Munchkin Mommy

Happy Holidays, y’all!

We’ve been following a crazy schedule since Friday last week.  We watched Playhouse Disney Live on Tour on Friday night, tried to get some shopping done and had a late night with friends at the Trail of Lights on Saturday and then we went to a holiday party at the farm of Abby’s classmate, in freezing temperatures at that, on Sunday.  I will post photos as soon as I can.

It’s bound to get crazier in the next couple of days what with the holiday parties we’re  scheduled to attend and other lakwatsa we’ve lined up for ourselves.  We’re definitely going to make the most out  of our time off from school (that’s Abby and me) and work (Hubby).  No mad morning rush for now.

Here are two  videos taken during Abby’s dance class’  holiday performance.  Consider these Abby’s Christmas presents for you all.  The video quality isn’t so good if viewed here, but clicking on the video will take you to the main YouTube site, where the videos can be viewed in high definition.  Crystal clear!  Oh and more thing, we were not able to secure a nice spot for video taking so you can’t see Abby’s feet in the first video. Bear with us.  Hee hee.

Here’s the ballet portion of their presentation…

And here’s their tap number…you’ll have to strain your ears to hear the music. :D

And with that, our family wishes all of you a most meaningful and joyful Christmas and a wonderful and richly-blessed New Year!

Cheers!

Kakaibang pangangaroling ang isinagawa ng Kinderdance (siyang nagtuturo ng ballet, tap at gymnastics sa mga pre-schools) ngayong taong ito.  Dumalaw sila sa mga tahanan para sa mga matatanda para maghatid ng saya sa mga nakatira roon.  Ang nakaraang Sabado, ika-13 ng Disyembre ang takdang araw para sa paaralan ng aking anak kasama ang dalawa pang pre-schools, kung di ako nagkakamali.  Imbis na kumanta, ang mga bata ay sumayaw.  At imbis na humingi ng aguinaldo, ang handog nilang pagsasayaw na ito ang kanilang naging aguinaldo para sa mga matandang naninirahan doon.

Heto ang aking paboritong ballerina sa mundong ibabaw…

Habang may ibang grupong nagsasayaw, ang ibang mga bata ay nakaupo lamang habang naghihintay.

Sayang nga lamang at hindi kami nakakuha ng maganda-gandang puwesto ng aking asawa.  Habang kumukuha siya ng video gamit ang aking aking camera (wala kaming videocam!  hehe!) gamit ko naman ang aming lumang P&S na kamera sa pagkuha ng mga larawan.

Narito ang ilan pang mga larawang kinuhanan ko noong araw na iyon.  Pasensya na, stagemommy po! :)

Kasalukuyan ko pa lamang ina-upload ang mga videos sa YouTube.  Maya-maya ko na lamang ilalathala. :)

Maligayangang pangangaroling sa inyong lahat at mabuhay! :)

My Mom always teased that I had very limited peripheral vision.  She says I walk around as if I have blinders, like those of race horses. :P  I’d already be walking alongside or bumping into someone I know and I still won’t recognize or notice the person…at least not right away!  It’s as if I always have stiff neck.  Hee hee.   And last Wednesday, I realized for the nth time that there may be some truth to my mom’s teasing.

Hubby was out of town on  that day so the morning was extra stressful for me.  Abby and I were rushing (as always!).  I prepared her lunch, got her dressed, got ourselves in the car and drove off to school.  We were already a few miles away from home when I noticed that the car in front of me had ice on the trunk and the rear window.  Only then did I snap out of the morning stress spell I’m usually under and allowed my eyes to wander.  Other cars had ice on them, too!  I was beyond thrilled when I saw that the rooftops were subtly covered in white…ice…ok, snow!  I excitedly told Abby to look around her, too, that there’s snow!  We were both giddy on the way to school.

Snow in Texas is a rarity.  It’s short of a miracle to even have the teeniest bit of snow even for one day during the entire winter season.  That explains our excitement, thank you very much.  Hee hee.

When I got back home, I immediately bundled myself in warm clothing, wore a pair of mittens, grabbed my camera and walked out of the house to take some photos.  I couldn’t care less that the temperature was around 34F!

I first took a pic of the back of our house.

Not much but enough for 2 or 3 glasses of halo-halo. :D

Next, I walked towards the main road where I had a perfect view of the golf course and the huge houses there.

I went to the pond next and clicked…

…and clicked some more.

Before anyone could dial 911 and report that a mad woman was taking pictures of their houses in freezing weather,  I headed back home.  I should have worn something to cover my ears.  They almost turned into chicharon.  Hee hee.  Anyway, back home, I headed straight to Abby’s bedroom and found ice on the windowsill…

Here’s another one.  Oh just humor me, will you? :P  Promdi moment, I tell you!

From Abby’s room, I went straight to the master bedroom, opened the windows (and let the cold air in!) and took a photo of the shingles right outside our window…

Of the tens of photos I took that morning, this one is my favorite…

I love how the gutter gleamed in the sun and how the ice sparkled!  Dazzling, isn’t it?  Much like the skin of beautiful vampires exposed to sunlight!  Sorry. It’s a Twilight thing.  Hee hee.

What I learned from the news it that the night before, at around 11pm, there was soft powdery snowfall.  I was still very much awake that time and I regret not looking out the window. Ugh!  Oh well.  I hope we have another night like that, better yet, a day like that…soft powdery snowfall in the daytime, please! :)

And that’s  my mad dash around our little neighborhood.  Thank you for accompanying me!

Happy Friday, y’all!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Pinakamahalagang regalo kong itinuturing ang buhay…ang isilang at mabuhay.  Nagpapasalamat ako sa Diyos at ako’y pinahintulutan niyang mabuhay.  Dahil sa ako’y nabuhay, nakamtan ko pa ang ibang mahahalagang regalo: ang aking pamilya’t mga minamahal ang unang-una na sa lahat!  Talaga naman napakaganda at napakabuti ng buhay.  Bukod sa pagmamahal ng pamilya, masisilayan mo ang ganda nito sa bawat pagsikat ng araw…

…sa kagandahan ng kalikasan…

…at pati sa paglubog ng araw.

May mga taong kung minsa’y nakapagsasambit na sana’y hindi na lamang sila nabuhay, dala na rin ng mga suliraning kung minsa’y dumarating sa atin.  Ngunit habang tayo’y nabubuhay, buhay rin ang pag-asa.  Hindi habangbuhay ang mga suliranin.  Pasasaan ba’t matatapos rin ang mga ito.  Kaya’t huwag kang malungkot.  Huminto panandalian paminsan-minsan at huminga ng malalim.  At maniwala ka, ang ganda at ang sarap mabuhay!  Tunay na isang regalong napakahalaga!

Isang pang lahok para sa Litratong Pinoy:  Mahalagang Regalo ng Paglalakbay

Mabuhay!

Howdy, y’all!  Ooh, that sounded so Texan!  Hahaha!   I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  We had a blast!  We’ve been keeping quite a hectic schedule since Thanksgiving.  It’s a happy kind of hectic and not ho-hum at all.

Wake-Up Santa

Last Saturday, we were up early so we can take Abby to the mall for the “Wake-Up Santa” activity.  We arrived a few minutes late and Santa was already wide awake when we got there.  Abby had only one photo with Santa and Abby looked like she was the one who needed waking up.  She blinked!  Ugh!

Oh well, it doesn’t matter.  Abby looks beautiful just the same.  Hee hee!

The main venue for the activity was the food court.  One has to have breakfast after waking up, right?!  *wink* Breakfast (chicken sandwich) was provided by Chick-fil-A.

Last year, Santa table-hopped while the kids were having their breakfast.  This year, Santa merely greeted and posed with the kids while they were standing in line to receive their sandwich and juice.  It all happened so fast that the latecomers didn’t get to see Santa anymore.

The kids were given dough and cookie cutters to play with after breakfast.  Abby wasted no time busying her hands.

She made a snowman, which she insisted should have legs.  I convinced her to just put arms instead.

Here are some more photos of Abby at work…

It was just as well that the activity finished early.  Hubby and I had two hours to check out Macy’s morning specials, which was only until 1pm. *wink*  We didn’t go home empty handed, that much I can tell you.

Hello Groomed Eyebrows!

Just before heading out of the mall, I made an impulse decision to have my eyebrows threaded.  I haven’t had my eyebrows done by anybody in the length of time that we’ve been living in Texas.  While I prefer waxing over threading, I decided to go for it.  I’ve only had threading done once and I remember that it hurt.  I almost backed out when the girl ahead of me, a teenager I think, was sobbing silently on the chair.  Poor girl!  Still, I went for it.

What do you think?  I felt so much lighter afterwards.  A quarter of the weight I’ve been lugging around all this time turned out to be excess facial hair.  Kidding. I said goodbye to my upper lip hair as well.  I went all out!  Ha!

MP VS ODLH

In the evening, we hung out with friends to watch the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar de la Hoya.  Funny because back home, we just waited for the delayed telecast on television.  Not once did we pay P500 each for the live broadcast/screening that are usually held in movie theaters.

Virgin live broadcast viewers that Hubby and I were, we were happy we didn’t jinx the fight.  :P  Before the fight started, I asked Hubby who boxing experts thought would win.  Manny was supposed to be the underdog, I was told, and at the start of Round 1, I saw why.  Pacman looked, well, small.  Needless to say, we were all hopeful…noisy hopeful!  Hahaha!  I won’t be surprised if the cheers from Round Rock, Texas was heard all the way in Las Vegas!

Y’all know what happened during the fight.  Hubby said you can tell that Pacman has the fight it in the bag when you start feeling sorry for his opponent.  And I will have to agree.

So, congratulations, Pacman!  Congartulations, Pilipinas!

oOo

I wish you all a wonderful week ahead!  Cheers!