Caroleen’s Treasures

I would just be making an update about Ella’s business since it’s nearing midnight and we have just arrived from Ate Lourdes house. She invited us over for dinner and spent almost the whole night chatting with her SIL-Ate Rosie Tejada. Read the rest of this entry »

Early this morning I woke up with a very heavy head and it went on until late in the afternoon. I can’t seem to figure out the reason. It’s not migraine, just a pain on my temple but I have problem trying to relax. This goes on for a couple of days and during the evening, I feel tightening on my nape. We eat healthy foods and if we had meat, we always add vegetables as extender and I do cut down on salt. So how come I feel my blood pressure is shooting up again. Oh well, I just hope it’s because of the weather which could be too striking hot during the noontime and would end up raining late in the afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »

Last October 1 was Auntie Carmen’s (my sister Crislyn’s MIL) 57th birthday. We happen to be there again like the past 5 years or six maybe. The plan is to meet with Auntie Carmen and Uncle Tony for dinner at a buffet restaurant near the Mall so we (Donald, Ella, Crislyn and BIL) decided to kill the time during the day by going to the Crocodile Farm. We have been there before when Ella had their excursion trip two years ago. That time we just borrowed a camera from Donald’s cousin and I presume they have deleted the photos before we could upload it. So I asked my sister if she wanted to go there and she and BIL agreed since they have their SLR and they could very well use it there.
Read the rest of this entry »

It was cold in the morning and the weather is quite fit to just snuggle in bed but I am coding since 11:15 last night. When I had a 15 minutes break at 8 am, I quickly cooked instant pancit canton. Then went back to my “throne” again with the plate on my lap. I finally rested at 10:28 am and I jumped right to bed.

We had snow here before noon!!! Ella played with the styropores and was jumping and giggling. She was so thrilled to play with those tiny white balls.

There is a man peddling fish and we bought “danggit”. I pity those tiny creatures…just the size of a euphorbia leaf! Not the large one…but the new one that has just sprouted from the stem. Since it is too tiny to fry, I decided to make it a “paksiw” and Donald said it was the best paksiw I cooked. “Twas my first time to cook danggit, maybe it is in the kind of fish because it is tastier than the other saltwater fishes.

The thing that I like when we eat is Ella doesn’t choose what part of fish she would get…especially the chicken. I like the wings and drumsticks and I hate the part with no skin. Ella doesn’t care as long as it is chicken so she gets these parts. At least it is healthier than the parts with skin. I explained that skin has too fats and it can cause many illnesses and she don’t want to get sick.

In the afternoon, we went to attend a birthday party. Tatang and Inang are also there. Just a simple party with only a few relatives and us. When we got there, Ella was thrilled to see three kittens. They are sooo tiny but I didn’t notcied one is premature! Yes indeed. This kitty was born a week before her two siblings and she is so frail looking and tinier than the others. Ella also saw a tiny globe, she held it and was turning it around trying to find our house in there! Silly girl!!!

We had a short service lead by Donald. There’s a special “biko” (made of glutinous rice, coco milk and brown sugar), maja blanca (made of cornstarch, coco milk, white sugar and some peanuts and corn kernel…for more special, cheese may be added), spaghetti and bihon guisado (sauteed bean noodles with meat and vegetables). While we are enjoying the food, Ella went missing for a while unnoticed and came back with 4 kids from the neighbor. She says they are her classmates She gave them plates, spoons and forks then ushered them in the table saying “Come on…do not be shy…just get what you want to eat…it is not my birthday though….it is Kuya Mon-Mon’s.” Then she even served them with coke! I was blushing because it is not her party and yet she invited those kids! Good thing that the mother of the celebrant was pleased those kids came since they so shy to come.

At last I ended my shift on OHJ at 8am after 12 long hours. I slept until almost 11, just in time Ella and Donald arrived. As usual Ella played until lunch time. Siesta afterwards but I opted to blog hop while they napped.

Tatang came here to ask if Donald will be going with him to the wake of one of the member’s grandmother but we ended up chatting. We are talking about lots here and Tatang was encouraging us to invest on it. I made the “best” pancake for merienda then we (Tatang, Donald, Ella and me) went to their place to get rice (Ella’s subsidy) While we were there in the farm, Ella visited Mr. and Mrs. Pig, Mr. Cow, the stubborn chicken and quails and me? I hunted for anything I could plant on my plastic flower pots which I just bought last Saturday. After loading the rice and plants on the motorbike, we went back here and exercised. Yeah, exercised pulling weeds in the yard

Tatang joined us for dinner and off they went to the wake at 7pm. Ella went with them and was soooo excited about it. She was actually asking to go since the other day when Donald drove the tora-tora. But she fell asleep and wouldn’t wake up when it’s time to leave. So….when she woke up she wailed like cow. We promised she can go with Donald today, so even when it was raining she did go. Donald was saying NO again this time because it was raining….but then again I reminded him that we are teaching the child the true meaning of a promise and keeping your words so Donald brought her along.

She should be given a treat because she cleaned and piled the chairs at church. All those monoblocks chairs!!!! It was all clreared in teh middle of the hall…all chairs were in two piles on the right side of the hall and she even picked all the litters. We didn’t realized she did it until Donald saw how tidy the hall was. I then recalled she was mumbling when she went in to throw a handful of plastic wrappers on the trash can in the kitchen. She was saying, “Ano ba yang mga taong ‘yan…hindi alam saan dapat magtapon ng basura…” (Why are those people don’t know where to throw their garbage.)

Today is my sister CheChe’s birthday. I wonder how they celebrated today. I hope we can celebrate it again when we got a chance to visit them in the city. Last year, on her debut, we just went to a buffet place with Kuya Ace, my sister Crislyn, her PIL’s (Lolo Tony and Lola Carmen), Cheche and two of her classmates. It was real simple celebration.

See Ella blew the candle with her Tita Cheche! This was taken with my celphone, excuse the blur. They are the best of enemies but could be the best of friends too. When my mother was still living, they would fight over who would embrace Mamang while Mamang lies on the mat watching tv. Then they will have a long debate whose mother was Mamang Eling. Cheche will claim Mamang was her “mother” and insist on Ella that Mamang was not her mother but her “grandmother”. Ella was still 2 then but would not let her Tita Cheche win the debate. While they are arguing, Mamang was smiling and enjoying the attention given to her by the two Tasmanina devls beside her. There was a time when they hate each other and Ella would say, “You don’t have a mother now, I still have mine.” But when I and my sister Crislyn would scold Cheche, Ella comes for her rescue. She would tell us, “Don’t scold her, she is pityfull…look she has no mother at all….” Oh well….I would sometimes laugh in disbelief at how the two of them drove us crazy.

EDITED:

Ella and Donald arrived at half past 10 in the evening. I asked Ella how did the night at the wake went…she said it was just alright. She just ate Milo. Yes she eats Milo like her Daddy…such a sweet tooth. Then she said she hasn’t still forgot to play cards! One girl there has a dirty old teddy bear and Ella said we should give her a newer one from her toys. After she got cleaned up and changed into jammies, she remembers her little gift for her Tita Cheche. It was a little Pikachu toy…the yellow cartoon character but this toy was green

Today is Crislyn’s birthday and we are supposed to go to the city for a check up. It was suppose to be the wonderful time to be there because they will have a special dinner with crabs and shrimps!!! But since the money from my paypal hasn’t appeared on my bank account yet, we postponed it tomorrow. So we are crossing our fingers that there will be some left overs for us.

Here is a photo of Tita Crislyn and Ella last March 2008 at Agro Trade Fair show in Davao City. Ella was Tiat Crislyn’s favorite niece (’cos there is no other nieces and nephews except from cousins)

 To Tita Lyn-Lyn…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

There is not much going on here today. I just sat infront of my pc earlier than usual. I took Crislyn’s shift because she needs to go shopping for her party tonight. She actually asked me last night what time will we arrive there today ‘cos she will ask me to do the food shopping since she has a 10am to 4pm shift. I told her the case and suggested I’d take her shift so she can do the shopping and cooking They are expecting my cousin and her daughter to be there tonight. I am sure they will enjoy the food! 

Early in the morning I woke up feeling fine. As if I got the complete sleep my body requires. I crawled to bed at past two in the morning reading blogs but too tired to comment After Ella and Donald left for School, I sat on my pc and went on Opps hunting but no luck I wish tonight I can grab…even just one.

I did some box wrapping today too. The shoe boxes and other boxes I found around the house I wrapped with gift wrapper to give it a more decent look to store stuffs like Ella’s school supplies, my craft supplies and other abubots. I have done several boxes and went to see some more box in the second room where I put all our stuff from Davao. I saw a box outside the house and asked Ella what is the box doing outside. She said she has nothing to do with it so I asked my other child…I mean my husband about the box sitting on the table on the shed.

I found out that Donald put it there the other night when he caught the rat (named Donald Jr.) and put it inside the shoe box. So yesterday, Donald was grumbling about the rat who escaped from the box. He was saying….”He was such a rat!” What else could he call it aside from rat? So to make the story short…(I hope it will really make it short) He caught the rat in the sink the other night, put it in a box with two holes in it. He covered the box and inserted a lit paper (of course it was smoking) to suffocate the rat. He could not kill it as he feels unhumane to kill a living thing (Remember when he doesn’t want to kill bugs and he would just drop them in the chamber pot to drown instead of squeezing them to death?) After sometime, thinking that the rat have died, he went back inside the house. The following morning when he woke up, he saw the box empty. So the brilliant rat escaped! I told him, “You should be ashamed of yourself. The rat is laughing at you. You didn’t know while you are trying to suffocate him, he went into prone position and covered his mouth and nose?”

So much of the rat story In the afternoon, I and Ella had a nap.  At three pm I went to see a doctor for my chest pains and was advised to have a ECG and x-ray in the city. So this means we are going to Davao again. I was hoping it can wait until next month so I can save money for it.

After the check up, I went to pick up a few items in the grocery store and a little present for a 2-year-old boy who invited us for a small party this afternoon. I also got few wrappers to use for the other boxes and also picked up pencils and erasers sets that i can give to two other kids in my Sunday school class who will be celebrating their birthdays next week. It is not much but I am sure they would be happy to receive a present as they are not used to having some during birthdays. After the quick grocery shopping, I went home to drop the grocery bag and off we went to the party. It is far from here and we are the “guest of honor” Only us came from afar, most of the visitors are relatives and friends nearby. They house is small and you can tell they are struggling financially but hey, the still managed to give the boy a happy birthday We had spaghetti, buko salad, bihon guisado, cake and Coke.

When we are done and full…we sat there chatting for a while when we received a message from Tatang to go to her daughter’s house ASAP ‘cos it is Ate Venus birthday too. Oh this is what I miss…too much food It is getting dark when we left the place. I feel horrified by the dark clouds  as it will pour heavy rain (if I say heavy, it is really heavy) It is a remote place and we are like in the woods in the story The Red Riding Hood. We ran as fast as we could, Ella was on her Daddy’s shoulders while I was following them. Only a few cabs get there and we are just so lucky there was one. As soon as we got on the cab, it rained so hard. When we finally arrived at Ate Venus’ place, Ella had a nice time chatting with the visitors who are two to three decades older than she. Only a few friends were there but we had soooo much fun. The visitors could not help but laugh when after we sang “To God be the Glory” and Donald said a prayer, Tatang began to sing loudly The Birthday Song and two more songs. We sang with him trying not to laugh but the visitors almost fell on their seats in laughter because they assumed they can start filling their plates with food after they said Amen :lol: Since we are full, I had only a little rice and steamed catfish. I also picked puto cheese which I really missed and so are Donald and Ella (this is what we are making back in our hometown before to earn a living). We also had buko salad, choco moist, chicken soup, bam-i and fried quail We left with a bag of food for Bogart who patiently waits for us at home.

It’s Friday, the last day of school. So our Princess went to school earlier than yesterday. She was telling me last night that her classmates’ snacks are more “fun” than her “boring” biscuits. I was like, “Hey, who told you your snacks is boring? See, you got 4 packets of animal biscuits in different colors…that is fun don’t ya know?” (Oh yeah, I was speaking slang) But anyway, as I do not want her to feel sad about her snacks, I told Donald to buy wafer sticks at the store on their way to school. Oh who would have not been bored with the same snacks everyday?

Since three days in a row that she went home alone without her Daddy, (her class ends 30 minutes early) I reminded Donald to go back to the school 30 minutes before the dismissal time so she won’t miss Ella. Although this won’t make Ella happy, her Daddy was there in the school yard after their class. When they arrived, I asked her what happened at school. To my big surprise, she said “Some boys at school likes me.” I said, “What?!!!!”….she repeated “I said, boys likes me at school and they are calling me always trying to get my attention.”….I was trying not to laugh, I asked her “Then what did you say to them?”….she looked disappointed and said “I said my Mommy and Daddy will get mad at them.” Now that is a good reason for her Daddy to be there on time E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y. :lol:

In the afternoon Ella had a nice chat with her Tita Crislyn. She and Cheche had seen their niece on webcam with her new hair. Ella was so proud that she looked like Dora and was telling her Tita that she has a one peso coin that she will be sending in Western Union for them to buy a car She was also saying “I will send you some new clothes and shoes….for you, Tito Ace, Tita Cheche, Lolo Tony and Lola Carmen, I will Western Union it.” Oh well, this kid is so thoughtful that she even promised that when she grow up, she would go to manila to buy me a nice set of necklace and earrings.

Today is Lolo Tony’s birthday….my sister Crsilyn’s FIL. To Lolo Tony, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!! From Ella, Donald and Me We are sad that we missed the party As some of you know, Lolo Tony and Lola Carmen are like our own parents and grandparents to Ella. Ella just loves them so much. They are so warm and their home is like a home for us too. We are looking forward to seeing them again soon.

I was dragging my feet all day as I feel so tired and lazy from Ella’s birthday party yesterday. It was just a simple party yet I feel so exhausted. But Ella wasn’t feeling that and went to play early in the morning. She went outside and found her birthday present dead. The frail looking chick that a kid gave her yesterday. Good that she has not built a strong attachment to it yet so the funeral was quick and easy. Her friend Charlie dug a hole in the yard and they buried it there. Ella put a cross in it and they said a little prayer for its innocent soul. Here’s some photos of Ella’s birthday party yesterday.

As I always ask “Where did the time go?”….Oh well….she is growing up so fast and Donald was saying since the other day that we do not have a 4 year-old in the house anymore. 

See our baby turned into a lady 

Ella and Mommy

With Tita Crislyn

the Drama Princess and the Drama Queen (Tita CheChe)

and last but cetainly not the least, our family picture

Happy Birthday Ella!!!! Our baby is now 5 and is so lady like. I remember when she was born, she was just 3.3 pounds but she grew so fast and she even looked like Buddha She woke up early as what she has planned last night. She was so thrilled it was her birthday and always says she was now 5, no longer 4. Awww….where did the time go? She could not wait to have her own room and always on the sink washing anything she could grab there. She was saying she is a big girl now and demands she would go to school alone.

As planned, she will have a small party in the afternoon. Her Tita Crislyn and Tita CheChe arrived at 1pm. Ella ran to them in excitement and was so proud of the house and the whole place. I am just so glad they made it as I want Ella to have some nice pictures. Crislyn got a new camera, a cannon rebel one. It was so beautiful and takes awesome photos. At 4pm the party began with a prayer. The kids gathered around the table after singing a birthday song to the proud celebrant taking turns to get food. We have cake, spaghetti, buko salad, buttered chicken, quail eggs (courtesy of Inang), orange juice for the kids and coke for me Ella was so happy and she entertained her visitors well, sometimes scolding a kid who is not behaving well. I am happy she had visitors from the church and neighbors. After they ate, they went infront of the chapel and one group of kids outside the fence have been mad jealous about the party that she threw a stone on them hitting one boy in the nose and pricking one girl in the thumb. Ella went so hysterical and wailed like she was the one being attacked. I went there and called the girl, asked her why and told her to say sorry. The girl was sorry and while dhe was saying the words, Ella keeps on crying and gets even louder as the girl says the words After the sorry’s Ella went out with a plate full of spaghetti for them all. Oh Ella was a birthday present from one of the girls. Ella was so excited to announce she has a present…it was a chick!!!! Yes, a chick! A sick chick. I do not know what is wrong but I can tell it is sick. She carried it around and even poses infront of the camera with it.

Kids got balloons too and loot bags…I put in there some glue, ruler and pencil along with candies. They have enjoyed it so much and so Ella does. Inang and Tatang were so welcoming to my sisters and they had a nice time talking until Inang and Tatang has to leave. That gave me more time to pose infront of th camera. Then at almost 7pm, we went to the terminal to send her tita’s home.

Today was a tiring day but seeing Ella so happy is worth the money, time and effort.