All by Myself!

Most of the time you will hear Anevay say "No, Mommy, I can do it all by myself!". Oh yes, my little girl is already practicing some independence. She is bent on doing everything by herself nowadays. I am quite happy that now she can eat by herself already. Yeah at the age of four I am still spoon feeding her until this week. It's the only thing that I have not trained her to do and now, that school is over and we have time on our hands I let her do it by herself.

Anevay is not hard to trained. Actually it was through her initiative that she stopped drinking milk in the feeding bottle when she was three and also we stopped using diapers at that age. Now, my baby is really not a baby anymore. I don't need to feed her because she can do it already. How fast time flies.

Daily Q&A

Every day I am trying my best to allow one hour of my time to practice Anevay's reading and writing skills. I find it easier now since all I need to do is some fine tuning. I know I won't be able to do such things if I work again. I have this nagging thought of applying for a new job again (no, not any healthcare jobs ) but when I asked permission for my little girl, her outright answer is NO! So, do I have a choice? Maybe, after ten years or so. haha.

Well, I cannot complain. Despite the fact that there are times when I feel like reviving my career, I still feel that I am destined to be a stay at home mom. And I am really thankful that because of the husband I was able to fulfill that life long wish withouth thinking of 'insufficient income'. And I am blessed to be beside my daughter as she grows old. We are on the road of learning. She keeps on asking every single question that I need to answer. And fortunately or unfortunately, her interest now lays on the SOLAR SYSTEM. Which quite frankly is my least favorite topic. haha. Her last request to her daddy is to buy her a telescope.

She fancies the following IPAD application about the SOLAR SYSTEM.


Believe me I feel like a student again having a graded recitation every time she asked me about the moon of Mars, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd planet, etc..etc. But I am sure proud that she is an inquisitive little girl interested in educational stuff.

Moving Up Pictures

I still can’t get enough of the Moving Up ceremony of the little girl. We had a simple dinner afterwards at Café Lidia and the food was great. I would be coming back there with the husband when he comes for his vacation.

For now, let me share with you some pictures.

The kids here are from the PM session. One of the two posters outside the school.

My pretty little girl..

she performed with Dragony, her dragon stuff toy..

and here is our moment…

I am so proud of you baby! Love you so much!

Pre School Comparison

School is over. Summer is here. And the sun is causing me some face problem. I think I might need a blackhead removal tool soon. Anyway, since we have finished the school year I guess it’s now okay for me to have a comparison on the two pre school that Anevay have attended this past two school years. As a mom, I always want the best for my child no matter what the cost is, especially when we are talking about education. And I won’t settle if I have doubts about the capability of the institution. In 2009, I enrolled Anevay in Ingenium. If you search for feedback about it in the internet you can say that aside from ISYC it is tagged as the best preschool in Marikina. This was the reason I chose it to be the first preschool of my daughter. I would have like ISYC if it’s closer to home but it’s not. I was having second thoughts on Ingenium when I learned that they would be having 18 students in one room with only two teachers and one teacher assistant. I should have listen to my doubts because when school year 2009 – 2010 ended, I was assessing Anevay and I found out that she only learn a little in the school which prides itself as a progressive school. When Anevay entered school she already knows the alphabet and numbers but because of her age she was put in a level who only color and sing and dance. Don’t get me wrong. I know kids learn through songs and coloring but what I don’t understand is I don’t see any teaching that resembles that the school is indeed a progressive one. Also because they are 18 in class, sometimes the kids come home with bruises. One even has a wound in his finger because of a door accident. So at the end of the school year I was thinking of transferring my daughter. The problem was I don’t have much choice.

Then when were in vacation in Kuwait, a mommy friend told me about a montessori which is newly opened. I have my doubts again because we will be the first batch just in case we enrolled Anevay. When we went home, we visited the school. and I was superbly impressed with its facility. I also like the teachers, they are welcoming. So, I decided to try them. And now the school year has ended, what can I say? Well, they are just what I am looking for. The teachers teach from the heart. They only have eight students in the morning and nine in the afternoon. They know the kids personality and how to accommodate their personality so that they would fit in the classroom and learn. Now, Anevay is starting to read. I love the activities they have come up all year round. And when I met my accident they were there to assist us. They send me handmade cards from the kids, the parents and the teacher themselves. I just love everything about the school. And I would definitely recommend it to parents with kids two to five. Smallville Montessori really is a progressive school which uses the principle of Maria Montessori in teaching.

The Speech

Whenever Anevay come home from school, I would automatically inspect her bag and get her notebook because that’s where all the reminders are written down by her teacher. So when she came home Monday last week and I found a note to help her with her lines I was thrilled. She would say her first ever speech on the moving up celebration. I realized this must be the feeling of my mom when I go up the stage and perform. haha. I was nervous. But as this would be her first time, I already prepared myself that the speech won’t be perfect. Not that I don’t have faith on Anevay but based on my experience and if she inherited my genes (lol!) there would be some nerves there.

Her is her speech :

“To our dear parents, tito and tita, lolo and lola, saying thank you is not enough to show how happy we are for the love and care. But we will say it anyway”.

During practice, she always asked me what’s next. And I would answer her. I just have this feeling that she would do that on the actual speech and I was right. On the middle of the speech she asked her teacher ‘what’s next?’ which made everybody laugh. But all in all she did great! And I am so proud of her.

I realized that having blogs and posting on free accounts really has benefits. IF youtube won’t close until Anevay is a grown up she would be able to watch her 1st speech. Who knows this would the first of many, right?

Moving Up Ceremony

March 18, 2011, the ceremony started at 4pm. Before the ceremony I tried to connect via Smartbro but their was no signal. I was hoping to be online in YM so that the husband can watch the program. If only I have a facility like a wilson cell booster canada but I don’t have any so I just settled in taking videos. I am quite fortunate that at the time of the program, my legs are already strong and seems normal. I just used the cane to move around. I asked one of the parents if I can exchange seats with one of her grandsons because I need to take a video of Anevay. And I am so happy that I was able to capture everything. Oh not everything. I wish I could have taken a video of the teacher saying the descriptions of Anevay’s award.

This is the award which Anevay received. Call it mother’s instinct or gut feel but when her teacher was describing the award I know it’s meant for Anevay already. So, I listened to it intently forgetting to video it. hmp! I was already preparing myself to walk.

This was done by one of the mommies of SVM and was posted in her FB account. It’s so pretty! The kids perform four songs from the Sound of Music : DOREMI, My favorite things, The lonely goatherd and So long farewell.

After their performance, the kids were asked to go to the stage one by one to hand in their gift to their parents. This for me is the highlight of the program because the first who spoke was Anevay and she has the longest speech. We practiced that speech for one week. Her very first to speak in public and hopefully not the last.

This is what the teachers made. It was so sweet.

The kids were then allowed to sit with their parents as they say their thank you. After the thank you, there was a video presentation that caught everyone in surprise and in tears. It was an avp of the kids from day one until their recent activity. And the song that comes with the video is Do I make you proud. So you can’t really help but cry especially when you see how the kids grow for the school year. After the AVP, the kids were asked again to come up the stage for their final song. This time I am lucky to be able to take a perfect shot at the little girl because she is right in front of me.

Here is the video.

It was really a momentous event. I love every minute of it and I wish the husband is with us. Next year he will change his vacation. Instead of May, he will go home March.

Love You Most!

Every night Anevay would say our I love you to each other. Recently, she started a word play would me. Here goes one of our dialogues :

Anevay : I love you Mommy!

ME : I love you too!

Anevay : I love you too very much!

ME : I love you too very very much!

Anevay : I love you more!

ME : I love you more more!

Anevay : I love you most!

By this time I would stop. I would like to answer I love you to infinity but I realized if I say that I would explained it to her what’s infinity. haha. And it’s already getting late and I am sleepy. lol. This also happens with the husband. I am really lucky to have a sweet father and daughter tandem.

Everyday, I am missing my husband more. Sometimes just thinking of him make me want to cry. But I try to tell myself that we are doing this sacrifice for our brighter future. That this opportunity, though heartbreaking, is also a once in a lifetime offer. He won’t get this kind of offer here in the country.

With this thought I also would like to extend a prayer that the ‘uprising’ in Saudi won’t be similar to Libya. We have some friends out there working and some have their families too! I hope PEACE would reign in the Middle East.

Reviewing the Techy Way

I have been quite productive offline. I am taking time off the computer and the internet to give way to some house chores and of course I am doing some walking exercise to hone my leg muscles and avoid atrophy. This week I was able to clean our shoe rack and inspect the garage. I found out that I need some cabinet hardware and some fixing to do. After all the household chores and exercises, I have to take care of the review of the little one. It's her final exam week. The school gives back all their worksheet to us so that we can used them as a reviewer. But I am not satisfied with that because Anevay was able to answer all the questions there and I wanted to challenge her some more. So what I did was to review her my way.

I did some powerpoint presentation for the CV words.

To make our lesson more interesting I let the letters bounce. After using the netbook, we would move to the IPAD for some phonics and telling time.

Anevay was able to learn how to tell time through this IPAD app. Then for our counting numbers we switch to my Google Phone. There is an application there Kindergarten Numbers that has before and after and in between number exercises.

Oh yes, I admit I am dependent on technology now. I even thought of developing my own software for the little one’s reviewer. But don’t worry I still do the traditional way especially when it comes to the writing of Anevay.

1st Solo Performance

Weeks before the 7th birthday of her cousin we were telling Anevay that we would ask her to sing for the birthday party. And my daughter said yes, of course, she would gladly sing. At first I was thinking to practice her and I was gunning for her to sing some Barbie songs like the theme song of the Three Musketeers or the Mermaid’s Tale. But I got a bit lazy and I was thinking that maybe she might not be in the mood to perform during the party itself. So, I told myself I will just let fate take its course.

And so, we went to the party. She was in the mood and her aunt ( my older sister) saw the opportunity to asked her for a song. And guess what? She readily went to the stage and perform her hearts out. We even have a hard time stopping her. She cried after her performance because she still wants to sing. While I, on the other hand, was so entertained that I forgot to video her whole performance. lol. I am lucky I was able to record the last few seconds.

Here is my little girl singing Doremi :

I am so proud that I cannot wait to share the moment to her daddy. I love watching her and listening to her. And here is my pretty little darling.

When she Grows UP

Another school year is about to end. Actually my darling daughter has finished her exam today. So tomorrow and the rest of next week would be dedicated to their practice for their moving up day. The actual program will commenced on a Friday afternoon. And since I have seen the kids performed last Christmas and I would say it's one great spectable, now I am very much excited to see them sing and dance. I think that the songs they'll be doing are songs from Sound of Music.

I remember when I graduated from preschool, the highlight of our program was us kids saying our speech about what we want to be when we grow up. Remembering this I asked my daughter what she want to be. And she answered 'ballerina'. haha. While her older cousin told me she wanted to be a doctor. I was wondering who will end up in the footstep of one of my succesful uncle who is a lawyer. Nope he isn't like car accident attorney Austin but a corporate lawyer. And speaking of car accident lawyer, if you needed one from the Austin area, you can contact O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949. The firm offers excellent service and would be of great assistance to you.