Happy Halloween!!!

Yes, it's Hallow's Eve tonight...or was it last night? Hehehe.

Busy busy day today...preparing for our first EVER halloween party! Instead of trick or treating, which I was in NO mood to do this year at all mainly because of my back and leg pain, I kind of coerced the kids into agreeing to a reeeeeaaaaaallly fun halloween party instead. Thank God they agreed. Not that the preparations were all that easy, especially without Bang and Elizza to take care of the food! Sigh! Oh well. I guess we can't have everything! :)

Preparations:
1. Have Melinda cook most of the food.
2. Order barbecue.....the kids love this!
3. Prepare loot bags
4. Prepare ANOTHER set of loot bags, with chocolates and other goodies from the States which Mom brought when she arrived early this morning.

5. Prepare ghost sandwiches. (all by myself, thank you very much!)
6. Get costume ready.
7. Send back the driver for Boydee's costume. Hehehehe.

If you must know, here's the menu (I can't remember what the kids labelled each food):

barbecue
spaghetti with meatballs
ghost sandwiches with peanut buter (made by ahem! ME)
chocolate cupcakes
chocolate cake
orange chiffon cake
we had the chocolate fountain with marshmallows for dipping
fried chicken

and that's all I remember.

I know you really really want pics, but you know I really really want to show them off via layouts, but I'm just too lazy to do that now.....so, a FEW handpicked pics:

I'm sure you guys can guess who this is...hehehehe. I know for a fact that he will absolutely DIE if he finds out I posted this pic of him on the internet for all to see! hahahahaha!

The loot bags all in a row. The kids were SO excited about the loot bags the whole night. They kept looking over and they looked like they were ready to rip everything apart!

A few of the cutie pies who attended the party :) Take note, I did NOT buy any costumes for this year! Whoohoohoo!!! Add up the SAVINGS! :) But for next year, I don't think I have any choice --- it seems the kids will outgrow their costumes for sure.

Perfect caption for this photo: "Who's your Daddy now???????" Hehehehe.

As for the other photos, THOSE I'm going to save for my layouts!

TTFN!

Halloween EVE

Need to post today since I may not be able to do any posting tomorrow.

Yes, it is Halloween EVE, i.e., the night BEFORE Halloween...NOT all Hallow's Eve, which, technically, is Halloween. Did I confuse you yet? hehehehe :)

Posting just two layouts today:

{SCRAPS}

Lai, this is for you. Hehehehe. Yes, I totally PROMISED you that I wouldn't scrap YOU......and I kept my promise! I didn't scrap you, I scrapped your TUMMY!!!! Hehehehe.
I even didn't include your face in the layout because I didn't want you to think I was reneging on my promise *wink!*

I have been getting pretty nice comments about the belly layout over at DST, if you want to check it out. Teehee!

And before I forget, your tummy looks nice and healthy looking, Lai. Nice and smooth.....and, no, I didn't photoshop that either!






Here's a layout of Rod and Zhar....both looking fab and glam as usual :) So I had to make the layout look fab as well with a little bling bling! Check out Gina Miller's jeweled hatpin on the folded corner ---------------->
isn't it cute? And just the right finishing touch, I think :)

And Zhar, before you ask about the high res copy of this layout, I just wanted to tell you that I lost the dang thing!!! I am SO pissed right now, I've been screaming every few minutes!

How did it happen? I renamed the Photoshop file by accident and put a .jpg at the end. And now I can't get back my .psd file! :( Waaaaaah!!!!

Credits here.



{HALLOWEEN PREPARATIONS}

I went to the supermarket early this morning to get some goodies for the kids' loot bags tomorrow. For the FIRST time in history, we are NOT taking the kids out to do trick or treating. Instead, we're going to have a COSTUME par-tay!

I've been busy repacking everything Lola and I bought today into loot bags. All 20 of them. I've got a couple of extras, just in case. And, I did the totally scrapper thing and made little -- ok, BIG -- name cards for the loot bags, as well as a super duper simple "layout" with a cute little Halloween poem.

I'm making a mental note to myself to take a nice photo of the loot bags. Stella, Zhar, Ran and Rod, if you're reading this....please remind me to take a pic! Or better yet, go ahead and take a pic for me puhleeze!

I'm excited about the ADULTS being in costume tomorrow as well, hehehehe. I am going to take pics with a vengeance! (I hope!). I am going to need some MAJOR scrapping material in the next few months.

{TTFN}

This should be it for now.....my leg's killing me as usual. Grrr.

By the way, Stella, THANK YOU for FINALLY commenting on my blog! :) Now.....to get you to comment on my layouts over at DST.......

Lotsa Stuff to Show and Say

{LAYOUTS FIRST}

I know you faithful blog readers of mine (all 5 of you or so, hehehe!) are eager to see my latest show and tell......



I like what I did with this. Thank you Lai for sending this to me! I think this layout shows how --ahem!--- mature Boydee and I are now. Hehehe. I like to think we were having FUN when we had this pic taken.

One thing I'm proud to have done for this layout is how I've highlighter our pic together. If you can see the original of this pic, you will notice that Bang is behind us, wearing a really really BRIGHT red caftan...which was very distracting when I first scrapped this photo. So, desaturate, apply a Gaussian blur to the original. I copied just Boydee and me onto this desaturated photo and applied Holly McCaig's Purty Pics action filter to it...and voila! I REALLY nice pic of us! :)

Credits for this layout can be seen here.





____

This is a double spread of Raegan during her Portfolio Night. And yes, ALL the kids will be having double spreads for this one. One featuring them holding their certificate which recognizes their individual Smarts, and the other page showcasing their work for the quarter (or semester).

Love Correen Silke's kit I used on this one called September Brunch. It was very fitting for the Baro't saya that Raegan was wearing. I was going to have these pages featured in the RAKS newsletter, but I did the layouts using sketch challenges from Bree Clarkson and Rachel Giallongo that were going to be due by the end of this month.

Credits for these pages are here and here.

More? Sure, I have more, hehehehe! I scrapped the next two pages early this morning when I couldn't go to sleep; when my Excedrin for Migraine kept me up. Grrr. Oh well, at least I made use of my time eh?




Isn't this the cutest shot? Hehehe. Of course, I had to get mad at Raegan before I took this; she was acting up again and saying she didn't want her pic taken. Grrr! But there was NO WAY I was going to pass this photo opp up! Good thing I didn't too, since she won Best in Costume at school during Literacy Night!

I used Eve Recinella's awesome kit called Your Every Wish. Aren't the alphas the cutest!

Credits here.








This one looks a bit busy, I know, but I think it kinda works. I love all the circles in this layout, and that metal-studded frame from Amy Bleser's Little Man kit is just perfect for Ranger's "choochuchen" layout. That's the way he says Choo Choo Train, which Papa couldn't figure out, hehehee.

I guess I SHOULD have made that the title for this page. Oh well. I still have another photo of him, so maybe I'll still get to use "choochuchen".

Credits here.





{IN OTHER NEWS}

Will miracles never cease?!?!?! Reese spent the night here at home!!!! Whoa!!! Hehehe. At least she's honest about "paying" for her Pokemon book. Rielle wasn't able to make it since she had school. On a SATURDAY!!! The horror! She had to be in school to practice for Holy Communion. The WHOLE day! Poor kid!

Anyway, as I'm typing this, the kids are in the pool with Papa. I have some blessed peace and quiet to scrap, to download, to surf, to blog. Ahhhhhh......I just LOVE Saturdays! :)

Later tonight, I'm (sigh!) going over to the South again to play (ugh!) Poker. I swear, this is THE most boring game ever invented! I mean, with the HOURS put in, I could be scrapping!!!!

The good news is, Cathy has expressed an INTEREST in digiscrapbooking! Yay! Another convert! Hehehehe. And her husband Jerome is excited about her being excited. Little does he know that Cathy possesses the knowledge that PayPal can now be used in the Philippines! Bwahahahaha! So shhhhhhh.........

{FUN STUFF: DIGI SHOPPING}

Yes, I just HAD to buy a few things....don't worry, they were all on S.A.L.E .....AND some because I won some Gift Certifiates! Whoohoohoo!!!

First off is my $5 GC from Dani Mogstad (I had to pay $1 to get all these):

____ __

This morning, while surfing over at DST, I came across a thread announcing $1 stuff over at Trish Jones' site! I controlled myself to get this cute little alpha:

Still this morning, while at a chat over at Treasures to Scrap, I won another $5 GC!!! Hehehehe. This one courtesy of Saskia Bokkers of Addicted to Digital. Got these:

______

And last but not the least (yes, it's the LAST one!), I popped over at Divine Digital and bought this awesome, HUGE mega kit called It's A Boy Thing:

_________
_________

This has been a verrrrry good day so far! Hehehe.

{SADNESS}

Looks like The Digi Dreamer will be closing its doors soon. This was one of my very first stints as a member of a Creative Team, one that I've considered a lucky charm :). Staci, the owner, has decided not to continue with the operations of the site for now. I'll always be grateful to Staci and Ruby for offering me that CT spot! Thanks, ladies!

{ALBUMS}

Last week, when Cathy expressed an interest in digiscrapping, she mentioned that she would love to see the layouts I've done PRINTED out. So.....PRESSURE!!! The very next day, I rushed to Fuji and had 63 (!!!) layouts printed!!! hehehe. It was a good excuse as any to eat up a big chunk of my finished layouts sitting on my hard drive. Ate a pretty sizeable chunk of my wallet, too!

But to see the kids go through their "albums" (they're still in clearbooks now, awaiting sorting) and see the wonder in their eyes that they used to be so tiny......it's all worth it. Now, the questions of why this and why that, how this and how that........that's another story, hehehehe.

TTFN!

It's 3:38 in the MORNING...

...and I'm still up!!! Ack! It must be the medicine I took for my migraines; they have caffeine and that's what's keeping me up!

I've scrapped a couple of layouts today, but I'm going to upload them tomorrow ---er, later today--- before posting them here.

It's high time I force myself to sleep. Otherwise, I'd lose half the day tomorrow! Today, I mean. Hehehe....see? I'm already confused!

Some good news though...I won a $5 gift certificate to Dani Mogstad's store for my winning layout entitled "I LU!". Yay! So I went shopping for stuff (will show you later today *wink*!)

Ok, I can't type anymore......gotta go!

TTFN!

Halloween Layouts ALREADY?!?!

Uh huh. I've been doing the challenges over at Divine Digital and all of them have been about Halloween, except 1, I think. It's been fun, but thank goodness the kids had had their Literacy Night at School already, other wise I'd have NO pics to scrap with..unless I scan my old ones!

Anyway, a few samples (the rest are at the Divine Digital site, which, unfortunately, had moved servers; along the way, they lost quite a few layouts, mine included!):

____________

The first one's an ATC, or an Artist Trading Card. Apparently it's a big thing where people actually trade them! I don't do them as much, only for challenges, but they are fun to do! It's like a mini layout of sorts, so it's not that hard. Credits for both layouts can be found here and here.

Next are of Rogan, as only Rogan can be. What do I mean? Well, Rogan is......ummm....Rogan. Hehehehe. Look at the next couple of layouts and you'll KNOW what I mean!

____________

O see? Only Rogan, right? Anyway, to read the story of Spongebob, you have to visit here and here. I promise it's a pretty good story. At least, I think so :)

Last Halloween layout:

This one I scanned. Old picture, as you can see Avic and Rejy are still with the kids going trick or treating! Hehehe!

Love that little poem at the bottom right, too, which I tweaked a little bit to fit the layout of course!

Credits for this layout can be found here.












{BACK PAIN DRAMA, CHAPTER 100}

Okay, it's not really chapter 100, but I forgot what number it was. Anyhoo, I went to my "myovasotherapist" this afternoon. He prodded, poked and stretched my aching leg. Aaaahhhhh.....felt good too. Good pain, if you know what I mean. I'm positive I'm going to be having bruises again...and I can probably tell you the exact spot I'm going to have them!

The good part is, I don't feel AS sore as last week after I visited him. I don't know if it's because I'm used to his methods, or if it's because of the painkillers I stuffed in my mouth an hour or so after my visit, hehehehe. I'll know more tomorrow I guess, whether I'm going to be hurting or not.......

{ERRATUM}

I have been corrected. I profusely apologize for not getting the name of the photographer of Rogan's SPLISH SPLASH layout correctly. It's this layout here:

I mistakenly mentioned the photographer as Rodney, when in fact it was RANDY who took this awesome photo.

Mistake corrected? :)















TTFN!

Kids are E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E Little Creatures!!!

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I was busy....scrapping heheehe :)

Anyway, back to my title. Yup, kids are THE MOST expensive little creatures ever to walk on the face of this earth!!! Yesterday afternoon, I came back from the pediatrician with my checkbook SOOOOO much lighter by..are you ready?.....so much lighter by P16,800!!!

Oh. My. God. Yes, can you scream it out?!?!?! Holy crapoly! And, the kicker? I didn't even take all MY kids -- just Rogan! Hahahahaha! I mean, that's all I can do: laugh and just shake my head..and of course, take it in the checkbook! Lai, if you're reading this, don't faint. Hehehehe. Well, ok, a little bit.

Why so much for a visit to the pediatrician? Well the kids (Reese, Rielle, Riley and Rogan) and Lolo Boy ALL had vaccinations. Killer-priced vaccination Prevanar was administered to Rielle and Rogan. That's already a freakin' P5,500 each! Ack! The others weren't too bad....just that having them all at the same time REALLY added up!

And the bad news? I've got 3 more of MY kids to go through that Prevanar vaccine! With the *&#$* cost of this dang vaccine, my kids better NOT get sick at all!!!

Ok. Enough ranting. How about a few (or a LOT!) layouts to make my day a little bit brighter :) Especially if you leave me some LOVE at my DST gallery! (*hint! hint!*) Hehehe. I've got quite a few layout I haven't posted here, so get ready for graphics intensive loading time!

{SCRAPS OF MAMA}



These layouts are a tad bit older...I couldn't post them until they came out in the RAKS newletter here. But credits for these 3 layouts can be found here, here and here. It is SO exciting for me to be on the RAKScraps Creative Team, I tell you! And my layouts in their newsletter? A major TOOT for me for sure! :)

Ready for more? Here's one from our team building. Although I'm not here, I took this photo!

This was a killer layout to make for Meredith Fenwick's Mix and Match Challenge at SBB. For subscriber's only! I had to use elements, papers, fonts from 15 DIFFERENT designers! Definitely NOT an easy thing to do, especially if you spend hours looking through the countless files in your hard drive!!!

Anyway, I showed this to the staff and they all LOVED it. With the exception of Bechay since she's the ONLY one whose face is almost IN the water. This, after I had repeatedly told her to make sure to have her face ABOVE the water! Hehehe. Oh well.

Credits for Office Stars can be found here.





This layout is special to me. Why? Because when I posted this over at Divine Digital, none other than Royanna Fritschmann, one of my ALL-TIME absolute FAVORITE designers, commented on it:

"Ok....this is going into my ABSOLUTE SCRAPLIFT folder!!! I love this....love how you used the papers and the collaging on the bottom! But the look on his face MAKES this layout! TFS!"

Ahhhhh!! That totally MADE my day! Yes! :)

I love how striking this layout is and I'm all the more proud for having a comment such as Royanna's grace the comments section!

Thanks to Rodney for taking this awesome photo of Rogan during Ranger's birthday party! Layout credits here.

Hmmm...is this post long yet? A couple more layouts, I promise! :)



Credits here and here. If you want to read the journaling --and I know you do, my faithful blog readers! hehehe--- you'll have to go to my gallery and see. And make sure you leave a comment please! Much obliged, if you do! :)

Pretty long post eh? TTFN!

Ready for Halloween!

At least, my Blog is! Hehehe :) I am SO psyched that I have finally updated my Blog's header to "go with the times"....at least, with the current season/holiday!

Not so with PLANNING for Halloween! The most I've done is help the kids get their costumes ready for Literacy Night at school. Although since they're out of preschool, the school has decreed that they were too old for Trick or Treating. Too old?!?!? No one's too old for this age-old tradition. Sigh! Oh well. At least they get to dress up in different characters this year....which is, of course, GREAT for picture-happy Mama.

{TEAM BUILDING}

We went to this place in Batangas called Eagle Point. Nice place. Clean, quiet, and most importantly, pretty much all to ourselves. There was 1 small group of Norweigans at the resort, but other than that, it was just our office.

We have lots of pictures, but as usual, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves via layout form. I guess I've been spoiled by digiscrapping; not only is it more fun to view photos in a layout, it's a MUST to present photos in a layout! Hehehehe. True, eh? We get spoiled easily!

Suffice it to say that the team building session was a huge success. We went to a private island call Sepoc Island where we did all our team building activities. We spent the whole day there before going back to the "mainland". We feasted the whole day on yummy yummy plentiful food! The staff were full the whole day!

Of course, there was karaoke at night, which I wisely stayed out of, hehehehe. Went back to our room to relax. My leg was KILLING me by that time. I couldn't even stay put in front of my laptop for more than 5 minutes! Grrrr!!!

{SCRAPS OF MAMA}

Anyway, some scraps I've made the past couple of days.

THE PROPOSAL
Another layout for Randy and Stella. Oh Stella ---- no tears this time please! Hehehe. I love the shot of their intertwined hands here, no?

I made this layout for a contest using this particular circle sketch. Fun to do, but a LOT of layers, that's for sure! And definitely very good if you have lots of pictures for an event.

The quote at the bottom right says "God gives His very best to those who leave the choice with Him."

Isn't that beautiful? I can feel your tears coming, Stella dear! But I think this quote is just perfect for you guys.

Credits here.



Other scraps:

________
Credits here and here.

Why are these 2 layouts similar you ask? I used only 1 kit to do it of course! It's called Harvest Trail by Amy Bleser (and Lauren Grier) available at the Sweet Shoppe Designs. I'm on Amy's CT so I got to show off this wonderful kit!

I have a few more layouts to show off but that will have to wait til tomorrow. It's almost 11:30 pm and I'm pooped. I'm feeling a slight twinge in my right leg, which means it's time to say good night!

TTFN!

Even Shorter and Sweeter

Just a super duper short post to let everyone know that we are off tomorrow EARLY morning for the MVC Teambuilding session at Eagle Point. Finally! This trip had already been delayed because of the possibility of Martial Law being imposed early this year.

So anyway, it's all systems go for tomorrow.

Of course, I asked whether there will be internet connection at the resort! It's a MUST, you know? Hehehehe.

This is just a heads up, just in case I may not be able to update my blog in the next couple of days.

TTFN!

Short and Sweet

This blog entry will be that. Short and sweet. It's almost 10:30 pm and I'm pooped. Actually, my right leg is just killing me now.

Order of the day today:

1. Physical Therapy - did more stretching, including sit ups. Then had to do the gross exercise bike for 20 minutes. You think THAT was fun???? Eeeewwwwww......my leg was HURTING!!!! I could NOT walk away from the dang bike!!! Ack and double ack! Thank goodness it's Sunday tomorrow and the rehab center is closed! Whoohoo!!!

2. Piano recital of Reese and Rielle at U.P. - Lai, if you're reading this, I will get the pics to you somehow. All of the kids (including Ranger, excluding Riley) went with us. The pianists played simple tunes and they were great! Reese said she made a mistake; only Stella picked up on that because she was looking at Reese's face (Ms. OC-OC probably grimaced and looked really pissed that she missed a note! --- gasp! NO! not possible!) Hehehehee.

The great surprise was that Reese and Rielle had a duet piece: She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain. It was so cute: they'd play the melody, Rielle would stop, and Reese would clap her hands. After a couple of times, we joined in the clapping as well, which made a lot of the audience clap their hands, too! Are we good or what? :)

3. Of course, no recital would be complete without EATING OUT. Since Stella had to be at choir practice at 6 pm, we said Omakase would be too far. So we decided to go to Teriyaki Boy. At frigging 5 pm. For DINNER......Told Reese she BETTER not eat dinner at home again! Hehehehe (she didn't).

That's it! Now for a few scraps:

{SCRAPS OF MAMA}

____________

Credits can be seen here and here. They're both scraplifts, but tweaked a little bit to make the page more "mine" of course :)

TTFN!

What A Day!!!

Tiring and FULL day today.....

In the morning, I got up early to finish my layout for the Philippine Digiscrappers site. I've been introduced as the Guest Darer for the week. I choose a challenge, the admins give a prize, I choose the winner. Fun, but a bit stressful, hehehe. In my case, I was given Full Crush, a beautiful kit by the talented Dani Mogstad.

For the Guest Darer Challenge, I opted to do an Ad-Inspired layout. I used this ad here:

and came up with this:

Isn't it CUTE? It's a layout of all my babies the DAY they turned TWO. I really like how it turned out, I'm thinking of doing such a page for every year! What do you think? Credits here.

Next to their respective picture is a little piece of paper with a description of my adorable toddler at that age. It was pretty fun reminiscing, and even more fun to see all of them side by side.

Obviously, the picture with the greatest clarity is that of Ranger's. What can I do - he was born during the digital age! The rest I had to look through the albums and then scan.

Yes! I got a scanner! Finally! It's the Colorpage Slim 1200 USB2. Plug and play, single pass. Love it! The best thing is that I just plug that little thingy into my USB port and voila! Scanning capability. No wires, no sockets. Just the scanner and my laptop and me.

That took the greater part of the morning.

Then I had to rush to the hospital for my first day of PHYSICAL THERAPY. Ahhhh......the drama continues.....

{BACK PAIN DRAMA, Chapter 4}

What I thought was going to be an hour's therapy turned out to be close to TWO hours of pain and relief. Started with an ultrasound on my back. Uhm....didn't really feel a tingling sensation during the ultrasound, but I'm pretty sure it did what it was supposed to do: relax my back muscles.

Then there was the session with the Tense. These little electrodes of current were put on my back, with a very warm compress on top of them. I could control the current going through and after the first 5 minutes of getting used to the current, I slowly cranked the little gadget up to close to it's maximum, hehehehe. All I can say is......aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Then the HELLISH part of it all: the "exercises". Am I my father or what?!?! Hahahahaha! Anyway, this part of the therapy was a bunch of stretching exercises. And let me tell you, it really was very painful!!! So painful, that the PT girl decided to let me do just 3 of the 6 exercises.

I couldn't stretch very well because of the pain in my right leg. It really hurt with almost every stretch position. The worse was when I was told to sit down with my legs straight out in front of me. Let me tell you, it was all I could do from SCREAMING the whole damn place down! Not done there yet. After that pathetic attempt, I was told to bend my then-throbbing RIGHT leg over my left....which was fine because I was supporting my whole body with my arms. Well of course I was told to take my hands away from the cot......and almost fell on this itty bitty PT girl! Hehehehehe. It COULD be quite funny, now that you think about it, but it wasn't THEN. But you guys should have SEEN the expression on her face: panicky, alarmed, scared to death I'd probably crush her thin body with my huge one. Hehehehe.

{PTC}

Needless to say, I underestimated my time at the hospital and was late for Riley's PTC. Good thing I had the cellphone number of his teacher and rescheduled for a later time.

Got home at close to 2 pm, and was about to sit down and enjoy a plate of spaghetti when my cellphone beeped with a text message. Riley's teachers were free at that very instant and had a block of time free. It HAD to be at that precise instant, huh?

Anyway, I jumped back up and hobbled to the car. Thank God I Rani to drive me around today! We rushed to school, and made it! Whew!

Lai, if you're reading this, I will email you Riley's write up.

{PORTFOLIO NIGHT....again....the LAST ONE}

You read that right! It was Raegan's turn to have her portfolio night tonight. And she performed very well, thank you very much!

After the PTC, went back home, and was able to relax for an hour or so. Then I had to get ready for the LAST Portfolio Night of the semester! Whoohoo!!!

I have pictures of course, which I will share here by way of layouts :)

This was the longest Portfolio Night of all, but it a very good one. The parents of this class were smart; instead of bringing potluck separately, we all donated about P300 each and had our "potluck" dinner catered by Albergus! Hehehehe.

Of course, the kids - Raegan, Rogan, Raine, Reese and Rielle - went NUTS when they saw BARBECUES!!!! I think this is their new favorite food. Rielle took 4 or 5 sticks in the first pass alone!!!! I have a feeling that the kids love going to Portfolio Nights BECAUSE of the food, especially the ever-present barbecue!

I'm back at home, blogging. It's close to 9 pm and I've had a very FULL day. My back (and leg) are finally doing okay. I went without a cane to Portfolio Night and did fine. Sitting down in front of the computer, and I feel fine. So far ;)

TTFN!

New Scraps on My Blog, Yay!

I finally have new layouts to share with you! I will be scrapping this past week's events, albeit a little bit slower than usual, but I'll get to it!

Let's see:

1. Ranger's 2nd Birthday - too many fun pics, and I've scrapped ONE!!! hehehe.
2. Portfolio Night of Raine - this will be up on the blog in a few minutes.
3. Portfolio Night of Rogan - I have the pics sitting in my hard drive, waiting.....
4. Portfolio Night of Raegan - this will be tomorrow, so expect MORE pics :)

That's what I have so far. And I have a feeling October's going to be a very busy month. Don't know why....it's just a feeling.

{SCRAPS OF MAMA}

Ok, here's a 2-pager I did for Raine's Portfolio Night:



Credits are here and here. Comment are, of course, very much appreciated! :)

{BACK PAIN DRAMA, Chapter 2}

Yesterday morning til mid-afternoon, my back and right leg were feeling mighty fine. In fact, I had expected to be on my merry way home in the very early afternoon because I anticipated that my leg would be acting up. Surprise, surprise! I lasted the WHOLE day at the office! Maybe the height of the chairs there in relation to our desks could be the thing, but I was relatively pain-free for most of the day.

Then at about 4 pm, BOOM!!! It hit me. A twisting, writhing pain that started from my right butt cheek all the way to my ankle. NOT a great thing to be experiencing!!! I had taken my pain meds at about 9 am, and I knew they should be good for 12 hours....ugh! I think NOT!!!!

I went home in the Venture, which, thank goodness, had high enough seats that I could put up my leg on the folded front seat. Went to the supermarket and shopped for the basics for about an hour. Then I went home.

Fast forward to the time I'm in bed, trying to fall asleep. The same writhing, t-w-i-s-t-i-n-g pain was in my leg!!! I could barely move it without (almost!) screaming in pain. The only thing that kept me mum was the fact that the kids might wake up. I had Japa pull on my leg, I tried the fetal position (WRONG!), I tried lying on my back. I tried every imaginable position there was and the pain would NOT go away!!!

I know, Mom, if you're reading this, that you'd say offer it to Our Lord. Believe me, ever since the pain started last week, it's already been offered. I think He knows that I may not say it often in my mind, but the pain IS for Him.

Still. It's really unbearable at times!!!

{BACK PAIN DRAMA, Chapter 3}

I stayed at home today, mostly to rest my back and my leg. I was pretty tired from trying to sleep with that kind of pain. But I DID sleep :).

A good position to be in:

1. sit on my bed with my feet dangling on the side --- but without a computer in front of me, I felt kinda stupid, hehehe.

2. lie on the bed on my tummy --- I could do this AND still be on my computer. Thank God for wireless capability!!!

3. stand. This is by far the BEST position there is for someone in my condition!

In the afternoon, I went to see a sports doctor. I was curious to see what she would say. Remember, at this point it was 1 for surgery, 1 for physical therapy.

Ms. Sports Doctor tipped the scales in favor of.........REHAB!!!! Whew!!! Of course, she HAD to insult me while telling me I could do physical therapy as opposed to surgery. I was FAT; in fact, she used the words "doubled in size" to stress the frigging point. Hmp! She also said I HAD to diet. Eeeeek!!! That word is SO not in my vocabulary!!! Is she kidding?!?!?!?

Anyway, I start physical therapy tomorrow morning. Everyday. For one week (except Sunday). Then I go back to see her.

Her point: there was NO trauma to my back that would cause the slipped discs. Apparently, I've been sitting on this condition for quite some time. Literally. So she figures that with the weight loss and some exercise to strengthen and condition my long-lost muscles, I could go back to "sitting" in the same condition as before.

No mention of surgery. At all. Yeah!

So, wish me luck that I can get through this next week of therapy HELL and that this pain would be diminished by a lot.

{GREETINGS}

Happy Anniversary to Rondic and Elizza!!! 10 whole years of marriage!!! Yeah! Congratulations!!!

Can we celebrate here c/o you? hint! hint! hehehehe :)

TTFN!

Like my Blog's NEW Look?

Did you notice how I changed my Blog??? I think I like it this way better --- I've got moooooore space to play around with, and I get to see my layouts more up close and personal, hehehehe.

Haven't posted any layouts of Ranger's swimming party, nor Portfolio Nights of both Raine and Rogan.

{BAD BACK}
My dang back has not been feeling good lately. I've had a MRI diagnosis of 2 slipped discs ---dessicated discs was the gross term the used--- and a third one just starting. Ugh. Definitely NOT good to have! The first doctor immediately said I had to have surgery, that is was a textbook case thing. Sigh! By the third day or so after the diagnosis, I was ready to believe her...the pain was just too much!

I mean, I could NOT sit in front of my laptop for a long time. The horror of it all!!! Hehehehe. I can sort of laugh now because I am doped up with pain meds. At least, meds that will help me get through the next 12 hours or so. The meds help me walk better, stretch my leg out better (where pain is radiating down it!), and bend a little bit better.

I still use a cane for times I have to get up from a sitting position (especially after horrendous car rides!). Otherwise, I cannot move my right leg in front to take a step! Believe it or not! This is totally the PITS!!!!!

Anyway, went to see a second doctor....and he said that therapy MIGHT be able to help me avoid surgery. Sigh. Well, I would rather not go into spinal surgery anytime soon, so I guess I'm going to try it his way. I have an appointment with a sports doctor tomorrow afternoon; I should be able to get a therapy schedule set up then.

I've also made an appointment with a chiropracter, one that Jerome Hernadez swears by. I will believe him --- heck, I'd believe anyone who tells me I can avoid surgery! hahahahaha! Anyway, I get to see this miracle guy Wednesday next week.

Stay tuned for my Back Pain Drama.

{BIRTHDAY!!!}
Of course I can't sign off without greeting Bangbang a very HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

This should be it for now...I can feel my leg spazzing out. Sort of ;)

TTFN!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my Baby!!!

Ranger turned 2 today! My baby is now a big boy....and entering....dare I say it....the TERRIBLE TWOS!!!!! Eeek! Um..can we turn back the clock you think? Hehehehe. You can read the credits here.

Since Raegan and Rogan both slept at La Vista, I took Raine and the birthday boy out for lunch. I was planning to go to Teriyaki Boy, but it was too crowded and there was no parking. Hence, we proceeded to.....ta-dah!!! our ever-favorite Omakase! Yay!

The fun part started when Raine and Ranger had ice cream for dessert. I decided that in lieu of a birthday cake (bad Mama forgot to order a really tiny one just for photo opps today), I'd have Ranger blow a candle from his ice cream scoop. I asked the waitress for a candle and she gave me......a......TEALIGHT!!! Hahahaha! Seriously! Omakase IS a Japanese restaurant after all! So, we made do. I put the tealight on some tissue and placed it ever so carefully on top of the kids' ice cream. And that's what you see Ranger blowing out.

The kids were on a sugar high, I guess, because they were just chatting it up and laughing for the next few minutes. They even had another ice cream scoop, since Mama was so entranced by their playfulness. We waited for Papa to come and gulp his Miso soup down before heading home. We weren't in the car 5 minutes when Ranger crashed and fell asleep.

{PORTFOLIO NIGHT - RAINE}
This was the reason why Ranger wasn't able to have a party TODAY. Raine had portfolio night at school; Raegan, Rogan, Reese and Rielle came with us to watch Raine. The Prep class showcased their projects on saving the rainforest. Raine had a little spiel to say at the end of the program. We were proud of her; she never faltered and didn't need teacher's prompting at all! I also took pictures of her projects. Those will be featured in coming layouts hopefully, hehehe.

After the program, the kids ate and ate and ate. They practically had DINNER at the school!!! Hahahaha. We gorged on delish siopao asado, feasted on barbecues and gobbles spaghetti!

Before leaving school, we stopped by the Scholastic Book Fair. Right away, ALL of the kids went to the Pokemon book chanting that they really really wanted this comic book! Ugh! Told them P495 for drawings of the Pokemon animals?!?!?!? They have GOT to be kidding! I tried convincing them that there were other, more worthy books for them that I would buy, but the girls would not be swayed (except for Raine).

These smart cookies literally thought of "deals" they could make with us just so they could get their hands on the Pokemon book. Raegan said she wouldn't ask Papa for her allowance for 5 whole weeks. Papa said ok, and that she would get no allowance from now until December. Ahhhhh.....Raegan was too smart for him. She whipped out her cellphone and looked at the calendar and counted 5 weeks....then she said, "Papa!!!!" Hahahahaha. It was funny; Papa really thought he could get away with it!

As for Reese, Rielle suggested that Reese's deal would be that she would sleep over at Abada to get the dang Pokemon book. I said okay, but make it at least THREE nights she would sleep over. Hahahahaha. And of course she did!

All the kids are here at home now, with the exception of Riley. We've had our midnight feast of Pizza and more pizza.......it is now peaceful, they've all gone to the other room to sleep. Ahhhhhhh.....the beautiful sound of S-I-L-E-N-C-E!!!

{SCRAPS OF MAMA}
Before I signed off, I just wanted to share a couple of layouts I did of the twins and their girls. I love how they turned out and they're in my list of favorite layouts. Let me know what you think of them if you can, either here or in the galleries.



Credits for Rod and Zhar's Magic of Love are here. Credits for Ran and Stella's Blessed Relationship are here.

And that should be it. Good night!

I am such a BAD Blogger :(

Yup. Bad blogger. That's me. Apologies to my faithful readers.....the few, the proud. Hahahahaha. Seriously, thanks to Stella, Zhar, Elizza, Randy and of course Japa, for telling me they actually MISS reading stuff on my blog! :)

Anyway, I'll try to play catch up. A LOT of MAJOR stuff has been happening since I last blogged, and I don't want to miss anything...or anyone!

HOLY COW! I just looked at my blog, and not counting the post on me getting tagged, I have NOT blogged in more than a MONTH!!!!! Bad, bad, totally bad!!!!

Okay, major SEPTEMBER EVENTS: (and, dear readers, please leave me a comment if I left something out!)

9 September ---> Avic's Debut. She celebrated her 18th birthday in Jamaican style at the Crowne Plaza. I stressed a bit on the dang outfits for the kids and for Japa and me. Since I am a true, innovative crafter, i.e., cheapskate! hehehehe, I improvised somewhat and told Nora what to sew. For the girls, including myself, I had Nora sew strips of ruffl-y cloth in red, yellow and green. I then attached these ruffles to plain black shirts I got for the girls. Thank goodness I had a plain black blouse with ruffled sleeve-ends. For the boys and Japa, I had Nora sew a polo shirt using different colors for the different sections of the shirt. We looked pretty SNAZZY, if I do say so myself!


MUST have a separate entry and special mention for the PERFORMANCE of the kids at Avic's debut. They danced to High School Musical's "Together"and they were just plain FANTASTIC!
Tita Tinggoy had their outfits made, and true to form, the kids stuck to the HSM look faithfully and were very particular about desribing their respective outfits to Lola Nora. Too funny. They danced mahvelously and were so cute!

10 September --> Baby Shower for Boydee and Bang. This was pretty fun. We stuck to the "usual" people, plus a few good friends. I was mistress of ceremonies and cooked up some pretty unique games, if I do say so myself. Hehehehe. The trivia games were definitely educational, especially the part where we had to identify the babies of animals. But one of the better and more HILARIOUS game was the tissue paper baby ensemble. This layout on the right proves it, too! (Sorry Rod! Hahahahaha!)


13 September --> Dad's 65th Birthday! We celebrated by going to Spirals at the Philippine Plaza. Yummy food, too much eaten as usual. Hehehehe. We had a whole function room and then spilled over with a couple of tables outside.

23 September -->The kids had an informal meet. The Ayala Heights Harpoon vs Quezon City Sports Club. Not sure who won the meet, but the kids did well. I have pictures, but no layouts yet, so I won't post anything here for now. Achievements:

Raegan - gold in freestyles, silver in butterfly, silver in backstroke.

Rogan - I'm not sure of his standing overall in his age group, but he came in either 2nd or 3rd in his heat for freetyle, butterfly, and backstroke.

Raine - silver in freestyle, silver or bronze in the butterfly, and silver in backstroke.

Reese - came in first in her heat, which included Rielle, Raine and a swimmer from QCSC. I'm still not sure why she wasn't put in her age group.

Rielle - poor girl was dead last in all events :(. The saddest part was that she was crying towards the end. I told her that she still had to practice to get stronger and do better in the future. I think she understood and was okay afterwards. I was glad that the other kids didn't tease her about not placing in the heat. Sportsperson like conduct from all of them, thank goodness!

A funny thing to note: when Rogan was swimming his butterfly event, he of course spaced out and struck out doing the freestyle for 10 meters before he frigging finally realized that he was supposed to be doing the butterfly!!!! Aaaargh!!!! My space cadet! :)

24 and 25 September --> Riley's birthday celebrations. Swimming party at La Vista. Just the "usual" crowd. :) Which is totally better and cheaper!!!! than having a full-blown party or eating at a restaurant! Thank goodness we're getting wiser to these birthday parties. The following day, Riley celebrated at school where he also had cake and spaghetti and fried chicken. Again, I have pictures but no layouts yet to share. Besides, Elizza will take care of the layouts....once I can upload the pictures for her! hehehehe.

27 September --> Rainforest Cafe of the Prep, Raine's class. This was a pretty good fundraising activity for the kids. The parents donated food and the kids sold them at school. In 35 minutes flat, we were able to sell EVERYTHING!!!! Believe it or not! :)

28 September --> The storm, Milenyo, wreaked havoc at the office. The window to the Records Room was shattered, and everything inside that room was soaked, including computers and printers!!!! Aaaaaaargh!!!!! Not to mention our documents!!!! The rest of the office was flooded, except for the Girls' office and the office of Mario and Oel. What a nightmare! No electricity (and internet!!!) for the next 2 days. So of course we slept at La Vista :)

And last, but not the least, oh no, NOT the least.......

29 September --> Randy and Stella are ENGAGED!!!!!! Whoohoohooooooo!!!!! Proposal at Twin Hearts Church and then breakfast afterwards at Crowne Plaza. More about this when I have layouts to show off :) But CONGRATULATIONS to the both of you!!!

WHEW!!!!! And that's that! All updated!!!