Juliana posing with a big bar of real chocolate...

 

This chocolate is real...5 pounds of milk chocolate given to my husband by his employer's daughter...She knows how chocoholic my husband is...and my stepdaughter is as bad...

Another night spent reminding our children to do their chores

Next week is winter break. Patrick asks if he can invite 5 friends for a sleepover. I was ok with 3 max. My husband was not.

Why?

Well, as he said, it feels like almost every weekend we have friends sleep over. We parents no longer feel we get the break we deserve. What with all the worries of what to feed these kids, how to make them behave within normal limits, how to ensure they don't end up with lacerations or amputations, and how to keep OUR HOUSE intact, we also want our kids to be responsible enough to maintain the house at a presentable state. Anytime. All the time.

They were given chores to do. But they do them sporadically. Only when we do the same thing we did at suppertime tonight.

They were given a checklist. Which worked only 2-3 days and the list became an invisible piece of paper posted on the fridge door.

They were offered weekly allowance. Not my idea, but my husband's. He was hoping they would be more motivated to do their chores. (I felt it was like paying them for contributing to the family work, which, in my opinion, should not be the case. After all, we buy their food and clothes, I cook for them, we provide them with a roof over their heads. It is but reasonable for them to give something in return. Oh, and they have their own computers (thanks to my husband for that!).

It used to be that winter was their favorite season because they "love snowboarding." This year, their snowboards remained unused, and my older son had the lame excuse of having the orientation such that his left foot is in front, or that there are not enough kids to play with and actually have fun.

I am so sick and tired of being a parent...at least, that's how I feel tonight.

So God help us!

Patrick's first basketball game

Madison vs Athens, held at Athens Elementary gym. Patrick (24)was late for signing up to the team, and there were games he already missed. Huli man daw at magaling, naihahabol din. So here he is, somewhat adding a morale boost to the team.



He seemed to be the largest player in his team. He is quite good, but there is still room for improvement, which will come as he plays more games. This was a one-hour game, and he made a two-point shot in the above video, and a one-point (foul) shot in the below video.



The Madison team pratically slaughtered the Athens team, but hey, it was just a game, something for the kids to develop agility, have fun, develop hand-eye coordination, balance, and of course, the values of team work and sportsmanship.

Tie-Dyed Bandana

Ben made this. The process of tie-dyeing was taught in school towards the end of the school year.

I do not know the details, though, but the design that came out was pretty!

Ben's Baseball Team Earned Trophies

Here's Ben with his trophy. Their team, American Legion, won 9 out of XX games. Aside from this trophy (each player got one), they received a souvenir (soft) baseball, a set of photos (free), and had a banquet of pizza.

Ben was quite smug about his achievement.

And I am so proud, of course, although this one was a team effort.

I have witnessed him to be a good batter and fielder, although there were times when I could say he was not in the mood.

I am glad he was, at least, into organized sports. It gave him reason to move. 

Ben's first baseball game

Finally, the boys, especially Ben who is quite thin (very much like me when I was his age), had taken interest in sports (I, as a child, always was moving -- climbing trees, running, walking, biking).

He had his first game last Wednesday. His confidence was showing, and he could hit the ball very well!!!

It was a fun game to watch, what with the small boys who looked like all they could manage was swing the bat, let alone hit the ball.

Tags: baseball, kids

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Patrick's first hard-earned money

Patrick has been talking about wanting an X-box, and we would always say that PC is enough for the purpose of playing computer games. Then I told him, maybe he should look for a summer job (like babysitting) to save enough money to buy what he wants. (I remember a time when I was in high school and I wanted to buy Reebok rubber shoes which was P1000 then, compared to local P300, I offered to my mother to do all household chores save for laundry until we could find a new maid. It was summer then, and my Nanay agreed. I had my rubber shoes the next school time.) When he has that much money to buy X-box, then it will be up to him to use that money for whatever he wants. And I think the experience will teach him financial responsibility.

It so happened that my FIL wanted to hire someone to help him pile wood that he split this spring for next winter. He was planning to hire another, but MIL suggested he ask Patrick first if he would like to do the job.

Patrick was excited. (I am sure it was more appealing to him than babysitting.)

And so, here is the picture of his income the first day he did the job at a rate of $10/hr:

He earned a total of $60 for three days' work. He was so proud of himself, and my in-laws were so satisfied with the way he handled the job. He did not save it to buy an X-box. He bought another game to add to his collection, and a PC controller (amounting to $48 in all).

AND I AM SO PROUD OF MY SON.

Tags: Parenting, children, child-rearing

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After Christmas, the kids had fun trying out their new snowboards, which we gave as Christmas gifts to the two boys (I have a pair of skates for Babe).

More photos of them sliding down our steep driveway near the garage.

And more...(that's my shadow).

And more...

having fun!...

Patrick sliding down backwards... 

Athens Christmas Program

This was during the Christmas Program of the Athens Elementary School last Dec 15, which started at 6:30 pm.



Costumes were either provided by the school or made at home, if not available. (Here Ben plays the part of one of the shepherds. I made his costume with the help of Ana).



Patrick played the part of a merchandiser, and here is talking with some shoppers, complaining a bit of how busy Christmas time is...



This part is the end of the play.



That woman in the green costume sitting in front of the performers is their Music teacher and she was the one who practised the students for such a wonderful rendition of this musical Christmas play. This year turned out with more guests than last year's Christmas Program. Next year we will add more, as not only Mom and Dad will be with us but also Ann and Shannon.

Last week, Dec. 5, there was an invitation coming from Ben's class to the Athens Fire Department which was having Santa Claus for the night and that there would be hot cocoa, cookies and snacks plus caroling.

Santa has given Ben his gift, and is now fixing his hat and beard (not because he's camera-shy).

Ben was quite happy upon receiving his gift.

There was this girl who kept calling Ben's attention, but maybe he was overjoyed to notice her.

Ben opened it and it was a coloring book with a set of crayons!

This is the table where the goodies were displayed. We tasted some of them.

It re-affirms my conviction that this small town is composed of people consciously trying to preserve traditions, which I find so appealing. 

Pumpkin Carving

The weekend before Halloween night we spent carving pumpkins. Here, Gary is slicing the top off the pumpkins and giving the kids instructions.





Here is my hand using the spoon to scoop the seeds out (I reserved some of them for planting next year).



Here's an outline of how Patrick would carve his pumpkin...



Busy busy carving...



I lined them all up and took a photo.

from left to right: Ben's, mine, Patrick's, and Juliana's.

The night that we expected a temperature of 20 deg F, thus bringing with it a hard frost below freezing, we dug the potatoes. The kids were a tremendous help.

Dad was the one who loosened the potatoes from the cement-like soil using his potato digger. We took turns. The kids, me and Mom picked up the potatoes and placed them in burlap sacks. 

Common Ground Fair Sept. 24, 25 and 26, 2004

At this time of the year, students at Athens Elementary School schedule a visit to the Common Ground Fair held in Unity, Maine.



"The purposes of the Association are to help farmers and gardeners grow organic food, to protect the environment, to promote stewardship of natural resources, to increase local food production, to support sustainable rural communities, and to illuminate for consumers the connections among healthful food, environmentally sound farming practices, and vital local economies. "



The school tries to inculcate these to their students as early in their lives as possible, hence the yearly trip to the CGF, which is quite alright for me, because if one tries to see everything, it is quite impossible to do so in one day. There are so many things to see, not only produce from organic gardens, but also farm animals, crafts, and alternative sources of energy (i.e., non-fossil fuels).



During our first CGF visit I was only able to take photos mostly of the animals there. This time, I was able to take photos of most stalls, save for the Farmer's Market and the Food Stalls.



This is the map of the Common Ground Fair site. We entered through the gate situated at the left upper corner of this map.

This is the poster of MOFGA's CGF for this year:

This sign greeted us at the entrance to the site (left upper corner of the map). Then the students went on their way with their own groups consisting of an adult (either teacher or volunteer parent) with 3 or 4 children.

We went inside the Children's Activities and Events part first. Ben was amazed at the juggler



There was this stack of hay where children could do sommersaults or any stunt they cuold muster...





There was a table for children to make crafts using clay.





There were also a table for kids to have fun working with blocks and pegs of wood.





Boys went busy building. Here's Patrick's ship (???) and Matthew's gargoyle (facing him) and Ben's car (???).





Quite early for New Year, kids got a chance to violently bang these pots and pans as loud as they could.





Children posed in front of piñatas for sale, made out of papier mache by children working under the tent behind them.





We ate lunch while sitting on the grass. All the tables in the eating area (which surrounds the sundial in the center of the CGF grounds) were full-packed. There were lots of stalls of food made from the produce of organic farmers. But we brought our own lunch consisting of meatballs (made of ground beef mixed with finely chopped carrots, onions, garlic powder, summer squash and zucchini which I steamed the night before), dipped in pasta sauce which I made using my home-grown paste tomatoes, plus freshly-picked cucumbers (sliced that morning), and cantaloupe from Dad's garden. We brought our own bottles of water.





After lunch, on we went to hopping around.



Agricultural products such as squash and pumpkins, onions, tomatoes, etc., raised by the MOFGA members, were being sold inside this building.





"Think Blue" is the slogan of this stall which teaches children the importance of controlling waste disposal, using rubber duckies as symbols for such water pollutants as oils, gas, grease, encouraging them to dispose of these waste fluids at recycling centers, and to maintain vehicles properly.



Actually the kids just enjoyed letting go of the rubber duckies on the running water and seeing them slide down into the canal.



These are crafts from small animals' fur, as well as other crafts made by Native Americans.



Stone/cement crafts,



fiber (yarn, wool) crafts, and wood crafts,



More on woodcraft, a crafter draws a wing's feathers on a block of wood. Some finished products for sale.







Some stalls featured Basketry. Other displays featured crafts using several parts of the animals, like maracas using leather hide, horns to blow.





These were gourds which were painted for purposes of decorations.



Making stone crafts. Children are given the chance to have a taste at stone sculpture.





Ben passing through an arc of stones made by making a hole in the center of each piece then passing them through the wire. Then he was entranced by this big stone turned into a lamp.







This is Maureen, the parent of one of Patrick's closest friends in his class, in awe of the stone with laminated middle portion. Other stones were made into plant pots, or paperweights or candle-holders.





These are small "windmills" powered by small solar cells behind the blades. (We tried to stop their operation by shading the solar panels. Very direct demonstration of the power from the sun being converted into electrical then mechanical energy. There were large solar panels. Solar energy as source of power for homes cna be quite expensive, but cost-efficient and environmentally friendly in the long run.





One stall had this "oven" that baked these cookies with the sunlight. Ben was given a piece to taste.





Then there were stalls that featured composting materials. One such stall had this toilet on display, which turns human wastes into compost, which can then be used for fertilizing plants. (I still have to come to terms with that because if I use that kind of toilet, I will have to have a means to clean the toilet with chemicals that will not harm the plants.) Some featured biomass to fuel houses.





Then there was a stall that featured building houses and boats with wood...





Kids had fun playing in this area with different hammocks and this "horse-ride" made of old tires.









Then on our way back to the bus, we came across this woman on stilts.





We did not manage to visit the farm animal stalls anymore due to time constraints. For photos of such, see our first CGF visit here.