Fears Over Swine Flu

My son came down with a cough and a cold last week. Then last weekend, he came down with a fever. It was during this time when the news about the swine flu was breaking out. I, of course, became nervous. I went online to find out what the symptoms are but it wasn't really a big help. According to what I've read, the symptoms of swine flu is similar to the flu that we've been getting. Since his main symptoms are a runny nose and a cough, then it's not the flu. Just the same, we kept him from school today even though he was feeling well. I do hope that the swine flu doesn't reach our state. I'm a little worried since one of my daughter's classmate just came back from Mexico for Spring break. I hope that he didn't bring any swine flu germs with him.

Children and the News

My daughter has reached that age wherein she's more aware of what's happening around her. I always have the evening news on and she, of course, hears and sees what's on. There are times where she would ask me about a certain story and I try to explain it in a way that is appropriate for her age. The other night, she saw the news about the raging wild fire going on in South Carolina. She knows that a family close to us just moved in that state. She is worried that they are affected by the fire. I had to explain to her that they are far from the affected area and their house, just like the Outer Banks homes are not in the danger zone. When the collapse of the financial institutions were the news of the day, I also talked to her about it. She has some questions and I tried my best to explain how and why it happened. Thank goodness for the hosts and guests in Good Morning America, I got all my information from them and it really made it easy for me. I think that kids in the right age should be made aware of what's going on around them. If we try to shelter them from everything that's going on, they might grow up believing that the world is a bed of roses.

Mommy moments # - Daddy moments (in Europe)

                                        Daddy Moments in Europe

I missed last week's Mommy Moments, drat! It was a very busy week for me plus it was also my 11th wedding anniversary.  I was going to post the photo of the pregnancy test kit showing a positive result when I was pregnant with my first born since that was a very sentimental moment for me.  Too bad I didn't get the chance to scan the photo.  Oh well, at least I'm back for this week.  :o)

For this week's theme, I sure have a lot of photos to choose from.  I'm the photographer in the family so there are tons of daddy moments that I captured.  As usual, all the photos here were from our summer vacation last year. It's very convenient since it's all in my notebook compared to the other photos which are in my desktop computer.  Anyhoo, these are some of my favorite captures with dh and the kids.  In Florence, Italy we went to the Leonardo da Vinci museum where they have reproductions of most of his inventions.  In the top of the alps in Switzerland called Jungfraojoch, dh and the kids had fun sledding down the Aletsch glacier.   I especially love the last photo which was taken in the Glacier park in Lucerne, Switzerland.  Dh and daughter stood in front of this funny mirror and had a blast laughing at themselves.  I also have many photos of dh and my daughter walking hand-in-hand while strolling through the cobblestone streets in Europe.  To see more entries, please visit MommyJourney.com

Spring Break

Well, it's the kids' Spring break this week and you moms with school age kids know what the household is like during these times. I have two kids that have to be kept occupied most of the day. We didn't make any plans to go out of town because we will be going on a long summer vacation in a couple of months. Both my kids are early risers just like dh and me so our days start early. I am so glad that they don't sleep late because it will drive me crazy. So what have we done so far? Well, we went to see the movie Monsters vs. Aliens. It was enjoyable for the kids and that's the important thing. We went during the Matinee so we saved $ on that. I also bought with us two bags of microwaved popcorn and drinks. Yes, I am one of those people. ha ha I don't want to pay $6 for a bag of popcorn and $4 for a drink multiplied by three! Call me budget concious but don't call me cheap. LOL
The kids also play in the computer for a short time during the day. My kids have their own computer so there are no fights over that, thank goodness. We just need to update the video card in my son's computer because some Reader Rabbit games will not play on it. So far they have not driven me up the wall yet. :o)

Let the egg hunt begin

Easter egg hunt

My little one had been waiting for Easter Sunday for what seems like forever, for me at least. He's been asking me continuously when we're going to grammy's house for the Easter egg hunt. Well his wait was finally over yesterday. The kids, along with their three cousins went egg hunting in my in-law's backyard. I'm pretty sure he got the most (mostest according to my little boy LOL) Easter eggs amongst the kids. He really had a great time doing it, with his dad by his side while I took photos. You can see the playhouse in this second photo. My in-laws had this built by a contractor for the grandkids to play in.

Easter egg hunt

After the egg hunt, we had Easter dinner with the whole family. Even my ex-sis-in-law who is considering a health care career was in attendance. It's good that she and my brother-in-law have remained friendly after their divorce last year. My father-in-law cooked a leg of lamb and ham with all the trimmings. My mother-in-law asked me to bring yams with marshmallows and I also made a dessert called Mango Crepe Delight. I didn't eat much since I was still stuffed up from the birthday lunch we attended earlier that day where I also saw my BFF Mira and family. So that holiday is done, next up is dh's birthday and his brother's 50th birthday bash. How was your Easter Sunday celebration?

An Easter EGGsplosion

Colored Easter eggs

Eggs, eggs everywhere! Real eggs, colored eggs, chocolate eggs, malted eggs, Jelly Belly eggs, etc. My kids love Easter, they always look forward to the Easter egg hunt and coloring eggs. Of course, they also know the 'real meaning' of Easter and they celebrated with their classmates by going to mass on Holy Thursday. My son's class, along with pre-K3 through grade2 had an Easter egg hunt in the school grounds. He was so excited when he told me that the Easter bunny went up to him and smiled. :o)

Eggs in colored water

Here in our household, we always color eggs for Easter. They both enjoy it and no, it's not messy at all. If there are any color stains, it'll just be on my kids fingers. I also make sure they're wearing an old shirt and I laid out pages of newspaper on the table.

Easter eggs with candy

One other Easter tradition we have is an Easter egg hunt inside our house. A's eggs are the ones that are high up while T's are the ones on the floor or wherever he can read it. The kids also have an egg hunt at their grandparent's backyard although I don't think I'll enjoy it this year since it is only in the 40's. BRRRR!

How about you? How do you celebrate Easter?

Mommy moments #13 - Kids in Costumes

mommymoments_halloween1

This week's theme is a fun one, it's kids' costumes. Here in the US, dressing up for Halloween is big among kids and some adults too. So it really is big business and boy, the costumes can get expensive. When kids are little, it is very easy for moms like me to get costumes since they will basically wear what you put on them. This all changes when they get a bigger. They have their own idea on what they want to be for Halloween. In this first set of photos, T was 16 months old and I dressed him up as Mickey Mouse, wasn't he cute? A dressed up as Jessie the cowgirl from Toy Story and she was 6. The photo below it was in 2006 where T was dressed up as Blue and A was dressed as Hermione (although I asked her to put on the round eyeglasses for the photo.

mommymoments_halloween2

This next set of photos are for 2007 and 2008. In the first photo, T was dressed up as a pirate (he likes to watch Pirates of the Caribbean and has all DVDs) and A was a cheerleader. For last year, A is dressed as a 'Pink Lady' from the 50's complete with a poodle skirt while T, who loves the Transformers is of course dressed up as Optimus Prime. For this year, T wants to wear a Star Wars clone, that is, if he doesn't change his mind. A meanwhile is not sure what she wants to be yet.

You can view more Mommy Moments here.

Too Many Gadgets and Toys

I swear, kids today have too many gadgets and toys. I remember when I was a kid myself, I was happy with my tiny dining plate set, palayok and a doll or two. Now, my kids have toys that occupy a part of their rooms. Take note that we didn't buy all these stuff, it came as gifts from relatives and friends. Then add to that, are the electronic gadgets like Nintendo DS, personal computers and Game Cube. My daughter even asked if we can get her a PS3 for Christmas. (By the way, the answer was a big 'no'.) I'm just glad that even though they have all these stuff, they still enjoy reading. They're really not into TV, unlike me. As long as they get straight A's then their 'privileges' won't be revoked.

Spring, Kids and Yardwork

I don't know about your kids but when my kids tell me that they want to help out in doing the yard work, I don't expect much from it. I know they mean well but I usually end up by myself after 15 minutes or shorter than that for my 4 year old. Spring is definitely in the air, here I am thinking of how to spruce up the yard. I know, spring started last month but here in the northeast, it was still freezing a couple of days ago. I need to go get some annuals to plant in our front yard. It gets expensive, buying these annual flowers every year but it gives color to the yard. When we moved in years ago, I wanted to plant some dogwood trees but our neighbor beat us to it. No problem though because they planted two trees beside our yard so we get to appreciate it for free. Back to the kids, I bought them their own garden gloves to use in planting and yard work. My son enjoys watering the plants, as long as it has something to do with water, he's there. My daughter is getting good at helping me plant the seedlings. Dh mows the lawn although I do it sometimes. We have an electric rechargeable lawn mower so it is very light, no fumes and a breeze to use. So that's what our weekend is going to be for the next couple of month. How about yours, does it involve gardening?

Weekend with Friends

Babette, Lanie and Elvie with kids I had an unusually busy weekend. I spent Saturday prepping the ingredients for Sunday and cleaning up the house. Good thing I didn't have to do much since I started getting organized a month ago and de-cluttering around the house. Do I sound like Peter from Oprah and Friends radio? LOL I made Hoisin Roast Pork, Fresh Lumpia, Arroz con Pollo and Maple-Lemon baked Salmon. Watch out for these recipes in my food blog.

My friend from Maryland is visiting the Cape with her family so I invited them over for dinner. The last time I saw her was 5 years ago. We went to Washington, DC for the weekend at attended her son's baptism wherein I was one of the Godmother. My good friend Lanie and family also came over yesterday although Mira wasn't able to make it. My son and Andrew (Lanie's son) enjoyed the company of our visitors since they're all boys. My daughter meanwhile, kept to herself most of the time with Andrew keeping her company once in a while. Andrew introduced her to this online game called Runescape and showed her how to play it. All in all, it was a fun day albeit a tiring weekend for me. How was yours?

Kids playing

Easter Sweets

Aside from Christmas and Halloween, Easter is another holiday that is my kid's favorite. I'm sure they're not alone, almost every child loves Easter because of the egg hunt. Every year, we celebrate Easter with a family dinner and an egg hunt afterwards. My kids also bring goodie bags to school for their classmates. These goodie bags are filled with treats like small toys, pencils, eraser and candies from haribo sweets. So what is haribo sweets? Well, it's an online store where you can purchase candies in bulk. Can you imagine shopping for candies online? It is FUN! They have many candy brands in stock plus if you are looking for sugar-free candies, this store has it too. Buying candies online is convenient and cheaper if you are a busy mom or your organization are having a fundraiser or giveaways. This is ideal for church groups, school fundraising, corporate gifts and other groups. If you have a sweet tooth, then this is the way to go too. You can get anything from this store with no minimum purchase. This online store carry about 2000 different brands of candies and chocolates. Looking to purchase Jelly Belly beans? They have it plus you can choose the flavors or you can get it mixed. Got a craving for cotton candy? No need to look for a county fair, you can get tubs of cotton candy from this store. Shopping here is easy. You can choose to shop by candy popularity, occasion or category among others. If you are buying for a business, organization or just for your family, Haribo sweets is the way to go.

Mommy Moments #12 - Special Day

A's First Holy Communion This special day was on my daughter's First Holy Communion two years ago. My father-in-law was so happy and proud during this day because among their grandkids, only my kids are being raised Catholic.
T's Baptism This next special day was during my son's Baptism. He was baptized when he was 1 year old because I wanted for my mom who lives in California to be present. My father-in-law, in the foreground, is one of the Godparents along with Lanie and my brother-in-law. You can see me somewhere in the photo, I look bloated. LOL I should've taken some diet pills.

T's First Day of School
This last photo was another one of my son's special day. This was on the first day of this school year and It was his first day in preschool. He goes to the same school as his sister.

Mommy Moments

March Entrecard Top 10 Droppers

EC Top 10 Droppers for March Thanks to all Entrecard droppers for continually visiting this blog. Special thanks to last month's top ten Entrecard droppers. :o)

Life's A Pizza Pie Big Boys Have Toys Too


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