Hello!  Hello! :)  I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend.  We did!  More than a wonderful weekend, we had a wonderful week.  I’m dying to tell you all about it.  You might as well expect a lengthy and picture-heavy post.

First, I wish to thank everyone who has been leaving comments.  It is very unlike me to not reply.  And I’m so sorry I haven’t been replying to the comments.  I will get around to doing that soon.  I’ve just been terribly busy.  Promise.

Now, on with the updates!

Monday to Friday

On 14 June, I mailed the loots to everyone who celebrated my blog’s 3rd anniversary with me.  I guess some snails move at a faster pace than the others. :)  One of ‘em got to New York on Monday.  One arrived in Holland in Tuesday.  And Friday, they got to Malaysia, Australia, Idaho and Florida. :)  Tin and Ela both featured their loots in their respective blogs.  It was weird for me to see my, er, handy works.  Hee hee.  But I’m giddy with excitement nonetheless.  And I’m happy everyone liked what they got.  It does feel good to spread some lovin’.

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Hubby and I met with Abby’s teacher for a one-on-one meeting last Wednesday.  Abby’s school holds a parent-teacher conference twice a year.  This was the second (and last) for the 2007-2008 schoolyear.  The first one was held in January.

Abby, in a nutshell, has learned and developed so much since January.  She mastered the letters in the uppercase form (Yeah, yeah, so your 18 month old child can, too! :P) and does very well in phonics.  She’s working on mastering the calendar, US geography and the continents and is starting to learn simple addition, subraction and the alphabet in the lower case.  There was a line in Abby’s evaluation sheet which we found funny: “Loves to help others even though she should be doing her work.”  This has been an “issue” in Abby’s first evaluation as well.  She tends to “supervise” and show her classmates how things are done even before she is finished with her own work.  This early, she’s already showing signs of becoming a power executive in the future.  Not bad at all.  Hee hee. :)

Abby goes to a montessori school.  I have to say that I am now a montessori convert.  If only we can find a Catholic montessori school ala OB Montessori in Greenhills!  The Montessori curriculum does not just focus on academics.  It gives due attention to practical living as well.  That means, Abby has also already mastered a lot of the things that are done inside and outside the home.  She can fold clothes, button & unbutton, zip & unzip, buckle and unbucke her own clothes.  She can go and do her thing in the toilet without any assistance, that includes “wiping” and washing her hands (but I still help her every now and then).  She can dust, wash, polish, sweep and do other minor household chores.  I think I should give her chores to do here at home now.  :D  Another wonderful idea!  Hee hee. 

Abby started school two years earlier than hubby and me.  At the rate she’s going, I know she will do so much better in school than hubby and I did. 

Saturday, 21 June 2008

Abby’s School Carnival

Saturday was our busiest day last week.  It was the most fun, too!  To celebrate the end of the 2007-2008 schoolyear in Abby’s school, which will come to a close this week, a school carnival was held at the school grounds. 

There was a giant inflatable, snowcones…

…a clown named Bonzo Crunch who made balloon sculptures…

…a mini petting zoo with goats, a bunny and a very pregnant pig…

…and face painting.  

If that face painter looks all too familiar to y’all, it’s because that’s me. :D I was able to put 5 years of Architecture education and 7 years of product design experience to good use.  I may have just found myself a new career. ;)  There was a number of us parent volunteers who helped in our little way for a good 30 minutes each.  Some manned the giant inflatable.  Some made snow cones for the kids.  And some painted faces. 

I have no face painting experience whatsoever.  I thought I had enough skills to draw a flower, a butterfly, and what turned out to be my bestselling design…a rainbow.  When I saw the “works” of the face painting parents before me, I wanted to backout.  They were sooo good they could have been doing it for a living.  When time for my shift came, I was ready to paint a flower…a butterfly…or a rainbow.  Guess what my first customer requested.  A unicorn!  Ugh.  Good thing I have enough experience drawing horses for my Mom.  Hee hee.  I say I did a pretty decent job. ;)  My rainbows were the best sellers.  The smiles on the little girls when I showed them the be-glittered finished product with a handheld mirror were just prices.  “It’s beautiful,” they would each tell me.    Good thing my shift was up when a little girl requested that I transform her entire face into a cat.  Ugh!  Saved by another parent face painter!  Hahaha.  Another kid requested that I paint an elephant on her arm.  The little girl was kind enough to tell me it did look like an elephant and that it looked nice.  I told her I love her.  Hahahaha! :)  Does anyone need a face painter?  Leave me a comment.  Hahaha.  Or send me an email at facepainterATmunchkinmommyDOTcom.  Kidding.  That email add doesn’t exist…yet.

Abby’s Dance Recital

The school carnival was from 9am-11am.  Abby’s dance recital was at 1pm, but she had to be at the venue by 12:45. Pretty hectic, huh?!  By 10:45, we were out of Abby’s school.  We had everything we needed with us just in case there won’t be enough time to go home and change.  But Abby was soaking in sweat after more than an hour of running and playing at the carnival.  We had to rush home and give her a quick shower.  I want my prima ballerina to look and smell perfect for her big stage debut. ;) On the way home, we bought take out lunch from McDonald’s and had our lunch inside the car. 

After a quick warm shower I got Abby ready.  One thing I never learned to do is braid hair or make a bun.  So I just kept Abby’s hair off her face the best way I knew how.  Before we left for the recital, I took picture after picture of Abby.  She was unusually game.  Hee hee.  Here’s a short slideshow of the photos we took at home and about 3 or 4 from the recital.

The recital was held at Grace Presbyterian Church, which explains the cloth with a cross in one of the photos.  Where are the dance photos?  I’ll treat you to something better.  I’ll post videos in the next few days.

All the parents were beaming with pride.  The girls and the one and only boy did a great job and no one had to be coaxed into performing on stage…except for one girl.  You’ll see her in the video. ;)  We will definitely enroll Abby for dance lessons again, either with Kinderdance or with another dance studio.

National Flip Flop Day

We had an unexpected treat from Tropical Smoothie Cafe which is just around the corner from where we live.  We usually walk going to that place for a quick smoothie fix.  Anyway, for the second year in a row, they declared that the first day of summer, the 21st of June is National Flip Flop Day.  The first 500 people to go to the cafe wearing flip flops will get a free 24 oz. smoothie.  I wrote about it in my Weekend Snapshot entry for Cafe Munchkin.  Do check it out if you’re curious.  Hahaha.  Needless to say, we made an impromptu detour to the smoothieshop coming from Abby’s Dance recital.  We all changed into flip flops first though.  Hee hee.

June 21st is National Flip Flop Day

Flip flopping mommy and daughter

And there’s a flip floppin’ Dad to complete the picture. :)

Sunday was spent pigging out on Asian buffet and catching up on much needed rest after the long and busy Saturday that we had.

That’s about it. ;)  I’m expecting this week to be just as if not more wonderful than last week’s.  For not particular reason really, except that I want it to be so. 

Let’s all have a great week then!  Cheers!