Merry Christmas!

So we're finally settled in my Antique now. We've been officially on vacation since last Friday but my siblings planned something out for our family and we made a stopover at the nearby Guimaras Island (will make a separate post of that weekend soon) for the kids to frolic a bit and get some more color before we hit it off for the holidays.

I'm that feeling that Christmas-y yet. I probably won't till maybe a few hours before. There's a reason for that but I'm not going to ruin this post by sharing that here. Maybe it's also partly because this feels so new again -- the idea of spending Christmas away from our Cavite home -- but the kid already claimed it by announcing: I LIKE CHRISTMAS HERE AT LOLA'S.

Yes, Christmas is definitely better here. I wouldn't have to worry about what to plan for our Noche Buena (oh yes, my mom will take care of that). And nothing will always beat sharing a Christmas meal with family.

So yes, we're wishing you a Merry Christmas! I hope no matter what circumstance you are in, you are spending Christmas with a heart filled with overwhelming joy and hope.

First School Christmas Party

Dearest Little Miss Kulit,

As I type this, you're probably now preparing for first ever dance number in school. I feel a little sad that I'm going to miss it but I'm glad Daddy stepped up this time and happily volunteered to be the stage parent of the day. He said he's been taking videos of you since you arrived in school a few hours ago and I think I will have tons of videos to watch later. I'm giddy!

Can you believe it? We're just a quarter away from you finishing your first year in preschool. I am recalling how last year was and we were just half-heartedly considering sending you to school then. But you convinced us it's already time and who would've guess, you'll breeze through it like a pro. A few parents have already openly expressed their surprise at learning that this is just your first time in big school. You carried yourself well, albeit being a little bit on the shy side of the bunch yet you bravely come to school without a yaya while others would demand for the company of their parents and yayas. 

Of course, you would yearn (boy you can be really makulit) to be fetched by one of us on some days. But you now know how to listen to and accept reason. And we thank you so much for making things easy for us. You show so much maturity and independence beyond your years. 

I know you are extremely enjoying your school party today. I hope your classmates and school-friends will love the treats that we prepared for them. You had fun labeling those goodies with their names and signing them with your own. I'm glad you are finally feeling the real meaning of Christmas which is sharing and making everyone around you feel loved. 

Cookies from Dea (she also made Maia's wand sugar cookies on her birthday)

Red velvet cake pops from Maggie
(I had to resist opening a pack else I trigger the start of the rest of them opening a pack as well)

she labeled her gifts personally

proudly showing me her artwork on the wrapping of Teacher J's gift

Next year, we'll be more prepared for the season. I'll make sure of that. 

Love, 

Mommy

Arts-N-Crafts: Recycled Wraps

Inspired by Pepper's showcase of her very creative wrappers here and as a catch up on our Arts-N-Crafts activities as well, let me just share with you a few samples of the gifts we've recently given away (mostly to the kid's classmates) which we wrapped using recycled materials. I hope you have not jumped over Pepper's site yet as these are not in that caliber. But I wanted to publish this post, in the hopes that many would take inspiration and consider more creative ways of reusing household trash to help save the environment. It's a tiny step but at least YOU are making one. 

Most of these are recycled paper bags from National Bookstore (reversed). I keep a boxful of used japanese/tissue paper, ribbons from cakes and gifts (and some from our past runs too, low budget fun runs would usually just use ribbons as a mark that you already went past a turnaround point), used giftwrappers,  used yarns, fuzzy wires, boxes, cardboards, stickers and other what-nots that my husband would otherwise refer to as GARBAGE. 

Necessity as they say is the mother of invention. And this reusing thing was really borne out of necessity at first. And mainly because since the kid started preschool we had to prepare gifts once or twice a month and there were times that I'd really forgot to buy giftwrappers. I already saved myself some time by stocking up on Adarna/Tahanan/Lampara books (and lately some workbooks that were also printed using recycled paper) so I thought why not save me some money and help out too by reusing the brown paper bags. And that started our recycled gift wrapping adventures and my primary mission here is to expose the kid to the idea of reduce, reuse and recycle (and somehow she understands now that paper comes from trees so we should make good use of them).

This was a gift for a classmate who had a Hello Kitty-themed class party.
I told the kid this was patterned after Hello Kitty's ribbon and she giggled (apparently she agrees).
The flower cut out from an old glass coaster that I had left over from the flash card reviewers that I made for her when she was still learning to write numbers.

Since the daughter likes to scribble and doodle, I thought it would be fun to let her draw on the wrappers. The one at the bottom was my silly attempt to make girly designs. Which of these two look better to you?

blue balls for a boy birthday celebrant

I first posted these here

Lastly, this was from last Christmas. I did this without the kid's help and turned out to  be my very first venture into gift wrappers from recycled materials.

old manila paper and used cartolina from our previous art activities

How about you? Care to share what your upcycling/reusing projects are? Would love to see them!

Making It Up to Santa

As a follow up to my post yesterday, it turns out it was just a spur of the moment comment from the little girl. I realized that it was just probably brought about by her frustration on not getting her way again and of me actually introducing the thought that Santa might not really exist by asking that question. 

She tried to make up with Santa by doing this:

More drawings to add to our growing collection

I came home last night to pages of drawings that were specially made for Santa to see. 

She took out some of the handmade ornaments from our tree and traced out the shapes and drew the details on them afterwards. I know that if she could write Santa a letter she already would've. 

Good thing she used washable markers.
Poor ornaments had smudges of ink on them. Hahaha.

I was just so happy to see this. My little girl is really still a kid after all. And I hope she will always hold fond memories of all the Christmases we've spent together.

Yes Maia, There Is A Santa Claus

I was afraid I was going to have a Virginia moment this morning. But thank God we haven't gone to that point yet.

This morning I was wrapping up stuff for our office Kris-kringle and the little miss saw some nice looking pens inside the paper bag. She attempted to grab it but I stopped her and reminded her it’s not hers. 

“You want these?”

“Yes, Mommy”

“Well, let’s add this to your wishes for Santa. He might just get you some too”

“Ayaw.” (I Don’t Want To)

“Why? You don’t believe in Santa anymore?”

“Oo. Wala. Walang Santa”. (Yes. Santa doesn’t exist!)

Yes Maia, There is a Santa Claus. You just wait and see in 17 days.

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And I will just copy paste here the editorial from The Sun from which the title of this post spun from. We also used this for my college pub's editorial page (the year I first sat as the Editor In Chief) for a Christmas edition way back in '99 (i'm not so sure now). 

I just wanted to bookmark it here for Maia to read when she's older. I just feel all kids should get the chance to read this. It exudes so much positivity and hope. That is how I've always looked at Christmas as a child.

Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. 

"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

**** Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York'sSun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps. ****