I was asked numerous times by scores of moms what sort of motivations I did at home for my children. Frankly speaking, there's countless of them! Keeping up with their school performance and sparing all my time to both of them ( I can't do that if myself is hooked to everything computer has to offer, can I ?) are on top of the list, just to name a few. I knew I could create anything that is possible thru my PC, as much as what I can handle, as often as I wanted to BUT I elected just the opposite. Horsing around ( in my case ) is a thing of the past, years before I settled down and so, now that my kids are here I focus more on them. I am very much involved with my kids daily life in and outside the home. A family values that my own mom stored in me. You can't learn everything in school ( we all know that ) and so that's when parent's duty fill in the gap. Balance is the key and without it everything will be tilted on just one side. It's not the "interactive toys" that helps the child learn nor the "beginner's story books" that you slide in front of your tot. Believe me, it's way more than that. I remember this mom who tried to buy the exactly same interactive toys/books my Joss has owned for her girl. I told myself, GOOD GRIEF! what is this? A marathon or something? She must have forgot that "earth + fertilizers" doesn't guarantee you a successful harvest. And just like farming, mind honing doesn't works that way. I am truly grateful that aside from having "normal children", God made them a bit different from others. Joss will be a "thirteen-ager" hahaha in a couple of months and so far, he's as good as he was in Kindergarten, gradewise! Thanks a bunch for reading and have a wintry Wednesday !!!

Hey folks ! look who's name made to the "All A's" honor roll again. The 2nd nine weeks grade report just came home last Thursday and here it is published on the paper a week later. Jann's school didn't waste no time for the public to know who's who, does it ? As expected, yours truly is beaming with pride and I can't gather the thoughts to ever describe how happy I feel inside. Boy, oh boy! I have no intention to post any update but since Jann's name is featured on the newspaper, I did find an excuse not to sit back. With regards to my Josef, well he made "All A's" as well just like his baby sis but his school isn't one of the schools that's featured in today's issue. At least not yet. Perhaps next week we can find out. My 7th grader will have his "Confirmation" though and that is a BIGGIE! The set date will be on the 13th of March, which falls on a Saturday and he needs to dress like JB (James Bond) not the other JB but the real one hahaha. No jeans! What that means is that.....we are now obliged to purchase a (1.) dress pants, (2.) dress shoes, and (3.) collared shirt. To sum it all up simply means.....EXPENSE! Got it ? Daddy dearest just recently forwarded the form for his "Year Book" and that too is an expense. You really can't get away with it, I don't think! Anyway, I am positive you don't need any spectacles nor reading glasses to be able to see and read Jann's name. It's all in bold and clear. My Awesome A's kids are predestined to make dad & mom very proud and their intelligence are tailored to take notice. Monday is a holiday and so school will not be in session. My dear dearest is scheduled to work that day but I am extremely elated I will have the kids from dawn till dusk hahaha. That's an extra day for my baby girl to masterize her multiplication facts. Thanks a bunch for reading and have a fun Friday !!! 

My straight A students went back to school this past Monday. Two weeks of holidays vacation (for Jann & Josef with 2days extra) were obviously too short and I felt like the quality time we spent together was suspended in the air hahaha. Spring sem starts for me today but the campus shut down at sharp 1pm due to expected hazardous weather conditions. Rain accompanies with snow is predicted later today (till tomorrow) and has been on the forecast since last week. As for the kids school schedule, just like Mommy, they don't have to go to class tomorrow. Both of them came home with a note from school this afternoon, so I reckon officially........school is out for Friday! January jingles are ringing to my ears when the kids showed their "Report Cards" with "All A's" on it as soon as they stepped thru the front door after school. Well, you know what to expect from a proud Mommy.....being on a cloud nine feeling of course! My "brood" has brought soooo much pride to the "Bells Clan" for they academically excelled all the time. For the record.......none of them made any "B's" not even one since they start school. Isn't that something? You may be wealth deficient BUT if you have two clever kids, you feel like "richer" than Bank of America many times over.

Speaking of hazardous weather conditions, flurries are a sight everywhere and the temp here is in the low tEens. It's not raining yet but it's predicted snow will build up overnight. Jann is overly excited about it. Right now, I have no clue what will surpise us when we get up in the morning. It must be pretty serious for schools in our county to give up one day of class. Fotoshoot is a sure thing for tomorrow's task BUT I won't bother to take fotos if it turns out to be "slush" that barely covers the ground instead of real snow. That's all for this post. Happy reading !!!

I am hoping it is just my imagination but it sounds like Mrs. M is having a "meltdown" againl hahaha. It's 2010 and it is supposed to be "gaudy" and "sprightly" to welcome the year but firecracker sounds are no-match to the commotion across the street. Some people have good common sense and there are some who really got "no shame". When she's mad she makes sure the entire county knows it (believe me she's a character). It maybe her way to welcome the year, I just don't know. One thing is for sure though, my family's New Year celebration wouldn't change a bit no matter how much screaming she make. It would be a great favor though if she & her husband will take it to the wilderness.

Our New Year's menus are superb! Imagine having two different cuisines from two different cultures. My dear dearest fixed his "topnotch chicken dressing" with fantastic side dish combined with mines (no ham/no turkey theme for we're all worn-out of both). Among my contributions are.....buko salad (yeah, again!), gelatin Pinoy-style, Filipino fried-noodles, ginata-an, and sweet & sour Red Snapper. Josef reminds me in advance not to take any delecacies foto hahaha. He added....."Mommy just like turkey & ham, fish is a fish, if you see one you see them all no matter what sort of preparation you did with it" hahaha (he has a good point). "And the same goes with noodles & chicken dressing". Hmmm, I heard that line before.

Having a great family is one of the eminent things to toast for 2010, follows by being a parent to two delightful bright children and knowingly adores the home you knew was paid for. I am very thankful we don't have to wait 36 - 40yrs to pay for a place (by then, my husband & I will be too old to enjoy it). That alone is something to cheer for every New Year.

Boxes finally revealed its content! Nobody gets disappointed for every item on the wishlist was boxed and wrapped accordingly. Jann very much appreciated her $165 "The North Face" jacket from "Bloomingdales" and for my "BCBG Titanium Dress", you can assure I have an ear-to-ear grin for that sucker hahaha. Returns are out of the question either and both of my kids will surely keep what they've got. Our Christmas Eve begun at the church (right after the great time we spent @ the Merry-Go-Round) b/c Jann took part in Kid's Christmas Eve Mass where all children of our Parish performed choir-typed Christmas songs for church goers. After the Mass, we went out of town to see Fantasy In Lights. Family dinner wasn't homemade but it was delectable take-out teamed up with "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" movie that my entire family enjoyed. The laughs were echoing all over the house to our driveway (and perhaps over the fence to our neighbor's den) hahaha. We owned the DVD and we watched it quite often as part of my family's tradition around Christmastime. Every scene worth passing a gas or two hahaha. Chevy Chase is an excellent NUT! Great time comes with bad time. Around 2am my right hand starts to hurt. The pain was so unbearable I am so tempted to wake my dear husband up so he can take me to ER. It feels much better now and hope to continue this way. Woken up by a call from Bangkok this morning and another call from a local friend earlier today. It's all about the gifts they got from us. The art of giving always accompany with a great feeling and let me tell you the wave inside, is very uplifting. I probably took at least a hundred if not more fotos today and yesterday but I am not so sure if I'll be able to place them in the album. Anyway, here's our baby girl Jann's clipping from the local newspaper on Wednesday's issue. What a great feeling to have come close to Christmas day. When I announced previously that our baby girl is November's "Student Of The Month", ........I'm positive she really was hahaha (telltale is just not a good thing, backing up with a proof is).

Christmas '09 Fotos......HERE

Christmas Day menus are extraordinaire. Breakfast at "Waffle Haus" starts our day. And then lunchtime came. We had "buko salad" for dessert and though making "gelatin Pinoy style" is part of the plan, with my right hand being tasks deficient today I decided to put it off for the New Year. What a great trade in! We are all "worn-out" of having Holidays' "common victuals" on the table (just had ham on Thanksgiving & turkey last Sat @ my dear dearest's Christmas party) and so we swapped "turkey & ham" over "fillet mignon with broiled asparagus, big corn on the cob, Sister Schubert's yeast roll, and baked Russet potato for the side dish. Overall, our Christmas day turns out to be Glorious and filled of Merriment.

Last Sunday's visit to Santa went well. Jann sit on his lap for a short period of time and so did Josef. And though neither of them believed about this Holidays' most pronounced figure from the North Pole, paying him a visit at their Dad's working place a week ago today expressed their gesture of "getting in the program". I've tried my best to introduce Santa to both of my kids since they're very young but they're too clever to know who's the real entity inside the "Red & White Suit". Jann even told me one time that the reason why the "Mom" (from the song "I Saw Mommy Kissin' Santa Claus") kissed Santa is b/c that's "her husband" hahaha. Then, Saturday came and again we (the kids & I) made another trip to daddy dearest's job site to have Christmas Party lunch with him. It was fun and the vittles were delectable. Took the kids to the mall before heading home. They're both particular and so we did accomplish none and came home empty handed. I thought I'm thru wrapping gifts but I guess that's all in my head hahaha. It may seems that all the presents found their lil' spot under the tree (minus 4gifts that's been sent out) not realizing the items which are not here yet. That simply means......I have some wrapping to do once those stuff gets here.

Guess who grins for green yesterday? My two witty kids! A knock on the door got my attention and when I answered it, it was my DIL's big sister. She was sent here to hand over some "green & Benjamins" for the kids. My duo got really excited b/c then they can add more gifts (as if they don't have enough already) to their names. That's about it for this post. Thanks a bunch for reading and have one sultry Sunday to all !!!

With 32 chapters (that's just for one course) and 100 questions for my finals plus exit exams being over just today, I can now breathe with ease. I felt like being anchored to all my books this sem and on the go to hurdle some leaps week after week. My hard labor gives back when I scored 878 out of 1000 on my exit exam. Considering the questions aren't the "Mickey Mouse" type of questions, I thought that is awesome. That result makes me proud of myself, FOR REAL! Our tree is finally up (give my kids credit for that) and gifts all wrapped up and made their way underneath it. We haven't do any "official shopping trip" yet due to hectic schedules but we will surely pull one day aside to do it very, very soon. Daddy dearest's company is always calling as I am confined to my schooling and so free time became hard to spot. We even missed out the Christmas parade today. The man of the house is at work and I am feeling lethargic from long day exams at school. GOOD GRIEF! If you haven't sit down to take back to back tests, you have no clue how tough it is.

My dear dearest scheduled a tour for us (just the two of us simply because kids aren't allowed) at KIA MOTORS plant next Friday but he had to cancell it due to......company's calling! When Josef found out about it (thru the memo board we have on the wall), he commented that it ain't fair hahaha. I told him he can't go anyway b/c he will be at school that day (last day of school for Christmas holiday), instead of him to be surprised I'm the one who get the great news. He will be out two days earlier than the rest of his class for being exempted from taking finals. Isn't that sounds like winter? It's indeed Christmastime hahaha! I know it would be wonderful to be free from taking exams. How I wish they practice it at the Nursing School hahaha. I got this couple of shirts below for my Josef but sadly I'll have to return them to the department store. He doesn't like the duo. He's now get to the point where he'll keep what he likes and shake his head for the stuff he dislikes. Typical of a 12y/o. Happy reading and thank Heaven it's Thursday!!!

I've realized it won't be fair for the kids if I just let this month goes by without featuring their accomplishments. November is about over in some few hours and I'd thought it would be wise to take advantage of this opportunity (lil' time I have) to go ahead and make an update. Anyway, our baby girl, Jann, was chosen as November's "Student Of The Month" representing the entire 3rd graders from her school (enough reason for my heart to swell) hahaha. I maybe confined oh yeah, confined to taking notes, studying, and doing clinicals in four different healthcare facilities BUT life as we know it, is still a ride (do what you can and push aside those that you can't) . Well, one kid's achievement didn't stop there and let me tell you that my dear dearest has no plan whatsoever to purchase any "Annual/Year Book" but now he is obliged to. Why? Because Josef was voted by his peers "The Most Likely To Succeed" at his school and the thing about it is that he'll be featured in his school's Year Book. I guess, daddy dearest has really no choice, does he? Yours truly can't really relate much with it b/c I only had a YB during my last year in college for YB wasn't that popular those days (have no idea how it is now at present time). My husband, on the other hand, see it differently. He's more into it since it is a part of most Americans adolescent's school life. I reckon that's the best way to describe it. Both of my kids has been a great help during the holidays around the house. They've been raking leaves at the front lawn and turned our backyard meticulously uncluttered and pushing wheelbarrow and all. Jann even helped daddy out in getting our yard ready for Christmas. Who says kids who do well academically knows nothing domestically? That's a plain "Myth"! Thanks a bunch for reading and may you all have a meaningful Monday !!!

Traveling has never been cheap but you still get it cheaper if your destination is within the "continental" US than flying overseas. Our most expensive summer escapade is the trip we made to the Philippines and let me tell you that vacation was seriously and unbelievably costly. Kids airfare is as much as the grown ups. So, any trip within the 50 States is still affordable whether by land or thru flying. Our summer retreat at SC and Mrytle beach would probably be the most exciting of all the getaways we have had so far. Two trips to the Florida coast and another to Mississippi shoreline aren't a match to the fun we've experienced at SC's Mrytle Beach. Our hotel room facing the Atlantic Ocean falls into the category of "a room with a view" hahaha. Serene and pristine water of the Carolina's oceanside makes the big difference plus the boardwalk to the water. Good Grief of the eateries! If there is one place on earth for all the restaurants of the world.......you betcha, Mrytle Beach is the right place. Some of the cuisines I've tried were from "Habibis Cafe",  a Lebanese taste, "Black Thai", which is a Thai cuisine, and Bombay At The Beach", the taste I've been craving for for centuries hahaha. Whoa, Indian cooking is really tasteful! I have tons of photographs to share. I am accustomed to taking fotos b/c this habituate tells me where I've been. At the moment, I'm done uploading one album. Interested enough to peek thru it? Well, just click my three babies sample shot below. Happy reading and I am truly elated Summer is over.

Two Of A Kind: I apologize but the shots below has been on pending since Saturday two weekends ago. Been wanting to post them right before we took off for the Carolina but you know when you are preparing to take off, fooling around is the last thing you wanna do. Remember........putting aside the computer time is a must for goodtimes sake hahaha. Thanks a bunch for looking!!!

Mercy, Mercy, look who's fifty! Oh yeah! My dear dearest finally reached his BIG five and oh. And according to AARP, he's been considered a "Senior Citizen" hahaha which makes him guffaw.  Well, we're out-of-towners for few days (exploring all of AL's since Wednesday) and will gear towards our destination early next week. This would be a long and full-of-fun vacation for the four of us. My dear spouse had his b-day bash by the water today. Our day started out kinda early for the party. Cooler and everything that we're gonna need at the picnic area were hauled in the boat first thing in the morning. Mr. Sunshine didn't put on a show till close to noon but when he did, I sorta wish it would be a 'lil later. Dale found his derma miserable despites of his $8 Banana Boat spray. He got roasted for inner tubing and turned as red as a lobster as well as the kids. I've tried it too myself (but my already tanned complexion didn't show much of a difference) and had sooo much fun being pulled by the boat (every single moment was captured by video cam for my husband believe it's better that way than taking shots of me hahaha). What an experience! I am truly brave and my cooperation just proved that I still have it hahaha. Anyway, my dear Dale had a blast and he really enjoys his special day with his family and best friend. Great food, nice boat, beautiful Smith Lake and refreshing water........you can't ask for a better venue and wonderful view. Below is a sample shot of us inside the famous "Pericos" for a late evening celebration. Thanks for viewing. I knew that "when you are on vacation, you are on vacation". That simply means.....leave the computer alone for good times sake hahaha. Ssshhh, I'll be visiting you tomorrow !!!