Yesterday I could not think of how will I write my entry for the day. And so I posted a photo of my husband dear that makes me laugh each time I saw it. In hope that it could also make you smile 
I have already posted about the young girl, Tadiday, who lives with us. Last Monday evening, her mother was infront of the house yelling and threatening her. She left as soon as she has delivered her “speech”. After a few minutes while we are having dinner, Tadiday’s younger sister called and Donald went out to ask what was it. Read more… »
It is Sunday once again, Ella’s favorite day of the week. I woke up feeling so sore on my back and legs so I stayed in bed until almost 8 in the morning. Kid’s snacks are prepared last night so there’s nothing to hurry about. We had a quick breakfast of rice and left over vegetables from last night after I had a shower. Ella was so excited for the service and the Sunday School and she was the first human in the chapel. Human I should say because Bogart, her dog, was already there.
Last night Ella passed out earlier than usual because she doesn’t took a nap and because she was crying. She went to the store with Tadiday and Ella as hyper as she is could not walk, ran fast as she could and stumbled on the rocks which I can say was quite hard because her jammies has a hole on the right knee.
Good that she wears jammies…she got only a little bruise from the accident.
She was too tired and has slept soundly without drinking milk. I waited for her to wake up to pee so I could let her drink it.
We have some problems in our church which I would really like to be taken cared of. First is the chairs. We only have 25 mono block chairs, two long benches and two shorter ones. One of the long bench is carried to our Kid’s class each Sunday before we start and back to the chapel after the class. So if we will have some visitors, some need to stand up like what we did the last time we had some visitors. Then the song books. We had enough numbers of song books if and only if they are ALL the same. What we have are two different song books and some songs on the other book could not be found on the other one. I always put a song book on a chair then leave a chair empty so the two persons sitting together could “share” and we all could sing together using the green book which has the most hymns that we sing. I did it again yesterday when I arranged the hall for the service but to my dismay, when I went in for the worship service after my class with the kids, I have NO song book to open. I looked around and saw the people infront have one each and they are like whispering to themselves while singing.
All in all the service went well as well as my kid’s class. With only two kids, it is so quite and I have not strained myself too much like I always do. Ella and another girl named Camille, enjoyed our story about Hannah, his son Samuel and Eli the preast. The good thing about having no coloring pages related to the story is that kids can exercise their imagination and creativity. And I could say they are very creative and imaginative! I always laugh at how Ella drew. Here’s her version of Eli the priest, Hannah and Samuel.
As you noticed this is a picture of the new generation 
Eli the preast wears a baseball cap, shirt and pants. Hannah wears a beautiful blue dress with a wide belt and carrying a handbag (probably LV). And Samuel also wear a cap, holding a toy car and a dog!
Please do not judge me. I read them a story with good illustrations but Ella just loves playing with her drawings and she said boys needs to wear cap because they look silly with nothing on their heads. 
And for Hannah…oh well, I need to ask her tomorrow the reason behind her glamorous look. And I don’t even know Samuel has a dog!
I woke up just in time the clock struck 5 in the morning. I wanted to start cooking but I am too tired from preparing all the ingredients last night so I went back to sleep. At 7am I put the pan on the stove and started to cook. I was short of baguio beans and I was just so thankful Donald went to buy some in the market without me asking him. I was cooking while Ella and Tadiday had a shower. Every Sunday it seems they are very slow in taking a bath, I could hear them both giggle while they are playing.
At 8:30 am I am done with the cooking and I had a quick shower before everyone showed up in church. The kids class went well having 10 kids. We had a story about David and Goliath which everyone enjoyed. I also let them draw a picture of David and Goliath and they all did a very good job.
After the class we all went to the church building and attended the service. Donald delivered a message about PRIDE. After the service we had a nice talk with each other and waited for the lechon. I almost lost my temper when I learned that the members I asked to bring rice (and they agreed) did not bring even a single grain. I asked them in the first place to bring rice because I understand they cannot bring any dish. I cooked a good amount of chopsuey and sotanghon guisado and Tatang’s daughter brought lechon, this will get some worries off their shoulders. just the rice. Finding they brought none, I ran to the house and filled two pots of rice which was served in just the right time.
We enjoyed the fellowship with games and song presentation by family. Me, Donald and Ella sang “I walk with the King”. It was one of Ella’s favorite songs from the hymnal and she sang alto. We are happy she is growing to be singing songs of the church rather than the songs she hears in the radio.
After everyone left, I was hoping I could get a good nap but I have not. Instead, I cleaned my toenails and then we went in the backyard to hopefully finish clearing the area where we will plant vegetables. Then I get in here to blog and saw my sister Crislyn was online and chatted with her. They are in our cousin’s house in Davao. There would be some sort of thanksgiving service for the new house and many of our cousins and relatives from our hometown are there to celebrate. We have been there last July when I had my general check up. The house is beautiful and modern furniture will suit best in there.
We are just sitting here watching their faces in the webcam, hoping we are also there to join the fun. How I wish we could again bond together. It is so sad to miss the fun. But hey we are going home in December…but that is such a long wait. Since we moved here in Agusan, we are like living abroad….cannot go home easily like we used to. But glad there is webcam and being able to chat is a plus.
Yes you read it right, I am $10 richer!!! As some of you knew about the raffle draw that Yen sponsored on her blog. Although the grand prize is $100, I am so happy that I won the 5th prize as I thought my luck has expired long ago For over a thousand entries, I sure had the luck still 
I am done with my three day trial for OHJ and I am soooooo thankful I survived. But I am crossing my fingers and toes on this. Hope I get the job. I started at 6 pm last night and ended at 2:30 am. From the moment I logged in until 10 pm, I had some idle time where I can stand and stretch, get a glass of water and can still blog hop. But the moment of truth came when I was asked by the Admin to log off from my current project and do the Fusion. Yay! I feel proud somehow to do it as Fusion is for regular coders only. Read more… »
I was not in the best mood to blog tonight…but since I wasn’t able to blog much about what has transpired last Thursday night until yesterday when I was having issues with my internet, I decided to beg to my fingers and my brain to at least write one decent post tonight. Glad they agreed.
Last Thursday morning, my internet was slowing down. I thought it will get pick up speed at night. Before we had dinner, I posted one tag and was planning to post another entry after dinner. But when I sat infront of my puter to write a novel for the day, the internet is having its MOOD SWINGS. I could not open any site and I began to panick a little but feel eased somehow that I can sleep early that night as we are having some special visitors the following day. I waited for a few more hours but to no good. So at past midnight, I crawled in bed hoping that I can access to my site when I woke up.
At 7 am, Tatang and Inang were already here bringing in coffee and rice for the visitors. Uncle Dencio, the preacher from Davao City, and his wife Ate Leah arrived at 10 am with the team of other preachers and church workers for the monthly workshop here in Trento and the other neighboring town. They were about eight and they had coffee and lunch here. Inang and Tatang are very busy the past weeks and there was no exception that day and today. So they just pop up here every few hours and leave again. It was actually blessing in disguise that I do not have internet connection as I had time to fix the visitor’s meals. After lunch, the others left for the other town and Uncle Dencio and Ate Leah stayed. We had a nice time with them as they are our close friends back in Davao. At 6pm Donald had a great news when he arrived from the market. He said there is an internet connection and I knew it then when I went to check it. Yipey!!!! I can get online!!!! The couple had a body massage by an old woman from the neighborhood just before dinner. We had “dinegdeng” for dinner, an Ilocano vegetable dish cooked with fish paste. At night before bedtime, it rained and I was chilling a little. I just love hiding underneath my blanket when it gets cold like this.
This morning, I and Donald are up early to prepare breakfast. We don’t usually have breakfast, but for the visitors we will serve them their requested breakfast. Boiled eggplant, bitter gourd tops and quail eggs was set on the table and the couple are happy to have vegetables again. In Davao you seldom can get fresh vegetables. After breakfast, they had a chat with Ate Leah’s brother in Kentucky. They had a nice time talking with him, then time to get a shower and prepare for the workshop for the church members which will be conducted by the couple. I stayed inside the house while they are there in the chapel. I prepared lunch with Tatang while running back and forth on the puter. When lunch was ready, I sat infront of here with my lunch on my desk. Bihon guisado! My favorite especially when I was the one who cooked. Time flies so fast that at 2pm they left for Davao.
When they are gone, the members stayed for a while to have a meeting and to conduct a visitation and bible study on one of the neighbors. I and Ella went to pick up my earnings from blogging that was sent through Western Union by my sister. Ella was so sleepy that she was complaining almost the whole time we were there. Then we went to the market and bought vegetables, fish paste, mangoes, mongo beans and she had picked a cellhpone toy. After the market, we headed to the grocery store and picked some items.
It was such a long weekend for me as I had back pains from straining my muscles. Ella and Donald were off to dreamland, while I was hoping I can get this done and crawl to bed too….my eyes are shutting off by themselves and I needed some toothpicks to keep them open.
Sunday has been great. We had a story about Jonah and the whale. Since I have kids in mixed ages, I had to make sure the 3-year-old understoods what I am trying to imply like the 4, 8 and 10 year-olds. The story should only take a few minutes but it took a little longer as I have to translate from English to Tagalog and Bisaya Oh well, it’s good that I don’t have to do it in Ilocano and Ilonggo But in case I need to do it with these 5 languages, I still could manage
We have 5 baptisms again after the worship service. I think we needed baptistry here. That will be much easier for everyone as we have to drive a few minutes from the chapel to the river. After the baptism we again piled in Bro. Bernard’s car to the place of the new members. We passed by ricefields and Ella was really thrilled to see hundreds of ducks. It was so hot and I feel very exhausted and dizzy that is the reason I never had the mood to blog last night.
At night Ella had a chat with Tita Crislyn and Tita Cheche, you got to hear her talk! She was like an old woman who was reincarnated in Ella’s body. Although I am the mother and I hear her everyday talk like that, it still amazes me all the time. I don’t know what this child has eaten or drank…I hope I have a recorder to record all her statements. Can’t believe how this little girl talks as if she lived for hundred of years
I felt like dragging my feet all day. Still feeling not well yet I have to go to town to check on the school for Ella. The first one was near the market and I don’t like the location. A little school just behind the fish and meat stalls 
I picked a few items in the grocery store on my way home and I could not understand the weather here. One hour it is grilling hot and the next there were black heavy clouds and very strong wind. When I arrived home, Ella and Donald was playing here in my pc. They love it when I leave the house. I told Donald about the school I went to, that I don’t like it. We went to the school nearest us to check what they offer. Ella rode her itsy bitsy bike, she is really very good at driving. I learned to ride a bike when I was 8 and so is her Daddy. But she did it when she was 4! Her bike’s seat was broken by the kids and Donald put wires to keep it in place but it hurts her behind. And so I said “If you’d be good, I will get you a new bike.” I was excited to see her reaction…instead of jumping in delight she said “I have this bike, this will be fine. We don’t have money to buy a new one.”
Can someone tell me what happened to our little girl? She seemed to grow one year in a day
Another week has gone by…tomorrow will be Sunday again and Ella was so excited. She dug on her mini drawer to look for tomorrow’s outfit and when she was done she wiped her shoes and announced she will going to wear those and nothing else. Kids these days really knows what they want.
It was such a lazy Saturday. I felt so tired and sleepy the whole day. After a short nap, I cleaned the bathrooms while Donald prepared the chapel for the worship. Then I asked Donald to photocopy a picture from the story book. I will be teaching a lesson about Jonah. When Donald tried to copy on our 3 in 1 printer, it won’t copy! Since it’s getting dark, I started tracing the picture since the photocopying shops are closed. It took me so long to finish 12 pictures! I made Donald trace some for me and Ella helped too. We traced Jonah and the whale….but Ella’s drawing is more like a tadpole than a whale
I stayed up the whole night and when I felt my eyes are shutting all by themselves I crawled to bed at 5:30am. Ella stayed.in.the.house.the.whole.day!!! That was a really great news! She kept her word Her colds is getting better and she just played in the house, napped in the afternoon and read her books before dinner. Maybe she was just so afraid of throwing up that’s why she didn’t insist on playing outside. She has been so afraid of throwing up since she was a baby. To her, it was like going to die! LOL So I have a great idea on how to keep her in.
Donald had a bible study with a family nearby. Same like yesterday, he studied the bible with a family too. Ella was making me crazy the whole afternoon about going to church. She keeps on telling me she want to go to church…..and I kept telling her that we will gather on Sundays to worship. She refused to listen, she just wanted to go to church right there and rthen and hear her Daddy deliver a message and sing her favorite church hymns “Send the Light” and “Beautiful”. And oh she was so sweet to tell me “I want to go to church because our class is very nice…you are our teacher…and the story is very good!!! Can Pooh be our story on Sunday?”
Oh and she has some reasons too why she wanted to go church…” Because I want to be with Daddy in the church…and because the church is just beside our house…and we won’t be late anymore like in Davao…and I will not be tired and fell asleep in the taxi….”
Well I agree! We won’t be late anymore!
Butterfly orchid taken during our monthly visit in Trento, Agusan del Sur last March 7.
