Tuesday, December 28, 2010

christmas 2010

santa came early christmas morning, bringing presents to celebrate jesus' birthday. malia woke up first and was trying to wake micah up because we have a rule in our house that the kids have to go down together to see what santa brought. malia liked her unicorn pillow pet the best. and of course, micah liked his recycle truck the most. we exchanged gifts with each other after that. the kids gave me some cute mickey earrings that they wrapped all by themselves. micah gave malia crocs and malia gave micah a snuggie. daddy got coke pj pants. we gave the kids some wii games we could play as a family.


then it was off to grandma & grandpa's house. micah got a huge blue garbage truck from his ninong ray and tossed all his other gifts aside. the kids did karaoke (jingle bell rock & feliz navidad) and grandpa gave them money.



the following day, m&m exchanged gifts with their cousins. micah got the toy story garbage truck. so he is just on cloud nine with all of his garbage/recycle trucks. i think he has 10 total now.


i was really proud of malia this year. she didn't keep asking for more presents. and it was a lot of fun with all of her new questions about santa. my favorite one was, "how come santa only eats junk food when he visits people's houses?" maybe next year we'll give santa an apple.

Monday, December 27, 2010

christmas eve will find me...at urgent care

the kids were filled with joy when they woke up and i wished them a merry christmas eve and told them that santa was coming very soon. we had a pretty relaxing day. then we went to 4pm mass at st. rose. after that jos and i, with all the kids in my car, headed out to our cousin's house in rancho bernardo. but first we stopped to look at the christmas lights at 'christmas circle' in chula vista. it's so cool when an entire neighborhood gets all decked out in christmas lights. toward the end of the street, malia said to me, "my ear hurts." i asked her if she thought it hurt bad enough to go to the doctor and she said no. for the past week she had a cold/allergies, so i thought that maybe her ear was just plugged. during the 40 minute drive, she said a couple more times that it hurt, but she fell asleep. when we arrived at my cousin's house at 6pm and she woke up, she started crying because it hurt so much. poor thing, that's when i knew we had to go because she had an ear infection. thank God i found a rady's urgent care that was in escondido. she and i got back to the party at 9pm. she felt a little bit better after all the meds, but still wasn't her usual cheery self even when she was opening presents.

at least micah still had a ton of fun on christmas eve. he was singing christmas songs and dancing and playing with his cousins. he only had a 30 minute nap that day and still managed to stay up until midnight.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

micah's 1st performance

last friday, micah's school put on a christmas show. it started off with a video of linus (from charlie brown) explaining the meaning of christmas. then each class performed a couple of songs. we didn't really know what to expect from micah. i was laughing and crying at the same time. little kids are hilarious. we could really pick out his voice. i especially love his posing. his performance was such a great gift. just don't ask me the words to the first song.

Monday, December 13, 2010

a relaxing sunday

we've been so busy lately, but we finally had some time to relax on sunday. after church, the kids spent some time riding their bikes and playing golf outside since it was nice and sunny. then they came in to paint some ornaments that roel picked up for free at a choir performance. we spent the rest of the day watching christmas shows on tv and trying to organize christmas presents.



wow, they are really concentrating on their work

joel's baptism


m&m's cousin joel was baptized last saturday. he's so cute and chubby. he didn't cry when the water was poured on his head, just looked around with his usual surprised, wide-eyed look.
it's obvious i'm not a photographer.


so sweet, mother and son

i caught joelle trying to eat the rest of the cake



Sunday, December 5, 2010

malia's blog

after malia and i went to church this morning, we came up with an idea that she would have her own blog. a prayer blog for her daily prayers. this generation is so different. everything is high tech, they are taught things at a younger age, they can't play outside without close supervision, etc. they just have so much more than we did as kids, it's easy for them to take the little things for granted. so this is a great way for her to remember to pray every day and to keep God close. everything is in her own words. either i will type what she says or she will type it. here's her link. she typed her first post today, it took her quite a while. she was so happy to do it, it was cute.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

the mountain of life


since i've been uploading pictures, i came across this one. i stare at this poster in the hallway on mondays when i'm waiting to pick up malia from her ccd class. it looks like something that was probably made in a class as a group project. i like it because it states 'you come from God' and then 'you return to God'. but then as i read up and down the mountain, i realized how far i am on the down side of the mountain. how could the time have gone by so fast? and why does this poster make me feel as though i'm running out of time? they could have made the other side longer. they forgot to put in grandchildren and traveling when you retire. i'm just saying. so now, i wait on the other side of the hallway so it's not staring at me. yes, i'm crazy.

malia will be done with ccd in may.

m&m update

the last update i did was in april. i know i said i wanted to do updates every 2 to 3 months, so this is really behind.

micah is still into garbage trucks, but i'm noticing he is liking dump trucks as well. he's not on youtube as much. maybe it's because we've been moving so much stuff around between the 2 rooms.

lately, micah has been reluctant to go to school. he still likes it there, he only has a problem when it's time for roel to leave when dropping him off. we think it's because he hasn't really grasped the concept of vacation/weekends and thinks it's easy to stay home with one of us. so we just have to remember to tell him the night before if he's going to school or if school is closed the next day.

malia just joined the piano club at school. they teach her how to play piano. it's free! she still wants to join the running club but roel won't let her since they run in the morning and it's cold.

she loves this makeup kit that she got for her birthday. i only let her do it at home and she doesn't wear it out. but she can spend a good hour in the mirror. so vain. but it is nice and quiet when she's playing with her makeup kit.

daddy took the kids to get their flu shot last month. only malia cried, which wasn't surprising. micah was so proud of himself that he didn't cry. and malia denied it when micah was telling me about her crying.

we watched tangled the day before thanksgiving. we loved it. well, it's still a little tough for micah to sit in the theater the entire time especially because it's dark. he kept asking me to point to the way out.

we are enjoying all the christmas songs on the radio. our christmas shopping is almost done. hopefully we can go to disneyland sometime soon!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

turkey day art

okay, so it's a week late, but my mac is finally back in the room now. we are slowly trying to get our room back together now that the flooring is in. the kids room is really packed with our stuff.

thanksgiving came so fast. this year we tried deep fried turkey for the first time. it was good!

here's some thanksgiving art from school:



not too sure why there's an owl, but i thought he was cute enough to include. it's funny how malia puts she is thankful for her fish when she looks at it like once a month.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

people in the north pole

last weekend, malia and i snuck out to the mall while micah was taking a nap. malia only likes shopping with me if she can get something out of it. this time her mission was to get me to buy her some frozen yogurt. of course she talks the whole time we are shopping. and i wanted to post something she said that was totally random. it's amazing how kids come up with such random stuff. this was our conversation as we were going out of macy's.
me: oh lia, santa's here in the mall. do you wanna go
say hi?

malia: YES!!! can i take a picture with him? please?

me: sorry, not today. your brother's not here. besides, it's kinda
expensive.

malia: aww, but i want to. and you have to pay, because you have to help the poor people in the north pole.

me: what?! what makes you think there are poor people in the north
pole?

malia: because it's cold.

me: okay, santa sees you, wave and say hi.

my sister wondered why i had to tell her it was expensive to take a picture with santa. well, the word expensive has been in both my kids vocabulary since they were 2 years old. they need to know we can't afford to do everything. i don't have a lot of money. apparently the people in the north pole don't either.

i'll just have to wait to tell her that people don't live in the north pole.


Friday, November 19, 2010

the small tree is up

my mom always put up 2 trees during christmas time, a real one and an artificial one. my sister and i carry on this tradition, but since we have small kids, we both put up 2 artificial trees. the second tree that we use in our house was given to us by roel's mom when malia was 3. it has fiber optic lights that change colors. the kids love watching it. they wanted to put it in their room this year. the picture above is micah just sitting in the dark and watching it.

our big tree will go up tomorrow. the kids and i will have fun while they "help" me decorate it. and then when they leave to play, i will rearrange some things around, just like my mom used to do. i miss her.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

olegario convalidation


roel's sister, lori, and her husband, jojeann, convalidated their marriage in the church on 11/13/10. malia was their flower girl. she wore the same dress she wore when they got married in vegas last year. micah was their bible/coin bearer. and roel was her "patron of honor". it was cute because since lori has only brothers and jojeann has only sisters, they had best maids and men of honor. it was a very touching ceremony and the reception was filled with a lot of good food and company.

of course i'm speaking as her mom when i say that
i think she's absolutely stunning in this picture.

he's sitting on the bride and groom's kneeler.
i think this was taken after he leaned back and
fell through to the other side. he's so funny.

some details from the reception. i love details. the bride and groom made their own 2 tier cake. jos and i made the blue velvet cupcakes and the groom's sisters made the white cupcakes. there was a candy bar with themed white, blue, and silver candy. my cousin, who catered, made so many delicious appetizers and decorated so beautifully.
now we wait for the baby to arrive in february!

motherhood

no one ever said motherhood would be easy. then again, no one ever warned me what a whirlwind it would be either.

when i was single, i associated motherhood with bonding, cuddling, laughter, family vacations, etc. you know, the fun stuff. the picture perfect moments.

little did i know there was so much more involved. the worry and stress of leaving your child when you go to work and knowing that they are okay. the heartache you feel when they are sick or hurt. the sleepless nights that last way beyond their infancy. all of the things you have to pack just for an outing. choosing schools. all the things you have to remember to return to school by the deadlines. the homework. the fundraisers. doctor visits and shots. potty training. planning birthdays. losing my memory (and my mind). the list just goes on and on.

and i haven't even reached the teen years yet!

but i wouldn't trade motherhood for anything. i have learned so much about life and love from my kids. they make me want to be a better person.

the picture perfect moments definitely outweigh the tough stuff, and those are the moments that are embedded in my mind forever.

so what brought on this post? i forgot that it was sharing day for micah. and i found out that micah remembered and told roel before they left the house, so he was able to bring something. how cute is that? what do dads do again? just kidding. maybe.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

cv nature center

it's been a crazy busy week, getting micah better, preparing for roel's sister's wedding (post coming soon), the house getting fixed (raised again), and the carpet upstairs being changed to flooring.

when micah was feeling better (on 11/6), we managed to get ourselves over to the chula vista nature center before my groupon expired. it was our first time there. it's so close, who knows why we haven't gone before. we stayed for a couple of hours and micah had a fit when it was time to go. the kids got to touch the stingrays, a desert tortoise, and a snake (gross).


Thursday, November 4, 2010

my heart is broken

thanks to the really crazy weather lately, micah is currently asthma boy. he had a barking cough the other night which had me in tears. today he went to the doctor since he is very congested and has a fever on and off. he is breathing so rapidly, and his heart is beating so fast from all the albuterol.

this is our second day together, home from work and school. micah and i adore each other, but now that he has to take a lot of meds plus do treatment, we've gotten a little frustrated with each other. i know he doesn't feel well and it's not fun when someone is forcing icky tasting medicine in your mouth. even if i'm explaining why he needs to take it, that doesn't stop him from hiding from me. he doesn't understand how it hurts me to see him like this. or why i get upset when he makes himself throw up the medicine. i just want him to get better already.

but even when he's crying because he feels yucky or he's cranky, he still manages to be polite and sweet. he says thank you when i give him something to eat or drink. he also said sorry for throwing up the medicine. before he went to sleep tonight he told me, "i think my heart is broken, maybe i can find something to fix it." i told him that he had a big heart and it was just fine. he smiled and hugged me. it's my heart that's broken right now. please get better little boy.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

the girl is 7


malia turned 7 today! she made herself a birthday crown to wear to school. micah (asthma boy at the moment) came with me to her school to bring her class some cupcakes during snack time.

then we just celebrated at home with our families. her ninang lori and ninong jojeann made her cake. it turned out great. they are going to make their own wedding cake next week, so it was a perfect opportunity for them to practice.


malia said her favorite part of the day was when she got the snuggie (from the adventos). she has been wanting one since last year.

Monday, November 1, 2010

this is halloween


trick or treat day started off with 'tickle treats' in the morning, we had a good breakfast, and planned out our day. and then we almost didn't go out because i had to keep telling them to stop fighting or we weren't going anywhere. (goodness, they can be the best of friends and the worst enemies.) so when they stopped, we headed to eastlake village walk to celebrate ninong joey's birthday and to trick or treat at the stores there.

we only went trick or treating for a little while with the adventos and the castillos in the evening since it was a school night and it was pretty chilly. micah looked more like a race car driver with a lightsaber. after the first house, micah said, "i'm scared of halloween, it's dark." but after the 3rd house and seeing the candy, he changed his mind. and it's no surprise that my daughter actually asked someone for an extra piece of candy at their door. and asked another person why their decorations looked like christmas decorations. wow, instead of me giving her the rules to stay with her buddy, watch her step and all that, i should be giving her a list of what not to say. but that's malia. we ended the day with more 'tickle treats'. and now we can move on to christmas!

Friday, October 29, 2010

pumpkin station

i don't know why we always say pumpkin patch when it's called the pumpkin station. is it a fob thing? micah calls it the "pumpkin padge."

this is the only place where i remember to take malia's picture in the exact same pose to see how much she's grown. this is from 2005, 2008 & now. she's such a little lady now, especially with her coach purse from grandma.


since micah didn't really cooperate with taking pictures with the pumpkins in 2008, he now takes pictures with the ghosts. i hope they keep this prop forever. i wonder what year he'll be taller than the ghosts. he probably won't want to go by then, but i'll make him so that i can take his picture there.


this place is all about the dinky rides. the kids love it.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

honor roll assembly


our little girl made it on the honor roll again!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

santa is almost done

so now that the kids have already done some halloween activities, they are more than ready to move on to christmas. so am i, but i told them we need to at least wait until halloween is over.

the kids have already written their christmas lists. roel wrote micah's out, but micah knew exactly what he wanted. it's amazing how little kids come up with these lists.

malia's list for santa:
1. a purple gown (maybe the giselle dress can finally retire!)
2. purple unicorn pillow pet
3. pink crown
4. pink ballet shoes (she's not even in ballet, nor has asked to take a class)
5. tutu

she's so girly! purple and pink.

micah's list for santa!
1. toy story garbage truck
2. lady bug pillow pet
3. remote control garbage truck (really, how many does he need?!)
4. blue football (i think we have one already)
5. star wars space ship or gun
6. trumpet (random)

i told them that santa could probably only get them 1 or 2 things from their lists because these things are expensive. at least micah understands the word expensive, i don't think he would understand me if i said santa was on a budget. but the good news is that santa only needs to buy one more item from each list. unless of course there are really huge deals on black friday.

m&m's toy story party


we had the kids' birthday party on 10/17 at way beyond in la jolla (yes, i'm very behind in posting). the kids had been waiting so long, they couldn't believe their party was finally going to happen. we chose toy story as the theme since we love all 3 movies.

i had my mind set on keeping it simple, but all of my simple projects added up and i found myself running out of time. thanks to my family (roel, m&m, jos, hannah, lori & jojeann) for helping with all the details of the party. i couldn't have done it (or slept) if they didn't step in and insist on helping.


my main goal was to make all the kids woody vests. they were all sheriffs. malia had the only jesse vest. we made the cake, cupcakes, and cookies. that really saved us some money. the kids drank out of construction cone cups. we also made buzz goody bags to put the vests and a few goodies in. jos made the alien cake pops.




m&m loved their party. when we were at home eating dinner micah said,"i had such a great day."

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

grandpa's work party

roel's dad's work had a company party on october 9 (i'm just now uploading the pictures). the kids had fun jumping in the pumkin bounce house, playing games, making bubbles and sand art, getting balloon art, and getting their faces painted.

malia chose a princess mask. micah wanted a blue ladybug.
grandpa rollie did some magic tricks.

why do they have to grow up?

still can't believe my baby is 3. every day i realize more and more what a big boy he is becoming.

me: micah, don't grow up

micah: but i want to grow up

me: why?

micah: because i want to

roel: tell mama you're already growing up

micah: i'm already growing up mama

me: (sigh) okay, i'll let you grow up

micah: yay

Friday, October 8, 2010

disney in the rain

we had planned for a while to go to disneyland during halloween time on october 5&6, so we were a little bummed when it started raining, but that didn't stop us from going. luckily, the rain stopped shortly after we got into the park. we went as a star wars family. micah chose to be darth vader, but i had to put his raincoat on because his costume is so thin. and then he didn't want to wear his mask because he said it was scratchy. malia loves being padme. it was our second time to go to mickey's halloween party. the park gave out more candy this year, it wasn't crowded, we made it for the parade, and the fireworks were great! the kids had tons of fun, but micah fell asleep right before the fireworks.

it rained the following day, but only in the morning. we finally got to go on the nemo submarine ride because the line only took 15 minutes. the kids also rode pirates of the caribbean for the first time. malia got scared on both rides because of the dark. she's so funny, she was practically pushing us out of the way so she could get off the ride first. this was my favorite picture of the day, just relaxing with the kids on main street eating churros.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

don't buy those shoes

we were at the mall this morning because i needed to buy some shoes to wear for a wedding tomorrow. malia was with me and watched me as i tried on some shoes. she said, "don't buy shoes that are too sexy because then the other boys will think that you're not married." so i had to buy shoes she approved of. wow, flashback to the days when i told my mom if i approved of her outfits.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

my 3 year old

micah turned 3 today, he's such a big boy. i'm so proud of my boy!

he woke up in a great mood. then went to school and we met him there later to bring pizza & cupcakes for his class.


we celebrated with our families for dinner. i tried my best to make him a garbage truck cake. making cakes is not for me. i'll stick to cookies. at least he was happy with the cake.


before he went to bed, i asked him what his favorite part of his birthday was. i was sure he was going to say it was when he got one of his cool new toys. but he said it was the cake i made! i love love love him!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

more school pics


lia came home with her school picture today. every year when she comes home with her school pictures, i just stare at them and can't believe how much she has grown up already. (even though she has worn this dress in one of her preschool pictures. her look has changed, but her size is a different story.) she wanted her hair curled for this one. and i was very surprised when she didn't want her usual bling necklace on. she makes me smile.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

preschool pics



preschools nowadays seem to take pictures 3-4 times a year. it's kinda nice since they grow so fast and their faces change so much within a couple of years. these are my favorite so far. my little man in a tux. he told me he was going to marry me. cute, but i don't even want to think about him getting married, i'll start to cry. anyways, his BFF right now is adrian. last year it was diego. but they're all his friends. micah said adrian likes garbage trucks too.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

then comes baby in the baby carriage

malia comes home yesterday and tells me she learned a new song at school. "but it's kinda bad," she said. i asked her what she meant. she said, "you say a boy and a girl's name, and then you spell the word kissing." she told me she thought the song was funny at first, until they used her name in it. then she realized it was considered teasing. even though i knew the song (everybody does), i asked her if she could sing it to me so i would know what she was talking about. she was embarrassed to sing it, and it was funny because she used herself and micah for the song. "it's just an example," she said, "but i won't sing the song to tease anyone." at least i know i taught her something right.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

grandparents day at micah's school

last friday, micah's school celebrated grandparent's day. i'm glad roel's parents were able to go to see him at school and have breakfast with him. he really enjoyed it. it was the first thing he told me when i picked him up. "grandma and grandpa came to my school," he said as he was running toward me. they really made his day.

it's been a while

i like to post at least once a week because my memory is just horrible, but life has been chaotic the past couple of weeks. my dad went to the hospital on 8/31 for a subdural hematoma, which is bleeding in the brain area. he was in the ICU, but thank God it wasn't as serious as it could have been. he went home after 3 days and no surgery was needed. he will just be monitored. he just has a headache that won't go away because of the pressure in his head. hopefully it will resolve on its own. he does plan to go back to work and resume his normal activities as tolerated. we will just continue to pray for him and help him out in any way we can.

Monday, August 30, 2010

wilde party


took micah to LA with me to a birthday party yesterday. my very creative and good friend, whose son is named reagan wilde, turned 1. so the theme was 'where the wild things are'. it was held at a kids place called peekaboo playland. everything was so cool, from the cake and favors, to the balloon guy, to the photo booth, and just the place itself. i'm sure she will update her blog soon with all the pictures. micah had a blast and even did well during the drive. it was great one-on-one time with him.

dr seuss birthday



finally got more pictures uploaded. celebrated jonah & joelle's birthdays at kidventures in eastlake on 8.21.10. dr seuss theme and boy does my sister like to theme it up. we made a cat in the hat cake, cat in the hat cake pops, dr seuss themed sugar cookies, and green egg jello. the kids took pictures with cat in the hat hats in a frame. kidventures was really fun for both the kids and adults.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

some help with chores


a picture of my mama's boy in his underwear helping me out with chores. the vacuum actually picks up some stuff, but very little. i'm still searching for a real one with good reviews that can adjust to the kids' height. he likes it because it makes noise, but says my vacuum is too loud. micah helps out more with chores than malia does. maybe it's because he's still small and learning to do stuff on his own. or maybe he'll just make a great husband one day...when he's much older...like 30.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

why can't you sit still?

i was cutting malia's nails and she can't even sit completely still or be quiet just for that.

me: why can't you just sit still and be quiet sometimes?

malia: because i use my imagination

me: but doesn't imagination have to rest sometimes?

malia: imagination never rests

me: okay, if you say so

Friday, August 13, 2010

m&m's over me

sometimes i'm late for work because the kids wake up. it used to throw me off because i hate to be late for work, until i realized that sometimes timing is everything. too many times when i was running late, i would see an accident on the freeway. i can't help but think that it might have been me in the accident if i were on time that day. they probably saved my life.

this morning, micah woke up early and wouldn't let me leave for work. "i don't want you to leave," he said, "i go to work with you." so i turned on cartoons and gave him some milk. usually that's when he forgets about me and i can sneak out. not the case today. he came with me to pack lunches and lay out clothes. then malia woke up and wanted me to comb her hair, and micah didn't want me to help her. when i was finally putting on my shoes, he came crying again, "i don't want you to leave me." i tried to get him excited about playing at school and told him that i would pick him up as usual, but that didn't work. so i asked him, "if i give you two m&m's, will you let me go to work?" he was still kind of crying but he said yes. when i came back with the m&m's, i held them out and said,"bye micah i love you." he grabbed them, smiled and said, "bye mom, i love you." nice. now, should i have been relieved that we didn't leave on a bad note or should i be sad that he chose the m&m's over me?