little india

a stroll down little india

fun view from the vegetarian restaurant we ate at. i can't believe i'm saying this, but i've found that some of the best food here is vegetarian.
rice platter complete with banana leaf.
jessie and gage
it was so good, they tried to give us three. :)
freshly squeezed apple juice.

typical

ragamuffin mess vs preppy clean
love them both to pieces!

fabric

singapore has a really great selection of silk. other fabric is pretty expensive, and not really my style. my friend, jessie, told me to order fabric off of etsy. so, i did. i can't wait to start sewing!

ronald and friend

nap time

chinese class

michelle is our lǎo shī (teacher). she is so sweet and does this as a service project. she is so patient with us and an excellent teacher!
i love our wednesday morning classes.

goose-egg

never quite this bad, rhett usually has a bump or bruise (this time, both) on his forehead.

prom night

our ward is so much fun. everyone got dressed up. there were some awesome costumes outfits, lots of makeup and tons of "twisty" dancing. LOL!

oh baby! look at my hot date! i have never even seen this face before. his talents never cease to amaze me. and that mustache! whoo! good thing it's prom night.

p.s. this was our first date in 5 months. i had so much fun and laughed so hard.

fish spa

it tickles.
as my new friend, laurel said, "it feels like a dog is licking your toes."
it feels like tiny little electric shocks.
it definitely is worth the experience.
$10 for 1/2 hour :: qian hu fish farm






they also had tons of other cool fish and tours. i'll bring the boys back for sure.

orchids

i love orchids. they last forever and are so cheap here! can you believe that my first plant lasted two months before i swapped it out for another whopping $12 plant? {those glove socks always make me shudder a little}

bad day remedy

this blog makes it seem like life here is just peaches and cream.
the truth is that it's not.
my good days far outnumber my bad days. now. it's taken a while to get here. i get frustrated with things. i miss how things were...and mexican food.

i just choose to post about things that make me happy. when i look back, i don't want to remember how whiny i was, even if that's how i really am on monday, tuesday and thursday. who wants to be remembered that way? and while i've started many a cry me a river posts, i almost always delete them. that doesn't mean that i'm not crying a river to my poor husband, or therapuetically writing them down to get it out and then throwing it away.

so here, in my journal blog, the one that will be printed and bound, i will look back ten years from now and not remember how i wanted to break that indian guy's long, thin, witch-like finger when he stuck it centimeters away from rhett's nose and told him, "you're a naughty boy!" (okay. maybe that one i will remember since i wrote it just now. but it's one of many experiences i've had in singapore.)
but,
i will remember that i tried to give my kids unique experiences.
i will remember who my kids were at this age.
i will remember that i was content.
i will remember that it's important to be happy with who you are and what your circumstances may be, even though others may blatantly judge you otherwise.

it's not fake or phony. my blog posts are what i want to remember.
because ultimately life is good, especially with mint slices and tim tams.

and thank you jessie for introducing me. :)

he has my heart

ty is a sweet, sweet child.

i'm lucky to be his primary teacher at church. one sunday, the lesson was on service. we talked about different ways to serve. we cut out hearts and they were supposed to give their hearts away when they did an act of service.

going to the grocery store is kind of a big deal. i stock up on items, since i really only get to the store once a week. i had the boys with me the day i went. when we got home, ty was so helpful, even giddy, and insistent on bringing all the bags up by himself. and there were a lot. however, he did let me help him with the 3 heavy bags of fresh juice though.

that night as i was going to sleep, i found this:

his sweet heart on my pillow. gosh, i just love this kid!

jumbo and ben&jerry's

duck and mango salad
this kid loves fried rice
black pepper crab...mmmm...
where's lindz when i need her? :)


splurge at ben & jerry's. it was deepavali weekend after all. check out those prices!

so excited for ice cream!
i'm a sucker for mud pie.

mosquito fogger

singapore zoo

i've never really been a zoo person.
i don't know.
my poor kids, i guess it's never been fun for me to go look at the animals.
i wasn't expecting this experience to be any different. but...it was!

and even though it was deepavali (a national holiday) weekend and took forever to get in, it was great! there were tons of people, but also tons of zoo too. the layout is an open concept and it seems like the animals are so close to you. it's pretty neat. we hardly scratched the surface of things to do here on this visit.
the boys loved it!

looking at the alligators below. i love how there is a life preserver just in case...
token mom + flamingo picture
getting a better view of some monkeys







my favorite photo of the day. those faces! these kids crack me up.i can not believe i didn't get one shot of the water park there. it is incredible! i'll be sure to snap one the next time we go. :)