does...but I don't so we flop around and just do what ever we stumble across. This meant that we were at the mercy of the boys and we ended up at Kid Stop because Lino was obsessing about going there. We ended up getting a membership because it was cheaper than the regular passes and we had planned to just relax while the boys played for a couple hours but that quickly changed. We were only inside for about 30min before Mike & I started to smell poop and we were wondering what the heck it was coming from. Next thing was Shaun coming down to find us telling us that "I had a fart and then the poop just came out!" And came out it did!!! All over the freaking place!!! He had explosive diarrhea in every sense of the word. We were shocked and horrified and embarrassed all at the same time. I didn't even know where to begin he had poop everywhere and it smelled bad! Thankfully we had Lino's swimming bag with his swim suit and towel so I carted Shaun off to try and "clean him up" and I told Mike to let the staff know what happened. I could see on Mike's face that he was not interested in sharing that bit of information with anyone but it had to be done. I wasn't confident in him telling anyone so I told the guy at the entry that Shaun had an accident in one of the climbing structures and that they would need to clean it up. He said OK and I was just waiting to hear them announce that the structure or the venue was closed due to the accident but I didn't hear it. I took Shaun to the bathroom and the nice thing about the bathrooms in Singapore is that they are all designed to be hosed down and there are hoses in most of the handicapped bathrooms so I was able to use this on Shaun. I felt so bad for him, he was sad that he had pooped and even sadder that I told him he had to go home. He wanted to stay but there was no way he could. I got him partially cleaned up and we ordered a taxi but Lino was insistent on staying so Mike & Lino stayed to play and I took Shaun. I kept asking him if he stomach was hurting him or if he felt sick but he said he didn't. The day before he had some poop in his underwear as well and I didn't pay enough attention to see if it was loose or not but I'm thinking it must have been. Oh Shaun. So the rest of the day we spent at home and I tried to get Shaun to eat cheese, crackers and bananas to help with his loose stools. He actually didn't seem to be sick but there was something that was causing him to have diearrea but I just didn't know what it was. It is almost impossible to guess what it was anyway because Shaun puts almost everything into his mouth so there is no telling what he picked up off the ground and sucked on...ugh...I have tried to get him to stop this bad habit but with no luck. He needs something to do with his mouth in order to avoid this and since we can't have gum in Singapore that isn't an option but also because he still swallows it so I've been trying to think of what else I could do. Even his water bottles all get destroyed from him chewing on the lip or the straws. Oh Shaun.
So after the boys went to bed I got a chance to talk to GG for a bit. She went back to her house in Gary for the week for Labor Day and we got great news that she got an offer on her house. We were not very hopeful that we would actually get an offer on it but now there is one so that is great news. God willing everything will go through OK and she can sell her house and have one less thing to worry about. I know that she has mixed emotions about it but we all think its the best option for her and her boys. Peace of mind for everyone although to loose the family home is not something that any of us look forward to. Anyway, it was good to chat with her and to hear her feistyness about all the things that she doesn't agree with. She is so full of life it is hard to believe that she is nearly 94yrs old! Sunday was a busy day...way more busy than a Sunday should be for us but we had no real plans so we just did everything that the boys suggested. Oh, at church we had an interesting moment when Lino raised his hand during one of the prayers to asking to accept Christ as his Savior. I knew he was raising his hand but didn't want to chastise him about it directly and didn't think they would take to much notice of it either but they did. At the end of the service a lady came up to talk to us and him about his desires to become a Christian. I didn't exactly know what to do. I didn't want to tell the lady that he is only a kid and didn't really know what he was raising his hand for or that he wasn't ready for this so we let her take him to the alter and talk to him. I think he realized pretty quickly that the little fun/game that he thought he was playing wasn't as fun as he thought but he kept face with the lady and discussed his desires with her. At the end she said that she would sign him up for classes to help him understand his decisions and to get someone to talk to him if he had more questions. I was not prepared. But let God have his way...lets see where this takes us. I think I was expecting or hoping for a big change in him but that didn't happen. But I am glad to know that he was listening during the service and that some of the message is actually getting through to him so that is good.
Next we headed to the super heros sand castle exhibit. We were not sure what it was going to be like but it was pretty cool. There were about a dozen sand sculpting artist from around the world that came to compete in this event in Sentosa. They worked together to create some sculptures and then they had the competition to do their own super hero creation. I am no sand castle master but these guys sure are and they had to bring in special sand for this thing too. I guess that makes sense because they can't use the dirty gritty sand from the beach. The sand they brought in was so soft and clean it was cool. The sculptures were so amazing it was crazy.
I didn't know you could do such work with sand and the boys were loving it too! It wasn't a very big exhibit but there were a bout 20 or so various Marvels super heros sculpted out of sand in huge displays. The boys have never seen anything like it and they were just in awe...so were we. So cool.
At the end of the general sculptures the artists had their own little area to create their own masterpieces. Not all of them were there when we were there but half of them were there and working so you could see how they did it. It looks like they start with a really big mound of sand and they start sculpting from the top down so that the sand doesn't fall in the wrong place. They use all kind of tools too to take the sand away or to add the sand in other places and they even have an industrial spray bottle that wets the sand or maybe seals it I couldn't tell. Just cool!
Next to the aquarium at Shaun's request. He loves it there and I am not sure why because every time we go he races through it in about an hour or less so I can't see how he can capture all that is going on around him during his visit but he does somehow and he enjoys it. It has taken us a few visits to finally plan out the ice cream reward that they get as members. Most of the time we don't think about it until we are half way through the aquarium and then we have to trek back to the entrance to get the vouchers then go back to the middle of the aquarium to redeem them. This time Mike took the boys and I went to the membership counter to get the vouchers. Well that was just as painful because there were 2 guest in front of me signing up for memberships and only one lady working at the stand so it took almost 40min for her to finish up with them before she could spend 2 min to print my vouchers. Singapore really has way to many procedures and it makes every thing you do such a cumbersome process.
So I didn't get to see anything but that was ok because we were all tired. But Mike had said he wanted burgers and even though I had threatened him that we would go home and have left overs for dinner I had already planned to go to the brewhouse that we had saw in Dempsy hill a few weeks back. So we dragged the boys out and we were making good time but it was still going to be a late evening for a Sunday. It didn't help that at the taxi stand it was like a stand still with all the cars. It took about 20min for our taxi to make it through the line before we could get in and even then we had to wait another 5 min before we could get out of the line. Vivo is so busy it is crazy and it is not enjoyable. I really don't like Vivo for that reason but it is too close and too convenient to not go there. Our favorite saying is "all roads lead to Vivo" and that is not to far from the truth. So dinner at the brewhouse was not great but OK. The whole seating area is outside and the bugs were on full throttle. They didn't seem to have anything out to keep the insects at bay so we had to fight them during the dinner. I'm glad we were in a hurry so we didn't stay long which was good. Man we couldn't wait to go home and put our feet up but the boys were not so interested in sleeping so it took us a while to settle them and by that time we were ready for bed ourselves. I think the boys have been sleeping in the same bed for 5 out of 7 nights this week. They hate each other all day and then at night they insist on sleeping together. Brothers...they drive me crazy but I know they love each other too so I guess its to be expected.
The last 2 weeks of August we spent getting back into the groove of school. First was me & Shaun attempting to make English Muffins at home. He has been asking for them quite a bit since they got back from NY and I haven't been able to find any so I decided how hard could it be to make them at home? I mean I do make bread rolls and bake cakes so it shouldn't be too hard you would think but I was wrong. I thought it would be fun to make them together but Shaun wasn't very interested after about 30min in the kitchen so I ended up doing the baking experiment myself. The recipe that I found looked pretty easy but my mistake was trying to modify it before I ever tried to make it as directed. The most important ingredient was bread flour, apparently, and I didn't have any so I just used all purpose flour. Also, I was suppose to boil the milk then cool the milk then add the yeast but that took about 3 tries before I got it right. The first time I boiled out half of the milk the next time I put the yeast in to soon and I am pretty sure most of them died by the third time I figured out how to be patient. Sometime around 11:30pm I finished my first try at English Muffins and the results were not even close to the real thing but they tasted ok and Shaun was happy to have one the next day. Tuesday I had my first PTA meeting of the 2018-2019 school year...it was tough to stomach. So much talk and never any actions. We always say we will make a decision the next meeting but never do. I'm not exactly enjoying this group but maybe its just to early. I think Sonja feels the same way as me so that is comforting but not good for the primary school because if we both decide to leave who will lead the primary team??? A problem for another day. Wednesday was another random bank holiday and we ended up spending the whole day at home because it was rainy. We did play a family game of Yahtzee which was fun. Daddy is seriously the Yahtzee king and he got about 3 Yahtzee's so it was pointless to finish the game. Once Lino realized it wasn't going to be easy to win so he lost interest in the game. We played another round and it didn't last as long as the first because we used up all of the boys patience so it ended up being me & Mike and I don't have the same sort of dedication that Mike has to getting the highest scores for each section so I was blowing through my card and would have won if I would have got a Yahtzee but I didn't so Mike some how beat me even though I was well in the lead for the majority of the game. While we were playing Mike & I noticed how much Lino's voice was changing. He has been doing a lot of coughing and clearing his throat and you can hear his voice is getting deeper or changing somehow. He is growing up and there is no stopping it. To end our mid-week holiday day we played family tennis.
So we had lunch then took a long ride out to Changi to go fishing. The boys have been asking to go fishing for ever and finally I have agreed to it. I spent most of the week looking for places that we could go and just rent the equipment but the only thing I could find was tours which was too expensive and to serious for what we were looking for. So I decided to just invest in 2 fishing polls for the boys and see what happens.
It didn't take to long to get us set up and the boys were super excited to throw out the lines but I was so nervous that a hook was going to get caught in someones eye so I kept fussing at them about how to throw the line out the right way. Eventually they got it and they were fishing!!! The first time ever!!! I barely got a picture of them fishing before they were over it!
Sunday we went back to the mega church, because I had promised Lino we would and it was just as bad as the first time but the boys were happy. Our friends weren't there so we didn't have to stay for lunch which was good. There was a new pizza place that opened up near the condo that the boys had been hounding us about going to so we went there for dinner. On the way there Lino got a chance to chat with his buddy Patrick in Ireland...their conversation was too funny. We also ran into a swarm of fire ants and almost stepped in them! We were just walking and talking and I happen to look down at the brown spots all over the sidewalk and we realized it was a swarm of fire ants!!!! Why the heck they were on the side walk I have no idea.
On Monday I got the call from RB offering me the position. I told them that I needed some time to think and they seemed a little baffled that I didn't just accept the offer right away. I mean I could have because it was pretty much the same as the previous offer but more vacation time and extra benefits but I was still not sure I wanted to give up the freedom to come and go as I wish. But on the other hand I have nothing to do any more so why hold back??? Anyway, I told them to give me a couple days and even though the lady didn't like it she said ok. On Tuesday and Wednesday Mike & I spent the evenings at the school attending the curriculum night events where the teachers are suppose to explain what the plans are for the classes for the school year. The idea was good but the actual roll out left a lot to be desired. First of all the presentation/overview that they had in the lobby was not very good. I saw it but it was just a slide projected onto a board. I am not sure what it said because the writing was pretty small. Then it was to the classes for the informational session with the teachers. It was ok but I felt like it was pretty general and there was no reason to have each class cover pretty much the same information (besides the credentials for the teachers) and there wasn't any time in between sessions to talk to the teachers much so it was crazy. We kind of got an idea what was going on but not much. And we got about 2min to talk to the teachers but that was just a general "how are the boys doing in class?" kind of questions. On Wednesday morning I also went to get my hair done by my favorite Malaysian stylist and he gave me some sad news that he was going to be going back to Malaysia in less than a month!!!! Damn this place! Everyone is always coming and going I seriously can't keep up. Who the heck is going to do my hair and for such a reasonable price too??? I made one more appointment with him but I will have to figure out other options soon...or just go back to braids which is probably what I will do. So sad. Another sad thing this week was the science experiment that Mike & I were doing with the sleeping arrangements. Mike is always so serious about having to sleep on the right side of the bed (when facing the bed) and he comes up with all these excuses to justify it but after we talked for a while about it became a thing. So this week we tested it out...switching sides. Well it wasn't too bad at first and Mike said the same but after about 3 nights of it it started to get harder and I can't explain how or why. By the end of the week I was over the science experiment and we went back to our own sides of the bed...talk about resting easy at last. This weekend we had no plans which means that daddy was partially in charge and we didn't do much. Mike always fusses at me when I asked him to plan the weekend and its not because I want to punish him but because some times I get tired of making all the plans and I know that he sometimes wants to do things but if he doesn't tell me early enough then I fill up our days with other stuff. So I've asked him a few weekends to pick what we would do and each time he only gives me a sketchy idea of some of the things he wants to do and he expects me to put it together into a plan. Of course he does...but I don't so we flop around and just do what ever we stumble across. This meant that we were at the mercy of the boys and we ended up at Kid Stop because Lino was obsessing about going there. We ended up getting a membership because it was cheaper than the regular passes and we had planned to just relax while the boys played for a couple hours but that quickly changed. We were only inside for about 30min before Mike & I started to smell poop and we were wondering what the heck it was coming from. Next thing was Shaun coming down to find us telling us that "I had a fart and then the poop just came out!" And came out it did!!! All over the freaking place!!! He had explosive diarrhea in every sense of the word. We were shocked and horrified and embarrassed all at the same time. I didn't even know where to begin he had poop everywhere and it smelled bad! Thankfully we had Lino's swimming bag with his swim suit and towel so I carted Shaun off to try and "clean him up" and I told Mike to let the staff know what happened. I could see on Mike's face that he was not interested in sharing that bit of information with anyone but it had to be done. I wasn't confident in him telling anyone so I told the guy at the entry that Shaun had an accident in one of the climbing structures and that they would need to clean it up. He said OK and I was just waiting to hear them announce that the structure or the venue was closed due to the accident but I didn't hear it. I took Shaun to the bathroom and the nice thing about the bathrooms in Singapore is that they are all designed to be hosed down and there are hoses in most of the handicapped bathrooms so I was able to use this on Shaun. I felt so bad for him, he was sad that he had pooped and even sadder that I told him he had to go home. He wanted to stay but there was no way he could. I got him partially cleaned up and we ordered a taxi but Lino was insistent on staying so Mike & Lino stayed to play and I took Shaun. I kept asking him if he stomach was hurting him or if he felt sick but he said he didn't. The day before he had some poop in his underwear as well and I didn't pay enough attention to see if it was loose or not but I'm thinking it must have been. Oh Shaun. So the rest of the day we spent at home and I tried to get Shaun to eat cheese, crackers and bananas to help with his loose stools. He actually didn't seem to be sick but there was something that was causing him to have diearrea but I just didn't know what it was. It is almost impossible to guess what it was anyway because Shaun puts almost everything into his mouth so there is no telling what he picked up off the ground and sucked on...ugh...I have tried to get him to stop this bad habit but with no luck. He needs something to do with his mouth in order to avoid this and since we can't have gum in Singapore that isn't an option but also because he still swallows it so I've been trying to think of what else I could do. Even his water bottles all get destroyed from him chewing on the lip or the straws. Oh Shaun.
So after the boys went to bed I got a chance to talk to GG for a bit. She went back to her house in Gary for the week for Labor Day and we got great news that she got an offer on her house. We were not very hopeful that we would actually get an offer on it but now there is one so that is great news. God willing everything will go through OK and she can sell her house and have one less thing to worry about. I know that she has mixed emotions about it but we all think its the best option for her and her boys. Peace of mind for everyone although to loose the family home is not something that any of us look forward to. Anyway, it was good to chat with her and to hear her feistyness about all the things that she doesn't agree with. She is so full of life it is hard to believe that she is nearly 94yrs old! Sunday was a busy day...way more busy than a Sunday should be for us but we had no real plans so we just did everything that the boys suggested. Oh, at church we had an interesting moment when Lino raised his hand during one of the prayers to asking to accept Christ as his Savior. I knew he was raising his hand but didn't want to chastise him about it directly and didn't think they would take to much notice of it either but they did. At the end of the service a lady came up to talk to us and him about his desires to become a Christian. I didn't exactly know what to do. I didn't want to tell the lady that he is only a kid and didn't really know what he was raising his hand for or that he wasn't ready for this so we let her take him to the alter and talk to him. I think he realized pretty quickly that the little fun/game that he thought he was playing wasn't as fun as he thought but he kept face with the lady and discussed his desires with her. At the end she said that she would sign him up for classes to help him understand his decisions and to get someone to talk to him if he had more questions. I was not prepared. But let God have his way...lets see where this takes us. I think I was expecting or hoping for a big change in him but that didn't happen. But I am glad to know that he was listening during the service and that some of the message is actually getting through to him so that is good.
I didn't know you could do such work with sand and the boys were loving it too! It wasn't a very big exhibit but there were a bout 20 or so various Marvels super heros sculpted out of sand in huge displays. The boys have never seen anything like it and they were just in awe...so were we. So cool.
At the end of the general sculptures the artists had their own little area to create their own masterpieces. Not all of them were there when we were there but half of them were there and working so you could see how they did it. It looks like they start with a really big mound of sand and they start sculpting from the top down so that the sand doesn't fall in the wrong place. They use all kind of tools too to take the sand away or to add the sand in other places and they even have an industrial spray bottle that wets the sand or maybe seals it I couldn't tell. Just cool!
Comments
Post a Comment