GRATITUDE JOURNAL

by Junnie March 12, March 17 and March 18 - 3 celebrations yet the same wonderful blessed blissful feeling. Indeed, we are all gifts to each other and no matter how we celebrated it, the gift was indeed given in advance! Turning 41 was the same as turning another year, but of course this was made more special when you have another one blowing the cake with you! :P Here are the 2 Videos of our Birthday cake blowing, sharing to those who should've been there, blowing with us too: YOU ! March 12 - Junnie's Birthday March 17 - Michele's Birthday and March 18 - Gabriel's 20th Month

Ziggy woke up in the middle of the night and played for a short while before sleeping in this position. Ziggy just woke up looking like this. That shows how "likot" he sleeps. Sorry for the clutter at the background. We were already packing our things when this pic was taken. by May I know I've been missing in action the past months. Here's an update: ** new helper...better than the last ** new job...i enjoy every bit of it except for the $$$ : ** new apartment...bigger, better and cheaper for us ** new housemates...need it to save on rent and utilities. ** ziggy now calls me "Mama" and dances to the tune of "I want nobody nobody but you" ** talked to natalie imbruglia over the phone when she asked if we have received any news from qantas airlines regarding their flight (it was delayed) ** watched Adam Lambert live for free ** got a discount at Victoria's Secret, Star Cruises, Tom Jones concert, etc. but could not afford it. :)

  The closest thing to Iloilo's diwal (angel wings shellfish) are the ones we had for lunch today. It was the first time for my 2 elder sons to try these fresh and prized shellfish. They liked it so much they had to let me divide equally the last piece on the serving dish. Hahaha.  The novelty about this new resto in Cebu is that it looks like a small resort with white sand and a shark pond greeting you as you make your way to the al fresco dining area. Because the noon time heat was just too much to bear, we stayed in the airconditioned dining area where the very attentive staff made sure to take and serve our orders promptly.  We had Oyster Bay paella, baked oysters and scallops, steamed diwal (heavenly!), grilled snapper (perfect!), adobong kangkong and lechon kawali (for Jake).  Food, I must say, was excellent. And service was superb. We will definitely be back!

It's a busy weekend for Kyle, our middle son, as he prepares for his school final tests. Youngest is now on vacation while eldest is just attending his grad practice. We all are excited at the plans we've made. There's graduation for Matt, Easter break, a visit to my sister 's place (and see Universal Studios too, hehe), sleepovers and another trip before sending Matt off to DLSU. Gotta make the summer checklist/s now. :)

We thought the food would just be enough for all of us. It turned out to be more than what we could manage to finish. Matt and Kyle finished off what Jerry and I couldn't of the paella ala Valenciana, baby back ribs, grilled salmon, huevos, and croquetas. Delish! And a very unlikely menu for Jake's 6th birthday dinner treat.

  We still continue to pray for you and your good health! 6 years ago, you looked so frail but look at you now! Happy Birthday Jake!

by Linnor   Among our three sons, Jake sets himself apart as being the friendliest. Everywhere we go, be it the school, the mall, our office, the church, he is like a celebrity, waving at all the familiar faces in sight.  Okay... that's exaggerating a bit. Heh.  But if you are one of my colleagues whom he distracts from coding Java or Ruby on Rails whenever he's around, the attentive Starbucks barista whom he always mooches milk from (who looks for him when he's not with us), the Crocs salespersonnel he plays with (often enough that people think we own the franchise in Ayala), or our neighborhood guard whom he greets "Hi Guard!" to name a few, you sure would get my point.  He doesn't need to know their names to play with them.  He wouldn't remember everyone after all.  I wish I had that friendly gene in me instead of the timid, introspective aura that people often mistake as snobbish or "taray". :) Anyway... Time to end this

by Linnor My eldest son, together with his buddies, decided to go stag on their last high school prom. When I asked him how come he wasn't taking his girlfriend of two years, he said she'd be busy being the student council's president and making sure of the event's success. He added too that it was agreed upon that they'd see each other at the venue. This year's prom had the Oscars for its theme and Matt, being the last minute guy that he sometimes is, didn't have anything to wear. Rummaged in his Pa's closet, he did, to look for anything SUIT-able. Pun intended. I recall he did borrow one for last year and ended up looking like this: But because he has grown taller and stockier at 16, the one special tux in hubs' closet now perfectly fitted him. This was the one Jerry wore to our wedding eighteen years ago in April! Seeing Matt in his Pa's wedding tux reminded me so much of that day. *Sigh*. When will I ever be ready to accept

by Junnie It's Winter! And for anyone who would have a first taste of winter, there is no better way to do it but to do it literally - opening up your mouth and catching some flurries. And so Gabe is doing the same and we are helping him create memories at least one for every season. Despite the mild winter, we were blessed with torrential snowstorms last week and we got our first taste of winter. Gab enjoyed it. While we enjoyed it more seeing him this happy.

by Linnor We were caught by surprise. Last week of Feb, we read in Jake's communication notebook that they were having their final exams this week. I initially thought the tests were not for another two weeks at least! So in between our busy schedules, Jerry and I squeezed the time to prepare our preschooler for his finals, spending more time on the more difficult topics like Mandarin and Math. It's Tuesday, second day of tests. We sure hope he's ready enough. From the looks of it, he seems excited that school is almost over. While his elder brothers in high school prepare for their finals next week, for this kid, summer vacation officially starts this Friday!