Password: Apat na numero ng aking kaarawan

A few months ago, we watched a kiddie presentation where everyone wore pink tops, white bottoms and wings while they danced to the tune of "Paro-Parong Bukid". Jake was at the back of the formation.

As the music was playing, Jake was seriously executing his moves while M and A were in a scuffle. When M & A bumped the dancing Jake, Jake tried to pull the two boys apart. While doing that, C, who was on the other side, went over to the 3 boys. And without any provocation, C gave Jake a quick jab on the face. My boy wasn't intimidated at all and retaliated by shoving C away from him. I was in a semi-shock watching the incident. Jake was actually fending for himself!

.... (Freeze)...Then my memory stick ran out of space in capturing what would be a short melee.

No worries there... M, A, C and Jake are actually friends before and even after that incident.

If only adults were just as forgiving....





*You have to have a fast connection to be able to view this 20mb short video...
*Password is to prevent unauthorized viewing of innocent kids in this video

3.5 Year Old Adult

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Jake at Podium, originally uploaded by gratitude.

The common scenario when we leave for the office in the morning:

"See you later Jake. Be ready for school by 10am", Jerry or I would tell him. And Jake would see us to the door after giving us our kiss.

This morning, I bade him goodbye as I hurriedly tried to carry all of my bags down to the car. Jake just finished taking his shower with Nanny's help. He quickly ran up to me and said: "Wait Ma, let me kiss your face first..." and proceeded to plant a big wet kiss on my cheek.

How sweet... I drove to work with a smile on my face.

@-->--

On a typical free day, I would be a couch potato watching E-news or some other local gossip program, Jerry would be reading emails on his Blackberry, Matt would be out with his friends, Kyle would be playing the Playstation2 and Jake would be running around playing with different toys one at a time in intervals of 5 minutes.

One day, we were all busy and left to our own devices when Jake ran up the stairs.

"Jake, where are you going?", Jerry and I chorused.

"I'm going up.... to check my emails", Jake replied.

No, he's not going up to watch tv, not to take his turn with the PS2, not to play with his kiddie toys... He was going to check his emails!

Just where did that come from???

Jerry with his Blackberry and Jake with his Gameboy..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Jake at Costabella..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Blog Awards

Thank you Em Dy for this award:





And thank you to Julie for this:






So this must be how actors and actresses feel when they receive awards as a recognition of their thespian talents - proud and happy for being recognized. Only, the difference is actors/actresses receive awards for portraying make-believe roles while blog awardees receive awards for writing about true stories or snippets of real life.

My blog is here to chronicle our family's life journey and if in some ways I was able to touch parts of my readers' lives, it's a wonderful bonus. it does take journalling to a higher level.

Thank you...thank you...

Meanwhile, I'm passing the "I Love Your Blog" award to Luisa of Beyond Normal and the "Nice Matters" award to Meeya of Confessions of a Domesticated Party Girl. Meeya dear, I do enjoy the manner by which you write and put humor to your posts. I hope you don't think I'm doing this to reciprocate the award you gave me a few months back (hehehe).

And here are more...

Thanks to Meeya for this:





And I pass it on to Junnie of Memento for the lovely photographs that go with his inspirational and thought-provoking posts... This is not nepotism ha.

And last but not the least:

Thanks to Jo of Precious Thoughts for the:





This goes to all the lady bloggers out there. Special mention goes to May of C'est notre maison and Mimi of Thought Balloon. Stay fabulous mommies!

Giving these awards is as much fun as receiving them. Keep on blogging everyone! You all deserve the "great blogger" award. :D

Our Superman

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Shy, originally uploaded by gratitude.

The Little Plant

In the heart of a seed
Buried deep so deep
A dear little plant
Lay fast asleep

Wake, said the sunshine
Creep to the light
Wake, said the voice
of the raindrops bright

The little plant heard
And it rose to see
What a wonderful sight
The outside world might be


This shy 3.5 years old Superman memorized the poem above... Hear him below and be amused at how he managed to know it by heart... Check out the video...









And on Nov. 23, he will be competing against other Nursery 1 students for the Voice of Children presentation. Winner or not on Friday, he is still our little hero.

Superman goes home after school..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Gustavian

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Christmas tree @ Gustavian, originally uploaded by gratitude.

An early Christmas treat arrived in my inbox a few days ago. I received an email invite for some Christmas snacks sampling at the Gustavian for last Saturday.

Jerry and I went. The wide array of food items rendered us full right up to dinner. Hehe... some snacks huh!

Tried the following: turkey with jambalaya filling, pineapple ham, chicken liver pate, meat loaf, and some pastries. Eggnog and glogg were also served for free. It was my first time to actually taste these drinks.

Yummm!

We liked most of what we tasted but we particularly liked the pineapple ham and bought a few hundred grams. This should set the mood for Christmas. Look I even changed this blog's masthead and avatar to reflect the mood. :)

me and my eggnog, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Jerry, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Christmas food samplers, originally uploaded by gratitude.

the rack, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Gustavian, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Alegre Beach Resort

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Alegre Beach Resort, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Midway through the 4-day weekend/break, Jerry decided to take the family on a long drive to see the scenic north of Cebu island. The roads were surprisingly good and paved making it a smooth drive for our 2-month old Carens.

Shortly before lunch we were on our way, bringing with us bags of chips, bottles of water, soda and juice, and Jollibee chicken, burgers and fries. We had our pit stop at the Alegre Beach Resort, at Sogod town 70 kilometers or about an hour and a half drive from Cebu City.

It was our first time there and we were impressed by the sight. Next break we get, we'll definitely think of Alegre...

Our drive up north took us up to San Remigo town after Bogo. The white sand public beach was too inviting but we had to head back home to Ma. Luisa for a visit to A-ma. I wish we have another long break soon. It would be good to linger in one of the nice places we saw.

Alegre Beach Resort, originally uploaded by gratitude.

View from the deck... beach is at the background..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Kiddie amusement on the far right...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Smelly Delicious!

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daing galore, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Since most of the business establishments were closed on Nov. 1, we thought of driving to Tabo-an in downtown Cebu to buy some "pasalubong" that Pa could take back to his employees...

If you are fond of dried anything (fish, squid, etc) and you're in Cebu, then this is the place to get a hold of the object of your cravings.

mounds and mounds of dried seafood...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

which one to get?...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Don't be fooled by the confused look on Paparazzi's face. The place may be the most offensive smelling area in the market but Pa surely was in "danggit" heaven! He actually bought a few kilos of different kinds. I can only shake my head when I recall his 2002 quadruple heart bypass. Watch your diet Pa!

How come there are some things that taste good but smell bad? Do you have a particular favorite food like that?

Nov 1 2007

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for posterity, originally uploaded by gratitude.

We had mass at Cempark last Oct 27 to avoid the crowd on Nov 1. So on Nov 1, we were free to do whatever we wanted this being the last day for my Paparazzi, Ma and niece Zia's stay in Cebu.

We gorged on seafood buffet at Port. With their P199 lunch buffet per person, it was a verrry dangerous proposition to over-eat. Feeling guilty (not!) we bowled 2 games at the Bowlingplex. It got our adrenaline rushing a bit. Then at 6pm, we went to Cempark for (yikes!) yet another lechon dinner.

Imagine that, more calories taken in than burned.... And it's not even the Christmas season yet...

Jerry, teaching Kyle..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Ma and Paparazzi at Bowlingplex..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Paparazzi's winning form... even at 66yo..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Life Begins....

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Family in red, originally uploaded by gratitude.

It was a simple birthday get-together for me last Oct. 30. Family, relatives and a few friends joined me at Cafe Georg for dinner.

So many wonderful things to be thankful for, one of them is being surrounded by loved ones on this special day... :)

With my Paparazzi, Ma, niece Zia and the family of Cong. Matugas, my maternal uncle..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

My paternal aunt and cousins, Mimi and Stella and niece Marti..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Close family friends - The Ongs and the Khos, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Zia (with Lolo & Lola) in Cebu

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Jake with Lola, Lolo and cousin Zia, originally uploaded by gratitude.

My 3yo niece was in town for a few days. And in those few days, we were regaled by her precociousness.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout....
Here misis handle. Here misis spout."

Ahh joy!... We had a hearty laugh listening to all her antics....

Zia and Jake..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Feverish Jake

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Jake... feeling sick, originally uploaded by gratitude.

When a loved one is running fever for days, with no clear symptoms like cold or cough, what runs through your mind? Though I hate to think about it, I become paranoid and take extra steps to determine it's not the dreaded dengue.

So imagine our concern when Jake had his fever on and off for a couple of days. We rushed him to the ER twice just to have his CBC test and both times we were relieved that the platelet count was normal.

Initial diagnosis was acute tonsilitis. Later on, it turned out to be cold sores on the throat caused by a virus. After a week of meds and a few pounds lost (Jake's, though i wish it were mine, hehe), Jake is now almost fully recovered. His appetite's back and he is his usual active self.

Relief...

Jake... requesting hotdog to go with his meds..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

@ the Motorshow Philippines at CICC

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Posing in front of the Philippines' fastest car, originally uploaded by gratitude.

One lazy Sunday afternoon, right after a heavy lunch treat from Casino Espanol, we hied off to catch the last day of the Motorshow at the Cebu International Convention Center.

Yeah, it was all for the boys... but I had fun taking pics of them by the cars too. :)

Ah, yes... a Ferrari..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Car-lovers three..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Me and Matt..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Mama Sol's Birthday

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With Mama Sol, Papa Lalo and Ma, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Every year, Mama Sol, my maternal aunt, is honored with a big birthday celebration by her family and colleagues. This year, we were part of the lunch treat at Casino Espanol.

One thing about parties tendered for Mama Sol or any member of her family, there is always a lot of seafood on the buffet table. Something we all look forward to. Hehehe... Crabs, curacha, lobsters, prawns, shellfish, name it....

I'm just glad I'm not allergic (anymore) to these kinds of (sea)food. That would have been a classic party pooper.

@ Spaghetti Factory

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14 yo Matt & me, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Sometimes when the party of five goes to the mall, we have to divide ourselves to maximize our time in covering what we need to do (i.e. buy school supplies, have a haircut, go to the salon (for me), take Jake to Timezone or Playroom, etc). On one such day, Jerry took Jake to the toy store and then to Harbor City for some dimsum while I checked out some other stuff with the elder boys, Matt & Kyle.

While Jerry and Jake were having their dimsum break, the 3 of us were at Spaghetti factory sampling one (out of their wide selection of) pasta and pizza.

Verdict: Food was good, and price was reasonable. It's worth another visit ;)

11 yo Kyle, clowning around..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

That sure looks big... Jake

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That sure looks big... Jake, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Mosquito bite? Argh! I couldn't help but feel irritated at these pesky seemingly invisible bugs when I saw Jake looking like this one morning. No matter how we spray regularly and keep all doors and windows screened and shut... they never seem to disappear. Mind boggling thing is, it's Jake who gets bitten most of the time. It helps that we always apply aloe vera lotion to keep the mosquitoes away from his body... However, on this particular day, they chose to zero in on that part that we don't put lotion on. Kainis.

No more big lip the day after...Jake, originally uploaded by gratitude.

All Smiles at Ginza Restaurant

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Jake, Kyle, Matt, originally uploaded by gratitude.

Our own celebration of Kyle's birthday was to accede to the celebrator's request to have Japanese dinner. We obliged of course, more than willingly. Hehehe... What's a perfect excuse to have in abundance (exagg!) salmon sashimi, shrimp tempura, chicken teriyaki, sushi, Ginza rice, gyoza, and green tea ice cream?

Kyle, originally uploaded by gratitude.

The boys..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Jake and me..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Netopia and Yellow Cab

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Kyle's friends fresh from internet gaming at Netopia...., originally uploaded by gratitude.

As is the trend nowadays for boys' parties... 1st part is usually internet gaming for 1 to 2 hours at Netopia to be followed by a scrumptious snack of Yellow Cab pizza.

The 10-11 year olds were just too happy to be spending a Saturday afternoon together playing and sharing some snacks.

This is my idea of no-fuss partying. And I'm glad that everyone enjoyed.

The bigger boys...Matt's mafia too were there to share in the fun..., originally uploaded by gratitude.

Here are 2 of my amigas too as Kyle's guests... :D, originally uploaded by gratitude.