Studying shapes with S

S is starting school next June so we try to practice identifying different kinds of shapes. Here's how our first practice went:

Me showing a circle flash card
S: cle (circle)

Me showing the triangle flash card
S: gle (triangle)

Me showing the diamond flash card
S: mon (diamond)

Me showing the star flash card
S: tar (star) up!

Me showing the crescent flash card
S: moon! Up!

Me showing the heart flash card
S: dug-dug dug- dug ( while drumming on her chest)

Hmmm, what do you think? Not bad eh? :)

Wishing I was twelve

I was twelve when my aunt first had a stroke. That's when we found out that she has rheumatic heart disease. I was too young to understand what these things meant at that time. Too young to really care what was at stake.

That was fourteen years ago.

My cousins and I have grown up enough to be playing key roles in my aunt's most recent hospitalization. My cousin, Mac, at 21, shows no signs of fear although we know deep inside, he is sick with worry over the doctor's diagnosis. My aunt was diagnosed with Biliary Obstruction, the obstruction must have been severe for her to develop septicemia that caused her to into a septic shock thus her admission into the ICU. With her advanced state of infection, the only logical treatment would be to do a surgery-- failing to do the surgery would cause another septic shock that she might not recover from. The surgery sounds simple, really it does, they remove her spleen and put a tube to drain the liquid out. The kicker is, after 2 major strokes and a couple of minor ones, her heart is in close danger with this operation.

This surgery is going to be complicated and dangerous, if not expensive.

Ready for Summer!

Are you ready for summer? My kids definitely are!

• Kids' Swimsuits - check
• Shades - check 
• Sunblock - check
• Camera and batteries - check 

I'm getting excited too because I can't wait to take more, more, and more photos! Now, I just need to find a perfectly concealing swimsuit for myself so the "baby weight" I have conveniently carried around these past few years wouldn't peek through. :)

REVIEW: Shu Uemura White Recovery EX++ Cleansing Oil

It IS a given fact, especially to us girls, that CLEANSING is a vital step in keeping and maintaining a good skin. Notice how it is often advised THAT WE DO NOT SLEEP WITH OUR MAKE-UP ON? Cleansing is even more important to those with oily and combination skin, just like mine, because dirt tends to stick more easily to this kind of skin types. Now, with all of this being said, it is important that we use good facial cleansers.

I am currently using Shu Uemura White Recovery EX++ Cleansing Oil. I've heard a lot of good reviews from the Shu Uemura facial cleansers. This is the reason why I just had to get it after I finished my previous cleanser. I've been using it for more than 2 weeks now and to know what I think about it, please read on.

Before I was a Mom

This couldn't be more true...

Before I was a Mom -
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom -
I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life 
so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

Send this to someone whom you think is a special Mom... 

And remember that behind every successful woman......
is a basket of dirty laundry.

- Unknown

 So, I'm sending this to all the pretty moms out there. Take out the vodka and let's forget about the laundry for a moment.

A bored post

I recently uploaded a trial version of CameraBag2 and PicFrame and after a few days, I tried it for the first time today. Here are some samples of what I was able to experiment on.

Makes me think of James Bond, Dunno why

Random Moments on Saturday Afternoon

Last week, K asked me to download Aerosmith's songs. He's been listening to his tracks every morning while waiting for his school bus. Little did I know that this is what it would lead to...

I might just have the next Justin Bieber in my household (wishful thinking)...

Blood tests and Brownies

Just got M's most recent blood tests and they're not as good as I was hoping them to be. SGPT, SGOT, and Albumin are high. I'm crossing my fingers and I'm hoping that doctor would tell us that it's not that bad. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm making a big deal out of this, for all I know, it's nothing much to worry about. It's just that, with M, if her blood work-ups are deviating from the reference points, my alarm bells are ringing triple time and my anxiety escalates to high heavens.

Now, I just finished baking 2 batches of brownies and I'm currently cooling them. After, seeing M's blood workups, I suddenly got a strong urge to eat one whole batch. MUST. RESIST.

How to Really Love Motherhood

Trisha of Playtime Break posted this photo on twitter yesterday and I immediately fell in love with it! After all, this has just given me the "license" to sing my heart out even if I sound worse than Anne Curtis and Maxene Magalona combined. Some advices are easier said than done ( " When your children are beastly and scream I HATE YOU think of the warm sweetness of their tiny bodies when they were just new"). Even so, I love it because it reminds me that sometimes it's ok to let go of the reins and lose control. More importantly it reminds me to find the child in me so I could once again enjoy getting dirty, being silly, and believing that butterfly kisses and bear hugs makes everything alright.

Children will only be young once and before we know it, they'd be rushing to become grown-ups. Reading this post reminds me that I have little but ample time to weave wonderful memories that my kid's can go back into and make them believe in their hearts that "they can be anything they want to be."

Cocoa Brownies for Monday Morning Blues part 2

Remember this photo from yesterday's post?

Disclaimer: This is a long post.

Cocoa Brownies for Monday Morning Blues

We're baking brownies. We're baking brownies because I have so much cocoa powder that's been sitting in the pantry for the past few months. 

We're baking brownies because S has been badgering me about it last night but most of all we're baking brownies today because It's Monday and I needed a non-depressing reason to get up and leave my bed.

Princess for a Day

It was our cousin's wedding yesterday and little S was a flower girl. I can't tell you how much she enjoyed playing princess for a day. She kept on twirling and she pretended like she was a ballerina.

Disclaimer: This post is bombarded with a lot of S's photos. Sorry, I can't help being a stage mom. :)

Keeping up with a first grader

Image from : en.wikipedia.org
 

They say that a human's brain has about 100 billion brain cells -- enough for a person to live 120 years and still have enough neurons left even if 1 million of those cells die everyday.  They also say that too much stress can cause the neurons to die. Now, I don't know what kind of stress actually kills a person's brain cells but I do know the mine are rapidly decreasing for each time that I have a 30 minute conversation with my 6 year old son, Kyle.