Milestones

Before the year comes to an end, I'm hoping to be able to fill in this blog with the important events and moments in our life that somehow didn't make it on time. Haay, so much for making this blog a time capsule when it's not even updated. Anyway, here's a rundown of our happy moments and I'm so looking forward to more in the coming year :)

Staying Strong at 72!
We celebrated my Mom's 72nd birthday last month. Had a simple dinner at Sentro in Greenbelt where they serve great Pinoy dishes.

the whole fam bam 

Some of the delectable dishes we ordered. You gotta try the corned beef sinigang, vietnamese spring roll and dalandan juice. 

The celebrants. That's right, my sister and brother also celebrated their birthdays last month. Can you imagine a household with 3 Scorpions in one roof? haha :)

Happy birthday Mama! Thank you for always being the wind beneath our wings. 

Making Memories Last:

Another milestone for us was to finally do Sam's moulded hand print. We did this before for Sophie and attempted to do it for Sam when he was 1 year old but it was a flop.

I really wanted to have these memorabilia hanging on our walls; it's nostalgic and timeless. Sophie now wears a size 32 shoes while Sam wears a size 30 and these imprints remind me of the time when they were both mommy's pig tail, always tailing around even inside the bathroom and holding on to 'mommy only' while in the mall.

After 3 years, I found another brand in Powerbooks. With the help of Ate Sophie, we did Sam's hand mould. The little boy was pretty amazed to see the details of his hand when he saw the final output :)

My one note for this brand of mould is that it's more for older kids. The instructions said to keep your hand (of foot) on the gel mixture for 2 minutes or until the gel sets. I don't think a baby or younger kid can stay still that long. Sam's mould had some glitches because he was already squirming after a while. I like the brand I used for Sophie's hand print. I bought it at Rustan's but it's now out of stock.

Cute chubby hand trying to stay still

 the almost finish product. The pack comes with a frame for display. 

Cheer Dance Competition:
The Gray Monkeys, that's what these first graders were called during the annual cheer dance competition.
It's our first year in traditional school and watching these kids compete and my daughter being part of a big activity was exciting. I was pleasantly surprised to see her on the front row, cheer leading and being good at it. I'm so proud of my little girl and the rest of the gray monkeys. They put so much heart into their performance and the will to win was so evident. They went home with a 2nd prize trophy, beating the higher levels. Yay! All hard work paid off :)
Watching them reminds me of my school days - the cheering and dance competitions, winning and making history and having so much fun!

The gray monkeys in full action. 6 to 7 year-old kids in synchronized performance. Amazing :)

 waiting for the announcement of winners. Can you see the anticipation on their faces? 

 The winners' faces. So happy and tired 

Another Celebration of Life:

Last but not the least, husby celebrated his 37th birthday last December 16 and we had a quiet celebration since it was a weekday and exam week for the kids. We tried a new resto in our part of the hood named Alejandro's. Love the food there, we were so hungry I didn't bother take pictures but you gotta try their monggo with gata, crispy pata (the meatiest I've ever had) and fried chicken. There are two other branches of Alejandro's both in Cebu so the newly opened resto in Regalado Avenue is the only one in Manila.

Don't forget to make a wish first 

Husby kept repeating that's he's already 37 like it's as surreal as it can get.

But life is like that, in my opinion, overwhelming and surreal. It's how we handle life - age, problems, blessings, people around us and so on. Without these spices in our lives, it would be a total bore, don't you think? Anyway, I always believe in the saying, 'what won't kill you will make you stronger.'

I'm a realist, sometimes too much for my own good but I also appreciate the little happiness that comes to our life like these milestones. They maybe simple to some but they are big time to us.

As for the problems we encountered this year, I just try to remember what my mentor would say when things get rough: 'It'll all fall into place at the end of the day.'

The Mind Museum Amazing Experience

This was not my first time to visit The Mind Museum. I was privileged with a sneek peak here because I lit a star for the kids.

Our trip last Saturday to the museum was a first for the rest of the fam bam. And boy, the kids kept talking about it for days. They didn't want to leave the place.

Kids and adults alike surely enjoyed the experience. Sophie was particularly astounded when I told her she lit one of those stars in the The Story of the Universe. Sam, on the other hand, can’t get enough of the giant plants, the mechanical inventions and Stan the Trex. He has a particular fascination of dinosaurs of late but I think he got overwhelmed to finally see a life size dinosaur. He kept asking, 'Why his eyes look sad Mommy?'

We all had an exhilirating experience. Good thing at this stage Sam already outgrew his ‘Let’s live here fo-ever’ statement or he would’ve said that.  As much as we oriented them prior to the visit of museum rules and etiquettes, they can’t help but get carried away with the things abound. It's really heaven for the curious minds. 

Another plus factor about this event is that we got to check out Da Vinci exhibit on its last day of run. I bow down to this genuis we all call Da Vinci, we got to see tons of his concepts on paper, his inventions for warfare, aerodynamics, mechanics, etc. Pure. Genuis.

Da Vinci Exhibit

Paintings of the great artist, they're as intriguing as they are magnificent

A machine for warfare. One of the several displayed during the exhibition.

For flight.

After explaining to Sophie how this mechanical machine works, she said: 'Mom, can we take this home?' 

Off to museum proper

 My little boy can't get enough of this remote controlled space craft

 and the fossils. He kept talking about the bones of the crocodile for days

Exercising his fine and gross motor skills

meeting the giant dinosaur

Exercising their EQ after seeing a giant chocolate

or a ball flying :)

Here's daddy curious who dared put his hands in those holes.

Little man was floored to know a plant can eat an insect.

 On to the second level, we saw how recycling is done

ways to produce electricity.

and how their poop gets flushed, haha!

My little Japanese

We also got to watch video presentations which are truly informative and entertaining especially for the little campers.

If you haven't, you MUST visit The Mind Museum. People of all ages will surely enjoy this experience.
Purchase your tickets here.

You can also purchase tickets at the museum booth located at the side of the venue. And the costumer service never disappoints.

An Ode To My Husband

Eight years and a day ago today, I got hitched. Yesterday, I woke up with the same feeling as that defining December 10, 2005, knowing very well that I made the best decision ever - marry the man I forever love. Ah wait. I hear a poem coming. Totally inspired for one right now.

So without further ado, husband, here’s a poem from me to you:

Eight Years After (Short and Sweet and S***)

To my lovely husband

My most treasured friend

(and that is an understatement)

Thank you for your love

If not, so Sophie no Sam

Thank you for the dozens of flowers

For being my driver for hours and hours

Without even trying you make me laugh

Life is beautiful, no matter how tough

 

To my dearest husband bestfriend

I love you to the moon and back

I’m forever grateful for our special bond

Now it’s time for some hanky pank (*wink *wink)

Happy Anniversary dear husband. We have a lot of dreams for the our family, our kids and the future and it's inspiring to work on those goals with a great partner. As the quote on our wedding souvenir goes 'God is a great matchmaker' - Jewish Proverb.

May we have forever more :)

On Being Grounded

Or 'The Grounded'. That’s what we called our little boy the past week. 

He did break a rule which ended in a mishap so we had to do what we had to do to let Sam learn his lesson well.

He said, 'I got excited. I'm happy eh' when asked about what he did. They were playing and I guess adrenaline was high. Can you blame a happy and uber curious kid? Nevertheless, he needs to learn how to behave in another person's house.

Anyway, mishap was remedied, no serious damage done but still no cartoons, no outside play, no friends inside the house, no internet for a week for the little boy. Harsh ba?

We don’t do the spanking but we also want the kids to grow up knowing what is right and what is wrong. Because, really, when they grow up and go out of the real world without mom and dad, they must know how to deduct good from bad, right from wrong and discern the consequences of their actions.

One night while my son was still grounded, the yaya reported he didn’t go out of the house at all and didn’t even bother to ask if he can even if Mom and Dad were not around. ‘I’m grounded eh’, he would tell his yaya and his friends who came by (he’s Mr. Congeniality, have I told you that, so he has lots of visitor friends that I sometimes feel like running a playschool). He is perceptive that way and he has a certain amount of self-control (thank God). He can sense when Mom and Dad mean serious business with the discipline thing.

If there's anything positive that came out of this experience aside from learning his lesson well, it's that my little boy got around to entertaining himself for a longer time indoors. Less outside play and no cartoons made him play more with his toys, to draw and color more and play with his Ate who's now more of an indoor girl doing grown up stuff. Ahhh, kids.

See how being grounded has its perks ? Ate Sophie reading a story to Sam. Ate Sophie was kinda 'damay' with the grounded because of no cartoons rule so they find ways to entertain each other.