Fresh Air host families are volunteers who live in the suburbs or small town communities in the US.

Host families range in size, ethnicity and background, but share the desire to open their hearts and homes to give city children an experience they will never forget. Hosts say the Fresh Air experience is as enriching for their own families, as it is for the inner-city children.

There are no financial requirements for hosting a child. Volunteers may request the age-group and gender of the Fresh Air youngsterthey would like to host.

If you are keen to find out more, click on the banner below! There’s only 1 week left to sign up!

I suppose most of us are familiar with Orange Julius.

But to my son, if I tell him, “Remember the Orange Julius story”, it means he needs to try out something new.

The story began like this:

My son loves sweet drinks, as all kids would. One day after church, he asked if he could have his beloved Iced Lemon Tea (in a can). Recalling that he has been having quite a few of these canned drinks in the last two days, my wife and I resisted.

But we offered him a healthier and tastier alternative, Orange Julius. Now until then, he has not tried Orange Julius and he did not show any desire to do so, craving only for his canned drink.

We cajoled him by telling him what a great juice it was, and he would definitely prefer it to the canned Iced Lemon Tea once he had tasted it. But he was adamant that he still wanted his Iced Lemon Tea, and not Orange Julius which he had not tried before.

We also continued cajoling and the negotiation went back and forth until we gave him the ultimatum ,”Orange Julius or nothing!”

He had no choice and relented. Needless to say, he enjoyed that very first sip of Orange Julius, and the second sip and the third…and the whole drink

So when he finished we told him, “See! What a great waste if you had not tried this! Always give things a try, if you don’t like them eventually, at least you have tried and know you don’t like them.”

So now whenever he shows any signs of reluctance in trying new things/drinks, we’ll remind him, “Remember the Orange Julius story?”

In line with our earlier post on “Where is your ideal summer vacation?”, this video looks like great rustic fun for city kids!

Thanks for your inputs, Donald, Bk and Affection! I myself am thinking where to bring my parents and my own little family of three to. Tough to think of an ideal location where young (my 4 year old son) and old (my 70 yr old parents) can equally enjoy.

I know it is winter still for the folks in the northern hemisphere. I am just getting a little ahead of time here and would actually like to know where do city parents usually bring their city children to during the summer holidays?

How do you identify or determine where to go and what to do?

My guess is to bring the kids to somewhere to enjoy some Fresh Air! No, it should be a lot of Fresh Air! To roll on grass, run by the beach, smell the flowers, etc… Or on the other hand, it could be determined by where we the parents desire to go

For those of us who can afford it, we would even bring them to another country and experience the diversity of life on earth. Who doesn’t like to travel anyway?!

Where is your ideal summer vacation for you and/or your kids?

I am a sucker for Dream-comes-true stories.

Bring out your tissues and watch Charisse Pempengco sings with her idol Celine Dion at Madison Square.  Charisse is magnificent as is Celion Dion magmanimous. Wonderful.

“Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true”
~ Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)

I don’t know about you, but I was so so touched when I watched this.

Susan Boyle epitomises the very song she sang – I Dream A Dream – in the recent audition in “Britain’s Got Talent”

What can we teach our kids, or for the matter, ourselves about her amazing adventure?

NEVER STOP DREAMING.

PS: I seldom watch TV these days, but I am absolutely hooked on the this show after watching some SPLENDID auditions on the show’s website.

Check out my current top  4 :
- Shaheen Jafargholi
- Flawless
- Julian Smith

& of course,  SUSAN BOYLE.

PSS : For a talent-hunt show, I find it amazingly touching. Enjoy.

(written by footywife)

To continue from my husband’s previous post…

The next day or so we were spending family time together in the living room. My husband again prompted my little son to pray for a sibling. To which my little son retorted with annoyance, “Prayed already!!! God-God is making in heaven now.”

And that kind of settled the issue for my little son. As far as he was concerned, he had prayed and that was it. Period. He needed to pray no more.

He continued playing with his toys.

The simple faith of a little child.

(written by footywife)

Last week was school holidays in Singapore and my little son invited his good friend over to our place to play.

As we were walking towards the carpark (to fetch his friend over to our place), my little son queried whether his friend’s parents would be coming along.  “No”, I told him, “They are working”.

“Why are you not working?” my little son asked.

I was stunned momentarily, struggling to find a neutral answer so as not to take sides on whether parents should or should not work.

“I need to take care of you”, I finally blurted out, hoping that would satisfy him.

“You are a good mama”, my little son declared, much to my surprise.  “Because you take care of the children”, he continued.

That was really heartwarming to hear and really made my day.

The blog community is really a good place to find good online friends, despite the perils of “big bad wolves” hanging around to prey on the unsuspecting.

I certainly feel so after The Gentle Snail decided to award our blog with a award for Great Attitude and Gratitude. Erm…not sure how I got it, but guess what, the essence of my joy lies in the fact I’ve found friends who are here to support and encourage one another.

And that is something I shall try to teach my children (believing faithfully God will Bless us with at least another one ) about – that is to always be an motivating & encouraging light to the friends around him/her.

Thanks Clarisse for reminding me the lesson.

I actually wrote this song about 2 years back. It’s a shame I haven’t really share it much since.

Apart from procrastination, there was also a feeling of inadequacy like, “are you sure people will like this song?” etc. But I am going to throw all those feelings away and rejoice in who God has made me to be, and share the song that He has put in my heart. So what better time than to share this than Christmas Day!

So here you go! Hope you enjoy it anyway
PS: yes that’s my voice, my “need-to-improve” guitar playing, and my own editing too!

SHOW ME YOUR WAYS (Psalm 25)

Close our eyes
Close our eyes
Close our eyes to the temporary glory of men

Build our lives
And fix our eyes
Fix them on the Glory of Our LORD

(repeat)

chorus
O LORD Show Me Your Ways
Teach Me Your Paths
And Guide Me In Your Truths
For You Are My GOD
My Saviour
And My Hope Is In You Eternally

bridge
I wouldn’t be what I am
If not for you who’ve shown me the truth
I wouldn’t be where I am
If not for you, if not for you