This is a funny story, read on.
For a while I've been chatting through e-mail with a family scheduled to come to Manila. Lisa has asked questions, I've answered as best I could. They have 3 kids and a dog and after a long wait, they arrived this afternoon. Originally they were supposed to land last night but a delay had them stay overnight in Tokyo before completing the last leg. We thought our trip was long.
But they made it and after dropping Rebecca off at a birthday party we swung by their house to say hello. A dog crate was in the yard so we figured we had the correct house, but one doorbell ring... nothing. Another ring... nothing. We were outside the gate and could peek through to their front door, but there was no sign of a dog and no people movements. We'd brought a basket of items to leave for them so we tired to open the gate to leave it by the front door.
I could get my arm through the bars and wiggle the sliding bar out, but there was another latch I couldn't reach. We discussed tossing Katherine over the top of the gate so she could open the latch, but wondered how we'd get her back out if it was locked. A pile of empty paint cans were down the block a bit so Ian picked one for me to stand on and as I was reaching over and just getting my fingers over the knob, the curtains moved back.
"Lisa, the Hoppers are here!"
What a great first impression.
But not all was lost. They were very gracious about our attempts at breaking into their yard and welcomed us into their abode. We did have another purpose for coming over and that was to hopefully keep them busy and talking for a few hours. Perhaps they could beat back the sleep dragon until a more reasonable time. It worked to a degree, as four of the five were active and awake until 5 when we departed. Lisa was obviously yawning by then and I know the kids were beyond their threshhold for exhaustion.
Lisa and Matthew are outgoing and friendly. Ian is Matthew's office sponsor so I know we'll be seeing a bit of them before we depart. I think they'll fit right in.
I just hope they didn't all curl on the couches the moment we left.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Three Years Ago Today
A prayer for all those who lost their friends and loved ones on 11 September 2001.
Three years ago, Ian was working at the Associated Press in Washington DC. The story unfurled when Ian called and told me to turn on the TV after the first plane had impaled the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. I remember telling him right then that it was no accident. Someone had intentionally caused this heartache. As we spoke, the nation exploded when South Tower was hit, followed by the Pentagon. Another plane went down and no one knew if it was part of the disaster or a coincidental disaster all its own.
Later we would learn that United Flight 93 was part of the attack, only something got in the way and it crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We learned that it was most likely headed towards Washington, possibly aimed at the Capitol. The Capitol is only a few blocks from the AP office. The plane went down killing all the passengers on board. It hit nothing and no one.
It was later that day I learned my uncle was on that plane that crashed in Shanksville. My dad's sister had married a wonderful man and they have two amazing kids. My aunt has persevered through pain I can only imagine and my cousins have thrived through their loss.
Over the following days and weeks the pieces came together through cell phone calls from Flight 93, how the passengers knew what happened on the ground and how they decided to do something, anything. No one will ever know what really occurred, but we do know the plane did not go where it was intended.
My uncle was on that plane, the plane that was headed for where my husband was on 11 September 2001. Amid the losses that day, there were miracles and I consider his presence there, his knowledge as a pilot, and the strength of all those passengers to be a miracle for our family.
Through their sacrifice my husband came home.
We miss you, Don.
Three years ago, Ian was working at the Associated Press in Washington DC. The story unfurled when Ian called and told me to turn on the TV after the first plane had impaled the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. I remember telling him right then that it was no accident. Someone had intentionally caused this heartache. As we spoke, the nation exploded when South Tower was hit, followed by the Pentagon. Another plane went down and no one knew if it was part of the disaster or a coincidental disaster all its own.
Later we would learn that United Flight 93 was part of the attack, only something got in the way and it crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We learned that it was most likely headed towards Washington, possibly aimed at the Capitol. The Capitol is only a few blocks from the AP office. The plane went down killing all the passengers on board. It hit nothing and no one.
It was later that day I learned my uncle was on that plane that crashed in Shanksville. My dad's sister had married a wonderful man and they have two amazing kids. My aunt has persevered through pain I can only imagine and my cousins have thrived through their loss.
Over the following days and weeks the pieces came together through cell phone calls from Flight 93, how the passengers knew what happened on the ground and how they decided to do something, anything. No one will ever know what really occurred, but we do know the plane did not go where it was intended.
My uncle was on that plane, the plane that was headed for where my husband was on 11 September 2001. Amid the losses that day, there were miracles and I consider his presence there, his knowledge as a pilot, and the strength of all those passengers to be a miracle for our family.
Through their sacrifice my husband came home.
We miss you, Don.
A Day in Review
I like being busy, but some days are too much even for me.
Friday, 10 September 2004
5:50am - Crawl out of bed. This is going to get harder as the mornings get darker.
6:00am - Wake up girls. Always difficult with Katherine. Had to do laundry last night so she would have a green shirt and khaki skort for a program.
6:25am - Put girls on bus with bags in one hand and a bagel in the other. Life is so much smoother now that I make lunches the night before. And today the girls are buying pizza and the boys have Club Lunch. Only needed to pack snacks.
6:30am - Clean for dinner company. Make grocery list. Have an unsuccessful reading lesson with Nicholas. We're on Lesson 22 in 100 Easy Lessons. He's getting bored with it. Text two parents telling one that the girls won't be at the birthday paty that evening (just got the invite the day before, and it's at the same time as Katherine's time trials), and tell the other one that Rebecca will be at the party on Saturday afternoon. There's another party on Sunday afternoon that all the kids are invited to. It's at the same time as their swim lesson.
8:30am - Pile into car, pick up Katie, head to AmeriKids.
8:50am - Drop off kids at AmeriKids. Take new photos of the field and playground for the school website. Go to ARC office to let them know the kids won't be at swimming lessons on Sunday. The kids won't complain. The ARC office is empty.
9:00am - Work in Seafront library on the Gs.
9:30am - Check ARC office again, someone is there. Tell them about Sunday. Head to the grocery store.
10:00am - Grocery store run for fruit and ingredients for lasagna.
11:00am - Home and break.
11:30am - Put lasagna together. The sauce has onions, ground beef, sausage, carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms. Oh, and a can of Garlic and Herb Hunts. Cover and put in fridge.
12:15pm - Head to Seafront.
12:40pm - See the kids finishing their Club Lunch.
12:55pm - Head home with Kelly and Katie in tow as well. There was something huge going on at the Colegio in Dasmarinas Village. EDSA was completely backed up from all directions entering the village. A normal 15 minute ride took over 45 minutes. Once we were in the village, took a circuitous route to get to Katie's house. Dropped her off.
1:50pm - Go directly to ISM for Katherine's time trials.
2:10pm - Finally at ISM, with a convenient parking spot even.
2:30pm - At the pool, Christine arrives which makes Kelly very happy, and general chaos ensues as computers don't work, parent volunteers are collected for timing, kids are wandering about, etc. I volunteered to time which left my younger set entertaining themselves.
5:00pm - Texted Ian to put the lasagna in when he got home.
5:30pm - They entertained themselves for 3 hours. The parents scored free sodas for standing there. Katherine did her best, even with the freestyle trial where she jumped in at the whistle (take your mark) instead of the beep (go), and swam the entire length... the only one who didn't stop as people were shouting at her. She even tried the butterfly trial. For the last 5 meters she hardly moved with each stroke, she was so tired. The kids had been bribed with pizza afterwards but by 5:30 no one stayed. Meg needed a ride home, my younger three were so filthy and Katherine was wiped out.
5:45pm - Meg dropped off and we enter the house. Kids are tossed unceremoniously into the shower. We had dinner guests coming. Ian was setting the table.
5:55pm - Kids are dressed in PJs. I get into the shower.
6:15pm - Guests arrive. I'm showered and clothed. The lasagna is finishing up. Ian heads to store to get edible bread since the baguette I'd bought earlier is hard as a rock. He also gets dessert from La Nuovo Pastelleria. Yummy.
7:30pm - Dinner done, boys are asleep, girls eat some ice cream. I promised them that since they didn't get pizza after swimming we'd have pizza saturday night.
8:00pm - Girls are asleep. Katherine said she didn't want to read. I don't blame her.
9:20pm - Guests leave. They depart post on Thursday. We'll see them at FSI next year.
This is where I turn off my brain and veg for an hour, then give in and go to bed.
Friday, 10 September 2004
5:50am - Crawl out of bed. This is going to get harder as the mornings get darker.
6:00am - Wake up girls. Always difficult with Katherine. Had to do laundry last night so she would have a green shirt and khaki skort for a program.
6:25am - Put girls on bus with bags in one hand and a bagel in the other. Life is so much smoother now that I make lunches the night before. And today the girls are buying pizza and the boys have Club Lunch. Only needed to pack snacks.
6:30am - Clean for dinner company. Make grocery list. Have an unsuccessful reading lesson with Nicholas. We're on Lesson 22 in 100 Easy Lessons. He's getting bored with it. Text two parents telling one that the girls won't be at the birthday paty that evening (just got the invite the day before, and it's at the same time as Katherine's time trials), and tell the other one that Rebecca will be at the party on Saturday afternoon. There's another party on Sunday afternoon that all the kids are invited to. It's at the same time as their swim lesson.
8:30am - Pile into car, pick up Katie, head to AmeriKids.
8:50am - Drop off kids at AmeriKids. Take new photos of the field and playground for the school website. Go to ARC office to let them know the kids won't be at swimming lessons on Sunday. The kids won't complain. The ARC office is empty.
9:00am - Work in Seafront library on the Gs.
9:30am - Check ARC office again, someone is there. Tell them about Sunday. Head to the grocery store.
10:00am - Grocery store run for fruit and ingredients for lasagna.
11:00am - Home and break.
11:30am - Put lasagna together. The sauce has onions, ground beef, sausage, carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms. Oh, and a can of Garlic and Herb Hunts. Cover and put in fridge.
12:15pm - Head to Seafront.
12:40pm - See the kids finishing their Club Lunch.
12:55pm - Head home with Kelly and Katie in tow as well. There was something huge going on at the Colegio in Dasmarinas Village. EDSA was completely backed up from all directions entering the village. A normal 15 minute ride took over 45 minutes. Once we were in the village, took a circuitous route to get to Katie's house. Dropped her off.
1:50pm - Go directly to ISM for Katherine's time trials.
2:10pm - Finally at ISM, with a convenient parking spot even.
2:30pm - At the pool, Christine arrives which makes Kelly very happy, and general chaos ensues as computers don't work, parent volunteers are collected for timing, kids are wandering about, etc. I volunteered to time which left my younger set entertaining themselves.
5:00pm - Texted Ian to put the lasagna in when he got home.
5:30pm - They entertained themselves for 3 hours. The parents scored free sodas for standing there. Katherine did her best, even with the freestyle trial where she jumped in at the whistle (take your mark) instead of the beep (go), and swam the entire length... the only one who didn't stop as people were shouting at her. She even tried the butterfly trial. For the last 5 meters she hardly moved with each stroke, she was so tired. The kids had been bribed with pizza afterwards but by 5:30 no one stayed. Meg needed a ride home, my younger three were so filthy and Katherine was wiped out.
5:45pm - Meg dropped off and we enter the house. Kids are tossed unceremoniously into the shower. We had dinner guests coming. Ian was setting the table.
5:55pm - Kids are dressed in PJs. I get into the shower.
6:15pm - Guests arrive. I'm showered and clothed. The lasagna is finishing up. Ian heads to store to get edible bread since the baguette I'd bought earlier is hard as a rock. He also gets dessert from La Nuovo Pastelleria. Yummy.
7:30pm - Dinner done, boys are asleep, girls eat some ice cream. I promised them that since they didn't get pizza after swimming we'd have pizza saturday night.
8:00pm - Girls are asleep. Katherine said she didn't want to read. I don't blame her.
9:20pm - Guests leave. They depart post on Thursday. We'll see them at FSI next year.
This is where I turn off my brain and veg for an hour, then give in and go to bed.
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Oh Nicholas & other updates
At AmeriKids, Nicholas is the only 4 year old boy with three 4 year old girls. One of them has already told him that she loves him and wants to marry him. He has bashfully said that he loves her too.
Now, for our four year old, love is an extension of like, and I think it's adorable that these kids are being so sweet to each other. It's a class of 12 kids and Nicholas is the oldest boy in the class. It's good that he's getting a bit of attention because at home his siblings don't shower him with the attention he craves. He's still a wonderfully sensitive and sweet boy and she's a sweet girl so I'm glad they are friends. In fact, all three little girls are great.
We had the AmeriKids Open House this evening and I had my 5 minutes of talking about sign-up sheets and asking for someone to take over the website. Lucky me, we have a volunteer, so I know that it won't immediately die. I completely forgot to bring my camera to take photos for the website. Oops.
As with any gathering, we all brought food to share after. I'd had high hopes of making a mild guacamole but can you believe there wasn't an avocado to be had? So I went for the next thing I could think of while staring at the shelves in the store. Hummus. Canned chick peas to the rescue.
The only problem was I didn't have a recipe in front of me, nor had I looked at one earlier, so I prayed I had what was needed. Being the fabulous cook that I am, I didn't. Fresh garlic? Nope. Seasme paste? Nope. I'm lousy at substitutions but with 45 minutes to change and make the hummus, there was no choice. Garlic powder to the rescue. And one recipe I found online actually had a recipe for making sesame paste. The funky thing was that I had a bag of sesame seeds. Certainly not something I normally keep, but it would work. All I needed to do was toast up the seeds, grind them up in the food processor and add the rest of the ingredients.
I didn't add enough lemon juice or sesame oil, it needed fresh garlic and would have done well sitting overnight first. Unfortunately, I overtoasted the seeds so there was an overwhelming smell of roasted sesame in the mix. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't what I planned. I've come up with something new "Smoked Hummus". Next time I know what to do and it'll be delicious. At least the pita triangles were fool proof.
Laura and I are still plugging along on organizing the Seafront library. It's a fun project as we are both bibliophiles. Watching the shelves take shape and planning what to do with various books has really been enjoyable. I'm hoping when we're done it will be functional for the users. It's a tiny room and doesn't need to be designed like a full-fledged library.
Stephanie and I are slowly prepping for Laura's baby shower. I should say that Stephanie is. She's making and distributing the invites. I'm providing the space (our house) and ordering the cake. We'll do the food together. Ryan didn't want a baby shower in the normal sense, so this will be an evening affair for couples to attend. It should be fun.
Friday the new family I've been chatting with over e-mail finally arrives. Ian is their office sponsor, so he'll be seeing them on Monday. I'm hoping to have them over for dinner next weekend.
Now, for our four year old, love is an extension of like, and I think it's adorable that these kids are being so sweet to each other. It's a class of 12 kids and Nicholas is the oldest boy in the class. It's good that he's getting a bit of attention because at home his siblings don't shower him with the attention he craves. He's still a wonderfully sensitive and sweet boy and she's a sweet girl so I'm glad they are friends. In fact, all three little girls are great.
We had the AmeriKids Open House this evening and I had my 5 minutes of talking about sign-up sheets and asking for someone to take over the website. Lucky me, we have a volunteer, so I know that it won't immediately die. I completely forgot to bring my camera to take photos for the website. Oops.
As with any gathering, we all brought food to share after. I'd had high hopes of making a mild guacamole but can you believe there wasn't an avocado to be had? So I went for the next thing I could think of while staring at the shelves in the store. Hummus. Canned chick peas to the rescue.
The only problem was I didn't have a recipe in front of me, nor had I looked at one earlier, so I prayed I had what was needed. Being the fabulous cook that I am, I didn't. Fresh garlic? Nope. Seasme paste? Nope. I'm lousy at substitutions but with 45 minutes to change and make the hummus, there was no choice. Garlic powder to the rescue. And one recipe I found online actually had a recipe for making sesame paste. The funky thing was that I had a bag of sesame seeds. Certainly not something I normally keep, but it would work. All I needed to do was toast up the seeds, grind them up in the food processor and add the rest of the ingredients.
I didn't add enough lemon juice or sesame oil, it needed fresh garlic and would have done well sitting overnight first. Unfortunately, I overtoasted the seeds so there was an overwhelming smell of roasted sesame in the mix. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't what I planned. I've come up with something new "Smoked Hummus". Next time I know what to do and it'll be delicious. At least the pita triangles were fool proof.
Laura and I are still plugging along on organizing the Seafront library. It's a fun project as we are both bibliophiles. Watching the shelves take shape and planning what to do with various books has really been enjoyable. I'm hoping when we're done it will be functional for the users. It's a tiny room and doesn't need to be designed like a full-fledged library.
Stephanie and I are slowly prepping for Laura's baby shower. I should say that Stephanie is. She's making and distributing the invites. I'm providing the space (our house) and ordering the cake. We'll do the food together. Ryan didn't want a baby shower in the normal sense, so this will be an evening affair for couples to attend. It should be fun.
Friday the new family I've been chatting with over e-mail finally arrives. Ian is their office sponsor, so he'll be seeing them on Monday. I'm hoping to have them over for dinner next weekend.
EGGSTRA, EGGSTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT
As Michele mentioned, we found a food stall at the local mall called "Balut Eggspress." You might have heard of Balut on Fear Factor, but it's a Filipino delicacy involving a fertilized duck or chicken egg. When the chick is still developing, it's boiled and eaten. You suck out the 'juice,' then eat the contents -- bone, feather sprouts and all.
It doesn't bother me so much that we found a balut place. What bothers me more is that it's a FAST FOOD balut place. Like McBalut.
We haven't had balut yet, and seeing as we've got only several months left here, I thought I might regret it if I didn't try. However, we already had lunch. ("I'd really like to suck down that duck fetus juice, but really, I'm stuffed.")
Like any good food court, they had free samples. It's like Chick-Fil-A, but without the fundamentalist Christian overtones... and mature poultry. Sadly, they had no balut samples. It's either whole balut egg, or nothin'. But they did have other samples: quail egg innards, which looked like little orange dumplings, and pieces of what the employees called "one-day-old-chick."
This was not cute furry Chicken Little. This was a skinny dead naked chicken corpse about four inches long. It had no feathers nor signs of feathers, and its eyes were bulging and bluish, rather fetus-like. It was fried without breading. They had a plate full of about 30 of them, all piled up like a mass grave. I don't see how they could be really "one day old," they looked like they weren't born yet.
Nevertheless, they were free samples. Well, not all of one. They cut them in thirds, lengthwise. I picked one up with a toothpick -- the head and upper ribcage.
Wisely, I bought an iced tea.
Michele and the kids wimped out. So I popped it into my mouth. For about a tenth of a second, I thought, "Kinda tastes like fried chicken." Then I bit down, and crushed its skull.
Then it was all bone fragments and squishy parts, mostly the former. The beak was particularly hard to get down. One shouldn't have cranial pieces stuck in one's teeth. Finger-Lickin' Good it ain't. I was queasy the rest of the day.
So I did it. And now you don't have to.
It doesn't bother me so much that we found a balut place. What bothers me more is that it's a FAST FOOD balut place. Like McBalut.
We haven't had balut yet, and seeing as we've got only several months left here, I thought I might regret it if I didn't try. However, we already had lunch. ("I'd really like to suck down that duck fetus juice, but really, I'm stuffed.")
Like any good food court, they had free samples. It's like Chick-Fil-A, but without the fundamentalist Christian overtones... and mature poultry. Sadly, they had no balut samples. It's either whole balut egg, or nothin'. But they did have other samples: quail egg innards, which looked like little orange dumplings, and pieces of what the employees called "one-day-old-chick."
This was not cute furry Chicken Little. This was a skinny dead naked chicken corpse about four inches long. It had no feathers nor signs of feathers, and its eyes were bulging and bluish, rather fetus-like. It was fried without breading. They had a plate full of about 30 of them, all piled up like a mass grave. I don't see how they could be really "one day old," they looked like they weren't born yet.
Nevertheless, they were free samples. Well, not all of one. They cut them in thirds, lengthwise. I picked one up with a toothpick -- the head and upper ribcage.
Wisely, I bought an iced tea.
Michele and the kids wimped out. So I popped it into my mouth. For about a tenth of a second, I thought, "Kinda tastes like fried chicken." Then I bit down, and crushed its skull.
Then it was all bone fragments and squishy parts, mostly the former. The beak was particularly hard to get down. One shouldn't have cranial pieces stuck in one's teeth. Finger-Lickin' Good it ain't. I was queasy the rest of the day.
So I did it. And now you don't have to.
Monday, September 6, 2004
Mine Eyes.
Today is Labor Day and a holiday for us just like the rest of you.
The housekeeper came to watch the kids while I went to a doctor appointment. Ian took me because if all had gone as planned I wouldn't have been able to drive home.
Unfortunately, I went through the preliminary steps and was deemed currently unqualified. Arg. They said to come back and we'll see how things are after a course of minor medication. Ian will have to take a day off from work to do this trip again, and that frustrated both of us.
So what were the issues. #1: My eyes are too dry. I have steroid drops and imitation tears drops to use. Yuck to both. But maybe this is why my eyes are perpetually tired? #2: My pupils are dilated too much in normal daytime light. Eyes are dilated unnaturally to 8.5mm to have a surgery site of 5mm. Mine are naturally at 6.5mm, meaning that if I were to have the surgery, I could have a glare halo for several months. That explains why I have terrible twilight and night vision, especially while driving. I always knew I saw halos. #3: The image of my cornea came back "abnormal". A typical scan is centered with a figure 8 image on the screen. One of my eyes had the 8 but below the center. The other had no 8 at all and was below the center as well. I had to assure the optometrist that I haven't worn contacts in 10 years, so that couldn't be the cause of these malformations, could it?
I didn't make it to the dilation step. Though it could have been done today, it would have taken 2 hours to complete and next time I'll just have to do it again. I'm not looking forward to having dilated eyes in the least. Yuck. That and the LASIK just give me the heebie jeebies. She explained how they have a tool for holding your eyes open during the 15-20 minutes it takes and I can't help but shudder.
Considering how poorly I've slept for the past week because of anxiety over this, I'm surprised I'm still considering the procedure now that it has been delayed.
I just don't know.
The housekeeper came to watch the kids while I went to a doctor appointment. Ian took me because if all had gone as planned I wouldn't have been able to drive home.
Unfortunately, I went through the preliminary steps and was deemed currently unqualified. Arg. They said to come back and we'll see how things are after a course of minor medication. Ian will have to take a day off from work to do this trip again, and that frustrated both of us.
So what were the issues. #1: My eyes are too dry. I have steroid drops and imitation tears drops to use. Yuck to both. But maybe this is why my eyes are perpetually tired? #2: My pupils are dilated too much in normal daytime light. Eyes are dilated unnaturally to 8.5mm to have a surgery site of 5mm. Mine are naturally at 6.5mm, meaning that if I were to have the surgery, I could have a glare halo for several months. That explains why I have terrible twilight and night vision, especially while driving. I always knew I saw halos. #3: The image of my cornea came back "abnormal". A typical scan is centered with a figure 8 image on the screen. One of my eyes had the 8 but below the center. The other had no 8 at all and was below the center as well. I had to assure the optometrist that I haven't worn contacts in 10 years, so that couldn't be the cause of these malformations, could it?
I didn't make it to the dilation step. Though it could have been done today, it would have taken 2 hours to complete and next time I'll just have to do it again. I'm not looking forward to having dilated eyes in the least. Yuck. That and the LASIK just give me the heebie jeebies. She explained how they have a tool for holding your eyes open during the 15-20 minutes it takes and I can't help but shudder.
Considering how poorly I've slept for the past week because of anxiety over this, I'm surprised I'm still considering the procedure now that it has been delayed.
I just don't know.
Saturday, September 4, 2004
Labor Day Weekend
Nothing much is going on this weekend. I've been sleeping a lot the past week, last night I fell asleep while Ian was putting the girls to bed. The middle of the night was some dozing time, but I didn't actually get up until 6:30 this morning.
I wanted to write up a few things that have gone on the past week:
For one, I can't believe I haven't mentioned yet that Nicholas can tie his shoes! I know some prefer to stay with velcro shoes for the first 5 or 6 years but we've always used tie shoes as well and each of the kids has learned to tie their own laces right around 4 1/2 years old. He's proud of himself, as he should be.
Right after Nicholas's birthday he told me that he said he'd wait until he was 5 to learn. And no, I didn't push, nor did we have intense sessions of shoe tying lessons. We took it slow with learning one step at a time. First I'd ask him to just make and X with the laces and I would finish the rest. Then we added in the twist. Later, I'd ask him to make the first bunny ear, and so on. Easy, and now the only thing I do is double knot.
We bought Rebecca her leotard and ballet shoes at SM. If you're in the market for them, you don't need to go to the dance schools. SM has a section near the inside doors of the children's section. The shoe floor has ballet shoes as well. I bought 3 pairs there first (in different sizes), but they are not good quality. I didn't mind though as they will most likely be used as play shoes at home. For $2/pair it wasn't a waste. In the dance supplies section, I bought a much more durable pair for P499/$9 and the leotard for P459/$8. She's all set for Tuesday.
Katherine has been doing well with organization in school. She's only forgotten to bring home her PE uniform once and her spelling book once. She says she's regularly using her glasses and is being responsible for them, to the point of using them for computer, keeping them safe in a locker during PE and then missing the bus to retrieve them from the locker after PE, where she's forgotten them.
I had a talk with another 3rd grade mom on Friday and she was concerned with the class. I admit I looked a little lost. She said that the homework is difficult to follow and I agreed that it seems much of the detail of their homework is left up to the kids to remember from being told in school. Katherine seems to be doing OK with that, so I wasn't worried about it. Then she said that they were reading _Charlotte's Web_ and I completely blanked. She said her daughter was having a little trouble keeping up with the night time reading. I didn't even know they were reading _Charlott's Web_, Katherine has never brought the book home. Then there was the question of the spelling words and where they were coming from. There's a list of about 30 words that come home on Monday and there doesn't seem to be a method to the chosen words.
I told her I'd ask Katherine about it.
Well, about the book, they are indeed reading _Charlotte's Web_, but Katherine has never brought the book home because she reads in her spare time and is well ahead of where they should be in class. The spelling words were explained in the 3rd grade Friday report I just read through. Words are chosen from a 3rd grade list but also from the work done in class. So it seems that all is well.
Jonathon is doing well and enjoying preschool. Everyone loves him, he's the Smiling Boy. Of course not all is roses, he made it to the Red Chair timeout for fighting on Friday. It's his first timeout for the year and it was a doozy. His brother shared the timeout with him for fighting with the same boy.
Yesterday we had lunch at the SM foodcourt. Wendy's, Jollibee, Tokyo Tokyo, so many of the same places as right outside the door. But we did see one that was unexpected: Balut Eggspress. I think I'll let Ian tell about that little adventure.
Today is the CCD Mass at church. CCD starts 15 September, we do the Wednesday classes because otherwise Sunday mornings are a mess with the classes partially overlapping Mass.
Then this afternoon we'll play some tennis and the kids will have their swim lesson. I don't like this timing at all for the swimming but since we don't live at Seafront it's the only timing that works moderatly well for everyone Only 6 more weeks to go and then we'll take a break.
I wanted to write up a few things that have gone on the past week:
For one, I can't believe I haven't mentioned yet that Nicholas can tie his shoes! I know some prefer to stay with velcro shoes for the first 5 or 6 years but we've always used tie shoes as well and each of the kids has learned to tie their own laces right around 4 1/2 years old. He's proud of himself, as he should be.
Right after Nicholas's birthday he told me that he said he'd wait until he was 5 to learn. And no, I didn't push, nor did we have intense sessions of shoe tying lessons. We took it slow with learning one step at a time. First I'd ask him to just make and X with the laces and I would finish the rest. Then we added in the twist. Later, I'd ask him to make the first bunny ear, and so on. Easy, and now the only thing I do is double knot.
We bought Rebecca her leotard and ballet shoes at SM. If you're in the market for them, you don't need to go to the dance schools. SM has a section near the inside doors of the children's section. The shoe floor has ballet shoes as well. I bought 3 pairs there first (in different sizes), but they are not good quality. I didn't mind though as they will most likely be used as play shoes at home. For $2/pair it wasn't a waste. In the dance supplies section, I bought a much more durable pair for P499/$9 and the leotard for P459/$8. She's all set for Tuesday.
Katherine has been doing well with organization in school. She's only forgotten to bring home her PE uniform once and her spelling book once. She says she's regularly using her glasses and is being responsible for them, to the point of using them for computer, keeping them safe in a locker during PE and then missing the bus to retrieve them from the locker after PE, where she's forgotten them.
I had a talk with another 3rd grade mom on Friday and she was concerned with the class. I admit I looked a little lost. She said that the homework is difficult to follow and I agreed that it seems much of the detail of their homework is left up to the kids to remember from being told in school. Katherine seems to be doing OK with that, so I wasn't worried about it. Then she said that they were reading _Charlotte's Web_ and I completely blanked. She said her daughter was having a little trouble keeping up with the night time reading. I didn't even know they were reading _Charlott's Web_, Katherine has never brought the book home. Then there was the question of the spelling words and where they were coming from. There's a list of about 30 words that come home on Monday and there doesn't seem to be a method to the chosen words.
I told her I'd ask Katherine about it.
Well, about the book, they are indeed reading _Charlotte's Web_, but Katherine has never brought the book home because she reads in her spare time and is well ahead of where they should be in class. The spelling words were explained in the 3rd grade Friday report I just read through. Words are chosen from a 3rd grade list but also from the work done in class. So it seems that all is well.
Jonathon is doing well and enjoying preschool. Everyone loves him, he's the Smiling Boy. Of course not all is roses, he made it to the Red Chair timeout for fighting on Friday. It's his first timeout for the year and it was a doozy. His brother shared the timeout with him for fighting with the same boy.
Yesterday we had lunch at the SM foodcourt. Wendy's, Jollibee, Tokyo Tokyo, so many of the same places as right outside the door. But we did see one that was unexpected: Balut Eggspress. I think I'll let Ian tell about that little adventure.
Today is the CCD Mass at church. CCD starts 15 September, we do the Wednesday classes because otherwise Sunday mornings are a mess with the classes partially overlapping Mass.
Then this afternoon we'll play some tennis and the kids will have their swim lesson. I don't like this timing at all for the swimming but since we don't live at Seafront it's the only timing that works moderatly well for everyone Only 6 more weeks to go and then we'll take a break.
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