MSS Field Trip

Last February 20, Bela together with the other MSS students had a time of their life during their culminating activity for February, which is their Field Trip.

The call time was 7:30 AM. Bela must be so excited because we did not have a hard time waking her up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she quickly asked us if we can give her a bath because we will be going to Ocean Park with her classmates and teachers.

My dad drove us to school as we will all be taking the bus to reach all the three destinations listed in their itinerary. We were just in time because the bus left as soon as we are settled in our seats.

Our first destination was the DollJoy Museum in Pasig. It is a workshop and a doll museum in one. They did the tour simultaneously – the students inside bus number 1 will have their time inside the museum first and when they are finish, that is the only time that students from bus number 2 can enter. Since we are bus number 5, we are the last one to enter the museum and it is already almost 9:30 AM when we are finally done with our tour. We were informed that the mermaid show at Manila Ocean Park will start at exactly 10:30 AM so we have to hurry. We were not able to check out the souvenir store as they were telling us to hurry up so our bus can leave and make it to the 10:30 AM Mermaid Show.

We were really not lucky as our bus driver doesn’t know his way around and he was even rude and is shouting constantly at Bela’s teachers. When we reached Ocean Park, the Green Cocoon had a group shot outside as we thought that we did not make it to the Mermaid Show. But I think the show started a little late as we were able to catch at least half of the show.

After watching the show, we were given 1.5 hours to explore the Oceanarium. Of course Bela went crazy checking the fishes and the other sea creatures. We still have 45 minutes when we’re done with the Oceanarium so we decided to go the second floor to try the Glass Bottom Boat ride. This is one of Bela’s favorites. Then we went to the souvenir shop for some souvenir shopping for Bela.

We had lunch after and we went to CCP Complex, at the office of RealShip Corporation for our yacht ride. It was a 45 minutes cruise along Manila Bay and it is the best way to end the day.

Bela really had a wonderful time and Howell and I did too even if we were really so dead tired after that long day.

You can view more pictures here.

For our 10th

Bela will be turning five years old this coming November. My husband and I celebrated our fifth year anniversary last month.

I can’t believe that time flies by really fast. I guess what they always say is true, you won’t notice time if you are really having fun and I can say that having Bela and Howell in my life must be the most fun and fulfilling thing that I ever had in my life.

Howell wanted to have a renewal of vows celebration when we turned five years but since we have plans to get pregnant before 2009 ends, I told him that the planning would be difficult especially if I am pregnant and told him that we might just have it when we turn 10.

If you will ask me, I like to have one of those destination weddings to celebrate our 10th year anniversary like the wedding packages that El Dorado Royale Resort is offering. I always love beach weddings and if we will have it in one of the romantic resorts of Karisma Hotels, then it would really be a dream come true for me. Imagine saying I do again to my husband with the ocean, the sunset and the white sand beach as our background. Then we can have our honeymoon too there as the resorts are really very romantic – Casita Suites with veranda hammocks, king sized Jacuzzi with the view of the ocean from our room. Perfect!

Securing their Future

My lunch mates are all out today because it is their team building so I just had lunch inside my room. To pass time, I listened to DJ Mo’s interview with Adel Tamano, PLM president who is now running for Senator under the party of Manny Villar.

Adel said that his platform would mostly focus on education as he thinks that it is the most important to help the Philippines get out of poverty. He is running for senate because he is concerned with our country and he is concern because he has kids of his own and one of them even has mild autism so he wants to secure the future of his children by doing his part as a senator to fix our country if he wins.

I feel for him because I too have kids and I am worried too of the future of Bela and our second child if our country continues to sink in poverty. That is why I am also finding ways to secure the future of my kids. Just like now, I am checking for life insurance online quote to check life insurance for me and my husband so we will be sure that our kids will be secured no matter what happens to us. At least we have our own peace of mind that they will be covered no matter what and this is really one of our top priorities.

This coming May, we will be voting again for new leaders of our country. I hope that we will all make the right choice as the future of our country and our kids really lies on the hands of our politicians. So do your research, think hundred times before deciding who deserves your vote this coming election.

CNY @ MSS

Since majority of Bela’s classmates at school are all Chinese and the owner of the school is also Chinese, the Chinese New Year celebration is a big event at their school. So last Friday, MSS celebrated Chinese New Year with a bang.

All the kids were asked to wear cheongsam or any red-colored dress for the event. (That is why we went to Binondo last week to look for a cheongsam for Bela.) They had a puppet show, a dragon dance and fireworks too.

I think this is Bela’s first time to witness a dragon dance so I am not sure if she will get scared of it or not. My mom was telling us that Bela’s first reaction when she saw the dragons was that she covered her mouth so my mom thought that Bela got scared. But instead of fear, it was actually excitement that Bela felt as she run in front to be close to the dragon. She even peeked inside the dragon’s mouth and pose beside it for a picture.

Howell and I can’t take a leave from work so my mom was Bela’s photographer that day. When they fetched me from my office that day, Bela was full of stories on what happened that day which is a real sure sign that she really had fun celebrating Chinese New Year with her classmates and teachers.

You can view more pictures here.

Bela’s Journal Report: January 25 – 29, 2010

Can you suggest any of the best wrinkle treatments available? I will really go crazy and grow old dealing with my current yaya. I already rant about it on my other blog and today is her last day so instead of ruining my day thinking about it, I will just post Bela’s Journal Report for January 25 – 29, 2010.

Dear Mom & Dad,

It is the last week of the month and we had a great time learning new lessons and activities prepared for us.

This week, we had one more exciting activity as reinforcement on transportation. Last week, the kids enjoyed the Calesa ride and this time, they had fun riding a motorcycle, tricycle and motor bike. They were trilled and had fun riding the said vehicles. It was another exciting activity and we can say, what a ride!

Of course, even if it’s been a busy week, we hadn’t forgotten our lessons. For phonics, we introduced two CVC families: /an/ and /ag/. Some kids did not have a hard time blending the letters together while some still need to practice blending and reading. However, we are still doing more drills on this to help them in reading the words much faster. We also talked about rhyming and sight words.

For Math, we still continued to give drills on numbers that comes before, to help them fully master the said concept. We introduced the concept of ordinals (First (1st) – Fifth (5th). We also discussed story sequencing.

For Science, we introduced the different means of communication. They enjoyed our various activities: Call a home plus a fun chat with Mom & Dad. The kids were excited to use the phone and also to talk to their Mom & Dad via the internet and the web cam. Aside from that, they learned how to fax a message using a fax machine and had a great time exploring the different communication gadgets like: Cellphone, walkie talkie, telephone, newspaper, magazine and computer.

Another fun filled week has ended. We await next week’s activities as we will have another fantastic and exciting week.

Drum Lessons: 1st Day Today

I promised my friend that I will accompany her to look for eczema treatment but I forgot that it is Bela’s first day of class for her drum lessons so I told my friend that we will do it tomorrow.

I am so excited because Bela’s drum lessons have been postponed for two weeks already. The first time it was cancelled was because Yamaha made a mistake with their schedule and they made a double booking for their 1:30 PM class. Then last week, Howell has a photo shoot and we also went to the doctor for my checkup and Bela’s checkup so I decided to just reschedule it for this Saturday.

Bela is already taking a bath and I will prepare after her and we plan to leave at around 1:15 so we will be sure that we will not be late. Bela is so excited already. She has been practicing all morning the things that her instructor taught her during her trial class.

I asked Howell to bring her camera so expect for pictures that I will post here.

Bela's Close Encounter with the Dolphins

A few weeks ago, we we’re able to visit Ocean Adventure in Subic (you can read my post about it here.) While we we’re having lunch, I checked the website of Ocean Adventure as I know that they have several Animal Encounter Programs.

I got interested with their Dolphin Beach Encounter for Bela. In this animal encounter, Bela can get to experience wonderful whales and dolphins encounter in the shallow water for 30-minutes. The adventure begins with a short presentation on marine mammals, then meets these friendly animals eye-to-eye, hand-to-fin, and foot-to-fluke. Bela can touch, feed, and hug the whales and the dolphins and she can even participate in a demonstration of their sonar ability.

The sun was really up and it was really hot but I don’t mind being exposed to the sun as I know that I can use best eye wrinkle cream for my wrinkles so after learning about this animal encounter program, I called them and reserve a slot for 2:30 PM as I know that Bela will surely enjoy this. We quickly finish our lunch since we need to be there at least thirty minutes before since Bela still has to change to her swimming attire.

When we arrived I went directly to the booking counter and when they saw Bela, they said that she can’t join the Dolphin Beach Encounter as it is for kids 7 years and up. LOL. Too bad, Bela was so excited already and is looking forward to swimming and playing with the dolphins. So I just booked for their dolphin photo encounter instead and she got this close with the dolphins:

She really had a blast and the dolphin trainers were so amazed at how brave she is. She was even able to have her picture with the dolphin on her own when the staff from Ocean Adventure said that for sure she will get scared and asked Howell to pay also so he can join Bela. They refunded Howell’s payment though because Bela did it on her own.

They have an ongoing promo for embassy and airlines employee and they are giving 50% discount for the entrance fee until March 31, 2010. We are planning to go back here as I am sure Bela will not get tired of this adventure.

Bela's Journal Report: January 18 - 21, 2010

Bela is really doing good in school (do you think I should look for unique gifts for her? LOL.) Her teacher said that she is showing more interest in her writing drills and so I am really happy because that is one of our concern for her if she will be going to big school this school year.

To continue with my posts about Bela’s Journal Report, here is her Journal Report for January 18 – 21.

Dear Mom & Dad,

We are having so much fun learning about different kinds of transportation. Indeed it is more exciting when the kids see the real thing and distinguish them from the pictures we show them in class.

Last Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to get a chance to ride a kalesa. The kids were truly ecstatic with this one of a kind experience. When Ysabela was asked if she wanted to be the pretend driver of the horse, she refused and was content in riding at the back of the carriage. Although she was quite hesitant in coming near the horse for a solo picture, she was still able to smile a little.

In class we have been quite busy learning about different kinds of transportation, reading cvc /at/ words, ordering objects that are first and last and sequencing numbers by identifying what’s before a given number. Ysabela understand a big part of the lessons imparted in class. She has no difficulty in concepts such as = and not =. Number that comes after, more or less, <>. Plus she is able to read most cvc /at/ words except for the word vat. More so, drills on reading cvc words will be very helpful to make her excellent reader.

Our Foundation Day Celebration was also a wonderful experience for the kids as they all blew the birthday candle for MSS’s 9th year foundation.

===

Side Kwento: I was a bit surprised when I read from the report that Bela is hesitant in coming near the horse as I know that she loves riding and seeing horses. So when I asked her why she doesn’t want to touch the horse, her answer was:

Bela: “Because the horse is stinky mom.”

Field Trip on February 20, 2010

This coming February 20, 2010, MSS will have their annual major and final culminating activity – a field trip for all MSS students. MSS have come up with a trip tat would be fun and learning filled for the kids as they aim to expose their students to hands on and exploratory activities.

Their itinerary for February 20 will be as follows:

7 AM: Departure from MSS
8 AM – 9:30 AM: Doll Joy Museum
10:30 AM – 11 AM: Mermaid Show @ Ocean Park
11 AM – 3 PM: Tour of Ocean Park, Lunch, and yacht ride
4:30 PM: Arrival at MSS

Looks like it will be a really long and fun day. These places will be very fitting to end their discussion on transportation and animals plus it will also be a recap on their previous themes: community helpers and clothing.

Bela is really so excited as soon as she learned of this field trip. Every day she would ask us when is their trip to Ocean Park and when will she gets to ride the yacht. That is why I am really making sure that there is no reason for us not to make it on the said field trip. I even doubled her dosage of ascorbic acid and I made sure that she takes her vitamins religiously so she will be in tip top shape on her field trip.

I already paid for the fee for me and Howell so we can accompany Bela for this field trip. I too am excited as I can’t wait to see the smile on Bela’s face as she enjoy this fun filled day with her classmates and teachers.

Bela’s Journal Report: January 11 – 15, 2010

Assessment Week for the Cocoon

Dear Mommies and Daddies,

Good Day! Talking about what we did during the vacation was surely memorable for all of us. Last week, we had a great time learning new lessons and enjoyed the activities prepared for us.

It’s assessment week again! Aside from their lessons and doing their activities for this week, each kid spent his / her time and gave his / her best in answering his / her worksheets. They were excited in waiting for their turn to answer. Some were a bit anxious when teacher called them but eventually got the hang of it after.

As busy as we are with assessment, of course we did not forget to learn our lessons. We discussed the medial letters /o/, /i/, and /u/, different kinds of water transportation, comparing set: more or less, greater than or less than and number that comes between. To make it motivating and fun for everyone, we prepared art activities like paper boat and raft. At the same time, we enjoyed playing with them in the water play area. We also had a show and tell of the water transportation that the kids brought to class.

Another busy week has ended and we deserve a great time with our loved ones this weekend. Have a nice and blessed weekend!

Ocean in my Pocket

Last Friday, I met up with my high school buddies for dinner and coffee at 6:30 PM. I decided to be there early so I can still do some errands before meeting up with them like look for eczema treatment and buy gifts for the Christening and two birthdays that we will be attending this weekend.

As I was going around the toy section to look for gifts, I found this:

This is a newly released toy which I think came from the same maker of Puppy in my Pocket, Kitten in my Pocket and Jungle in my Pocket. Honestly, I got really excited upon seeing it as I know Bela will go crazy collecting this new set of Ocean in my Pocket toys.

I bought one set and I gave it to Bela this morning and she quickly asked us to open it and she immediately played with it. Bela got tired of collecting the puppy, kitten and jungle in my pocket already as she have almost all the toys in the series so I am happy that they came up with a new series of toy to collection that I am sure Bela will love to collect.

Chinese New Year Celebration @ MSS

Last Saturday after Bela’s OT session, my mom asked us if we can accompany her and my aunt at Binondo to look for a medicine as best hemorrhoid treatment. I suddenly remembered that I also have to look for a cheongsam for Bela as they will be having a Chinese New Year celebration in school this coming February 12, 2010.

As I read from the notes from Bela’s circular folder, students are required to wear a cheongsam or any dress that is red. They will have the usual dragon dance (which I am sure Bela will really enjoy), fireworks (this I am not sure as Bela sometimes get scared of fireworks) and puppet show.

When we reached Binondo, we parked our car at the public parking near Eng Bee Tin store and we walked a few blocks to look for stores that sell cheongsam. We checked out quite a number of stores before we were able to find a store that sells cheongsam for kids. My mom wants to go around first as she finds the price quite steep but I told her that I don’t want to get lost inside Binondo. LOL. But the quality of the cheongsam that we bought was quite good (the owner said that it came from Hong Kong). We were also able to buy lucky charms and tikoy too.

Now, Bela is really ready for their Chinese New Year Celebration in school. Watch out for pictures of Bela wearing her cheongsam which I promise to post here next week.

Enopi Math & English: Enrolled

I made a post here a few weeks ago about our dilemma on whether we will enroll Bela to big school or not this coming school year. This has given me quite a number of sleepless nights (that is why I badly need acne solutions) thinking about this dilemma.

But so far, hubby and I is almost 90% sure that we will move her to big school already. It is just a matter of decision now on whether we will enroll her at St. Theresa’s College or St. Scholastica.

One of the few ways that we are helping her prepare for her enrollment to big school is helping her with her writing skills. We were informed by the Admission Officer of St. Scholastica that we should really train Bela with her writing and she should be really trained in writing by the time school starts in June. Our style is that we will try to practice her writing when we are at home but if Bela doesn’t want to, then we will not force her. Hubby and I realized that this is not really helping her and we really need an expert to help Bela. Hubby’s initial suggestion was to get a tutor that will train Bela with her writing but I realized that instead of just writing, why not enroll her in the Enopi program so she will get training in Math, English, Critical thinking and her writing.

She already started with the Math program since January and she is currently enrolled in both English and Math program. Bela is actually having fun as the Enopi worksheets are really colorful with full of drawings so Bela is really inspired to finish her worksheets. Even when doing homework, it will only take her less than 10 minutes to finish 4 pages of writing assignments so I am happy with how she is enjoying the program.

Her teacher even commented on her last journal report that Bela is already showing more interest in her writing drills so I am really thankful that we decided to enroll her in extra-curricular activities such as Enopi, that will help her with her writing problem.

Bela's Journal Report: January 5-8, 2010

I can’t remember the last time I posted a Journal Report of Bela from school so I will just start with her first journall report for 2010.

January 5 – 8, 2010

Dear Mommy & Daddy,

Happy New Year! We would like to extend our warmest greetings to everyone. It is the first month of the year 2010 and we are excited to learn again. It is a new year indeed and that means new exciting lessons and activities for us.

Our theme for this month is about transportation. This week, we discussed land transportation. We enjoyed making paper mosaic of different land transportation as well as playing and exploring different kinds of it. We already introduced the medial letters /a/ and /e/. At first, the kids were confused but as we got along with the discussions they were able to get the concept of medial letters. In Math, we introduced the concept of comparing sets: equal or not equal. The kids were excited to sort objects according to their set. We also learned the concept of number that comes after. We were able to review numbers and counting numbers in order.

We are just on our first week in school and we still have more in the coming weeks. We look forward to more exciting activities ahead of us.

Summer Activities for the Bratinela

I was looking for seo tool to help optimize search engine positioning for my blogs, but then I realized that it is already February and in just a few months it is the summer months again and it is time to look for summer activities for Bela.

We already enrolled her to the drum lessons of Yamaha School of Music. She will have her first lesson next week and she is just so excited. She was suppose to start last week but the secretary of Yamaha made a mistake and made a double booking for the 1:30 schedule and so Bela’s schedule was cancelled. Since it is Bela’s schedule for her vaccine this Saturday, I advised them that we will just start next week.

This is a 12 session lesson, so I know that it will last until summer but I want to look for other classes that we can enroll Bela in. We will definitely enroll her for MSS Magic Strokes and Reading Readiness program (though I am still thinking twice for the Reading Readiness and I have to check who the teacher will be first for that class) so this will be her activity from Monday to Friday.

As for her Saturday schedule, I am checking at Aqualogic’s Aqua Kids class and I want to enroll her here and hopefully it will not be in conflict with her drum lessons. I also am checking for the ice skating lessons of SM though their website doesn’t really provide that much information. Bela actually loves to go back to her ballet class but I inquired at CCP and it will be a 3x – 5x a week program for their summer class since they will have a recital after the summer program. And since she will have an everyday class already at MSS, I don’t think this will be a good schedule for her.

I am excited already and honestly, I really can’t decide which classes should I enroll Bela in this summer.

Parent’s Love

Last Sunday, Bela was really sick. She vomited 7x that day even until 1 AM Monday morning. It started when she drunk Zesto which he threw up a few seconds after drinking it. Since then, she said that she has awie tummy and after every milk feeding, she will throw up again.

We did not want to bring her to the emergency room because we know that all kinds of laboratory exams will be done to her if we admit her there. So we just called hubby’s friend who is a pediatrician because we can't contact Bela's doctor because it is a Sunday and we don't have her cell phone number. Since Bela doesn’t have fever, she said that it is okay if we don’t want to bring her to the hospital yet and she just prescribed pedialite and anti-histamine medicine.

The last time Bela threw up was at 1 AM and the next day she is the same active Bela. But we let her skip school that day and hubby and my mom brought her to her developmental pediatrician in St. Luke’s. Bela had urinalysis but good news is that the results were ok.

Howell said that it breaks his heart every time Bela is sick like that. That is why he will really do anything for Bela. I remember when Bela had allergy and she has been coughing for weeks, Howell immediately installed humidifier filter to help cure Bela’s allergy. Bela is really a daddy’s girl.

But I guess, all parents will really be heart broken seeing their children get sick and be in that condition. That is why we are really hoping that Bela will not get sick like that again and that is what we are always praying for – that God will always protect our kids and keep them safe from any harm and sickness.

Happy

Now that I am on my 5th month of pregnancy already, I can already feel my baby move inside me. It is really a wonderful feeling. Howell sometimes gets jealous because he still can’t feel the baby’s kick, not like me, who can always feel how the little baby inside me is growing.

Having Bela is the most wonderful gift we have ever received from God. And now that she is to become an ate soon, we feel more blessed for another blessing that God has given us. I have to deal with loosing weight later (but I know I need not worry since I will be able to find a healthy weight loss program to help me go back to my pre-pregnancy weight) because all I feel right now is nothing but utmost happiness, excitement, joy and love.

We all can’t wait to see the coming of the second addition to our family. Everybody is excited especially Ate Bela. I will have my ultrasound next month and hopefully we will know if we will be having a baby boy or baby girl. I will also have my 4D ultrasound and we are really excited as this will be our first glimpse of how our baby looks like.

I am thankful that after being on bed rest for more than a month, I am doing much better. Please continue to pray for the safety and health of our baby.

Bela @ Ocean Adventure

Hubby has long been planning to take us to Subic so Bela can visit Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari. But since I am pregnant, I am always lazy to get up early and I would rather stay at home and sleep.

But last week, hubby was able to convince me to have a day tour in Subic. We left a little late though since we woke up at 8:30 and we still have to prepare our things and I have to ask Bela to finish her homework first before we leave. It was already 10 AM when we left Manila. Good thing SCTEX is very reliable that we arrived in Subic in less than two hours.

We looked for a restaurant where we can have our lunch as we are all very hungry already. We are all not used to Subic so we ate at the first restaurant that we spotted and that is Aristocrat. While waiting for our food to be served, I asked Bela again to finish her assignment on the median sound and she was able to finish it in less than 5 minutes. They also have a wifi signal and I was able to browse the website of Ocean Adventure and discovered that they have animal encounter programs. I got interested with the dolphin beach encounter where Bela can get to interact with the whales and dolphins for 30 minutes in the shallow water. I booked for their 2:30 schedule.

After lunch, we went straight to Ocean Adventure as it is almost 1:30 PM and we we’re instructed that we have to be there around 2:15 for Bela’s beach encounter schedule and she still has to change to her swimming attire. She was really excited and was even asking me to change to her swim suit on our way to Ocean Adventure. But then when I was already paying for our tickets and for Bela’s beach encounter, we we’re informed that they can’t let Bela do the beach encounter as it is strictly for kids aged 6 years old and up and the water might be too deep for her and she might get scared. Bela was a bit disappointed but I told her that she will have a photo encounter instead with the dolphins and whales.

The first show that we saw was the Sea Lion show. I asked Bela to approach the trainer of the sea lion so she will be picked as volunteer to be kissed by the sea lion during the show. Unfortunately again, the trainer (Kuya Dan) told us that they have to pick an adult female but she invited our family at the training center after the show so Bela can meet the sea lions. Bela enjoyed the sea lion show as it was very entertaining (with audience participation) and the sea lion and Kuya Dan was really funny. After the show, we went to their training center and Bela had a VIP encounter with the sea lion and we had our photo op there.

Then we watched the Walk on the Wild Side show but since we’re late, we didn't find any vacant seats left and so we we’re standing up under the sun while watching the show and it was really hot. We did not watch the Rap, Jump and Roll show as it was held at an open theater and again, we don’t want to watch the show under the sun.

The last show that we saw was the Dolphins show and it is my favorite. I even prefer it than the Dolphin Show at Ocean Park in Hong Kong. After the show, I signed up for a photo encounter with the dolphins for Bela. The one in charge for the sign up was hesitant at first that Bela can have a picture with the dolphin on her own but they we’re amazed at how brave she is. The only time she asked her dad to carry her was when she noticed that her boots are getting wet already. LOL. But she had a blast playing with the dolphins.

And by the way, we got our tickets at 50% off because they offer 50% discount until March for all embassy and airline staff. So even though there are some instances that we felt we are unlucky, the day ended really well as Bela really had a time of her life. I will definitely go back here.

You can view more pictures here.

For Our Growing Family

I am now on my fifth month of pregnancy and I can’t help but wonder if my husband and I can really be able to raise our children well. Of course we will really try all that we can to be good parents and one way of doing that is to be able to provide for their basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and good education.

That is why my husband and I have been discussing and we realized that we should not just rely on our job but we should have other means of earning money also. We did some research and we realized that because of the unstable economy, it is really important to do research to find the best investment option and that is when we realized that in times like this, it is time to buy gold bullion.

Why gold? We have been reading the website of United States Gold Bureau and learned a lot about gold investment. Ever since, gold has been a very powerful metal. It is one investment that you will not worry about since it doesn’t depreciate in time and is indestructible. It also offers investors different options for investment as they can choose between coins or bullion. And what’s best is that experts from United States Gold Bureau can help us form start to end with our investment so we will be sure that we will only get the best investment for our hard earned money.