Santa's identity

Ever since we had our own home and Christmas tree, its been our tradition to open gifts on the morning of December 25. The kids really look forward to this and I think the element of suspense and surprise in waiting for Christmas morning to open them makes it really special. Each year, Santa's gift would be the most awaited. This is probably because Santa's gifts always come on Christmas morning itself when they the kids don't really have time to shake, feel, peak and try to guess whats inside :-).

This year has been a bit tough for Santa - who thinks its become more and more dificult to stay unidentfied. Nico, who's just recently discovered (around 2 years now, i think) Santa's true identity had to pretend he doesn't know who he is for Julia' sake. He's not doing a good job of it and often makes meaningful faces whenever the topic of Santa pops up. Also, Julia, who's just lost her first tooth this year, had been disillusioned when her Kindergarten teacher told her that tooth fairies aren't real. I'm thinking, it won't be long until she discovered the same thing about Santa, thus the apprehension.

I wasn't sure how to go about it especially when Julia started to make comments and reactions after opening Santa's gift. Julia gave me a big surprised but happy look when she first opened Santa's gift. I wasn't sure what she meant until she explained that one of the Sanrio notebooks Santa gave her was the same one we gave her cousin. Oops...I forgot that she'd be able to see what I wrapped for her cousin.

Later on that the day, Julia commented that there was a trace of price tag on the notebooks. "Santa removed the price tags.", she mentioned. Then she said, "Mom, Santa bought this from the store. Maybe he's shopping when we're sometimes at the mall and we just dont recognize him." I responded by saying, "Maybe its the elves who does the shopping for him."

It was so much easier to go about these things with Nico before. Probably because Nico was half as perceptive as Julia at her age now. Imagine Julia, who had to ask what was inside the wrapped packages I prepared, who knew all the designs of wrappers I had at home, who insists on helping me with wrapping, who patiently watches me after I tell her she cannot help and you'll understand what I'm talking about. From the way she phrases questions and make comments, I wouldn't be surprised if she figures things out before next Christmas.

I'm running out of creative ideas to keep Santa's identity safe. Any suggestions?

Realizations afer reading Twilight

It's been a while since I've gone to the movies since the "ber" months ushered in, so when Twilight made it to the silver screen a few weeks ago, I didn't have a hard time to ask DH to go with me. I've heard about Twilight several months before and got curious what the hype was all about. I wouldn't rate the movie "A" but decided to read the book version to answer some of my questions about the plot. After reading the 4 books in the Twilight saga, I realize that....

1. ...the theme of "love" is universal. Stephenie Meyer wrote it to cater the the young juvenile but clearly, the age of the characters were not an issue for the older and more mature audience. Reading the book at my age, felt like experiencing first love in high school all over again. I guess the appeal extended beyond the teenage years because it was reminiscent of how young love was. (sigh)


2. ...I don't buy the "you can love 2 people at the same time" idea. With regard to this issue, I'm no "Switzerland", either you're on Team Edward or Team Jacob, not somewhere in between. For me, trying to hold onto the 2 loves in the story made the female protagonist Bella look selfish and greedy.

3. ...I'm terribly old fashioned; or else, I wouldn't find Edward's lines such as "Charlie, I realize that I’ve gone about this out of order. Traditionally, I should have asked you first. I mean no disrespect, but since Bella has already said yes and I don’t want to diminish her choice in the matter, instead of asking you for her hand, I’m asking for your blessing. We’re getting married, Charlie. I love her more than anything in the world, more than my own life, and – by some miracle – she loves me that way, too. Will you give us your blessing?" chivalrous and romantic. If I didn't enjoy or appreciate gadgets and technology so much, I'm inclined to think I'm an old soul.

4. ...that I should have stopped reading at book 3 - Eclipse. I was more than a bit disappointed with Breaking Dawn. The main characters were quite inconsistent with how Meyer built them up in the first 3 Twilight books. Its as if a different writer finished the last sequel to the saga. By the ending chapters of the book, I even found myself wishing Meyer wouldn't finish it with a happy ending that everyone was waiting for- which was very unlikely of me. The plot just got crazier and crazier it was getting really hard to imagine. Instead of being able to enjoying the book, I found myself spending time questioning and trying to fill up holes in the plot.

5. ...that I miss reading fiction. For a while, the materials I've been reading are mostly under the non-fiction category like biographies, inspirational essays and journals. I've almost forgotten how fun it is to get lost in a book and let my imagination lead the way.

There's a lot of contradicted opinion on Twilight, some call it trash yet others are obsessed with it. All in all, I think it was good book. It delivered well its purpose which was to entertain and I was. So, if you're piqued at how a vampire/human love story would go, go ahead and read it. Only, take my advice and stop at Eclipse. :-)

Olympic Friendlies

After following the Olympic opening and games last August, Nico & Julia were really bitten by the Olympic bug. DH and I found ourselves consuming "Happy Meals" from McDonalds's just to get those Olympic collectibles. Recently, a friend of mine had her mom buy these FuWa from Beijing for Nico & Julia. Nico super loves Jing Jing, who represents the panda. He's had this thing with stuff toys especially pandas. I think it started when we first went to Ocean Park when he was 4 and saw a real panda. The second time we were there, we bought him a cute panda stuff toy that he keeps with him while he sleeps. When Nico slept over at his cousin's house last weekend, he wanted to bring JingJing with him. I advised him to leave his stuff toy at home so he told Julia that she could sleep with JingJing for that night. I thought that it was really sweet of him :-)

A while ago, the kids asked for some paper and showed me these drawings. I just love them. What do you think of their drawings?

Julia's drawing of BeiBei




Nico's drawing of JingJing

Iba talaga pag babae...

This was what I found waiting for me on my desk after I came back from the grocery. I let out an "Aaawwww..." and showed DH what I found. She's just so sweet, don't you think? 

Aside from drawing and doodling, Julia loves to write small notes like the one above. She got some Lisa Frank sticky notes from her "koko" and gave me 2 sets because she knows I like using them. Last week, I was having a home service haircut in the living room when she brought out the electric fan all by herself. "Is this okey, mom?" she asked. And I was like, "Thanks so much, sweetie!", while I gushed at how thoughtful she is. Its times like this that remind me to be thankful for having a daughter. As they say in Filipino, "Iba talaga pag babae!"

To the crazy ones.

I was at a workshop a few months back when I found this posted on the wall. The title and the first few lines caught my attention. I want to share this to all the misfits, who sometimes feel like the odd in a group of even. A black in a group of white. Being a misfit isn't bad like other people would think. It doesn't mean that you are wrong and they are right. It just means that you think differently and see things in another perspective. It means that you found your true self and don't need to follow what others are doing to feel normal. Being "crazy" is sometimes a good thing...it sets you you free and leads you to being happy.

To the crazy ones.

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them glorify them or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.
Because while some see them as crazy ones, we see genius.

And it's the people who are crazy enough to think they can
change the world, who actually do.

Julia's Scrap and Salon Party

Now that I've decided to blog about Julia's Scrap and Salon party, I realize that I didn't take as many pictures that I was suppose to. If you planned and prepared a party such as this one, you'd understand how taking pictures can conveniently be forgotten over other more pressing matters during the party. Lest you think that we had a hundred guests, it was just a small and intimate party held at our home. Julia's not one who enjoys big parties so it doesn't seem right to give her a big one even if this was her 7th birthday.

The idea for the Scrap and Salon party was conceptualized early summer. I was at the duty free shops and saw some "kikay" sleeping masks and thought it would be a good item for giveaways. To prepare for the 'Salon" part of the party, I bought the following:

1. iron curler
2. hair wax in colors pink, blue and golden yellow
3. nail polish
4. nail stickers
5. jewelled clamps, hair ties, colored clips

Since yaya is an expert at fixing hair, she took care of the parlor booth. The girls told yaya what hairstyle they wanted and chose the pins and accessories they preferred to be used on them. At first, none of the girls wanted to use the colored hair wax but when Mjane started to apply them on one of the girls, they welcomed the idea. Inasmuch as I want to show you guys how it looked like, I can't because I missed taking pictures of those. I was multi-tasking-photographer, party organizer, food coordinator kaya di nakayanan ng powers ko :-(

I also set up a nail polish area where the kids could chose their nail color and nail sticker designs. While the others were in the parlor, some were busy making scrap pages using the pictures I asked them to bring. I bought foam stickers, colored paper, boards for the scrap party. I also brought out all of my gel pens, markers, stencils etc for the kids to use. In the beginning, I tried explaining to them some techniques they can use and gave them some ideas on how to go about scrapping. But, they didn't seem too interested as they were too excited to start working. As in they looked like they were going to burst if I had to discuss some some. In the end, I gave up explaining and just let them have a good time. For most of the girls, it was their first time to scrap so they were focused on the stickers and other materials they could use.





After the girls had their hair fixed at the parlor, I took pictures of them using my camera and printed them on the spot using our newly purchased Canon Selphy printer. The girls enjoyed seeing their pictures being printed on the spot. I placed their picture in a photo slot on their canvas tote which was part of the giveaways. In the bag, I placed a set of poster colors, a giant scrap book, a 'kikay' pen with mirror, a personalized notepad and a girly sleeping mask. Of course, they also got to bring home the scrap book pages they created during the party which I bound using a single hole-fastener.




For the cake, I made around 2 dozens vanilla cupcakes and decorated it with pink and yellow icing. Using the same theme of fairy princess from the paper plates, cups and napkins, I also made some cupcake toppers to match. All these entailed several hours of planning and preparation but I was really satisfied with the outcome.



It was after the party that I realized I forgot to bring out the icecream! It totally slipped my mind. The next time I'm throwing Julia another party like this, I have to remind myself to come up with a checklist. It was tiring and busy planning and preparing for the party but I did enjoy myself in the process. It was enough for me that Julia had a great time. Maybe a sleepover party next year :-)

I'm Back!

After a long absence here, I'm back!

To say that the months of June and July was busy is an understatement. "Crazy" is the word more suitable to use. It started when I was preparing for Julia's SCRAP and SALON party and then got really busy with work and my thesis.

Each day, I would spend hours on the computer doing research, reading journals and writing the proposal. It was fine with me going through research and reading but the difficult part is how to conceptualize the problem. It didn't help when some people who don't really understand what the task of doing a thesis entails, gave some comments that make it sound easy and trivial. Just yesterday, I told my mentor that it was impossible for me to do this if I didn't take a leave from work. It was such a draining ordeal both physically and emotionally that I had to ask myself several times why I'm doing this. I almost gave up, too. Up until recently, I didn't realize I could be this persistent and persevering. It feels like a new self-discovery :-)

Not to sound too confident, I still have the actual proposal defense to prepare. I'm just savoring these few days to relax and refresh myself for more work in the next few months.

I really hope I'll have enough time to blog regularly. I miss blogging and have a handful of things to write about. Stay tuned!