Monday, November 3, 2008

The Backyardigans Fever

I really don't know why but my 7 year old got hooked with The Backyardigans once again. Her recent favorite is "Into the Deep" which has the Bollywood music style. It's amusing to see her dance and sing the song "Our Garden" with Tasha and Uniqua who are mermaids in the episode. It's not an easy song to sing (according to her daddy) but it's fun for her.

To help her out I searched for the lyrics of the song and for those who are also interested here it is:

Our Garden (by Tasha and Uniqua)

Uniqua: If you’re a fish that’s kinda fishy, or a thief out there in the reef
It’s time to turn and swim the other way!
Tasha: If you’re a coral that’s immoral, or a shark out in the dark
Goodbye and have a pleasant day!
Uniqua: To all you sketchy mollusks and you interloping clams
Tasha: You underhanded turtles with your underwater scams
Uniqua: To all you thieving catfish and dodgy lobsters, too
Tasha: Our garden’s not for you!
Uniqua: Hey, hey...
Tasha: We shout...
Uniqua: Go away...
Tasha: Keep out...
Uniqua: Excuse me, beg your pardon!
Tasha: Whoa, whoa...
Uniqua: We yell...
Tasha: Please go...
Uniqua: Farewell...
Both: It’s time to leave our garden!
Tasha: If you’re a bass that likes to trespass, or an eel that wants to steal
You’ve come to the wrong place!
Uniqua: If you’re a salmon who is scammin’, or a perch who likes to lurch
Then do an about-face!
Tasha: To all you shady tuna and misbehaving groupers
Uniqua: You murky deep sea robbers and underwater snoopers
Tasha: To all you shifty mackerel and creepy clownfish, too
Both: Our garden’s not for you!
Uniqua: Hey, hey...
Tasha: We shout...
Uniqua: Go away...
Tasha: Keep out...
Uniqua: Excuse me, beg your pardon!
Tasha: Whoa, whoa...
Uniqua: We yell...
Tasha: Please go...
Uniqua: Farewell...
Both: It’s time to leave our garden! Yes, it’s time to leave our garden!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Successful Weaning!

I had blogged about weaning my younger daughter from breastfeeding here and I realized it's nearly a year since I first attempted to wean her. She's turning 4 years old next month and it's only been 5 days since I stopped breastfeeding her.

Yeah, yeah, it took a long time before she finally stopped but because she's the only baby and I'm a full time mom and housewife, I really did not feel the pressure to wean her until now. She still tries though, especially at night, to get me to give in to her but I have resolved not to. To make up for it, we supply her with her favorite yogurt drink as well as chocolate milk.

Weaning my daughter has given me a bit of freedom. Not much really, but just enough for me to have continuous sleep at night. There are times though when I miss the closeness that we had when I was still nursing her. But then again, our kids have to grow and slowly learn to be independent and this is one step my daughter (as well as her Mommy) has to go through.

The transition went well and I'm pretty sure we'll both have our weak moments but I will make certain we will not give in and stray.

Kudos to us mommies who are for breastfeeding. We know and offer the very best for our little ones!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I Need a Break!

Last night I remembered about my blog. It's been more than 2 months since I updated it. I thought about the reasons why I haven't been blogging -- I have lots to blog about but I just don't have the time.

Lately I have been getting less than 7 hours of sleep everyday. I wake up early to prepare my older child for school and I sleep late because of the oh-so-many things I need to do with the added responsibility of taking care of my Aunt who has Multiple Myeloma and is on chemo.

My Aunt lives alone next door. She has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma 5 years ago. Lately, it's more difficult for her to move around and so she's always in bed. We have been on the lookout for somebody to take care of her needs but with my Aunt's "micromanaging" it's hard to find someone who has the patience to be with her. So, until we do find somebody, the responsibility to take care of her falls on me.

I love my Aunt and I don't mind taking care of her, however, the added responsibility has robbed me of my "life" as well as that of my family. We can no longer go out whenever or wherever we want like we used to. We've been eating canned goods lately because we don't have time to go to the market. It's been really a stressful situation for all of us these past 6 weeks. I feel like a prisoner in my own home.

I need a break and I'm really hoping we'll be able to hire somebody to be with my Aunt soon. That does not mean I no longer have a part in taking care of her -- I will continue to have a part in providing for her everyday needs but I will sleep better knowing somebody is with her especially at night.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Extra Cash For Moms

For Stay at Home Moms like me, earning something extra for our family is a big thing. With soaring fuel prices, everything goes up as well. I therefore find it a blessing when I get to join sites where I can earn extra cash to help pay the bills.

If you're like me and you'd like to earn something while taking care of your family then SWATcash is for you. It's actually an enjoyable way to earn extra cash. Truth is, it is a pleasant diversion for me especially when I get too stressed out with the kids.

So far I've been paid more than $200 by SWATcash and I'm expecting a bigger paycheck this month.

It's free and fun, more so if you're a Mom. Join now!

Here's proof of payment I received from SWATcash.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Breastfeeding -- Smarter Kids

Another reason to breastfeed exclusively -- smarter kids.

A new study offers some proof that breastfeeding produces smarter children. Mothers who exclusively breastfed their babies scored better on intelligence exams.

It seems that mothers who choose to breastfeed are different from those who choose not to breastfeed. With breastfeeding taking more time, mothers who do these invest more time with their kids and interact more with them.

If you breastfeed, your baby will not only enjoy the health benefits of breast milk but can also be smarter too.

Read more about breastfeeding and smarter kids here.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Warm Cycle

My little girl loves eating noodles. One time her dad got the leftover noodles from the refrigerator which elicited much glee and excitement from her.

"It's still cold," my husband said. "What are we going to do?" he asked.

"Put it in the washing machine," my daughter seriously replied while pointing to the microwave oven.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Funtastic Art

My two kids attended a 3-week art workshop held at our local museum. It was a fun, educational experience for my daughters as they freely expressed themselves using watercolor, crayons, pastel, paint, natural clay, stones, canvas and all sorts of materials.

My older daughter was very expressive in the execution of her artwork but she wanted to work fast and was unmindful of whatever mistakes she had committed. My younger daughter had only 2 subjects in mind -- cats and pigs.

I was with them all throughout their workshop and and I have seen how they interacted with their art teacher and classmates and how intent they were in doing their work. Both of my kids enjoyed making pictures using paint. They love mixing the colors and coming up with different effects. They were both pleased with what they've created and I was happy to see them looking proud of their handiwork.

My main objectives for enrolling my older daughter was for her to improve more her socialization skills and to discover her artistic abilities. With my younger daughter, it was more about improving her fine motor skills and also to encourage her to express herself through drawing and painting.

I don't expect my kids to be great artists but I would like them to be well-rounded individuals who know they have the freedom to express themselves in whatever form they choose. As their teacher would say, "Kids should be free to learn and express their ideas and not be limited by what adults expect them to do."

Friday, March 28, 2008

One Sandwich Only

Although my older daughter is not fond of junk food she loves to eat and is now overweight. I've talked to her about it and she knows that she has to do her morning exercise daily as well as cut down on the amount of food she eats.

One day, I prepared chicken sandwich for her breakfast. She loves chicken sandwich and given the chance she'd have more than just one. But she knows she has to control herself. After eating the sandwich I prepared for her she looked at me sadly and said, "My tummy is still hungry." She then looked at her tummy and said, "Stop it tummy. You have to wait for lunch. Mommy will cook yummy food."

I'm glad that my daughter understands her situation and is making an effort to lose weight.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Bedtime Story

Last week we bought new books for our kids. When it was time for bed, my husband got one book and started reading to my older daughter who was already getting comfortable lying on the bed. She did not seem interested to listen but my husband still read the story to her since he felt it was ok even if she fell asleep in the middle of it.

Out of the blue my daughter faced her dad and said, "Are you crazy? I'm sleeping."

Moral of the story: Don't read to a sleepy child if she's determined to go to sleep. :-)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Health Issues

The past weeks had been very stressful with my older daughter being febrile for a week right after my younger daughter got sick for 3 days. She had occasional colds and cough and no other complaints. When we paid a visit to her doctor, white spots were noticed on her throat indicative of strep infection.

It really baffled me because my daughter did not complain of a sore throat at all but I did see the spots and saw exactly the same image when I did my research online after our visit to the doctor. Because of a previous allergic reaction to penicillin, my daughter was given erythromycin and it took 2 days before we saw the effect.

While she was sick, my daughter missed school as well as seeing her friends. When she was younger it was very hard to make her drink her medicine but last week she eagerly took her medications because she really wanted to attend school. After being absent from school for 3 days she became depressed and occasionally was seen crying silently. It was heartbreaking to see her so sad that I even prayed that her illness will just transfer to me so that she could resume her normal activities.

But God has other plans and now she is able to attend school once again. I'm hoping and praying that she'll continue to enjoy good health. The same prayer goes for our whole family.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A Relaxing Weekend

So much for New Year's resolutions... I still am not able to update my blog weekly. There are so many things I love to do but I just don't have the time to do them at all. I am glad though that I was able to watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy again for 3 consecutive days (Friday to Sunday).

I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I really enjoyed watching them again with my family. My kids, young as they are were also engrossed in the movie and I was amazed to note that they did not get scared at all by some of the characters in the movie. My older daughter showed maturity as we watched the fight scenes together.

When she was younger, she used to imitate angry or fighting characters that she saw on TV but not so much now. Comments like, "It's not nice to fight," can be heard from her while we were watching the movie. She also talked about what she think the characters' moods and emotions are.

I had fun watching the LOTR and it renewed my desire to read Tolkien's books once again. Now that my older child is getting better in her reading, she's also getting more interested in books and reads anything that she sees on our TV screen. My younger daughter also loves browsing books and she makes up her own stories based on the pictures.

I am looking forward to a relaxing afternoon with my family reading books. The love for reading is one thing I hope my kids would develop.

Friday, January 25, 2008

It's 2008

Happy New Year!

Wow! It's been more than 2 months since my last post. So many things happened to me and my family (I forgot some already) but I just did not have the time to post them. I'm just happy to say that we're all in good health and we feel so blessed in many ways. God is really good!

Hopefully I'll be able to post at least once a week for this year.