I'm a full-time mummy

I'm a Christian (baptised since 2005) and although I think there are spirits, I don't think we should be scared of them as our God is more powerful than anything. I do believe in heaven and hell and that after we passed away, it's either heaven or hell.

Chinese people have a belief that after someone passed away, within the first 49 days, they will dream of their loved ones (the one who passed away) and some even reported that by the 49th day, the spirit will come back home for the last time before they moved on.

When my dad passed away in April 2006, I dreamt of him in the first week after he passed away. He was resting on his bed in our old flat, he looked so at peace and he wore all white. So white that it was shining bright. And yet, I could see his legs all straight and in good condition. You see, my dad had gout for decades and because of that, his legs are crooked and his knuckles are swollen in certain places as well. But in my dream, he looked perfect and was in his prime age (around 40-ish). I was so happy to see him in that condition.

When my mum passed away in January 2007, my first dream of her was quite disturbing and I woke up crying for her. In that dream, my mum was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees together and just crying and rocking her body to and fro. I also saw her brothers and sisters (my uncles and aunts - all still alive now) in the dream but it was just my mum in the dream, moving and crying because the chair she sat on broke, her siblings ignored her and I woke up feeling sorry for her.

The next dream I had of her (still within the 49 days), she was sitting in this white colored luxurious car (sorry don't know brand, I only remember it was long and looks like a convertible which is a rare sight in Malaysia). So anyway, I was just staring at my mum in the car, and she was waving her right hand, smiling so happily as if she's going to a better place (which I chose to believe she is).

Now, why I'm mentioning this in my post today is because I was having a conversation with hubby and his sister few days back and I mentioned to them about my dream when their dad (aka my FIL) passed away in Dec 2003. I was still dating my hubby then and I stayed overnight at hubby's house the day his dad passed away to help out with the funeral arrangements the day after.

In my dream, hubby's dad told me something and I've so far only casually mentioned this once to one of his family members. But the recent case where I mentioned this to hubby and his sister, I learned that the same message I was told by his dad in my dream was what his dad said when he was dying. I only got to hubby's place a few hours after his dad passed away so I absolutely had no idea what his dad said before he passed away and to be honest, hubby only mentioned this few days ago.

I was shocked to hear that... as it is so eerily creepy to find out what I dreamed of is what he heard in reality.

So back to my topic today... dream after death... is it the truth or mind tricks? I chose to believe it's the truth...

Now that I've learned to make a few soup from the recipes shared by my hubby, I love it! I love that I'm finally cooking something for the family (instead of just for my kiddos) and I love seeing my children slurping the soup.

One obvious reason I'm very determined to make soup is my 17 months old girl loves to eat rice. And when I said rice, I meant, plain rice. No matter how you add in chunks or pieces of meat or tofu or eggs or veggies, she will just pushed those aside and eat... RICE. When I first highlighted this to hubby, he said 'All the more you need to make soup so you can pour the soup over her rice and she still gets the goodness of the soup!'

I don't believe it at first. I've always believe that soup is just water boiled for hours with meats and veggies inside. Just water. Then hubby told me that when you boil meat bones (such as pork or chicken) with vegetables, the marrows from the bones will retain in the soup and we get the nutrients from the soup after that. You can read more on the benefits on bone broth/soup here.

I was convinced then and so far, I've made soup 4 times and everytime, my kids finished their meals. And the following morning, I use the leftover soup as the base when I cooked noodles as breakfast for my kiddos. Which they happily eat finish and even slurped all the soup away. Beats making anchovy soup to be honest! And my almost 4 years old boy telling me 'Mmmm... mummy the soup is nice! I love it!' is just wonderful!

I was so determined to make soups more often for the family (at least 3 times a week is my target) that one day, I woke up early and told hubby to watch after the kiddos (still asleep) while I hurried off to the nearest wet market and bought about 2 weeks supply of pork bones to make soup. I was so desperate to get the pork bones that I even parallel parked my car successfully (after 2 rounds around the market area and couldn't find a nice parking spot and yes, I really failed at parallel parking) because time is running out (scared kiddos awake, scared no more pork bones left).

Anyway, I got what I wanted and am very happy that I'm finally learning to cook for the family (soups for now), slow start but better than nothing right?

I mentioned before that we are big fans of "Little Critter" apps and the last app we reviewed are the "Little Critter Collection #1", "Just a Mess", "Just Go to Bed" and "Just Going to the Dentist". So the moment I saw the words "Little Critter" in the latest Oceanhouse Media's press release in my email inbox, I remembered blogging about stepping out of my comfort zone early this year. Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Just Shopping with Mom
* Price: $0.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Jan 30, 2013
* Version: 2.1
* Size: 33.5 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Little Critter goes shopping with his family which turns into an eventful day. While at the grocery store, his little sister becomes upset when she can't buy candy, makes a big mess by pulling items off of the shelf and then gets lost in the store. The next stop is the mall to find a dress for his little sister. Finally, Little Critter's patience pays off when mom finds a fun way to end the day!"

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

* I like the storyline where it tells how Little Critter go for a shopping trip with his mummy and little sister and the events that unfolded during the trip.

* I used the opportunity in this story app to teach my almost 4 years old boy that we need to be patient if we want something, to always behave, to stay close to mummy when he is out and to help look after and protect his little sister as well.

You can purchase the "Just Shopping with Mom" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"