Never thought Windows came up with such an addictive concept when it introduced me to its movie maker! Now, I have this highly unnatural urge to document even the simplest of experiences with it... oh no!

Well, without further ado, may I present, in collaboration with my dear hubby (who acted as musical director, o di ba? ), our second foray into the WMV World!

Disclaimer: Please be kind and lower your standards a bit... after all, we are still amateurs!

">WMV Project#2

Just wanted to share with you the finished product (Strike a Pose! ) of what I had been dabbling with practically the whole day yesterday... Many, many thanks to Keith for guiding me through! Mwah!

Though I'm still no "Rina Veguillas" (i.e., expert) at this, do give me time and I'm sure I'll get better at it. One thing for sure, though, it was FUN!

Enjoy!

Woke up earlier than usual today. After almost 10 years of marriage, it's funny how sleep somehow eludes me everytime I don't find myself beside Keith when I wake up in the morning... then I noticed how peacefully our three "gremlins" were sleeping, thus the inspiration for this post... Have a blessed day ahead!

As they sleep, a flood of emotions surges in

There is quiet.

There is peace.

In the stillness, I am made more aware

of the hand of a loving Creator

who has entrusted these angels to us

so beautifully, so wonderfully made

In their slumber, I am reminded

of child-like confidence

of total surrender to a Father’s will

I am thankful.

I am richly blessed.

Came across this amusing piece which I found so appropriate for Mother’s Day. To all the dedicated and untiring moms out there, this one’s for you! Have a chillaxing day!

It was Sunday morning and her son still had not appeared at the breakfast table. She had tried yelling up the stairs: “Wake up and get down here!” But there had been no response. Finally, she went up the stairs and opened the door to her son’s room and said, “You need to get up and get dressed. It’s time to go to church!”

“I don’t want to go to church,” her son groaned from under the covers.

“You can’t give me a good reason not to go to church, so get up!” his mom replied.

“Actually, I’ll give you three reasons. Number one: it’s boring. Number two: the people there are gossipy and critical. And number three: no one likes me. So why should I bother?”

“I’ll give you three reasons,” retorted his mom. “Number one: the Bible says you should go. Number two: you’re 45 years old. And number three: you’re the pastor! Now get out of bed and get dressed for church!”

Where would we be without the tireless urging of our mothers to do what is right? Truly, very few roles demand such unconditional, self-sacrificing perseverance and commitment as that of motherhood. So, moms, take a bow, we deserve it!

PS I was delighted to discover that Keith, the boys and Marga actually had flowers and cards for me for Mother's Day. How sweet! I attach the pics below - hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed receiving them

Very touching hand-made cards from the boys, Luigi and Rafa

The full package - loved the Stargazers! Luigi even prepared a Book of Poems especially for the occasion (how sweet!).

This was a photo I took using my N70 (yes, am trying my hand to be “techie” at last – don’t also want to let Keith think that I am not putting his anniversary/birthday present to good use!) during our recent trip to the Bahrain Causeway. I honestly think the picture captures the deep bond between our two boys, Luigi and Rafael.

Probably because they are only a little over than 1.5 years apart, Luigi and Rafa are very close. In fact, when they were younger, Keith and I didn’t have any problems in entertaining them or in finding worthwhile things for them to do – they simply had to be together and they would “automatically” entertain themselves! Be it by playing with their action figures, drawing, coloring or even by watching their favorite tv shows, the boys knew how to have simple, good, clean fun!

Keith and I have always prided ourselves at how well-mannered and loving our two boys have grown up to be. I, for one, couldn’t hide my excitement when the flight attendant at Northwest even gave them their very own “wings” because she couldn’t believe how two very young boys (they were only 3 and 2 at that time!) could be so well-behaved for such a long flight (it was the boys’ first long haul flight to the States).

Now that they are entering the “age of reason”, we admittedly sometimes find it difficult to deal with their naughty pranks and petty spats. Nonetheless, Keith and I have still managed to follow the “no spanking” method of disciplining the boys and it has still worked for us so far. Thankfully, both Luigi and Rafa still listen to us when we correct them - although we also have to stand our ground “more fervently” at times as these two seem to be experts at testing their limits and our patience! Well, boys will be boys, I guess!

Luigi and Rafa, we are very proud of you! We pray that you continue to be good, loving, responsible and charitable Christian men. Be one another’s “pare” (best bud) until you grow old and gray and see each other through all that happens in your lives. Take care of your sister, Marga, and always be good examples for her to follow.

We love you!

We were blessed to head off to Bahrain to usher in the New Year with Bro Cuz Rinel and John, Keith's office mate who flew in from Riyadh. We set out the morning of Dec 31st and stayed on until the early afternoon of 02 Jan. We stayed at the Al Jaberiya condotel which, though a bit older than the Sayedaty Plaza unit we reserved during Ramadan, was more spacious and had free internet access.

Like most Filipinos who go to Bahrain, first order of the day once we got there was lunch at Swan Lake, the Filipino restaurant known for its yummy Crispy Pata. Unfortunately, as there were apparently a lot of Filipinos who also trekked to Bahrain to celebrate the New Year's and had the same agenda as ours, the Crispy Pata had run out by the time we got there - too bad! We had a true-blue Pinoy meal nonetheless as we feasted on Lechon Kawali, Kare-Kare, Lumpiang Shanghai and Sinigang na Lapu-Lapu sa Miso washed down by refreshing Gulaman at Sago - yum-o! For dessert, we had creamy egg pie, something I make it a point to order whenever we go to Swan Lake. Did I just hear myself let out an oinkish squeal of delight? Hahaha!

After lunch, we headed off to the Seef Mall to catch the movie, "Arthur and the Minimoys", which the boys had been dying to watch since our last trip there in October. I surprisingly found the movie nice as it skillfully combined animation with "real-life" actors - was even doubly surprised to find out that Madonna and David Bowie were the voices behind two of the animated characters, Princess Selenia and the Evil M. As this was "too kiddie" for Rinel and John, they opted to watch "The Illusionist" instead and also found it to their liking. We also managed to grab DVDs of films we missed back home (MI 3, Monster House and Da Vinci Code) which we intend to watch in a "movie-like ambience" (complete with popcorn and dimmed lights) back home since movies are a no-no in the kingdom (pathetic ba?). We were so exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel that we just freshened up and said our quick New Year's greetings to one another before we hit the sack at around 2 am - definitely a far cry from our usual New Year's eve celebrations back home! We so miss Bellevue already!

New Year's Day was spent pretty much like our first day - brunch at Bennigan's (French Onion Soup, Chicken Salad and Monte Cristo Club Sandwich) and a movie ("Night at the Museum", a Ben Stiller comedy-adventure which I recommend) at the Al Dana Mall - except that we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Bahrain International Circuit, the country's very own F1 racetrack! Too bad, though, that we only got as far as the gates and its souvenir shop as the stadium was closed for the Muslim Eid End-Of-Hajj Holiday. Hope to catch an F1 race soon when the races start again in Feb or March.

Since Japanese restos are a rarity in KSA, our Japanese lunch at Gulf Hotel's Sato restaurant was a definite highlight of our Bahrain visit. The classy ambience - Japanese snare drums as guests enter amid very Zen-like interiors - and the tatami room where we were served our meal lent to a very authentic Japanese eating experience. For starters, we had tuna sashimi, California Maki and Miso Soup while Keith and I both had bento boxes for our entrees. Keith chose a Japanese version of "Surf and Turf" while I ordered something not as delectable - fried dumplings, hammour sashimi, stir-fried noodles and beef teriyaki. Good thing the boys ordered the usual ebi tempura and yakisoba which tided me over! The green tea ice cream which I had for dessert thankfully made up for the "blah" meal I had for lunch. Yum yum!

As we headed home, we couldn't help but say a silent prayer of thanks that despite being away from home during this holiday season, the good Lord made it possible for us to still celebrate Christmas and New Year's in very meaningful (though simpler) ways.

A blessed and bountiful new year ahead! See y'all in December!

Just wanted to squeeze in this greeting from our family to yours. We pray that amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, all of us can still pause and be thankful that a child was born to us over 2,000 years ago. May the child Jesus' simplicity and peace be with us not only during Christmas but for always.

Merry Christmas everyone!

It was back to Applebee's for us to celebrate Marga's 6th month birthday (so sorry we couldn't resist the yummy food  - the Cajun steak and shrimp dinner and sizzling apple pie a la mode are definitely tops on my list!) last 03 Dec.  It also helps that 90% of all staff in this resto are "kabayans" so we get the little extra home-style service which seems like a rarity in this part of the world... This time around, we had Rinel (aka Tito Dimples ) join us so we could at least help ease his tearful nights pining for his family (Gorgeous Ge and Irresistible Ira  -they will, as they say here, inshallah,  join him by Mar 07).

Enough said about the resto, now on to the main event - our little princess, Marga . 

Due to insistent public demand (okay, okay, her grandparents, titos and titas wanted more news about her!), allow me to describe what  Marga can now do.

As Keith mentioned in his earlier blogs, gone are the days when Marga would just eat and sleep.  She has since become more active and at times, demanding .  Whoever made the nursery verse saying, "Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of", probably had Marga in mind.  True, she still melts our hearts whenever she innocently smiles, coos or giggles hysterically, BUT... this is just one part of the story - this little spitfire also definitely has fire in her belly when the occasion calls for it!  Looks like, in Marga's case, more spice than sugar was added to the mix!

A classic example would be our recent trip to the mall when, probably in a fit of boredom, she decided to growl and raise her voice non-stop evoking stares from passersby (nope, rolling her stroller frantically to shush her didn't help!) until her ever-loyal Papa carried her or until I brought out the bottle to feed her - good thing that she didn't feel like I had to do "cow duty" right there and then as I would've probably been arrested for "indecent exposure" - hahaha!   There are also days when she feels she needs to exercise her lungs (if you know what I mean) that I practically rush over to her side time and again and throw whatever housework is scheduled for the day out the window.  Keith jokingly (more like a half-meant joke, if you ask me) tells me that at least I know Marga got something from me... well, can't say I disagree as I, too, am a very outspoken person and do also have my moods . 

Don't get me wrong, though, I adore my little girl and as I always say, she is truly a "bonus" gift that Keith and I will always be grateful to the Lord for.  When she tightly holds my hand as she drifts off to sleep or when she laughs uncontrollably at some silly antic she saw, I feel as though God has shown me pure bliss and a piece of heaven . When she rolls over by herself (this has become quite rare, though, after "The Fall" - natakot ata!) or picks up her duckie rattle and shakes it, I am beaming with pride at how much she has grown.

Truly, through all the sugar and spice that makes up this little girl, we got ourselves one heck of an extra-special package.

Our dear Marga, no words can express how much you are loved. 

Happy 6th month, darling girl!