Leon's 9th Birthday Party

Rainy season has begun here in the Philippines. It has literally been raining every day, something that I am not used to. Because of this it has made me more lethargic and I find myself taking naps in the afternoon. It reminds me of when I was little and we had a porch outside in the front that was surrounded by a screen so the mosquitoes wouldn't come in and I would take naps there when it rained. The breeze was cool and it was very peaceful and very relaxing.

 

 But this post is not about me it's about my son Leon who turned 9 on Wednesday June 2nd! We had a blast and it turned out nice despite that it had rained a couple of hours before the party started. I was hysterical as it had rained really hard and it rained for over an hour non stop. The party was supposed to have started at 3 p.m. but we didn't get a chance to start decorating until 2 p.m. so because of this the party did not officially start until 4 p.m. It was a Pokemon theme and I had tried my hardest to find Pokemon stuff here. It was hard though. I did find these cool Pokemon posters that I plastered all around to add some spark to the place.

Kuya Dong and Mammang contributed the taurpalin and the chairs. The taurpalin came out nice and it featured Leon's beautiful face on it. I had made some lovely centerpieces for the tables as well as some candy that was labeled for the adults. The kids received plenty of candy from the pinata as well as the goody bags which were stuffed with more candy and tons of toys to play with. The food, thankfully was just enough. We didn't think we had enough but we managed with what we had. The cake was the
yummiest and the moistest cake I've ever tasted. It makes me want to buy one now as I'm writing this!

 

 We had played 5 games for the kids including longest breath, the boat is sinking, musical chairs, hep hep hooray and bring me. We played 2 games for the adults which were fun as well. Afterwards we had the videoke in which we sang songs and had some drinks. We had gotten Leon a scooter, which he really wanted and he was so happy. He also got lots of fun toys to play with from his friends.

I want to thank Grandma Aurora and Grandpa Glenn for contributing money to Leon's birthday party, we even wrote their names on Leon's balloons. Thanks to Mimi also who contributed the invites along with balloons and the happy birthday banner featured behind the food table. Overall it was a success and all the kids had fun which is what it is all about:)

More pictures of Leon's birthday

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Easter Sunday Celebration

We had the funnest Easter Day Celebration this past Sunday. We had the party at Mammang Lou's house and is was complete with games as well as karaoke which is what they absolutely love to do here in the Philippines.

We started the celebration with singing a song that Mammang had written on a big poster size paper. As you can see from the pictures we had two of the girls hold it up while we all sang. Afterwards, we did the Easter Egg Hunt. Mammang hid 12 eggs that were color coded and wrapped in plastic wrap. Depending on the color of the egg that you found than you won a certain amount of money. I found one egg but it was worth the most as it was the golden egg. I won Php 50 for it!! Leon and Leanna both one two eggs and were happy that they won some money.

After that we had played three more games that were really fun, you really just had to be there to see the laughs and looks on our faces because we were really cracking up. Leon and Leanna had a throw down against each other on the karaoke machine and whoever got the highest point won. Leanna had sung "Make It Real" her all time favorite song that she sings all the time. Leon sung "I Believe I Can Fly" and he was the winner!! He scored higher then Leanna but they both did really well. Leon and Leanna also danced to a song and Mammang even gave them some money for that. After all the games and prizes both Leon and Leanna went away with over Php 100 so they both were really happy.

We ate some good food too which included a roast chicken, barbecue and even honey baked ham that Mammang's son from California sent over and some really good vegetable soup.  It was all so delicious but I'm glad I kept within reason on my intake as I didn't want to gain more pounds. For dessert we enjoyed some ice cream on cones and some coffee.

Overall we had a blast and Leon and Leanna really had a good time. I can't wait for our next together. There's nothing like enjoying the company of your family and just having a good time, that is what life is really about:)


Easter Celebration Pictures

Holy Week = Culture Shock!!

It's Easter today but this past week was Holy Week here in the Philippines and it was a total culture shock for both Leon and Leanna. Here in the Philippines they conduct what they call Mandarame and that is where you see guys on almost every street corner parading around and striking their backs with a whip like thing. The noise alone is very loud and you can hear it from our apartment and when you hear this sound that means shortly after you will see a bunch of guys striking their backs.

The gross part about it is that this whip really hurts their back and you can see that they are actually bleeding. You will also notice the crowd walking beside them and if you walk too close you make get some blood splattered on you too. You will also see some people carrying the cross just as Jesus did.

The whole point of doing all this is for these so called sinners to repent what they have done and they do this as a sacrifice. They parade around so that people can witness them repenting but they cover up their faces so people will not see who these sinners are as they are embarrassed. They also actually televise people that volunteer to hang themselves on the cross with real nails that actually pierce through their skin just like what really happened to Jesus. There were 6 people that chose to do it this year but we did not attend as I did not want to witness something that gruesome and thought it would be a little too much for the kids.

Both Leon and Leanna were scared at first and it was actually Leanna that was a lot more scared then Leon. She was so scared to the point that every time she saw or even heard the people coming she would cling on to me like a little baby and cry. To help her get over her fear Mammang Lou suggested that we take care to see the Mandarame in person so that she would see firsthand that it was nothing really and also explain to her why they did that. You will see in the pictures we all were watching on the street as the parade of guys came and after awhile watching Leanna was not afraid anymore. It's still hard for both of them to understand though why this is done but at least they are not so scared.

The Mandarame lasts the whole week with a lot of them doing it mainly on Thursday and Friday. I'm glad it's over though as it is still gruesome to watch even for me. I guess it's because of all that blood and even the smell!! If you can take seeing more pictures then click on the link but if not then don't!

Mandarame Pictures

Leon's Moving-Up Ceremony

 My young scholar

Leon had his moving-up ceremony this past Tuesday and we celebrated with a dinner afterwards. Here in the Philippines they do it a little bit different and they only recognize the children that achieved honors in the ceremony that they hold at the end of the year. To qualify for honors you have to have a grade of 80% or above in all of your subjects. Also, because Leon was considered a "transferee" he got a special citation award as he had missed the first quarter of the year. Leanna was so close to making honors but unfortunately she did not get it as she missed it by 2 points. Next year though she had said she was going to get it and that is something that I will definitely help her in achieving.

If you don't get honors they really do not recognize you but you still pass and can move on to the next grade. Leon was only two people in his whole third grade class that was recognized so it was a real honor. There were a total of only 8 kids in the whole grade school department, from grade 1 to grade 4 that had gotten recognized. The children from the preschool department all got recognized though and those are the ones you will see in the picture that are wearing the white gowns.

The venue where they had it was a bit small and they had a lot of parents standing up but they later managed to get more chairs so they could sit. The kids performed a number singing "Go The Distance". They also had the children present roses to their parents which really touched me and I had started crying when Leon was coming up to me with the rose. I was thinking of all the times I had pushed him and that it really paid off in the end and I am so proud of him.

After the ceremony we went home to prepare the dinner that we had that night at Mammang's house. We had salad, spaghetti, barbecue and fried rice. We also got to sing karaoke and dance so we all had lots of fun. Leanna discovered a new song that she liked to sing so she sang that song about 10 times, no joke!! Everyone was tired of hearing it but we let her keep singing anyway. For dessert we had made Leon's all time favorite fruit salad and Mammang had ice cream cones for us too. As you can see from the pictures we had a lot of fun dancing and even taught the girls who didn't know how to dance to do the "achy breaky"!! Fun times:)

I am proud of both Leon and Leanna as they both have come a long way. I see a major improvement in Leanna and am very confident that next year she will definitely make honors along with Leon. Leanna had drastically improved in Math especially. Her third quarter grade was a 77 and for the fourth quarter she had gotten a 93 so I am very happy about that. Also, I forgot to mention that Leon had gotten a special academic award for being the "best in mathematics" so we are so proud of him for that too!! Although they had learned a lot from Brighter Kids and even met a lot of friends we have made a decision to move them to a different school that is a better fit for them. It is an international school for one and the facilities are bigger and their curriculum is better as well. Their new school is called Living Stone International School and they will be taking their assessment next week. The next school year starts in June so two months with them at home, what fun!! Leon will be taking up guitar lessons and Leanna singing lessons so we'll see how that goes. Will keep you guys updated!
Enjoy the pictures!!

                                                                                            

Moving-Up Ceremony Pictures

Badminton Tournament

I held this tournament two weeks ago and I know, I'm really late in posting them, but better late than never right? It was a lot of fun and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

The thought came about to have the badminton tournament because there are so many kids here in the neighborhood and I thought this would be a fun way to spend an afternoon. We had posted a  poster to let the kids know about our tournament and the different age divisions that we were going to have. To make it fair I wanted the kids to play with other kids in their age group so we had three age groups. Age 7-9, 10-13 & 14-17. We did charge the kids an entrance fee to play which was only Php 20, only $0.43. The fees I collected from all of the kids did not even come close to the amount of money that I spent on everything but that didn't matter as this was all about the kids and as long as they had fun I was happy.

For each age division I gave out three prizes, the first prize was Php 500 which is about $10.86, not bad after they only had to pay Php 20 to enter. The second prize was a little gift for the top boy player worth Php 100 and the third prize was a little gift for the top girl player worth Php 100. All participants that played though did get a bag of candy just for participating. In addition we also fed the kids a full meal which included pancit (noodles), hot dog and rice. For dessert we served fruit salad in little cups. So like I said I did end up spending more than I collected but it was satisfying to see all the kids having fun and just being happy.

I don't speak the language well yet and can only understand a few words here and there. It has been a real challenge for me but I manage. A parent had came up to me and let me know that what I had done was "beautiful" and that no one had done that before and they really appreciated it. They were speaking this in Filipino so I understood only parts of it but when he said that to me I felt really happy that someone acknowledged what I did. I also know that this is something that the kids won't forget either and as long as I am able to make an impact someway and somehow in a small way that is all that matters.

Because this tournament was such a success a lot of the adults have been coming up to me asking when the tournament for the adults is going to happen. I let them know that we will plan it sometime soon. I was also thinking to myself to cut down on my budget as well before I go broke (ha ha joking only)!! Enjoy the pictures.

Badminton Tournament Pictures

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