Parenting on Purpose

One night, as I lay next to my wife in bed and considered why and how I loved her, I became overcome by a deep sense of love. This was something I had experienced years ago when I was convinced she was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was the same feeling I encountered when I looked into her eyes and declared my wedding vows in front of God and a body of witnesses. And it was this deep love from which I drew upon 10 precious principles I have held close to my heart.   Our wedding day. I will always remember that moment when I declared that I would take her to be my lawfully wedding wife from that day forward, to be parted only in death. 1) Listen to her heart. Consider important what she considers to be important. 2) Nourish her soul. Feed her with memories and experiences she will cherish. 3) Allow her to be herself. Do not seek to change her to be someone she is not. 4) Encourage her to pursue self care. Clear her schedule and make it happen. ...

The complete travels of the Lim Family (August to September 2018) Our epic adventure in America had come to an end. But our journey was not yet over. It was a relatively peaceful flight to Heathrow Airport in London, where we broke journey after the first leg of our long journey home. To the surprise of the boys, they were greeted by their Nai Nai and Ye Ye, who were waiting for us at the airport. It was then off for a delicious lunch at a traditional English pub followed by a whirlwind walk through the streets of Windsor. From there it was a short walk to Windsor Castle, originally built in the 11th Century by William the Conqueror. Arrival at Heathrow Airport, London. So thankful to Nai Nai, who took us on a London adventure, failing which we would have spent 9 hours in the airport. The boys were so happy to meet their Ye Ye and Nai Nai, and to spend a couple of hours with them in London. An enjoyable meal in a traditional English pub. A cool drink after ...

Enjoying our last sunset in America, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C. After a day of bad transport planning and a rather harrowing (not to mention tiring) experience walking from one Metro station to another, we  resolved to be more purposeful in our planning, and managed to figure out our transport arrangements better with the Spot Hero Parking App. This not only allowed us to find a good parking spot in the city, but also saved us time travelling on the Metro and from hours of aimless walking. We realised this actually helped to save us both time and money in our wanderings about the US Capital! National Building Museum Our 8yo is extremely interested in architecture, and we thought that a visit to the National Building Museum would be a treat for him. It was indeed a most interesting experience! One of our most interesting stops was the National Building Museum. This is where we learnt many new architectural, design and building-related concept...

Shenandoah National Park spans almost 200,000 acres (or 800 square kilometres) of land, and it occupies much of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In our short visit of three days, we had fallen in love with this beautiful natural paradise, which is home to many beautiful animals and plants. Besides the Appalachian Trail (which was detailed in the previous post ), we also got to enjoy a number of other experiences in the National Park. Big Meadows We first encountered Shenandoah as we enjoyed a picnic at the Big Meadows Campground, which is located just opposite Big Meadows. Apparently Big Meadows is home to the largest number of species of flora and fauna; some of which are not found anywhere else in the park!  We spend many moments wandering in the luscious wilderness wonderland, with both boys looking for creatures big and small. The Big Meadows Campground was the location for another spectacular encounter. Gentle and docile, wild deer roam freely in the park, and we were blesse...

What would you do? You live a fairly comfortable life. You work very hard, and you get to live in a fairly comfortable house. But it does not belong to you. And it never will. That’s the law. It’s been that way, and that’s the way it’ll always be. Then you hear about an opportunity to go away to a distant land. You know it’ll likely be very hard; and you may not live as comfortably as you’re living now. But you know that the land will be yours. For you and your descendants. Forever. When the Irish left for America in the 1700s, that was the dilemma that they faced. And a number of them chose to leave their fairly comfortable life in Ireland in hope of a better life in the newly discovered land of America. Life was hard, and the immigrants had to build their houses from scratch, but if they succeeded, they would be able to live in a place that they could call their own. That was what we learnt from the Frontier Culture Museum, an excellent museum which chronicles the life of early...

We got up bright and early and headed over to Showalter’s Orchard and Greenhouse. It was a bright sunny weekend morning, and a great time for apple picking! When we got to the orchard we were delighted to see rows upon rows of apple trees, each one laden with large, juicy apples. We hurried to get our little bags and decided to pick one peck of apples. Pecks and bushels are apparently imperial units of measurement for dry volume measurement and used especially for apples and other fruits - 1 peck is approximately 10-12 pounds (5 kilograms), or 32 medium apples, or 3-4 9 inch pies. As for 1 bushel, it is equal to 4 pecks. It was Golden Delicious and Stayman that were available for picking today, and we headed straight to the apple trees, picking and tasting the apples before choosing the really delicious ones from the trees. We learnt that there is a specific way to pick apples. You do not simply yank them off the tree with brute force, but instead hold each apple in the palm of y...