Abby is in Prep!

31.1.15 (Sat)

It was already the last day of the month! Time flies!

Finally, Abby started going to school after a long break from Kindy in Malaysia. She went to Prep at Macgregor State School (one of the top 3 state schools in Brisbane) on 27th Jan 2015. In Brisbane, you go to the school  that is under your location catchment. We are lucky that we fell under the Macgregor State School catchment!

So, during school days, I have to wake up by 7am and get ready her breakfast and lunch box. By 8.10am, all 3 of us (Abby, Ian and me) will start walking to the school, about 15mns walk. (Hubby goes to work with the car) Thanked God that the weather was good except for Wed (28/1) that it was drizzling. With no choice, Abby has to take the small umbrella while Ian and I shared the big umbrella.

The class door will be open at 8.45am and all the students need to place their water bottle in a basket prepared outside the class and is allowed to bring in one snack for break. There are 25 students in Abby's class and she is in the Diamond group. She is in Prep G and G stands for Guppy. The teacher is very thoughtful to prepare a small aquarium with some guppy fishes inside. And there is also a reward system where the student gets a guppy sticker when he/she does something good, 10 guppies = 1 reward. So, for the first 4 days of school, Abby collected 9 guppies and one more to go to claim her reward.

Everyday after school, she has so much to share with me on whats happening in class. We knew that the Australia education system is different from Malaysia. They hardly have any homeworks to do. The classroom setting is like a mini playhouse - with book corners, kitchen set, computers etc. No wonder Abby said she loves going to school!

信仰的力量：80亿美元家产捐得一干二净

他已76岁，和妻子居住在美国旧金山的一套一居室的出租屋里。他从来没有穿过名牌衣服，眼镜破旧不堪，佩戴的手表是地摊上的塑料手表。他不爱美食，最喜欢的是价格低廉的烤奶酪西红柿三明治。他没有自己的小汽车，外出通常都是乘坐公交车，他曾经的公文包是个布袋。

另外，如果你和他一起到小酒馆喝上一杯啤酒，他一定会仔细核对账单；如果你住在他家里，睡觉前他一定会提醒你把灯关了。

一个贫穷而吝啬的美国老头有什么好说的？那么让我们看看他76岁以前都做了哪些事。

他曾为康奈尔大学捐献了5.88亿美元，为加州大学捐献了1.25亿美元，为斯坦福大学捐献了6000万美元。他曾投入10亿美元，改造和新建了爱尔兰的7所大学和北爱尔兰的两所大学。他曾建立慈善基金为发展中国家的腭裂儿童做手术提供免费的医疗费用……迄今为止，他已经捐出40亿美元，还有40亿美元等待捐献。

他就是全球免税集团DFS的创始人——对己吝啬、待人大方、喜欢挣钱却不喜欢拥有钱的查克•费尼。目前，查克•费尼还有三个愿望：一是在2016前捐光剩下的40亿美元，否则死不瞑目。现在，这笔钱正以每年超过4亿美元的速度流向世界各地需要的地方。另一个是为富豪们树立一个榜样一一“在享受生活的同时做出馈赠”。比尔盖茨和沃伦巴菲特深受他的影响并已付诸行动。

查克·费尼的善举被披露出来后，大量记者涌向他的居住地，当时，大家心中都有一个疑问：查克·费尼在亿万资产面前是如何做到如此淡然的？

面对大家的疑惑，查克·费尼微笑着给大家讲了个故事，他说：“一只狐狸看到葡萄园里结满了果实，想到园中美餐一顿，可是它太胖了，钻不进栅栏。于是它三天三夜不饮不食，使身体瘦下去，终于钻进去了！饱餐一顿，心满意足，可是，当它要离开的时候，又钻不出来了。无奈，它只好故伎重演，三天三夜不饮不食。结果，它出来的时候，肚子还是跟进去时一样。”

讲完这个故事，查克·费尼说：“上帝那里没有银行，每个人都是赤裸裸地诞生，最后又孑然而去，没有人能带走自己一生苦苦经营的财富与盛名!”

媒体追问查克•费尼，为何非要捐得一干二净？

他的回答很简单，因为:“裹尸布上没有口袋”。

Abigail's 5th Birthday Celebration

11.12.14 (Thurs)

Last Sat (6/12), we organised a mini thanksgiving lunch to celebrate Abby's upcoming 5th birthday. We only invited three families to join us. Unfortunately, one of the family couldn't make it. Nonetheless, we thanked God for a good fellowship with our guests.

Abby knew about this thanksgiving lunch few weeks ago and she was really excited about it. She even made a mark on her calendar on the important event and counting down each day.

On Fri (5/12), I started preparing some of the things for the party, especially baking her birthday cake. This year, I decided to bake her a Barbie doll cake. I googled some ideas on youtube and hopefully with my baking skills, I am able to bake the cake. Besides the Barbie doll cake, I also baked some carrot walnut cake in muffin cup and also the cake in the egg shell. You may click here for the Barbie doll cake recipe.

Then, on Sat itself, I woke up around 6am for another round of cooking  marathon.  I have prepared:
Fried meehun

Rice with salmon fish, green peas and egg

Japanese curry chicken

Chicken mushroom soup

Mixed vegetables

Thanked God that it rained in the morning and stopped before the guests arrived. We had a good time chatting with each other, laughing together over silly jokes and the kids, happily playing around the house. Food were too much to finish. 

Highlight of the day - the Barbie doll cake. Glad that the cake turned out to be beautiful and I was proud of myself. Abby liked the cake very much. In fact, after blowing the candle, I put back the cake into the fridge so that I can admired my 'masterpiece' a lil longer before 'crashing' it! Haha.

Abby received some presents. We told her to open the presents on her actual birth date and she agreed. 

On 12.12.14, we had another birthday party for Abby - just the 4 of us. I baked a mini rainbow cake for her and Ian sang a lovely birthday song for JieJie. Finally, Abby can unwrap all her presents!

 

100 days Thanksgiving Day #62 to #92

100 days Thanksgiving Day #92:
Today is the last day of year 2014 and our first New Year Eve in Brisbane. We purposely took a train to South Bank (very happening place in Brisbane) just to watch the 10mins fireworks show. Abby and Ian were very excited as it was their first train experience and second fireworks show. Tomorrow will be a brand new day, a brand new year! May God bless all of you! Happy New Year!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #90 & #91:
These few days, weather was unpredictable. Been raining for 3 days, and today, weather was super hot! On one hand, I prayed for sunny day to dry up my clothes, but on the other, I also prayed for rainy days to cool down the weather! God must be having 'headache', thinking how to have my prayers answered,
Tonight was the last choir practice of the year. Only 9 choir members turned up. I wanted to thank all the choir conductors for their commitments and passions in serving Him.

Today, I kept hearing Ian singing some Sunday School songs. Though he couldn't pronounced the words accurately but I knew what he was singing about and I felt so touched! (Only Mothers can understand how I felt!) Now, both Abby & Ian can do a duet!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #88 & #89:
It has been raining for the past few days, felt like Winter than Summer. No doubt rainy days are very nice and cooling, but I am praying for sunny day tomorrow so that my clothes will be dry! Also praying for Air Asia flight no. QZ8501, may God send His Angels to search for the plane and all the people on board are safe!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #87:
Spent my first boxing day with my very first English breakfast in Brisbane. The food portion was big that I had to skip my lunch, hehe. Thanks AiHoi Lin for spending 4d3n with us. Enjoy the rest of ur vacation in Melb!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #86:
Merry Christmas to all! It's our first Christmas in Brisbane and we were glad to have my sister, celebrating with us. After the church service, we spent the rest of the day at home. (Christmas is a public holiday here and most of the shops, including the mall are closed) After dinner, we went to a shop for not-so-delicious dessert. I still prefer the dessert in Malaysia. Am gonna write down a list of MUST EAT food when we are back next Feb!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #85:
It's Christmas Eve and we had a great day!
Day: Took my sister to the mall for some shopping.
Night: Christmas Eve celebration at church - love feast and short sharing. I grilled 2kg of BBQ chicken wings and also bake blueberry muffin with Christmas deco.
And, also went to Brisbane City Hall to experience our first Christmas moments. I think the Council had done a brilliant job in making the city filled with Christmas joy and love.
Merry Christmas to all! 


100 days Thanksgiving Day #83 & #84:
It's Christmas week! And Christmas this yea, we welcomed a VIP from Malaysia to celebrate with us! Though there were some hu-ha in the airport but thanked God, He is in control. VIP arrived safely and Abby was so excited!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #82:
Relaxing Sunday. Today, a big ant bit me (I was wearing my jeans and didn't realise an ant crawled inside) and it was so painful! Thanked goodness it's not fire ant!
Though Ian couldn't read now, but he likes books. Often, he will sit down on the floor with a pile of books. He will flip them page by page or ask me/Hubby to read for him. Today, Hubby had read three books for him and he was happy! Hopefully, soon, Ian can read for us. On the other hand, Abby likes to sing. She could memorise the whole song of 'Away in the manger' and God blessed her with angelic voice. I love listening to her singing!


100 days Thanksgiving Day #81:
Happy Saturday! We went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (ranked #2 of #131 attractions in Brisbane) and really wanted to thank God for such a beautiful weather. This place was really well maintained, all animals were well kept/fed and highly recommended for family outing, especially with children! Both Abby & Ian had so much fun, including myself! Then, we ended the day with a sumptuous dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

100 days Thanksgiving Day #79 & #80:
Today marked the 7 months of our new life here in Brisbane. God has been faithful to us and life is getting better and better each day. Never in my mind that I would start a new life in a foreign country. Give thanks to God and also my Hubby, who persistently applied for the PR. The kids are having fun here. Ever since we came here, they have been buying lots of books and toys (which we will not do so in Msia). Tomorrow is another exciting day as we are going to visit the Koala and Kangaroo!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #78:
Hot hot day! So, I brought the kids to the mall for some school holidays activities and also to the library. Today, Abby & Ian had the chance to decorate their own Christmas sock with magic colours. And, we met Santa again, hehe. So each of them got another book from Santa! I also borrowed some books, hopefully could try out some recipes there.

100 days Thanksgiving Day #77:
Wow, two more weeks, year 2014 will come to an end!
Today, the kids received a loving parcel from Singapore - all toys! Finally Abby got her very first "Elsa" doll that can sing "Let it go" and Ian got his favourite Lego car! Many thanks to AiLee Lin.
And, I got to know my mum was being robbed (necklace and pendant) by an Indian guy during her morning walk. Thanked God she was not hurt. Pray that God will look after our family members back home. 

100 days Thanksgiving Day #76:
It has been raining for few days and I couldn't dry my clothes. Thanked God for answering prayer. Finally, "Miss Sunshine" came back to work! However, I also pray that it will rain on and off in order to cool down the weather.

100 days Thanksgiving Day #75:
Beautiful Sunday! Abby & Ian had a great time at the Sunday School Christmas party. Thanked God that Ian can now go to SS independently. After church, we went to a church friends' house, about 40mins drive, for Christmas gathering. The host has prepared yummylicious food. We had a another round of wonderful fellowship with one another. I was telling Hubby, this weekend we ate too much yummy food, especially meat (duck, chicken, beef, lamb, turkey, fish) So tonight, we just had vegetable for dinner. 

100 days Thanksgiving Day #73 & #74:
Have been very busy baking these two days - for Abby's birthday and also CG Christmas party.
Yesterday I baked a mini rainbow cake for Abby's actual birth date. Ian sang a birthday song for JieJie. Abby also opened up all her presents (I asked her to open only on her birthday) and she liked them all. At night, we went to Hakataya (Kid's favourite noodle shop) for noodle again coz Abby got a free noodle on her birthday!
Today, I baked a Butter Chocolate Cream Cheese cake (very popular recipe on Baking's Corner, credit to Enne Ty) for Cg Christmas party. The remaining batter I made it into mini cupcake, decorated into a Christmas tree! Though it was time consuming, but I was very happy with my masterpiece.

 

100 days Thanksgiving Day #72:
Thanked God for the rain that cools down the weather.
Same day 5 years ago, around this hour (11pm+), I remembered clearly that my water bag burst and was admitted to hospital. Hubby just came back from outstation and with God's amazing arrangement, Abby was born the next day, with PaPa witnessing the whole process.

Today, I baked her another birthday cake, now chilling in the fridge. Abby is having flu now. I asked her to sleep early, to get more rest so that she can enjoy her birthday tomorrow. She obeyed and went to bed at 9pm. Pray for speedy recovery.

100 days Thanksgiving Day #70 & #71:
Yesterday was another minor hail storm but thanked God, we were not affected. However, choir practice has been postponed to tonight. One of the choir member brought his son tonight, so, both Abby & Ian were running around with their new friend, hence, making noises! I thanked my choir members for their tolerance and that the practice went on smoothly.
Today in the noon, I brought the children to the library. We met Santa! Both Abby and Ian were invited to have a chat with Santa. Surprisingly, Ian was not afraid of Santa this round and he was quite chatty. Santa gave both of them a book each as present.
  
100 days Thanksgiving Day #68 & #69:
Brand new week. Yesterday I was asked to help out with refreshments for the night church service. I baked carrot walnut cupcakes again and was told that they liked it.
Today, I cooked a simple dinner - fried noodles. I thanked God for my Hubby and children coz they eat anything and everything that I cooked and seldom have complaints. Sometimes, the children even praised me, "Mummy, you are the best COOK ever!" Haha..

100 days Thanksgiving Day #66 & #67:
Thanked God I survived! Yesterday, I was very busy baking for Abby's birthday thanksgiving lunch today. I baked 18pcs carrot walnut cupcakes, 12 cakes in the egg shell and the Barbie doll's cake (shaped like a skirt)
Then this morning, woke up 6am for another round of cooking marathon. Prepared 2 main courses (fried meehoon, salmon rice), Japanese curry chicken, chicken mushroom soup and a vege. Also decorated the Barbie doll cake. It was ...not as easy as I thought it would be or what I saw on youtube. But thanked God, the cream cheese frosting turned out to be nice and Abby liked it. We also had a great time chatting with our guests.

At night, we went up to the North side of Brisbane to meet up a friend from Perth! Another round of great meet up session over yummylicous Thai food.
All in all, an eventful day. Though I was really tired and exhausted, but most importantly, Abby was very happy today!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #65:
Ever since I joined the FB Group Page Baking's Corner, I got lots of baking inspirations and ideas from all the passionate bakers around the world! Today, I tried making the Apple Juice Jelly like Beer (credit to Fiona Lau) and it was great! Hubby even got tricked thinking it was real beer. The children liked it.
Tomorrow will be a busy day for me. I need to start preparing for Abby's 5th birthday thanksgiving lunch on Sat. Planned to bake a Barbie doll cake and carrot walnut cake in muffin cups. Hopefully the Barbie doll cake turns out to be what I imagined, else, better!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #63 & #64:
Praised God for good weather these few days. Also wanted to thank God for His wonderful creations. Looked at the avocados on the tree and the beautiful flowers in the garden. According to my landlord, it's not the right time to pluck the avocados as they can grow bigger. So I need to be patient.

I am also happy to hear news that we will be expecting guests from Malaysia soon!

100 days Thanksgiving Day #62:
Happy December and welcome Summer! Abby is much more excited than me as she has been counting down since Nov to her 5th birthday in 2 weeks time. Thanked God for our lovely daughter. She is my best helper at home, helping with some light house chores, taking care of Ian etc. She is also a very good song composer. Many a times, she sang to me her very own self-composed song and I must admit, the songs are good. Pray that she will adapt well in Prep next year and be a bright student!