8 years, ever, ever after!

 Cheers to our 8 years of love!

Today we celebrate our 8th year of marriage! And we just discovered na nauna lang pala kami ng isang taon kina Popoy at Basha! Hahaha :-P

Wow, 8 years and a 5 year old girl later, it seemed like only yesterday when we invited everyone to our 7AM wedding, laughing out loud most of the 3.5 hours of celebration, with a breakfast feast of tinapa, bacon and eggs for everyone! Coolio ;-)

It was a stormy December 15th for us, but still, we decided to celebrate, so we went out on a movie date (A Second Chance a.k.a. Popoy and Basha part 2). We had no car, so we figured trying out something “new”, so we tried the COMET (e-jeepney), instead of the usual jeepneys. We ended up all soaked up in the rain! And as we rode the elevator on our way up to our home, we smiled, hugged, kissed (eksena sa elevator, hehehe) and said “Happy Anniversary!” to each other :-)

We have grown in our relationship over the past 8 years and we are grateful to the Father for giving us each other as life partners. More ever afters to come!!!

Proud of You

It was one of those very stressful days at work when we received a text message from Ate saying, "Magpakain na kayo. Huwarang Mag-aaral si Yeyo!" That just took away all the stresses we had in our bodies that day. It was such a breather!

After our heart acrobatics, we calmed for a while and decided to wait 'til we get home and get the facts straight. Upon seeing the short thank you piece that she should memorize (which she already did after school) for their Araw ng Parangal (recognition day), that validated it. She is indeed her class' Huwarang Mag-aaral (Model Student) :-)

As any parent would feel, we are very proud of our daughter. The overflowing joy in our hearts radiates through our faces! We are just so grateful to God for another milestone gift. It was Yeyo's first year in school. Just last year when we were scouting for schools, our prayer was to help us instill in Yeyo the love for learning -- not the love for grades or medals -- and develop Godly values. We entrusted Yeyo to and partnered with her teachers, guided her through and waited for God's little surprises as she learns new things everyday.

Fruits of her labor

So for her to be her class' model student, WOW! Ain't that awesome?!?! She's also Pinakamahusay na Mag-aaral sa Matematika (Best in Math...Math! To think that her parents are mathphobics) and Pinakamalikhain (Most Creative). Sweet!

As we look at her now, we are just in awe. More than her scholastic achievement is the fact that she is the role model student in school, at 4 years old. And she is even clueless about it all! ;-)

We watched her enjoy and sieze her moment as she led her class to prayer and delivered her 3-liner Thank You speech. And when her entire class sang Proud of You, we sang with the chorus, from the deepest depths of our hearts. Because we are so proud of Yeyo, our Mithi Aiello Katerina. Well deserved, Anak, well deserved.

Prepping her for school

Yeyo, hasn't had any formal school experience. At 3.5 years old, her closest immersion with education is attending Sunday school at Church, however, it was only two Sundays ago when she really sat down all throughout the sessions.

First day at VCS!

Today is the start of her 5-day Vacation Church School (VCS). VCS is a week-long Summer Bible school being conducted by the Church to kids in areas under the Church's care. It's Yeyo's first time to join the VCS.

Seeing Yeyo go to school, although informal, is giving me the anxiety bumps. Judging from the 4-5 sessions of Sunday school that she's been to, my husband and I have observed her lack of focus and very short attention span. Sure, she's still under the age of 5 and this is completely normal, but somehow, it worries me as I try to recall, to the best I can, how I behaved when I was her age (though I can only think of one distinct memory when I was around 3-4, but more when I was 5 -- when I started Nursery school). I knew I was quiet, I listened to my teacher and performed well. I somehow expect the same thing from Yeyo, but well, she's a different kid.

Paying attention to the teachers

As I sit in this adjacent area waiting for her first VCS session to end, I know she'll be alright. I maybe worrying too much, but I trust God that she will learn how to conduct herself well in class. That when she finally goes to school this June, she'll do well and develop the love for learning. I believe that getting to know God as her baseline school is the right track for her. I know this for sure because when she ran to me screaming "NANAAAAY!!!" in excitement, waving to me her first artwork, with watercolor smeared all over her face and dress that Sunday school session she first finished, I felt certain that everything will be okay :)

Weekends = Family

Because we often come home late from work, we always make sure that we spend quality family time during the weekends. Weekends are sacred and are exclusive to family time. Family times don't have to be spent extravagantly. Time itself is a luxury so why not make the most out of it, eh?

Our Yeyo would equate weekends to two things:

1. "Sakay kay Timi!" (car)

2. "Gusto kay Maximus!" (carousel) 

Hello, Mike and Sully!

We've been frequenting Trinoma for number 2 a lot lately. Number 1, well, this always happens. Maisakay mo lang sya kay Timi, solb na sya :-)

Two weeks ago, still as part of our family weekend, we went to see a movie together as a family. We went to see Monsters University and it was Yeyo's first big screen experience! We were kind of worried at first, since we weren't sure if she's ready for it, but despite tugging her Nanay and Ate for a toilet run twice (one was genuine, the other was an escape plan - she was starting to get bored), it turned out well overall. We owe it to our "lights out at bedtime" training that she didn't get scared nor claustrophobic while inside the cinema. That was a feat, but we figured it will take a while before we take her to the movies again.

To start off another precious weekend, Tatay treated us to a hearty breakfast this morning. We went to this pancake restaurant in BGC and boy was it a treat! The meal was a heavy one that we just slept the lunchtime away. Hehehe.

Pancake family

Enjoying her pancakes

Breakfast/lunch :-p

Tomorrow, we'll see how our Sunday will unfold. But it will definitely have a "sakay kay Timi" and yes, a "gusto kay Maximus". :-)

Praise God for blessing us with the gift of time.