First Day of School

Finally! Don't get me wrong now, I truly love my children. However, after a week of bickering and whining, I was sooooo ready to get them back to school. They need time apart from each other I think. Also, they need time away from home and their parents. I swear, homeschooling would have been the death of me. Just as well I didn't try it. Enjoy the photos!



I made sure we got there early enough to find parking. I was not disappointed! The inevitable first day of school photo with our pastor, Father Jim. He was also doing his usual first day of school photo op rounds.



The general melee outside the first grade classroom where old friends say hi after the long summer. They're no longer the cutest kids, they're now first graders! Aaaaawwww!



Ben had to be at work early so I had to toggle between the 1st and 4th grade classrooms. The teacher allowed the 4th graders to come in before the bell rang. Since we were early, Joey was one of the first kids to get in the classroom. Here he is, getting settled at his desk.



Finally, the bell rang and the 1st graders were allowed to come in. Here is Timmy at his very own desk (they had a table for about 8 back in K)! My sweet little guy is so grown up now!




I ran back to the 4th grade room after Timmy was settled. As I saw a lot of parents still shamelessly hanging out in the classroom, I ran to the front to take one last shot of Joey's first day. Now the room has filled up and kids were beginning to do their math sheets (already?!).

Happy Birthday Elaine!

Happy, happy birthday Elaine! Sorry for the delay. I've been trying to load the photos on Blogger since... well, forever! I guess it just doesn't like me. I hope you're having fun in spite of the working birthday. Enjoy San Diego.


Our little celebration for Elaine at my house with Kurt and Lizzie. I think they let her win since she is the birthday girl.

Lizzie and Kurt trying to play Uno with Elaine while waiting for the food to cook. Kurt's not very good at Uno but brutal in Scene It.

I think Elaine won this game AGAIN! Maybe Kurt and Lizzie were just hungry and couldn't give the game their full attention.

Thanks for having a birthday Elaine. We love having excuses for hanging out with good friends.

Timmy is so Not Politically Correct!

Ben was reading to the boys in bed when I got home last night (as usual). After the boys were tucked in, he took me to the family room and spoke in little over as whisper:

Ben: Timmy got in trouble at school today and they took away his computer lab time.

Me: Oh no, what did he do?

Ben: Its not a big deal really. I actually think it was sort of funny. When I got there, the T.A. pulled me aside and talked to me. She said that Timmy told Sammy that "Black people stink." I giggled at this statement. The woman probably thought I was some sort of racist or whatever (yeah Ben, no kidding!). Anyway I asked her if Sammy was black (excellent observation my love) and she said "Yes." She then told Timmy that "We don't say things like that about other people and their color etc." or something to that effect.

Me: So, what did you do?

Ben: We got in the car and I asked him about it. So Timmy, why did you tell Sammy that black people stink?

Timmy: It was a joke. I was only kidding.

Ben: You know Timmy, you shouldn't make fun of people for the way they look. When I was a kid, I went to school with a lot of black kids and they teased me because I was so pale.

Timmy: But why? You're light. That's good isn't it?

(At this point, Timmy was shocked to find out that teasing went both ways. I guess he was under the assumption that only light skinned people can make fun of dark skinned people and not vice versa.)

Ben: It's not good or bad. Its just the way that I am. Mommy has dark skin. Would you tell Mommy she stinks because she's got dark skin?

Timmy: But she's not black!

At this point it I was beginning to see the humor that Ben saw.

Ben: It doesn't matter Timmy. The reason why people stink is because they don't take showers or baths, not because of the color of their skin.

Ben couldn't remember Timmy's response to this but he said something.

Ben: Besides, its not what a person looks like on the outside that counts. Its whats in the inside that should matter.

I think his lecture ended a little after this remark. I tried to ask Timmy about it this morning but he started to cry and said he didn't want to talk about it. He said he was never going to do it again and that he was ashamed of what he'd said and done. I let him off the hook and promised not to bring it up again either.

Aaaah, the joys of raising a kid. I was rather surprised to know that Timmy noticed skin color. Who would have thought this sweet little boy had prejudices? I'm sure this is just going to be one of those incidences for Timmy's memory box. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

Hey Pinoys!

You know I like to put in some sort of picture for every blog I make, just to make it a bit more interesting. However, it was really hard for me to find something na talagang "Tatak Pinoy." Sad to say, ito lang ang natagpuan kong "universally" Pinoy. Iba na talaga ang may pinagsamahan di ba?




Anyway, I wanted to do a survey -- an iPod related survey. You can totally tell I love my iPod can't you? I have been told by a Pinoy friend, that Pinoys of a "certain age group" have specific easy listening songs they listen to. I completely agree! However, for the life of me, I couldn't seem to remember ANY of these songs. I am creating my "mellow" folder for my iPod because I don't want to listen to the same songs that I use when I run while I'm folding laundry or washing dishes etc.

So, mga pare at mga mare, any suggestions? You can suggest some OPM for sure, but it might be hard for me to find at the library or on iTunes on account of it not having a very big international market di ba? Just suggest any favorite from "our age group." I'd also like to hear the dancing songs you can remember to up the list for my running music because who knows, I might need more songs if I decide to run a longer distance.

I will be waiting to hear from all of you. Wala naman parating sumasagot sa blog ko. Ang alam talaga ng ibang tao wala akong kaibigang Pinoy. I hope you guys respond. Katuwaan lang para mag muni-muni. Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...

Missing Barbie!

I am doing this on behalf of my twin Lizzie. We just have to find the bike god's girlfriend since she seems to be missing. Lizzie thinks she might have accidentally killed/maimed her or whatever. This happened during a mountain biking field trip they did a few days ago. For those of you who haven't read, click the "curlygurlme" link on the right side of my blog. Read the one entitled "sorry, my bad." Anyway, she didn't show up for work today and Liz is feeling way guilty. Anyway, I don't have a real picture of her but this was the closest I could find from an image search.





I told Lizzie not to worry since she might be somewhere having cosmetic surgery and all. At this point she might even be thanking her because it would now be covered by her health insurance. Her cosmetic surgery I mean -- on account of the possibly broken nose because there was a great amount of blood coming out of it. The goose egg on her forehead (she hit her head too and she wasn't wearing a helmet) I think will also be dealt with by the cosmetic surgery, I think.

It will be very hard for Lizzie to get out of this unscathed. She will be wracked with guilt (if Barbie survived, which I think she did) or possibly murdered or maimed by the bike god. Either way, its no picnic for my beloved twin. If you happen to see her (Barbie , I mean), let us know. I'd like to put Lizzie's mind at ease. I mean, she might be physically incapacitated for a short time if bike god thought that she ruined the only date prospect he's had for the past 4 years. Keep an eye out for us okay? Hanggang sa muli, until next e-time...