Prayer

Three-year old Sunshine's prayer: Thank you Papadios for not letting... Mom, what's his name again?... Not letting King Herod kill the Baby Jesus.

GRATEFUL

Upper row, from left: Sunbeam's cowgirl boots, Sunshine's single-wheel skate shoes, my yummy super-high heels with the pink soles, S' big-as-a-boat shoes; Lower row, from left: Sunbeam's yellow hand-me-down crocs, Sunbeam's green fake crocs.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have cooked up the idea of of the comfort and joy of our little family.

Happy Thanksgiving.

*Forgot to post this entry on Thanksgiving!

NICE KIDS

Our neighbors have really nice kids who are a few years older than Sunshine and Sunbeam but always take the time to greet and play with them.
Several weeks ago, they were the only ones left in the playground but they were having a blast taking turns on the bike: one would ride while the other one would pull on a length of rope attached to the bike.
They had fun running around, I had fun watching them, and they were exhausted afterwards and got ready for bed with minimal whining.

MELT

Both kids were running through the department store, touching everything in sight. One announced she had to go poopoo. Ran through the floor to buy a pack of wipes, made it to the bathroom but right outside she saw a car she wanted to drive and refused to go to the potty. So we left. After two minutes, he announced that he had to go poopoo. We made it back to the bathroom in time, and then they were off again, pulling toys off shelves to show me they wanted to buy it for this friend or that cousin. They were tugging opposite ways on their harnesses and then Sunbeam runs up behind me, tugs my shirt and says softly, shyly, "Love you, Mom."

A CURVE BALL

Openness, acceptance & non-judgment can bring love to anyone - Deepak Chopra
I received some painful, shocking news today. It doesn't affect me directly, I am but on the fringes, but it concerns a family very close to my, to our, hearts.
How do you handle a life-changing event, unforeseen, and completely uncontrollable?
"We are a team, and this is our mission." These are unprecedented fighting words of peace and unity and love.
When the ball's in your court and there are tough decisions to be made, you can waver and continue undecided or you can take the more difficult paths of love and reconciliation, stand your ground and carry through in faith and prayer.
Thank you Papadios for this courageous woman, whose strength and determination and pure love are a quiet example of what it means to be woman, wife, mother, and true Christian in the 21st century. She is an inspiration, a reminder that all you really do need is love.

READING BUG

I've always been an avid bookworm: reading books over meals, late into the night, in the shower (!), on the throne, pretty much anywhere except in a moving car (I get horribly sick). I much prefer to read than to talk.
Well, for someone who once couldn't go a day without devouring several chapters, if not an entire book, I realized that the past few years were filled to the brim with being married, raising kids, trying to run a household, trying to make money, endless surfing online, and the iPad... pretty much everything except reading. I've recently just started once again and it's a relief and a comfort to hold a good book in my hands: the anticipation of the world awaiting within, the feel of the pages, the cover design, and the smell! The smell of books (and magazines) should be bottled and sold!
Growing up, there was just a handful of bookstores in Manila, and these stocked more office supplies than books. My mom would lug home dozens of paperbacks each time she travelled, and that's how I met Anne Shirley, Ramona and Beezus, Judy Blume, Enid Blyton (The Naughtiest Girl in School, Famous Five!), Laura Ingalls, and countless others.
Thankfully, it's much easier to come by good reading material in Manila these days. There is a second-hand bookstore close to us. It's tucked into the corner of a decades-old grocery. A tiny place with books on shelves, stacked on the floor, overflowing out into the aisle. It's no Strand, or Three Lives, but it does get a surprisingly good selection of children's books. The kids know they get unlimited treats there as long as I deem the books are suitably educational, and entertaining but not silly (I try to steer away from character books).
Yesterday though, it was my turn. One of my favorite booknooks was on sale, so N and I walked over after lunch and I picked up a stack of books for myself: favorite authors, some new ones, a parenting book highly recommended by N, and one that I haven't decided whether to keep or to give Ninong M.
What a blessing, to find and be able to afford these treats! I can't wait to burrow down in my cozy armchair with these. And hopefully it's the push I need to get out of this reading slump.

MATRIMONIAL CONCLUSIONS

Home becomes a zoo each evening when S comes home. The kids (and dog) are so excited to see him and it gets pretty wild in our tiny flat. Any calm which I had managed to restore after their afternoon in the playground is erased by his arrival, and somehow these little people find their second wind and turn into individual monsoons. Exhausted as I usually am, it's a lot of fun to watch S join in the fray, alternately shielding himself from their agitated approaches (they're like affectionate battering rams) and chasing them for the dreaded tickle attack. It's loud, but these are happy, irreplaceable noises of home and family.
Today I had lunch with N, someone I can always count on for sympathy and wise words, during which we discussed being married vs. being single vs. being separated at our age of nearing-forty.
And over our shared slice of key lime pie, we concluded that being married takes work and care, but that playing tic-tac-toe (hers), coming home to dinner (mine) and happy voices shouting, "Mommy!" (ours)... these are things to be grateful for everyday.