Thursday, November 27, 2008

And So It Begins

A few weeks ago, I was ferociously typing (not a pretty mental image, but I assure you, that's what I was doing) in our bedroom when I realized that Raine had been pretty quiet for the past 15 minutes or so. Now, as any mom will tell you, total silence and awake offspring--the combination will always send shivers down your spine. Not a good thing.

I was about to get up and check on her when she came tottering in, burbling non-stop in that breathy, high-pitched voice of hers that she uses when she's excited. She took my hand, pulling me to my feet, then led me out the door. She proudly pointed to the wall and beamed at me. And this is what I saw:






Raine had scribbled on the entire wall with her blue, purple and black crayons.

When I finally reattached my jaw, I launched into the full "crayons are only for your paper you don't write on the wall or the floor or the appliances or your books or on yourself no no no no".

Raine's proud smile changed to her pouty, lower-lip-trembling-I'm-about-to-cry-but-I'm-holding-it-back look. She sniffed--then reached up her arms for a hug from Mommy.

As I held her, her face buried in my shoulder, I gently explained again why I reacted the way I did. Deep inside, though, I thought it was adorable (as did her Daddy, when he came home that night). She's a quick learner, though, our Raine. She never wrote on the walls again after that.

We didn't wash the walls immediately. The Hubby wanted to keep her masterpiece up for a few more days. And every time Raine would pass by, she'd pause slightly, and give a little smile.

Ah, Raine. Someday. Someday, your work will be admired by many. And it won't just be on the wall outside your Mommy's bedroom.




Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Dinos are Coming! The Dinos are Coming!

I've been thinking of places I'd like to bring Raine to, such as the Museo Pambata and Ocean Park and the zoo. Now I've heard that there's this theme park type dinosaur exhibit coming end of November--with 30 life-sized robotic dinosaurs! How cool is that?

Dinos Alive! World Tour is a purported traveling exhibit cum theme park, complete with sound and light effects to highlight the said 30 dinosaurs. They also have lots of activities, and I'm looking forward to the Fossil Dig. You get to pretend to be paleontologists! Of course Raine will just want to stuff the sand in her pocket, but who knows what future career it could inspire!
The Inflatable looks like fun (but check out the line!) but I don't think Raine's ready for that yet.

They have games, activities and puzzles at Dinos Alive. I don't know what kind of food they'd have at a dino-inspired cafe--T-Rex Steak perhaps?--but they do have one, should hunger strike you in the middle of the Jurassic Period.

Dinos Alive will be set up beside Mall of Asia from November 28 to January 11, 10am-10pm on weekends and 12pm-10pm on weekdays. Tickets are available for purchase from Ticket World by calling 891-9999 or online at www.ticketworld.com.ph Ticket prices for adults are Php 600, kids below a meter are Php 450 and the family package costs Php 1,750 (2 adults+2 kids+1 free ticket).






Giant Inflatable




Apatosaurus
















Stegosaurus (I think)
















Fossil Dig



Thursday, November 20, 2008

Early New Year Goals

I have tons of work to do, but I can't quite focus. My mind is racing ahead to next year. A whole new chapter in life. The Hubby and I have discussed it, and we've agreed that I'll shift gears (not necessarily downshift) and be a fulltime, honest-to-goodness SAHM (that's stay-at-home-mom for the clueless).

The past year-and-a-half, I've been a WAHM (work-at-home-mom) and though the situation is workable, there are still some things I'm not happy with. Like the way I get all grumpy with Raine when I have a deadline looming. Or how the meals are not too well-thought out because I'm too busy or tired to prepare a proper menu. And--maybe a little selfishly--how I don't get to blog as often or write me stuff because there's always something else I need to get done first.

I'm not sure what will happen next year though, when I'm a SAHM. The Hubby once said in exasperation, "Take away all the deadlines and things you have to do and you still won't bake!" Or make soap or make cookies for gifts or (fill in the blank for whatever activity that I always put off).

But there's always hope for the not-so-domestic goddesses. I'll just take it one step at a time. And the first step is to make a list of all the things I want to do.

  1. Clear out the house. Big task, I know. But basically, I want to get rid of clutter. Maybe have a garage sale, even. Weed out the closet and the cupboards and the piles and piles of stuff.
  2. Fix the house. Get new curtains, placemats, stuff like that. Add some personal touches. After all, we plan to stay here a few more years.
  3. Have a weekly menu and grocery list. Make sure that the food is healthy and yummy. In line with that, I'd like to try out at least one new recipe a week. Or every other week.
  4. Bake cookies, makes spreads. Make a cake! Maximize our fantastic oven. I'd like to be that kind of house where there's always something freshly baked (and that way, I can make sure that there isn't too much sugar in our goodies, and like spike the muffins with carrots and that kind of thing).
  5. Make my flavored oils and vinegars that I can give as gifts (I bought the bottles for it a year ago!).
  6. Wean Raine from videos. This is my ultimate I'm-such-a-lousy-mom issue. I always said pre-Raine that I would never let my kid get hooked on TV and videos and computer games, but I find myself relying on videos to keep her busy while I go do other stuff. I want to do stuff like go on nature walks, bring her to Museo Pambata, make homemade clay and finger paint.
  7. Look into homeschooling. I know it's a bit early, but I want to stimulate Raine's mind. And this dovetails with #6.
  8. Exercise. Kickboxing or swimming--I just need to get into the groove. I want to lose that final 16lbs that's been hanging around for over a year!
  9. Revamp my wardrobe. After I see the effects of #8.
  10. Make soap again. I want to make that Oh Baby! bar for Raine. And The Hubby wants that Great Mornings bar. I want that Rix Trix and people are looking for Honey Oatmeal. So even if I don't sell them anymore, I can just make for my own use.

I better stop at ten for now. Otherwise, it'd be unmanageable. This blog post also happens to be my entry to the Moleskine Philippines Giveaway. I hope to win! That gorgeous paper! I am so addicted to notebooks and Moleskines are the best.

The Moleskine Notebook is courtesy of Avalon.PH
http://www.viloria.com/go/go.php/avalonph

For the Viloria.net contest rules, please see
Viloria.net