I had been thinking to get rid/sell some of the toys we have. Especially those toys that the kids have grown out of. Just then I put Esther's fisher price activity table on ebay, and was going to put another leap frog toy on there as well. BUT I changed my mind about that one. Mainly because it was one of the few that I bought for Jonathan since he's a baby and it would be really good for other babies who come to our place. So I am keeping it a bit longer. :D

Anyway, we actually hardly buy our kids toys! Yes, hard to believe when people come to our house and they see the amount of toys we got and must be thinking 'wow, the kids are really spoilt!' The fact is only 20% of the toys are purchased by us, 60% are presents from family and friends, another 20% are hand me down toys given by other generous parents. Dane's family have a habit of buying the kids toys in every occasion - Easter,  birthdays, Christmas and anytime in between. At Esther's 1st birthday, she received at least 5 big items from her auntie and another 3/4 things from Dane's mum. Then other things from family and friends. Maybe I should let them know to give 'money' instead and we can put it in the kids bank account! Just like the Chinese tradition of giving Ang Pow. However I do understand their point of views, it's their way of showing their love and they think it's their jobs to spoil the kids. They think giving money is rude and insincere so all I can say is "THANK YOU" and I hope the children will appreciate them.

I personally prefer to make fun using what we already have (such as boxes, bottles, and other bits and pieces of materials). It encourages the kids to use their imagination and creativity. We also buy lots of books for our kids. Being a teacher myself and understand the value of books and what they can offer, we make sure our children love books and read them. Esther can sit for at least 30 minutes by herself just looking through her favourite books. Jonathan loves listening to stories and he loves making up his own stories too. He also likes books on facts and often ask many questions. Nevertheless, we thank God that our children are learning to look after their toys and sharing them.

The Activity Table I put on ebay

 

The Playroom

We made our own book 'My visit to the Adelaide Zoo'.

Some of our collection of children books

Our boy has just turned 4 in August! We really thanked God for his goodness to us as parents. We are so blessed that Jonathan is healthy, bright, chatty, active and he loves the Lord Jesus. Here are some of the photos we took during his birthday week and Dane's parents and sister also visited us for a couple of days. It was so good to have them around!

The birthday celebration

 

Jonathan's 4th birthday cake made by wonderful daddy

The birthday boy with his present from Esther

 

Our trip to the Adelaide Zoo

  

Us at the Adelaide Zoo

We saw Wang Wang and Funi!

Aunty Mel with Esther

Jono and his favourite Aunty Mel

Esther enjoying cooking using our homemade stoves!

Jonathan the Explorer

I had been quite busy since started working again. Hence I only just have time to put up some photos we took in July.

 

Esther playing in the kitchen

Jonathan and daddy making yummy dinner

Esther playing with playdough

We started putting the kids in the same room. They slept well every night! And now we have a spare room for visitors.