Move over Manny P!

Remember how I wished i was Manny Pacquiao? Well, I know I will never be.

But my boys might...wehehe!

Starting 'em young :)

Firm, strong punches

Determined to win.

I'm kidding, of course!!!

He's just too cute to go into boxing.

Mag-artista nalang. He! He! He!



Tale of the Rusty Ski

We came home from our much anticipated trip to Mt Selwyn over the Queen’s Birthday weekend with so many stories to tell. But I am not going to tell you how fun it was to be with four other families with eight overly eager kids between us. Or how much food we brought, complete with a very yummy Pavlova and coffee brownies courtesy of Carol. And how the dads sneaked our magic kalans to the back of the motel so we can cook a complete breakfast and re-heat left-overs. I won’t even go into the details of how hubby threw up a whole day’s worth of meals at 3am. I’m sure you’re not interested  It will probably bore you if I say we had such a long trip, driving over deserted mountains I was beginning to think we got lost and was about ready to call for help—except there was nary a trace of signal. No, I’m not telling you that. Aaaah, did I just tell you that? Teehee!


There was one story from that whole trip which stood out for me…


When we first moved to Australia three years ago, we went through the usual ‘pulot’ phase. I don’t know about you but most of my friends who just landed in Australia experienced this. It’s when you get excited and all pumped up when you see a pile of rubbish on the street-thinking about the possible treasures just waiting to be unearthed - TVs, old computers and printers, components, dvd players, clothes, bags, beds and the list goes on. More often than not, this phase could be born out of sheer necessity or as how my cousin and good friend call it- ‘sa ngalan ng pagtitipid’!


Anyway, on one such ‘pulot’ day, hubby excitedly came home with a pair of rusty skis and made a promise that the skis will have it’s day in the snow as soon as we can afford it. I just shrugged him off. He’s got the weirdest and most impractical ideas, I tell you. After more than 10 yrs of being together, I know when he wouldn’t budge. And this is one of those.


I have totally forgotten about the skis until last Sunday, when I saw it packed along with our snow gear at the back of the car as we were unloading our things. I must admit there was a slight tug in my heart. The look on hubby’s face as he carefully placed the skis on fresh snow was priceless. I was sucked by the drama of it all. It was like the skis coming full circle.


We all took turns having our photos taken with the skis, coming up with every imaginable pose and pretending we actually went skiing.

Hubby trying on the skis

Vince's turn...

Rafa loved it so much!

The skis with our snowman.

When it was time to go, hubby carefully placed the skis on the snow under an old tree. It will sit there until the next “pulot” guy takes it to it’s next adventure. Who knows where that will be? The possibilities are endless.

Sleepy Head

I often hear about mums who complain how hard it is to bring their kids to sleep. On Facebook, my friends post status in the wee hours of the morning, still singing or dancing their babies, hoping to get a few hours of rest before going to work. Lucky for me,  I've never had the same major problems with my boys. With Vince, I sang "You Are My Sunshine" very slowly and quietly and he'd dose off. With Rafa, it's "Oh Holy Night" all nights of the year, kahit hindi pasko. I'm beginning to think I'm a pretty good singer. Nyahaha!

Nah, I don't actually know what is the magic formula here. I guess I just have two sleepy heads with me.

Look at Rafa, he sleeps everywhere.

on the floor while playing

On the couch, feet dangling and holding his favorite blankie.

front view. so deep in sleep, hey!

And this!!! Oh how i love this. Hehe Off to lala-land after eating a bowl of mashed potatoes and pumpkin!


Really, I am not surprised. They have a dad who can sleep in between firing canons in Jolo. Nyahahaha!

Rafa's Portfolio

Every year, parents receive the kid's portfolio from childcare which contains a summary of the child's activities, progress, photos, and plans for his development.

I'm sharing some pages here for my family back home.

Card from the centre's staff

We are pulling Rafa out of childcare for a few months while his Tita is here.

A different kind of toy

Like most kids, my boys, Rafa and Vince have a gazillion toys between them. We rarely buy them but they are lucky to have generous relatives and friends who shower them with toys on every special occasion. But because we have a tiny house, it is a constant struggle to organize these toys. Our solution is to put them in boxes, keep them in the cupboard and alternately take out these boxes so the boys don't get bored playing with the same toys over and over again.

There are days when we just hide them altogether, like when we had Rafa's bday party a couple of weeks ago. However, the ingenious little tot, found a way to amuse himself.

 He took some bottles of Coke from the kitchen.

 Lined them up like this at the same time practising his numbers counting- one, chooo (two), T (three), Fo (four), ayve (five), ix (six) and the rest was eeeechhhh.

 and drove his bike straight through.

then he'd start all over again.

You might have noticed some Skyflakes in the photo. Yes, he played with those, too. Stacking them inside his bike's trunk and dumping them everywhere.

After an hour, he sat down and ate some of the Skyflakes. : P

Notes:

1. Our kids know the rules on drinking Coke.

2. My boys would gladly pick Skyflakes over the Australian icon Timtams. They are very pinoy at heart :)



C'mon, Mama!

Our Rafa has been learning some new words lately. He can say shoes, ca (car), train, plane, go and a few more.

But my favorite is the way he sweetly says, "C'mon, Mama"

I drop off everything i do when he says that :-)

Father Rafa?

Last weekend, Rafa saw the bowl of vinegar on the table.

The little boy dipped his fingers and guess what???

He made the sign of the cross :) :) :) :)

He probably saw us doing the same thing with the Holy Water in church on weekends.


Kids!!!!