Beach!

Yesterday was a holiday so my friends planned a daytrip to the beach. We went to Canyon Cove, a residential beach resort in Nasugbu Batangas. The place was really nice. Perfect for group or family outings :) I think it's been newly renovated. Actually some parts are still under construction and and the bathroom/ shower, though it's clean, still needs alot of work. But it was ok because the pool was really nice (and huge too!) and the beach area is clean. Plenty of people though since it was a holiday. The fee was 500 per head with 200 consumable on food and drinks. Sulit na :) They also have other fun water activities like scuba diving, banana boat, kayak, paddleboat and jetskii :)

I'm so glad Mama let us borrow the alterra (thanks mama!). We just popped in Julia's Dora dvd and she was quiet during the whole 2 hour drive :) Plus we really needed the space. Imagine if we had to stuff all of Julia's beach inflatables, a pail of sand toys, picnic mat, bags and food in the trunk of our car. Yikes!

Julia had a blast of course :) It was sooooo hot! Negra na kami! :)

I posted the pics on facebook but here's a sneak peek:

beach bums

milk break

mukang native ng Nasugbu :)

After our mini excursion we went straight to BF for ate Jill's birthday dinner :)

Watta tiring day!

Happy Birthday Tita Jill!

My New DSLR

I've been 'breaking in' my new camera since I got it last thursday night :) I'm really enjoying it! The pictures are amazing! A dslr really takes quality pictures...without effort! It's just overwhelming trying to learn all the settings and manual functions so I just set it on AUTO most of the time. hehe.

Here are my first 100 pictures :)

Among all, this one's by far my favorite:

papa and joey

I'm planning to take basic photography classes this summer and join one of the photography clubs here in alabang. I also have a couple of friends who share the same enthusiasm and i'll probably be asking them for tips and crash lessons :) I'm just not the self-study kind of person. Hehe.

Gotta go get a camera bag!

Canon DSLR

I'm supposed to pick up my new dslr today. Weeee! Drago has an orientation class for PAL but hopefully it doesn't last all day. We're supposed to meet Kim of Kimstore at MOA this afternoon Can't wait! :)

Okay, so I was supposed to order the Canon Rebel XS from amazon and have someone bring it back for me this April but apparently none of my relatives are coming to visit this summer. The next trip would be around June or July when my mom comes back from her vacation. Summer would be the perfect time to get the dslr since i'll have time to learn how to really use it and join photography clubs or even take a few classes. So anyway, I considered my options and decided that it's ok to pay a little bit more and get the camera here rather than wait til July. Then one of my co-teachers (thanks Eunice for the tip!) told me about this amazing site on multiply called kimstore. They sell gadgets at a relatively cheaper price than most stores. The Rebel XS in amazon is $489 which is roughly P24k and the Canon 1000D (it's version in asia) at kimstore is P26k. So i'll just be paying an additional 2k if ever.

I decided to just go for it =D

Now if i'll be able to get it today i'm still not sure. Kim told me there's only one unit left and she can't hold it for me for long. If someone else wants to buy it she's gonna have to give it up.

Maybe the next picture i'll be posting will be from my new dslr! Or maybe not? We'll see! :)

Karate Kiddo

stretch...

punch...



smile...



...and pose!

Like my bangs?

This is a photo of my Mom when she was 1 year old

And this is my Mom's attempt to make Julia look like her picture above.

(playing "this little piggy" with papa)

One afternoon she just decided to cut Julia's bangs coz it kept getting in her eyes.

So there. Apple cut na sya :) Kamuka na nya si Lola.

Back to work...

I started work back in Zobel as a substitute teacher this month, March 3 to be exact. The first 2 weeks was really busy because we had to prepare for the Recognition Program, farewell party, final exams, etc...etc... I had to give up 2 of the students that i'm tutoring because they're both in Senior Prep, the level that i'm teaching (thanks Krissy for taking Andy!) I retained my grade 1 student though because the mom was very persistent since it's only two weeks anyway. Good thing Claire was exempted in most of her subjects so we only had to study for Reading, Language and Filipino. She's such a good kid and i never have a hard time teaching her so I didn't really mind the extra hour...at least for a couple of days. Except that I feel bad not being able to spend time with Julia as soon as I get home from work. I don't get to be with her til around 6pm :( But today was my last day tutoring! Starting tomorrow until the end of this month i'll only be working from 8am-415pm :) It's also nice following a real work schedule again. We'll see about next school year ;)

Here are the highlights of my first two weeks:

Recognition Day and Farewell Party

Senior Prep-A in action!
(we painted all those hanging hearts and giant letters!)

Just before the program

Class farewell party...plus Julia!

girls with Julia


class picture :)

Happy Weekend :)

Last Saturday, my brother and his kids came over and spent the weekend with us. Julia was so excited to play with Mia! The two girls were inseparable :) They shared Julia's toys and books, went to the park and then swimming... in the front yard! We dressed them up in bikinis and filled Julia's small inflatable pool with water and hosed them both down. Haha! They had a great time! After that we went to Fun Ranch and let them play for 30 minutes before heading to BF to meet Drago's family for dinner. We ate at Aveneto, loved the eggplant parmigiana as usual! Drago had to leave early to go to the bakery so Julia and I rode home with everyone else. At around 9pm Char and I went to Shopwise. She bought shelves (on sale for only 500 each!) and I got a bigger inflatable pool for the kids. The very next day, as soon as Julia woke up, we let them go swimming! I really really wanted to post pictures here but I can't figure out why blogger isn't responding to my photo uploads (grrr!) so anyway, I uploaded the pictures at my multiply site.

Check them out here :)

Gotta go! My last student for the day is arriving in a few minutes :)

Are Your Children Spoiled?

I've always found parenting and childcare books, magazines and online articles really interesting especially since i had Julia. I enjoy reading everything from feeding to potty training to choosing the right toys and books to disciplining and more. Anything i can possibly learn and apply in raising a physically and emotionally healthy child. My sister sends me piles and piles of Baby and Parenting Magazines from her subscription in the states and I don't mind reading them over and over again. Those people can write some really good stuff! My favorite online sites are babycenter, Dr. Sears and Dr. Greene among others. Recently, National Bookstore had a super sale and I got 3 childcare and parenting books for only 30 pesos each!

Right now, I'm hooked on reading about child discipline. Since Julia is now a very active toddler and socializes with kids everywhere--cousins, neighbors and friends, Drago and I found it important to teach her good behavior even at her very young age. They say spoiling your baby is fine, and it's harmless...until she turns 1 and begins to learn how to communicate with people around her. I already told myself, I don't think I will spoil Julia, because alot of other people can do that for me :) Plus Julia seems to be such a good natured little girl that i have no problems with her being around other children. Still i know kids really go through some rather difficult stages. I've dealt with plenty of spoiled, rude and generally aggressive kids while teaching in the preschool and i hear parents complain endlessly about them. Some of them are pretty clueless about their child's behavior and worse, about the way they deal with them. They don't realize early on that it's the way they deal with their child that matters more than the child's behavior itself.

This article came up on yahoo news and was featured on Oprah.com:

Are Your Children Spoiled?

No child is born spoiled or a brat--it's only indulgent parenting can make them that way, Oprah & Friends Radio host Rabbi Shmuley says. "Naturally, children are innocent and have a cuteness which makes people's hearts warm to them and helps bring out our best qualities," he says. "When we raise kids who are spoiled, we snuff out the child's natural attractiveness." If you are guilty of spoiling your children, Rabbi Shmuley says chances are, you have brats on your hands.

10 Signs Your Children Are Brats:

1. They resort to crying or yelling when they want something.
2. They throw themselves on floor and won't get up.
3. They constantly throw tantrums or even hit you when you punish them.
4. They ignore you when you ask a question.
5. They are rude to other adults and even to other children.
6. They refuse to share toys or treats with other children.
7. They are show-offs and are constantly trying to one-up their peers to be the center of attention.
8. They always want whatever everyone else has. Once they have it, they want something new.
9. They keep a messy room and never help out around the house despite your pleas for them to do so.
10. They refuse to go to bed.

What to Do if Your Children Are Brats:

• Reward good behavior but NEVER tolerate bad behavior. It's that simple.
  
• If your children yell when they want something, don't give it to them and take away something they like.
• If they won't get off the floor during a tantrum, pick them up and put them in their room until they calm down and apologize.
• If they hit you or their peers punish them immediately. Put them in a corner and don't let them out until they apologize.
  
• If they won't share, take away the toy or treat.
• Always explain afterward, when the child has calmed down, the reason for the punishment. Processing is the key to reinforcing good behavior, not the punishment itself.
  
• Don't just buy them whatever they want. Teach them to earn things.
  
• Enforce bedtimes. Continually put them back into their beds. After a while, they'll stop getting out. You must show there is no other option.
• Compliment your children profusely and give them rewards when they do the right thing

Tough as it may seem, it's simple and makes alot of sense. Bad behavior will not be tolerated, good behavior will be rewarded. There's no other way around it.

It's simple and straight to the point diba? If you're aware of the 10 signs then it will be alot easier to deal with your child's difficult behaviors.

Next... potty training :) Gotta do more reading for that!