Day 295: A Camping We Will Go

After a week-long stretch of quarter examinations, the graders of BFCS are so excited to have their yearly scouting day and overnight camping today. This is the first time that my son, Jarred will join such an activity. In fact, the event has a lot of firsts for the family. It is the first time that my son will be spending the night away from home and from us. 

When I dropped him off at school this afternoon, I felt that tugging at my heartstrings once again...those warning bells that seem to scream that he's growing up way too fast for me to catch up. After dinner, I couldn't help but ask hubby for us to swing by school just to check how Jarred's doing. We were quite amazed to see a lot of cars parked in front of the school. Obviously, we weren't the only ones stressing over this "night-away-from-home" event. The kids just finished their evening activities and were about to have their snacks before preparing for bedtime. When it was finally time for bed, there was a mad scramble of parents and kids going here and there, lining up at the comfort rooms, going in and out of assigned bedrooms. Mommies were going after their kids, making sure they did their nightly rituals properly. I was not spared the same as I had to make sure Jarred knew how to keep his stuff away neatly. It was only when I felt satisfied enough to leave him on his own that I decided to finally ride the car and go home. I hope my son has a good night's sleep tonight...I don't think I'll be able to sleep soundly though as my thoughts will be drifting off to Jarred all night through.

Day 255: Weird Stash

There's a bunch of santan plants adorning the front facade of Kuya Jarred's school and it has become my eldest daughter's habit to pick a few santan flowers to bring home every time we drop off her kuya there every morning.

Well, I always thought she'd deconstruct each piece and try to taste the sweet nectar inside like I did when I was younger. However, I was surprised to find these drying up inside an old biscuit tin. So it seems my big princess Cailie has been keeping her stash of santan blooms to dry out. Well, I guess I need to teach her about that nectar thing one of these days.

Day 253: My Little Boy Scout

Entering primary school has brought in many firsts for my little man: 

• spending whole day in school (when preschool used to be just half day)
• wearing long trousers instead of shorts
• fan-cooled room instead of an air-conditioned one
• having more than 2 teachers (in preschool there was only 1 for English subjects and 1 for Chinese)
• joining the out-of-town educational trip

and finally...

• participating in scouting activities as a cub scout

Scouting is an alien topic for me as I grew up not knowing what it was all about. You see, scouting was not a compulsory subject during my elementary and high school days. In those days, scouting was considered as a club, where participation was voluntary. Well, here in Butuan, scouting is part of the curriculum. It was a sight to see my little man all dressed up in his Kab Scout uniform. 

Day 249: Fancy Footwork

Perfect coordination...super abdominal strength...pristine timing...and a prayer to not get wet...

These are the factors essential to successfully lift this container half-filled with water with just the use of feet and leg power. To sustain it in mid-air for a few seconds will really stretch your abdominal might to its limit. 

Well, the SUN Team did exactly that...and won this game.

Day 228: Breaktime!

The preparations for the BFCS Foundation Week celebration is on full swing now. All groups from preschool to elementary are busy with memorizing their lines for both the Speech Choir and Readers Theater, learning the steps for the Song Interpretation and Field Demo. 

Stage Mom that I am, I've taken an active role in the week-long celebration by helping out the SUN Team with the Speech Choir and Readers Theater. During rehearsals, I would be the one correcting their pronunciation, intonation and pausing. I also helped them achieve the right vocal power and unison. The SUN kids are a bunch of talented, hardworking and energetic boys and girls. Of course, there are times when they'll be kids and get rowdy or noisy but they do know when to get downright serious and give their performance best.

Day 169: My First Online Purchase

These lovely pair of wedge shoes arrived today! They were ordered and paid for 4 days before. It was my very first domestic online purchase.

For sometime now, I'd been curious about all these online sellers sprouting here and there on Facebook and Multiply. I've really toned down in my shopping habits ever since I got married so I seldom make fashion purchases for myself. This was until I came across pictures of these wedge shoes on Facebook. I've been scouting for a pair for months now but I couldn't find a lovely pair with a reasonable price tag. Even though online shopping seemed an unorthodox way to obtain what I wanted, I bit the bullet and tried if it was a process I could really trust. 

Well, the online seller was very accommodating and always answered my inquiries promptly. She also posted pictures of her sold goods ready to be shipped out and identified herself with personal photos too. Hey payment option was convenient too as it was through the payment facility of my mobile phone. How cool was that? And so as soon as I made the payment, she confirmed receipt and told me to expect the shoes in 3-4 days. In fact, a day after I sent payment, I saw a picture of my parcel on her profile. 

Suffice to say, I'm one happy online customer and I can see myself doing more shopping this way from now on. Of course, there are also horror stories of bogus sellers lurking all over the world wide web so utmost care should be observed when doing this kind of transactions. Here are some tips to note:

1. Make sure the seller identifies herself well on her profile page by exposing her working email address, mobile number and/or landline number.
2. Look for pictures of the seller so you can match her shop name with a face. If you can't find a photo of the seller on her page, that's a red flag.
3. Search through her archives for proofs of sale or shipment: photos of courier receipts, packed goods ready for shipment, etc.
4. Take time to skim through comments from other shoppers or buyers on her page and look for positive feedback. If you find none, that's a red flag too.
5. Do contact your seller through PM, email and mobile phone to be sure she responds quickly to your queries. Another check I made was through the mobile phone payment facility I opted for. I found my seller's full name tagged to her mobile phone number.

These are just a few reminders to make your online shopping experience both safe and exciting. HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

Day 104: Steady Hand

This is Cailie's 2nd day of summer school.  In today's activities, she exhibited amazing control of her motor skills while coloring the outline of her own hand.  Observing her, I thought that she is quite advanced compared to her Kuya when he was her age.  I also noticed remarkable difference in their attention span and organizational skills.  Cailie would painstakingly put back all her school materials in her bag as soon as she was done with them without the teacher instructing her to do so.  Is it because she's a girl?  Is this a gender trait of some sort?  Well, it was something new for me and indeed something amazing to watch.

Day 19: Exams and Reviewers

Today is Jarred's 2nd exam day in school for the 3rd quarter this year.

Since the year began, I've made it a habit to make reviewers for him based on his daily school activities and tests.  It is so much easier to do the review with him using these than when I used to write the reviewers by hand.

Jarred likes the pictures I paste and the organization of the questions.  It does take some work and a lot of time but whenever I see my son appreciate my effort and the effect on his own school performance, it's all worth it!