michael jordan-O

last night, espn was showing a classic chicago bulls vs. utah jazz finals game. i cannot remember from which season/year it was. although, i do remember watching it when i was in college which was uhmm about uhmm xx years ago hahaha.

anyway, i thought it was a great opportunity for me to introduce to my 2 boys the greatest basketball player ever, at least for me. so, i called the boys and told them "look here, that's michael jordan. he's the greatest basketball player, ever!"

miggy asked me, "which one, mama?"

i answered, "there he is! do you know that miguel is michael in english? and his name is michael."

miggy was in awe, "really? his name is michael?"

"yes, he's michael." i said.

i didn't know that gabie was really paying attention to me, he's only 4 so i don't really think he'd be interested. that's why i was surprised when he suddenly blurted out ...

"no, mama! that's jordan!"

yeah, right! so much for me wanting to introduce mj to my boys hahaha

then, i remembered about the new shoes i bought the boys last sunday ...

"ei, miggy, do you know that your new shoes is a jordan shoes?", i said.

"what? do you mean, jordan-O?" hahaha he meant giordano.


^_^

PHOTOHUNT: favorite

for this week's photohunt, i'm introducing ... jollibee!

if the world has mcdonald's, the philippines have jollibee. jollibee is the philippines' answer to mcdonald's. and in the philippines, it's even bigger than mcdonald's. especially to the kids. you ask a filipino child what he/she prefers, jollibee or mcdonald's. i bet the answer would be jollibee. i guess it's because it caters well to the filipino taste.

this photo was taken when we visited the philippines in march 2008. it was the first time for gabie and mikee to go to the philippines. and miggy has not been home in 5 years, so it's like a first for him, too. and this is their first time to meet the most popular bee in the philippines.

you can see how mikee is looking at jollibee as if she's sizing him up. and see gabie's hesitation about taking his photo with the bee. i guess, in his mind, he's thinking: why would i want to have a photo with this strange looking bee???

anyway, after 2 weeks in the philippines and eating jollibee for almost every day haha, gabie kept on asking for jollibee's macaroni soup which he loved so much. since there's no jollibee outlet here in singapore, he just have to wait till next year when we go back for the christmas holidays. yes, he still needs to wait for a whole year to have another taste of everyone's favorite :)


^_^

LITRATONG PINOY: mahalagang regalo

this week's litratong pinoy theme is mahalagang regalo. regalo is gift in english. depending on how it is used, mahalaga could have a number of translations. it could be important or valuable or expensive. so for my take on this week's theme, mahalagang regalo is an expensive gift.

last christmas, i gave gabie a nintendo ds lite with about 50 different games. he loved it so much that it would always be by his side. even when he goes to school, he'd always have it in his bag. he won't take it out in school, but it has to be in his bag. he'd throw tantrums if i won't let him bring it to school. actually, it serves as his "pacifier". he's always playing with it. his favorite game is pokemon and super mario 64, of course. mine is cooking mama haha.

as expected, after one year of daily usage (with a lot of banging, falling, ang tossing, as well -- go figure), the ds has finally retired. it is broken now and can't be used anymore.

now, since it served as gabie's pacifier, without it, gabie has been throwing a lot of tantrums lately. because of this, hubby and i are thinking of buying another one for him this christmas. we're still undecided, though. it's too expensive a gift. two christmases in a row. oh dear!

******

ang tema ng litratong pinoy sa linggong ito ay mahalagang regalo. ang mahalagang regalo ay maaaring regalo na importante. pwede din naman na regalong malaki ang halaga o mamahalin. at ito ang napili kong ibahagi sa linggong ito.

noong nakaraang pasko, niregaluhan namin si gabie ng nintendo ds lite na merong 50 games. love na love nya ang laruang ito. kahit saan siya pumunta ay dala niya ito. kahit sa school, dinadala niya ito. kelangan lagi itong nasa bag niya. nagwawala sya kapag hindi ko pinapadala ang ds niya. para kasing pacifier o pampatahan nya ang laruang ito. lagi nya itong nilalaro. siyempre pa, ang paborito nyang games ay pokemon at super mario 64. ang akin ay cooking mama haha.

pero, gaya ng inaasahan, matapos ang isang taon ng paglalaro, pagpapasa-pasahan, pukpukan, at bagsakan, e bumigay na din ang ds ni gabie. sira na ito. hindi na ito gumagana.

dahil wala na ang ds, madalas na umiiyak at nagwawala si gabie ngaun. wala na ang pacifier nya. kaya medyo nag-iisip kami ng asawa ko na ibili na lang siya ng bago ngayong darating na pasko. pero, pinag-iisipan pa din namin. masyado kasing malaki ang halaga e. dalawang magkasunod na pasko din yun ha!


^_^

Silly Monkey Story: see a doctor, mama!

last friday, i was wearing sandals that have very slippery soles. on my way to work, i slipped and landed on my knee. i ended up with a 1in bruise on my knee.

today, again, i was wearing the same pair of sandals. and again, slipped and landed on the same knee! but it was worse this time. last friday, at least, i was with my hubby so he was able to help soften the fall. today, i was with friends and we were walking and chatting when it happened. i fell badly on my knees and although i was wearing a pair of slacks, i had abrasions on my knee and an even bigger bruise, about 2in diameter.

when i came home, and after changing my clothes, mikee saw the boo-boo on my knee. and here's our little chat about it ...

mikee: mama, what happened your knee?
me: i slipped!
mikee: oh, you have a boo-boo!
me: yes, i do.
mikee: now, you have to see a doctor, mama. you go now. but don't be scared, okay? it's just a doctor. you don't have to be scared of doctor, mama. okay?

haha now the baby is comforting her mommy!

^_^

jingle bells

it's only 17 days to go before christmas and here's a song that gabie sings whenever he's in a christmassy mood ...

jing-gabriel!
jing-gabriel!
jingle all the way ...
oh, what fun it is to ride
in a one horse open sleigh!

gabie's real name is gabriel :) and no, i didn't teach him that song. i just heard him singing it and i just can't help but smile to myself ...


^_^

gab the builder

when gabie was about 2 years old, he was a big fan of bob the builder. on his 2nd birthday, the theme was, you guessed it, bob the builder. but i kind of tweaked it a bit and made it gab the builder. that was a fun party for him.

now, almost 2 years later, thomas and friends has already replaced bob the builder in his heart. but, i think gab the builder still fits gabie very well. he simply loves building/making bigger things out of small things. i'm impressed with his imagination and creativity.

let me tell you something about gabie. you see, he started talking only around mid of this year. he is almost four now. no. actually, he started talking about 2 years ago. but, he talked german :D nobody could ever understand a word he was saying. not even me. and it's not that he doesn't talk much. because he did. he talked a lot. but in german. that's when my friend told me about an old wives tale that says kids who started talking quite late are intelligent, if not geniuses. my friend had a cousin who started talking only when he was about 3 or 4 years old, who grew up almost like a nerd. so she sort of believes that tale. well, for me, it is what it is: an old wives tale.

though sometimes, that tale sort of creeps into my mind whenever i see the things that gabie creates or builds out of assorted things or toys.

oh, and puzzles! he is very good with puzzles. i bought him a box of puzzles consisting of about 5 to 8 different puzzles for kids. each puzzle consists of about 8 to 10 parts. even if all the parts of all those puzzles are mixed together, gabie amazes me by solving all the puzzles without any help!

i'm not expecting to have a genius son, don't get me wrong on that. but like any mother, i just can't help but feel happy and proud whenever i see my gabie do these amazing things.




^_^

Silly Monkey Stories: my little fashionista pt 2

what do you think about mikee's clothes? nothing fancy, right? really nothing to rave about. but, do you see that pink ribbon tied around her waist? that doesn't really come with this sundress.

you see, when i came home from work today, that little ribbon caught my attention. when i saw it, i thought "oh dear. it seems i do have a little fashionista!"

i can imagine her finding that ribbon and asking ate j to tie it around her waist. no, i think forcing would be a more appropriate word. but then again, she might have tied it around her waist all by herself :D




^_^

PHOTOHUNT: metal

last week, i learned from miggy that the lady cleaner of our building gave mikee a hello kitty tin box and a small stuffed duck toy. i thought, wow she's really nice to give mikee those things.

then, i learned that my mom won't let mikee touch those things. my mom said that, yes, this lady is very fond of mikee. but she is concerned that those stuff may not be clean. I mean they are clean, but not clean, as in clean. my mom was concerned that maybe those stuff were thrown away by the other tenants in our building and that the lady could have taken it and reserved it form mikee. at first, i thought, that may not be true. how can anyone give a little child something that she just picked from the rubbish bin, right?

then, i saw the tin box ...

it's really cute and if i am a little girl, i would love to have it, too. well, actually, even if i am no longer a little girl, i may still use it for work on casual fridays hahaha. but, i kind of agree with my mom now. it is very obvious that the tin box is pre-loved. the lid is a bit bent and difficult to open. and there are also some pentel pen markings on the lid.

but i feel guilty towards the lady who gave it to mikee. it was really nice of her to give those things to mikee. but what should i do?

if you're in this situation, would you let mikee use it or not?


*_*

Tagumpay (Victory) Part 2

continuation ...

i remember crying to my husband about this dyslexia thing. of course, as the mother, i can't accept this. but my husband would not hear about this. he insisted that my son is not dyslexic. he just needs extra help. and so, i gave him all the help i can give him. i know it was really tough for miggy and i was careful not to break his little soul. but it was tough for me too. i was trying to balance my career and my motherhood. around that time, my boss resigned so his responsibilities were transferred to me.

now, i haven't even talked about his mandarin classes. as i said, we are not chinese and none of us speaks a word of chinese. so, learning mandarin for miggy, i believe, was the toughest. i had to get a tutor to help him with his homework. he was even taken out of the mainstream mandarin classes to another class consisting of those students who just doesn't get mandarin. learning han yu pinyin was difficult. learning the chinese characters were the extreme! whenever miggy has a homework in mandarin, i would spend about 3 hours browsing every page of his 4 mandarin books looking for the chinese characters in his homework to get the han yu pinyin counterpart. once, i have the han yu pinyin, i will use the internet to translate it to english. tough. really.

but through miggy's hard work, i noticed he got better. he overcame his letter problems. i noticed he is quite good in math. his mandarin tutor said he is getting better. and i forgot about dyslexia. i thought, well, i just overreacted in the beginning.

then came september. again, i received a note from school. this time, i was informed that my son was just screened for dyslexia and, again, i have to attend a parents' orientation about the school's dyslexia program. just when i thought everything was already getting better!

for this, again, i cried. i told my husband maybe it's about time i quit my career and concentrate on my kids. i asked him, what use do i have for my career and the money i am earning if my kids are suffering? i felt guilty. i would always remember a friend who would always drop everything she's doing for weeks every time her son would have an exams. her life would stop just so she could help her son revise his lessons. and i kept thinking, i should do the same. i have to do the same.

but i also thought, my son can't be dyslexic! i mean, i know my son. dyslexics' memory is not good. miggy's memory is very good! sometimes, he surprises me with the things that he remembers. take him to a place once and he'd remember it. he'd hear a song once, and next thing i know, i'm hearing him sing it. so, he can't be dyslexic.

during the orientation, we were told that the kids were screened based on their teachers' feedbacks. they were the kids whom the teachers suspect could be dyslexic. but around that time, the results were not yet out. and we still have to wait for october for the results. we were told that by october, if my son is proven to be dyslexic, i would receive a note and another invitation to attend a full-blown parents orientation. and so we waited.

and waited. meanwhile, i continued guiding miggy with his studies. i got him an exercise book for math. i bought books that are interesting for his age like spiderwick, beastly business, etc. i also regularly brought him to the library to further increase his interest in books.

october passed and i didn't receive anything. my husband and i were both anxious about the results. i even called up the school to ask about about it. but i was told to just wait for their note. and so, we waited again.

then, november came. and i received a note. finally!

but it wasn't what i was expecting. the note said that i am invited to attend the school's prize-giving day because my son will be receiving the best in progress award! omg! to be honest, i wasn't sure at first of what award he's really getting. i thought maybe it's most friendly or something like that. today, i told a friend that miggy received an award in school, and her reaction was, "what did he get? is it the most friendly student award?" so, i do have reason to think that maybe that's what he was getting because miggy is known to be very friendly.

but when my husband talked to miggy's teacher and it was confirmed that indeed he is getting the best in progress award, i had a big sigh of relief. it was as if a very big thorn was removed from within me. this award is not merely an achievement for miggy. no. this award is a symbol of his success. miggy has triumphed against every challenge he faced this year. he has proven that he is not dyslexic. and he has proven that he is what i thought he is.

in miggy's own words, "finally, all the hard work has paid off!" and that is victory indeed!

^_^

LITRATONG PINOY: Tagumpay (Victory)

for this week's litratong pinoy theme, i will have to re-post about miggy's award in school. i know it's becoming quite redundant now and i maybe sounding like a broken record. but this week's theme is victory/success and let me share to you why this is victory for miggy and me. first, let me warn you that this could be a long one.

when the schoolyear began, miggy got sick on the second day of the schoolyear and was absent for about 3 days. on the day that he came back, his class was given an assessment test for which, miggy was definitely not prepared. when he came home, he was very sad because he was thinking that he might have failed the test. he said, he was asked to spell some words, including ball. and he was not able to spell most of it, including ball :( he was also asked to write the number words, which unfortunately, around that time, he didn't know yet.

the following week, i received a note from school informing me that as a result of the assessment test, my son was placed in the school's learning support program (lsp) and i was invited to attend the parents' orientation about this program. during the orientation, i learned that the kids in lsp are, basically, kids who are academically behind their peers. these are the kids who needs extra help to learn how to read, write, and count. and he's the only one in his class.

when i was in elementary school, the kids who needed extra help are those who are really, really (to put it gently) slow. so, i was really pissed during the orientation. in my mind, there were so many questions. what kind of assessment did they give to the kids? who do they think they are to tell me that my son needed extra support? and the most pressing one is, how can they evaluate my son based only on one assessment test? one assessment test! and one that he took after being down with a flu.

after the orientation, i started giving miggy extra lessons as well aside from the extra help he is getting from lsp. of course, i didn't want anyone to tell me that i am an irresponsible mother for not teaching my son. i have to do my bit, and i am well aware of that. so, i did. and that's when i noticed something about miggy. aside from not being too familiar with the alphabets, he also had trouble with the letters b, d, p, q, n, and m. he would always interchange b and d, p and q, and, m and n. it was really frustrating at first because although he was already beginning to read, he would always make mistakes with these letters. and his short attention span was not helping at all. i have to admit that at times, i would really lose my cool because of this. miggy was under pressure. i was under pressure, too!

learning about dyslexia didn't help as well. in my attempt to find a solution to miggy's issue with his letter problems, i read about dyslexia. and it made me more worried about him. before this, i thought that the problem was simply his lack of attention. but then, according to my research, one of the symptoms of dyslexia is the interchangeing of the letters b and d, p and q, and, m and n. bingo! that's miggy's problem. also, according to some websites, some dyslexic kids are very unorganized. omg! that's my miggy. he is so unorganized that he always loses his things. often times, he'll go to school with about 5 freshly sharpened pencils and 2 erasers. then he'd come home with none. i cannot even remember how many pencils and erasers he has misplaced in school. i've lost count.

to be continued ...

****

sa mga ka-lp ko, pasensya na po kung indi ko na ma-tagalog ito dahil sobra pong haba. bawi po ako sa susunod na linggo. maligayang lp!


^_^

my little fashionista

it's already past midnight and my little mikee is still awake. i told her to go to sleep but she said she can't because her sunglasses are missing.

oh yes, you read it right. my little girl can't go to sleep without her sunglasses. she loves her sunglasses so much she'd wear it all day. and she doesn't really wear it to cover her eyes. oh no. she wears it just like a headband.

as my hubby puts it, it seems we have a little fashionista :)

^_^

best in progress

i haven't posted on this blog because of these.

and because of these, i am a bit late in posting about miggy's award in school. anyway, as i mentioned in a previous post, miggy received an award in school. he was given the best in progress award.

i was so proud of him as he was walking on the stage. as i've written before, academics is very tough here in singapore. so for a student to receive an award is definitely an achievement.

here's the trophy that he received ...

and here's our prize for him ...



as early as now, we've already made a deal that next year, he should get the bigger trophies or at least the best in maths award :) his prize? i promised to take him to hk disneyland. but all he wants is a trip to enchanted kingdom hahaha


^_^

LITRATONG PINOY: Madumi (Dirty)

i took this photo of mikee just about an hour ago. she just finished her third slice of the chocolate cake that i baked this afternoon. i saw her strutting around the house with her dirty face when i thought, hey! i can use this for this week's lp theme!

and so, here it is ... a collage of mikee's dirty face ... see the chocolate frosting just below her shoulders?

******

kinuhaan ko ang mga larawang ito ni mikee isang oras pa lang siguro ang lumilipas. kakatapos nya lang ng pangatlong slice ng chocolate cake na binake ko kaninang hapon. palakad-lakad siya sa loob ng bahay na madumi ang mukha at naisip ko na aba! pwede ko gamitin to sa lp ng linggong to!

kaya eto na ... ang collage ng maduming mukha ni mikee ... kita mo yung chocolate sa me balikat niya?

^_^

LITRATONG PINOY: Maalaala Mo Kaya?

this week's theme for litratong pinoy is maalaala mo kaya? (will you remember?). and the photo below is a photo of the kids taken during their first trip to the philippines early this year. well, it was a first for the gabie and mikee. miggy's last visit to the prior to this was in 2003 when he was only 2 years old. hence, the trip was really memorable for them as it meant a lot of firsts for them. it was also their first time to meet their cousins and grandparents and jollibee, too!

***

ang tema ng litratong pinoy sa linggong ito ay maalaala mo kaya? at ang larawan sa ibaba ay larawan ng mga bata na kuha noong kanilang unang bisita sa pilipinas nitong taong ito. ito ay unang bisita ni gabie at mikee. huling nakapunta ng pilipinas si miggy noong 2003 at 2 taon gulang pa lamang siya. dahil dito, ang punta nilang ito sa pilipinas ay talagang memorable dahil marami silang nakilala sa unang pagkakataon. noon lamang nila nakilala ang kanilang mga pinsan at lolo at lola at pati na din si jollibee!

maalaala mo rin kaya ang awiting ito?

bahay kubo, kahit munti

ang halaman doon ay sari-sari

singkamas at talong

sigarilyas at mani

sitaw, bataw, patani

kundol, patola, upo't kalabasa

at saka meron pang

labanos, mustasa

sibuyas, kamatis

bawang at luya

sa paligid ligid

ay maraming linga

^_^

an invitation: annual prize-giving day

i have some grammar issues here ... what do you call an award for someone who made the most progress, say, in a given schoolyear? is it best progress or best in progress? i remember when i was in elementary and high school, awards were given for the student who's best in science, best in mathematics, best in english, etc. so, should it be best in progress? it sure sounds wrong to me. but, best progress also doesn't sound right. anyway, whether its best progress or best in progress, it doesn't matter. what matters is that miggy is getting this award in school! yey! well, at least, that's what he said :)



when i came home today, miggy gave me an invitation from school for the annual prize-giving day to be held on friday morning. according to him, he'll get an award for best progress. well, the invitation did not mention which award he is getting. but, miggy did say that, today, his teacher read to his class the top ten students of the year. and no, he is not in the list. but also according to him, his teacher mentioned that he made the best progress in class. so, he thinks that this is the award that he is getting. so, we're not really sure which award he'll get. i even think that there is a possibility that he might get the mister congeniality or most friendly award, if they do give such awards, because he is very friendly and even knows kids from other classes :D

anyway, whatever award he'll get, i'm still so happy and so proud of him. he did work very hard this year to improve himself. he started out in primary school not knowing how to read when his peers were already reading early-reader books. he knew only how to copy and write numbers when his peers were already doing sums and writing number words. but now, he is leaving primary 1 as a book lover, reading books from harry potter to spiderman comic books to true singapore ghost stories. and do i have to mention he scored 90% for his maths exams? so, if he is getting the best progress award, he truly deserve it. as miggy himself puts it, "all my hard work finally paid off!"

now, the invitation states that due to space constraints, only one guest is invited per recipient. my hubby is free to attend it and it is a bit late notice for me to apply for leave this friday. but miggy wants me to be the one to see him get this reward. i suppose it's because he acknowledges that it was our joint efforts (miggy and me) that led to this award. so, he really wants me to get this award with him. sweet. i'm so touched. luckily, the parental benefits of singapore were just ammended and i have an additional 1 day child care leave for this year. i'm sure i can work out something to take this leave on friday :)

you might have noticed that i haven't posted here since last thursday. i haven't even done last week's photohunt and litratong pinoy. that's because so many things happened last week and i was quite disoriented. but not until i received this news from miggy. so, i crawled out of my niche today just to post this great news.

^_^

niko-wi-wing

i was writing my previous post when mikee told me, "mama, i want niko-wi-wing!"

"what???", i said.

"i want niko-wi-wing."

gabie heard her and asked, "what's wi-wing?"

oh dear, here we go again. before, it was gabie and the pupununus. now, it's mikee and the niko-wi-wing. luckily (and amazingly!), miggy knows what she's talking about.

"i know what she wants. she wants nickolodeon."

mikee heard him and said, "yeah, niko-wi-wing!"

lol

^_^

happy halloween (late again)

this is quite late. but then again, i'm always late with my posts hahaha

anyway, last halloween, the kids didn't go trick or treatin. they were supposed to, but for some reason, we didn't go. but trick or treats or not, they still had fun because i prepared a private halloween party for the three of them. i baked some cookies and a chocolate cake for them. then, i decorated the cookies with halloweenish designs. as for the cake, i divided it into two cakes: i decorated one as a spider with many eyes and the other i decorated it with orange frosting to look like a pumpkin.

and here are some photos taken during their party ...

^_^

bible stories: the creation

two nights ago, i was reading a children's bible to the kids. i was reading the story of the creation. i read to them how god created light, the land, the ocean, the animals, the birds, the fishes in the ocean, the plants, and finally, man and woman.

after i read to them that god rested on the seventh day, miggy raised a question that is not easy to explain to a 7-year old, 4-year old and 3-year old kids.

"mama, how did he do all that when there wasn't anything on earth yet?"

this question would have been easy to answer if it was asked by an adult. but from a child, it becomes too complicated to explain.

so, what was my reply?

"just stick to the story, okay? he's a god, he can do those stuff."

hehe i know i should always answer questions like this with more meaningful answers. maybe something that i'd have learned from convent school. oh well, sometimes, miggy simply catches me off guard with some of his questions. there are times like this when i just can't quickly think of a witty or meaningful answer.


*_*

Silly Monkey Stories: Collage

as i promised last week, instead of sharing a funny moment with my kids, today, i will share some photos taken by miggy and gabie.

i used to own a sony ericsson handphone with a 5mp camera. of course, since it was a sony, the camera was really good. the quality of the photos were comparable to a decent point and shoot digital camera. and because of this, i didn't have to carry my digital camera for any photo worth events. i can always count on my mobile phone for that :0)

so, just imagine my dismay one day after i took a photo and found that i can not save it because i no longer have enough memory in my handphone. i knew that i didn't have too much files in my handphone so i really can't believe that i no longer have enough memory. and when i checked my photo folder, this is what i found.

i guess miggy and gabie also loved the camera of my handphone hehe

you can find more silly monkey stories here ...

^_^

see pip point

i love to read. as a child, i would always finish reading all my schoolbooks even before the schoolyear begins. and when i was already in fifth grade, i would still keep on re-reading my books from kindergarten.

and now, i'm trying to raise my kids as book lovers, too. i don't force them to read. i make them love reading. i make it a fun activity to them.

and here is my 3yo mikee reading a book ...





^_^

PHOTOHUNT: Blue

when i'm feeling blue
all I have to do
is take a look at you
then I'm not so blue

when you're in my arms
nothing seems to matter
my whole world can shatter
i don't care

wouldn't you agree?
baby, you and me got a groovy kind of love

for more photo hunters, click here.

^_^

uh-huh

i wonder which tv show mikee has been watching a lot lately. since yesterday, i noticed that if anyone asks her a question that is answerable by yes, she would always answer "uh-huh". of course, she always do it in her cute, 3-year old voice.

^_^

LITRATONG PINOY: Kadiliman (Darkness)

this post is a bit late but as we always say, nothing is too late ever :)

this week's theme in litratong pinoy is kadiliman or darkness. there are so many ways to interpret this theme. it could be a kind of darkness in somebody's life. or the darkness in spirit. or simply, the lack of light. and this is my interpretation of this theme.

this photo of miggy was taken in 2005 during the chinese lantern festival. we used to live in a condominium where the occupants have a harmonious relationship. proof of this is the various annual celebrations of different festivals. one of them is the lantern festival.

during this celebration, the kids from the condominium light up lanterns of different colors and designs. then, parade in the condominium grounds. for the lanterns to look really nice, the celebration was done in the night time when it is already dark.

the second photo, shows the other kids parading and having fun with their lanterns .

***

huli man daw at magaling ay maihahabol din ...

ang tema ng litratong pinoy sa linggong ito ay kadiliman. maraming pwedeng maging interpretasyon ang temang ito. maaring ito ay ang kadiliman sa buhay ng isang tao. o kadiliman ng budhi ng tao. o simpleng kawalan ng liwanag. at ito ang aking interpretasyon.

ang larawang aking binahagi ay larawan ni miggy na kuha noong 2005. ipinagdiriwang niya dito ang taunang piesta ng mga parol. dati kaming nakatira sa isang condominium kung saan me magandang samahan ang magkakapitbahay. kaya't madalas ay merong selebrasyon ng iba't ibang piyesta dito. at isa na nga dito ang piyesta ng mga parol.

sa piyestang ito, ang mga bata ay nagsisindi ng mga parol na me iba't ibang disenyo. at sila ay pumaparada sa loob ng condominium. para mas maganda ang kalabasan ng parada, ito ay ginagawa tuwing gabi kapag madilim na ang paligid.

ipinapakita ng pangalawang larawan ang iba pang mga bata na pumaparada at nagkakasiyahan.

^_^

examinations are over

finally, miggy's exams are over! he had his last mandarin exams last wednesday.

he has seen his test results for maths and english. but the teacher didn't let him bring home the papers. well, that's fine. at least now, we all know how he did in the exams.

he scored 80% on his english paper. he is not too happy about it because somebody did get 100%. but he's proud to say that he didn't get the lowest score because he saw somebody get 36% hahaha

for maths, he got 90% which i think is a really high score. according to him, somebody did get 100% for maths as well. and he kept on saying that he did check his work twice before submitting his papers to the teacher so he's wondering why he still got 7 incorrect answers. but hey, 90% is excellent for me!

all we're waiting for now are the results of his mandarin exams. he had 4 different exams for mandarin and we're hoping that he pass them at the least. mandarin is his problem subject because we're not chinese and non of us understands a word of chinese. it's so difficult to learn this language so i don't really expect him to get very high grades on it.

now that the exams are over, miggy is happy to be back to his old ways of playing and playing and playing all day long. at least for the time being, he don't have to study and work on maths problems most of the day. we'll let him play all he want for now. he deserves it.


^_^

Silly Monkey Stories: miggy's blog

it’s tuesday again and today, another silly monkey story is due.

initially, i thought of sharing some photos that miggy took. but i changed my mind. miggy’s photos will have to wait till next week. you'll find out then why the photos are silly monkies story materials.

okay, so i’ve already posted yesterday that finally miggy has his own blog. and i didn't really want to post about it again because i'm sure it would look as if i am promoting his blog. but when i read his first post yesterday, i really had a ball! and i thought, this one is a silly monkey story.

here, read it for yourself …

this only proves that my miggy is still a very young child. the part about gabie looking for the rabbits is what really tickled me most! i mean, there he was talking about super mario and how he learned some tricks (of course, in a very childish way), when suddenly, out of nowhere, he talks about gabie and the rabbits! and the way he puts it is just so funny :D just like any other child, his attention span is still very short and it shows in this post of his.

read more silly monkey stories here ...


^_^

a new baby

yes, i have a new baby. but no! not that kind of baby. i already have three, remember? not to mention my hubby who is such a big baby :)

i am talking about my new blog. i've just created a new blog. if you want to know what it's all about and why i have to create another one when i already have this, then do drop by my other blog. then you'll know why.

^_^

my little blogger

now, lo and behold! little mr. blabbermouth (of course, i'm talking about miggy, who else?) has his own blog now!

yes, you read it right. my 7 year old miggy is also a blogger now. he's been asking me for days to create a blog for him. and he is very persistent when he wants something. so there!

anyway, i think it would be good for him to have his own blog. from the moment he learned how to read and write, he's already wasted too much paper on his "short stories." he likes to write about his favorite superheroes, games, and cartoon characters. he's even created his own comics. yes, he did. he wrote about a character named superball (can you guess why he's called superball lol).

so, if you happen to drop by his blog, expect to read a lot of stories about super mario, luigi, ultraman, and many other characters. and do bear in mind that it's a 7 year old's blog, so do expect a lot of spelling and grammatical errors. but, it's always fun to read stories written by kids. so, do visit him at miggy's playground if you need a smile or a laugh.


^_^

uh-oh he's in trouble

this morning, as usual, the kids were playing while watching tv. i can't remember what they were watching because i wastn't really paying attention to the tv.

suddenly, miggy approached me and asked me, "mama, what is a lawyer?"

"well, a lawyer is someone who defends you in court." i explained.

"can you get me a lawyer?" miggy said.

i knew this is something that's going to be either funny or silly, so i stopped what i was doing and answered him.

"kuya, you're too young to get a lawyer." i said.

"but, mama, i really want to have a lawyer!" can you imagine that i'm having this conversation with my seven year old?!?

"alright, can gabie be my lawyer?" yeah, right! his 4 year old brother as his lawyer LOL kids really do have the craziest ideas. but wait, there's more to the story ...

"why do you want to have a lawyer?" i asked miggy.

"because i always need someone to defend me!" said miggy.

"oh yeah, right! because you always get yourself into trouble!" and i guess he might really need one coz he is ALWAYS in trouble LOL

^_^

oreo cookie monster

last week, to celebrate my 10-days vacation, i baked a carrot cake and made an oreo ice cream cake for the kids. well, okay, for miggy and mikee. gabie still won't dare try my cakes :(

anyway, i used the carrot cake recipe from JoyofBaking.com. it's really good. i've already tried it three times.

now, the oreo ice cream cake is a big hit in the family. i started making it last wednesday but never got to finish it till saturday morning. i intentionally did not finish it because i waited for the carrot cake to finish first. i didn't want to give my family a hard time on deciding which one to have for desserts and snacks :)

as i said, it was a big hit and i believe these photos of mikee is enough to prove it :)

too bad, i've already posted my entry for this week's photohunt with a scary theme. otherwise, i would have entered this instead :D

if you want to try the oreo ice cream cake, you can get the recipe from here.

^_^

school's out

well, not yet. but will be soon! the school holidays is coming very, very close. and it's going to be a very long holiday for the kids. this means:

1. for miggy

only 1 exam left. whew! he's got only one mandarin exam left. can you believe that 4 out of his 6 exams are for mandarin?

my hubby and i had a deal with miggy that we'd buy new wii games for him if he could ace his english and maths exams. and i have to give credit to him. i never studied that much when i was his age! and he studied everyday. practicing with all the maths and english exercise books that i bought for him. and two times a week revisions with his chinese tutor. they even had to spend one extra hour for his revisions, which means extra $25 for the tutor!

his maths and english exams are over. he thinks he did well. but he cannot say that he aced it. well, that's good enough for me. i know he did his best and that's what's important for me.

a photo of miggy talking to a friend in school, taken last thursday

2. for gabie

his kindergarten had their graduation concert last friday. and no, gabie did not graduate since he's only in nursery. he's got another two years in kindergarten. but each of the class in his kindergarten performed that night.

gabie's class did a traditional taiwanese dance. it was the first time that my dear baby gabie performed in stage and i was so proud of him :)

here's a video of his performance. you can see in the video that he was having lots of fun dancing!

3. for mikee

my little girl is growing very fast. she'll be starting school in two months!

^_^

PHOTOHUNT: Scary

i've read in a few ghosthunting sites that if a ghost manifests itself in a photo, it would most likely be as an orb. so, every time i see an orb in a photo, i would think, "could that be a ghost?"

now, just imagine my surprise when i saw this photo of gabie ... not only does it have an orb, it's got lots of 'em! to me, it looks as if they're playing with him ...

i took this photo in december 2006. it was taken in front of a newly opened mall here in singapore, the vivocity. we used to live just a few blocks away from this mall. and around that time, i would often go there with the kids to hang around. mallrats, yeah i know.

this particular night, only gabie was with me. we were waiting for my husband who was supposed to meet us there from work. but, he was late. so while waiting for him, i allowed gabie to play around but never near the fountain because i don't want him to get wet. i didn't have any spare clothes for him.

while he was playing i took a series of photos of him with my handphone. and the one above is one of them. remember, we never went near the fountain, so it can't be water droplets. and below are the other photos in the series. the shot after this photo is completely free of any orbs as you can see here ...


but two other photos have at least one orb in it. as you can see in the one below, there is an orb on his head.

i don't know about you, but i'm scared. hey, that's my son with the orbs!

*_*

LITRATONG PINOY: Liwanag (Light)

in the philippines, ilaw ng tahanan (literally, light of the house) and haligi ng tahanan (literally, post of the house) are idioms which refer to mother and father, respectively. go figure :-) if i am the light of our house, our three kids are the ones who give light to mine and my husband’s life. they simply bring the sunshine into our lives.

sabi nila, ang ama ay ang haligi ng tahanan at ang ina ang ilaw ng tahanan. kung ako ang ilaw ng aming tahanan, ang mga anak ko nmn ang liwanag ng buhay naming mag-asawa. silang tatlo ang nagbibigay ng liwanag sa buhay namin.


^_^

Silly Monkey Stories: the actor

today, gabie was left by the school bus. he went to the waiting point a tad too late so i had to take him to school. miggy and mikee came along.

after we dropped gabie to school, the three of us went to a nearby mall. miggy saw a pizza hut outlet and asked me if we can have lunch there. i told him i prefer to have sandwiches instead of a pizza. so we'll just go to subway.

disappointed, he said, "actors are so lucky!"

puzzled, i asked him, "why?"

"because they eat free pizzas all the time!" he replied.

i guess he was talking about the actors in the pizza hut commercials.

^_^

rooted to the spot

this morning, miggy finally (finally!) started reading harry potter. he was reading the philosopher's stone when he asked me what does rooted mean. he was reading the part when mr. dursley was suddenly embraced by a stranger and he was rooted to the spot.

i explained to miggy that it means not being able to move and told him that the expression was derived from trees being rooted to the ground, thus unable to move.

just about an hour ago, something happened to miggy (again!!!) that reminded me of that expression.

we just came back from the library when it happened. miggy borrowed a cd-rom of a spiderman game and he was too excited to try it. but, i told him that it has to wait until he has finished his math’s homework. his exams will be on wednesday. and in his school, it seems that getting even 5 mistakes is unacceptable. (that’s true, i’m not exaggerating. i once talked to his teacher about it and she told me that she was expecting him to perfect it because the other kids can do it. great, gone were the days when i was still in school and getting at least half of the questions correct is already a big accomplishment.)

anyway, so i asked miggy to do his homework but he really wanted to play the game. he was complaining a lot and it was very obvious that he wasn't happy. he was stomping his feet and hitting the couch with his fists. still, i left him in the living room to do his homework and i went to the bedroom to attend a conference call with my colleagues in london and america. i was only about 5 minutes into the call when i heard miggy screaming his lungs out! luckily, my blackberry was muted; just in case one of the kids cries.

you know what happened? simply put, miggy poked his left foot with his pencil! it was a newly sharpened pencil. according to my mom, when ate j (the nanny) gave miggy the pencil he was still in his stomping and hitting mode. and, by accident, he poked his left foot with the pencil. the sharp part of the lead was broken and was left in the wound. and, this happened only a week after the same foot was freed from the cast!

imagine all of this crying and shouting happening in the middle of a conference call. i had to attend the call inside the bathroom to get away from all the noise. it was so frustrating hearing my son crying, asking me to comfort him amidst his pains and not being able to do anything about it. anyway, good thing the call was short; it lasted only 30 minutes instead of an hour. as soon as the call ended, i attended to miggy’s foot.

after too much poking here and there with a tweezers, a nail-cutter, and a big needle, i really cannot get any part of the lead. either it melted after all the poking i did, or there wasn’t really any part left in the wound. so, i just gave miggy a paracetamol for the pain. and put betadine on the wound to avoid any infection.

i googled about such “accidents”, worried about lead poisoning. but, i found out that there isn’t really anything to worry about since pencils now doesn’t really have any lead on it.

what does it all have to do with being rooted to the spot? well, as always, to make the situation light, my husband teased miggy. he told miggy that since the pencils are made out of trees, after some time, roots will grow out of the lead that was left in his foot. and when that happens, he won’t be able to move anymore and he will be rooted to the ground. this of course started another bout of crying.

after i have reassured miggy that it will never happen, miggy told me that he was very sorry for not listening to me in the first place. and, he told me not to worry, because he won’t water his foot so the roots won’t grow!!!

*_*

black & white

baa baa black sheep
you are very small ...
baa baa black sheep
you are very small!

~~ mikee's version of baa baa black sheep

^_^

good news

j here's an update about miggy. his cast was already removed last wednesday. thank god! though he is still limping a bit. according to him it doesn't hurt anymore when he walks, but it does when he moves around. hmmm i wonder what he means. anyway, we have an open appointment with the children's hospital so we can take him back when necessary.

j i'll be on leave this coming week!!! yippeeee!!! finally, i'd be able to spend a lot of time with the kids. i can also help miggy with his revisions for the exams next week. and, i'd be watching gabie on his first ever performance in his school's graduation concert on friday.

j i'm thinking of bringing the kids to the beach this monday. hmmm we'll see.


^_^

PHOTOHUNT:Family

we are family

i've got all my sisters with me

we are family

get up everybody and sing!

(by the sledge sisters)

.

girls are rare commodities in my family hahaha ... i am an only daughter ... mikee is my only daughter (fingers-crossed :P) ... and above is a photo of the only two other girls in my family ... mikee and my mother ... two girls, one generation apart ...

girls are rare only on my side of the family ... on my husband's side, it's abundant :)

^_^

LITRATONG PINOY: Bago nga kaya?

marami na ang nakapagsabi na me hawig daw si gabie kay billy crawford noong mga kapanahunang nakikilala pa sya bilang si billy joe crawford, noong nasa that's entertainment pa sya.

hindi ko nmn ito napapansin noong una, pero minsan nabati si gabie ng isang kaibigan ko. kahawig nga daw nito si billy joe. kahit ang isang tita ko na sa internet pa lang naman nakita si gabie e yun din ang nasabi sa akin.

mabuti pa, ikaw na lang ang humusga. tingnan mo ang larawan ni gabie sa itaas. ano sa palagay mo, kahawig nga ba?

hmmm si gabie na nga kaya ang bagong billy joe crawford? kuya germs???

***

a lot of people have already told me that my gabie looks like billy crawford when billy was still known as billy "joe" crawford during his "that's entertainment" days.

i didn't really notice it at first. not until a friend of mine told me that gabie looks like billy. Even my aunt who has never seen gabie in person (only through the internet) had the same comment.

anyway, i'll leave it up to you. you be the judge. look at gabie's photo above. what do you think? does he really look like billy?

hmmm could it really be that gabie is the new billy joe crawford? kuya germs???

***

this bit here is out of LitratongPinoy. i just can't help myself from sharing this ...

here are some more photos of gabie ...

by the way, the fourth photo is not gabie. that's billy joe!

^_^