Shine Like Stars: celebration

Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts

Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts

I've Got a Tween!

DS: Mom, do people who get older need more sleep?
Me: Well, not really. I think those who go through growth spurts do need a lot more sleep.
DS: Like teenagers?
Me: uh-huh
DS: Well, I can feel it already, like I'm sleepy a lot of the time. Maybe I'm going through a growth spurt!

He celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday. And he officially labeled himself a "tween." According to him, a tween is that age between the single digits and thirteen. So, yes, he is now a tween.

I had to chuckle after our conversation above. He is so excited to not be a kid anymore, so looking forward to becoming a teen. LOL! As we would say in Tagalog, "feel na feel nya!" He started wondering already if he needed to put on some Old Spice. Before long, he will be asking about acne products and other facial skin care products.

DH had work in the evening so we celebrated his birthday at lunch instead. Upon his request, we ate at Black Angus Steakhouse. No more pizza or spaghetti or fried chicken for this guy. He prefers man-steak instead!

At the lunch table, we did our traditional honoring of the birthday celebrant. Here's what each one had to say...

Dad: He is very responsible. He does many of his chores without needing to be told again and again. He even does them without prompting. He is also becoming more patient, able to control his anger better. He is almost like the second dad or man in the house when I am not around.
Mom: He is a huge help to me at home. He helps me with a lot of the heavy lifting that needs to be done. When we were putting away the Christmas decors, he was the one who put away the boxes in storage. I can depend on him to help me with various chores around the house.
DD1: He is a good kuya and he helps us "ligpit"(clean up)
DD2: I like kuya because he helps us when we play Mario Kart.
DD3: I love kuya.

Christmas Craft

I know it's the new year already but I want to share these presents we gave out last Christmas. I usually do something crafty as presents but this year, I was not totally up to it. Could it be the pregnancy? Hmmm...

Anyway, here the presents we gave out to teachers and co-workers. I spied some square egg boxes being sold on etsy one time. One of the product images showed the boxes with Ferrero Rocher chocolates in the egg slots. I thought it was very cute and very cost effective to give as presents. In this case, the packaging plays a big part in the present.

I was able to find a local retailer selling egg cartons. They did not have square one. Instead they had the regular dozen egg boxes that could be split into 2. It was not the perfect choice but it was something I could work with. I also covered the bar code and other box info with address labels and used that space to write Christmas greetings. I think they came out really cute! What do you think?

Recipe for Christmas All Year Long

Take a heap of child-like wonder
That opens up our eyes
To the unexpected gifts of life -
Each day a sweet surprise.
Mix in fond appreciation
For the people whom we know;
Like festive Christmas candles,
Each one has a special glow.
Add some giggles and some laughter,
A dash of Christmas food,
(Amazing how a piece of pie
Improves our attitude!)
Stir it all with human kindness;
Wrap it up in love and peace,
Decorate with optimism, and
Our joy will never cease.
If we use this healthy recipe,
We know we will remember
To be in the Christmas spirit,
Even when it's not December.
by Joanna Fuchs

Hope you all had a beautiful Christmas!

Shopping is Done!

It's only a few days left before Christmas and I can safely say that all my holiday shopping is done! Most of the presents were bought during the Black Friday sale or online. The only ones that needed to be bought were for DH and DS. And as of the weekend, everything is with me. They just need to be wrapped. I am glad that they are done because it's been raining the whole weekend. Forecast says it will rain until Wednesday! I would not want to go out and drive and shop with this non-stop rain.

Surprisingly, I did not have to spend that much this Christmas season. I stayed pretty much within our budget. Pat on the back for me. We don't have to cash in that gold bullion we've been hiding. LOL! I wish we had at least one! LOL!

I just need to hit the grocery store for eggs, bread, cream and green beans to cook for our Noche Buena feast on the 24th. DH's family will be over,as usual. There will be more of us this time because SIL got married so she will have her husband and step sons in tow.

Although the shopping is all done, the cleaning of the house isn't which is kinda freaking me out! Ugh! Hate doing it but it must be done since we will be having guests! Wish me luck!

1 Corinthians 13 - A Christmas Version

Author unknown

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights
and shiny balls, but do not show love, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing
gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not
show love, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I
have to charity, but do not show love, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss
the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn't envy another's
home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at
the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in
giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all
things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our home! We actually got a tree 2 Fridays ago. However, the past week was just so crazy busy, we did not have time to decorate it.
Finally, we started to decorate our tree. DH got new LED Christmas lights this year but only white and blue were available. I guess we started too late that the multi-colored whites ones were sold out already. It's ok. This just meant that we need a new color scheme for our tree instead of our usual red and gold. We're going with silver/white and blue. I will still need to get a few more ornaments and stuff for our tree but at least it's starting to feel more Christmas-y around here. The Christmas wreaths are hung. Some of the nativity sets are set out. The dancing Santa is entertaining the kids once more. I'm planning to add a few more touches here and there. Now, it's time to get all the boxes and bins back into storage and

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family in the US. This is a little late but I was busy enjoying the break with family. Hardly spent time on the computer over the weekend break.

DH was off for 2 straight days. It's been a while since he's had a day off so this was a welcome break. I think he most welcomed the chance to sleep in. :) Starting December, his crazy 3-week rotation schedule is back so it's going to be crazy busy again until March. I'm a little anxious about this change. We had gone through this sked earlier this year but I was not pregnant then. And we were not homeschooling yet. Despite my worries, I know that God will take care of us as He always have.

Back to our Thanksgiving celebration...

We kicked it off on Wednesday night by watching some videos of the kids when they were younger. Oh, so much laughter there! So much fun!

Thursday, DH had to work. He was home for Thanksgiving dinner with us. It was just us this year. I did not invite anyone else. This worked for me since I don't really consider this "my" holiday. I did not feel like slaving away in the kitchen. I got a half turkey from Trader Joe's, made some croissant rolls and green bean casserole. For dessert, we had my chocolate pecan pie. It was a good Thanksgiving dinner, with lots of love to go around. :)

The next day, we started our day late and hit some stores for black Friday shopping. In the evening, we had a post-Thanksgiving celebration with our group featuring Thanksgiving leftovers!

On Saturday, we took DS to his friend's birthday party and then took off for Riverside to pick up MIL's car. She flew to the Philippines for the holidays. While she's there, the car will be with us.

Today, Sunday, DH is back to work. :( The rest of us are enjoying the day lounging around the house and doing some chores. I don't want to go back to our regular sked tomorrow but it must be done. It was a nice break though. Looking at our schedule for December, I can see that it is going to be crazy hectic with Christmas celebrations and fieldtrips for the kids.

Indeed, there is much to be thankful for. God has been so good to us. I hope you are able to recognize God's goodness in your lives too.

Gratitude Poster

I got this idea from Becky Higgins. I thought that it was an awesome idea to do with the family.
I did a mini thanksgiving album last year. It was easy to do once it was assembled but there was some work on my part in putting it together. I was not really keen on doing it again this year. Thankfully, this idea from Becky Higgins came just in time. I actually like this idea better because it is a poster that I will be hanging on our wall instead of an album that will sit on a corner. Don't get me wrong, our scrapbook albums get a lot of loving from the kids. They enjoy looking through them. However, having this gratitude poster up on a wall where we can see it everyday will make us even more aware of the blessings we have received.
I'm keeping the poster "open" for more blessings until the end of the year. At the start of the new year, I will put the glass on top then hang it on the wall by the stairs. This way, we will be reminded every day of the goodness of God. Next year, at about the same time, we will start on a new poster for 2011. When it's time to put down the previous year's poster, I'm planning to laminate it so that it will keep better.
Hopefully, this will be a holiday tradition for our family. Can you imagine how precious it will be to look back 10 years from now and read what the little ones were thankful for? We'll also have a record of their handwriting and the little ones' kiddie drawings.

Cute gift box idea

I saw these on etsy a few days ago. Isn't this such a clever gift idea? These would make perfect teacher gifts too. Usually, it would seem really lame to gift someone just 4 pieces of Ferrero chocolate but if packaged this way, I think it becomes a really cute gift. I'm planning to give this as Christmas presents to my kids' summer camp counselors. This is perfect because it keeps me under budget but still conveys a sense of gratitude. I think they will appreciate the thought. :) From a budget standpoint, each gift will approx. cost me just $1. I was only able to buy uncolored ones locally so I'll just dress it up with ribbons. Or maybe a Christmas stamp at the top. Or use twine/raffia with a Christmas tag. So many possibilities!

All Saints Day Celebration

I have a confession to make. Back when I was in the Philippines and dressing up in costume was starting to become a popular thing to do, someone had suggested that instead of having a halloween party, there should be an all saints party. I thought it was cuckoo and smelled too much of religiousity. What was wrong with dressing up in costume? Why even have a halloween party if we were just going to turn it into a religious event?

Well, look at me now. My stance has obviously changed. I suppose my views changed when I started to see this as an opportunity to introduce my children to the different saints. It was not just about dressing up as saints and having a party. It is more about giving these children holy people to emulate. My children, aside from DD3, all chose which saint they wanted to dress up as. Maybe they liked what they saw in the picture book of saints we have. Maybe they were drawn to the saint's name. Whatever drew them to choose that particular saint, I'd like to believe that somehow, the Holy Spirit had a hand in it. Maybe their choice expresses their desire to emulate this saint. Maybe their choice represents a part of their personality. What I shall be doing this whole next year is pray to these particular saints to watch over my respective children. They will be my children's patron saints of the year.
DS has St. Ignatius de Loyola. DD1 has St. Therese of the Child Jesus. DD2 has St. Agnes. DD3 has St. Scholastica.

The celebration itself went well. The weather was perfect. It was overcast but did not rain. The sun did show itself a bit towards the end. There were game booths. There was the ever-reliable playground. DD3 chose to play in the playground the whole time and was disappointed at the end of the day that she did not get prizes like her siblings. LOL! DD1 & 2 played the different booths and recieved holy cards and small toys and candies as prizes. DS played in the beginning but had real fun manning some of the activity booths. He had a blast. He has always enjoyed being useful like that. I used to worry that he is too serious for his own good but I am now accepting that this is how he really is. If it makes him happy to be serving and helping, who am I to stop that? Most of the other people manning the booths were teenagers and parents. As I looked at DS, it hit home that he will become a teenager soon too. And yes, we will be mindful about puberty changes, hygiene, pimple removers, etc. For now, I will enjoy having him at the stage where he is, accepting who he is and relishing the joy he brings to me.

A Look Back

DD3 turned 3 last Monday and we had a simple dinner at home. Unfortunately, DH was not able to celebrate with us because he was still up north due to his uncle's then critical condition. It was all good though.

As I looked through the pics today, I saw a pattern. I always take a pic of her blowing the candles on her cake, focus on the candles and her blurred in the background.
Check out this series:

Do you notice an improvement too? I was excited to see that my photographic eye seem to be improving. I'm learning to zoom in more and get to the heart of the photo. Notice how cluttered the first one looks. Well, I know the clutter of my fridge door does not help. LOL! On the second one, I've zoomed in closer but it still looks like an ordinary snapshot. The third one, my favorite so far, shows much more movement and energy, I think. I'm so happy for me. I am learning even if only on my own by looking at works of photographers and noting what pics grab my attention. Being on Flickr has helped a lot in giving me ideas to try. Seeing all these beautiful photographs by awesome photographers inspire me to stretch myself too. And I realize that it's not all about the camera too. It's about learning to see the world differently. An average shot whether it's taken by a simple point and shoot or a high-tech DSLR will still be an average shot. Much like how a boring TV show, whether you're watching it on an older TV or one of the newer samsung led hdtv is still a boring TV show. It's not the tool or instrument that makes something pop or makes you go "WOW". It is that special way of seeing the world, a way of looking beyond and seeing the beauty in the everyday that makes things special.

And I think that I am starting to open up my eye to that. My project365 definitely helps. I know I have a long way to go. I have much to learn still with my photography skills. But I'm glad to see that I am learning to see creatively and I'm trusting my instinct about what I find beautiful and inspiring. It's actually quite liberating.

Happy New Year

Happy New year everyone! We managed to take this snapshot in the last minutes of 2009 as we were getting ready to welcome 2010.

We actually spent the last day of 2009 rather nicely as a family. The morning was devoted to chores. It wasn't much of a morning because we all slept in! DH and DS went for haircuts. The girls played while I prepared the food we were going to have that evening. After a late lunch together, we all settled in for a time of prayer. Except for DD3, we all listed in our own notebooks that things we were thankful for. DD2 drew hers instead because she could not spell yet. DD1 wrote her list herself. I was really proud of her. After sharing our lists with each other, we then made another list - petitions this time. DD2 & DD3 were unable to sit still long enough for this. There was one common petition in all our lists - a new house! LOL! I guess that kids have been hearing us pray for that often enough that this was what stuck in their heads to pray for. LOL! Yes, we would love a new house with more rooms and maybe an in-law house at the back for my parents. Personally, I don't think we can have a new house this year, maybe not even in the next 5 years, but God could surprise us, right? Besides, asking for something is free so why not ask away?

Today, we started our day with DH at work. The kids and I watched the Rose parade on TV. And now, I've got laundry splish-sploshing in the washing machine. Yep, we're starting the year squarely in the face by doing our chores and being responsible. Not too much lounging around for us. That is a good start, right?

Happy New Year everyone! Hope this year will bring all of us blessings of love, laughter and life.

The Christmas Passed

Whew! I cannot believe how quickly this holiday season is passing. I was talking to SIL about how unprepared I felt going into the season - like it came upon us in an instant. She commented that a lot of people felt the same way, including her. The holidays usually come and go quickly but for some reason, this year, I was late getting into everything. We got our tree well into the middle of December which meant that we got to decorating late too. I was able to make our Xmas cards after Thanksgiving but only got to send it out the week before Christmas which means that people overseas might be receiving theirs well into the new year. Our family got our Christmas activities going a week before Christmas but I really felt like I was in a fog that whole time, like those people in the allergy relief commercials? Pfft...
Anyway, whether I felt it or not, Christmas day has come and gone but we're still celebrating Christmas here. Leftovers still abound in the fridge. Gifts have been unwrapped but we have not let the kids open all of them. We're pacing them so that they can be excited about a new toy everyday.
The kids are enjoying the holidays as they have been able to stay up way later than usual. This is good for me too because it means that I can sleep in because they're waking up later too. Too bad for DH though coz he has to go to work! Awww...
I'l leave you with some pics of our activities prior to Christmas day.

This was DS' school Christmas program on the evening of the 17th. I hardly got a good shot of him because he kept turning away.

DS' class presented the Stations of the Crib the next day during their school mass. It was interesting as this was the first time I had even heard of it. DS was a shepherd. They presented it after the celebration of the Eucharist. They were all by the altar. As expected, DS kept hiding behind his classmates and I was not able to get a decent shot of him! Argh!

On Sunday, we went to see the Living Nativity presented by Granite Creek Church in neighboring Claremont. It was beautiful. It was a big production with several scenes. You could walk through (which we did) or drive through. I think it took us about an hour from the time we arrived to the time we finished at the last scene/station. If we should do this again, I think we'll drive through but make sure to be there early on so that the wait will not be too long.

On Monday, we went to the Bob Baker Marionette Theater in LA. This was a fieldtrip with other homeschooling families. It was a nice show. All the puppets were handcrafted so there is that old-fashioned feel to it. The puppeteers were awesome. The kids were seated right on the floor so that throughout the show, the marionettes would march right up to the kids. The kids were instructed not to touch them though but it was still fun to have them right there in front of you. After the show, the group was led to the adjoining room and given free ice cream.

On Wednesday, BIL took DS fishing and they caught five fishes that we had for dinner that evening. DS was super excited about that one.

So, that was our busy week before Christmas. I'll post the rest of our pics at Flickr and Facebook so family and friends, look out for them there.

Merry Christmas!

Just popping in today to wish you all a very merry Christmas!! Will be back soon with pictures and stories to tell. Right now, off to enjoy the day with family.

A Conversation About Santa

DD2: Does Santa live on earth?
DD1: Yes.
DD2: It does not look like he lives on earth, Mommy.
Me: Why do you say that?
DD2: I've never seen elves on earth. I think he lives on another planet.
DD1: I think he lives on earth. He speaks English. He doesn't speak alien at all.

DD1: Remember when we saw Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus in our school?
DD2: They were just in costume!
DD1: No, they were not!
DD2: But how did they get there? Where's Rudolph?
DD1: I think they were real.
DD2: I think those were just costumes!

I chose to remain silent on the issue. When they asked what I thought, I'd answer back with the classic, "What do you think?" That has gotten me out of sticky question/situations before. Haha.

All I want for Christmas

I did a list of my Christmas wants last year(and it even had a part 2) and found it interesting and fun to look back at the stuff I wanted. Some I received. Some I don't want anymore. Others are back on my list, plus some.

1. AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens
2. Nikon SB-600
3. Bind-it-all
4. killer black boots
5. Cozy winter boots
6. fat burner
7. a new laptop
8. liposuction
9. sewing machine
10. love and acceptance
11. jeans that fit
12. peace
13. months-long vacation to the Philippines
14. a small compact camera
15. YOU

Which ones are seriously wanted? Which ones are for fun?
All are wanted. All are for fun! :)
Merry Christmas!

Busy Weekend

We had a busy first weekend of December. Sunday was our community's Christmas party and it was a caroling party/competition. The scary part of it was that our group was picked to do a caroling number. I am not a singer at all but DH is. I helped with the minor choreography to jazz up the medley. We sang a medley of Sleigh Ride, Winter Wonderland, Mamacita, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bell Rock and Pasko na Naman to end it. We did an acceptable job, I think but nowhere near competition level. We weren't there to compete with the harmonies and voicing of the other groups. We came to perform for family. Hehehe. You could tell we did not know what we were doing. We didn't even put a mike in front of the group so the guitar kind of drowned our voices. We took it in good fun though.

We did have fun during practices - in all of our 2 practices! LOL! Yes, a total of 2 with the last one on Saturday morning, the day before the presentation. LOL! Cutting it close, eh. It was done at our friend's house and I made a lovely discovery that is not connected in any way to singing. My friend has a pomelo tree in her backyard!! Yumm!!! She harvested several fruits for us. Mmmmm...love it! Is pomelo the same as grapefruit in that it's said to be natural fat burners, you think?

Anyway, the kids had a presentation too. They sang Jingle Bells and Pasko na Naman. Here are pics of DS and DD1 during their part of the program.

Black Friday shopping anyone?

None for me, thank you.

Yes, surprisingly, I did not do any shopping on one of the biggest days for the retail industry here in the US - day after Thanksgiving. From experience, you can get really great deals on this day but you will have to be ready for long lines.

This year, I did not shop and I may be regretting it already! I knew that there wasn't a need for shopping that much. I was making most of my presents for friends and family. What I had forgotten was that I still needed to buy gifts for my kids! LOL! Sigh. I had not bothered to pore over Thursday's newspaper where ads for Black Friday sale were inserted. In previous years, I would have planned my shopping day according to what I wanted to buy and where. This year, however, I simply glanced at them with no excitement whatsoever. Maybe because times have been tough and there really isn't much to play with? I wasn't planning on buying certified diamonds or any big ticket items at all but difficult times call for more reserved spending, don't you think?

Only, I'm now really regretting not going out and buying the kids' presents. I'm looking at the calendar and see that we've got about 3 weeks left before Christmas and I have not even started on my Christmas shopping yet! Argh! There seems so much to do and so little time.

I gotta learn to slow down though and remember the reason for all the celebration. The kids won't mind if they don't get the "perfect" present. I think we've taught them well to appreciate whatever they receive. If they should be disappointed, it would be the perfect time to teach them the lesson to be grateful for everything and anything.

This week is particularly stressful for me because I'm doing last-minute stuff for our community Christmas on Sunday. I think that once I get through that, everything else will slow down.

Hope you're enjoying the season and not as stressed as me.

Let's Make a Jesse Tree

Hello December!!!! The air is crisper. The nights are brighter because of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Yep! Christmas is coming indeed.
How are you preparing for it? Having kids in the house definitely makes the waiting harder.

"When is Christmas?"
"How many days more before Christmas?"
"Is it coming soon?"

Yes, the questions can gnaw on one's nerves especially when there are a million other things going on in my head. Fortunately, there are a lot of Advent calendars available to help countdown to Christmas. While I like the idea, I wanted something more meaningful for the kids.

As I researched for more Christ-centered Christmas countdown ideas, I came across the Jesse Tree. Jesse is the father of David, the great king from whose lineage Jesus was born. The Jesse Tree traces salvation history from creation and fall of man to the birth of the Messiah, Jesus. At the start of Advent or December, a snippet (story) from the long love story between God and His people is read. Then a corresponding ornament which symbolizes that particular story is hung from a banner or tree. The Jesse Tree basically helps us remember how God prepared the world for the ultimate manifestation of His love for us - Jesus.

There are a lot of choices with regard to stories to tell. I've searched in the internet and found a few. There are some differences among them but in the end they tell the same story.

I found this book at Amazon. I did not have enough time to make the ornaments here but I am thinking of starting on this project for next Christmas. I would have really wanted to do these as they seem really simple to make. I just do not have enough time.

As December was fast approaching, I was resigned to having to either put off this project for next year or buy a hodge podge of ornaments to use for these. I also found this site with printable ornaments that I could've used. While I appreciate that it's free, it was not as attractive as I would have wanted.

I also found and printed this wonderfully detailed bible readings from the National Catholic Register. I had decided to use these and modify them to accommodate the ornaments that were more easily available.

Then, I found this at one of my favorite digital scrapbooking stores. Coincidence? I think not! God was looking out for me!!! LOL! It combines the ease of simply printing off the ornaments with the crafty look I wanted. Add to that the fact that I was able to get these at 1/2 off because of the Black Friday sale the designer was having. Oh, God is good indeed!!

I still plan on making my own felt ornaments for next year but for now, this will more than suffice. In fact, I'm even thinking of giving a set of these ornaments as presents to some families I know.

I am sooo pleased!! I have them all cut up now and ready to be hung. Woohoo!

Holidays in Hand

I signed up for the free class, Holidays in Hand, with Jessica Sprague. It started on Monday and already I'm behind! Hahaha. The class is supposed to help us focus on the important things for the holidays which can really get lost amidst all the busyness of the season. That is what really drew me in. So far, we've gotten prompts and idea lists of things to do or make for the month of December. I've printed out up to day 20 before I ran out of cardstock to print on. I will need to buy some paper and black ink as I see that the printer is running low already.

Anyway, she encouraged us to write down our values/goals for the season. Maybe you'll find me posting here some of my thoughts in here. For now, here are my values/goals.

family
togetherness
God-centered
love
warmth
celebrating Jesus' birth
Catholic traditions

For this Christmas season, I'd really like to do more meaningful Catholic activities with the kids. Instead of an Advent calendar, I am planning on doing a Jesse tree and in fact, incorporating this into our homeschool day. I'd really like for the children to understand the reason for the celebrations and why this day is different from all other days. ;)

That is my main focus. All the other craftiness and goodies will be done if I have time. Keeping my eyes on preparing for the coming of the child Jesus will help me weed out the important from the trivial, the essential from the non-essentials. In the end, I want our family to be ready to welcome the baby Jesus in our hearts. I desire that our family will shine like the stars that twinkled brightly on the night of our Saviour's birth.

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