Happy 95th Birthday!

We had a big celebration in honor of my father-in-law's 95th birthday. The party's theme was Vintage Glam and that was the best look we can come up with. The party was well attended just like the other parties we hold for him. We thank everyone for being a part of his 95th birthday. Looking forward to see you all again on his 100th birthday celebration.

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Camp Out

Still spending time at the hospital. Kids call it camping out since I don't get to sleep at home. Hopefully everything goes well with God's grace. It's been more than 2 weeks. First week was really hard since we didn't get a private nurse. It was an all-nighter of sorts. I'm glad I survived it. Second week was not bad. The private nurse was a big help. He actually did all the "dirty work". We still wake up in the middle of the night if we sense something is wrong. I dunno but it's automatic on my part. I can't stand hearing him cough without me doing anything. I'm soooo glad that I have the compassion for sick people. Thank you Lord for giving me that.

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Home Bound...Not Yet

We both want to go home already but as it is we still don't have clearance from the doctor. Praise God my darling doll's condition has improved a lot. Her platelet is now increasing and we are waiting for it to normalize. I really pity her coz both her arms have IV. Having one is hard already, so I can't imagine how hard it is to have both. I love her for conquering her fears and I also love the fact that she cooperates. We are both hoping that we will be sent home soon, hopefully any time soon. We've been here since Monday, that makes 6 days in the hospital already. Nope, I am not complaining in fact I am happy that we were able to bring her right away before any complications occurred.

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She's Gonna Drive Soon

I accompanied the daughter today to get her driver's license. We went to LTO Tayuman. We got there quite late so there were lots of people already. I'm glad I went with her. I learned a lot of things which I normally take for granted. A lot of things became clearer now, which to my opinion everyone should know before going out on the streets. I admit, I don't know half of what those signs mean, especially those ones that I don't encounter everyday. At least now I know. The one who gave the lecture at LTO Tayuman was effective. Kudos to him.

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Happy Birthday, Mom!

Mom celebrated her 86th birthday. I can't believe she is already 86. I thank the Lord that He has blessed her with long life, good health and strength, that in itself is a very wonderful birthday gift. Mom is an inspiration to many especially when it comes to taking care of herself. A lot would make her an example, even I would tell that I want to be like Mom when I grow old, still knows how to take care of herself. She always smells good too and ever presentable. Others may think she is vain, but to me she only knows how to take care of herself. Happy birthday dearest Mother! May you all the more be blessed by our Heavenly Father.

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My Groovy Mom

Mom was really very happy when I gave her a headset. They have been enjoying using skype with my sisters in the United States. They used to talk only once or twice a month because it's kinda expensive to call overseas. Thanks to internet connection, they are now able to talk more often. I wonder if Plantronics headset is better than what I gave Mom. Mom really needs it because she has hearing problem. She can barely hear my sisters when they talk. Funny when she first used the headset that I gave her. She couldn't adjust her voice and it was too loud that my SIL is afraid the neighbors might hear what they are talking about. I told Mom to just adjust her voice whenever she is using the headset that I gave her. I will have to check on them tomorrow and see if Mom was able to adjust her speaking voice already.

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Ortho Case

I thank God that there was no fracture nor dislocation found in the x-ray. I am talking about my sister whom I brought to the hospital. She had a bad fall and her left knee got swollen. She just has to rest it with minimal movement. She'll be now wearing a knee immobilizer for about a week and when the pain doesn't go away she has to continue wearing it for another week. Hopefully all will be well by then because if not she'll undergo mri to check on her ligaments. Lord, please make my sister well, thank you!

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Cookie Day

We had time to bake some cookies. The kids didn't have school. We decided to make 3 batches. First batch was done by Josh, of course with my help since it was his first time. He wanted to use the mixer but I didn't allow it. He has to do it manually so it's going to be a memorable first. It turned out ok, in fact it tasted good. Next batch was done by Ish. I left her to do it by herself since she had baking lessons one summer already. I had to rescue because she didn't do it right. Anyway I reminded her the proper way to do it. It turned out ok too. Then came my batch. I was already tired at this time because I had to help them, plus the fact that I had to prepare dinner. We had baked ribs, french fries, salad with ranch dressing and mushroom soup with barley. Again the family can never thank me enough for preparing such treat.

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90th Birthday Celebration

Thank God I was well enough to attend my Aunt's 90th birthday celebration at the Manila Hotel. Nanay Loleng as I fondly call her, is the only surviving sister of my Mom. They are 5 years apart in age which makes Mom 85. Both of them are very healthy and not taking any medication for maintenance. I wish I can be as healthy as them when I'm old and gray.

There was more than enough yummy food for everyone. It was like a mini reunion on the side of my Mom although not everyone came. Happy 90th Birthday Nanay! May you stay strong and healthy and may our Lord God bless you even more!

*first pic: Nanay with my Mom
*second pic: with my cousin Marie, and me in magenta dress

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My Precious Gold Coin

One day my FIL came to the house showing us some gold coins. I think he had four on his palm. Then he started telling us how he got hold of those gold coins. I'm sorry but I don't exactly remember his story. I think it used to be a US coin and he was able to save it. He said that it was 24k solid gold and you know what? He handed me and the hubby a gold coin each. At first I couldn't believe that he was giving it to me. I know he values those coins too much for it to be disposed just like that. Then he told me to give it to the kids when they are a bit older. I'm keeping it right now and plan to show it to the kids. I hope they value it as much as how their grandfather has valued it. My FIL mentioned too that if we have extra money and want to invest on something, gold will be a very wise decision. If you look at it's history, I mean in terms of prices, you will notice that there wasn't a time that the price have dropped. It either remains the same or goes up.

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Not So Typical Sunday

Typical is that we attended the church service. I was glad we did. We were challenged to give, not just give because we are obliged to do so. It's not in the amount really but did you know that God is more concerned with how you feel about giving?

Typical is that we had lunch over at Mom's. As usual food was superb, nothing fancy but very filling. I had my veggie fix which I look forward to every Sunday we have lunch at Mom's. I missed Mom, we didn't visit her for two weeks since we were out on vacation. I miss the laughs and I am looking forward to never ending laughs when my sisters from the US get here. I wish I can stay with them during the duration of their stay, but, but I have a family to take care of. I'll just go and visit whenever I can.

Not so typical because instead of having dinner at the in-laws we ate at Thousand Cranes at Trinoma. Kuya A arrived from the US and the family treated him out for dinner. Another not so typical is the fact that we watched a movie (LFS) after dinner. Kick-Ass was fun, someone let out a scared shout (epic fail) in one of the scenes which I really didn't understand because nothing was scary about the movie. Probably too excited and got the house down.

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Job Opportunity

I've been a stay-at-home Mom for 6 years now. I don't regret it at all although there were times that I wished I was working. Well those were the days when I felt low and wanted to take this job. I nearly took on the opportunity but then I wanted to spend more time with the kids, in their growing up years. No regrets as I have said, because I have seen them grow and I was there for them during their highs and lows. No amount of money can pay the love and support I have given them.

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How She's Grown!

Meet Ish, my lovely daughter! That's how she looks now and is already in her last year in High School. She is now preparing for her college entrance exams and is doing her best to get into one of the best universities here in the Philippines.

I just love my relationship with her, she is my bestest friend. I can tell her anything and she can tell me anything too. I call it the best Mom-Daughter relationship. She does not think twice whether or not she will tell me what and how she feels, she is just open to me and I love her for that. I often remind her that it's best to tell me everything so I can guide her and remind her of things that are not really clear to her. Probably the reason why she can tell me everything is that I'm not an imposing Mom. I give suggestions, but in the end she still makes the decision. I'm just glad that she is guided by God with the decisions that she makes.

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The Big Day for the In-laws

The big day for my in-laws has finally come last Saturday. After 44 years of being together, they were finally wedded in Church. It was a beautiful ceremony, everything was just beautiful and it was a dream come true for my MIL. My SIL and I helped with the preparations. I was assigned to do some things, and the rest she took care of. Part of the program was a surprise dance number from me and my kids. It wasn't really a surprise seeing us dance with my daughter, but for my son everyone was surprised even the couple. It was my son's first time to dance in public. He would dance in the confines of his room with only us watching him. He would watch videos at YouTube and would copy their dance steps. I'm really so proud of my son for being able to dance that well.

I have more photos over at my other BLOG and at my Flickr account.

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Sunday Happenings

Look at my boys, do you know what they are playing? They play Tekken5 against each other. When I went to Greenhills yesterday, I asked the shop to download this game wo we can play against each other. Josh has a UMD of this and it's just too much to buy another one. So what I did was buy a 1 gig memory stick and had some games downloaded for my dauhgter's PSP. I played against Josh in the car on our way to Mom's, and I won! Woohoo! We were kinda noisy in the car, prompting the hubs to sternly look at us and told us to keep quiet because he is distracted with his driving. Maybe he got jealous over our enjoyment so he tried his hand at playing the game. Nope, he didn't win against his son, haha talking about better reflexes, teehee!

Over at Mom's...darn I did not bring my Canon 20d, I would have enjoyed taking pictures of this butterfly hopping from one flower to another. My point and shoot camera does not have the capability I am looking for in a macro. So there, opportunity wasted. I don't know what got to me that I became lazy even thinking of bringing my camera. Lesson learned!

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Daddy Bonding

This is normally what they do when they bond. Theirs is different. They eat. They both go for ambiance. If only they can go fine dining everyday, then they would do it. This is the reason why I try very hard to give them a nice setting at the dinner table so they don't need to go out as much.



Theirs is a different one. The boy would rather go for a massage, like every night before he goes to bed. I mean literally every night. It's like he can't have a good night's rest without the "tender loving" touch of his Dad. If the Dad is asleep, then it would be me who will give him a massage. Before he goes to bed, he makes the last stop in our room.

I'm just wondering what if we had more kids? And they all have different ideas for bonding?

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Pretty Sunday

Introducing my niece, Martha Francesca, she's a little over 2 and the youngest daughter of my brother. She's really very funny and such a cutie. When we went to visit my Mom, she saw my nail polish. She said she wanted her nails done too. So I promised her that the next time I come back I will be bringing different colors of nail polish. The next time I visited Mom, I totally forgot about my promise but she did not. She was sad and I had to explain to her that I forgot. So last Sunday her dream came true. She has been telling her Dad that Ninang (that's how she calls me though i'm not her godmother)will be putting "cutex" on her nails. When I called her, she was excited. She even asked me if I brought eye shadow with me ^_^. We had makeup session too a few sundays ago. I told her that it was not part of the promise. I had to promise again to bring my make up kit next Sunday. While putting the nail polish, I told her not to move, apparently she got tired because in the middle of the session she wanted me to quit ^_^. Well the price she has to pay for wanting to have beautiful nails.

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Field Trip

I got a text message from my cousin Aleli (dad’s side) if I wanted to join the “field trip” for senior citizens (my Mom, Aunties Glo, Trining and Telly) to 168 Mall at Divisoria on Friday. They actually talked about it while we were at the cemetery and I was like laughing at them, even asking how they can manage to go. That is not just the place for them, there are lots of people and I am just scared that they will be elbowed and could not take it. I thought they were just kidding me, but no, they are really decided to go. I sent an sms to my cousin asking if my Mom is going, and she said yes. Well I have to join their so called field trip, I need to take care of my 81 year old Mom, although she is still very able. My daughter Ish wants to tag along, but I don’t think I will bring her, it’ s hard to take care of 2 people. Next time Ish, we will have our own time. I will just get you the things you requested me to buy for you, ok?

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The New Meaning of TLC

Up until now Josh still goes for his nightly massage. It's either me or his dad, sometimes if he's not contented he'd like both of us to do it. Yeah that happens every night before he goes to bed. His choice would be either "classic" or "machine". One night he opted for a classic massage. His dad asked him why he wanted a classic one instead of the machine. And here's his candid reply, "I want the classic this time dad." Then his dad asked why. "It has TLC," he said. And what does TLC means? Tender loving "CASH".

You see he has been working hard in school, especially in his last grading exam week. I made a deal with him that if he does not get lower than 90 in all his subjects, I will give him P1000 (around $22). That's big money to him already, for his level up card (he plays flyff). We just don't give them money, we make it as an incentive for them to study harder. So now he's finding ways on how have this money for his game. This child of mine is really funny, he always makes us laugh with his candidness. He can inject money matters in his conversation which is cute, he never fails to bring a smile to our faces.

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No Longer My Baby

I just noticed recently that his voice changed, a little deeper now, no longer a child's. He's 11 and in the 6th grade, now more aware of beautiful girls around him. He came home one time, asking me what "on" means. Duh, it's the opposite of off I tell him. And he was like, duh I know that Mom, I'm referring to the other "on" thing. I actually did not expect the other "on" word. So I made him use it in a sentence. "Mommy, meron ka-"on" yung classmate ko." Oh, so that's the "on" word he was talking about. I told him that it's a word used by pinoy youngsters referring to girlfriend/boyfriend. And his sister explained further. Gasp! my daughter knows more than I expected. Really, maybe I'm just in the denial stage, I still couldn't quite accept that my kids are growing up real fast. Josh has grown a little taller, and he's starting to have zits in his face. Oh no! He's not my baby anymore! But he says, he still is, he does not forget hugging me and planting kisses on my face and with that I am very happy.

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