Caroleen’s Treasures

I am not yet through the idea of me digging gold bars in the yard, it made me daydream of things I would want to buy! Here is one that I would really really want for the kids.

This is one of the biggest wooden swing sets and it would occupy our whole home lot! So I’d go buy a huge house with a huge yard where we can put this play set for the kids and their friends to enjoy. I would also want to install a swimming pool with a sun shade so we can go swimming all day without getting sun burned. Wohooooo! I really have to start digging now. Gotta buy a shovels for me and Donald.

Since we bought Ella her foldable bed with mattress, she has been sleeping on it and loving it. I bought a Disney Princess bedding set that was shipped by Mama Ingrid over a year ago and this got her so excited. I hung a canvass of Disney Princess and will still put the huge picture of the princesses which was used as her birthday banner last June. Her bed is just in the foot of our bed. Hopefully when we will finally move to our own house she will have her own bedroom. She has been bugging me to sleep in her own room and she already made clear that she wanted a comforter and a fancy bedside lamp. To her, having a lampshade means one is wealthy. LOL Maybe we can get her a cheapo pink lamp to go with her beddings. She still hasn’t grown past her craziness over Disney Princesses and everything PINK. I actually would love to have a lamp too. I wish I had one (I was eyeing one of the Kichler lighting) so I can read in bed again. Ohhhh this got me excited too!

Yes, we did! Last Saturday was the first time I tried bowling and it’s Ella’s first try too. I was afraid I will just put myself in shame. I imagine myself getting gutter balls from start to finish but Ella was the one so excited about it. She keeps on bugging about when will we go there etc etc while we were still killing the time at the mall before the agreed time. LOL It was actually an activity of the youth group of our congregation. Donald and I are not youth members and Ella and Eman are not either but we just went anyway because we feel we still belong with the group. LOL

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Last time I blogged about Ella’s Nutrition Month Celebration at school that we missed because we are not allowed to stay during the duration of the activity. I was disappointed but I understood that the school is teaching the children to be responsible and independent. All I wanted was to take photos, if I cannot come then Donald will do it but the teacher said she will just take photos and will upload the photos in Facebook. So I went looking on FB of the name of Ella’s teacher and sent a friend’s request. It was just tonight when I noticed that Teacher Raceme is already on my friend’s list. I immediately looked for the photos that she talked about and its great to see how Ella looks like when she’s in school.

She’s the one holding the apple cardboard. Not very shy huh? This was taken before the start of their presentation where they delivered a poem about Go, Grow and Glow foods. Read more… »

Since Ella started going to SPED school, my fear of letting her eat her lunch without us has vanished so quickly when Donald explained to me that they have a teacher aide that assists them. Well, Ella can already eat alone. At two, she feeds herself and uses spoon and fork without problem so at 7 she is already pretty used to it. My fear is her going out of the classroom and running around the playground….bumping to another kid and hitting her head hard or getting her knees skinned. But I was also told not to worry about that thing because they are not allowed to get out of the classroom. They have their pillows with them for their nap after they eat lunch. That made me feel comfortable sending her everyday to school.

Then one day she told her Daddy not to accompany her to her classroom. Donald brings her huge school bag inside the campus to their classroom door because it is very heavy for a grade 1. With all her books, notebooks and her snacks, water and lunch on the smaller bag – I won’t let her do the carrying alone. But during the PTA meeting, parents were told that there will be no parents and guardians allowed inside the campus during the morning. We can only enter during the afternoon when the classes ended. At least it is a good training to the children to be independent but I think they should remember that these 1st graders are still so little to be pulling their trolley bags that weighs more than half of their body weight.

Anyhoo, what makes me feel sad again is that during Ella’s Nutrition Month Celebration parents were not allowed to stay. Donald asked if he can take some photos but the teacher told him that it’s an activity exclusively for the students. The teacher told Donald that she will just tag us after she upload photos on Facebook. So the photo above is the only reminder of Ella’s Nutrition Month Celebration in our camera (the picture of an apple serves as her props for their presentation which I missed. hayts!)….and also this one before they left for school that day :

Sorry photos are just too big. I am too lazy to resize so I am using the photo uploader in WordPress.

EDITED: Photos are not just too big….but way way toooooo big that it went past the widget. LOL So I resized it and hope it fits perfectly.

Guess I have some cute photos of the kids that I wanted to share. I actually have a LOT of it taken the previous week so be ready for future posts with lots of photos. This batch was taken last Sunday evening when we went to attend the worship service at Uyanguren congregation. It was the second Sunday that we attended the evening service. We had a short talk with our preacher at the lobby and I was able to take some photos of my two beautiful children.

The last two photos are taken inside the auditorium while waiting for the service to start. They are both wearing their birthday clothes although Ella wasn’t able to wear that dress on her party. We bought that for her birthday portrait at the studio which will still happen this week. More than a month late! Anyhoo, better late than never is my favorite motto lately.

That Sunday I didn’t get to hear the message because Eman was walking around the room and I have to bring him out. The preacher’s wife told me to just let him go around the room but he could distract others from listening.  He is really becoming a handful to me and I am just so glad Ella was there to help me look after him. He is such a good big sissy! She deserves a reward.

Today Ella wore her school uniform the very first time. We bought the fabric last week of June and it’s been almost a month before we were able to get it from the seamstress. It was a little hard to juggle the money that we are getting from our blogs and our little business after a couple of trips to our hometown last month and all of us getting sick. We have to get the most important things on top of the list (doctor’s check-up, laboratories and medicines) and so the uniforms were put on the bottom. Ella was so patient and understanding. She was actually the only one in her class who is not in school uniform and though she is not forced to wear one since uniforms are not compulsory for public school pupils it could still make a different impact to a child. To make her not feel odd, we dress her each day with decent clothes that were referred to as “nice malling clothes” by the teacher. We didn’t take it offensively but rather proudly that at least our daughter wears nice clothes. Those are not expensive ones and they are not new either.

Funny thing is that when Ella asked me one day when could we get her uniforms, I told her not anytime soon since the seamstress got sick. The other day the teacher asked her when could she wear a uniform and she told her the same thing. What’s more funny is that Donald approached the teacher and gave her the same reason. :lol: Poor seamstress!

Now she will never ran out of school uniform since she has 4 pairs of school uniforms and one PE uniform.

Ella still plays but not with her toys anymore. She usually play school taking down notes and such….writing down questions which she answers afterwards. Then she will let us check it. Last Sunday morning, she brought out the little table with rollers and started playing school again but to her dismay, Eman came to her side trying to join. Well they had a short fight. Ella was scolding her little brother of scattering her things and Eman seem to understand that he started mumbling like he’s answering back. I called a time out. Ella was really disappointed but Eman as innocent as he is, started playing all by himself. Minutes later Ella called her little brother and said, “Friends na tayo Eman…”. After they appeased (well Eman had no idea that they had misunderstanding LOL) , Ella brought out the little table again not to play school but to play doctor.

She played as doctor and he was her patient. The little table with rollers was used as a stretcher. Funny how Eman participated as if he knew what he was doing. When Ella says, “Oh no!!! Eman is not breathing!!!!!” Eman will make a funny sound like he’s gasping for air. LOL He learned that stunt when he was 10 months old.

I am happy that Ella can now adjust and learns to give way. She is also not selfish and smart to think of other things to do to keep them both entertained. I so love them both!!!!

Last Saturday I met my high-school best buddies, Stephanie and Karen. Steph ordered several sets of my handmade jewelries that I made before meeting them at SM. She will be selling it at their store in Kabacan. I promised her we will be early so we can have a long chat over some food but I finished all her orders at 2pm.

Of course I tagged along my family. You know I cannot go out without Eman who is still breastfeeding. If I bring the little guy, Donald must come too. I cannot come up with the same energy level as Eman so Daddy is the one chasing him all over the place. Ella can come with us or be left with my sister Crislyn but we brought her too because Steph is with her daughter York.

Karen is a nurse who just came home from working in a hospital in Saudi Arabia so it was a pizza treat from her. We got to talk about a lot of things and Ella was really surprised to hear us call each other “bayot” (gay). Well we call each other that since highschool, it’s our endearment but Ella was like; “Mommy, why are they calling you gay? I thought you are a girl.” LOL

That afternoon was filled with so much laughter. We talked about so many things – a supposed to be “girl talk” was made even more fun because Donald was reacting from time to time. LOL They are comfortable with him around and Donald easily blends in and treats them as his own friends too. We had to end the conversation though at 5:oopm because Steph and her family are going back to our hometown. We spent another one hour at the terminal chatting and laughing our hearts out while waiting for all the seats to be filled. Then Karen and my family went upstairs at the World’s of Fun. It was a treat for Ella for getting good scores in their quizzes the previous week. I wish we could do it more often. Loving every minute that I am with these two crazy gays and of course with my family.

At 10pm, the house is quite. It is very surprising after nights of playing with Eman until almost 1 in the morning. I hope he won’t wake up ’cause I wanted to do so much things online. Got to give life to my two other blogs and make another multiply account for my jewelries. I think it’s time to go full swing with jewelry business because it is much easier to make than the cloth diapers and baby slings. I am preparing for the time when Donald gets hired and I will be left alone with Eman at home. Surely I cannot sew anymore like I used to. Although I will still make cloth diapers and baby slings, I can only do it when he’s asleep for he will get his hands on my scissors and needles for sure. If God will bless Donald with a job outside the home, I wish we can find a small place to rent that can be turned into a shop (with a nice window for my stuffs and maybe a barcode scanner like the Symbol LS2208….I know it’s far from possible! LOL) for my crafts somewhere near Ella’s school. I am just thinking of some ideas what to do so sending and fetching Ella to school will not be hard for me.

Anyway, it’s my mom’s birthday today and we celebrated it with just pansit canton fixed by my sister Crislyn. We bought some bread and went to my Manong Joey and Manang Inday’s house for a midnight snack and some chat. The couple served some drinks to go with it. The best way to celebrate is with family even how little the food is. My sister and I are both broke, maybe we can buy a nice cake and cook spaghetti when we get paid next week. As usual the little guy amused the crowd with his stunts….marching like a soldier when he hear us count and dancing in circles when he hear her Tita sing. He is such a little darling. He also spent a good amount of energy chasing her big sister through chairs and table that made both of them sleep as soon as we arrived home.

It’s raining…what a relaxing night to kick back and watch movie. Well, that is what Donald is doing right now but I can’t join him. I’d rather be in front of the computer than the tube.