snow princess

megan's snow princess
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

It's been snowing for 2 days now. It started yesterday. She woke up and she was so excited, "Mom, Dad, it's snowing, it's snowing." She wanted to go outside so bad that she did everything we asked her to do and in no time at all, she was ready.

She made her snow princess then we went to the track field to do some sledding but since we don't have any sleds we used her boogey board instead.

not a baby anymore

Meg, can you please stop growing up?

Mommy, we have been through this...

But, I don't want you to grow up anymore, can't you just stay a baby forever and ever.

I want to grow up. I want to be a grown-up.

It's no fun being a grown-up.

Oh, yes, it is.

Not. You have to look after your husband and kids. You have to clean the house everyday and then you have to make dinner. You have to do laundry and all kinds of boring stuff. It's no fun.

But, those things are fun for me and when you're a grown-up, you get to decide when to go to the BXtra.

deer-napped

We have Rudolph! We demand lots of christmas presents or else...

pajama day

Every so often, like once per quarter, is spirit day. Today is such and it's pajama day.

"Mommy, tomorrow is pajama day. I get to wear my PJs to school. Ms. C said we could have rootbeer, too. It's gonna be like a sleepover at school!"

I don't know what rootbeer has to do with it, maybe because rootbeer is a rarity here. Our soda fountain does not have rootbeer. If we want rootbeer, we go to the commissary and buy a pack and since I don't like having soda in the house, we rarely drink rootbeer. Wait, back to the topic.

"So, tomorrow, I don't have to get changed. Isn't that cool?" This morning, she was pretty psyched up about going to school. "Is it morning yet?" Once we got to school, she went to her friends, hugged each other, then compared PJs.

christmas show

christmas show
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

Last Saturday was the 2nd Annual Gymnastics Christmas Show.

From L to R, Alyssa, Megan, Nykayla, Ciara, Kayla. They performed to "One, Two Step".

cartwheel
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

Her cartwheels are looking better now.

And so it begins.

"Mommy, can I sleep-over at Olivia's house?"

"Did Olivia invite you?''

"She said, she'll talk her mom into it." I just have to laugh. Not ask her mom, but talk her mom into it. My little baby's making plans without me.

"When are you guys thinking of doing it?"

"Saturday."

"As long as it's fine with Olivia's mom, you can go. Tell Olivia, you can do it on Saturday. Friday night, Jonjon & Lisa are coming over and you have a belt test on Saturday afternoon. OK?"

"OK"

photos from thanksgiving luncheon

Above photo is of the play, Tara, to her left, is the other narrator. Next to Tara is Danajah. The boy in the middle is John. The girl in the indian outfit is Kasey. They're so cute!

golden rocky

She did it! She got 10 golden rockies and saw Mr. Y, the principal. She came home wearing a golden dog tag and it said "Golden Rocky Winner". She's so proud of it. She's been wearing it since she got it, even in her karate class. She also got a certificate for "golden" behavior and citizenship on at least ten occasions this school year. And a Chili's gift certificate.

First sleep-over last weekend. She slept at a friend's house this weekend. I was so worried that I'd get a midnight call. "Mommy, I want you." but she didn't. She had her sleeping bag, a favorite toy, a pillow & blanket. She said they slept in the living room and she was a little bit scared because of noises in the middle of the night like the tick tock of the clock.

thanksgiving

It was so cute!

The day before, it was really foggy the school decided a 2-hour delay but I didn't think of calling the school so we got to school early and it was almost empty, there were a couple of cars here and there, we walked back towards the car and saw her teacher. Ms. C said to go ahead and leave M with her since she needs help setting up the class for the luncheon.

Her classroom was decorated nice, the tables had fall-theme centerpiece, the kids even made placecards for their guests. We had our lunch and after that their presentation. As I've said before she's one of the narrators. The other one was Tara. They put on their headgears that they made. She had on a pilgrim woman hat.

And it went like this:

Narrator: Once upon a time, a long time ago, pilgrim men...
Pilgrim men: Bang, bang, bang.
Narrator: pilgrim women...
Pilgrim women: Mercy me.
Narrator: and pilgrim minister...
Pilgrim minister: Praise the Lord.
Narrator: came to America...

etc...

After the play, they sang "America, the Beautiful" (or something like that) and they did it with sign language, too. It was so cute. After the song, the kids comes up to the center of the room and say what they are thankful for.

"I am thankful for my mom and dad, because they love me and I love them."

Sipsip talaga tong anak ko!

I'll try and post photos later.

incentives

Her school has the "Golden Rocky" program. Rocky is their school mascot. He's an American bald eagle. Rocky has a set of rules called "Rocky's Rules". If they do something extra nice they get a golden rocky. When they get 10 golden rockies, then they get to see the principal, Mr. Y. In his office is a treasure chest where they can choose anything they want.

Nobody in her class has been to see Mr. Y yet so they don't know what's in the treasure chest but she has 8 golden rockies now, 2 more to go. She's pretty psyched about the whole thing and she keeps telling me that she tries and tries.

In her class, they have a reading program. Her homework folder has a sheet of paper where she writes the books that she read that night and once she fills up the page, she picks a book from the book treasure chest. To date, she has 3 books from the chest. She borrows 2 picks from the library everyday.

They also have an art treasure chest but I'm not exactly sure how it works though. She loves her art class. Whenever she takes home an artwork from school she proudly shows it to me. If you ask her who her favorite teacher is, she'll say Ms. R, her art teacher.

End of 1st quarter

The other day, we had a parent-teacher conference. Ms. C said that she is just a wonderful child. Academically, she's doing good and we don't need to worry about anything. In fact, her reading skills are above average. On Fridays, she goes to what they call "Reading Count".

According to Megan, they go to the library for the reading count and choose a book they want to read, but not a very long book, just a short book. When they're done reading it, they go to the computer and look for the book that they just read and they get quizzed on what the book was all about.

On the 22nd, they will have a Thanksgiving Luncheon and they have will have a play. She's going to be one of the narrators. =). At first she said she was going to be one of the pilgrim women but she wanted to be the narrator, so I told her to ask Ms. C if she can be the narrator instead. The next day, she came home and she said, she will be one of the narrators, but she didn't have to ask Ms. C, Ms. C just said that she's one of the narrators.

Playmates

Meg absolutely loves our new house or I should say the location of our new house. She has lots of playmates. Across from our house is an old classmate from Kinder, Quentin and his brother Reese. Next to Quentin's house is Cassie's house. She's 7. Next to our house are the K kids, Kaylee, Keegan, & Keiran. Ages 10, 6, & 3.

Unfortunately, we moved at the wrong season. It's getting cold outside, most kids just play inside. She's getting over her shyness though. Now, she knocks on neighbors' doors and ask if they can come out and play. Yes, she loves it here!

Injured

Daddy, look, I got a booboo in my eye... (it's not really in her eye, more like her eyelid)

How did that happen?

I was bouncing a book on my feet. (????)

How do you hurt your eye when your bouncing a book on your feet?

Good question!

Daddy...

What?

Never mind... Short pause.I just want to say, I'm glad I have a daddy like you.

Awww... how sweet or is it SIPSIP!

bicycle

There's not a whole lot of places that Meg can ride her bike here. Since the property lies in the outskirts of the village, the road outside is not an ideal street to be riding a bike. She managed to find use of her bike though. She rides it around the property. She rides around all the houses. She rides to the fish pond which is about 30 paces. She rides it to the playground, another 20 paces. She rides it to the tennis court, 15 paces. She rides it around the tennis court and have a pretend race with her pretend friends. I don't know if she's just that lazy (she hates walking) or she really loves her bike.

1st grade

in class
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

She's right! She's in Ms. K's class.

boogey board

IMG_0076
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

My daughter, boogey boarding! It was fun seeing her try it out. She put on a brave face and did it. I guess meeting somebody who knows how to do it helped out a lot. Man, that was some cold water, I don't know how she could stay in that water.

Come on, Lola, let's play "around the world". That's her favorite game with Lola. And they go around the world. To China, Egypt, & The Amazon. Sometimes, they go by plane and sometimes by boat. Lola will be the pilot and she the copilot. Lola will be the captain and she... I don't know what she is. I think she's the tour guide cause I can hear her sometimes announcing in their pretend loud speaker about the things around them. Apparently, the pond outside the house is the Amazon River.

They also have a restaurant game. Lola's the chef and she's everything else. Lola cooks very fast cause Lola has to get back to the computer and chat. She asked lola to cook slower. I think she caught on to what Lola was doing.

Now that the doll house is somewhat finished, she plays with it. She has cut-out paper dolls that her and lola did. Right now, we have temporary furnishings for the doll house and she has been endlessly arranging and re-arranging them. I am not supposed to touch the inside of the house.

so excited

17 more days till school starts. She's very excited. I wonder how long it will last. She asked me if Lola will still be here once school starts. She wants Lola to see her school. I'm slowly explaining to her the difference between Kinder and 1st grade, like 1st graders don't get rest time. She's most likely gonna have different kids in her class but she'll still see her other friends during recess or lunch break.

Before last schoolyear ended, Ms. D showed them one of the 1st graders room. It was Ms. K's class. I don't know what Ms. D said but she's been telling me that she'll be in Ms. K's class. I'm pretty sure that once this schoolyear starts and IF she's not going to be in Ms. K's class there's going to be a major disappointment. I tried to explain to her that she might have misunderstood Ms. D but she insists that she is going to Ms. K's. We'll see.

cry baby

Megan is such a cry baby. mini!

When she's out playing with OJ and Tobi, she comes crying to me every hour. The other day,

Tobi, broke my palm tree... and I can't fix it. she manages to say in between sobs. What palm tree? I asked. I come to find out it's the palm tree that came with her army toys. You know, those plastic cheap toys that comes in one bag that costs about $1 and she's crying like it's the end of the world.

Finally, I managed to calm her down and asked her to go out and play before it gets late and she won't be able to play with her friends. OJ went inside and he said that he won't come out if I'm sad. and she starts crying again. I then explained to her that if she goes out and play, OJ will see her and OJ will then come out and play with her.

And she did just that. As expected OJ came out. Then, she came back inside crying again. I got hurt! I asked her how it happened.

We were playing with swords and OJ hit me with his "lightsaver".

Was it an accident?

Yes... but he didn't say "Sorry", he only said "Be brave, Megan."

That's right.

But I didn't want to be brave, I wanted to listen to what my head was saying.

And what was your head saying?

It was telling me about Snow White (I don't know what Snow White has to do with being brave but she went on and on). Mommy, it's so unfair. I didn't want to play swords but OJ said that today is his day and we have to do everything that he wants to do. But when it's my day, I forget what I wanted to do.

And then, she cried.

gravity

Scene: Meg in the living room watching TV. I am in the dining room playing game boy. Lola is in the kitchen doing something.

All of a sudden, Lola exclaimed, Ayy! In the name of Jesus!Meg comes up to me and ask, Mommy, why does Lola always say "Ayyy! In the name of Jesus". I had to laugh cause it's true Lola does say it a lot. I told her to ask Lola. Lola said, Cause I'm asking Jesus for protection in an accident, when I fall down, when I drop something. And Megan replied, Lola, that's called gravity! Hahahaha.

And then Megan came up to me and intentionally bumped into me and said, Ayyy! In the name of Jesus. I know I have to tell her about not taking the Lord's name in vain, but that was too funny. So, I laughed first and tried to explained to her about taking the Lord's name in vain. She hasn't done it again.

gray hair

Like most little girls, Megan is fascinated by what grown-ups do: cooking, putting make-up on, plucking eyebrows, and the like. So, when Lola asked me to pluck her gray hairs, Megan asked if she could do it.

When she managed to pluck one out,

Show it to Lola.

Why?

Cause, for every gray hair that you pluck, Lola will give you 5 cents.

She plucked about 7 and took off. She got bored.

yellow belt

make-over

Mommy, are you gonna have a make-over?

No! Why do you think I need a make-over?

Yes, so you'll be beautiful.

Am I ugly?

Just a teeny-tiny...

WHAT?!

Just a teeny-tiny ugly.

What is it about mommy that's ugly?

You have these teeny-tiny wrinkles (I think, she meant blemishes) in your face. And you're not peach like me and daddy.

WHAT?!

Why are you shocked?

Because you called me ugly. What about Lola?

You and Lola look like twins.

What about Aymone?

Aymone is peach like me and Daddy.

I still can't believe my daughter called me ugly. Even if it's just a teeny-tiny.

boyfriend

We were watching Live 8 on TV and when Sting came on,

Meg, hurry, my boyfriend is on.

Mommy, does Sting know me?

No.

Did you meet him before I was born?

Yes.

When did you meet him?

A long time ago.

Did he go to your school?

No.

How did you meet him?

In my dreams.

I want you to meet him for real, mommy.

Why?

So, I can meet him, too.

He's married too and he's got kids of his own.

Can I play with his kids when I go to his house?

Sure, Meg.

midnight snack

Mommy, I'm hungry.

Look in the fridge for something to eat.

That's boring!

What about bulad?

What's that?

You know, dried fish, you used to eat that all that time at Lola's house. Here try it? (gave her a small bite)

It's a little bit yucky.

You don't want to eat.

It's just a teeny-tiny yucky, I'll eat it.

When all the bulad's gone,

Mommy, can I have some more please.

I'm sorry, baby, but no more bulad.

Mommy, tomorrow, I'll wake up early.

Why?

So, I can have some more.

the french waiter

She moved our rectangular woven hamper from the corner to the middle of the room. She covered the lid with a towel and placed a toothbrush holder on top and put some pencils in the slot for the toothbrush. She went to her room and came back with a couple of notepads and placed it on top, too.

What are you doing?

I'm playing pub. Mom, what is a waiter?

A waiter is someone who asks you what you want and then gets it for you.

I'm a french waiter?

What's a french waiter?

They're the waiter who closes their eyes and they have mustache and then they say, "May I help you?" (she haughtily says this with her nose turned up, eyes closed, pencil on the right hand, notepad on the other.)

Oh, like a Maitre D. (I'm giggling now with her imitation of a maitre d)

Why are you laughing?

Nothing! You're a good maitre d.

What else am I missing from my pub?

What do you have?

I have a pretend table over here and a pretend chair over here. And over here (behind the hamper) is my pretend kitchen where my pretend chef works.

You need pretend plates, glasses and utensils.

I know! (she goes back to her bedroom and came back with her kitchen set and puts it behind the hamper) Now, this is where my chef works.

You better put those back when you're done playing.

But, mom...

little ballerina

thud... thud... thud... thud...

That's me hitting my head with the camera. Yesterday was her mini-recital in ballet and I forgot, I didn't have a camera with me. I have the camera, it's in my big purse, in the truck, parked about a good 10-minute walk. I could have gone back and got it but I didn't want to miss it.

It was so nice. She looks so cute. She had a big smile glued to her face. And I know, try as hard as I can, I can never fully describe it. One thing, I still can't get over her posture. Her back is straight, her shoulder pulled back, her tummy sucked in. She does look like a little ballerina. She said that when Daddy gets home, she'll do it again for him.

One of the girls started crying 10 minutes into the recital. She didn't have a parent to watch her. Poor kid. And, only 1 mom had a camera with her. And, I don't know what happened to the rest of the girls but there were only 6 of them there.

running away

As we were getting ready for bed last night, Megan was banging her stuffed toys to one another.

If you're gonna be mean, your toys will run away.

Toys can't run away.

Oh, you don't remember when Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit & Tigger run away!

They did not!

Did, too. Remember, they ran away and then they got sold in the store.

I do NOT remember that. They can't run away. Dolphin can't walk.

Bijou will carry Dolpin. Dolphin will say, "Bijou, Bijou, please don't run away without me. Take me with you."

I DO NOT WANT MY TOYS TO RUN AWAY.

Then, you better start being nice to them.

NO! I'm just gonna put them in a cage so they can't go.

report card

I am so proud of her! Just to refresh memories, her grading system is N for not yet evident, P for developing/progressing and CD for consistently displayed. And she got mostly CDs. Her Language Arts - Reading is the same all through the year 6 CDs out of 8, Mathematics, she got 3 out of 3 and Life Skills, 12 out of 13. I don't know exactly what that means or IF they have a class placement where she'll be place at.

For teacher's comment, Ms. D wrote "very good reader. Great social skills." Look at that, my baby has social skills. And I was worried how she'll interact with other kids when she starts school.

I was pretty disappointed that they have nothing to mark this event in her life. No Graduation. And I meant to take a picture of her so that at least I'll have something to remember that day by but...

I bought this sort of an envelope/folder so she can keep some of her stuff from school. She has a whole drawer full of school work and she does not want to part with ANY of them. But these are my art... how can I possibly throw any of that now. I might as well buy her a box or something for all these.

what a mess...

mess
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

OK, so she'll be home a lot... again... not looking forward to this. This is how our house looks like if she's home all day. I know, she's just a kid and she doesn't see it as a mess. It's like a work of art for her. Note the little cut-out hearts stuck to the chairs. She said it's her store, I think she's selling paper boats. Earlier, her stuffed toys were having a tea party.

Speaking of art, I'll post her works that was submitted for Showcase 2005. It's an anthology of original art and literature submitted by DoDDS-Europe students from pre-school through grade 12. One is a watercolor entitled "pumpkin" and the other is a collage entitled "flower". I don't know why her teacher chose these 2 works, I think this is better and another collage was way better.

Oh, well, we won't find out until Fall if her work will be included.

shot you down

I was 5 and he was 6
We rode on horses made of stick
He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight
Bang! Bang! He shot me down
Bang! Bang! I hit the ground
Bang! Bang! That awful sound
Bang! Bang! My baby shot me down

This is her current favorite song and she calls it the Bang! Bang! song. When we're driving, she would wait for that song and she'd always complain if they don't play it. (this song has a lot of air time here)

The first time she heard it,

Mommy, it's that song from the Kill Bill movie! (o, di ba, she knows kill bill!) Why is it called Kill Bill?

Cause, she wants to kill bill!

But why does she want to kill bill?

Because Bill wants to kill her.

Oh, so she had to kill Bill first before Bill kills her.

There is something very wrong with that conversation and I don't know where to begin.

last day

Today is the last day of school. She says, "it's the last day of kindergarten". I don't know why but this morning she decided to throw a tantrum. It started when I woke her up, she got mad cause I woke her up from a "sweet dream" and she wanted to go back to sleep. I let her be for a few more minutes and told her she really needed to get ready for school. Then, she said she didn't want to go to school and when I said, "I have to call school and let them know" she said that she's going to school. When I asked her to get ready, she started complaining that it's cold. Every single thing, she found something to complain about.

We finally got to school and I was writing a note to Ms. D saying that I'll be picking her up at school. I gave her the note and told her to give it to Ms. D. She asked what it is for and I said, "I told Ms. D that this morning, you were acting like a brat." In a small voice, she said, "sorry".

show and tell

Last Thursday we got the Pirate book from Aunt A and Uncle M. and she wanted to take it to school so she can show it to Ms. D. When she got back from school I asked her if she got a chance to show it to Ms. D.

Yeah, and I told her that Uncle M drew it and she was surprised (made a surprise face) and said that it's really very nice and then she read it to the whole class and then I asked my friends if they liked it and then they said they did and then I told them that this is Uncle M (pointing to a pirate) and that this little guy is Uncle M's brother!

...all in one breath.

tulog na

Meg doesn't know how to speak Tagalog. She knows "sige na", "pala-utot", and "kili-kili". She asked me if I can teach her how to speak Tagalog. I introduced 5 words to her vocabulary: tulog, gising, kain, inom, and ligo.

Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, I have the dryer on. Our dryer buzzes 10 minutes before the set time is up and it buzzes off again after 5 minutes, then when it's done, it buzzes off again for the last time and then turns off. So, the dryer goes off as we were reading a book, then again as we were finishing the book, and once again as I turned off the light, and Megan goes "Mommy, make the dryer go tulog."

rapping

There is this rap song that's been playing a LOT on the radio. I don't know the title but it has an Elton John sample and I don't know the Elton John song either. Elton's song goes something like "Those who seek shall follow me".

As we were driving to somewhere this song came on and Meg, excited and everything, said:

Hey, mommy, it's a new song from that guy who sang "You can do it put your back into it".

At this point, I almost slammed on the brakes cause I couldn't stop laughing and also I was dismayed that my 6-year old daughter knows that song. I don't even remember hearing that song that often but she knows it. Some consolation is, at least she said "back".

funnee

She's been trying to write by herself. I heard her doing this last night. Popcorn. I know how to spell pop, it's p o p. And then she goes, corn. And she makes a K sound. Mommy, is corn K or C? to which I reply C. Then she makes the KO sound and she goes, O and on to KOR, and she makes the R and then she goes KORN, and makes the N sound.

So, she asked me how to spell lovely. I know she knows how to spell LOVE, so I ask her back how to spell LOVE and she said L O V E and I said, Now, add "ly". And she started writing it down. I asked her again how she spelled LOVELY and she goes, L O V E L E E and I corrected her saying, L Y not L E E, to which she replied back, but Ms. Lee's name is L E E.

Ms. Lee is her Art teacher. When they go to Art, they write their names on the paper followed by DK, meaning Ms. D's class, Kindergarten. She came home yesterday with a big piece of paper. It had 5 by 5 grid, on top of the paper was the familiar "Megan DK". Every square is intended for a classmate, they can draw anything they want in their square and write their names. I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed Emily's square, it had a purple flower and she wrote "Emily DK".

Kayla made a blue butterfly, Kyle, a red heart, Madison, an orange sun, Cooper, 2 kids with something red in between them, Tino, a yellow sun, Caelon, 2 kids again with something red in between them again, Duncan, made some purple scribbles, Maya, a blue and red ball (I think), Maggie, an animal with 3 feet and a long neck.

She was pretty sad cause she didn't get everybody to draw on her paper. She said that they didn't have enough time. She said she drew, rainbow for the girls and I forgot what was for the boys.

love-hate

Madison is one of the names that Megan mentions frequently about school. I think, they're pretty good friends. In the morning, when I drop her off at school, most of the time Madison would give her a hug as she stands there so stiffly not knowing what to do. Then, they would take their plush toys for the day and play with them.

But, sometimes, Megan would tell me that Madison's mean to her. That she didn't want to play with her. And once, she said, Madison pinched her. Asked how is Madison mean to her, Megan answered, She said I was mean to her.

Although, Madison is not an only child (her sister's name is also Megan), she's a little bit bossy just like Megan. They both want their way and they probably fight over what they would play. I can just see it:

Meg: Hi, Madison, you want to play with me?
Mad: Okay, I want to go play in the swing...
Meg: But I want to play Swan Lake.
Mad: I don't want to play that silly game, it's so boring.
Meg: No, it's not.
Mad: Yes, it is.
Meg: NO! It's not!
Mad: You're mean, I don't want to play with you.
Meg: I don't want to play with you either!

Note: The above conversation did not actually happen but that's how Meg is when she doesn't get her way and I think Madison's the same way.

watermelon

Meg loves fruits.

Especially the soft and juicy kind and watermelon tops the list. I bought a quarter of watermelon and served it for dessert.

Mommy, is this for me?

Why? Can you eat all of it?

Yes! I love watermelon.

You cannot possibly eat all that.

Oh, yes, I can!

And she proceeded to eat it with so much gusto.

Mommy, I was just kidding when I said I can eat it all. My tummy hurts.

This is really so mean of me, but it was just too funny. The phrase "swallowed a watermelon" just came to life right in front of my eyes. She has a pudgy tummy and all that watermelon just made her tummy look rounder. She was holding on her tummy and complaining about how she ate too much watermelon and she said that she can't move or she's gonna get sick.

June

Her last day of school is on the 16th of this month. Unfortunately, they don't have a Kindergarten graduation. No pictures of the momentous event.

This month, she'll be belt testing for yellow belt. She's been SO looking forward to a new color belt. Ever since she saw Mr. G give out new belts which happened to be on her first day of karate class.

Also, a ballet recital is set for this month.

the funny baby

This is a first for her. The first book that she read almost by herself except for the words sometimes, away, & down. Look at you, you read it almost by yourself! She got upset when I said this. What's the matter are you not happy that you read this by yourself? I asked. I still want you and daddy to read me a book. she replied. Silly girl, of course we'll still read you a book.

pancit sandwich

We had pancit canton for dinner tonight and I asked her if she wanted bread with her pancit.

Pancit sandwich! I remember having pancit sandwich in the Philippines. When P and P's girlfriend took me to a picnic, we had pancit sandwich. We had a picnic in a building. It has a playground and 2 parrots. One was green and the other was white. Mommy, I miss the Philippines. Can we go back?

7 AM

I have a new incentive to wake Megan up. A kid's TV show. It's called Hi-5. I think it's an Australian show. It starts around 7 AM, still couldn't figure out just exactly what time it starts, so now Meg wakes up with me so she won't miss the beginning of the show. Every week they have a different song to start and end the show.

Last week, it was something like How much do I love you/ As far as I can see. This week's song is I'm feeling fine/ I'm feeling fine today/ The sun is shining and I'm feeling fine. I guess, it really is an Australian show since the sun hasn't shone this week here in UK.

So, I use the cell phone as an alarm. A couple of days ago, Meg woke up with me when the alarm went off. That night, Meg asked me,

Mommy, can the phone wake us up again tomorrow?

Oh, you mean the alarm?

Yeah, can it wake us up tomorrow.

Sure. Why, did you wake up when my alarm went off?

No, it woke me up when it went on.

Funny girl. But, it makes sense though. So, why do we say the alarm went off, when it actually went on?

the weekend

It was surprisingly great.

Friday was the field trip to the zoo, "It's almost like a day off, mommy." And although it was rainy, the girls, Maya, Erin, Megan, and Madison had a whole bunch of fun. We saw all kinds of owls and monkeys, seals and penguins.

Then, we rode the zebra train around the zoo and saw more animals, tiger, llama, camels, cheetah and a lot more. One would go, "Look, ducks!" and everybody else would go, "Ducks! Ducks!"

It was time for the birds of prey show. Ms. D, asked us chaperones not to miss this as they have been studying the birds. On the show was, a gray owl, a falcon, and an american bald eagle. It was cool how they let the birds fly just inches over our heads.

Last stop, the farm barn. Here they can feed and pet the goats. Being the little girls that they are, everybody went to the kids and started picking them up. Megan wanted to pick one up but she doesn't know how to. Maya showed her how but the goat just kept wriggling.

We got back to the base and went to the police week show. She had her face painted, fingers printed and picture taken. They had a K9 unit demo, that was awesome. I miss Chewbacca.

On to her school's Art Show. We got her yearbook, too. The picture is taken in front of her class' display. Hers is the first one on the second row from the bottom.

And that was Friday. Saturday was karate, after which we went to go watch "Ice Princess". Then, Sunday, we watched "Star Wars".

That should make up for all the days I haven't posted here. Also, clicking on the thumbnails will take you to a bigger photo.

field trip

Megan is so "incited".

Tomorrow is the field trip to the zoo and I volunteered as a chaperone. Her first field trip, the forest, I didn't volunteer and she came home upset because she didn't have a parent with her. I have every intention to volunteer for the 2nd one, Beauty and the Beast Pantomime, but it slipped my mind and by the time I remembered it was too late. I promised her the next one, I would. But it was to the farm, it wasn't something that I really want to go. But Ms. D said I can go to the next one, which is the zoo and tomorrow is the day.

pause

On Monday evenings, after her ballet class, we would go to the foodcourt and have dinner. Our choices are slim, Burger King, Taco Bell, Anthony's Pizza, and Robin Hood's Deli. For dessert, we have Cinnabon and Baskin Robbins. I know, very unhealthy. Wait, I got sidetracked, I didn't want to write about food.

In one corner of the foodcourt is the play area. She would then ask to play after dinner.

Mommy, can I play?

10 minutes.

11 minutes. Pleeaasssee...

OK, 11 then.

I don't think she has a concept of time just yet but she does know that 11 is more than 10. So, she was playing there and after a few minutes, she came back.

Can I pause the timer for just a minute?

What?

The timer can I pause it for a minute.

I burst out laughing when I figured out what she meant.

Silly Meggy!

a bad day

How was your day?

Not good.

What happened?

Everything went wrong?

What went wrong?

Everything.

Give me an example.

We went to art class too early and I played too much. Everything just went wrong.

I guess little kids can have bad days.

Change topic, last night while eating dinner,

Me: Gar, remind me later about spring fling.

G: What spring fling?

Me: Later, I dont want the l-i-l g-i-r-l to get any ideas?

G: Little girl?

Meg: little has two t's...

I guess pretty soon, spelling words will not work anymore.

bad dream

Mommy, I had a bad dream. I dreamt I have to do two challenges. One for my pretend sister, I have to find a guy who turns into the letter "A".

And what was the other one?

I have to get all the crowns from the bunnies and put them in the bag.

And did you do it? Did you get the crowns?

Yes.

What about the guy?

NO, I couldn't find the letter guy.

... and she started sobbing.

may fair bazaar

Over the weekend was the annual may fair bazaar. Meg loves this not because of the however many vendors but because of the carnival. Unlike me, she loves the rides. There was one ride that she wanted to ride, unfortunately for her, there was no way that I was going to ride it. She suggested that she'll go alone. In my mind, it was not just safe for her to go on that one alone. She ended up riding the mini ferris wheel and the tea cup.

Then, she wanted a balloon. The balloon lady was there. She asked for a crown. And the lady was nice enough to make a scepter to go with the crown. After that, she finally agreed to see the vendors. Nothing much really, most of it were knick-knacks that I vowed not to buy. Then, she saw her favorite vendor. They sell old-fashioned wooden toys and what-not. She bought a wiggly.

pulling tooth

Last Sunday, while hanging out in the truck, Meg was playing with her loose tooth.

Look, mom! Her tooth was so loose, that she can move it around using her tongue.

Just pull it out, Meg.

But, it hurts.

Yes, it will hurt a little bit but after that it won't. Plus, maybe the tooth fairy will come visit again, they you'll have money again.

Like this? She slowly pulled her tooth, and it started coming out. But, it really hurts.

Look in the mirror, it's just hanging there. Just one more pull.

She pulled on it again, and now she's "pangag".

Land Rover Show

Over the weekend, we went to the land rover show. I didn't want to go, but since we practice democracy in our household, we went. Meg wanted to go since Dad bribed her. He said that she can get a new land rover at the show. Of course, once she got her toy she wanted to go home.

Mommy, why does Daddy take so long?

You take longer when you're in the toy aisle. This is Daddy's toy so just let him spend some time on it, OK?

OK.

Also, they had a working replica in the show and you can ride it around a track, Meg wanted to drive it. They even built a little wooden bridge. I thought I took a picture of her driving it but I had the camera set to movie and so it took a clip instead of a pic.

girly girl

Meg is such a girly-girl. I'm not saying it's bad sometimes I wonder why she is the way she is. G said that when we found out that we were going to have a girl when I was pregnant, he thought to himself that he's not bringing up Meg to be such a girl. Unfortunately for him, she is!

She loves pink, her bedroom is very pink -- her choice! She loves Barbie. We have categorized her Barbie into 2. Looker and Player. A looker is for display only. A player is the ones she can play with. She has 5 looker barbies, courtesy of Aunt C. And I have no idea how many player barbie she has. She has one of those barbie travelling case. It holds 8 barbie. And she also has a barbie van and I don't know how many are in it.

Ponies are another favorite of hers. And castles, too. She also has a thing for small toys that comes in it's own case, like a doll house. She has plenty of stuffed toys. I've put my papasan in her bedroom and that's the house of her stuffed toys. They're overflowing. She has Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit & Eeyore stuffed toys. We're still looking for Kanga and Roo and Owl. I wonder if there is a Gopher stuffed toy.

She loves frilly dresses with ribbons and such. Her party dresses. She wants to wear them whenever she gets invited to a birthday party. But since most birthday parties that she's been invited to have been more like an "active" parties, I try to reason with her not to. The one that works pretty good is "Do you want to ruin your party dresses?"

Lastly, she loves to play dress-up. She has a chest full of dress-up clothes. Mostly, her old halloween costumes. Her favorite character is of course, a princess.

playmates

Over the weekend, Meg found herself some playmates. The landlord's kids. The boy is about Meg's age and the girl is just 2 years old.

We were outside last Sunday messing around and she saw the boy. She ran to the playground and started to swing. The boy saw her and he had a ball with him and he started kicking the ball around. They tentatively talked to each other and pretty soon, they were playing.

Later on, the little girl came out and she started playing with her at our porch/garage. Meg went inside the house and Tobi, the little girl, followed her inside. Meg called me and said, Mom, I have a problem with Tobi. I went inside the house and saw Tobi in Meg's bedroom and was playing with her toys, toys all over the floor. See, she's making a mess. And then, I have to clean it up. I told her not to worry, I'll help her clean up.

Tobi stayed in our house for around 30 minutes. By this time, Meg was getting tired of playing with the little girl and she wants Tobi to go home. So, we told her to talk to Tobi and tell her it's time to go see her Mum.

They haven't played since then.

Loose tooth

She has another loose tooth.

I guess her dad traumatized her when he pulled her tooth cause now she won't let us touch her tooth. Whenever we ask her her if we can see her tooth, she'll pull away, cover her mouth, and say no.

Last night at the dinner table, she was playing with her tooth using her tongue. She's pushing it up and down and sideways. It's just hanging there. So, I suggested that she should just take a bite out of an apple and it should come right off. She then screamed, NO! And covered her mouth. Hahaha. She's so funny.

3rd Quarter Progress Report

Megan identifies all of the alphabet, numbers 0 - 100, counts to 29, and uses phonics to decode words. She's also showing understanding of rhyming words.

They have a kind of a questionnaire to check development and for Language Arts: Comprehension, she was given a sequence card and she's to put it in order and then tell a story about it. And of the 5 sets, she put the 4 sets of cards in the right order and tell a story but for 1 she could not put the cards in order but tried to et a story from it and this one is "A word escaping a bird."

The next one is Rhyming Words. For the 1st task, they were given a word and circle the other word that rhymes with it. She got all 4 right. The 2nd task is given a word, they have to supply a word that rhymes with it. She couldn't give a word that rhymes with "dad". The last task is, they were given nursery rhymes and circle the rhyming words, she got those all correctly.

Then, they were asked to identifies letters, phonics and numbers. She identified all the letters and numbers but on phonics, she missed c, e, g, I, l, o, q, y, E, H, I, Q, U, Y.

The marking codes are CD for consistently displayed, P for developing/progressing and N for not yet evident. In Language Arts - Reading of the 8 categories, she got 2 Ps (contributes in group discussion & effectively communicates in writing) and the rest were CDs. =)

For Mathematics, she got CD on uses manipulative to demonstrate understanding and P on Uses manipulates with written symbols & relates mathematic to daily life.

In Life Skills/Social Development, she got P's in applies problem solving strategies & works independently, the rest were CDs. In Motor Development, P in Large Muscle and CD in small muscle.

For Special Subject the Marking Code are P for participates, + for shows strength and / for more participation needed. She got a + on Art and P on Music, Physical Education and Host Nation.

She got off the bus yesterday and she was really upset.

Mommy, I lost my necklace.

What?! Where did you lose it?

Vanessa wanted to look at it and then she put it in her pocket and said she's keeping it. FOREVER!

She can't do that. Wait, did you tell her that she can have it?

NO!

Did you ask her to give it back to you?

Yes. And she said, no.

Well, tomorrow ask her for the necklace back and if she still doesn't give it back to you, tell the bus monitor that Vanessa doesn't want to give your necklace back. OK?

OK... I really like that necklace.

It's not even an expensive necklace, but still...

1st grade

Mommy, next week I'll be in 1st grade.

No, you're not!

Uh-huh! Ms. D said so.

You know, kinder is different from 1st grade.

How?

Well, 1st graders don't get rest time.

What?! I like rest time. What else?

They don't have centers, they have subjects.

What's subject?

It's like centers, you know how you have counting area? Well, that will be the Math subject.

Oh! I don't wanna be in 1st grade anymore. I want to stay in Kindergarten forever!

Popping Ears

Meg has some funny analogies on how her body works. She says that her heart can't breathe when she's running out of breath and that her tummy has bubbles when she's got gas. They do make sense though.

Yesterday, after her shower, I noticed her ears were very red. And her explanation goes:

My ears can't hear very well. If I pull on it hard, it pops and then I can hear.

I just laughed and proceeded to get her ready, I accidentally pulled on her ear, and what do you know, it went pop! So, I pulled on it again and again, and every single time, it goes pop.

It sounds like you got water in your ear! Do you have any idea how that happened?

I was cleaning my ears and I went like this. (tilts her head side to side)

You silly girl, you don't clean your ears like that. You're gonna get water inside your ear!

no more gymnastics

This month will be her last month for her gymnastic classes. She's been complaining how gymnastics is boring and so, I've made a deal with her. Since I've payed for this month that she has to finish this month and then if she really doesn't want to do it, she'll stop.

And she said, no more gymnastics. So, that's it. Too bad. She's been doing good but I've always said that I won't force her to do things. Unfortunately, 2 years of it and the only things she can show for it are forward rolls, straddle roll, some sort of a cartwheel & handstand.

Her balance beam needs a lot of work and same goes with the bars. I guess, I could say she had loads of fun when she was doing it. I guess right now, it's not fun for her, it's more like a chore. Hopefully, in the near future, her interests in gymnastics will be renewed.

Note: Sis, don't read this entry since it involves something that you hate most.

Our house is surrounded by farms and where there's farm, there's m-o-u-s-e. So, when we first moved in here, I briefed Meg about no eating in the living room only in the dining room and not to live food out so the "M" would not go in our house. Meg then asked, Can we just live the food outside our house? Hahahaha.

About a couple of weeks ago, she asked me if she can have a dog. I told her, No, since the landlord doesn't like us to keep pets and then she added, And we have "M", too. I know, why don't we just get a cat. That's a great idea. Then, the cat will catch the "M".

Sis, if you've read this far, I'd just like to add, I haven't seen an "M" in the house.

bowling

Mommy, Daddy, I'm glad we went bowling I got to exercise.

OK, so today she doesn't have to go to school and what happens? She wakes up early and wake me up, too. (I thought I can sleep in today, guess not.) Then she asks me to give her a shower and get ready for the day. What happened to the brat?

We're planning to go bowling today.

Spring break

Tomorrow is the start of Meg's spring break. She goes back to school on the 18th. She really needs a break from school, get her to miss it so when the time comes to go back, she'll be excited to go to school again. She's in this state where she just whines about everything in the morning. I think she's trying to find reason so she can ditch school.

I'm gonna cry

A couple of days ago I watched a sappy Tagalog movie, All My Life.

Mommy, I wish I can speak Tagalog.

Well, watch this with me and you might learn how to.

She watched it with me and we got to a tear-jerker part, I think it's when Sam told Louie that he's dying and then she said,

I'm gonna cry.

Why? You don't understand what they're talking about.

Yeah, but I still see what they're doing.

PS

I found the website for Meg's karate class, check it out here.

Farm

Yesterday, their class went to the farm.

And although, she wasn't feeling too good, she went. We let her take Dad's camera so she can take pictures but she came home with just a few pics but a whole lot of movie clip of the bus-ride home.

She said she had fun, she held a duckling and she saw a peacock, (Did you take a picture? to which she replied, No.), and a lot of other farm animals. I had promised her that I would come with for the next field trip which will be at the zoo.

She's looking forward to that.

You should try it

I changed Meg into her PJs today and found something funny. She's wearing 2 panties.

Meg, why do you have 2 panties on?

Cause it's comfortable.

You don't need 2 on, you just need 1.

But, mom, I like having 2 on, it's comfortable, you should try it.

Names

She got off the bus really upset a couple of days.

Mommy, this boy was calling me names.
What? What did he say?
He said, "Goodbye, Miss annoying backpack girl."
Well, that wasn't very nice. What did you do?
I just pretended I didn't hear him and I plugged my ears.
Good. Next time, don't even plug your ears, just don't pay attention to him. Pretty soon, he'll get tired of it and he'll stop.
OK.

Yesterday.

So, did that boy still call you names?
Yes.
What did he say this time.
The same thing. I pretended not to hear him but I heard him cause I didn't plug my ears just like you said.

pinata on easter

pinata on easter
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

I never thought her karate classes would come in handy when it comes to pinata, but it did.

One of the exercises in her karate is how to handle a sword (wooden), they take the sword in their hand and they go "head, side, head, all the way" and that's what I did. I coached her where the pinata was, and every single time she hit that pinata.

Too bad she didn't hit it hard enough to break that thing but the people were nice enough to give her a handful of candies.

silly meggy

When I become a mom, I won't ground my daughter, or send her to her bedroom, I'll just talk to her and let her do whatever she wants.

Now, it's time for finishing touches. (egg-painting)

That's horrible!

I was so "incited" to go egg-hunting.

Mommy did you see that "unihorn".

the brat within

She has been so good for the last couple of weeks and I don't know why today she decided to be a brat. We were late today and missed the bus, we saw the bus driving away and I had to drive her to school.

A week ago we've decided to give her an allowance, $10 per 2 weeks. This way she won't bother us about buying a toy every single time we're in a store and also we want to instill in her the value of money.

We also told her that her allowance is a privilege and therefore, if she's being a brat we take away money from her allowance. Today, she had to give me a dollar back. Poor kid! You should have seen her face. She gave it to me and said, "I promise to be good." I just couldn't say no, "Tell you what, if we're not late for karate tomorrow, you can have this dollar back. OK?" plus she only had $3 left and I don't know what she can buy with $3.

You are what you eat

It's a TV show that we saw last night. It's about people seeking help to lose weight. The lady that night was a self-confessed chocaholic and to make matters worse, chocolate is her work! She buys chocolate for a living so she is surrounded by chocolate. She is undeniably overweight.

Mommy, I don't want to be fat when I grow up. she proclaims when they were showing just how fat she is. Why does she eat so much? she asked when they showed just how much food was consumed in the course of a week. What is fat? she asks when they were trying to measure excess fat on the body. I pinched my belly and said This is excess fat. She looked at her belly and pinched it too, Like this? I didn't want her to become body-conscious at such a young age but I also see that this would be the perfect time to teach her about healthy lifestyles. Yes, but those are baby fat. You don't need to worry about that. As long as you stop eating when you're full and not eat too much junk food, you should be fine. They then talked about if the lady can actually say no to chocolate.

Mommy, are chocolates bad for you?

They're not really bad, it's when you eat a lot of them, that's when chocolate becomes bad for you. And it's not just chocolate, it's any kind of food. But fruits & vegetables are good for you no matter how much of them you eat.

mosaic

I got the idea from jbum's photostream at flickr and of course I just have to learn how to do it. So, searched the internet for a free software and found one here.

Presenting my first try at this photo mosaic,



Isn't that cool!

And here is the original picture

I want 2 parents

Dad's in one of his trips. He left early Monday morning and due back home on Friday. Last night,

Mommy, I want Daddy.
I'm sorry Meg, but Dad's at work.
Why does he have to go very far?
It's part of his job. Anyway, I'm here with you.
But I want 2 parents to sleep with me. (she starts sobbing)

Another visit from the tooth fairy

Cnv0165
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

The other night she lost a tooth again! Dad pulled it out. I wasn't there, she came up to me and gave me a toothy -1 smile. I'm surprised of how brave she was about the whole thing. I think she got that from Dad.

In my younger days, if I have a loose tooth, I won't tell my mom. I was just way too scared of my tooth being pulled out.

It's been loose since December and Dad will tease her that he's going to pull it out using the pliers. It doesn't scare her though, she'll ask me where the pliers are cause Dad needs it to pull her tooth out.

hiyaa!!!

hiyaa
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

She absolutely loves her karate classes. She is such a girly-girl though. At least, she's not a wimp. I am more afraid of what they're doing or trying to do.

One of the exercises last Saturday was: They'd throw a punch at the teacher, the teacher grabs it and then kinda twist their arm and throw them into the floor. Sure, the floor was padded but still.

Green

Last night while we were having dinner:

Meg: Mommy, why didn't you dress me in green?

Mom: You didn't tell me that you need to be in green.

Meg: I didn't know...

Dad: Did you get pinched a lot today?

Meg: No... (Dad pinched her) Awww... why'd you pinch me?

Dad: Cause you're not wearing green!

Mom: Go ahead, hun, pinch Daddy too, he's not wearing green

(She pinched Dad, and then again.)

Dad: Aw! Why'd you pinch me twice?

Meg: Cause you didn't get hurt. Why do we have to wear green?

Mom: Cause people like wearing green on St. Patrick's Day.

Meg: Is it still St. Patrick's tomorrow?

Mom: No.

Meg: I want to wear green!

busmates

Her new bus is a regular bus, unlike her old bus (it was a shuttle-van). There's more kids in the bus, 28 in the morning & 48 in the afternoon. Go figure. This post is about some of the kids in the bus.

Chris is the only boy that she talks of. She met him on her first day in the bus. She asked me if she can take her gameboy to the bus, Chris brings his to school.

Eeja (not sure about the name) is younger than her. She doesn't sit with her anymore after the Lego incident. Vanessa is about 7 or 8 years old. They sit together most of the time. We saw her at the skating rink last Sunday. Sarah & Sierra are sisters, 9 or 10 years old, they go to Meg's gymnastics & they have Karate on Saturdays but on the other half of the gym. Madison used to be in her gymnastics but her mom pulled her out and transferred her to the other class. (Madison's mom said that the other youth center has a better gymnastics class).

the 3-day weekend turned 4

It was a 3-day weekend, no, not because it was Red Nose Day. So, Friday, we went to base around lunchtime. Got movies for the weekend, went to the bookstore, she bought Starring Prima in Ballet Jolie. My sister will hate this book, cause Prima is a mouse. Then, we were off to Gymnastics. There's a new girl in the class before her class. She did this cool move and Meg's eyes just went so wide. Mommy, did you see that? That was so cool! Now, her interest in gymnastic is renewed. (She was showing signs of disinterest in it when she started ballet.)

The move: She was standing straight and started leaning back until her hands touched the floor, and then in slow-mo style she threw her right leg up and over followed by the left leg and landed so gracefully on both her feet. That was really cool!

Saturday was Karate. They are just too cute for words. A bunch of little kids kicking. Her favorite is this one exercise where they run towards the wall and sidekick it. Of course, the wall is padded. They did this one thing where they jump off this block (it's about 4 feet high), land on their feet and as soon as they land do a roll.

Sunday was Zach's birthday party at the skating rink. She was very excited to go skating but she almost fell, Dad got a hold of her right on time, and then she didn't want to do it anymore. We traded her skates for the beginner's skates and off she goes.

Monday, Dad was planning to drive up north to pick up something for the land rover, I convinced Megan to ditch school so we can go with Dad. (Bad Mom!) Finally, I got her to go, after bribing her with, 1) picnic in the truck 2) camera 3) she can buy one thing at one of those Welcome Break.

question

Mommy, my eyes are small and the stuff are big, how do they fit in my eyes?

No School

I told her yesterday that today is no school day but she won't believe me. When I picked her up yesterday afternoon:

So, no school tomorrow huh?

Yeah! Because it Red Nose Day!

Toinks!

Red Nose Day

Tomorrow is Red Nose Day. She asked yesterday if she can have "2 moneys" to buy a red nose. I gave her a 2-pound coin.

But mommy, I need 2 moneys.

Just bring this to school and ask Ms. Davis if you have enough for a red nose.

Well, she didn't believe, she opened her piggy bank and grabbed some coins. When she came home yesterday afternoon, I asked her if she had enough money for a red nose.


Yeah! I got you one, too.

I tried to put it on, but it won't stay!

Mondays are ballet. I'd pick her up at school, drive over to the other base and get her snack at the foodcourt. Then, we'd head to the restroom or WC (brits call it a WC or a loo or toilet). She'd change into her ballet outfit while I stand outside her stall door waiting for her to get done.

Last Monday, we were running late so I kept urging her to hurry up. An older lady was using the stall next to her. This is how it went.

Megan inside the stall singing a Pooh bear song.

Mommy, how does the pooh bear song goes again? The one that has gotta see a friend?

Gotta get up, gotta get going, gotta see a friend of mine.

Oh, yeah. (and then she starts singing the song)

Are you done using the potty? (I hear a flushing sound) Hurry up and get changed. ( After a minute or so) What are you doing now?

I'm changing.

Give me your shirt.

My undershirt? (She's wearing sweat pants, a shirt, and a sweater over it)

Yeah, you don't need it. (At this point, the lady comes out of the stall and she's laughing)

Lady: I wish I have a tape recorder with me. (I smile)

What are you doing now?

I'm putting on my leotards.

Give me your socks then.

I'm not done with it yet.

What? Are you putting your leotards over your socks? (The lady is washing her hands and looks at me and starts laughing again. I roll my eyes, like I'm saying Kids!) Open this door so I can help you.

I'm almost done. (Wait another couple of minutes, she's still singing the pooh bear song)

Lady: I've gotta go now, I wish I could see what comes out of that stall.

Me: She's changing into her ballet outfit. She's got a class at 4.

Lady: Now, that makes sense. (She goes outside. Meg finally gets done changing and comes out of the stall)

I saw the lady from the restroom at the parking lot and she's talking to her companion and was laughing, she sees me and points us to her companion and then she waves goodbye.

music

Mom, I don't want to go to school tomorrow.

Why?

Cause I don't want Music.

Huh??!! You like music, you sing ALL the time.

Yeah, but not in school, Music gives me headaches.

How does Music give you a headache.

It's so noisy.

What are you talking about?

Matthew and Madison, they're so noisy.

I'm beginning to suspect there's more to this than just Matthew & Madison being noisy.

Did something happened last week at Music?

Yeah...

What was it?

I can't turn off the light...

Huh?

The kids in the last row, they turn off the light in music.

And you're not in the last row. Madison & Matthew in the last row?

Yeah... I used to be in the last row but Ms. Deets moved me to second row so the new girl can be in the last row.

kids, kitty & karate

I think this is going to be one long post. You've been warned.

I find it so cute when a kid calls out Megan's name and say "Hi!" or when she waves to somebody and greet them. I can't get over the fact that my little girl has a life of her own now. A life where I only hear about. Last Sunday, at the store, a little boy comes up to Megan,

Hi, Megan.

Hi.

What are you doing?

My mommy and daddy are getting something.

OK, bye.

Bye.

And they wave goodbye. Mommy that was Quentin. I've heard about Quentin. She plays a lot with him and I think they are in the same table. It's nice to finally have a face to a name.

She keeps telling me that Kayla wants her phone number, she knows our phone number, she said that she keeps forgetting to give it to Kayla. I asked her why Kayla wants her number and she said that Kayla wants her to come over to her house. But, I haven't heard from them.

While at the store, we went to this Chinese guy's stall, she said she wants to buy something and pointed to a lucky cat figurine. She adores cats. I have no idea how many kitty cat things she's got. We told her maybe later. We're trying to curb her spending, for her, going to the store means buying something. Window-shopping is still an unknown concept for her.

Saturday, after karate, oh yeah she's got karate on saturdays now, after eating we went inside to look around, the line was so long that we decided not to get anything. But she has her heart set on this little thing. We told her no and she started acting up. It's not that bad. She doesn't do the scream her head off, pull her hair type thing, it's just a consistent fake cry that almost sounds like a whine. Well, we had a heart to heart when we got home about buying things and she said she understood but when I told her Sunday that it was getting late that we'll get her lucky kitty tomorrow, she started again. *sigh*

The karate, it was so cute, little boys and girls, kicking and yelling Hiyaa! She likes it so much. Especially the part where Caelon, a boy from school, got a new belt. I think she kept waiting for Mr. Green to give her a belt that when the class was finally over, it was 2 hours long, and she didn't get a belt, she came up to me and tearfully said, Mr. Green didn't give me a belt. We were not planning to get her a uniform until we're certain that she really likes it but she really wanted that belt so we got her a uniform.

When we got home she tried it on and said, I look like a samurai!

Told you it was going to be long.

not a 4-person bed

She wakes up in the middle of the night and trek down to our bedroom, get in the middle and sleep. For a such a small person, she can take up a lot of the bed. I'd wake up to an elbow in my face and Dad complains about her kickings. When it gets hot, and it usually does when we're all crowded in our bed, she kicks the blankets off.

So, this is how we sleep. It won't work if G and I don't sleep sideways. Oh, that pink blob, that's either her stuff toy baby or piglet or sometimes bunny.

80 days

She has 80 days left in kinder and then, she'll be in 1st grade. Can you believe it? I can't. Sometimes, I look at her and it just blows me away how much she has grown. I tell her sometimes that she's growing way too fast for Mommy, that I don't want her to grow anymore and that she should just stay just as she is.

She's doing a lot of things on her own now. She closes the door when she's in the bathroom. I used to brush her teeth in the evenings to insure it's brushed properly but now she insists on brushing her teeth by herself in the mornings and in the evenings. She just wants me to wash her hair and she washes her body by herself.

In the morning, I'm not even allowed in the bathroom anymore. She'll ask me to get her school clothes ready the night before so that in the morning she can get ready by herself. Pretty soon, I'll have to knock on her bedroom door before I can come in and it would have a sign on it like "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" or something to that effect, you know, signs that you see in teenagers' doors.

Last night, she tried to sleep by herself but after 5 minutes she called out, and said that she can't sleep with that "ooooooo ooooooooooo oooooooo" sound. I said, that I can't do anything about that, it's the wind that's doing that sound. And then she said, can you sleep with me, I can't sleep alone.

trouble

last night, dad put her to sleep. G thought that she was sleeping so he got up and she turned and asked him where he's going. "I'm just going to use the bathroom and talk to Mommy. Ok?" And she went back to sleep. I was reading a book and G turned on the playstation and started this racing game. A few seconds later, we heard her crying. G went to check up on her,

Why are you crying?

Because you said, you were gonna use the bathroom and talk to mommy and all I hear is vroom vroom vroom... hahahaha

And now for the trouble part of this post,

Daddy, the bus driver threw away my lego toy.

When did this happen?

Today.

In your dream or for real?

For real...

Why? What happened?

The girl threw it on the floor.

What girl?

The girl that I was sitting with, she was playing with it and I told her that she can't play with it in the bus and then she threw it on the floor. I tried to get it back but it fell on the stairs. And then the bus driver picked it up and then when we got to the school, he put it on the trash.

Poor kid! She said she lost 3 pieces, the witch's hat, the owl, & something green. Oh yeah, it was the witch toy that she has begged us to buy for her.

I'm hungry

First thing she tells me as soon as she sees me.

Why are you always hungry? Do you finish your lunch at school?

No.

Why not?

Because, they always say 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or take your last bite...

You poor kid. Maybe, you play so much during lunch.

No, I don't.

What about talking? Do you talk at lunch?

No.

I don't believe you. Who do you sit with at lunch?

Madison... But she's the one who does the talking.

They can't be together, they always talk, they got in trouble for talking during quiet time, and so Ms. D seperated them and now, I might have to ask her teacher not to sit them together at lunch. Am I being mean?

Cnv0110

Cnv0110
Originally uploaded by xiemen.

The new bike!

It was love at first sight, and she has begged and pleaded with us for this bike after riding it around the store. So, we asked grandpa and Uncle P if the can send us money instead, and they said, yeah, sure, save us a trip to the store and shipping costs, so, she's one happy kid!

thank you

One good thing about living so far away from family are packages in the mail. It's been 10 days but she's still getting presents from family and thank you Lolo, Uncle P, Auntie A and Uncle M for the presents.

So, courtesy of Lolo, she has the coolest bike ever that I still have to take a pic of. Yesterday, we finally got a chance to go to the post office and found a 2nd notice for a package from Aunt A & Uncle M.

Is this mine? Can I open it? Please...

You have to wait until we get home, OK.

And last night, we bought the Taiko Drummaster for PS2, courtesy of Uncle P. So, right this very minute, she's wearing the sweats from Aunt A banging on the drums. I shouldn't have bought those drums, but they're so fun. Truth be told, I was banging on it last night too until she fell asleep.

Once again, thank you everybody!

live from worlington!!!

First entry here in Worlington, what's it like? Cool!!! She was so excited to live here because of the playground. So, our first day here, off she went to explore it, 15 minutes later she went in the house and asked where are the other kids, she doesn't wanna play alone, and asked us if we could knock in other's people and ask if their kids can come out and play with her. We had to explain to her that maybe they're inside since it's too cold out. (It's been snowing on and off since Saturday! - that's another entry, maybe tomorrow)

Other things in the property are a tennis court and a fish pond with really big kois. Is that how you spell it? Unfortunately, we can't feed the fish. Nobody has played tennis yet. It seems like there are no kids here. Poor kid. She invited Joey to come over but the first day, Joey's dad said no and maybe tomorrow. The next day, we didn't go back home until it was late and so Joey couldn't come and the third day, Joey had to go somewhere.

The weekend that past was a 3-day weekend for her and since Tuesday, school has been delayed for 2 hours due to weather. She rides in a regular bus now. She was at first anxious but later on she was excited when she remembered that Matthew from her class rides that bus. But, she wasn't sure, she said Matthew is sometimes mean to her. When she came home Tuesday, she said that a girl from her gymnastics class sat with her in the bus.

Another new thing that she got was a bike! The coolest bike ever and expensive as heck but she likes it soooo much. It looks like a harley. Will post pic later.

moving

we'll be moving tomorrow! wish us luck. *big sigh*

a letter

Feb 15, 2005
7:50 AM

Dear Megan,

Happy Birthday! I just got back from the bus stop. Joey was upset since you don't want to sit with him at the bus. It's so cold today and there's ice everywhere. Too bad it didn't snow.

So, you're now 6 years old. I asked you this morning how does it feel to be 6 and you said, that you don't feel like you're 6. The thing is, age is really just a number and to tell you the truth, I don't feel like my age, too. And it's not a bad thing, what matters is you're happy with your life.

Today, I'm writing to tell you that I love you and that you are the best thing that happened to me & dad. Never forget that. No matter what happens, we will always be here for you, loving you.

What I wish for you is that you will be happy with your life. That you will be successful in future endeavors and that you will be content with whatever life has in store for you. Something that I live by: Happiness is not getting what you want but wanting what you get!

And, I also say this, to be the best that you can be. Do not compare yourself to others, but be content in knowing that you did your best. And that is good enough. Just have fun. Life is too short to be wallowing in things that didn't go your way.

Happy birthday, baby! No matter how old you are, you will always be my baby.

love you much,
Mommy

I'm 6 years old

By xiemen.

Come join us!!!

What: Megan's birthday
When: Saturday, 12 Feb 2005 3 - 4:30 PM
Where: Mildenhall Dome Leisure Center

She said she had a lot of fun. It looked like it. Her guests were Lisa, Jonjon, Austin, Emily, Maggie, Shannon, Madeline, Chase, Kayla, Caelon, Joey & Luke.

By xiemen.

Bouncy castle was a hit, I don't have a single decent picture of them on the bouncy castle, they would not stay still for a minute for the camera.

cops & bad guys

What did you do at host nation today?

We played dress-up! Oh, mommy, we have a new center, it's a costume center.

What was your costume?

A cop.

Did you catch any bad guys?

Yeah, Michael Jackson. Ahahaha.

Did you just say Michael Jackson? I just have to ask, I have no idea how she knows Michael Jackson.

Uh-huh...

Do you know who Michael Jackson is? (She shook her head, no)

So, how do you know Michael Jackson?

Ms. D's TV.

last-minute homework

I'm not sure if it really was a homework but if it was, that was her first homework. We were getting ready for bed and that's when she remembered,

Mommy, I have to draw a submarine.

A submarine? Why do you need to draw a submarine?

Ms. D told me to draw a submarine.

When are you suppose to draw the submarine?

Ms. D said to draw a submarine when I get home.

I see, OK, go downstairs and draw, and you'd better hurry up.

Why?

Cause, it's bedtime.

sticker reward

I learned a new song at music today?

Oh, yeah. Can you sing it to me?

I forgot how it goes.

Too bad, did Matthew sing?

No, he never sings at music. But, Madison got a sticker at music. I didn't get one.

Maybe Madison did a good job at singing.

She sings like this, "I LOVE MY COUNTRY ..."

And how do you sing?

Like this, "I love my country..."

Then, maybe you need to sing like Madison.

No, Ms. D said that's not good.

Then, how did Madison get a sticker if she sang like that?

She shrugs. Oh, well, so I told her to just listen to the teacher and do the teacher says.

a peanut

She has this song and it's the tune of "Clementine" and it goes like this:

I found a peanut,
I found a peanut,
I found a peanut just now.
Found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut just now.

And then the next verses goes:

I cracked it open,
I found it ruined,
I ate it anyways,
I got sick,
I called the doctor,
He said I wouldn't die,
I died anyways

And lastly,

I went to heaven.

=)

The witch ... toy

Friday. No classes again. Played with Joey all day and when it was time to get ready for gymnastics, she threw a fit. I don't want to go to base. I don't want to go to gymnastics. And on and on. Finally, got to the base, went to the store to get a gift a birthday gift for Jonjon.

So, of course, she decided that she wants to a toy, too.

But, mommy, I never had a witch toy!

Too bad. You don't deserve a new toy.

After her gymnastics class, we went back to the store and had dinner at the food court and rented a couple of movies. Then, she remembered the witch toy. And so, she was whining again about the witch toy. She still didn't get the witch toy.

Saturday. The first thing that she remembered when she woke up in the morning was the witch toy. We made a deal, she has to prove to me that she deserves a new toy, so she needs to be extra good the whole day. And she was. She played with the witch toy the whole night and the next day. I guess she REALLY wanted that witch toy.

Reading

She can read! It's so cool. I heard her the other day, she was doing this

mm - a - nn, mmaann, man

and then I got her phonics card and asked her to read a more words and she can do it. I'm so proud of her.

My baby's all grown up.

End of Second Mark.

A whole lot of improvement in her reading skills, she can actually read a lot of words now. It's so cute when you hear her trying to read. She'll do the phonics thing and when she puts the souonds together and recognize the word, her face just brightens up and it's just so cute!

Joey has been having dinner with us lately. The first time, it was sinigang na baboy, and he liked it. Last night, it was steak, they both loved the mashed potatoes and after all the potatoes were gone, they ate their stakes. Joey ate his with ketchup. Then, they had cherries for dessert.

spaceman part II

So, did you, Madison & Quentin played spaceman?

Yeah, and space girl, too.

Who's your bestfriend in school?

Quentin.

Why?

Because we always see each other.

Do you play with everybody in school?

Yes, everybody! Oh, mommy, sometimes the boys do this. *gasps with mouth wide open and puts her hand to her chest.

What's that?

They're in love.

With whom.

The new girl, Maggie.

And then what does Maggie do?

She goes, "go away, go away."

And then, what happens to the boys?

Their hearts get broken.

spaceman

What are you thinking?

I'm not thinking, I'm wishing?

Wishing what?

That I could be a spaceman, I mean a spacegirl.

Why don't you close your eyes and think about being a spacegirl and you might dream of it.

Like Jack and Annie?

Yeah, you can be Annie and Joey can be Jack.

Can Madison be in my dream, too?

Baby, it's your dream, you can have anybody in your dream.

Madison can be the bird. I have an idea, I'm gonna ask Madison and Quentin to play spaceman with me at lunchtime.

That's a good idea, baby, now GO TO SLEEP!

and then she giggles. Sweet dreams.

sleeping arrangements

Meg and dad, after dad read her a chapter

Can I sleep in your bedroom tonight?

Nope.

Please, I don't like sleeping in my bed...

Tell you what, when you get two days off from school, you can sleep in our bedroom.

What about 4 days off?

I guess...

After 30 minutes...

Mommy, I can't sleep.

Just close your eyes.

Mommy, can I sleep in your bedroom?

I thought dad said you can sleep in our bedroom when you get 2 days off?

Yeah, but that's too far!

The Incredibles

Yipee! We FINALLY got to watch The Incredibles. That movie was really funny. Meg started laughing as soon as Pixar's logo appeared.

Watch this, mommy, the lamp is gonna squish the I.

Hahahaha.

Her birthday's coming up. She wanted at first to have it at the Skills Development Center and have a ceramic painting party. That would have been cool, unfortunately, they were BOOKED! (Note to self: Book ceramic painting room 6 months in advance!)

So, I convinced her to have it at the community center, we'll rent a bouncy castle, hire a girl who can twist ballons into animals, have daddy wear a clown wig and a red nose, and have a face painter. She finally agreed but when Daddy went to book the room, AGAIN, it was booked!

I was getting frantic, but we finally found one. So, the party's on. Do you wanna join us?

P.S. Got a me-blog, drop by sometimes.

of boredom, firefighters, & gymnastics

no school yesterday! she was at first happy that she didn't need to wake up early. She watched TV and then around 10, it started, Mommy, I'm bored. What time is gymnastics? So, I used this opportunity to tell her that, on days that she doesn't want to go to school, she'll be stuck in the house with mommy and be bored. But during lunch time, Joey knocked on the door. (Oh, yeah, Joey's back.)

They played outside. They had Joey's firefighter suits on, with matching red hard hat and rubber duckie boots. She has a backpack on, and they were running around outside in the rain.

Gymnastics. Her hand stands and cart wheels are better. But, she's copying the older kids with her tumbles, and that's not tucking their chin and somehow using their head, which makes me cringe! Knock on wood, but I just have this vision of these kids breaking their precious little necks. So, yesterday, before she ran off to join the class, I asked her to do it properly and she did. And Ms. J, gymnastics teacher, was very pleased with her. By the way, she's Ms. J's favorite pupil.

lambing

I notice something...

Sometimes, she speaks in that sing-song tone that we pinoys do when we speak in English. It's not really Taglish (she doesn't know a single Tagalog word, bisaya pa), but it sounds like that. Do you know what I mean?

It sounds really cute though. And sometimes, she even uses sige na and ba. Or when dad is teasing her or whatever she calls out to me and say Mommy o, Daddy o.

She seems to switch to this tone when she's in the lambing mode. (How do you say "lambing" in English? I don't want to think!)

morning blues

For 3 mornings now, she's been acting up everytime I wake her up. It starts with NO! I don't want to wake up! and I don't have enough sleep yet. to I don't want to go to school. School makes me bored. and also there's the It's too cold...

She has never been a morning person but the idea that she's going to school used to help her get ready. The thought of being late for bus gets her out of the bed. I don't know why but they don't work anymore. Good thing is when she's finally awake, (about 30 minutes later) she's back to her bubbly self. What am I going to do to make her mornings easier? Not just for her but for me as well.

Any suggestions????

the baby-bottle dilemma

Mommy, I have a problem.
What is it, hun?
I don't have a baby-bottle for my baby?
And what baby is that?
The baby that I'm gonna have when I grow up...
Oh, that baby, don't worry baby, you can get the baby-bottle at the baby-stores.
But I don't know where the baby stores are!
You will know where the baby stores are when you get pregnant.
Mommy, you have to teach how to be pregnant.

unbloggable week

but, still, here I am.

Last friday, we went to her gymnastics class but she wasn't feeling too good, so we ended up leaving early. Saturday came and she was really sick, she slept all day. Sunday, she was feeling better, so off we went to get Aunt A's wedding presents. Monday, no class, so she was bored all day. Plus, there's no ballet class which was a bummer. Oh, yeah, she has ballet on Monday now. Pictures will be posted soon. =)
Tuesday, when she got home, she was sick again. And so, for the rest of the week, she's been staying home much to her dismay, since she missed her gymnastics class! AGAIN! She wasn't too happy about that.

Well, it's the weekend again! Hope her week is better than last!

P.S.
I wonder what happened to my Flickr thingie?

i missed school

I woke up this morning to Meg's whimpering. After a few minutes, she came into my bedroom and said,

Mommy, I missed school.
I know Meg, didn't you say last night that you were still sick.
Yeah, but I feel better now, and I missed the school bus.
Meg, you should just stay home today, I don't want you to get sick again.

After a few more minutes of whimpering and sniffling, she said,

Can we go somewhere today? I'm gonna be bored at the house.

still at home

She's feeling better today but we opted to have her stay home. I don't know what we're gonna the do the whole day. She's got all these energy from sleeping all day yesterday. She woke up this morning,

Mommy, mommy, wake up it's morning!

and then when I finally opened my eyes, she went on to say,

I'm hungry

Yep, she's definitely feeling better!

on to regular programming

today, she's at home
she has a slight fever
poor baby!

Davao, The Conclusion

Meg, do you miss Davao?
Yes.
What do you miss most?
I miss my cousins.
Do you like Davao?
Yes.
Do you want to live there?
No.
Why not?
Because, I live in England.
Don't you want to live close to your cousins?
Mommy, can Vanessa and Patricia live in England instead?

Davao Part IV

The Wedding

The main reason for the vacation. She was the flower girl and she was so cute walking down the aisle, bouquet in hand, a demure smile glued to her face. As she was walking down, I called out to her so I can take a picture. And when she saw me, she stopped dead in her tracks, looked straight into the camera and smiled. That's my girl.

At the reception, she danced with Patricia. Towards the end of the evening, when people were dwindling, she arranged the chairs so that the chairs faced the stage and the dance floor. Then, she asked her cousins to sit and watch.

Asked what she thought of Aunt A, and she said, "She's so pretty. Just like a princess."

Davao Part III

The faces.

There was Tita Lani, who was staying at Aunt Mila's house, Mon, Aunt Mila's son, and Celine, or Tekla, whom she first met. She enjoyed Celine's company so much that when we went to meet my friends, she wanted to go back to Aunt M's house to play with Celine. She told me later on that they went to a party, it wasn't really a party, it was a prayer meeting.

Vanessa and Patricia were her constant playmates in Davao. She can't pronounce Patricia correctly, it comes out sounding like "Patisya". Hehehehe. And when we call Patricia Patisya, she gets mad and says, "it's Patisya, not Patisya."

At J's wedding, my friend D's younger sister, she played with Paolo, D's son. D was surprised that Paolo played with her, saying that Paolo doesn't usually play with kids and considering Paolo is about 9 or 10 years old. Or maybe she thought Paolo was her cousin Paolo, her only boy cousin or so she thought. She loves hanging out with cousin Paolo, too.

Other cousins that she met were Liana, Andrea and Alyssa. Of the 3 sisters, I think she favored Alyssa. Christmas party, we rented a Videoke Machine. Vanessa sang Ocho ocho pasko na. And they taught Meg the dance steps for that song. I won't try and describe how it goes, but it was really funny! She later on wanted to sing, too. I told her she has to sing loud so she can't get a high score!

We went to Lupon and met more cousins. She liked playing Chloe and was mad when other cousins called Chloe "Kweng kweng". What is it with us Pinoys, we racked our brains for that perfect name for our babies and then call them these names? I'm guilty of that, when Megan was still a baby we called her Gantut and sometimes we still do.

More cousins from Lupon, there's AC, Pauline and Gian. Gian teased her. I don't know how it started but they started calling Megan "meegan" and this made her really mad. So mad, that she came crying to me. I have to explain that they were just teasing her and that is what cousins are for. To play with, to tease with, and sometimes to fight with. Right? Right!

At Pearl Farm, she was with cousins, Cheska and Koojee. The first time Cheska saw Meg was when they went swimming at Apo View. Cheska made this comment, "Yung bata, gikuha ang float ko." Or something like that. We tried to explain to Cheska that the "bata" is her cousin Megan, but she remembered Meg as the "bata" who took her float. Hehehehe!

Davao Part II

On with the places! SM City Mall and NCCC Mall would be something that she would remember. After all, that's where she got her toys and dresses. And where there are rides and cotton candy.

She loves the beach, so that was one of the first thing she asked me, where's the beach. We took her to Times Beach but she didn't get to swim or play because Lolo said it has itchy-itchy water, we just walked around and ate at Miggy's. But she did go to Paradise and Pearl Farm. This would be the highlights of her vacation, especially Pearl Farm, where she went kayaking with her brand new Uncle, Uncle M, hehehe.

We stayed for about 10 days at the Apo View and she loved it there. The first thing she did was invite her cousins V and P for a swim and sleepover. Then, in the mornings, she would go swim and eat breakfast at the poolside. We'd stop by Uncle M's studio in the evening if and when Aunt A and Uncle M are there. We also took her Blue Room. She loved the Top of the Apo because of the fruits available. I prefered Zugba, though.

She went to Loleng's with Uncle P and Tita C. Tita C said that at first, Meg was shy around her but later on, talked and sang endlessly. That sounds about right.

MTS was another hit, it's got something to do with the playground. The first time she went was with Lolo and Lola and V. So, when I said, "Let's go to MTS" she was happy. So I took her with cousins P and V.

I'm kicking myself in the butt right now! I'm pretty sure I missed something, I should have blogged but . . .