I Feel Lousy

Ugh. I feel awful. Watery eyes, clogged nose, sore throat. Add to that almost no voice from all the cheering I did for the kids during the swim meet. Does not make for a pretty picture, that's for sure.

But valiantly, I got up, took a shower AND herded ALL four kids into the van to go to the office. I envisioned that I would give them GSS work which would keep them busy enough so that I could get a few hours of work in.

Umm....not that I said I had "envisioned" it to be that perfect. And of course, as we all know, NOTHING is perfect. Sigh.

First, Ranger wanted me to sit beside him when he did his painting. Ooookay. Not a very good start.

Then, when I had finally maneuvered myself out of the conference room (that's where I had their "classroom" set up, hehehe), and settled into my chair, the big kids started walking in one by one to ask me the SAME set of questions!!! Ack!!!

Finally, an hour or so after lunch, I called it quits. I couldn't concentrate with the kids going in and out of the office and making the entire place a playground (grrrr!) and I was coughing up a storm. We got home just in time for the kids to leave for training.

I settled in and drugged myself with Theraflu, which helped a lot. Ahhhhhh!

Feeling a bit better, I scrapped (since I had left my work stuff in my computer bag in my office, whoops!):

MEETING POOH

VERDUGO PARK

Swimming Lesson and Start of GSS

After a few hours at the office, the Sisterhood (minus Zhar and Stella) went to Ayala Heights to see Swimming Lesson #1 for Bric (#3 for Ranger and Riley). Lai and I were telling Bang NOT to be there because of the high likelihood that Bric was going to be bawling.

When we got to the pool, the kids were already there. Bric, in all his matching glory (rash guard, trunks, floaters), was supremely confident in the kiddie pool. He was jumping and splashing around; when someone handed him a kickboard, he gamely put his weight on it and continued jumping around. Ahhh....the confidence of a toddler! Hehehehe.

Bang was pretty sure that Bric wouldn't have a problem since he was such a water baby. I reminded her that Ranger was a water baby as well, but he cried a good 30 minutes when coach was holding him with no swim vest and no floaters. True enough, Bric started freaking out when he realized he was in the water in the big pool with NO floaters. Hehehehe. He immediately started screaming for Bang, until Lai and I told her to hide somewhere. He then started calling out for his yaya, and we banished her from the poolside. Poor baby, I know, but it was the only way he would get used to the water withOUT his support personnel in front of him!

Bric did a roll call of us there sitting on the wall, hoping against hope that we would at least go and get him from coach. To no avail. He called Elizza after me then Yaya Kuuuuuucet (hehehehe). I looked at Lai and told her NOT to look at Bric because she's a true softy! Hehehehehe. When Lai wouldn't respond to Bric, his last course was calling Haydeeeeee! Uh, sorry kid, she's the last person in the world who would jump in that pool to save you......I don't think she can swim all that well! Bwahaahahaha!

Finally, after an hour of crying (and forcing himself to vomit, ugh!), Bric was finally allowed to go out of the pool. At least, he stopped crying for a little bit, enough to answer coach with a "yah" when she asked him if he was going to be back tomorrow. Hehehehe.

Hopefully, this whole day didn't traumatize the poor child! :)

{GSS}

Ah yes, the Gavino Summer School. We started tonight, since the kids were so excited to use their new materials, hehehehe. And they did pretty well in their sketching, even Ranger! I may set up a blog (yes, another one!) just so they can see their work online :) I'm sure they'll love that!

........ok, I just set the blog up. Go to the Gavino Summer School Blog and check it out. The kids would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see your comments, so go ahead and leave them some love :)

Meet the Robinsons Among Other Things

Yup, we saw it today! The kids were uber excited and, being that this was their last few days before school started, we went to go see it. In a nutshell, the movie's synopsis:

When Lewis meets a mysterious boy from the future named Wilbur Robinson, the two travel forward in time where Lewis discovers the amazing secret of the Robinson family.

Lewis is a brilliant twelve-year-old with a surprising number of clever inventions to his credit. His latest and most ambitious project is the Memory Scanner, which he hopes will retrieve early memories of his mother and maybe even reveal why she put him up for adoption. But before he can get his answer, his invention is stolen by the dastardly Bowler Hat Guy and his diabolical hat - and constant companion - Doris.

Lewis has all but given up hope in his future when a mysterious boy named Wilbur Robinson whisks our bewildered hero away in a time machine and the two travel forward in time to spend a day with Wilbur's eccentric family. In a world filled with flying cars and floating cities, they hunt down Bowler Hat Guy, save the future and uncover the amazing secret of Lewis' future family.

Ok, I copied that from the press release, hehehe, but I'm just very tired right now and I didn't want to think too much of how to explain an animated film! Suffice it to say it was a pretty good movie; the kids surely enjoyed it. It was a tad bit predictable towards the end, but hey, it's Disney, right? So definitely NO sad endings!

{Dress Fitting}

Final fitting over at Paul Cabral's today. I finally got the bell sleeves that I wanted and yes, they were waaaaaaay better than what he had originally planned for me. So a big WHEW to that! However, when I sit down, my boobs are literally about to spill over, no kidding. My dress is tight enough at the bust that it holds them in. Barely. So I was told to bring DUCT TAPE (!!!) on the wedding day to try and hold some of them in, hehehehe. Interesting how that will turn out to be!

{Other Stuff}

There were some other emotional stuff that needed weeding through...I have some notes and I'm going to post that on my blog soon enough. Just a bit draining, which is why I'm tired now.

Finally started getting a system down for the chaplet giveaways for the wedding. Getting the hang of how the ends are to be glued and all. Hopefully, I'll be able to distribute and delegate a lot of the work by tomorrow. The kids and I finished close to 20 chaplets all in all, which isn't too bad for a couple of hours' work.

Tomorrow, I'm going to print out some coloring pages for the kids to do. I found this site where a lot of characters have been drawn out, ready to be printed out and colored by the kids. Where oh where was this when our summer started?!?!? Hehehehe. It's definitely GSS material! And the cool part of it is, you can color the drawings online. Is that instant gratification or what? Hehehe. At least the kids will be entertained for a couple of hours at the very least.

There's a lot of characters that the kids know too, like Bratz, Barbie, Tinkerbell, Cinderella and other Disney characters. Another great feature is that you can upload your own drawing (ok, your kid's drawing), color it and send it to your friends! You can even have your friends color it. Nothing like getting your own artwork distributed eh? Very cute concept, and one that the kids will enjoy because of its interactiveness. Moms will be entertained by it as well as a vehicle for showcasing the art talent of the kids.

Might as well get the kids into "school mode". Basic coloring skills should be a great way to do it! :)

Ok, I'm pooped. TTFN!

Bad Mama, GSS and Swimming Lesson #2

O.M.G! I was such a BAD Mama this morning! I still CANNOT believe it happened!!!! Ack!

I woke up bright and early and woke Rogan up for his Taekwondo lessons at 8 am. By 730 am, we were on the road and on our way. It was just me and him (remember from this post that I am driving my kids to their lessons for the next month), since I figured I kinda knew the way to the gymnasium.

So we get there without getting lost, a few minutes early. Rogan goes in, waves goodbye to me, and I go home. Without getting lost, hehehe. Proud moment for me there, LOL!

I'm home, I have breakfast, and open up my laptop. I surf the message boards, I scrap. And then I FORGET that I'm supposed to pick up my son at 930 am!!! I FORGOT!!!! What kind of mother does that?!?!? Eek!

By the time I realize my MAJOR boo-boo, the Raine had been picked up by Bong and Rielle, on their way to the gym for their rhythmic gymnastics class. I hurriedly call Bong and tell him to be on the lookout for Rogan at the gym. I call him twice or thrice, mentally urging him to drive a little bit faster on the way to the gym.

So he finally gets there, and Rogan, thank God, was just waiting for someone to pick him up. Bong drove him home. Safe and sound. He gets home, drinks a ton of water, takes a shower to clean his sweaty self and dirty feet, and then I hug him. :)

Whew! Possible crisis averted. So you think I scrap too much that I forgot to pick up my own son?!? Sigh! On Friday, I'm setting the alarm. Just to make sure.

{GSS}

The Gavino Summer School is in session again, after a week or so off, because of our trip to Cebu. Japa was on a rampage last night, with the kids' Filipino lessons *roll up eyes here, hehehe* For the life of me, I have always memorized Tagalog words all through Grade School and High School....and passed. But for Mr. Bulacan (known for Filipino speakers), this is a no-no. The kids MUST understand and speak it well, especially Rogan, who, poor thing, is having such a difficult time of it all.

On a lighter GSS note, just before the girls had to leave for the Street Dancing lessons, we broke open the watercolors! The kids were SO excited! :) We did a simple lesson today:

1. Take a Sharpie.
2. Draw a line or a shape on your sketch book.
3. Pass your sketch book to the person on your right.
4. Draw another line or shape on the sketch book, making sure it is touching the previous line or shape.
5. Do this for 3 or 4 rounds, until the paper is filled.
6. Color using the watercolors.

Note to self: Take photos of the kids' work and display in an online album of sorts. :)

{SWIMMING LESSON #2}

Today was SO much better than yesterday! :) In the beginning though, when Ranger woke up from his nap, he immediately told his Yaya that he didn't want to swim in the big pool, hehehe. He kept saying he wanted to swim, but "no coach!"

On the way to the pool, we kept telling him that he was GOING to swim in the big pool, and with Coach. And trying to force him to say yes. LOL! By the time we got to the pool, he really was saying yes, he was going to swim with Coach!

We get there and he grabs "his" kickboard (it's really Raine's, but I wasn't about to argue with him and ruin his relatively good mood) and walks up the stairs and towards the pool. Then he turns towards the SMALL pool. I run and block his way, and all heck breaks loose, hehehe, as he realizes that I am going to FORCE him into the big pool. Again.

I scoop him up and walk towards the coaches, who are already in the pool. He spies a bench and shouts "Sit! Sit!". I give him a chance and sit him down. For 10 seconds. Then I tell him he really does have to go in the pool. He starts squirming as I try and carry him, hooking his little foot underneath the bench, hehehe. Desperation at its best. :)

I tell him that Mama is a lot bigger and stronger than he is, and that it would be useless to try and fight me...he was going IN the pool. He quieted somewhat, but kids will be kids, and Ranger attempted to wriggle out of my arms. Yeah.

I plop him in the pool, into Coach's waiting arms. He screams for his kickboard...and I knew he would be okay. True enough, by the time I had walked to the sidelines, he was quiet and was listening to Coach. *shake head here* You just have to laugh, hehehe.

From the bottom, clockwise: 1-That's actually a smile; Ranger's saying "cheese"; 2-Kicking, by the side of the pool; 3-After being dunked by Coach.

After his lessons, Ranger went to the small pool and again "practiced" his lesson there. By himself. He would go under water, hold his kickboard and kick - trying to cross the width of the small pool, and he even held the edge of the pool and kicked! What a ham!

{SCRAPS}

RANGER & GRACE (the horse)
Ranger on a horse!

Poem reads (anonymous):
Horsey Horsey don't you stop
Just let your feet go clippity clop
Swish your tail and let’s turn around
Giddy up, we're homeward bound.

Credits: kit - Rawhide Princess by Rina Kroes at SBE; curled border template - by Marcie Reckinger and Traci Murphy; fonts - DJB Lena, DB Danielle - both by Darcy Baldwin at Blue Flombingo; layered sketch - by Ronee Parsons; Idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady’s April Amazing Month of Memories Class: April 3 - Pony Express Day

COWGIRLS
Raine holding 5-month old Robyn atop a horse.

Credits: kit - Rawhide Princess by Rina Kroes at SBE; bend it photo template - by Debbie Knorr
photo filter action - by Holly McCaig; fonts - DJB Keely, DJB Keely Script - both by Darcy Baldwin at Blue Flombingo; layered template, stitches, inked edge - The Flower Shop 1 by Janet Phillips; Idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady’s April Amazing Month of Memories Class: April 3 - Pony Express Day

Ok. That should be it. It's Japa's birthday tomorrow.....and I don't have a gift! :(

TTFN!

March Round Up

I cannot believe the first QUARTER of the year is done!!! Time does fly by --- and it is so hard to fathom that this month is over! We can't do any "life rewinds" or push a rewind button somewhere to bring back time, but I am glad I am able to SCRAP and leave a legacy for my family. Well, at least I think it's something worth doing, and I'm sure the kids will appreciate it. Someday. For now, it's "Mama, why do you scrapbook?" Hehehehe.

Oki, time for this month's Round Up taken from Katie, the Scrapbook Lady:

My March 2007 Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Currently reading Herodotus' Xerxes Invades Greece. Why? Ever since watching the movie 300, I've been inspired to read up a little bit on that part of world history! The movie was just too fab....I know that reading the real thing will be even better! I'm also thinking if I should order the coffee table book from Amazon....

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

OMGosh....whatever I watched, NOTHING could beat out 300!!! When the movie ended, Japa looked at me and said, "We are getting the DVD when this comes out," and I totally totally agree! The best-est ever line from the movie? When the Persian messenger looks over at the Queen and questions why she is present in their "important men talk"...the Queen looks at him icily and says with full confidence: "Only Spartan women give birth to Spartan men." Love love LOVE this line! Hehehehe. Even my brothers know me well enough to say that they just KNEW it was "MY" line.

We WERE going to squeeze in watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....but Japa said he would watch it with the kids if and only if I'd suffer through it with him! Hehehehe. Maybe next week.

What special days did I celebrate and how?

March 13 - Mom's birthday. She turned 61 this month. And we celebrated by going to Hong Kong. Only the adults. The kids had school, and it was fun to just be with adults and not have to worry about little someones being underfoot. Even Stella and Zhar were allowed by their families to go with us! So we were very COMPLETE.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

My back has been pretty good to me this month (knock on wood!). Must be all the Yoga we've been doing. I think I had a few days of nonstop migraines, but with medication I was fine.

I think I have insomnia...it has been increasingly difficult for me to sleep at a normal time, meaning anytime before midnight. It has been horrible, with me staying up until 515 am at the very latest!!! I guess I will need to see a doctor about this.....

I was down for close to a week with a really bad cold. Enough for me to lose my voice. Or is this major sore throat? I don't know. Whatever it was, I just woke up one day with absolutely NO VOICE. Not even a whisper! Japa of course enjoyed the "peace and quiet" this afforded him, hmp! But seriously! NO VOICE! I am also on antibiotics now, with 1-2 more days before I'm ok. My colds have petered out a bit and I just have the sniffles.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

Aside from the trip to Hong Kong and Macau, the best thing we've done this month is to do YOGA together, as a family! We do it at La Vista, with my entire family including the kids, Lai's entire family (Rondic attended once, but it's a start), Bang, Mom, Randy and Stella, and Rodney and Zhar. Too cool! And the most awesome part is that we only pay one fee (P1,000) for ALL of us!!!

We've also started GSS -- the Gavino Summer School. With the kids all out for the summer, I HAVE to keep them busy. No way will I leave them to TV, Game Boy and the computer the whole summer! So we've kept sketch books full of fun stuff the kids have done, we've kept up on our reading AND vocabulary.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

My Benefit Cosmetics make up schtuff!!! THE best purchase this month! I am SO happy with everything I bought! :)

What were this month's disappointments?

The fact that I didn't win the Photo Contest for the Shrine's pictures! Sigh! Oh well. At least I know MY pictures looked good, even before I used Photoshop! Boydee even commented how crisp and clean my photos looked! :)

What were my accomplishments this month?

CT requirements all done except RAKS. Being in Hong Kong just blew to smithereens my scrapping schedule.

My Blog is UPDATED!!!! Here's hoping this trend continues, eh?

I can do the shoulder stand (sort of) in Yoga!!! I can get my arse up off the floor and my legs behind my head (but still up in the air, not down on the ground). This is a HUGE accomplishment!

Scrapping TOOTS:
1. I am on DeDe Smith's CT!!!
2. I have been on Katie's Guest CT this month!!!
3. I am on the Divine Digital's CT!!!
4. I just read on Dani Mogstad's blog that I won a $10 GC!!!

So YAY me! :) Yes, I need to update my list of blinkies off to the side. That'll be my next project.

Anything else noteworthy to record?

We're still in the planning stages for Lola Nene's 88th birthday. We're trying to do Shanghai and/or Beijing....but I'm thinking the HEAT during that time will just about make us all WILT!!!

Thank you to Bang and Elizza for doing all the Easter Egg Hunt Planning this year! :)

March Layout Count: 39!

***End of Round Up***

{APRIL PLANS}

Thanks to the Sweet Shoppe's From Our Blog to Yours prompt, here are some April Plans for the family that I can think of:

1. Continue GSS (Gavino Summer School) Classes
2. Bisita Iglesia - where we visit 7 churches on Maundy Thursday
3. Easter Egg Hunt with the kids at La Vista
4. continue Yoga classes
5. explore other fitness classes like Belly Dancing (hehehe) or Kickboxing

{SCRAPS}

DST is down, but as soon as I can upload my layouts to other galleries, I'll post links here!

BIRTHDAY DRESS

Raegan showing off her new dress when she was only a year and 10 months old!

Journaling reads: When Mama saw this dress, she immediately knew that it was THE dress for your 2nd birthday party. When you saw it, you couldn’t wait to try it on even though your birthday was 2 months away! THe velvet bodice fit just right, but we had to take the hem in. The dress was a size 4 and you looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL in it!

Credits: kit - Rainbow by Elly Engelgeer at digiscrappen.nl; notepapers - by Sharon K; word art - by Audrey Neal; pinned tag - by Holly McCaig; flower border, brads - It's A Spring Thing by Eve Recinella at SSD; aged photo frame - by Rina Kroes; font - DB Kirsty

AN OLDE IRISH WISH

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow
May the soft winds freshen your spirit
May the sunshine brighten your heart
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you
And may God enfold you in the mantle of His love.

Credits: kit - Rainbow by Elly Engelgeer at digitalscrappen.nl; felt ribbons sun - by Tiff Brady; stitches - Little Messies by Gina Miller; button corners - by Traci Murphy; layered sketch - by Teresa Ferguson; fonts -

Off to dinner!

TTFN!

Summer Homeschooling

Well, the kids have been out of school for close to a week and let me tell you....I've been keeping them kinda busy, hehehe. I do NOT want them to totally veg out in front of the TV and their game boys and other toys. Oh no no no no! That, to me, is a total WASTE of time of their dear little minds.

Yes, I know they are kids and they deserve a chance to have fun and have a SUMMER. But they will be...just as long as they are productive for a GOOD, MAJOR part of the summer months!

So what have I got planned for them? Nothing too structured, as I think that will totally take away from the fun of teaching them throughout the summer :) Something along these general topics:

1. Art work - drawing, coloring with crayons, oil pastels, maybe even some painting (which I know aboslutely NOTHING of, but shhhhh! they don't have to know that!)

2. Reading - I am going to get my kids to LOVE books as I do....even if I have to die doing this! In this world of technology, the computer and the online world are out there. The television is out there. The various electronic toys are out there. Not to mention the regular dolls, legos, etc out there. I want BOOKS to be part of their small little worlds, and by GOLLY, they're going to HAVE it!

3. Vocabulary - of course, it goes without saying (although I'm saying it here, hehehe) that reading will greatly increase their vocabularies. So along with their sketch pads, they will have with them a dictionary, a thesaurus and a rhyming book. :)

This is what I have so far, and any suggestions would be highly welcome! :)

As for sports, they have that, too. They are in training in competitive swimming three or four times a week for the summer (they have been for a couple of years now, I think). So that takes care of the physical aspect. We have been looking into enrolling some or all of them in taekwondo this summer, but we'll see.

Another thing that interests me is the musical world. Voice lessons didn't go all that well for all of them a couple of semesters ago. They were too lazy to practice, and I had NO idea what to practice them for, so we did away with that. This summer, I am dabbling in the thought of enrolling the kids (and myself) in a native instrument class ensemble. Need to get more information on this though, so I have nothing on this yet.

I'll get myself a LIST of the lessons we've had so far just so I don't lose track.

{SCRAPS}

BIG BABY SMALL BABY
Journaling reads: Only 1 month apart, there is a huge weight and height diference between Robyn and Bric!

Credits: kit - Tweet Baby by Royanna Fritschmann at Divine Digitals; doodle - Flower Doodles by Princess Lala at Divine Digitals; flower - Freestyle Flowers by Princess Lala; onvex bend - by Jen Caputo; bended photo template - by Jennilyn Layden; fonts - KGD AMber Print, KGD Anne Catherine

SIXTY-ONE
We greeted Mom at midnight in her hotel room in Hong Kong last week.

Journaling reads: For Mom’s 61st birthday, the adults in the family went to Hong Kong, including a day trip to Macau. It was the first time we had Stella and Zhar with us, making our trip all the more meaningful because our family was complete.

Credits: kit - Arabesque by Silvia Romeo at Divine Digital; alpha - by Angela Barton; photo filter - All that Pops by Holly McCaig; fonts - KGD Bretta, Marcelle Script; layered sketch - Ultimate Sketch 1 by Kim Smith at SDK

THMILE!
Journaling reads: Papa had to tease Raegan so that she would give a big smile for the camera.

Credits: kit - Tooth Series (Tooth Baby, Tooth Dentist, Tooth Fairy) by Michelle Swadling at Divine Digital; font - KGD Mozer Print; paper fold action - by Jen Caputo; layered sketch - Ultimate Sketch 8 by Kim Smith at SDK

SCENES FROM TRAVEL TOWN
Journaling reads: Ranger enjoyed his trip to Travel Town to "ride the trains". It was a dream come true for him.

Credits: kit - Beautitide by Amy Teets at ACOT; journaling scroll - Write It by Amy Teets; alpha - Ye Ole Book Alpha by Eve Recinella at SSD; font - Stonehenge; photo filter - Virtual Photographer; layered sketch - A Little Eclectic #5 by Janet Phillips

TTFN!