Caroleen’s Treasures

At last my spirit was now awake and back from hybernation. I am actually not that unproductive as you think. I have accomplished a few things that I really wanted to do. Like arranging 4 photo albums of Ella and what else, eating fruits of course!

When we went to Davao three weeks ago, I am finally able to print 8 rolls of films and that kept me busy. Oh yes, FILMS which were snaps taken two to three years ago. I already had the six of them turned into negatives so the color won’t change and I am glad I did.

When Ella was born, my mother told me to take photos of her always because she have not done that to us, and this is one of her advices that I followed without question and complaints. What I did was to buy films even when I am not sure if I could print it. Money was really tight and years passed before I was able to see the pictures. Donald and even my sisters and BIL are laughing at how we all looked and we missed Ella when she was still that age. How I wish I have printed it before my mother died. I am sure she’d be so proud of Ella…but I know she was there when I am putting all of them in the albums. I honestly never thought I could finish it this week because as procastinator as I am, Donald said I’d finish it in five months. I was challenged by that and excited too to see all of it neatly arranged in the albums. I wanted to try scrapbooking long time ago but it was way too expensive! And also I don’t want the idea of the kids touching the pictures. They might spill something or put dirt in it. Maybe I am just too paranoid but I wanted to be sure because I could not afford printing them all over again. So since I wanted the idea of scrapbooking, I bought big magnetic albums and different kinds of gift wrappers which I cut and used as embelishments. I also cut construction papers and wrote in it.

This week, it was always raining. But that did not stop me from eating my favorite “rambutan” fresh from the tree. One of my friend in the US asked me if rambutan and lychee are the same. I believe they are not even if I have not yet tasted the latter. Rambutan are hairy while lychees aren’t.

Who couldn’t be excited with this site! If only I wasn’t pregnant, I climbed up there.

It’s Ella’s favorite too and she could be too greedy.

While me and Ella were enjoying the hairy fruit, Donald got to indulge in his favorite “marang” (Johey Oak). It taste sweet and good and it has distinct odor that I some don’t like.

For those who are curious what do marang fruit trees like, here it is…

Not as inviting as the rambutan tree.

Last Sunday I was supposed to make pancakes for the kids but when I checked my margarine, it was already spoiled so I put the batter in the fridge and gave the kids boiled glutinous corn from Tatang’s farm instead. Yes we do have a fridge now which I have not blogged about because I thought there’s nothing to brag about it since all of you have one Last Tuesday, Donald bought some margarine and I made the pancakes for Ella’s snack in school. I was not impressed with the result of the pancake with the batter sitting in the fridge for so long. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted. So what I did was to make “puto cheese” (cheese muffin) out of the remaining pancake mix. Since our steamer and molders were still in my hometown, I used the regular pot. I put a steel potstand inside and filled it with water up to the top of the stand. Then I poured the pancake mix to the large bowl, topped it with cheese. When the water is boiling, I steamed the bowl of pancake mix for 30 minutes. So here is my pancake turned into “puto cheese”.

Man this is real huge! I could not hold it in one hand. Ella’s eyes were as big as this when she saw it. :lol: She really missed having this at home and she didn’t wait for it to cool.

That is all for the history. Time to talk about TODAY. Ella woke up early, had breakfast, took a bath, got dressed by her two maids (daddy and mommy) and kissed me goodbye. Even when it was raining, she did not complain because she was absent yesterday. When we woke up yesterday the rain is pouring heavily like it will ruin the roof. We decided not to send her to school because the blackboard is wet. :lol: That is a joke that we usually hear but hey, even I don’t feel like walking to school in heavy rain.

So today, I am glad the rain was not bad as yesterday and the father and daughter walked to school only to find out there is no class. Lesson learned: communicate with the teacher always.

Got to go! Have to check the rc helicopter. Who knows I might be able to get one for Donald.