McDonalds kiddie Crew: Graduation Day

Last April 8 was the graduation day of the first batch of McDonalds kiddie crew workshop. My dad picked me up at the office after they drop Bela and my mom at McDo so I can watch the event also.

It was just a simple ceremony:

• they had games (it is like a children’s party)
• talent show
• presentation of art works of the kids during the work shop
• presentation of certificate of participation

Bela really had fun during the work shop and she even gained a lot of friends. Even the crew and manger of McDo all love Bela because of her charming and sweet personality.

Kids today are so lucky they have all sort of activities that they can enjoy during their summer break. Bela really had a blast and I will recommend this program to all my mommy friends for their kids. I will surely enroll Bela again for next year’s summer workshop.

Blogging for Bela

Bela has been so busy the past couple of months that I am so behind blogging all bout her activities. Thanks to the free notepad software that I installed, NotePad++, I was able to create a list of it so I won’t miss blogging any of her important activities.

I have actually started using VirtualDub to edit the videos that I took during Bela’s activities so I can easily embed it to my blog post. I have Open Office installed on my laptop also so I can compose blog post during our stop over so I have something to be busy with while waiting for more than 10 hours before we will arrive at our destination.

In less than two weeks, we will be leaving for our much awaited US trip. Bela is just so excited as this trip is actually for her as we will be going to places that she loves like Sea World, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Zoo and many more. I am sure after this trip, my list for things that I need to blog will be longer as for sure, I will have lots of story to share after this vacation.

And I am excited to say bye bye for the meantime to the software that I use for work like PuTTY and Pidgin as I am so looking forward to spending some quality time with my family.

A Lawsuit

Bela was born with a congenital heart disease called Ventricular Septal Defect. This means that she has a hole in her heart. We are so lucky because the position of the hole was not sensitive that it did not require an operation. But Bela’s doctor had to prescribe a medicine for her to regulate the flow of blood in her heart to help her with her breathing.

According to Bela’s doctor, VSD is one of the most common congenital heart disease for babies. We can never really say what caused this heart problem so there is really nobody to blame for what happened to Bela.

But the condition of our neighbour’s kid who has a cleft lip is a different case as they suspect that this was brought about by the medicine Topamax that the mother took while she is pregnant.

I told them about Topamax lawsuit and they are really keen in finding out if they have a case against the makers of this medicine. So they contacted O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949.

Lawyers from O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath have the experience and the expertise to handle personal injury cases such as the case of our neighbour so I am sure that my neighbour is in good hands.

McDo Kiddie Crew Day 2, 3 & 4

My mom was not able to bring a camera on the second day of Bela’s with McDo’s Kiddie crew workshop but my mom said that Bela had so much fun:

• The kiddie crew assisted in the counter, in serving the guests, in taking care of the guests’ orders and in preparing the orders. Bela’s favorite is the time that they spent in the kitchen preparing the orders like French fries, soda and float.

• The kiddie crew also assisted in cleaning up the restaurant by cleaning the tables and the windows and even the Ronald Mc Donald statue outside the store.

• They also had an art time where kids were given Mc Do’s art materials

The workshop lasted for two hours everyday. It is practically the same routine for day 2 to 4 and Bela always had a blast.

After the workshop, Bela still has energy to play at the Play Area just outside McDo while they wait for me.

A Boo- Boo

It was a very busy Wednesday for me at work as it is just a short day as we were dismissed early. I did a last minute check of my email and to my hurry, I accidentally deleted the email from Bela’s school regarding their enrolment. I asked a co-parent and she confirmed that it is regarding the online enrolment form that we signed up for.

I really need to get that email as I need to enrol Bela the soonest possible time as I want to accomplish this before we leave for our vacation. Good thing I was able to contact their IT section through the help of my co-mommy, Melay, and they promise to resend to me the email when they go back to work on Tuesday.

At least after enrolment, all that is left for me to take care of includes:

• shopping for school supplies for Bela
• labelling the notebooks and books of Bela which I can easily do since we have one of those reliable epson printers at home that I can use to print labels for Bela’s notebooks and other school supplies
• have her measurements taken for her school uniform

June will be a busy month for us as it is the time for our move to the new house, and Cobi’s first birthday party. So I really wanted to accomplish as much as I can now so Bela will be ready for school opening come June no matter how hectic our schedule is for June.

A Battle for their Child

It is Bela’s schedule of check up with her doctor last week and I can’t help but listen to the conversation of the parents sitting beside us who has a child with a cleft lip. The parents are confuse as to how this has happened to their child since the mother did all that she can to protect her baby during her pregnancy. Her doctor suspects that it could be caused by the medicine that she took for her migraine.

I got curious and did more reading in the Internet and sadly, I discovered more medicines that are being linked to other serious illnesses like bladder cancer which is caused by a medicine to cure Type II diabetes, which is Actos.

To get justice, these victims must therefore act and consult lawyers from firms that can help them file a lawsuit to make the manufacturers of this medicine pay for the injury that they have caused. One of those law firms is Watts Guerra Craft LLP, an actos cancer law firm.

The attorneys of these law firms knows the ins and outs of filing for a pharmaceutical case so victims will have a bigger chance of getting a just claim for the damages that they have incur.

McDo Kiddie Crew: Day 1

For this summer, Bela is not that busy as compared to last year. I just let her continue with her Kumon English program as Kumon requires continuity and they discourage taking breaks. I also enrolled her again to Aqualogic’s swimming class which she has been doing for a year already. Her only new activity for this summer was Mc Donald’s Kiddie Crew Workshop.

I have long wanted to enrol her to this program as I find it cute for kids to be serving as McDo crew but she is always too young for the minimum age limit. The actual age limit that they accept is 6 years old but I tried inquiring anyways at McDo Harrison Plaza and they are just so happy to accept Bela in their program. She was part of the First Batch, together with Owie, her classmate from St Scholastica.

Last April 4 was the first day of the workshop. It was actually their orientation and the kids were given a tour of the kitchen and the restaurant and were given instructions on how to be a good kiddie crew.

Howell took an under time from work as he needs to attend to some errands and he dropped by McDo first so he can take pictures. Here are some of the pictures of Bela on her first day as a kiddie crew:

On Preschool and Motessori Method

When my Bela turned two years old, my husband, my mom and I have been debating whether it is time for Bela to enter Preschool or it would be best that we just let her stay at home.

My mom is a retired preschool teacher but she is so used to the traditional method of teaching where kids should be behave and should learn to just stay put on their sit as they listen to what the teacher is saying. That is why my mom was so scared to enrol Bela to preschool as she thought that it might be a traumatizing experience for her at a very young age.

But we discovered, Giraffe, a Childcare Dublin and Early Learning center which offers Montessori Method of teaching. With this method, children are allowed to explore and learn through play. Children will also get to learn and explore in their own pace as each student received a one-on-one lesson from a teaching staff.

Because of this discovery, my mom finally agreed to enrol Bela to Preschool and we are glad that we made the right choice because she enjoyed it. We believe that she is a smart and confident kid now because of her experience in a Montessori environment during her preschool years.

And now that we have Cobi, we will not think twice and Cobi will also get to experience the Montessori Method of teaching when it is time for him to go to school.