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.


^_^