QOTD: Is this our farm, Lolo?

We went corn picking yesterday afternoon with the kids. Kids were bored and in our household, this is my dad's idea of killing boredom. That idea was brilliant, I would say. Kids had fun and for the little girl corn picking isn't really something she does everyday.

On our way home we swung by my parents' sugar mill. And while they were checking out the fields that are being prepped up for cane replanting, the kid threw the lolo a question: Is this our farm, Lolo?

She's seems to be loving her time here in Antique extremely well. And she doesn't retort anymore every time we kid her we will be staying here for good soon.

Someday, Maia. We will call this place HOME.

Holidays In Antique

I've been mostly tied to my computer since we got here but I'm happy to report that it's not totally the same for the little girl.

Yes she spends a big chunk of her time catching up on her Disney/Nick/Cartoon Network favorite shows but she also takes time to go outside and enjoy what we really came for. 

Let me just illustrate that by sharing some photos:

Date night. Oldies went for beer and the kids enjoyed sausages and pasta.

Then most days were spent running and climbing fences and rolling on the grass and patting free range piggies in the grannies backyard.

These piggies were named Rose and Gumamela. And they really enjoyed calling the piggies by these names. "Mommy, can we feed Rose and Gumamela some apples today?" (kalurkey)

This face here. Just says it all. 

Future Plans

Kids often get asked: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Maia isn't spared of that question. I cannot count how many times I've heard people ask her that. I cannot blame them, it really is cute (and amusing and even fascinating) listening to kids narrate about their grand plans for the future.

My little miss seemed pretty sure about how she'd want to end up to be in the future. She would firmly declare she wants to be a doctor, almost always. Add to her recent fascination on Doc McStuffins and she will really convince you she has her life's directions mapped out really well towards that medical degree dream.

So everyone in our family is really happy that she's got the conviction she will definitely become little miss MD someday. But as we know how kids are...you know that in between those years, they are bound to change their minds and decide to become either:

The Illustrator of the Year

(this one i'm really very proud of how far she's gone even without taking up lessons yet. If you look closely at the photo below you'll see that she's holding a very detailed drawing. Showed it to my co-workers and they were awed)

or maybe;

The Colorist of the Year

(she still isn't into colors as you would expect most kids to be but she's starting to like coloring her illustrations lately)

or she could very well be;

The Chef of the Year

(ever since she finished that 3 day cooking class at St. Michael Playhouse, she's become more interested with not just eating but food preparation and cooking most especially. And whatever she can get her hands on during make-believe play, she'd usually turn into a kitchen tool, a food item or a household fixture)

Yes, we would want her to pursue being a doctor. But we would also want her to always bear in her heart and mind that no matter where her passion takes her we will always be there to support her and cheer on her.

100Yen Store Find

Did you collect stationery and stickers when you were a kid?

I did! My sisters and I apart from collecting stamps (mostly from snail mail that we actually receive from family and friends) went through this phase. We had a clear, thick plastic folder where we'd put a set of every kind of stationery that we'd come across in bookstores. (Did you keep that folder Mao?)

Today, after a very filling dinner with a colleague, we decided to explore the shops adjacent to our hotel. I noticed a 100Yen shop this morning when I took a photo of the view from my hotel room and I was able to convince my co-worker to drop by there. And my heart leaped when I saw an entire aisle of super cute stationeries. I wanted to hoard. But thank God I do not have the budget to do that. So I carefully went through each of the stationery packs and picked 2 -- yes just two (sob, sob, sniff, sniff).
  

Maia! You can now write letters using nice paper. Maybe we should find you a penpal now...whadyathink?


I was praying I'd come across tiny cooking sets as well which was actually what the kid was asking me to get her ever since she learned that Mommy's going to Japan-ese (even if they're not Re-ment made) but there was unfortunately none. I decided to buy these cute toy trucks for my nephews instead. Both were Made In China but I hope my nephew wouldn't really notice. Haha. (Bought in Japan but Made In China?#!$#!)

regardless of their point of origin, i think the boys will love this :)

I have a lot of stories to share about this trip but I gotta get some decent sleep first. I hope to find more time tomorrow. For now, I wish you all a wonderful week :)

Weekend 18: Rainbows and Little Surprises

I love rainbows. Who doesn't?

my camera phone did not do any justice to this magnificent sighting.
i wish i had a real camera today. just for today.

Today, my little girl saw a rainbow from end to end for the first time. She immediately took out the Rainbow Brite coloring book that I bought for her recently and started waving that at the rainbow. 

greeting the rainbow with relentless waves of her Rainbow Brite coloring book

Most of our neighbors got their cameras out and started taking shots at this rare sight too.

Ah, the gift of nature. Kid got so inspired she immediately went to work filling her coloring book with rainbow shades.

This morning we woke up to a wonderful surprise. My mommy friend Leslie (and who's also a blogger who I look up to) tagged me in a photo from a local newspaper. The little girl was in a photo that was featured on one of the articles in the paper. It was a photo from her recently concluded 3-day summer at St. Michael Playhouse. I was thrilled with that Facebook photo tag already but our daddy was not satisfied by that he went to get our very own copy of the paper for documentation's sake. I was smiling from ear to ear. I didn't know we also have a stage daddy in our midst. 

So anyways, weekends like this - all-centered in my little family - is something that I extremely miss. And I'm glad that I was given the opportunity to reclaim that this weekend. I must admit, I still didn't feel the weekend go by but somehow, I have the happy smiles of the husband and the little girl still fresh in my memory when they woke up yesterday and simply declared it's going to be a happy weekend.

I'm leaving for another week in Japan again at the end of this month and I'm hoping I can still spend one more weekend with the little girl doing arts and crafts before that happens. School season is only a month away and I'm pretty sure that when that hits, I will surely not have the luxury to spend leisure weekends like this with her so I better catch up.

Santa's Gift Story v. 2012 and Other Holiday Tales

This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas - as am I. Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart. - Santa Claus, The Polar Express

This year's Christmas celebration didn't involve a lot of trips outside of our comfort zone (meaning no more parties, dinner dates and last minute shopping to rush to) and yet we were extremely exhausted. So what exactly did we do on Christmas day?

Everything started days prior to Christmas day. The daddy of the house decided to start 'spring' cleaning early and got everyone involved. The vacation days that we planned to dedicate to more arts and crafts, Montessori activities (thanks to my n@wie sister Clarice for sharing her ebooks to us), and review on reading/phonics turned out to be more of the physical kind and nowhere near the educational activities that I've mapped out. The cleaning spree lasted till Christmas day. The daddy only left us a few hours to prepare for Noche Buena. Thankfully, I was in no mood to work on a complicated menu plan so I settled for a simple Noche Buena menu of Spaghetti in Bacon and Cream sauce (thanks to Joey of 80breakfasts.blogspot.com for the sauce recipe), Fruit Salad, Spareribs in Bbq sauce (thanks to Maqui for the recipe), and Choco Walnut Banana Bread from Purple Oven. By 8pm I was already done with cooking, so I suggested that we watch The Polar Express with the kid (I was inspired by Maqui again hahaha, gaya-gaya puto-maya but what can I say, you are the goddess of traditions Maqui and you really come up with the best ideas) to start a Christmas movie watching tradition. The kid was really into it that when we took out her Christmas gift to strategically place outside of our door, she didn't see any of us move. And seeing how excited she was of the thought that Santa's coming with her gift, we decided to forego midnight and give the gift instead right then and there. Tibs sneaked out of the house and knocked on our front door just after the scene in the movie where Santa rode his sleigh and set off to deliver the gifts. If only I can show here how her face lighted up when she heard the knock. And she was repeatedly asking me: "MOMMY! Papunta na talaga si Santa? Dala na nya gift ko, Mommy?"

Our "Santa" knocked 3x and left immediately. When the kid opened the door, all that was there was her gift all wrapped up and waiting to be picked up. She was speechless for a moment. She didn't even move. I think she was still trying to convince herself that there was really a gift sitting right in front of our lawn. Then what happened after that took place in a flash. She grabbed the gift and dragged it inside the house. I read the note that "Santa" wrote on the manila paper wrapper and right after I finished reading, she tore off the wrapper. She kept saying: "I'M SO HAPPY, MOMMY! I'M SO HAPPY!" while tearing off the wrapper. I almost cried I tell ya! I didn't expect she would be THAT ecstatic.

We hardly buy gifts (as I've mentioned here) for this little girl apart from blocks and some sensory toys, I couldn't remember buying her anything else. But this time around we made an exception (as the grannies also 'pressured' us into buying since they weren't able to get her a gift themselves). I know she wanted that scooter as evidenced in most of her drawings these past few weeks but didn't really think we'd get this kind of response over that. But I guess, it does pay not to do this often because she gets to appreciate it tenfolds. Of course, she still believes it was really Santa who gave her the gift. And we will let her enjoy that thought till she finds out the truth about Santa in her own time. For now, I will let this kid bask in those happy thoughts. (I myself can't help but smile when I remember her face that night of the 24th)

I'm so happy, i'm sooooo happy!

day 2: sabihan mo si Santa mommy inaalagaan ko mabuti yung gift nya ha?
nililinis ko nga ngayon eh! (parang kotse lang mega punas pa ng alcohol)

Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see. - The Conductor, The Polar Express

Who would've guessed we'd bump into Santa right after hearing Christmas mass? 

Where's Your Happy Place?

For Maia, it's just two places.

This is where she gets her chicken fix (I know fast food but...when she's happy, were happy hehe)

time stops when she's here. and she already recognizes the logo so there's no way we'd ever skip this place when we're in a mall. she'd rather waste time here than in a toy store (on most days i say).

Climb A Tree And Make Some Memories

I never learned to climb a tree. But I grew up surrounded by different kinds of trees to climb on to. I guess when you're around something a lot, you really tend to take them for granted (and then maybe let your fear get the best of you). Then you grow up (I would like to mean the real growing up process and not the literal one but well it can be both) and you realize how much you've missed. You chide yourself for letting a great learning opportunity pass. Oh well. 

Maia is not as lucky as me. Trees are not as abundant at where we live now as compared to where I grew up in Antique. There are no fruit trees to climb. Trees are grown here mostly for shading purposes. And now that she's getting more physically active as days go, I start wishing she was growing up in the same place I did. 

Tibs and I agree, tree-climbing is one childhood experience that Maia shouldn't miss. I'm just glad we still get to go home to Antique even if just once every year. So today while waiting for Maia to wrap up her playground time in Legaspi Park, Tibs saw an opportunity to introduce Maia to tree-climbing.

At first, Maia was really scared. It was quite understandable given the fact that the little miss has recently developed a fear of heights plus of course, the idea is something really new and unfamiliar to her. She refused to be lifted. We almost gave up thinking it was a lost cause and that maybe we should just wait a bit. Then another light bulb moment hit us, we suggested she let Georgie climb instead because for sure he misses climbing trees.

And so she did.

you go first Georgie!

Just a little more Georgie --

Hindi na abot ni Georgie ang taas Mommy!

When she couldn't get Georgie up to a higher branch, Tibs got the stuffed monkey and placed him comfortably on a branch. Little miss found it really hilarious and the rest is history. She just got so excited to join her baby monkey up on one of the tree branches.

Andito na ako, Mommy!

When Maia comes home to Antique this summer, I can already tell how different this year is going to be from the past year's she been vacationing there. And now I'm the one who's overly excited about it.

Success, Mommy! Sali ka?