A Gift With Missing Parts!

Christmas Season...

A time for giving and receiving gifts!

Not only kids are excited to receive gifts! Frankly speaking, I also am excited to received one (whatever it is, it's the thought that counts, really)!

Even more so when we received a gift from my brother(who never fails)! He knows I love to drink coffee so he gave us this coffee-maker. The one that makes you an instant cappuccino or espresso. I was so excited to use it but found out the its missing some parts!

After a thorough check-up, we confirmed that its really missing the grill where you put your cup to catch the flowing coffee. Its good that it came from a family member that we can tell him our concern and ask if he still got the receipt without having to embarrassed him. What if not???

Its like ordering from a drive-thru or take-out counter and upon reaching your destination, you found out there's NO straw, or spoon, or fork, or sauce, or rice, etc. Its just good if you can come back for it but more often that not -- you CAN'T!!!

Anyway, I just hope the one in-charge of packaging would be more careful and cautious and ensure that everything is in order before handing the items to the customers.

Note: We will still schedule our visit to the store from where he bought the coffee-maker and we'll be crossing our finger for a good result.

WHAT ABOUT YOU???

What would you do if you received a gift that has some missing parts?

Wednesday Whites (1/2013): Dinnerware

I decided to set-up our table for our Christmas Eve dinner and use this white dinnerware...

for our fine dining home experience...

...instead of the usual buffet-style.



My share of

Earth Hour - Philippines, March 26, 2011

We participated in Earth Hour 2011! (so is our neighbor)



An hour of no lights and no gadgets for the kids is also exciting. We just sat down outside the porch while my eldest son played his guitar. We sung with him even though we're out of tune. It was a beautiful hour of family bonding for us... while saving the earth!

Card-Giving Day

Friday, Sept. 3, 2010, was the 1st card-giving day for this school year in my sons' school. Of course, parents are more excited that their kids! It's "the day" we are going to find some fruits for our labor. "The day" we are going to be rated (in my own opinion).

It's my job to get all my kids report cards and have a talk with their school advisers.

I'm just soooo happy to know that all of my three (3) boys have a "CONDUCT AWARD" each for having a good behavior in school!





And to top it all, Kevin and Phoebo got an "ACADEMIC AWARD" for showing exemplary performance academically!




I would like to make mention of my Kevin. He's the only one who got a perfect score in their 1st quarter exam in Math and got the bonus question correctly among all grade 5 students. With that, he got a 98% in his report card in Math. Congrats, Kev!

We are so proud of you, kids!

Another quarter has just started. There will be more work to do, more monitorings, more supervisions, more motivations, etc. But we will pass it all - in God's grace!

Thank you, Lord!

Friday's Fave Five # 1

This is my very first entry on Friday's Fave Five.

1. Thanks to mommy Chris' Mommy Moments because I found mommy Hazel's entry on Friday's Fave Five and I got interested. What a better way to recap the happenings for the whole week than see them as blessings instead of trials. Many thanks!

2. Poem. I'm a trying hard poet. I try to write poems whenever I get inspired. Just lately, I started documenting the things that I've written. One of which is "I Love You" because I'm just happy...happy.

3. Flu! My sons, Kevin and Phoebo, catches flu this week. Both are now well and I'm just glad its just a Flu than the scary Dengue Fever! Thank God!

4. AWARDs. It's card-giving time in my sons' school. I'm so happy that all the three (3) boys got a "CONDUCT AWARD" each for showing good behavior in school. While Kevin and Phoebo got an "ACADEMIC AWARD" for their exemplary performance academically. Good work, guys! Mama is sooooo proud of you!!!(http://mommy-divine.blogspot.com/2010/09/card-giving-day.html)

5. Quote that caught my attention as I read the Daily Bible Reflection of The Kerygma Family: "One cannot give without loving, but one cannot love without giving."

I hope I did alright. Thanks for this site, Susanne! And I hope I can join again next week.

Educational Trip

My son and I joined the school's educational trip last Saturday, Aug.14. We went to different places.

First stop - Puppet Show at UP Theater:



Next Stop - Quezon City Memorial Circle:
(in commemoration of the Linggo ng Wika)



Next Stop - Lunch at MOA (Mall Of Asia):
(we got the chance to capture the mermaid in one of the restaurants)



Next Stop - Museong Pambata:



Last Stop - Zoocology in Manila Ocean Park:



He had lots of fun and never got tired. He also brought home some souvenirs with him.

from Museong Pambatafrom Zoocology

School Time-Second Quarter

Last week was the end of the first quarter in school. My kids had the usual first quarter exams. There were three of them (1-first year high school, 1-5th grader, and my 1st grader). It was so exhausting for me to prepare worksheets and review them for all the topics that have to be reviewed. My 1st grader is a first timer in a big school. First year high school is so different from grade school. And my 5th grader's goal is to achieve a "General Scholastic Awards". I just have to be on their every step!

Thanks to the internet, I got to get free worksheets to help them in their review. Some of them are:

http://www.tlsbooks.com
http://www.schoolexpress.com
http://www.ezschool.com
http://www.homeschoolmath.net
http://www.homeschoolingadventures.com
http://www.softschool.com
http://www.schoolkid.ph
http://www.abcteach.com


Now, second quarter is about to start and I'm helping my kids set up their goals for this quarter. I am also trying to arrange and schedule my activities so I can fully hand them more of my time. I cannot do it alone, I know, but with God's grace I know I can manage. As many of us mommies do!

My Sister's Wedding

It was my sister's wedding last July 16, 2010. She's the youngest in our family, though not that young anymore. It was a civil wedding and we wanted to make it a very special intimate wedding for the family. We did all the invitations, ordered the giveaways, the physical preparations in the restaurant (including the candy bar)in less than a month! Tiring but satisfying... take a peek...

My sister, Jovy and her husband, Smruti

The Guests registration table

The Reception Entrance

The wedding reception area

The giveaways

The Wedding Cake

The Candy or Sweets Bar

And our wacky family!

At the end of it all, my only wish is for the newly wed to live a beautiful life together as one... Love you two!!!

Nissan or Hyundai

We were thinking of getting the all new Hyundai Tucson because, for me, it looks good (you see, I don't know anything about cars). When we saw the new Nissan Xtrail CVT, and we thought its more like it since its Japanese technology and we've already been using an automatic '04 Nissan Xtrail.

Last week, our Nissan Xtrail's engine just stopped while I'm driving! I tried to start its engine and it took me about 3 to 4 trials before it went on again. It was one of the things that I hate happening because I have all of my kids with me in the car aside from having to stop in the middle of a busy street. Is very stressful especially when the other cars and buses keep on sounding their horns! Stressful, also for the kids!

We had it checked by Nissan last weekend, hoping that would fixed the problem. But yesterday, it happened again! And this time the engine kept on stopping like every 3 - 4 minutes! I got stressed but I pulled myself together and acted as if everything is alright just for the sake of my kids - so they wont get stress also.

We ended up leaving the car in the parking lot and we rode a tricycle going home! I made it look like a new adventure for them so everyone will be excited. We made a short stopped at McDonald's on our way home. Then, I found my youngest son so quiet. When asked why, he said he's got a little scared riding the tricycle because its his firstime but got use to it anyway.

We'll have the car fix again and I hope this time they will really fix the problem because I heard from some friends about the same problem they encountered with Nissan cars (engine stopping out of the blues). So now, we are having second thoughts of acquiring the all-new Nissan Xtrail-CVT.

1-0 in favor of Hyundai Tucson. . .

Circumcision

It is a fact of life for boys here in our country to be circumcise. And my boys (all 3 of them) were no exemptions. I am having difficulty understanding why do boys need to be circumcised but I cannot do anything about it. I have to go with the flow. So, I pushed it out of my head for a while but 11 years after, my son requested that we schedule him for one! I think it was peer pressure. And my son was ready!

It was the most "i-dont-know-what-you-call-it" feeling I ever felt! Seeing my son going to the Operating Room all by himself and I just sit there in the waiting area waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Boy! it was the longest 30-minutes of my life!

I was scared for my son. I was scared of what he is going to feel. I was scared that a doctor might hurt(of course there is an anesthesia) my son. I was scared of the healing process my son will go through.

But reality really hurts! I WAS SCARED BECAUSE MY SON IS NOT A BABY ANYMORE!

I think circumcision is a sign that the kid is growing up. A sign that the little boy is not there anymore. A sign of manhood.

I cried to myself that night because I can see the pain he is going through. I cried because I cannot do anything about it. I cried because he is growing up and will start to experience what life really is. I cried because I may not have given him the proper tools he needs to face the real world. I cried because I may have to let go of my son and let him experience life on his own.

On the otherhand, although my son is experiencing some pain, I can see that he is proud of what he has accomplished. He has survived the pain of circumcision! By God's grace, I know he will survive life's challenges. We, as parents, will only be here to support him. Good luck, my boy! I love you!