25 February 2010: DAY 56 (WEEK 9)

caught a moment of my kids seeeeeeeriously watching 'simpsons'!!! even sofia is eagerly watching while sitting on her brother's lap...hahaha.
(i had to take the picture from the living room so as not to distract them....).

24 February 2010: DAY 55 (WEEK 9)

me and isabelle had a little project -- arrange all her art materials! i never realized how many coloring pencils they have accumulated over the years! some we bought, others from restaurants and stores give-aways. my hands ached sharpening all of them.
now they are all sorted, arranged in containers and ready to use. isabelle was really happy.

23 February 2010: DAY 54 (WEEK 9)

me and the kids were all surprised to see these guys up the trees outside our apartment. (good thing we are all awake and decently dressed...hahaha!) it took me awhile to understand what they were doing. first thing i saw was a guy climbing the bare (almost-dead-looking) trees. then i saw some other men along the side streets holding an electric saw. so they needed to cut some of the trees' branches. it was a bit scary because the branches don't seem sturdy enough to hold them.. (but they finished the job so i guess the branches are strong enough).


after they cut the branches, they put them in this little machine to shred!! cool!!

i guess that makes it easier to transport the branches.


great work, guys! job well done!! thank you!!

22 February 2010: DAY 53 (WEEK 9)

im sick. nitz bought me these medicines. when we got home sunday after our household, i was feeling pain in my throat. when i woke up this morning, my voice is gone and i have a very bad soar throat, cough and colds. good thing my kids are on vacation now....i don't need to go out. i need rest....

21 February 2010: DAY 52 (WEEK 8)

we had our 'household'! here we are waiting for our busride home.

and here is sofia doing 'butterfly' with her hands.

20 February 2010: DAY 51 (WEEK 8)

early that morning, i prepared my songs for the mass. i sang for the 6:30 mass.

and on our way home, i took a closer shot of the 'toilettes'! the white screen on the side shows a picture of who is inside. just kidding!!!! hahahaha!!

19 February 2010: DAY 50 (WEEK 8)

remember the construction going on just across our street???? well it is finally done! they finished putting up the public 'toilettes'!! it is not open yet for public but it will be soon. so just in case we have guests and more people need to use the toilet...they can just run across the street...hahaha!! just kidding..i don't mean to scare our future guests...hahaha!!

18 February 2010: DAY 49 (WEEK 8)

as you all know... we are moving to canada. i think now it is really definite. we are still waiting for my dh's company to give us a word regarding employment in lafarge canada (we have a couple of offices in canada). they said they are trying to find him a job there, but at the moment there is no available position yet. we are not losing hope! his boss gave him this!! it can be a sign!!! well... keeping our fingers crossed.

17 February 2010: DAY 48 (WEEK 8)

ash wednesday... we attended mass. the mass was at 8pm so we got home late.

16 February 2010: DAY 47 (WEEK 8)

as soon as nitz gets home... he has to check his farmville, cafeworld and fishville!! hahaha well, its his way of unwinding after a day's work. his night job: farming, cooking and fishing!!

and i hope i didn't scare you here... its just me trying on a facial mask nitz gave me for my birthday. its suppose to relax you.... hmmmm... we will see!!

15 February 2010: DAY 46 (WEEK 8)

this may sound a bit crazy but...i am so hooked up in farmville!! i have refused to try it before.. but someone begged me to just accept a 'neighbor-invitation'. so i accepted the invite.. and i found myself scheduling 'farming' with my household chores. now i have a 24x24 farm, a new estate, an eiffel tower (it was from the valentine gifts i have accumulated!!) and lots of animals and trees. my husband and son are also addicted... hahaha.

not to mention i still have cafe world on the side...! my husband and rafael have cafe world, fishville and petville. hahaha

14 February 2010: DAY 45 (WEEK 7)

we were suppose to go out with some friends but since it is too cold today, we decided to cancel it and just stay at home. it was a pretty lazy valentine's day... just watched a movie - avatar! so here is our room converted into a mini theater..hahaha.

13 February 2010: DAY 44 (WEEK 7)

after hearing mass, we ate at mc donald's!

one thing i discovered about my son -- he would want some greens in his burger (the kiddie meal doesn't have greens) so he took some from my burger, then he would put some fries inside his burger! he said it is better like that....hmmmmm. well, as long as he can eat it, no problem with me!

12 February 2010: DAY 43 (WEEK 7)

the day passed and i didn't get to photograph anything... so i just asked the kids if i could take a photo of them before they sleep. willing victims...hahaha.


and rafael asked if i could take solo shots of him for his profile picture in facebook. this is our favorite!!

and of course, sofia took rafael's cap and posed also.

11 February 2010: DAY 42 (WEEK 7)

it's my dad's birthday today...
i still remember his last birthday.. me and my siblings were all in the philippines!! it was such a wonderful celebration... my dad was really happy. that picture was our last complete family picture.

10 February 2010: DAY 41 (WEEK 7)

it snowed really hard!! me and the kids just watched as the snow covered the streets and cars.

then after an hour... the snow stoped. the sun came out and the snow quickly melted. as i was taking pictures, i noticed the there are small buds sprouting already. wow!!! i hope spring is not too far away.

and just before i turned my camera off, i saw sofia quietly checking her fingers.

09 February 2010: DAY 40 (WEEK 7)

while i am writing this blog, i turned my head to the window and i saw it is snowing again!! i love seing those little white stuff fall down on the ground (but i am not really a big fan of 'cold'). i know snow can be 'trouble', but when you are inside your house, warm and cozy, with a cup of hot choco (tea or coffee) in your hand, looking out your window as you watch the beautiful white sprinkles fall... it is just a wonderful feeling.

anyway, i have another story for you. sofia saw this plastic champagne-shaped container of chocolates. she asked me to open it! i pretended that i was so tight and i couldn't open it. she told me...ok mommy, i will help you! so i gave it to her knowing that she couldn't open it (but it wasn't really that tight..but still i didn't think she could open it!!). and she was able to open it....and she said...'see, mommy!!'..hahaha i could help laughing!

08 February 2010: DAY 39 (WEEK 7)

last night i dreamt of my dad. he was very happy and was dancing (i am not sure if it was boogie or cha-cha). he reached out asking me to dance. i was a bit hesitant because i thought i would just be reaching for 'space'. but then i extended my hand and my dad held it. i felt his hand and it was just how it use to feel. we danced a bit and then the dream was over. i was to happy to see him so happy and to feel his hand. i miss my dad... i really do. it is his birthday day in february 11...and i could still remember his last birthday. we were in the philippines, me and 4 of my siblings!! we were complete!!! my dad enjoyed that day...i know he did. he turned 78 then.
i miss you dad... i love you!!

and i just took a photos of these vegetables...i cooked 'menudo' for dinner.... my version of 'menudo' and the kids love it!!

while rafael is seriously checking stuff on the computer...isabelle happen to notice that i am taking pictures...hahaha. she loves being photographed.

06 February 2010: DAY 37 (WEEK 6)

after mass, we ate at bistro romain...one of our favorite resto... i almost forget to take a picture til we got our dessert. hehehe

07 February 2010: DAY 38 (WEEK 6)

no household today... so i decided to finally iron my husband's long sleeves.

05 February 2010: DAY 36 (WEEK 6)

serious.... you can never guess what she is working on... -- farmville!! yes, she enjoys looking at it, clicking sometimes when it is time to harvest.

04 February 2010: DAY 35 (WEEK 6)

sofia calls this 'little red train'. ok...so it is not entirely red and it can be a train...hahaha. this is one of those days that she wanted a specific toy and she would play with it for a long time. today is the day for 'little red train'.

03 February 2010: DAY 34 (WEEK 6)

our dinner...

and dessert.

and isabelle requested me to take a photo of her....

02 February 2010: DAY 33 (WEEK 6)

sis. sebastianne and sis. odile visited us again. they have another meeting here in paris. they usually stay with us for one night.

01 February 2010: DAY 32 (WEEK 6)

i was snowing heavily in the morning! i could really big snow falling...but it didn't accumulate on the streets.

later that afternoon, we received a package. it was our documents for canada!! finally got all our passports stamped with our immigrant visas. i guess this is now for real!!

31 January 2010: DAY 31 (WEEK 5)

another 'late' birthday celebration with my 'household' group!

30 January 2010: DAY 30 (WEEK 5)

just being silly!!! hahaha
me and my son went out to buy something. it was snowing a bit when we took this photo. too bad we didn't capture the snow in this picture.

29 January 2010: DAY 29 (WEEK 5)

MY BIRTHDAY!!

it was raining when i woke up. when i went to the kids' bedroom, rafael was already awake and greeted me 'happy birthday' with a big smile on his face. how i wanted to keep the kids at home that day but they had to go to school.
right after my husband and kids left, i started tidying up the house, i put up all the kids' drawings on the wall. they have been making them since the first of january (so i have accumulated quite a bit...hahaha).

i was surprised to received the package my friend bing sent, some ref magnets from her travel, stuff for the girls and a wonderful birthday card for me!!! i was really glad it arrived exactly on my birthday.

then we had dinner in a japanese restaurant. we all enjoyed it!!!




gifts from my husband and the kids.... pj sets.

the dress my husband bought!! i love it so much!!

more pictures of my family...



my day turned out really great!! it wasn't so extraordinary, but the kids and my husband did make it extra special. i am also very thankful to all who remembered me and sent greetings. so many friends greeted me in facebook (i'm glad there is facebook...hahaha), and some left me messages in ym. i feel so blessed.
another birthday has passed, another year has been added and i know life has so much more in store for me. i cannot wait to start another year...