Shine On Ora! Happy 4th Birthday!

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To My first child on your fourth birthday, 

Four years ago today, you entered Mama Da and Papa Ca's lives and changed us for the better in ways we could not imagine. It is sad how fast these years have gone, and how quickly they will keep going, but I thank God for every day you are in my life.

In many ways you’re not a little baby any more. Now you’re wild and bright! And as what your birthday cake says, you shine on amazingly... undeniably! Ora, thank you for being my little girl! You are perfect beyond anything I ever imagined.

Now that you turned four, you grew and learned a lot. You are a bright little girl, and there are many words I could express for you, you’re friendly, loving, well-behaved ang many more! Hmm… well-behaved??? Haha! Sometimes you are!

Over the past four years there is still one thing you really like and have with you… your “haboy”  (Ora’s blanket)… 

It has been fantastic and marvelous to see how much you have grown mentally and emotionally. You are not so much a toddler anymore as you are a little girl. 

Whenever I ask you “Sinong baby na malaki?” You always say “ Si baby Ora”… 

I look forward to watching you continue to grow and experience and learn about the world around you this next year. I wish you the happiest of birthdays. Thank you for always being so strong!

Ora, in Hebrew means light , and as what your cake says,

continue to Shine On and spread your light wherever you are!  

May your life be a wonderful journey full

of happiness and joy, Ora! 

Embrace the current season of your life!

Thank you for dropping by!

Ora's First Day At Pre-School

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We decided to let her enter first pre-school instead of sending her instantly to K1 

by the time she turns five so she could socialize with her peers. 

We wanted to give her time to dry her little wings. 

No hurry!...we told her!

When we signed her up in May, we hadn't realized June would come so soon.

1 month equals one second. It feels like that.

I have to wake up more early, prepare her snack and uniform 

and head home more early too after work to help her in her homework.

Even though I have one more little boy with me. 

I still see her as this wobbly one-year old just learning to walk. 

This little girl with big round eyes. 

The daughter my super one… Our Big baby …

In her first day of school,
her two teachers told me I could stay with her all day

so that's what I planned to do. To chaperone her first day. 

To be there if she needed me.

As she wandered toward the room… 

She looked at me ... She smiled...

and she amusedly joined with the other kids… 

...

Bu I chose to  leave  because she didn't need me to be there. 

I left because she was all right without me and in the end, 

that's what I wanted. 

For her to sit confidently and smile boldly towards her new found friends…

 Who will move forward through their lives, open and eager to learn! 

On the other note, 
Ora catches quickly on various things, be it in reading, oral recitations, singing and dancing etc… 

but she genuinely (I presume) has no interests in writing. 

So yesterday, 
when all of her 9 classmates tirelessly wrote big  and small half loops 
I was told that she slept the entire period of their writing activity 

but when one of her classmates tap her to move 

for he needs to make use of the table for writing, she cried. 

Oh yeah! She has this crazy habit of sitting on the table at school 

rather than on her chair 

and the other day it aggravated for she slept on top of it. 

But I’m not cynical about her not giving hints of interest in writing. 

I know she will one day. 

Oh hey! She’s only four, she may not be good in writing but she’s crushingly fine in reading Dolch words and great job for you Ora!

Good luck Ora.. We have always been proud of you!

Mama Da & Papa Ca

Embrace the current season of your life!

Thank you for dropping by! 

Moments in our Month: MAY 2013

Sometimes I feel guilty that my blog is so much about Motherhood. 

Thus, creative photo shoot posts are uncommon. 

But I’m going to keep my blog sincere and so it has to grow with me. 

And so right at this moment Motherhood and life is where I am. 

I will always be a Mama and an avid life-documenter but as my children finds independence I will get more time to create.

April disappears quickly… 

and there came another month  filled with wonders and photos of May!
Enjoy! 

 Because she's going to pre-school, 

I just shopped for things she might be needing at school  but you know occasionally 

for Ora having new things would as well mean lots of paper cuttings.

Oh yeah! She's officially enrolled to pre-school and she's exaggeratedly excited 

to begin nursery and is hopeful to meet new friends she could play with.

Ora rarely goes out and play with the other kids in the neighborhood 

and so most of her days were spent with Quad 

whose most of his days plays alone but for some days  would bugged his sister.
Banging his entire petite body to his sister's biiiiiiiggggg weighty built 

and so sometimes he ended up being injured.

But in this photograph, a different story told.

Did I mention that he likes to play on his own? 

Yeah he entertains himself most of the time.

So one night he was too overwhelmed in playing 

and he thought of himself like a carpet rolling every now and then. 

Rolled and rolled and roooooollled... until he had this! 

And I panicked seeing him for the very first time with his very huge puffy forehead. 

I panicked that it muddled me what first aid to give. 

So he ended up having both warm and cold compress. Haha! 

But now I realized I should have given him cool compress instead.

The beauty of early Mama! 

You get to try different ideas and discover something you have never learned before... LOL!!!

Embrace the current season of your life!
Thank you for dropping by!

Beyond Numbers.

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Let's talk, y'all. Oh! Actually, I will do all the talking. All you have to do is to listen.

So this is what ensued. I just had my Writing IELTS Training in the company. Sent to me were copies of texts I should be answering for an hour. Everyone else were chatting on how we should counter the set of materials given to us. But while I was drafting my answers, bafflements came in and there I was reminded of my youth where the definition of fear wasn’t about insecurities, being bullied or hurt but instead, my dread about Math.

Math has always been a horrendous thing to me. No! I never flunked in it. I never scored below 50%.THERE IS JUST SOMETHING VERY UNDESIRABLE ABOUT THIS SUBJECT! I hate it when my solving papers were jam packed with a very lengthy solution and my answer is nowhere near the multiple choices or how about being questioned like  how long is the circumference of a circle, compared to its radius? Can the diagonal of a square be written as a fraction? Mind-boggling!!!!!!

In fact, I struggle when dealing with money in big amounts too I prefer keeping my phone’s calculator open or let someone solve it for me without extracting too much from my brain cells. But for some weird reason, I love counting money anyway!

In college, I let my best buddy answer some of the remaining math problems I needed to answer while she’s done with hers. Haha! I sound like a Math freak!!!... Ironic isn’t it that I was even sent for an Inter-school Math competition way back in Elementary. To this day I still marvel the fact why I was selected by our school to be one of its contenders. But I didn’t wonder why I lost in that competition! Haha!

I am fearless! I was completely unafraid to put myself out there.  It didn’t matter if I was presenting a report to my class in school or giving a speech at graduation or just freely sharing my opinion with the world. But when dealing with numbers like these? My mind would throb, internal organs gets numb (Excuse me for this exaggeration!) and I shake on Math recitations!  Lol!

The moment I was given the chance to enter my 3^rd year in college where I do not need to deal with numbers, I took the opportunity and never looked back. It was the best moment of my life and decision I still never regret!

True it is that a human brain is amazing, it functions 24 hours for 365 days but to me right from the time I encountered nerve wracking digits, only then it stops.

Minutes… an hour passed, I came up with this composition 

and I decided to go through!  After that brain wracking activity,

I have come to appreciate that I did spend so much of my time trying to understand it. 

 So how did I value my enduring journey with Math?

"A GREAT discovery solves a great problem but there is a grain of discovery in any problem.  -- George Polya

Well, Math is all around.  The bills we pay, the coins we use, the shopping comparisons we make, the measurements we take all entails calculations and thinking about math. And oh! Even the universal word – LOVE – We even express it in digits! 1 4 3… But above all, I believe mathematics isn’t just about the knowledge. It’s about enjoying the thinking and not giving up! That there is still beauty on what has always been, for us, a tricky and uninteresting matter.

You know, we all became Mathematicians for the same reason: That in our Mathematics of life, it’s not about how effortless or how well did you stretched everything just to come up with precise equations but, it’s about coming up with a solution at the end of everything, and that we’re being reminded that there’s always a way in every circumstances! We push through solving our life’s equations for we believe even how long it may take we’ll still find an answer. It gives us every reason that every problem has solutions!

Embrace the current season of your life!

Thank you for dropping by!

Thanks To You

"The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." Author: Thomas Jefferson

Embrace the current season of your life!

Thank you for dropping by!

Not Broken... Just Bent!

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Right from the start, you were a thief, 
You stole my heart and 

I'm your willing victim 

I let you see the parts of me 

That weren't all that pretty. 

And with every touch 

You fixed them. 

Now, you've been talking in your sleep 

Oh oh, things you never say to me 

Oh oh, tell me that you've had enough 

Of our love, our love. 

Just give me a reason, 

Just a little bit's enough 

Just a second, we're not broken 

Just bent and we can learn to love again. 

it's in the stars, 

It's been written in the scars on our hearts 

We're NOT broken 

Just bent and we can learn to love again. 

I'm sorry I don't understand where 

All of this is coming from. 

I thought that we were fine, 

(Oh, we had everything) 

Your head is running wild again 

My dear, WE still have everything 

And it's all in your MIND. 

(Yeah, but this is happenin') 

You've been having real bad dreams 

Oh oh, you use to lie so close to me 

Oh oh, there's nothing more than empty sheets 

Between our love, our love 

Ooooh, our love, our love. 

Just give me a reason, 

Just a little bit's enough 

Just a second, we're not broken 

Just bent and we can learn to LOVE again. 

I never stopped 

It's still written in the scars on my heart 

You're NOT broken 

Just bent and we can learn to love again. 

Oh, tear ducts and rust 

I'll fix it for us 

We're collecting dust, 

But our love's enough. 

You're holding it in, 

You're pouring a drink 

No, nothing is as bad as it seems. 

We'll come clean! 

Just give me a reason, 

Just a little bit's enough 

Just a second, we're not broken 

Just bent and we can learn to LOVE again. 

It's in the stars 

It's still written in the scars on our hearts 

That We're NOT broken 

Just bent and we can learn to love again. 

Just give me a reason, 

Just a little bit's enough 

Just a second, we're not broken 

Just bent and we can learn to LOVE again. 

Oh, it's in the stars 

It's still written in the scars on our hearts 

That We're NOT broken 

Just bent and we can learn to love again. 

Ooh, we can learn to love again 

Ooh, we can learn to love again 

Oh, that we're not broken 

Just bent and we can learn to love again

This song is featured on the “The Truth About Love” Album. A duet which features the pop stars Pink and Nate Ruess. Pink felt that the song would run better if it is sung as a conversation between two lovers. Reflecting the conflicts which often happens if the communication in the relationship is not open. More often relationships end.

It’s about what someone feels when they want to hold on to a relationship which appears to be breaking down. Pink explains that “one partner can read too much into the action of the other, when in reality they just meant nothing of the sort.” 

True indeed that we sometimes dig too much into petty things, and often feels that the flame is gone, we feel like one doesn’t love the other as much as they used to but they're still together, only because they feel like they're just have to but scared to realize that all is coming to an end.

The female perspective in the song is reminiscing about how she first fell in love with her husband. She wants to believe that they're still as in love as they used to be, but can't bring herself to say it, and isn't sure about how her partner feels about it.

The male perspective is completely oblivious to what his wife's feelings and is surprised that she feels that way, because he thought that everything was going well between them. He soon realizes that she's right and he too, wants them to go back to the way they used to be. However, he's much more laid-back and thinks that it'll be easy but his partner wants him to put more effort into their marriage.

However, in the end, they still manage to give each other a reason to still be together... gladly.  

This song is amazing!  It is a song about second chances. It's about digging deep enough when you've get into a point when things got stale and unsatisfied and you're ready to get out. But instead of giving in, you have to fight back! Relationships aren’t always perfect you know!

This is a just plea reminder to each one of us, to the couples out there,  in every life's circumstances, there were times we feel that our hearts are in horrible condition and that we think of just cutting it out from our chests to better end the sufferings, but we all feel hurt, You just need to try and keep going, remember, YOU’RE NOT BROKEN, JUST BENT AND THAT YOU CAN LEARN TO LOVE A GAIN. With a little work and a lot of communication a relationship can be saved if both are willing to work it out!

Stay Strong! 

You're just Bent But NOT Broken! 

Embrace the current season of your life!

Thank you for dropping by!