Thanksgiving 2014

After a couple of years of not participating to family gatherings, we decided to go this time.  My husband  did not want to go but I told him that we don't know how long  Dad will still be around and also for the children sake, we need to just deal with  whatever  made us stayed away. 

 We got to patch up things with the rest of the family.  It's been really hard for me that we did not communicate with  some of the family members because they are my only family here and I feel alone that we don't get to spend time with them.

 I asked these guys to smile and they made these faces lol.

 My sister-in-law Jill is doing  okay  now  despite the   chemo that she has been getting.

 Dad was a little drunk when we got there but he is doing mighty fine for his age.

 The siblings, Chris, Rick, and John.

  I am glad that  we did because the kids had so much fun.  I hope that this could be the start of a smooth relationship between the families again.  

HUGE Thanks for your Help!

In behalf of my family, I want to thank the following  generous friends who have  extended their help to my sister Roselda:

• Ate Bet Chai, 
• Sis Princess Pierre, 
• Sis Dhemz, 
• Sis Mar Yannie, 
• Sis Mhie Lee, 
• Sis Eileen L, 
• Sis Tingting, 
• Sis Ria 
• Sis Jhady, 
• Jess Benoit, 
• Sis Lainy, 
• Ate Liza C, 
• and to all who included my sister in their prayer.  With your help, she is now recovering from the surgery.  Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!

My sister sent me these photos of her kids with a Thank You note to let you know how appreciative they are with your help. MY sister cried when I told her that a lot of people have extended help  for her surgery.  Thank you all for helping to save my sister's life.  Words can't express how much  I appreciate you all because even though some of you just know me online, you  did not hesitate to help my family.  This is one of the biggest things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.  I thank God for connecting me to friends with a huge hearts, great compassion and kindness for others.  May God always bless you all!
ABC Wednesday

It was Not Meant for Us

One of the houses in our neighborhood was put up for sale.  I asked my husband if we could look at it as I like the  look of it from the outside.  MY husband didn't like how the  house was designed but we went anyway.  Neighbors said that this was built by a priest and it  was pretty solid inside.

This is a four bedroom house with three  full baths which impressed my husband a lot.  Although the rooms are smaller but it would have accommodated the need of our growing family plus it is in our neighborhood so  transition would have been a lot easier.

Hubby also liked the fact that it has a double car garage which our current house lacks.  

The  downsides of this house was  the yard and the smaller  kitchen and  living room.  There is no yard at all which would have been so difficult because we have pets.  Nevertheless, we made an offer  and  prayed that it if it meant for us, we will get it but if not, our offer will be turned down.

Our bid lost to a higher bidder  which hubby and I thought that the house is not really meant for us.

 The kids did not really want to put the dogs for adoption.  I  I am kind of relieved that our offer did not  go through because  I would surely miss gardening.  I won't have a space there to put my flower and vegetables.

 Our pets are a big part of the family so  it is  also a deciding factor whenever we are looking for a house.  It would be nice to have a bigger house with bedrooms that would accommodate each of us.

For now, we are planning to just  expand our house.  Put some money to it and fix it sop that the kids will have their own room.
Shadow Shots

RV Movie and Our Kids

 We watched the movie, "RV" the other night and one of the scene that my husband pointed out is when Robin Williams' daughter was  a little girls, she was very sweet but as she  became a teen, she  became  very bratty.  My husband said that it would be hard for us to be in that position when our kid becomes  teenagers already.  

Right now, we are enjoying the sweet  stage while it lasts.

Odd Rules

When my  daughter's classmates came out the school building yesterday, I saw their school bags full of books so I was expecting that she would have a full one too.  When she came out, she  didn't have any in her bag.  I immediately asked why she doesn't have books.  She said  that she finished all her  works in the classroom but she got "yelled" by the sub-teacher.  I asked her why she got yelled at.  She said that the substitute teacher thought that she  did her work at home.

My kids are very sensitive  and sometimes they tend to exaggerate things like whenever I  raised my voice on them, they think that I am already screaming at them.    So I asked her again if the teacher really yelled at her and she said that the teacher did yelled at her.  My question now is, why does my daughter has to work slow  if she can do it faster than the rest? I don't think that's the problem if I am the teacher.  I don't doubt that my daughter can finish her work for two days in one setting because even when she is attending her gifted class on Tuesdays, she still manages to get her missed work done in the classroom before going home,

Sometimes, I feel like it is kind of ridiculous how  things work in school here, sigh.  Daughter is a bit bored because she is not being challenged and now she is being reprimanded because she works fast, what the heck.

Good Behavior Reward

EJ got this from his teacher for having the most number of stickers for behavior chart in their class.  Mrs. Gain knows that EJ love Spider Man and puzzle so she got him this which is perfect.

Puzzle is such a  good  activity for the kids and adult.  It  creates a good family bonding and it is a great exercise for our brains.  We have so many puzzles here at home.  The complicated ones that we did, I framed them  so we could preserved the memory we spent together in  completing it.