Another Birthday Party

Greg and I enjoyed another party with a co-worker at a nice Spanish restaurant.

 It was Howard's (below) birthday.  He and Pat are from Perth, Australia and all of Howard's siblings, Pat and Howard's son, and a longtime friend and his wife came to join in the celebration!

 One of his sisters brought him a fancy cane for his gift!

It was a fun night and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting and visiting with his family and celebrating Howard's birthday!

More Lizards

Before the holidays I was shopping for some baskets, at the mall-not some outside stall type of store.  I picked up one basket and saw a lizard run away.  I told Greg that night that I bought the basket without the lizard since I didn't think our house needed any extra ones!

There is still a lizard who lives in our mailbox that is attached to our gate.  When I check for the mail, Ashley usually asks if the lizard is in there and if so, can I hold her up to see it.  It usually runs out a hole in the back of the box when I open it up and scare it.

One day recently our helper was about to start washing some dishes in the kitchen and said there was a lizard in the sink.  Ashley wanted to see that one too and was talking about how cute the baby lizard was.  Ms. Dali got it in a paper towel and was going to take it outside (laughing about how much the boys like trying to catch the lizards) but it jumped from her paper towel to the wall before she could get it outside.

They are helpful and I am glad they eat mosquitoes but we just seem to keep finding lizards in what, to us, seem like unusual places!

Playing Games

Playing games with our kids always ends up being more entertaining than just the game.  While we were all home, we played lots of games including Monopoly one afternoon-just me, Greg, and Scott and Scott beat us both soundly.

Then we played Life one afternoon-all 5 of us.  It was hilarious-Ashley of course, chose the pink car and wanted the money that was pink-had no idea that those were only $1,000 bills and the white ones were $100,000 bills and worth a lot more!  It is ALL about favorite color for her these days!

It is fun to watch the boys minds work playing Clue with them too.

We play with the teams of Ryan and Scott against me and Ashley in Guess who and have been playing lots of Mille Bornes too-that is Ryan's favorite game-French for 1000 miles, it's a driving game where you try to get 1000 miles but you can play stop signs, accidents, out of gas, or flat tires on people.

We also played Pictionary with them for the first time recently.  Greg was the only one who drew.  Ashley and I were on one team guessing and Ryan and Scott were the other guessing team.  It was really fun!

Birthday Party Day Trip

 Our 3 kids watching friends playing a game.  We went south of Tagaytay to Sonya's Garden for a friend's celebration of their 3 boys birthdays!  Sonya's Garden is a beautiful place-gardens, restaurant, bed and breakfast-there was even a wedding going on the day we were there.

 Below is a jeepney we saw on the drive down

 Who is taller than the big sunflower?

 

 exploring the gardens

 The kind of picture the children most prefer!

 With funny lips and mustaches!

 A pretty banner-all 3 birthday boys names begin with S

 Scott and Emilio-one of his favorite friends from school

 Ryan was afraid of missing something if he got to far away from the table of birthday treats!

 Ashley and Greg played in the gardens

 Below picture-YES there is a television in that house!

 

 The above 2 pictures are Taal Lake and volcano

This truck was in front of us on the drive home-it is full of hogs going somewhere!

 a fruit stand we saw on the way home

Visiting Readers

The boys went with me while they were still out of school to read to Ashley's class one day.  Scott chose the book The Dust Bunnies-a hilarious book discovered and given to us by Jodi and Chris and the kids loved it!

 Ryan chose a book that Grammy had bought for Ashley that has 10 rubber ducks at the beginning and they all get sidetracked through the story and the last one squeaks when you push it at the end of the book.  Both boys did a good job-oh and I read some books too-about Corduroy the bear and life in his neighborhood because they have been talking about community helpers.  I also read about Corduroy going to the doctor and a fun book called Go Away Big Green Monster.  Ashley has a really fun class!

Song creations by Scott and Ryan

A friend of Scott's began coming up with variations on the Twelve Days of Christmas and Scott and Ryan made up some of their own.  Below are 2 for you to enjoy

This first one has a few items for each season-

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me-
12 Christmas trees
11 pairs of ice skates
10 pairs of mittens
9 Halloween costumes
8 giant pumpkins
7 big fat turkeys
6 swimming pools
5 beach balls
4 surfboards
3 watering cans
2 flower pots
and a tulip in a garden

This one is about food-

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me-
12 quesadillas
11 doughnut holes
10 tower burgers (a double decker burger that the boys had in a restaurant here)
9 quarter pounders
8 ice cream cones
7 fizzy sodas
6 spicy burgers
5 french fries
4 chicken nuggets
3 discount cards (for use at the restaurants)
2 Happy Meals
and a hamburger on a plate

Is YOUR grocery store decorated for Chinese New Year?

Just thought you would enjoy seeing!

Something funny I read

 Batanes is the northernmost and smallest (by landmass and population) province of the Philippines.  Some of these things are funny about life in the Philippines but many are just funny things about life in a very small rural town!


You're in Batanes if…
By Demy C. Narag

There's no place like home. We've heard this line many times over. Some say it half-heartedly though, for they'd rather get constantly stranded in traffic and inhale the deadly air as long as they can see the glaring lights of the city. But for a homegrown Ivatan like me, I say this quote from the heart.

Indeed, there's no place like home. Never mind if Batanes is associated with typhoons, never mind if there is no real nightlife, never mind if there are no malls, no Jollibee or McDo, and yes, never mind if I see the same faces everyday.

Then, what makes you and me long for home when we are in the city? What follows is a list of little things that make us feel good and at peace in Batanes. This list can go on and on, I know, so I invite you, dear readers, to add to my list.

-The person you meet on the street greets you with the question: "Ngan mo'" (where are you going?) even if he does not really care where are you heading to.

-People on the streets smile at each other even they do not know each other personally.

-The farmers bring their REMS radios to the fields.

- You can't make a business bottling mineral water because everybody can drink directly from the faucet without fear of contracting amoebiasis or diarrhea.

-In a fiesta lunch or picnic, the main dish consists of delicious yellow rice (supas) and uved.

- The valleys and seas are in their nature given color.

- The airport is full of spectators during a "plane day".

- Everybody seems to know each other and everybody seems to be a relative of the other.

- You don't feel guilty if your six-year-old sets out for school without "baon".

- You can sleep in the park or prettily on the seashore overnight without fear that somebody may harm you.

- You feel confident that somebody who found your lost key will bring it to the local Radyo ng Bayan Station.

- The townsfolk speak funny and sometimes, good English when they are drunk.

- Stone houses are refreshing sight.

- Coconut crabs, kuyabs and valichits are abundant during certain seasons of the year.

- The prelude to a fiesta's noontime show is an ethnic dance called palo-palo.

- The women like mestiza blondies in their native "vakul" headdresses.

- The doors of houses are left open while the owners are out to work.

- You tune in your AM radio in the morning and hear love songs dedicated to you instead of one horrible news story after another delivered by newscasters that make you manic depressive the whole day.

- You don't have to worry about the traffic.

- The town mayor or the public school teacher also casts their fishnets and till the soil (at least, outside office hours).

- There are no squatters, even in abandoned houses.

- You can have fresh vegetables and fresh meat -for free, sometimes.

- The governor rides on his bike to the capitol.

- You can go out even without a cent in your pocket.

- The brilliance of the moon and the stars do not compete with commercial lights.

- You don't feel ashamed eating and drinking all you can in wedding receptions - even if you are not invited.

- The politicians don't get charged with smuggling and drug trafficking.

- Youngsters called the elderly their uncle, aunt, lolo or lola even if they are not in any way related to them.

- There are no beggars, real or fake, asking for alms on the streets.

- Your gelled hair does not get sticky with dust and pollution at the end of the day.

- You send your child to the day care center without fearing that he will be kidnapped.

- The air you breath is fresh, really fresh.

Christmas back in Manila

We got back from Hong Kong on Friday evening and got up to have "Christmas Morning" on Saturday!

We got Grammy on the phone so she could hear the kids open presents from her!  Ryan got this cool ball

 and a Time Science Almanac for kids-the yearly and Science Time almanacs for kids are SUPER cool!

 Ashley got a box of PINK legos that she was absolutely thrilled with!

 Below is Scott opening his detective fingerprinting kit that he has already had lots of fun with!  Enjoyed having Christmas on the phone with you!

 Getting into the den-can you say just a LITTLE excited!

 Looking into their stockings and seeing what Santa brought!

 Ashley was very happy about her Hello Kitty watch

 Ryan found a bag of legos and didn't care what else was in his stocking-he stopped to build right away!  Greg reminded me that was why my mother always made me open books last b/c I wanted to stop and read!

 

 This is a special necklace for Ashley-my mom gave it to me the Christmas that I was 4-I remember walking around proudly wearing it with the blue nightgown I had on Christmas morning.  My mother had gotten it for Christmas when she was 4!  She was really excited about it-I will have to post a good picture of the necklace soon-it is a blue circle with flowers on one side.

 Here are all the kids with their presents from the Gregorys-Scott got the Twister game, Ryan a lego racer (since he and Ian share the LOVE of legos), and Ashley got a set of letter stamps and a tiara, ring, earring and toy necklace set

Presents from the Gross family-Scott got a Captain America lego person, Ashley got a kit to make your own sidewalk chalk-which we have made one batch and will bring the others home this summer to make with the girl cousins, and then Ryan got-yes more legos-a Star Wars droid escape pod

 Here is Scott with one of his favorite gifts-the remaining books of the 39 Clues series

 Ashley being fancy!

 Scott liked his cool flying disk and even managed to try it out in the den and didn't break anything!

 

 Ryan LOVES animals too and so I found him a cool book about animals

 Ashley was excited about her new Maisy books

 Below is a yoda clock that Scott is holding up in front of his face

 Ashley got a new leap pad that is pink!

 This expression and the joy he has building with them and playing with them is why Ryan got mostly legos for Christmas-the space shuttle is really cool!

 Scott was SUPER excited about the cabin he got to build too!  Reminds me of Uncle Wayne and Boo's in North GA!

 Early building stages!

 Ashley said this was her cake for Jesus' birthday!

 Instead of cake this year-we had Jesus pancakes with whipped cream and m and ms after singing Happy Birthday to Jesus-the boys ate so fast that I didn't even get a picture-anxious to get back to the lego building!

 Ashley ate all dressed up!

 Showing of some of the things they built

 Below is Scott's set-the arrival of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings-Frodo is up front in the green shirt

 Ashley and her Daddy after working to build her house

 Greg likes legos too!

 Ryan with all his creations from the day!

 Scott was quite proud of his cabin

 They all wanted to look on to see what Ashley was doing with her new leap pad!

It was a great day!  Merry Christmas!