IMG_2975

Originally uploaded by aggietha.

Im not really good at doing my homework these days - I have not been taking pictures of the kids nor anything else that much lately. Too much work (I know I should learn to tread the fine thread between balance and working hard - working enough) that I spend most of my time in front of G. (I dont even tweet or chat that much). Example: I havent even taken a picture of Matthew in his school uniform (Can I hear a collected gasp from mommies who even had video cameras on Day One?! LOL. Sorry, Grade Two na anak ko, parang di na ako ganun kaexcited - hilong hilo pa ako sa antok twing umaga).

So, along with my Aggie Wants to Know and Hi-Lo weekly blog features, Im adding the “Right Now” feature” every week - this would allow me to blog about my kids, myself, the husband, the marriage and just “us” every week. (It is supposed to be all about family but work gets in the way. Besides, I want it to be more structured!).

Anyhow, Im rambling.
Let’s start off with my Moody Dude Prince - Matthew.

First, let me let out a huge sigh. (Yes, I have a penchant for drama, hahaha!)

Matthew started second grade in a new school this schoolyear. It was a co-ed school and guess what? He was voted escort of the class Nakakatuwa pa, sabi nya pagdating sa bahay, “Mommy, escort ako! Ano ung escort? Pag me new student, sasabihin ko “Welcome to {Insert Name of School here}!” (Parang linya yan sa Regine movie noh?! LOL). I just had to laugh.

The muse is an Italian girl named Carmela and boy, I think Matthew has a tinge of crush with the girl. They are seatmates and the Carmela is English-speaking - but based from what he is telling me - is kinda bossy and maldita (like me when I was studying - I was such a nightmare to boys I tell you!). She would tease him a lot, which would result to Matthew crying (Yes, he cried. I am afraid my son is not going to be like me in school).

So anyway, Matthew has adjusted to school - he is struggling with Sibika and Filipino though. Most of his grades are not perfect but Im just letting him study at his own pace. He is engrossed in playing Cabal (Hmm, Daddy’s influence) and singing.

Which brings me to another kwento - we decided to enroll Matthew in extra curricular activities in school - Voice and Art lessons (I can hear Glo clap on this news, she has been convincing me for the looongest time, LOL). He had his first session for both lessons Monday and Tuesday and he had a blast. Matthew really can sing - he has tremulo already and can really pick up a tune and he draws really well. So even if it’s added pay, sige na - Id like to expose Matthew to more stuff other than the academics.

We are looking for Taekwando or basketball classes too - sana laging quota si Mommy at Daddy so we can afford it

Onto some not so good updates:
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Thanks to Glo for the idea.

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A Day in the Life

Originally uploaded by aggietha.

Glo couldnt have said it any better. She had the bird’s eyeview of what my life is like for just five minutes. This week has been tougher than the rest of the weeks ever since I stayed at home. I am having trouble with boy regarding discipline issues, claiming he is always bored and always roughing the little girl. I am having trouble keeping the little girl clothed (as you can see in the picture), and making her understand that she doesnt need to change clothes everytime she goes potty. She is also having crazy tantrums when she gets irritated when I dont get what she says immediately. I kept texting and making drama to the Daddy that this week was really BAD. And Im not known for making exagg (yeah right! LOL). Pero yes, this week was really bad….and I feel a scrap page coming.

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Martha
Hi: Coming home from the grocery with two slippers (buy one take one for 120bucks) for her and seeing her face light up and her mouth saying “WOW!” when she saw it. She didnt take it off all night. (Martha likes big shoes and big slippers - not the toddler kind anymore with straps at the back - she got her wish - picture coming soon. She looks so Aling Martha!)

Lo: Martha wanting to sleep on her own. Yes. You read it right. She doesnt want to be cuddled for the past week to sleep. She just wants her dede and when you lay down beside her, she will say, “Alis.” She sleeps on her own now, on her own time as well. It’s driving me crazy. Since Monday, she sleeps at 12MN (she watches movies herself) and then wakes up at 10AM. She doesnt nap ALL day until 5PM when she just asks for dede and boink - tulog. At night, when I put off the lights and go to bed with the hopes of cajoling her to bed - she screams and says, “Mommy, puter lang, puter” — because the TV is near the puter.

Matthew
Hi: Matthew gaining neighbor friends! We found out his classmate lives at the house in front of us and for three straight days, they have been playing after studying. A friend of theirs remarked, “Si Mato maputi at di kalbo, tyong lahat kalbo at maitim!” He tells me that and I tell him, “It’s OK to be different. Pogi ka naman eh.” Hehehe.

Lo: Matthew losing his speech foam in class (within hours of buying it). I swear, my son is vain and maayos when it comes to HIMSELF, but with his stuff, OMG! He makes ayos his clothes and uniform in his room the night before, with his toiletries (cologne, powder and lotion) aside. But he always forgets where he put his pencils or things.

Martha is the opposite — she is very maimis. She puts back her toys, aligns her shoes, pushes back her high chair after eating to the wall - but couldnt care less if she puts on lotion after taking a bath. Baligtad.

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My contribution to the Thursday Thirteen 150th Edition

13 Updates with the Kids:

1. Matthew has started school (and it deserves a separate post I know - I just want to have nice pictures of him in uniform but how can you get one at 5:45 in the morning?!). He is in second grade and we just found out two days ago that his classmate lives in the house in front of us

2. Martha just recovered from three days of on and off fever. No colds, no cough, no anything. Just fever and some watery stools. We had her checked with a manghihilot (folk healer) and well, after that, she was back to her old hyper self. You can read more about it here.

3. Matthew has been sleeping at 8PM for two straight days now. He really makes it worth my while to really prove I am the one in authority at the house. (Kesehodang magkikisay sya sa inis, papatayan ko pa rin sya ng ilaw at 8PM. Ten minutes later, tulog na din sya. Ibig sabihin - pagod sya talaga, diba?)

4. Martha is really ALING Martha. When we were supposed to go horse-back riding last Sunday and I told her about it, she said:

“No, indi, ‘log Ma-tha.Cay-ful lang ‘orse ‘ha, walk lang walk. ‘Log Ma-tha, ‘got Lolo ha!” (Translated: No, hindi, mahuhulog si Martha. Careful lang and horse ha. Walk lang walk. Pag nahulog si Marta, lagot ka kay Lolo ha!”

She is exactly the same way with driving. Many a times Edil would hear Martha say “Cay-ful Daddy ha, Cay-ful!” When we swam here, she was such a Manang, screaming at first, “Mommy, lamiiiiiiddddd!” (Translated: Mommy, malamig ang water! LOL)

5. Matthew is obsessed with piggy banks and labrador puppies lately. Know why here.

6. Martha just developed a huge love for Barney. It is all because of the songs. And Baby Bop and BJ. It is like Kuya and Ma-tha

7. The kids are acting like cats and dogs these days. When I hear Martha scream, “Mommy o!” you can bet it will be overlapped with Matthew’s “Mommy wala akong ginawa!” Repeat that scene 10 times day.

8. The kids play with each other all the time. They play rough. They run around the house (inside). There is enough for them to get a workout Matthew treats Martha like a boy actually.

9. Martha is now becoming a girly girl. She loves having many clips on her hair, stays put when I fix hers, loves putting on lipstick - and changes shoes each time she goes out.

10. Matthew and Martha have been displaying signs of OC-ness which they got from me. I will explain it in detail soon **.

11. They both love munching on Honey Stars Cereals.

12. They love dancing silly together. Matthew calls it exercise

13. And as you see in the picture, Matthew has a crew cut and Martha has a belly already

Technorati Tags: Thursday Thirteen

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Thanks Mai!

I get to 1) have cute and adorable kids 2) hear myself called Mommy 3) be the ONE who can chase monsters away and make booboos disappear 4) return to my Maker the gifts He gave me by making my children noble soldiers of God. BUT

Mai could not have said it any better - I have learned the real meaning of unconditional love.
(These things could never compare to the riches of the world, even mansions nor diamonds and luxury watches)

I get to share this too, I think this sums up what I feel about being a mom these days

My Mom never had this chance - to stay at home and really take care of us when we were kids. Though I understand why my mommy wasnt able to be the one to cook for us and tuck us in at night, I have always dreamed somewhere in my unconscious that I wanted my kids to not have the same fate. I guess when I was a kid I was somewhat jealous of all the kids I know who had mommies at home. When I became a mother, times were hard and circumstances left me with no choice but work to support the family.
We went through many maids. There were months that we needed to have the kids hauled off to my parents because there was no one to look after them and we needed to work. It was really tough - knowing there is really nothing you can do because you have no choice. Then we decided family needs to come first and we sacrificed a little -I quit my job, we moved to the province and we had to endure Daddy being gone on weekdays to work in the city. It was a small price to pay for such a huge prize - I get to be with you everyday. I get to be assured that you are well-fed, educated and taken cared of because I am here. It is a thankless "job". It is harder. It is scary to live in a one-income household. I dont know until when we can hold this. But right now, I am so thankful for being able to given the chance to stay home. And Im going to drench this experience as much, and as long, as I can.

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My son, that is.
He is becoming obnoxiously annoying. And I say that in the most endearing way, hehehe.

(He has a habit of wearing his clothes inside out :D)

1. Lately, he asks questions about everything under the sun. Im even scared to tell him things because one thing leads to another and I will get irritated and tired answering his follow-up questions. For example, my sister showed him Taal Volcano and he panicked seeing how close it is to the place we are staying. He then asked if it’s dormant or active, when did it last erupt, what happened to the people living down there, what did it spew - lava or fire or magma or both (I had to correct him and say magma is really deep deep into another layer of the earth which started another round of questions….waaaaah). So my sister walked out on him. LOL. He then proceeded to my Mom and asked her about earthquakes and my Mom told him, assuringly, “Wag kang mag-alala, di magkakaearthquake habang andito ka” which did nothing, because he followed it up with, “Paano mo nalalaman un?” Meron bang way to predict earthquakes. Yada Yada Yada.

2. One time, my dad gave him a bunch of 5-peso coins. I think it totalled 40pesos. That was last last Monday. From that night until last Monday where we finally gave in, he has been pestering me for a piggy bank. Piggy bank. Piggy bank. I gave him a wallet and he said he wants a piggy bank so he can save properly (and so that I wont be able to get it, hahaha). After getting him one, you know what he did? He counted and counted and even warned Martha not to touch his money — only to find out he left the key inside the piggy bank…bwahahahaha.

3. He is now obsessed with getting a puppy - even to the point of praying for it. A family friend had his Labrador deliver puppies and they got to see them at 2weeks old. He fell in love and even came up with a way to propose getting one, LOL. He told me he can save until December and then we can just add money to his savings so he can get a present. He wanted to get one but Edil told him we needed to wait until they are 4 months because they needed to be with their mother, have injections, etc etc. I told him a puppy is like getting a new “Martha” - only he needs to be the one to wipe poo and all as well They need their own stuff - pet beds, pet shampoo, dog collars and dog food. I think for now, Matthew is still adamant to get one as I still hear him pray for it everynight

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You might have seen this in my Flickr.
Words elude me right now. Life has been so very busy, which is actually a good thing, if you think about it - Matthew’s first day of class today and what I thought was an 8AM class was 7AM :(. Poor kid.

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Last Day of Summer.
(We will have a last hurrah next week with a trip with my cousin and their kids next week).

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Battered. Bruised. GROUNDED.

Originally uploaded by aggietha.

Hay.

We have barely completed our house move and our furnitures get destroyed one by one. First, it was Martha swiping the TV. Now, it is Matthew jumping over our coffeetable - with glass.

I actually didnt see it because Martha and I were in the room, trying to get to her to sleep. I hear a loud bang and thought the maids broke plates or something.

I got out to see the coffeetable glass broken. (Naku parang umakyat lahat ng dugo sa ulo ko!!).

Matthew was sitting on the sofa, and he was really scared - of me making talak. He didnt see he was bleeding.

I was so angry to even react. When he saw he was bleeding quite profusely na, he started to cry. I was so mad, I told him, “Bahala ka sa buhay mo, mamamatay ka na naman” (I blogged about an incident before).

Proof that my son cant be a doctor. He wailed, “Mommy ayaw kong mamatay” He was saying this the whole time I was washing his wound.

So I was still making dakdak, saying, “Hindi ka si Superman anong akala mo, dak dak dak dak dak dak” LOL

I panicked when the bleeding wont stop so I called my Dad. Dad to the rescue, problem solved (I thought he’d need stitches).

Now, no computer for a week, no games for a week. And he needs to nap in the afternoons for a week to recover all the lost blood *wink wink* (Im a sucker for exaggerating stuff to him.LOL)

So here is the coffetable ruined,

A family friend, upon hearing the news, laughed. “Ano ba yan Aggie, isa isang sinisira gamit nyo, baka kelangan daw bago!”

The destroyers.
Ill be naming my kids like that from this day forward (parang kami yan ng bata.) LOL

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(Slowly trying to go back to blogging. Let’s do it with pictures - Im sure you missed my kids. I have been helping a family friend with her market research lately.)

Please go to my Flickr to view additional stories.

Of course, the real deal is.. Read more… »

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Just jotting down things Matthew has been saying these days.

While watching Rod Schneider in HotChick, he heard the word ’sex’, without batting an eyelash, he turned to me and said, “Mommy, what is sex?” I told him, “Too much kissing.” He reacted, “Yuck! Who wants to kiss too much? Madaming laway!”

He often would come to me during my quiet time with random observations like:

“Mommy, alam mo ba sa Lilliput people celebrate New Year by lighting candles all over the city?”

“Mommy, what is gravity?”

“Mommy, bakit di umuuwi si Daddy?” I told him Edil cant come home because of work. And then he rebutted, “Bakit ikaw umuuwi kahit me work ka?”

“Mommy, bakit di pwede makita ng tao ang mermaids?”

“Mommy, One-Two-Three is Isinisha in Chinese.” Edited: Matthew read this while I was away from the PC and told me, “Mommy - ICHINISA! And Japanese, hindi Chinese!” OK, I stand corrected.

“Mommy what does sanctity mean? Subtle?” — and a dozen more words I cant give meanings to. Good thing he understands the concept when I use it in a sentence.

He is also obsessed with music ALL over the world. We had a discussion for close to an hour about “artists” and how artists outside the country are called “foreign artisits”. He asked us if we know artists from Italy, Portuguese (he doesnt know Portugal), and Jamaica.

He then asked if we knew Jamaican songs. To which Edil belted out this song,

“You’re way too beautiful girl…”

I couldnt stop laughing.

**For scrapping***

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Matthew is the (only) man of the house we have these days. Edil works in Manila Monday to Friday so it’s just me and the kids with the househelp (more on that later).

Well, he has been adjusting to living here more than I am. He doesnt crave Jollibee anymore. He doesnt even complain that we still dont have cable TV nor antenna to get local stations! (Hindi ko napapanood ang Dyesebel!!! WAAAH!)

With me monitoring him, he eats rice three times a day, gets his dose of milk and brushes his teeth twice a day. He doesnt complain and eats quite heartily. This was because of a story I told him that he wont grow tall. He needs milk and sleep to get the milk into bones. He even sleeps during afternoons.

He still has his tantrums. But generally, he is better than his sister, the Monster. We had him reserved at a school we were suprised to find (It is near Tagaytay already). Nakakatawa talaga dito, ang malapit sa kanila malayo pa din kahit para sa amin.

We try to speak English for at least two hours when we talk, provided that the Monster doesnt butt in and speak in her Martha bulol language. He still needs to adjust to being flexible when it comes to his baby sister, but like I said in my earlier post, we are making progress.

Our quiet time happens when Martha sleeps at night. We bond over watching DVDs. We have watched Hot Chick, Shaolin Soccer and Taxi a lot of times already. Im sure he misses Edil, but I guess I will do for now. He also reads, even when the lights are out (and the TV is on). It’s a bad habit I know - hed be needing reading magnifiers once he reached his thirties

The Big Brother, he gets really more handsome each day.

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IMG_8559

Originally uploaded by aggietha.

Last night I had time alone with the boy. He is much more attached to his Dad now since they both have the same interests (boy games, Yu-gioh) and that Edil watches Nick Teens with him (Genie in the House, Unfabulous, Naked Brothers Bands). LOL. He is really becoming more grown up lately.

Well, anyway, last night since the dad was out, he had no choice but to bear with me And well, he actually enjoyed himself. I asked him what were his favorite songs these days (so I can scrap it), and he went as far as telling me “Mommy sulat ko ha, para di mo maforget.” Then he even told me, “Mommy ask me questions like nung five years old ako.” OMG. Ive beeing this “Q&A” with him since he ws five and I forgot he was seven already! I plan to compile it and present it to him when he grows up - the answers are hilarious.

Yun lng. I had a date with a boy last night. It was fun.
And now my morning is completely ruined because I received a life insurance quote in the mail again for the nth time when I told them Im not interested already!

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I communicate with my kids the whole day even while at work.

We keep a mobile phone for Matthew and keep the PC turned on all day so that YM is on as well. (We have the window for Mommy open so that Matthew just types his messages).

Just a few minutes ago, I panicked because Matthew isnt picking up his cellphone.

And his YM was disconnected. My sister was there and I told her to connect me to Mato.

And here is my YM making dakdak to Mato:

Aggie: mato bakit wala ung cell mo san nakalagay.
Aggie: tumatawag ako tapos binubusy
Aggie: uuwi ba si daddy
Aggie: wala na akong cellphone ala nang battery eh
Aggie: late na ako uuwi.

Alam mo sagot ni Matuting:
Mato: mommy kaya ko di nkasagot dhil kasi di ko mahanap

Before lunch, my mom called and told me Martha was calling me in her mock cellphone.

I was stunned. Martha was really communicating over the phone. When you ask her, she answers. We talked for over 30 minutes, most of which of course I dont understand anymore. LOL.

What stood out was when she said, “Mommy come here, ‘lis” (Bilis).
And then my mom told me she was walking while talking to me with her hands on her waist.
Akala mo kung sino ginagaya ehehehehe.

And of course the husband.
Whenever I scrap, I lock myself up in our room (kasi me aircon).
One time, I shouted from upstairs, “Thart, mag-YM ka nga?”
So he did.

I messaged him, “Pahingi naman ng tubig.”
Gusto kong sapakin ni Edil eh. Hehehehe.
He went offline after that.
And told me to learn how to go down the stairs.

_____________________
My mom’s side of the family is dealing with hair loss - it’s in the genes. Two of my uncles have receding hair lines at age 30 and my mom’s forehead is getting bigger. My other aunt, based in San Jose, CA, even went to a hair restoration doctor! Dr Kabaker is a San Francisco hair restoration specialist and came highly recommended. She will be trying it and will recommend him if he is effective. As you can see, all of them are excited about it

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