I am a mother first of all

Here is Tina Fey's prayer/poem. Can I say I super love Tina Fey?  Ok, let's just say maybe I love her next to Ellen. Cool?

The Mother's Prayer for its Daughter


First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.


May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not  the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half

And stick with Beer.


Guide her, protect her
When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the nearby subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock N’ Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.


Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance.

Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes

And not have to wear high heels.


What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.


May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.


Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.

Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long,

For Childhood is short -- a Tiger Flower blooming

Magenta for one day --

And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait.


O Lord, break the Internet forever,

That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers

And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.


And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister,


Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends,

For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.


And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord,


That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 a.m., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.
“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck.


“My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental note to call me. And she will forget.


But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.


Amen.

As if this is not enough, I saw this online today too. Oh, oh, I am so damned. I am glad my Pherry is growing ( 13 soon) but can I pause time? Please Lord Almighty? Please?



I know I may be just over reacting but hey, the world is spinning fast.

Josh' weird sleeping habit

Everyone who knows me and my family know Josh is the sweetest kid. No, seriously. Just last night, knowing that a few friends are coming to relax and just be with Venice ( hey.. birthday girl) on her day, he ran out to the yard, picked fresh flowers and gave them to HG and Venice adding..."it's hand-picked", made some iced tea for the bday girl because " we have no gift for her". Just out of the blue sweetness. If I may say so, he is the most giving and sweetest of kids you would meet. Of course he has his own misgivings, like making faces, rolling his eyes... but over all, believe me when I say--- I am blessed he is my son, knowing how Mr. Hubbs did not want any more kids after we got here in the USA because life is difficult. God had other plans--good plans.

But Josh has one habit I can not explain. He likes sleeping in tight spaces ---- under the bed, under the table, in between sofas, in the walk-in closet---everywhere except the cupboard.

Here, see what I mean...

He was sleeping under my brother-in-law's dining table! This was a few years ago. But you should know, he's been doing this for as long as I can remember. I remember finding him under my bed when he was about 2 or so. Yup, under my bed. One time he was in my walk-in closet--- suffce to say, my walk-in closet is cramped -tuffed  full of clutter, he managed to sleep and squeeze in.

Then, late 2009 my husband called me at work asking if I knew where Josh was and of course I was upset! How could he ask me when he was supposed to be WITH them at my in-laws house? They even called me earlier that day. Then I started to panic, not upset but panic. The house where they are at is pretty big and has a big wooded yard. What if he was gone? Abducted? What if he was in the woods and crossed over a neighbor's and segue to the highway? Is he safe? What if he is bitten by snakes? Is he cold? Hungry? Then I started yellling at Mr. Hubbs and told him to call police, and why the hell is he calling me and not the police? He told me they looked all over before he called me so, I was kinda upset he would not call the police now. I was having these scenarios running through my head and in fact, I remembered a police officer saying that every minute a child is missing is very crucial to finding them safe or not. He was informing caregivers to be attentive all the time because that 1 minute you take your eyes off your ward is important. Can you tell I was being cookoo? Or I was just being a mommy? I  was at work then, so I felt helpless. So you can only imagine my anger when husband called again---my thought was like:

1.Why call me?
2. I  should probably call the police myself.
3.Please let him tell me they found Josh

He sent me these photos after we talked.

He was sleeping on a raised platform of my sister-in-law's center table!! All this time! Yup, while I was fuming my eyes off and ready to call the State Police, or the FBI and even the CIA, hell I was thinking of calling the church volunteers to canvass the area.

This table is in their formal living room where no one really stays but stilll, there was also a buttery soft leather sofa there--- but he chose to sleep on this table, yeah, cramping his 6 year old body in this tight space. Note that this glass table is covered with a decorative fabric that's why is not visible to everyone. Only when they were ready to leave my in-laws' house where Mr. Hubbs started looking for him. He was nowhere!

Hallelujah! He remebered Josh' sleeping habit and they started looking at the RIGHT places--- under the table, between the sofas, behind the sofas, behind the TV console, inside the kitchen island cabinets, the laundry room and yes, he was here UNDER the center table.

I remember reading a medical condition about this but it has escaped me. So if anyone knows, please leave me a comment and I will thank you.

How about you? Do you have weird sleeping habits? Do you know anyone like this?

Easter Sunday 2011

Growing up Catholic in the Philippines is very different, most evidently during the so called Holy Week. Filipinos tend to focus more on Black Friday, mourning the death of Christ with such cultural flare, great pageantry and religious activities combined. Catholics/Christians here in the US put greater emphasis on Easter Sunday, Christ's resurrection. Easter Sunday is one of the holy days I observed ( as a Catholic immigrant in this great nation) where the Church is packed ( no pun intended). Much like Christmas.

So, after our Spring break vacation ( which I still need to write 2 more posts), we geared up for Easter.

Here's what we did.

The family loves it when the Llaga(s) of Presidential Estate visit, but we love it more when Ice bakes cookies with us. She is such a sweetheart---always respectful and very neat. We made egg shaped vanilla cookies and while preparing the dough, Ice keeps eating it and telling us how.."Mamu, it's good as it is... really." Would you believe it if I told you it was NOT there for Easter? Yup, it was that good.

The kiddos wanted to add that star cookie shaper---because WE are stars!

It warms my heart when I see them enjoy the fruits of their labor, and the bonding time they have as cousins...PRICELESS. Clean up is a different story altogether. Ha!

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Of course, Pherry did not HELP--- wait, he helped EAT the cookies. My two assistants in baking? Ice and Josh. These 2 are the best! They finish the work, you know how kids love to start something and when interest wanes, poof? Not my 2 favorites. They really enjoy it. I guess that's the way it is... the younger kids work and the older kids eat. Maybe just in my house, ha?


Here's Pherry dipping his cookies in a glass of milk. My style-- I dip my bread in my coffee cup--Pinoy style at it's best.

Then, it was my time with KC-- we dyed the Easter eggs! I try to involve the kids with everything I do. Here's what we came up with. I was going to make more elaborate ones but I was just tired from our Philadelphia trip that I just came up with these.

Sunday, we attended St. Joseph's Easter Sunday celebration. Of course with The Llagas of PE and Surwez of Avalon ---and a surprise guest, my sister HG. Woohoo!

Here's Josh, handsome as ver, running away from me is what he does now, taking cue from big bro--no pictures Ma!

 My pretty passengers...

Aren't they the most adorable duo? They love each other and they truly enjoy one another. My hope is that when they grow up, they are still very close---my kids and their cousins

Finally, I was able to take a picture of YOU! I love dressing up my boys with pinks and whites during the spring/summer time. So clean and fresh! Notice Pherry's crisp shirt--pink and white baby! My God, looking at this picture reminds me that I have a 12 year old son! My baby is going to be 13! That must be why we have been fighting a lot, ha? Duh!

And these beautiful kids my friends, is why I consider myself so blessed! On Easter Sunday, I am blessed by God and just having them reminds me of His big great love for all of us.

Here's Josh again. I took this picture for his First Communion invitation cards

 My baby boy Josh. He quips, " We need to take pictures, I know, I know...". Smart boy, don't you think?
Here she is, my little darling grand niece.. Precious Gabrielle.....or Ice.

 Ice!!! Ice!!! My favorite girl in the whole wide world! Very neat, intelligent and respectful. I love you Ice~~~

Extra point to anyone who can spy the purple and yellow eggs in this picture. For reals, they are there! But this shot is mostly to show you how beautiful my yard is... the gah-den ( garden) as Bostonians would say, is in full bloom. Come visit and you will see an array of beautiful colors.

This is our Spring table. The food is mostly seafood except for the pork barbecue. The reason I love my friends? They are troopers. They come armed with FOOD! I can ask them to come and know that  I need not worry about what to feed them.

Isn't she the prettiest mow-del like niece you can ever wish for? Extra point for me for saying that. Winky! Her amazing cooking ability is just a bonus. My kitchen is always abuzz with cooking clutter but I love it! You should see HG cook her shrimp in olive oil with pepper. Ok, HG I'll change that ... shrimp with Extra olive oil... extra olive oil is essential she says. Here's a picture of that delectable shrimp...

Here's Mr. Hubbs doing what he does best, barbecue. I love how he meticulously prepare food.

But of course, for the kids, we got to do EGG HUNTING!!!
Here's my list of rules...


Here's the troop that day... so, so adorable troop I got last Easter.

Let the fun begin....





Here's the group after... Tita Sol is sure enjoting herself! You probably guessed who got the most eggs by now...

...and our big winner, Angelica!!! She probably got $30.00 from all her prizes.

WHeeew! After the excitement outside, we went in again to decorate the dyed egss and Jojo picked 2 awardees foe Most Artistic because " I can't pick, they are all so beautiful". This, after SisSol gave up the judging post because " I can't pick, I saw them all do it and they are all good". Yes indeed!  The kids made such beautiful eggs by putting on stickers, chalk, glitters and other decorations. Boy am I glad I did not have to do it. Meanwhile, HG is sleeping! Oh sister!

Then off to watch the Celtics sweep the poor NY Knicks! What a Bostonian Easter we had! Family and friends peeps, family and friends make everything beautiful! Good morning!