why?

why is it that we still do the things of this world even though we know it displeases God?

start the year right and do what God wants us to do. OBEY.

kidnapped!

every now and then, when a certain classmate of hers is mentioned, michelle says, 'mommy, you know my friend gra#$%, she was kidnapped when she was a baby and ms. #$^&& is not her real mommy.'

to be honest, when i first heard this, i was a little perplexed. what discussion was going on at school where a child's kidnapping would be brought up?  i didn't bother asking michelle's teacher about this because i thought, kidnapping is a pretty sensitive topic to bring up.  

yesterday, on our way to my aunt's house for our family get-together, michelle brings it up again.  'mommy, gra#$% was kidnapped when she was a baby and ms #$^&& is not her real mommy.' tired of hearing the same disturbing story, i replied to her, 'michelle, where did you hear this story?  are you sure she was kidnapped? that's not a very good story to be telling people, baby.'  she insists, 'no mommy, she really was kidnapped!  that's what she told me.'

and then it dawned on me.  the little girl wasn't kidnapped!

i was crackin' up after i realized what michelle was trying to say....

trying to put a straight face, i said, 'michelle, do you mean your friend was adopted?'

'YES, MOMMY!  that's the right word!!!!!' michelle screamed.

and that is our michelle-ism on christmas day.  

ALL!

i read today in Romans 10:12b-13, "the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

it's for everyone.  FOR ALL!!!  and all we ever need to do is ask!

PERU!

our Operation Christmas Child Shoe box went to Peru!

what kids want for christmas

i read this article on msnbc about moms spending an average of $271 on presents for each child this christmas.


michelle has asked for all sorts of things for christmas, combined, i think the gifts would be under $100 IF we get all of them for her.  which we wont.  you know what she keeps telling us she wants?


this:

she kept seeing the ads for a chia pet and she kept asking for them.  we'll get her 2 chia pets!  


we really don't have a gift for her yet.  i haven't even bought the chia pet.  kids nowadays get so many gifts for christmas so we don't want to spend too much on our gift for her.  have you got any ideas?


----


after posting this blog, i went on amazon.com and looked for chia pets.  aba!?  mahal din pala sya?!  well, michelle's only getting 1.  kala ko tig fafive dollars lang ito. hehehe.

sleep problems

my husband and i have not been sleeping well the last several weeks.

since we got back from vacation, michelle has been WAKING UP EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, MULTIPLE TIMES, and coming to our room, asking if she could sleep in our bed.  9 times out of 10, we tell her no.  there are nights when she would wake up 5 times which usually ends with a very, very, very angry me and a terrified daughter.  i become a monster when i am woken up, yes, i'm bad and i'm not proud of it. 

we don't know what to do anymore.  paul is the good cop, i'm always the bad cop.  neither of us can sleep when she's in bed with us.  one of us would move to michelle's bed when this happens, or sleep in the living room, or not go to sleep the rest of the night.  it's hard on all of us.  we don't know what to do.  we try to establish a routine with her, but that did not last long.  what are we supposed to do?  i refuse to have her sleep with us every night.  that's just not going to happen. 

i'm sleepy =(

christmas party menu

we will be hosting our annual barkada christmas party here at home.  it's potluck. but being host, and a domestic diva wanna-be, i want to make a bulk of the dishes.  here is what i have planned:

Carmelized Onion and Gruyere Tarts

Linguini with Clam Sauce

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Gratin

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

i'll modify the recipes a little bit so they can be a little bit more festive and colorful.

I'll also make some festive cocktails, maybe something with pomegranate, like this:

have i told you how much i love christmas?  =D

pasko na! (well, almost)

the christmas decor is up, my shopping list is about 80% done (and within budget!)....


but i haven't lost the weight.  (booo!!!!) i guess paul really has won this bet.  i told him to go ahead and buy what he wants with the $$$$ he won and he did not waste time and bought himself one of his dream guitars:

Fender American Standard Stratocaster

it's the same guitar that john mayer and eric clapton uses.  i have to admit, it does sound very good.  he bought a new tube amp, too.  he is very happy and plays his guitar every. single. day.  well, my not losing weight has made my husband's musical side very happy.  


that doesn't mean i've given up on my desire to lose weight.  i am still watching what i eat and exercising...but i no longer have a deadline.  the cruise didn't really derail me.  i've been off track for so long that nothing can derail me!  ha!


anyway, it's sunday so off to church we go!!!!

an overview of our cruise vacation

i really enjoy cruising.  i like the idea of visiting multiple destinations in 1 week without the hassle of lugging my carry-on all over town and packing and unpacking at multiple hotels.  i also like the fact that i can eat whenever i want and not worry about where to go for my next meal.  not everyone likes cruising but i would suggest that if you have a chance, at least go on one cruise and experience it for yourself.  they are inexpensive considering you have all your meals and your hotel combined in one price.  

this is our 3rd cruise, our 2nd time in the caribbean, and the 1st time with friends. 

we took the red eye flight from SFO to FLL on Friday night.  traveling to the east coast is easy - the flight is a 'short' 4.5 hours but since it's a red eye flight, that means less time to try and get some sleep before the cruise.  michelle slept throughout the flight and was knocked out even before the plane took off.  don't even ask me how much sleep i got.   

we arrived in fort lauderdale at around 7 am and checked our bags with a company called, Bags to Go.  they took our bags ($6 for each bag) and the next time we saw them was in our cabin on the cruise ship.  i highly suggest doing this if you arrive early before your cruise vacation.  we went to Denny's for some breakfast and then we took the trolly to see parts of the city.  at around 11 am, we went to the cruise terminal to check in. 

waiting for the trolley in fort lauderdale

in all 3 cruises, checking in has always been an easy process.  imagine the logistics they had to prepare in order to smoothly and quickly check-in all 2,000 passengers for a ship...it's quite a feat.  it did involve walking...a whole lot of walking.  in order to avoid 2,000 people piling up on each other, everything was spread out across multiple levels and wide floor space.  from the time we got into the terminal door and in to our cabins...it probably took no more than 20 minutes and that includes taking the 'obligatory' picture before you enter the ship. 

just girls

i find the caribbean sea to be a lot more motion-sickness inducing.  i got a few bad headaches during this trip.  chel battled nausea and lost the battle several times.  i have to remind myself to get a scopolamine patch before we cruise again...yes, we're already sort of planning our next cruise vacation with friends and family...2013, to alaska!

each night, michelle looks forward to the towel animals that the house keeping team puts together.  one night, i wasn't feeling too well so i refused the turn down service, but i requested for the towel animals so michelle won't be disappointed when she goes back to the room.


michelle is old enough to go to the kids area during the trip called Club HAL.  they have a full program to keep the kids occupied during the trip (it's like free baby sitting!).  i was looking forward to this, but of course, my daughter does not want to spend time there and chose to stay with the adults the entire time.  she was there for 1 event, for 1.5 hours, and that was it.  oh well!  the good thing about michelle is that she is very well adjusted and can hang out with the adults with no problems.  she became very attached to her tito rj.  buti mabait si tito rj.  =D

best buds on the trip

our cabin was nice and small...all cabins are small but very very efficient.  we even had a bath tub in our bathroom.  service is always excellent.  food was good.  we sailed on the Eurodam which is the largest Holland America Ship (capacity of a little over 2,000 passengers) but considered mid-sized by industry standards.  royal caribbean has two giant ships sailing right now, both can accomodate 5,000 passengers.  one of them, the allure of the seas (royal caribbean) was docked at st. thomas at the same time we were..our ship had 19 kids on board, the allure had 1,900 kids on board.  it was probably a lot more quiet on our ship than theirs.  =)


any way, more cruise blog to come shortly!    

invisalign

i'm getting my invisalign braces tomorrow!

hurrah!  i can't eat on thanksgiving day!!!!  woot woot!

=(




cruise vacation blog entries will be entered during the holiday break. 

am i spoiling my daughter?

sometimes i ask myself this question.

i don't know if i'm giving her too much...but i know i'm not giving her too little.  we provide all of her needs and i think enough of her wants so she does not feel deprived but i wonder where do we draw the line?

you know why i'm thinking about this?  last night, michelle fell asleep at her usual bed time while i was busy packing our things for the trip...she woke up at around 9 pm and i had to bribe her to go back to sleep.  now that i'm writing that down, i probably shouldn't have bribed her.  maybe i feel guilty about that.  do you know what i bribed her with????  it's not some extravagant toy or anything like that.  it's gum.  i bribed my daughter with gum!  she had just discovered the joys of blowing bubble gum and she had ran out of the sweet, chewy goodness.  i told her last night that if she goes back to bed and does not go to mommy and daddy's room in the middle of the night, that i would buy her some gum.  she asked me for 5 little packs of gum and i said yes (we're going on vacation and i'm sure gum would be expensive on the cruise ship!).  but she didn't do her end of the deal and she still went to our room in the middle of the night.  so this morning, i told her the deal was off the table and she looked so disappointed! 

so my question is, if i buy her gum, does that mean i'm spoiling her?  if i don't buy her gum, does that make me a mean mom?

you'd think these things were easy, right?  but it's the pattern of both our behaviours that i'm trying to make sure is aligned. 

i feel like i'm making a trip to walgreens in a few minutes and indulge my daughter's request for 5 packets of gum.  i'm a wuss.  =(

operation christmas child

i'm posting this to encourage you all to make a donation to operation christmas child.  


here's what we put together...

 for the little boy (age 2-4)

for the little girl (age 2-4)

we'll add some candy to the box (no chocolates!) and pray for each child.  we really have to share our blessings!

where in the world is carmen san diego?

do you all remember this? 

i remember spending hours in the computer room at my elementary school playing this game over and over until i caught carmen san diego!  back then, computers were too expensive for even a middle class family [in the philippines] to purchase but i was blessed to have gone to a school that had computers and offered classes as early as the mid/late 80s (oh wow, i'm dating myself too much!).  the game created in me a 'love' for geography, history, trivia, and travel!  and now that i am much older, i credit 'carmen san diego' for my ability to answer questions on jeopardy regarding geography, world capitals, and world cities. 

i read in the news today that j. lo. might be playing carmen san diego in the film adaptation of the game.  it got me excited and i feel like i'm 9 years old all over again!!!!  =D

i really hope they make the movie and recreate the game and the tv series so that my daughter can watch them.  i never saw the series...that was way before we moved to the states and it wasn't shown in the philippines, but i'm sure it was great! 

make a difference this christmas

ever since i became a parent, the plight of needy children has been even closer to my heart.  this year, at michelle's school, i learned about a wonderful cause called Operation Christmas Child from the Samaritan's Purse Organization where we are encouraged to put together one shoe box full of little things (toys, toothbrush, pencils, etc.) and send it to a child in need.  it is such a good cause and if you can see the video of the children when they receive their boxes, you'll see the joy in their faces.  i was moved to tears when i saw this and so, michelle will put together 1 box for a little girl and paul and i will put together another box for a little boy.  i know it's not much, but every little bit helps...and doing one little thing is better than doing nothing. 

so please, if you have $20 or less to spare, please consider putting together a shoe box full of hope for a child in need. 

the website again is www.samaritanspurse.org.  please go to the website and get the full details on how you can put together a shoe box for the children.  thank you in advance for your support and may God richly bless you for your generosity!

outlast

i have tried many different kinds of lipstick that lasts all day long but i have not had much luck finding the perfect one. 

after some research...i think i found me a keeper in Cover Girl's Outlast All Day Lip Color.  i put some on this morning before heading out the door and 1 cup of coffee + lunch 6 hours later, i still have lipstick on!  i had to re-apply the moisturizing top coat 3 times already, but it's like regular chapstick which i reapply constantly anyway.  it works!  i am wearing plum right now, but i might experiment with other colors.  at under $10 for the lipstick...this is a steal!!!

i tried Chantecaille's Hydra Chic Lipstick before but it came off after just 1 cup of coffee. it's extremely expensive, too!  i must have gone through that 1 tube of lipstick in 1 month. 

mall-ing

last week, out of nowhere, i asked paul, "how come we never go to the mall?" 

he responded, "what do you mean?  we're always at target?"

"target is not the mall.  i'm just thinking, most families spend weekends strolling the mall, shopping or window shopping and we never do.  we go to target to get supplies...we buy clothes and all other stuff online.  i think we should go to the mall next weekend and be like a 'normal' family."  i said to him. 

if i were my husband, i would reply with, 'ok...i know you just want an excuse to go to the mall and drag me with you.'  but he's too nice to say that.  =D 

so tomorrow, we're going to the mall to go mall-ing.  ha!  i hope i don't find anything tempting!

we're going to the stanford mall btw.  paul's never been there and the last time i was there, michelle was 1 year old, i think.  must revisit.  plus, they have all the great stores!

turkey

(scenario...we're watching the news about the earthquake in turkey)

michelle: what's that mommy?
me: it's about the earthquake in turkey?
michelle: turkey?
me: yes, there's a country called turkey.
michelle: (laughing) that's a silly name for a country!


i'm not insensitive...i am praying for the people of turkey and hope they can all recover from the devastation...but kids say the darnest things!

make up to wake me up!

when i'm out running errands, i don't usually care what i look like.  my friends and my husband get slightly embarrassed because sometimes i go to the supermarket looking like a homeless person.  i go in whatever clothes i'm wearing and just throw a coat over it, with messy hair to top it all off.  earlier this week, i was dropping michelle off to school when my mom said, 'is that what you're wearing?'  i was wearing a t-shirt and my ultra comfy black pajamas that have been ruined in spots by bleach...so i have these blotches of white/gray/red thing on my right pajama leg.  i shrugged and said, 'yeah, i'm only dropping her off, i'm not staying there.' even my mom disapproves of what i wear!

i go to work without make-up or hardly any and i must admit, i don't pick the best clothes for work either.  i often find myself pressed for time in the morning so i don't always have time to put on make up.  when one of our managers got married, paul and i went and that was the first time my co-workers saw me with a full face of make up...i received a lot of complements that night.  putting the make up on didn't take me a long time and i do like to put on make up sometimes, but i just don't like to do it everyday. 

BUT...

i was reading a book on monday night on how to present yourself well and it touches briefly on looking presentable.  gosh!  i so needed that one!  i wont go into detail about what it said...let's just say that since tuesday, i go to work looking presentable.  i also avoid leaving the house looking like a homeless person when i'm running my errands.  i remind myself, 'if any of your ex boyfriends and their wives saw you looking like that, they'll have plenty to talk about after you leave.'  i don't want that to happen.  =D 

i think what got me all excited too is getting some new make up from sephora last weekend.  champoo, my make up artist friend, recommended i try NARS liquid foundation and since my old foundation had ran out, i decided to give it a try and i love it!

Shade:  Stromboli - Medium with olive undertones

A glowing, satin-finish foundation with sheer and buildable coverage that immaculately evens skin tone. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, it leaves skin hydrated, more luminous, softer and smoother. Used daily, Sheer Glow Foundation improves the skin's brightness and texture.

• For normal, normal-to-dry and dry skin types
• Hydrates for softer and smoother skin
• Contains powerful anti-oxidants to protect against damaging free radicals and turmeric extract to improve skin's radiance and tone
• Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Fragrance free.

Shade:  Stromboli

An advanced, lightweight formula that fuses the performance of a foundation with the ease of a powder. Skin looks perfected with a soft-matte finish and is protected against UVA and UVB rays. Incredibly versatile, it may be applied with a powder brush for a sheer, natural finish, or with the included sponge for a polished and smooth finish.

• SPF 12 and PA++ protection
• Lightweight, non-drying velvety finish; effortless application

 Shade:  Orgasm

The ultimate authority in blush, NARS offers the industry's most iconic shades for cheeks. Natural, healthy-looking color that immediately enlivens the complexion. A light application of even the highest-intensity hues delivers a natural-looking flush.

• Orgasm named "Top 25 Beauty Hall of Fame” 2010 Elle; "Best Blush for Light Skin” 2010 & 2011 InStyle "Best Beauty Buys”; "Best Blush for Fair Skin” 2011 InStyle"Best Beauty Buys”
• Silky texture
• Micronized powder ensures soft, blendable application

this is exciting!  and also expensive!  =(  the good thing about make up is when you buy them, they last for several months. 

ask me if my husband has noticed.  the answer is no!  men!!!!!!!  =D

straight Es

earlier today, i had a meeting with michelle's teacher and i was told that michelle is getting straight Es in class. not straight As.  straight Es.


E for Excellent!!


kindergarten students don't get graded based on the regular letter grading system, they get E for Excellent, VG for Very Good, G for Good, etc.  


so as a reward for her good grades, we told her we were going to give her a prize...paul and i were thinking along the lines of a nice toy or something like that...but she said, 'yey mommy!  you mean i can get something from the dollar store?!'  we didn't correct her.  if it's the dollar store she wants, then it's something from the dollar store she'll get! =)

date night

paul and i went to dinner to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary two fridays ago.  we had originally planned on going to napa to have lunch at morimoto and go to wine tasting at cheateau st. jean, but michelle was sick for almost a week so we had to cancel our plans. 

we decided to eat at baker and banker a week later... it was voted to be one of the best restaurants in the san francisco bay area in 2011.  it was a small restaurant that seats maybe less than 50 people at a time.  the pastry chef (lori baker) and the chef (jeff banker) came out to greet the diners which i think was a very nice touch. 

 House smoked trout, potato latke, horseradish cream, pickled beets, shaved fennel

Grilled gulf prawns, fresh shelling bean, oven dried tomato and baby artichoke salad, Castelvetrano olive tapenade

Soy and mirin braised black cod, foie gras-shitake sticky rice, grilled bok choy

 Slow roasted pork shoulder, pan friend semolina spaetzle, sweet corn, black mission figs

                                                       Jonathan apple crisp, white cheddar streusel, bacon brittle ice cream

the food was great!  i loved all of the dishes i ordered...paul was not too happy with his order especially after he had a taste of my entree.  the cod at baker and banker is one of the top 5 dishes i've ever had in my life.  yes, it was that good! 


i would love to go back in a heartbeat!  the price was not too bad...paul and i each had a glass of wine.  i could have had two but i didn't want to look like the 'big drinker' at our table.  =D  paul hardly and rarely drinks.  i drink enough for the two of us.  =D

this morning

i saw my boss' shoes when she came in and i couldn't help but stare and give her a complement.  they look lovely!  she had them in black, so now i want to get it in brown.

she said they're super comfy!  the heel is just high enough.  urgh!  i want these!!!!

holiday spirit

all this talk about facebook 'following' everything i do on the internet has left a very foul taste in my mouth.  i told myself i will use less facebook...more twitter and blogspot - i don't know if that's a good thing! =

anyway, it's almost october and i'm getting the itch to start decorating the house for the holidays.  i know, i know, it's too early!  it's not even holloween!  not even thanksgiving!  but here i am dreaming about things i want to do for the house this holiday season!

oh well!  that hasn't stopped me from getting ideas from all over the web on what i can do to decorate the house with stuff we already have and inexpensive things i can create (a.k.a. crafts with michelle).  last year, our tree was decorated in gold ornaments.  this year, we're going to do silver and white ornaments...i think we have enough white and silver to decorate the tree.  if not, i'm making a trip to the local thrift shop and see what goodies i can find.  all the other colors we have will be used around the house...i'm also thinking of getting a small (mayb 4 or 5 feet) fresh tree aside from our 'fake' tree...if i can find room for it, that is. 

as far the rest of the holiday decorations, i very much like these ideas:

all better!

after fighting a fever since thursday and missing two days of schoo (friday and monday).  michelle is all better!

you'll never be hungry

sometimes i forget how good God has been in my life.  occasionally the worries of this world get to me and i wonder about the future and what lies ahead of me. 

but He reminded me that if i follow him, i will not lack in anything...instead i shall have abundance.  in this story from matthew, they crowd had nothing when went and followed jesus but went home not only fully satisfied physically and spiritually, but received an overflow of blessings enough to share with others.  

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13-21)

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

“Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Never forgotten

whales eat people!!!!

michelle was drawing a whale on the board, and then she said, 'i'm scared of whales! they eat people!'



i said, 'no, michelle. whales don't eat people.'

michelle looked at me and said, 'no, mommy! in my bible, the whale ate the man, so whales eat people!'






nga naman! si jonah kasi, matigas ulo e!

michelle's room makeover

usually around christmas or her birthday, michelle breaks open her piggy bank.  this year, we decided to fix up her room and make it more conducive to learning (michelle's now in kindergarten).


so this is how it turned out.  i just hope she keeps it clean!

happy 5th birthday, michelle!

my dear daughter turned 5 yesterday and we celebrated with a cat in the hat themed birthday party at CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point Park.

the awesome birthday cake was baked by one of ninong ed's closest friends, mar.  i found a neat cake online and emailed mar the picture and she did it!  hooray!!

cake by mar 

gift boxes for her guests

catering by tselogs

entertainment by happily ever laughter parties

miss raina, the circus girl

look at alex, the little girl at the bottom center of the picture.

she kept interrupting miss raina who wanted go on with the show 

and started to politely ignore alex;

alex in return pretended to be falling asleep during miss raina's routine.  hahaha!

face painting also by miss raina

it was one, fun, party!!!!

no present this year from mommy and daddy.  they spent too much for the party.  

pang miss universe!

it was back to school night at michelle's school this evening.  we got to talk to her teacher for a little bit and she explained how the first few weeks of school has been.  


on the white board, the teacher wrote the kids' answers to the question, 'how can your parents help you do your best?'...below are the kids answers and i encircled michelle's response

BONGGA! pang miss universe!  kulang nalang, 'and world peace!'

Weight Watchers Mantra

Taken from the Weight Watchers Website....


“Steady and slow, learn as you go. Lose too fast, it may not last.” — Louise F. *

“It matters not how slowly you go, only that you do not stop.” — Julia B. *

“No matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping the [person] sitting on the couch.” — Stephanie H. *

“I may no be where I want to be, but I’m better than where I was.” — Heather J. *

“You don’t drown from falling in the water, you only drown if you stay there.” — Barb L. *

“Success requires backbone, not wishbone.” —Debbie S.*

“If we defend our habits, we have no intentions of breaking them.” — Judy P. *

“Life has no remote…YOU have to get up and change it yourself!” — Tracy S. *

“The weight didn’t arrive from the Fat Fairy last night, and the Skinny Fairy isn’t coming tonight, either.” — Miscelena1.**

“Instead of a plate, reach for your mate!” — Frank E. *

“What you eat in private shows up in public!” — NicoleJuner1 **

“I’ve come too far to take orders from a cookie.” — Gina L. *

“If you kinda do it, it kinda works. If you really do it, it really works.” — Andrea G., Carol T. *

“If you’re driving and you get a flat tire, do you get out of the car and slash the other three? No, you fix it and get back on the road.” — Tanya S. *

“The scale is a weight loss tool – not a judge, jury and executioner.” — Brenda T. *

“Keep tracking, stop slacking!” — Holly L. * 

michelle's first day at school

last night, as paul, michelle and i lay in bed, michelle and i couldn't stop going over how her first day at kindergarten would be.  i told her that she'll meet a lot of new kids, make new friends and learn a lot of new and wonderful things.  i told her how excited i was to go to school when i was her age and encouraged her to listen attentively to her teacher and follow what she asks the class to do.  paul kept telling us to go to sleep and stop talking so we can all get some rest before the big day.  =D 

we dropped her off to kindergarten this morning.  it seemed like a momentous event - one that we parents will never forget. many of the kids in her class came from the same preschool so michelle will be seeing a lot of familiar faces.  michelle's always been comfortable around people so we know this new environment wouldn't be intimidating for her.  she was grinning from ear to ear as she said hello to her teacher and her friends from pre-school.  on one of her forms for school, the teacher asked for a few things that michelle finds interesting and i wrote - she likes craft, singing, and dancing...anything music related; she loves to talk so there will be a whole lot of talking and asking questions.  

michelle loves to ask questions about anything under the sun.  she's not satisfied with simple answers...she wants a full explanation of things that go on around her.  one perfect example is from the recent perseids meteor shower.  she saw me looking out the window and so she asked, 'mommy what are you looking for?'  i said, 'i'm checking if we can see shooting stars.'  she then asks, 'what's a shooting star mommy?' 'well, they're not actually stars sweetheart, they're meteors...rocks that fall from the sky,' i replied.  she paused for a little bit, as if to analyze my answer.  then she asks again, 'but where do meteors come from?'  so i had to answer her as best as i can.  she keeps quiet only when she's satisfied with the response...as i try to squeeze my brain to get all the astronomy information i have retained out of it, i was also silently hoping that the last bit of information i give her is enough to satisfy her curiousity because my brain could not give anything further on the subject.  she stopped asking any more questions and we failed to see any meteors so we turned to youtube so i can show her what they look like.  

i just got off the phone with her and she excitedly told me about her day.  she said she can't wait for me to come home so we can do her homework together.  i am thrilled for her as she begins a new chapter in her life.  i've always loved school and would like her to enjoy it as much as i did.  i am thankful that the Lord provides all that we need so we can send her to a small christian school where we know she will learn not just academics but also guide her throughout her christian life.  

Michelle's actual first day