Happy Halloween!

Just some random pics, totally unedited, straight from the camera:





Here's some of our food:


Not the greatest pics, I know, but they ARE straight from the camera and reduced in size for posting. These'll be better displayed once I scrap them, I'm sure! :)

Last Minute Halloween Shopping

No, not for costumes, the kids have those. They're wearing what they wore during Literacy Night, of course. Last minute shopping for loot bag stuff for the kids. We had sent Nora out to buy el cheapo snacks, pencils and toothbrushes to give away to the trick or treating kids on Halloween. But Elizza and I needed to put together loot bags for our kids, as well as plan our Halloween menu!

So off we went to the SM Marikina supermarket, bright and early. At least we practically had the place all to ourselves! We tossed in oreos, some chocolates, snacks, crackers, candies, and jelly worms, among others. We decided to go with plastic bags again this year for their loot bag, since we couldn't find a plastic container big enough to contain their junk food.

Then it was off to the office....Elizza did actual work, but I finished editing and printing Japa's The Amazing Race:Halloween edition for the kids! Talk about last minute, sheesh!

Oh, I scrapped Rogan's Literacy Night costume:

RED RANGER ROGAN

TTFN!

We Got Crocs!

Yes, CROCS are thE ultimate shoe, I tell you! All of us in the family have our own crocs, and we just LOVE them! And since it's been a little bit more than a year since I got the kiddos new crocs, I figure now's a good time as any. Oh, and the little OUTLET button at the Crocs website helped! Hehehehe.

I got these for Japa and me (although I'm not sure if Japa would like them...he's not the type to wear these mammoths):
I tried on Dad's and they were super duper soft! Nice and warm, too, but not too much that my feet would sweat here in Manila. Of course, the furry stuff *would* absorb the sweat! Hahahahaha!

I got this one for moi, too, called Motion:
Raegan got the orange crocs she's wanted forever:
And boots! Oh my goodness! I have NO idea WHYYYY my girls wanted boots, but they do, and the price wasn't too bad, so Raegan got the black Georgies:
while Raine got the hot pink ones (can you SEE me roll my eyes at this choice of color?!?!?)
And since I got the girls a few pairs, it wouldn't do me any good NOT to order some for the boys, right? I got these for Ranger:
He's wanted those Lightning McQueen ones for the longest time. Unfortunately, no size for him, so I ordered up...hoping that they'd still be in style when they fit him! hehehehe.

For Kuya, I got him these Off-Road camo ones:
He'd be ecstatic when he sees these, for sure. I swear this boy can go through pairs of Crocs just like that (snap your fingers for effect here). I don't know HOW he wears them, but he's TORN them practically in half!!!! Ack! Boys! Need I say anymore???

A Solitary Scrap

Yup, just one page today.

BISHOP IN A WHEELCHAIR

And this page is a glaring reminder for me to FINISH the album I promised Bishop on our travels to Lisieux! Ack! It's nearing Christmas and I must must MUST finish his album!!!

Gearing Up for All Saints' Day

At the Shrine the whole day today......preparing what we can, getting the Columbarium ready for the droves of people expected this weekend. Not an easy task, considering that there is still a LOT to do! Sigh! Feels like it's never going to end, really, the list of things that must be done. And soon!

So work is work, and I like to leave work-related stuff in the office. So I scrapped :)

RAEGAN AS STITCH

And that's that!

AAPS Competition

A couple of weeks ago, the kids' PE teacher sent me a note asking if the kids could represent the school in the AAPS races (Athletic Association of Private Schools). Well of course I said yes! Could I say no? :) Nah...not a chance. Both Japa and I want the kids to be able to develop competitive mindsets; we know it will make them better people as a whole.

Anyhoo, bright and early, we were off to the Amoranto Sports Complex. It wasn't that bad of a pool complex: there were bleachers (a little bit), and the pool was 50m and had 8 lanes. It wasn't the greatest of all venues, but it was okay. Apparently though, the lanes were narrower than usual and the water was "heavy", according to Coach Jana and Raegan. This meant that the pool lanes were the "fishball" kind as opposed to the spiral ones. So when waves from a swimmer's stroke would hit the lane, it would bounce right back onto the swimmer. Ooookay. They would know right?

Thank goodness Coach Jana was there! She was very supportive of the kids, taking them under her wing and telling them what to expect and what to do. She shared tips, too, on how to dive, how to make that crucial first stroke, etc etc etc. We learned a lot about her, not to mention the ever-present intrigues in the swimming world (usually brought into play by meddling parents, sad to say!).

There were only 5 kids from MI: 3 of them my kids, and Miguel (3-B) and Annika (Grade 6). At least the school was represented, right? Hehehe. Not too shabbily, I guess, since in the end, we did get SOME points in the boys' category from Miguel (mostly) and Rogan (surprisingly!). Hahahaha!

The kids' events and times, and how they did:

Raegan:

200m free - 3:10.34, 7th out of 14 (juuuust missed a ribbon!)
50m breast - 49.15, 8th out of 20
50m free - 36.94, 7th out of 24
100m breast - 1:46.25, 7th out of 16

Rogan:

200m free - 3:34.25, 8th out of 9 (he was the only 9 year old who did this though, beating out a 10 year old!)
400m free - 7:18.16, 4th out of 6 (he actually got a RIBBON for this!!! AND he chose this event rather than do the 50m breaststroke. Believe it or not!)
100m free - 1:38.66, 11th out of 11 (yup, dead last!)
200m IM - 4:17.43, 8th out of 9
50m free - 42.31, 10th out of 10 (sigh!)

Raine:

200m free - 3:51.62, 10th out of 14 (did pretty well, considering this was the FIRST time she swam this long! hehehe)
50m back - 51.44, 14th out of 23 (she was the youngest, except for a 7-year old)
100m free - 1:52.04, 18th out of 22
50m free - 49.13, 20th out of 24
50m fly - 53.75, 13th out of 17

Okay times for them, I guess, although Jana did say she'll have them train for this particular event since times done here could qualify for the Palarong Pambansa! O di ba? Hehehe. The only thing I didn't like about this competition was that there were only 2 age groups: one for elementary (12 and under) and one for high school (13 and up). I mean really, how would the kids gauge themselves in their age group, right? But oh well, at least a goal would be to beat someone older right?

Busy Bees

The kiddos were busy bees today....Saturdays are full days for them, hehehe.

630 am - Swimming training for Raegan, Rogan and Raine. They HAVE to go to swimming since it's only a few weeks away for their first international races. Oh, and they have that AAPS races tomorrow as well.

8 am - They present themselves usually at Ayala, at their grandparents' house. For breakfast. Hehehehe. No wonder our grocery can last up to 6 weeks!

9 am - or thereabouts....they go straight to Kumon for their bi-weekly Math exercises.

1130 am - Raegan was off to a birthday party at Valle Verde Country Club.. Poor dear...swimming in the early morning, taking a shower afterwards, then swimming again. Yes, her hair is definitely paying the price!

1 pm - Rogan was off to Basketball camp with Riley and Rondic. Mom called me to tell me that Dad had no one with him at home, so off I went to pick him up and force him to go to basketball camp to see the boys train. We didn't catch their drills, but we arrived in time to see them play a game with their classmates. Riley was doing pretty well with handling the ball and was clearly enjoying himself:


Rogan was quite an enthusiastic player, going after the ball, with NO thought as to him getting hurt. In a period of maybe 10 minutes, I swear he fell down at least 3 times! hehehe. But he really had SOOO much fun, I'm sure Japa will be happy to hear about it! :)


You think we're done? Not a chance!

3 pm - Raine took off for Tae Kwon Do and was there until 530 pm.

530 pm - We took Raegan and Rogan to mass. Had to be today since we're not sure if we'd have time tomorrow, what with the competition and all.

7 pm - Dinner time. By consensus of sorts ---I guess we were all tired!--- we ordered pizza and stayed home.

Told you we (well, the kids!) were busy bees today!

HSM 3

Well of COURSE I took the kids to see High School Musical 3 on opening day, like a good parent would! :) I promised to take them and we did....going to SM Marikina FIRST thing in the morning. I definitely did NOT relish being crowded, and I knew that if we waited for the afternoon or worse, in the evening, there was going to be chaos in the movie theaters all over for HSM3's opening.

So, at 1025 am, we were seated at the lower level of the cinema. All 4 of us. And probably another 4 people on the upper level. That was it. Aaaaaaah! Now THIS was how movies should be seen! Hehehehe. Minimal noise, except the questions Raine kept throwing at me *roll eyes here*, like she couldn't hear everything! Haaaay!

High school seniors Troy and Gabriella are facing the prospect of being separated from one another as they head off in different directions to college. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

It was a pretty good movie, especially for the kids. They loved every minute of it, although in their "wise opinion" the songs could have been better. I told them they were just used to the older songs, but that as they got to hearing the new songs over and over again, that they were going to love it, too. The plot wasn't too shallow, nor was it too deep, but it was good material for any take-off convos that I could have with Raegan concerning her schooling and her future :)

I liked the dance sequences too; love the choreography! Oh, and have to tell the girls to find someone like Troy.....a boy who loves you enough to move heaven and earth to be near you :) Isn't that sweet? hehehe.

After the movie, I rushed the kids out before they dug their heels in at a restaurant for lunch. I had to go to work, you know. I did relent a bit and we stopped outside Rice-in-a-Box to get them Chicken Teriyaki rice, hehehe. At least it appeased them!

Photo Shoot and a Wake

I guess my scrapping mojo came back. That, and my uhm....current weight loss pills contributed to the fact that I uploaded an amazing FOUR layouts this morning! Hehehe. Insomnia has apparently struck again. Sigh! I'm not doing anything different, I swear. I *did* turn my laptop off early enough to try and go to sleep, but it didn't work. I was up 'til 4 am I think scrapping and finally uploading these pages:

PORTFOLIO NIGHT AWARD - RAINE RAINE'S PORTFOLIO BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS PORTFOLIO NIGHT AWARDS - RAEGAN

And because I slept late, I woke up later than usual...around 930 am! Sheesh! I *was* going to work, but I figured by the time I got out of bed, shower, breakfast, taking my sweet time, more than half the day would be for nothing.

I looked outside and saw that we had some sun (it was raining very hard last night!) so I decided we were going to do our Photo Shoot 2008. Good thing Coset had prepared the kids' shirts and pants ahead of time, ready to go at a moment's notice. And because the kids were on break, I NICELY, i.e., pretty much demanded and ordered, them to PLEASE get showered, fix their hair (for the girls) and practice their smiles.

Two hours later, several pleading instances, shouting and wrestling matches, I can settle down to look at the pics. I shot the kiddos in red, yellow, green, white and black. I set up the girls' room to look like a studio; natural light was streaming in from the side window and I hurriedly clicked to make the most of what I could.

Sorry, no pics yet. I'm lazy. And sleepy. The photo shoot took a lot out of me, had me on adrenaline for the most part. The kids wolfed down a huge bowl of french fries and that what when I realized it was already 2 pm! My poor hungry babies! Heheehe.

Later in the evening, I dragged the 3 older kids to the wake of their late great-grandmother, Lola Basya. I never knew she was still alive, until this past weekend when I was talking to Mom Nena about her. And just yesterday, I was thinking that I *had* to bring the kids to see Lola Basya to at least get a photo of them together. I think it's always a special thing to have a photo of a GREAT-grandmother right? Sure, the kids have pics with Lola Nene, but to have found out that they had yet ANOTHER great-grandmother was just something.

Mom Nena looks exactly like her mother. The kids commented that Lola Basya was just thinner....and didn't have Lola Nena's frou frou hair, hehehe. She was a tiny woman, but was very strong willed, according to Regie. She had had a PEG tube for 10 years and weakened considerably when she fell and broke her hip.

We approached the coffin to say a prayer for Lola Basya. Afterwards, Raine tugged at my hand and whispered that she saw Lola Basya nod at her. Oooooookaaaaaay. This, from my child who really has seen erm, "stuff" i.e., some other-worldly thingamajigers. Trying to fight the shiver running up my spine, I told her that maybe Lola Basya was just happy that the great grandkids she never met were able to visit her.

Later in the night, the kids' cousin, JohnB, ALSO told his mom that Lola Basya had nodded at him. OOOOOOOOOKAAAAAAAAY. :)

I guess we have kids who have their third eye blinking once in a while? Nevertheless, we made sure to stop by Starbucks (Rogan went with the Rani and Jojo to Jollibee) to "persuade the dead's spirits from lingering with us". Where that superstition came, I have no idea.

TTFN!

Starting to Scrap Again

Not counting Monday's page, it's been a *WEEK* since I've scrapped!!! Yikes! Talk about losing your mojo, man! Sheesh!

After a number-filled day at the office, think withholding taxes kind of numbers, yuck yuck and triple yuck!!!, I headed home to eat a great dinner of chicken ala king, watched over the kids doing their english, vocabulary and Filipino "kumon", and scrapped.

Just a page, nothing major, really, but I could just *feeeeeeel* the creative juices flowing! Yeah!

FLYING DUMBO

That kit of Rina Kroes sure is gorgeous, isn't it? I used the Shabby Splendors Stacked Papers and I loooooove how they make it soooooo easy to do a layout!!! Check it out:


Tell me if that isn't that just beautiful?!?! Rina makes the most beautiful papers and elements! She really puts in sooo much effort in making her kits and it shows. Gorgeous textures and embellishments, honestly! Yes, I'm proud to be on her CT! :) And whenever I lose my mojo, it's usually one of Rina's kits that bring me out of the funk to scrap....beautifully! :)

Oh, and before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOODS!!!!


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My Poor DVD Burner :(

Last Friday, I think it really upped and died. Sort of. I had been backing up and suddenly, this tok-tok-tok sound and a whirring sound started. Uhmmm......NOT good at all!! Aaargh! So I whip out the ehd and backed up via Time Machine (the-E-E best thing for backing up!) while hurriedly texting iStudio. When the darn sound wouldn't stop ---a dvd was still inside!!!--- I quickly shut down and waited for a response from a computer tech person.

Solution to get the disc out? Hold the eject button while it's booting up. Whew! Major crisis (at least in my mind) averted. For now.

After work, I go to iStudio and tell them to take a look inside MacMac. Yes, my laptop has a name, hehehehe. And MacMac was actually SHY, i.e., he would NOT act up in front of the techie guy!!! Grrrr! Typical kid eh? Anyway, I tell the guy to keep trying with several discs, and he's bound to find the problem. Sure enough, the optical drive wouldn't read the disc. Redemption. Sort of.

So first thing this morning, I bring MacMac over to freakin' Makati just to get him a check up. And the usual attitude from the little guy: he was shy and would not show the techie guy over at Apple his symptoms (more like his disease!!!) Aaargh! So the guy taught me how to take quick screen shots if something of the sort happened. He reset the hardware parameters of little MacMac and he *seemed* ok. I actually burned a disc right after his quick fix.

So off I went to work....and while doing a few sample Rate Sheets for the Columbarium, I was burning in the background. Crossing my fingers that the resetting fixed the problem, I burned 2-3 discs before the tok-tok-tok and whirring sounds reappeared. Grrrrr! Pissed, I stopped backing up to let the drive rest. I mean, what's a girl to do?!?!

I scrapped, LOL!

DS POSE

TTFN!


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Nina's Back!!!

Yes, Nina of NinaScraps Designs at Oscraps is back at designing after a hiatus!!! Check out her wonderful new stuff (all images are linked to her store):






And a gorgeous new kit:


Aren't all the new stuff just looking wonderful?!? Plus, being Nina, she's got a great freebie to give away too, right on her blog:


And if you want a chance to win one of her products, go join the challenge on her blog! Easy-peasy!

Now, I still need to get these new stuff and find time to play with them, tee hee!

Glad you're back, Nina!!!

Late Start

On Sundays, we usually go to mass in the morning. Like 8 am or 930 at the latest. It was a lazy Sunday today, and we didn't feel like rushing in the morning, so we slept in. Sort of. I stayed in bed to rest my back and surf and scrap, while the kids were on the other computers. Japa and Raine made their famous fried rice, which was what we had for breakfast.

Lunch was in Ayala, and I was so sleepy afterwards, I fell asleep in the den while Japa took the kids to the park. After my nap, Mom Nena and I got to talking about her mom...Lola Basya, who also had the PEG tube like Dad. She's had hers for 10 years! I remember I was surprised that Mom's mom was still alive; I had always thought that the kids had no other Great Grandmother other than Lola Nene.

Soon after our convo, the kids arrived and took quick showers. We attended the 530 mass at della Strada and went straight to La Vista for dinner :) I lingered over dinner while the kids watched their never-ending cartoons on their fave huge-screen tv over there, hehehe.

Then it was homeward bound for more computer action. For EVERYONE! LOL! Our room currently looks like an internet cafe, hahahahaha! We need another computer, (maybe a Toshiba Satellite or yet another Mac) and *then* everyone, including Ranger, would have their own machine! Sometimes I can't believe that kids now are so techie; I mean I think the very FIRST time I even touched a computer was when I was in high school, for crying out loud! And here is Ranger at *4* years old, moving the mouse like a pro!!! *raise eyes to the roof!!!*

Oh well. Technology is a good thing, I guess (for the most part). :)

Doing this for an extra Sweet Reward Point over at SSD:

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible. You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it. You tend to have a one track mind. You prefer not to multitask. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

Good night! I have *got* to get my scrapping mojo back!!!

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Endless Day

Holy Cow, what a day!

{SWIMMING}

In the morning, waaaaaay early in the morning, the kids had a practice competition to gear them up for the races in Hong Kong in November. It was a friendly competition between Celebrity, Quezon City Sports, and Ayala Heights.

For the FIRST TIME ever in the kids' division, we actually WON a relay!!! Yeah!!!! As in FIRST place!!! Whoohoohooo!!! This was for the 4 x 100 freestyle. Franco, Rogan, Raegan and Reese participated and the yayas especially, were just ECSTATIC over their victory! That was the first race of the day, hehehehe.

And from that high, the kids did pretty well. Raegan came out first in everything she raced in. Reese was also in the higher places. Rogan didn't fare all that well, being the only 9 year old in a 9-10 age group. He did, however, beat someone at BREAST (!!!) which was quite a feat for someone who abhors the stroke, hahahahaha! Raine was always neck and neck with her perennial rival, Mary Rose. She never edged the thinner girl out, coming in second in almost all their races.

And towards the end, we had a couple more relays, which were exciting as the first. Raegan and Reese joined Franco and Rogan again for the 4 x 50. They were our powerhouse. Unfortunately, the other teams were a little bit deeper in that department and fielded fast swimmers. Raegan and Reese complained the heck out of their coach when they realized that he had intentionally pitted them to swim against BOYS. Hahahahaha! It was the funniest thing! I was yelling at them to stay as close as possible, that "they were ONLY boys!" Bwahahahaha.

And because they stayed so close to the boys (Reese even made up some ground), we came in at second place! Our next relay team consisted of Raine, Danelle, Sarah and Tinky. They coasted to an easy second win as well, getting beat by older swimmers. Not a bad day for swimming at all!

{BASKETBALL}

After the races, the kids rushed off to Kumon. Rogan wanted to badly to join Dic and Riley at the basketball clinic, he finished his seatwork in 7 minutes, I think! A RECORD for the boy! Hehehe. However, because of all the rushing and coordinating to have drivers bring him to Apitong on time, it totally slipped my mind that he had NOT eaten lunch at all! The poor boy, swimming, kumon then basketball in the span of a few hours! Luckily, when we had stopped over at Ayala, Rogan had smartly grabbed a tupperware of chicken nuggets, some Yam Yam snacks, and a tetra pack of chocolate milk. Otherwise, he probably would have fainted from hunger! :)

I asked Lai to take tons of pics of Rogan during training. Rogan came home tired but eager and excited about continuing his basketball. Whoa! For my artiste of a son, this was something major, truly big! I gave him a resounding "Sure!" and he bounded off happy. Japa, if you're reading this, you're paying for the clinic AND some basketball shoes as well! Bwahahahahaha! This IS *your* dream for your boy, yes? *wink wink!*

{LITERACY NIGHT}

After a short nap, it was off to school for Ranger's Literacy Night. He looked just DARLING in his Woody costume!!!




It was a madhouse at school! Even if it was just preschool, multiply the kids by 2 (morning and afternoon session), then at least times 3 (parents PLUS yaya), throw in a few hundred or more for siblings or grandparents, plus teachers......man it was soooo crowded! We were lucky to get out of there after 2 1/2 hours! Ranger was a happy camper with his little pumpkin basket filled to the BRIM with candy, candy and candy!!!

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Speaking of candy, I took this test to see what kind of Halloween Candy I am:

Halloween Candy Quiz





You are a Candy Corn


Like the candy corn people can count on you to always be there


Find out which Halloween Candy you are at Quizopolis.com

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Japa arrived today, too, missing all of the action. *roll eyes* Bwahahahahaha!

And it's time to go to bed, my back is killing me and I am just TIRED!!!