And Back Again

Some people leave Manila to avoid New Year's Eve and the fireworks. Not us. We deliberately headed back for the fireworks. We figured that as we were going to be bombarded by noise anyway we might as well get the visual show over the city too.

We weren't sure how bad traffic would be or whether catching a ferry would be a problem - there was still a backlog of foot passengers coming from Manila. Some friends of ours arrived in Batangas at 12 noon and didn't get onto a boat until 10 p.m. They have 2 young children so I bet that was not fun.

So we decided we would go for the 6 a.m. ferry but as Rose was awake and woke us both up, we made the decision at 4:20 to try for the 5 o'clock ferry instead! Unfortunately it had already left when we reached the pier at 4:45 (it's just down the road from the guest house) so it must have been full. So we ended up on the 6 o'clock ferry anyway. We had very comfortable seats - a horseshoe affair with proper cushioning and a table. It wasn't very full - even when the foot passengers got on. We left about 6:15 and made good time, arriving in Batangas about 2 hours later. We breakfasted at McD's and made it home super fast as there was no traffic on the road. Rose didn't even sleep in the car.

Rose was very glad to see Candy and Floss, Naomi went straight to her doll's house and Josh was pleased to get back to his "moon sand".

We left to go up to Faith about 9:30 p.m. as the fireworks round here were getting so loud we couldn't hear the film we were watching very well. We watched some of the volleyball games. Rose played with her cronies.

At 11 we went outside to begin watching the displays. These are not organised or co-ordinated affairs but everybody sets off their own fireworks and they are pretty cheap here. Josh fell asleep almost as soon as we settled into place. Naomi was asleep by 11:30! Rose was off playing with her friends, but Steve and I - and the crowd of others there - enjoyed the display. It was a very clear night and a faint wind was blowing the smoke away from us. i think it was our best ever display.

It's an amazing scene. You can see right over the city towards Makati and from one side of the horizon to the other there were fireworks going off. They had been going off since about 6, and it gradually builds up until we hit 12 for the climax. It was so cool to have a varied perspective from far away to the really close fireworks. My favourites were some new ones that seemed to flatten out as they exploded. The rich people in the valley below school put on an amazing show between them! The other good thing about watching it from the top of the hill rather than at home is it is more muted!

Just after 12 as the displays were waning we left. On the way home we passed all the paper strewn across the roads from the numerous firecrackers set off everywhere. We could smell the aftermath as we entered Brookside. The kids went straight to bed. We waited till about 1 when the majority seemed done!

Chewing Gum

I had arranged for me and the girls to have our hair cut while at Calapan - there's a sister of one of the helpers who comes to the house and does it. Just as well because while on the beach Rose got her hair in her mouth and wrapped up in her chewing gum. Steve was pretty peeved - he hates the stuff anyway so I was in the doghouse for a while! Hard to get it out when you're on the beach and don't have a pair of scissors! Thankfully we were having our hair cut in the afternoon so Rose's hair is a bit shorter but tidy!

Guinea Pigs

Steve said I had to do a blog on Rose's Christmas present from Granny Taylor and Aunty Jenny. You can tell how excited I am by the guinea pigs in that I haven't even mentioned them yet! When Steve went to buy them on the Tuesday before Christmas they were offering 'buy one, get one' so she actually got 2. She was so pleased when he brought them home.

The reason Steve wanted me to do a special blog was because I have always been against us having pets and he wants to delight in my reluctant acquiesence! Steve told Bonnie he was going to mark down her evaluation as he held her partly responsible! She was teaching persuasive letters and used her childhood guinea pig as a model for writing. In actual fact, Rose has wanted some kind of rodent for a while and I decided it was a safer option than some other pets we could be arguing about!

They're actually pretty cute. We named them candy and floss - although we had to remind Rose that it is the English name for cotton candy and therefore more appropriate! I am seriously considering making a vocabulary chart for this kids this year to prepare them for returning to England as they are becoming much more fluent in American English than British English.

Out of Manila

We left at our usual time of 5 a.m. Actually, we left a little bit earlier than that but the Starbucks on the way was open when we got to it so that made it OK! As we drove up to it, Steve was pushing me out of the car because a full van load was about to get out and go in! I beat them to it.

We drove on to the ferry about 6:45. There were 2 basic toilets for all the female passengers. I took the kids, they got dressed, used the loo and then I told them they couldn't drink very much on the boat because they were not coming back to the toilet until we reached Calapan! (To their credit they did it too!!)

As we sat down, there was a newspaper vendor walking past and his headline read "Another ferry sinks.." Very uplifting. It explained the backlog of foot passengers and lorries and jeepnies loaded with freight trying to get across. I'm not sure how we managed to get onto the boat so easily. When we arrived our managers told us bodies had been found on the beach below the guest house this morning.

Our kids were excited to have 2 other families staying here as well as other guests. We have heard them more than seen them!

Christmas Day

We had a lovely day today. It started auspiciously as the kids did not come to get us up till 7. They had got up earlier but gone to play downstairs and were very good.

Not so auspiciously I blew the lights in the kids' bedrooms when I had a shower upstairs with the heater and the lights on! Steve says it's a fairly complicated procedure to get them fixed as we have to get someone in to get up in the roofspace.

We had our now traditional Christmas breakfast of bacon with pancakes. Then we tidied up the kitchen a bit before letting the kids open the first round of presents. I started the dinner then helped Rose make some plaster farm animals, Steve built Josh's lego present and Naomi pottered around with her toys. We decided to let Naomi open her big present as she didn't really have anything she could settle with by herself. She was so delighted with her doll's house. We had to banish Rose to the other room while Naomi opened the boxes which held furniture for each room because she was trying to organise where everything would go and we said it was Naomi's decision.

Our friend Karen came over to eat dinner with us, so we told the children to get dressed before she came! Our lunch was lovely but we were having beef instead of turkey - being rather "turkeyed out" - but it wasn't cooked enough so I left it in the oven and we ate it on sandwiches for tea. Thankfully, I had made a nut loaf so all was not lost! Naomi was so desperate to play with her doll's house that she barely ate anything (unusual for her) and asked if she could get down. We agreed it was going to achieve anything by making her sit there so off she went.

After lunch we let the kids open more presents. I liked splitting the present opening up as it felt like it wasn't so many, the children actually looked at what they had opened and even got to enjoy some of them before moving onto the next lot. We cleared out some of our old toys to make room for the new ones.

We let the kids stay up later so they could chat to Steve's family and, of course, we had a parade of the new toys and books.

Christmas Eve

When we got up this morning, Josh said, "This is the tooth day." I had no clue what he was on about but then Rose said, "No, this is not the tooth day, it's the oneth day." Oh, now I get it! It was funny that they were completely on the same wavelength on something that made no sense to me!!

This morning we spent time up at school to let the kids run off steam and this afternoon we watched "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" together.

Rose has been so excited today, not necessarily because it is Christmas Eve but because we were having dinner with Molly (her friend) and her family after Church tonight! We ended up at Wendy's because nothing else was open. Everything closes early on Christmas Eve because it is when Filipinos celebrate together.

We enjoyed the lights in Makati as we drove home.

Love-Hate Relationship

I have decided this week that I have a love-hate relationship with Christmas in this country. I love that we celebrate Christmas in this country - there are friends of ours who live in Thailand where they don't even give Christmas Day as a holiday. I love that it still has the birth of Jesus at its core. I love that Filipinos love Christmas and that is seen in the decorations, the music, the atmosphere. However, I hate the extra traffic, the extra people in the malls (where are they the rest of the year?!), the association of Christmas with "give me money", the carol singers who come every night. (One Tagalog word we know very well is 'Patawad'! which sends them away.)

We had a much calmer day with the kids today, though, so that was a relief. Rose and I spent a lot of one on one time this morning making a face for her bedroom door, playing "Go Fish" and then she played on Steve's computer while I sewed.

Countdown

This week Rose and Joshua have cottoned on to counting down to Christmas. I don't think it's a good thing!! They have been super hyper and Joshua came downstairs from bed last night and saw Steve and I wrapping presents. Today he was running round saying "where are the presents you wrapped last night? I saw a big one. I'm going to find them". I told him it was automatic banishment to the bedroom if he went hunting. He subsided a bit, but he can be pretty sneaky!

I had a cool experience with some of my friends - "Omelette in a bag". We mixed all the ingredients in a freezer bag and boiled them in a pan of water. Very tasty.

Wrapping Books

This evening we wrapped books for the kids from the Scholastic Book Fair. They had a great choice this year (maybe I am more aware of what I am looking for!!) and they are much better quality than what is available in the bookstores here. We skyped mum and dad to remind them who got what presents we had sent back with them. I love Skype. It would be so expensive to ring home without it.

Saturday

We went up to school to play touch rugby after the Alumni breakfast but I didn't get to play much as Rose and Naomi wanted me to help them dig a big pit in the sand! I wasn't too sad about it as we played six of us against 4 of the alumni who completely battered us, being fitter and more agile - certainly than me!! I think my team did better without me, actually!

I took Wendy to the airport in the afternoon. She had caught the bug so wasn't feeling too great but we got there in good time despite Christmas traffic. It is sad that she isn't coming back till March but it's not as long as a year away or more!

End of the week, end of the semester

This morning was the Elem. Christmas Concert. It was fab. The kids have spent hours practising this week yet it had lost none of its freshness and enthusiasm (especially from Rose!!).

The line that stuck out to me was 'because of a baby, the world was changed'. How profound.

We also had "Christmas Dinner" with Kate, Bonnie and Wendy as they are all flying tomorrow. It was special to celebrate with them, especially as Wendy is back in South Africa until March on a short home assignment. However, Kate has been struggling this week with illness so she couldn't fully enjoy the food. Bonnie got to make the crackers from a kit we had. Rose had coloured them for me. The kids loved their presents from the three of them.

More sick!

Josh was sick this morning but seemed OK afterwards. He had an extra hour's sleep but when we were out at the mall he began running a temperature. He held out until he was heading upstairs to bed when he suddenly stopped on the landing and threw up all over his quilt and the landing. He then turned, faced me, and threw up again splattering all down the stairs and me! Lovely. Eau de Vomit. Especially as our shower burnt out yesterday night so to have a hot shower I have to boil a kettle and use the bucket.

Love it!

Sickness

Naomi was sick Sunday night and after changing the sheets three times, I gave up as we were out of clean ones!! We lost about 2 hours sleep. When I went shopping this morning, I came back to find her fast asleep behind the settee on the old mattress we keep there for building dens.

I woke her up then but she slept from 3:30 till Steve got home about 4:30. Then she dropped off on his knee, slept till the other two were ready to go to bed; got changed and went to bed too and slept through - apart for one request for water in the middle of the night - till morning.

Football Photos

Cycles of Life

It was the last Saturday football for Josh today. He is kind of sad about that. He has enjoyed it so much that last week he had got his strip out Friday and had it ready for the next day - unheard of!

While Josh and Steve went to football I took Rose and Naomi to the mall to get Rose's eyes tested as the doctor said they had deteriorated since her last medical. Before we got that far, though, Rose trapped Naomi's hand in the car door. Naomi was understandably distraught, her poor little hand was bruised and swollen and she refused to speak to Rose for about half an hour!

We returned from the mall with new glasses for Rose. They do this digital test first and then the assistant took Rose into a little cubicle and did the lens thing. We were told some glasses were on promo for P795 or we could get the 1500 version or the "really nice" ones for 3000+ just for a frame. We took one of the promo pairs! They suit Rose and she has been fiddling with them ever since. She's kind of proud of them but also a little nervous what her classmates will think.

We also had a despedida for our field director and his wife tonight. It is the end of an era. It was cool to hear the affirmation of them as a couple. I will miss them. They have been in that role our whole 8 years here and have done such a great job but I am also looking forward to our new field director who will be different again and bring new things.

Fright

I was upstairs with Naomi - finding clothes, she is very particular about what she wears! Josh was downstairs shouting "Is it snack time?"

"Yes".

"Mum, is it snack time?"

I'm on my way downstairs, "Yes, I already told you that". I can't see him as I'm walking into the kitchen. "Josh?".

I go to open the big cupboard to get out the snack box and have the fright of my life as Josh is hiding in the bottom part of the cupboard! Of course my reaction was perfect for him and he had a good laugh at my expense. But I am convinced I lost years off my life!

Banking - the art of Bureaucracy

You may remember the last time I went inside a bank - there's a very good reason to only use the ATMs in this country! Well, I had a cheque to deposit so I HAD to go inside. I decided I would also withdraw money over the counter as I needed a fairly large amount and figured I could kill two birds with one stone - what was I thinking?

I get there shortly after it had opened so there were no queues. I think it gave me false hope. I ask the lady behind the desk if I can deposit the cheque (it's been waiting for over a week because the first time I tried they asked me where Mr Stephen was - it was made out to him - and I said at work and they said, he needs to sign the back - twice!! Even though it's a joint account). So, he had signed it and I'm back. First she says - "deposit over there". Waving in the vague direction of 3 desks with no-one sitting at them. So I ask for the withdrawal. She disappears off and is taking a very long time. I know something's going on. She comes back with 2 cards and says I have to re-sign them. "Why?" I ask innocently. "You haven't re-signed since 2001", "So?" "You need to re-sign every two years" (Steve says this is only for corporate accounts). So I sign four times and she asks where Mr Stephen is. "At work". "He needs to come in and re-sign too. And bring ID for both of you"! Then she gives me this application for an account form to sign. "Why am I doing this?" "Because you need to re-sign" "But I'm not changing anything". Smile, grit teeth, fill in. Eventually she gives me the money. But in the process of filling in this redundant form she realises we are connected to Faith. "Oh, you work at Faith?" "My husband is Elementary Principal" (I have found it's useful to throw titles around here!) "Oh". Suddenly that changes everything. I do not have to take the deposit to another desk, it can be done by her and instead of the 22 days clearance she has just informed me of, it can be deposited as cash. Useful to know for next time.

Snail Pace

It's kind of funny that when places are not so busy it takes them longer to do everything. I guess it's a lack of momentum or something.

I went out with Wendy to eat at a restaurant last night and there were very few people eating there and despite our "server" standing near my elbow the entire night it seemed to take a long time to be served and when Wendy asked for a water he brought lemonade! I had it as I was drinking it anyway and she asked for another water! Then we waited for ages for the change to come back from the bill. I left Wendy to go to the CR and she said she didn't know why we bothered waiting anyway as it was all of 10 pesos when it finally arrived! So we go to the coffee shop and not only do they take for ever to make the order, Wendy ordered peppermint mocha and got chocolate mocha so we replaced it. Then I ordered Chai tea latte double strength and realised as I took my first mouthful they had put COFFEE in the Chai tea! What?! So I go back and say "This has coffee in".

"Yes Ma'am, two shots!"

"I don't want coffee. I wanted Chai Tea Latte double strength"

"Yes, ma'am. Two shots."

I'm getting mad now so I spell it out. "Chai Tea. Double strength".

The penny drops. "Oh, sorry ma'am". Another replacement.

Go to bookstore. Wrong card. Change card. No bar code.

And then, to cap it all, when I get home and tell Steve where we went he says "Oh, there's one of those restaurants at Eastwood!!" (Much closer)

Apart from that, it was a good evening. I did get to make my first proper foray into Greenhills market and I am definitely going back.

Amazed

It's actually here! 1st Dec has arrived and with it Christmas comes. We started a Christmas theme at pre-school. The key idea being "A Saviour is born to us". It's so easy to become jaded about the reason we celebrate Christmas but perhaps we get a glimpse of what Christmas meant to those involved in the momentous events when we think about the literal 'out of this world' wonder and amazement of the birth of Jesus. I was caught by the phrase "and everyone was amazed..". It is AMAZING. I look at my friend's new baby and am amazed that the Almighty, all-Powerful God came to earth in such fragility and restraint. I am amazed that God chose to come in such humble, poor, scandalous circumstances. I am amazed that 'A Saviour was born to us'.

My friend offered to have Josh and Naomi for the day last week and she mentioned to me a couple of days ago how polite and complimentary Josh was. Apparently he walked around her apartment complimenting everything. I can imagine this, he is very good at that. It would have gone something like "I like your ........"; "............is so beautiful"; "That ........... looks lovely". She also said he thanked her for everything she gave him. He is good at that too. Even on Sunday in the fast food place, he said, "Thank-you for getting this delicious food, mummy". And I didn't even make it! As my friend's husband said, "Let's hope he's still like it at 13!". But if not, I'll take what I can get : )

Plastic Burgers

We were having lunch in Wendy's (fast food place) and Rose starts reading off the signs round the room and she made Steve and I smile knowingly when she read "plastic burgers" instead of 'classic' burgers!

Two Places at Once

Today we chose to divide and conquer - something I suspect we will have to be doing more of in the not so distant future! Steve took Josh to football and Naomi went with them because they were going to a party straight after. I took Rose to Church for the kids' "advent fest". I thought she might enjoy it. It was called the Advent Mystery and she had 9 stations to do activities at and then she qualified as a detective. They were cool stations: some of the ones I saw was "dodge the catapult", a tunnel maze looking for green things, decorating cookies and an obstacle course. I think she had fun although none of her other Sunday School classmates were there but she said she went round by herself and she made it to detective.

Then we had an adventure as I took her home on the MRT. It was her first time on there and I discovered, for the first time, that the front of the train is reserved for females, children, elderly and disabled. (It reminded me of using Mexico's underground which had the same thing and it is definitely worth it.) We headed up to the front and found it pretty full as, unsurprisingly, it was full of women travelling in safety! We had to make a change to a different line and the next train (now the LRT) was a lot more spacious so I think Rose enjoyed it more. Steve picked us up at the station.

Our Thanksgiving

A Brit hosting Thanksgiving for her American friends? Sounds crazy but it's exactly what I did! It was really special and felt like a family gathering - although I'm sure not as good as being with real family on Thanksgiving.

I tried out some traditional recipes - Green Bean Casserole and Pumpkin Pie. They both came out good. Josh and Naomi helped me scrape all the seeds out of the local equivalent of a pumpkin. (I made it from scratch) and I had fun cooking all afternoon. I did mashed potatoes as they are traditional but Steve and Wendy insisted I make roasties too. Wendy made a peppermint pie (very yum) and Kate and Bonnie prepared the turkey. It was very good and, I think, probably qualified as a "feast" for Rose.

The kids had prepared some cool turkeys from handprints for place names. And I stole some decorations from school to put up. We also put our Christmas decorations up before everyone arrived.

When I sit back and reflect on what I am thankful for, I realise how extremely blessed I am. Thank-you God.

Grade 1 Thanksgiving

Steve doing the welcome and teaching us some Native American sign language.

Grade 1 and 2 learn about the pilgrims and Native Americans (respectively), and then have their own Thanksgiving Feast. Rose was very excited about this and has constantly been on about the "feast" all week. She wanted to take this "rainbow turkey" she had made but we wouldn't let her!

Pilgrim Rose saying what she is thankful for: "family, Bible, my bedroom".

I went along to help decorate the hall and tables where they were eating. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the program too. The actual story of the original Thanksgiving feast is very interesting. (You can read it here if interested).

Rose eating the "feast".

Talking to Adults

Joshua told me that he is happy to talk to adults, "but not all children are. Some are shy about talking to adults." He explained he had seen Christian's dad at football and he and Rose had said hello, "because it's good to talk to adults".

It reminded me that one of the classic signs of being a TCK is the ability to converse with adults. It was interesting that he even brought the concept up. It also made me realise that my kids really do make a choice not to talk back when accosted by strangers when we are out, because obviously they could.

A New Day

A better start to today. Both my mum and dad sent me an email and they lifted my spirits.

We have recently finished watching "Firefly" but the sad thing the series was never resolved. I think we like resolution, with neat endings, but life isn't really like that, is it?

The Day Without End

I've been praying that my friends won't feel too homesick this week with it being Thanksgiving but I think I could easily have boarded a 'plane and flown "home" today.

I woke this morning feeling decidedly grim with my sinuses all blocked again, sore throat and earache.

Thankfully, it was a slow start day so once Rose was packed off, I could plod at my own pace.

The doc rang to check up on me so I talked to her about my latest symptoms and Rose's complaints and decided I had to get a dr's appointment ASAP for Rose. So I worked on that, getting the very last appointment at the discretion of the doctor.

I got ready to go shopping and got in the car and, once again, it would not start. I felt pretty deflated. I was at least sure it was the battery this time as it wasn't even starting. So I called Steve as I already felt I'd had enough for one day and he called the mechanic who came out and took the car away after jump-starting it. So much for shopping.

The car came back in time to take Rose. As I was driving I was marvelling at the minimal traffic and thought, 'There must be a lot of Monday cars,' as the realisation struck me that I was driving a MONDAY car!! Shortly after that I saw a batch of traffic cops. I avoided them by driving down the far lane at a fast clip and was considering turning round for home when I got pulled over by the next traffic cop. To compound my error, I did not have my driving license in the car. So he and his partner - who he called over - start saying "impound" and I end up parked in this car park with my head in my hands while he says, "Want car impound? What do you want?" Obviously waiting for me to offer money. He claims it will cost me 2500 pesos to get my car released and a long time to get it back (that part I definitely believe). So I end up paying and am allowed to go home. With Rose still insisting she wants to see the doctor!

When I got home I got very upset and, once again, I am grateful my husband is the coolest dude ever.

As for wanting to go "home", I'm home wherever Steve is. I don't think any place feels like home anymore. And, actually, I don't believe it should because I don't think I will be home until after I die.

Weekend Away

Steve and I enjoyed our first weekend away just the two of us since we were back in England 2 1/2 years ago! We stayed at "Uncle Simon's hotel", enjoying the peace, reading lots and dong Christmas shopping. It was lovely.

Before we left I said to Joshua and Naomi that they had to be good for aunty Karen. "Why?" said Josh. Hmmm, not a great start, I thought. "Because she is in charge while mummy and daddy are away", I said. I think he accepted that!

On Saturday, in the mall they were having a Korean cultural experience. The slogan read, 'Taste foods. Make fun. Love Cultures." I had to laugh because at that moment they had some musicians up on the stage and I really did want to "make fun".

When we picked the kids up after church, Rose gave us a blow by blow account of their weekend. They all told me at lunch that they missed us, and I told them I missed them too. : )

Princess Dress 2

Rose wore her jacket to school this morning because it was "cold". I kept correcting her and saying, "It's cooler". She asked, "Why do you keep changing it from cold to cooler? It's cold." I said, "Not really." (It's about 23 degrees!) "This is not cold but it feels cool to us". When we got to school lots of the kids had their jackets on which made me smile.

So, I made a smaller version of the princess dress for Naomi. It was a lot quicker as I knew what I was doing this time! I asked her to try it on and she said, "It's great, mum", then "Ohhhh, but it doesn't have the sparkle. I must have the sparkle!" She was referring to the net that I put over the skirt. I said, "I'm going to do that now. I just needed to check the size."

When it was complete, she had to wear it there and then. So she wore it up to school and she wore it to her friend's house.

Princess Dress

Rose is attending a birthday party for one of her classmates on Saturday and they can go in princess dresses so it provided the kick I needed to finally get on and make her the dress that she has been bugging me to make for her for a few months. I used one of her doll's dresses as the basic pattern and was pretty pleased with the result. So was Naomi as she demanded her own dress, "right now". I explained it had taken me all morning to make Rose's and I wasn't going to make it right now. That wasn't good enough for her but she had no choice!

Let's Pretend

This afternoon Rose was colouring and Joshua came in as a knight and she clasped her hands under her chin, tilted her head to one side and said, "Oh, he's so handsome. I could marry him!"

Josh was protecting Queen Naomi. He got her a throne and a "red" carpet and she put her crown on her head and was very into the part.

Frustration

Rose has been complaining of headaches and not feeling well so i finally got round to taking her to the doctor. I asked Lea to ring and make sure the doctors were there. Just as well. The one I was planning on going to is away till Friday. Unfortunately she was the one on duty after school so that meant I had to take Rose out of school this morning and go. I asked Lea to double check the doctor was there and the office assured us she was. So I go and get Rose - who is very unimpressed at missing class and wants me to get her back for Maths after merienda! I tell her it's highly unlikely given how long we'll probably have to wait to see the doctor. We arrive at 9:30. The clinic is supposed to start at 9 and we are 6th in line so I'm thinking this is pretty good. One hour later I realise the doctor is not even there yet. I ask the nurse when the doctor will arrive. Classic response: "She will be here ma'am. Maybe she has ICU patient. But she will be here."

Yeah, right! Her clinic is only supposed to be till 11 and it' s already 10:30. I'm fairly sure she'll be ringing any moment to cancel as she probably has another clinic in the afternoon at another place.

So I leave. I take Rose back to school - we manage to get there before Maths has finished so I scored a few brownie points there.

But I fumed all the way to the supermarket. Sometimes I can let these things slide but today I let it stress me out.

Shopping went well, no surprises - other than the whole of the vegetable and fruit section being cleaned out so all of it in trollies. I was pleasantly surprised by how speedy it was, given how much later I had arrived there than normal.

On the way home our car kept cutting out. Thankfully, I could re-start it each time so I did make it home but my frustration grew. We just had the fuel pump changed last week because it wouldn't start and I had to get the mechanic out again this afternoon for him to find the problem.

I'm still waiting to find out what and how much. Not the greatest day.

Friday Fiesta

It was the end of Filipiniana Week today and I went to help out at the fiesta for Lower Elem. I was in charge of the tsinella (pronounced chin-ella and means flip-flop) game where you throw your tsinella to try and knock the can over then run to retrieve your tsinella while the guard picks up the can and tries to tag you.

Rose is doing tinikling - a Filipino dance in and over bamboo.

Yuck!

This is the view from Faith on a "good"day.

This was the view from Faith (from a different angle but on a good day you would still see towers on the horizon) on Tuesday. You don't actually see how brown this delightful cloud of smog was but you get the idea. It's days like these I do not like living in Manila.

I had dinner at Wendy's last night and we had a beautiful sunset, which she says have been par for this course this week, but that too only tells us how bad the pollution is!

A Complete Disaster!

Rose was very excited as today was Field Trip Day. The whole of Elementary was going to the Children's Museum and Rizal Park in Makati (I think the most time is spent on the bus). It was my day to pick up after school and as Rose tiredly climbed into the car I was a bit surprised when the first words out of her mouth were "Today was a complete disaster!" I had spoken to a couple of people who had accompanied the kids and I hadn't heard of any terrible incidents so I was ready for a "Roseism". I said, "Oh no, why is that?" Rose answered, "we spent the whole day on the field trip. We didn't do any of our normal stuff. It was a disaster!" I explained that was the point of a field trip - a trip that takes the whole day. But I think she is still convinced it was an unsuccessful day. So then she began quizzing me about the other activities they are doing this week as I think it began to dawn on her that this might not be a "normal" week! She was a bit perturbed by this I think.
But she did say she had fun today!
Steve happened to be on the same bus as Rose's class so they had the benefit of his idea of taking a DVD to watch on the bus. There have to be some perks to having the principal on the bus!

Packing Up

Elementary's Filipinania Week (a celebration of our "host" culture) begins on Monday and as part of the Ministry Day in the middle of the week the older grades are taking food and school bags full of stationery to flooded areas. Rose wanted to join the preliminary packing this afternoon, so we all went up and took part in filling bags with food. It was fun. We took a bag and walked round in a circle past different "stations", collecting an item of food. Then Bonnie and I took Joshua and Naomi outside to the circle so Josh could ride his bike and Naomi climb the big rocks. Rose was more interested in staying inside as that's where everyone else was. She told me this week she wanted "lots of friends". Spoken like a true extrovert!
We decided to have Steve's family birthday tea tonight as we were going out tomorrow for dinner.

Football Begins Again

The Parent Run Soccer League has started up again for the next few weeks. Rose decided she did not want to do it this year - although she would like to go to socialise, but not play. Josh was so excited about being able to play and has been talking non-stop about what colour he wants his shirt and what name for his team and what number he will be. He is very into numbers and likes big numbers - 100 is his favourite number. So he told me he would like number 10 on his shirt as it's almost the highest number you can have in football (daddy has been educating him). I was very interested to hear him and Rose discuss football and some of the rules. Rose turned out to be quite the authority on football which surprised me (but shouldn't have really) considering her lack of interest in playing as the "season" wore on last year. But she knew her stuff.
The girls and I spent the morning at home while Josh and Steve went up as it was partly the arranging meeting as well as the first games. Then Josh had a birthday party straight after and then we joined them for a swim - in a very cold pool.
According to Josh, football was "great" and he loved having his own pair of football boots that friends passed on to us.

The Gracious Hand of God

The past 3 days has been Admin Council again. Tuesday I only did a half day as Steve was still away. I even still did my carpool runs! Weds I had to go public so Steve could have the car so he could do a later start and an earlier finish. The first leg on the jeepney was fine and I was actually a little early. I got off the jeepney (slightly too early, it's amazing how different the road looks from the jeepney compared to the car - especially when you are craning your neck to look out of the window because you are taler than the average rider). I put my backpack on my back and began crossing the bridge to the other side of the "road" (actually a 6 lane carraiageway) when I felt a bump on my bag. I looked round but didn't really see anything suspicious. Then I felt a harder bump and I whipped round to see a man about to relieve the contents of the front pocket of the bag. It had my phone and purse in. He had a limp so couldn't run and in a rush of adrenalin I pushed him very hard. He moved off and I couldn't believe how angry and violated I felt. It was partly my own fault for wearing the bag on my back - I know that's a no-no. So I get down to the other side of the road and get a taxi almost immediately. I was pretty shaken by then so rang Steve and that made me feel better.
The taxi driver asked me where I was going. "Commonwealth Ave".
"whereabouts on Commonwealth?"
"fairview"
We whip off through all these back streets and I'm beginning to think I've told him the wrong thing. We come out right at the top of Commonwealth - I don't think I've ever been up there! and end up doing a tour of the fairview area and detouring to the SM Fairview mall before straightening out where I actually want to go. The taxi driver gives me a lesson on what the various areas along Commonwealth (it's a big road) are called so that I don't make the same mistake again! I ended up being late having spent an extra 45 minutes in the taxi than I really needed to.
Admin Council itself was a breeze by comparison : )

Describe a Lemon

For writing, Rose had to take an object to describe. We talked about many options - they have been using the 5 senses to describe the object as detailed as possible. She settled on her stuffed toy cow (which smelled dusty) and a lemon. She did a great job in the car describing the lemon and we talked about how she could cut it to taste it. She said, "we can't cut it, there isn't a knife in the classroom". I said, "that's OK, Miss Wright can get one from the EMC (Elementary Materials Centre)." Rose looked aghast, "No, she can't go to the EMC, we'll all be silly". I had a little chuckle as I pictured the scene. I said, "You're right. We'll take it to Miss Wright before school starts and she can get a knife ready." And that's what we did.

Uncle Simon's Hotel

We got to spend the afternoon at "Uncle Simon's Hotel". It has become his hotel ever since he stayed there while visiting us. Rose even went so far as to ask if we were swimming in his pool! It's a bit like the condos are "Aunty Wendy's building" despite all the other people we know who live in that building.

We were able to go because it is where Steve is staying for his administrator's conference, and though we only got to see him for about 20 minutes, we did enjoy the perk! It actually took us far longer to get to the pool than I anticipated as the malls were closed - or opening late - as it was a public holiday. But we made it and enjoyed lounging by the poolside and swimming in the cold pool. It's always nice to do something slightly different, and as my friend said, "you feel like you are in a different city sat by that pool".

We were all tired coming home though and Joshua and Naomi crashed in the car. Rose started throwing up so all three went to bed as soon as we got home. Josh woke up after a few minutes so he and I had tea together before attempting to put him to bed which was not entirely successful!

When Naomi woke up in the morning (at 7!) she was most upset that she was still in her clothes!

The One with No Cheese

It was not the finest start to Steve's being away, today.  We had a signal 3 typhoon blow through - actually right across central Luzon, which is unusual - last night and as a result:

• we did not sleep well - noisy rain, noisy wind, doors banging, children waking
• the Parent-run football league Josh is in this year (but not Rose) was due to start today but was cancelled - although that could be construed as a blessing in disguise as Steve was meant to coach the team so muggins would have been doing it today!
• our electricity went off some time early this morning and did not come back till 1 p.m.
• Steve left the house about 6:30 so I had to get up early - just as I was dropping off into a deep sleep, of course!

At one point it looked like Rose's friend's party would be cancelled too but thankfully the typhoon had passed by about 9 this morning so it was back on this afternoon. That could have been the straw that broke the camel's back!  She had so much fun.  It was spy themed and her favourite part was solving the mystery of where the presents had disappeared too.  She was particularly tickled by the one in the washing machine and the one in the shower.  Mums are a creative bunch.

Ending the day with Yellow Cab Pizza - Corona Chicken Salsa - was a highlight, though.  Apart from the fact that Joshua was unimpressed I had not ordered cheese and ended up eating toast.  Ending the evening with a good friend was even more of a highlight.  I miss Steve when he's gone. We all do.

Bugs

It's cool to see signs of our kids growing and maturing.  As I was helping Rose finish getting ready for school so she was ready when her lift arrived, I realised that last year we had this part of the day on her sticker chart because it could be a complete nightmare on certain days!  Yesterday she bounced downstairs and said, "I'm so excited, it's back to school today"! (after a week's break).  And, I realised she has not "played her face" at all this year about being ready to leave - even when that involves brushing her hair!!
Another way I'm excited to see Rose grow is she picked a birthday present for her friend and her friend was over the moon with it.  Rose knew she loved bugs and chose accordingly.  That was a special moment for me.  In the car on the way home last night Rose made us laugh because she was telling us about her friend who loves bugs.  She told us "she has real, live bugs that are dead".  We tried - with little effect - to explain why she couldn't use live and dead together in that context.

Joshua's 5th Birthday

I had 3 very excited children on Friday morning because it was Joshua's birthday and we were holding his party from 10:30.  At 8:30 they were all sat in the car and beginning to annoy each other so I had to tell them to get out as I was nowhere near ready to go!
It's amazing how 2 hours seems like a short time but it takes a lot to fill it for 5 year olds!  The boys played football for a bit - the girls started but dropped out pretty quickly to play on the playground instead.

Then we did games.  Of course, pass the parcel.  A classic Commonwealth party game.  It has even acquired a British accent for the title amongst our friends!

We also did musical islands (my husband did a masterful job with the games) and 'duck,duck,goose' - which is Josh's favourite game - lots of running!

The cake was a pirate ship (one of the best things I ever did - buying the cake book), that needed black icing and I didn't particularly appreciate the black under my nails for the rest of the week as they looked dirty.  The things that bother us!!  It also should have had curly-wurlys for the railings but we don't have those here so I improvised with Kit-Kats.  Steve made the sails.

The funniest part of the day was when Josh was unwrapping his  presents from family at home after dinner.  Steve handed him another birthday card and Josh said, "Look, the same name on the card"!

"water, water, everywhere"

It rained pretty hard last night. Another tropical depression forming around Guam, apparently. And, even though there wasn't water everywhere last night it did wake me up and I wondered how many other residents of Manila it had woken. There is a lot of fear in the city of another deluge and a friend of ours who works with the urban poor who were badly flooded said even the other night the parents were frightened when it began raining hard as they were not sure if they should wake their kids and move to higher ground, in case the dams were opened again. Because a lot of the flooding a few weekends ago was due to the fact that the government decided as there had been so much rain (a month's worth in 12 hours) the dams might break. So, with no prior warning they released the water. Which is why so many people, including a couple from our organisation who had to retreat to their roof as a result, had a metre of water suddenly appear in their house from nowhere. On top of this, most Filipinos cannot swim and in the urban poor area, some lost family members in the sudden surge of water.

There are still houses with about a metre of water in them and the families living in the local school gymnasium. There is still piles of mud everywhere. And the rubbish is unbelievable. We've seen many trucks with "Clean Up Operation" on them but the problem is, they fill so quickly and I've no idea where all that rubbish is being taken. On the road by one of the malls in Marakina the rubbish is spread all over the area where the river overflowed. It still takes my breath away to see how much damage and long-term effects there are. It also makes me realise just how blessed we were. Another family in our organisation who just live two roads down and down the hill a bit, are living with someone else who had the room for their family while their house is literally being rebuilt inside.

I also hadn't realised just how bad the north of our island got it. That super typhoon which missed us hit them a total of three times! As the typhoon left the Philippines it was hit by another which turned it back into the Philippines and was turned again to move back up the island before eventually leaving. There have been severe landslides with many deaths and the roads have been impassable. It is also where all the vegetables and salad stuff is grown and because nothing has been delivered prices are rocketing for vegetables. It is also a popular holiday destination as it is much cooler up north and many families who were planning to stay in Baguio over our break next week have had to change their plans. Which may sound trivial in light of what has happened but I'm actually thinking of the impact on the economy as the people's two main livelihoods are impeded on top of their personal losses.

It makes me think of all the times I have watched natural disasters in other countries on the news and yes, been horrorstruck, but not really understood the personal face of disaster.

Kind Heart

I had decided I was finally going to get my butt in gear and get back to regular exercise this morning. I have been very lazy since the summer. So, while I was getting changed Joshua told me he had a surprise for me when I came downstairs. I come outside and he has a glass of water waiting for me, "in case I get tired and need it". I was really touched by is thoughtfulness.

Unfortunately, the whole exercise thing went to pot as I discovered our elliptical trainer was dead. I'm not sure if it got flooded. The belt looked worn and Josh said there were lots of leaves in there. Which made me wonder if he had a hand in the leaves getting there? Anyway, I was kind of disappointed as I had got myself psyched up. I considered using the stairs for all of 30 seconds! I'll have to run around with a football and Josh this afternoon instead.

Arose

We had a funny conversation with Rose at the table tonight. It was like a scene from a farce. Rose asked us how 'arose' is spelt. So I said, "a-r-o-s-e".

"No!", she says. "Not Rose. Arose."

Steve says, "Yes, it's a-r-o-s-e."

Rose: "I know rose is r-o-s-e. I'm asking about arose."

Debs: "Like Jesus arose from the dead? A-r-o-s-e."

Steve: "That's what we are spelling for you. It's the same as rose but with an a on the front."

Rose: "No, it's not. How do you spell arose?"

Time to draw a line, I think.

Chapel

It was Rose's class chapel today. It was on the theme of integrity - not an easy theme - using the life of King David. It was really well done because it helped define integrity in a way the children (and that always means it's easier for the adults, too!) could understand. Making the right choice even when it's hard. Bonnie wrote the script herself and it was excellent. I helped put together some video for it but the stars of the show were the kids. They did a great job and I thought their singing, in particular, was splendid. Loud, clear and not intimidated at all. They did sign language for "Create in Me a Clean Heart", although one of the other parents and I did wonder what sign the kid scratching their bum was making!

Rose was one of the readers on stage. My favourite bit was when she looked at Bonnie and said, "is it me?", completely unfazed by the fact that everyone was watching and listening.

Integrity is always a challenge to me. It's easy in some areas and so difficult to live out in others. But I think most of us would like to be thought of as people of integrity.

breakfast

About 7 o'clock - not much point before Josh and Naomi have been up at least an hour - I decided it was time for breakfast.

Debs: Naomi, what would you like to eat?

Naomi: Ooooh, sweets!

Debs: I mean for breakfast.

Naomi: Oh, it isn't snack time?

Debs: No, it's breakfast time.

Naomi: I can't have sweets?

Debs: NO, it's breakfast.

Naomi: But I want sweets.

Debs: OK. When you decide what you would like for BREAKFAST come and tell me.

It's at this point when some of those parenting advice articles tell you to lock yourself in the bathroom for a while!

Self Awareness

Naomi and Joshua were deciding on which dvd to watch and Josh wanted to watch Dumbo. Naomi said "No! I don't want to watch Dumbo" in a very fierce voice that brooked no opposition. Josh tried to negotiate with her but to no avail so they settled on something else. Later in the day, when Rose came home she said she wanted to watch dumbo. Josh said, "I wanted to watch that earlier." Naomi pipes up, "Yes, but I was being selfish".

I wondered if I am that self-aware?!

Who Stole the Cookie?

Today around the dinner table Rose and Joshua started singing this song. It was funny because all three added their own little twist to the ditty. Rose sang an intro - "there are no cookies in the jar because all the chocolate chip cookies are gone". When R and J sang to Naomi "was it you?" she made me laugh because she said, "yes, it was me. It was me!" Then Josh made up the last bit about footprints by a cave (inspired by Bear Hunt, no doubt). Usually, he then puts a cookie monster in the cave but today it was a bear.

Cucumber?

Naomi asked me if she could play Tweenies on my "cucumber". If I hadn't known what she was on about I would not have realised she meant the computer! She said it again, later when I was using Steve's. "That's not your cucumber!"

Ondoy Stories VI

Here are some of the anecdotal stories from this period:

Our boys' volleyball teams went to play one of the other International schools on Friday night but the game was cancelled after they arrived so they began the journey back, only to be caught by the weather so one coach stayed with the van and the other took the boys to one of a family's house nearby. Only to find that family was stranded at Faith. They enjoyed their hospitality regardless! The teams arrived back at school late Saturday afternoon.

The Cross Country team were competing in Subic (further north) and got stuck there. They arrived back Monday afternoon.

Lots of families had their first floor flooded but one family had the extra aggravation of a local plant spilling oil and it went over everything they possessed downstairs.

Two of our school families who live next door to each other - and were busy helping feed families from their local church - were told by their neighbours - of course, via their helper - that they needed to clear up the mud from the road outside their houses as it was unsightly.

One lady was not in her house when it flooded but had emptied her important papers onto her bed. The bed rose with the flood and lowered as it receded with the papers still intact.

Ondoy Stories V

We've had brown-outs before so I've experienced the darkness that we never normally get during the night here but the thing I really noticed with this prolonged blackout was the quietness. There is a lot of noise created by appliances running all day. It seemed like when the electricity came back on so did our neighbours!! Their TV, aircon and lights are on all the time and I guess I had got used to it before but now it's noticeable again.

Our kids have introduced flooding to their play. Their animals keep having to escape to the roof and be rescued.

Ondoy Stories IV

It's the ordinary people doing extraordinary things that inspire me - the judge who rescued 100 people using his jetski and two rubber dinghies; the 18 year old strong swimmer who saved 10 people but died after rescuing a baby floating away (click here for full stories).

The families opening their homes to take in other families whose homes were ruined; people buying food to give to those who have nothing left; our students who have cleaned homes; my 3 friends giving up 3 hours to wash other friends' dishes which had been covered by the dirty water.

Ondoy Stories III

We decided to spend the day at school as there is power, space for the kids to run and a TV in Steve's office. Ironically, with all the flood water, we went swimming too!

I and some friends went to the supermarket. We got there right as it opened but the car park was already the fullest I had ever seen it (it's only a small car park, but still!). No ATMs were working which was a problem as I only had 500 pesos on me. Luckily, I had brought a generous friend who lent me enough to get some basics. We whipped round the supermarket but even in the time we were there the long-life milk disappeared, the bread aisles emptied and the tinned meat/fish also went fast.

The queues are long - we combine all our bits into one trolley so I don't feel guilty about sharing our spot in the queue and it takes us about 45 minutes to get through the till, even as they open others. I have never been in a run on a shop before.

We get back to school and are delighted to have internet access. We start looking at the news sites and are amazed at what we are seeing and reading. My internet didn't work well for some reason and that was frustrating because I couldn't send emails and reassure people - it was pretty obvious it had made international news and they were mentioning Cainta so I knew family and friends would be worried because it was specific and not the usual generic Philippines disaster news that ends up being on some island thousands of miles away.

We have found our groove now. We charge up the computers and watch a DVD with the kids after dinner, then we watch one when they are in bed.

Ondoy Stories II

Sunday

We spent a couple of hours getting all the main furniture back down. Letting the playroom dry out.

We tried to go out for lunch to the mall and to get water from school. Until we drove through our subdivision we had not realised just how bad the storm was. It makes sense as we are at the higher end of our subdivision and it slopes down from us. The traffic on the main road was at a standstill with lorries blocking all the lanes both ways. We thought we could probably make it out but were not sure how long it would take us to get back in - if at all. So we turned round while we knew we still could and headed home again.

One of our friends came round. Their house was flooded waist high. They only have one storey so most of their furniture was damaged. They saved their clothes and books but are camping out at another family's house. He told us one of our other still had power so we went to her house for the afternoon. She was busy charging computers and cell phones for our mission friends and delivering them back. What a Godsend! We had cold water, fans and a TV for our kids!

She took the kids for a walk to our friends' flooded house which they thought was brilliant and brought their kids back with her too! Rose and Joshua described this "sunken car" to us - which actually turned out to only have its wheels in the water! But that family did have their new car submerged in the dirty water.

Steve tried to get up to school again later in the afternoon to get drinking water and got there and back OK. Very strange cooking by candlelight.

Ondoy Stories I

Rain. More rain. Even more rain.

We have another low depression sitting over the Philippines - which apparently hasn't even reached Manila yet, which is bad news as the water has been inching up all morning. About 12 o'clock we decided to start moving furniture and books upstairs as it looked likely it was going to enter the house. Our bathroom flooded early as the drains were blocked so that was unpleasant! We finished moving everything we were going to move about 1:45.

We had just settled the kids to watch a DVD when the electricity went off about 2 p.m. The water is now covering the playroom and right up to the front door but thankfully, staying just under the level of the main room. We have thunder too.

The kids think it's the biggest adventure (how perspectives change with age!). They have been hyper ever since it looked like we were going to flood. They have been tracking the progress of the water in the road from Josh and Naomi's bedroom window.

I'm not sure if floods or fire are my greatest worry. Josh, in particular had to be restrained from bouncing on our bed.

Lea got her friends' boys when the electricity went off and they all stayed here overnight. They had to practically swim back to our house and it's only round the corner. Their mum works in Makati so goodness knows what happened to her.

Lie To Me

Steve and I love this series ("Lie To Me"). Mum and dad brought the episodes with them and we have watched them in all in the space of a few days. You get to the point where your recognise the gestures and the expressions but that's to be expected as the actors are probably emphasising them obviously for that reason but I have realised it has begun to creep into real life too! When I picked Rose up from school I asked her if she had eaten her lunch. She started to tell me about her chapel practice and I caught myself about to say 'Rose, you are deflecting'. So I asked her again and she said, "I ate my apple". I said, "That's a no, then?!" She may have to watch out, I'm going to start checking those micro-expressions soon!

So Impressed

My kids' vocabulary amuses, amazes and annoys me. Josh's current word is "whatever" and Rose's is "boring". I feel like I have 2 teenagers!!

Josh, Naomi and I were driving home in the car yesterday and Josh says "I was so impressed..." So I take the bait and say, "So impressed with what?" He says"I saw a girl riding a motorbike and I was so impressed." I said, "Don't you see many girls riding motorbikes?" (We actually don't). He said, "No. But I was impressed because it was a big kid [high schooler], not an adult, and you don't see many big kid girls on motorbikes."

Teacher Debs

Tuesdays is my "float" day at pre-school so I have to organise the transitions, amongst other things, of the centres. Obviously one of the other adults had told one particular group they should ask "Teacher Debs" where they were going next because Josh walks round the corner and says, "Teacher Deb, where are we going now?" I suppressed a smile and said "Over there" and off he went. It was very funny.

Boo!

Joshua is into hiding and jumping out of places to frighten anyone around at the moment. Often at bedtime he will sneak into one of the wardrobes and jump out as you come in the bedroom. Today he was in the study and I didn't realise so I opened the door to get my bag and he yelled BOO! I jumped out of my skin so he was very satisfied!!

Tonight we are enduring the mother of all karaokes next door. It was already going when we got back from the mall about 1:15 and is still going strong now (7:30) with the kids' turn - which is possibly the most out of tune bit yet! Thankfully it didn't prevent our kids going to sleep even though their rooms are closest to the noise. It's interesting to me that so many men sing quite happily at the karaoke - can you imagine English men (other than my brothers of course!) doing that so willingly and frequently?!! We have even had a couple of Christmas songs. But it is September so that's only to be expected.

Josh and I had a lot of fun this morning doing letters and numbers on the whiteboard. He is really good at drawing his numbers and I was encouraging him to change his Hebraic form of writing to an English one!! - He writes his name from left to right but he got it in the end! He seems much more ready for school and I only hope we can last out the year without major frustration! For some reason he also knows how to spell hot!! I have no idea where he has picked it up from.

Tonight at dinner the kids started talking about "When we are back in England..." Rose really wants to see snow (they are doing weather in class right now), she also wants her pink bed set and curtains back in her room. Naomi wanted to know if she had a bed in England. I told her she had a cot but she would have a bed next time! She said it had to be pink too. Josh wants to splash in the mud with his wellies on. Josh is beginning to remember less about England and Naomi has no idea at all!

Farewell

Today Sam and Emma left us. Naomi and Joshua spent time before they went making them pictures and hearts to take with them. They said goodbye to Rose at school and she gave them long hugs. Emma told Josh he would be 6 next time they saw him and he thought that was unbelievable! I drove them to the airport - I hate that departures area. There is nothing worse than dropping people off in 2 minutes flat! Although, I guess it does stop protracted goodbyes.

My first niece or nephew is going to be born in Feb and we won't meet her or him till they're already 15 months old. Having had mum and dad and Sam and Emma here reminds me of the daily sacrifice we (and our families) make in being away from family. But I can't say it's not worth it and God blesses us with the people He brings into our lives. As far as we know, we are going to be here a few years yet!

Handling Embarrassment on a LARGE Scale

First Story/Nice Story

We are at the restaurant for lunch and Rose starts showing us her bites by standing on the seat and lifting her shorts. I say, "You shouldn't do that when there are strangers around". She looks a bit puzzled and says, "Sam and Emma aren't strangers". Steve explains, "Mummy means the rest of the people in the restaurant!".

Second Story/Not so Nice!

We told the kids they could spend their pocket money today (Naomi: "Yes, I have enough money!") Rose couldn't find anything she really wanted but she couldn't handle not spending anything and waiting. So, eventually we decided it was time to leave. At which point she decides to have a huge meltdown - in the middle of the posh mall. All these Filipinos are staring - with obvious disapproval - at us. (Thanks goodness Sam and Em were with e because it made me feel a little less of a target!). I'm trying really hard not to allow my embarrassment to dictate how I respond to Rose and am trying to calmly move her towards the escalators and to the nearest exit. But my temperature starts to rise as I get Filipinos passing us saying "Shh, shh", the security guard on the door tries to mimic Rose crying and others giving the typical Filipino comment of "Why?" By this time I'm beginning to want to swing at the next annoying person but I make it out with Rose. She gets in the car - fussing and being uncooperative - and as soon as it starts to move she becomes sweetness and light and asks Steve if she can have the yellow car he bought as an extra.

I don't know if it's because Rose's class are studying David but it made me think of when David prayed for his and Bathsheba's first child and his attendants are worrying that he's going to go ballistic when he finds out the baby is dead but instead he gets up, washes and eats. I think it was that way with Rose - as soon as we were leaving and she knew she really wasn't going to be able to go and buy something she was fine.

Not sure it helps my blood pressure, though!

Toilet trained

Yay! I think Naomi has got the whole toilet thing cracked. Weds she wound Steve up by doing a wee on the arms of our settees in the Tv Room but yesterday she had no "accidents" and happily announced when she wanted to go (including at preschool) and even, by the end of the day put her pink, princess seat on the toilet seat and got the stool so she could do it herself. Today she has continued so I am celebrating the end of nappies in the day. I hope it is not premature but I don't think so.

Sam's last preschool

Today was Sam's last preschool as they leave on Monday. He has been such a cool addition to our group. The kids think "Mr. Sam" is great and we have loved having a man involved. He has even led singing and games for me when I was feeling yuck. One of the mums baked cookies for everyone as a thank-you to him - how cool is that? He was sad that it was his last one and at the end, so was I.

Self-explanatory conversation

Naomi: "I want a drink".

Sam: "That's not how you ask for a drink, is it?"

Naomi: "I must have a drink now!"

Sam: "Excuse me?"

Naomi: "Please can I have a drink?"

Birthday treat

Naomi wanted to go the play place for her birthday treat so we invited one of her friends' family to join us and we went after a trip to the doctor first! Rose and Josh both have ear infections so are on antibiotics and Naomi was declared well. Our doctor has disappeared but the "relief" doctor was very nice and helpful.

Unfortunately, Josh was feeling so yuck that he didn't even have the energy or the inclination to play, but Naomi had lots of fun until the person dressed up as a clown showed up and then she wouldn't play anymore.

Naomi turns 3

Today was Naomi's third birthday. Part of me can't quite believe it and part of me thinks she has been 3 for ages!!

She was pretty excited most of the day as were Josh and Rose. It was fun to see them enter into her excitement. Naomi had chosen a penguin cake and my first attempt came out far too thin - the good news being it inspired a trifle for the weekend! - and my next effort was really thick but I knew no-one would be disappointed by that :-) She had made me promise I would take her with me to buy the candy floss so I duly made good and she helped put it on the cake.

We didn't invite any other children to the party as she doesn't really have any identified group of friends but she was happy because we did have Bonnie, Wendy and Kate.

The advantage of having had so many visitors recently is that we have received lots of presents from home so Naomi had a huge pile between us all and it was great that Sam and Emma were here to share the occasion.

However, we are meeting up with one of Naomi's friends at the play place tomorrow for an hour of fun!

Positive reinforcement

We have been enduring even-worse-than-usual broken nights with the children suffering from colds. Joshua has a habit of shouting really loudly to announce to me that he is awake so one of his targets on his sticker chart is to not shout out in the night. Anyway, the first time he woke up last night he did not shout out but just appeared by our bed and climbed in. Even in my groggy state the first thing I said was, "Good boy for not shouting out" before rolling over and dozing off. When I remembered that later I thought it was pretty funny that even in a sleep-deprived state and half-asleep at the time, my first thought was to affirm my son.

Time Lapse

As I was out this afternoon I asked Lea to make the dinner - fish and chips, yum! I was back by 5 and I was surprised dinner wasn't ready as Lea is usually very punctual with our food and most times has it ready early. Anyway 5:30 rolled round and Lea cme in and said "OK, dinner's ready. Do you want it now or wait till 5?" I said, "it's half five now". She was very flustered and said, "What?" Turns out the clock in the kitchen only said 4:40 so while Lea thought she was in plenty of time, all the other clocks said 5:30. It was kind of funny, although poor Lea was very embarrased!

Lego Day

Sam and Emma were out for the morning and I was by myself with all three kids, as Rose has not been at school today and yesterday because she has been unwell. We had a really fun, relaxed day hanging out together in the playroom. The lego came out and I ended up spending the whole day - and I really mean the whole day, with a minimal lunch break - building things for Josh, then Naomi, then Rose, then Josh.....

I enjoyed just spending time with my children and it reminded me how they like my company as well as other people's. That may sound daft but sometimes I wonder if being with me every day isn't the teensiest bit boring!

Naomi's birthday is on Friday. She has had her cake picked out for weeks so I asked her what she would like to eat for dinner on her birthday. She looked at me quizzically and eventually replied, "lunch". (I was asking her at lunchtime which probably wasn't the greatest moment). I said, "well what's your favourite food?" She said, "cookies". I'm pretty sure there's going to be more on the menu that cookies.

Rose's Teacher

I was helping out in Rose's class today and Bonnie was modelling writing a story with beginning, middle and end. She was writing the story of her guinea-pig, Curly. She had got to the end section which was about Curly's death and was explaining that Curly had died on Christmas Eve. One of the boys asked, "Did you eat it?" I had to try very hard not to laugh but to Bonnie's credit she didn't break stride.

I am so grateful that I release my daughter to my trusted friend every day and I know Rose is in brilliant, capable, loving hands.

Entromorphing

Yesterday, Sam overheard Rose and Joshua having this conversation while playing with their toys:

Josh: They're entromorphing. I don't know what that means.

Rose: Yes, they're entromorphing. I don't know what it means, either. Perhaps it means collecting rocks.

This was then followed by them creating snow from polystyrene and singing "hip, hip hooray for the snow, hip hip hooray for the gecko. Thank-you for the snow in my heart, which makes it clean!"

A Lesson in Prayer

Naomi and Joshua have begun saying their own prayers at bedtime which I'm delighted by but they don't half drag them out. Everything gets included from every highlight of their life, they thank God for their toys by name, for all the things we have done in the last year that they are still excited by, for anybody they think about at that particular moment and anything else they can possibly get away with including! Now, we say "OK, last thing..."

So, Josh wanted to say grace at tea-time and I asked him to keep it brief (his graces can drag out too!). I reminded him of the story of the Pharisee's long-winded prayer and the benefits of brevity.

His resulting prayer: "Amen". We all laughed very hard.

I Love the Beach!

I do. I love the beach. Our family has had a connection with the beach since my earliest days (apparently, on my very first trip as a baby, I screamed the whole time until my parents took me home!). It refreshes me, relaxes me and reminds me of the beauty of Creation. And so, just a few weeks after leaving Bohol, we were on another beach!

Our excuse was a Friday with no school (Ninoy Aquino day), Sam and Emma visiting and the chance to go away with great friends. Thankfully, we have indoctrinated our children to also really enjoy the beach so it is lots of fun for us as a family to go to the beach.

We travelled down early on Friday so we could have lots of time on the beach. Saturday we went snorkelling. Because the current was so strong we were towed around by a little banca as we snorkelled.

Naomi wanted to make [vol]canoes and then Steve made her a mermaid tail:

Sunday we had a choice of 2 boats to leave - 8 a.m. or 2 p.m. We actually wanted something more in between those times but as it was raining when we got up we decided to go for the 8 a.m. boat. Which probably was a better choice as it gave us the afternoon in Manila. However, we made the decision at 6:45 that we would take the 8 a.m. boat and the boat man said, "Ok, ready to go now?" Steve said, "No, we'll be ready at 8!" Well then they decided they couldn't possibly sail the boat to our beach to collect us so we had to trike to the next beach. When we got to the turning they told us there was no boat and refunded us part of the ticket - except not for all of us. When we arrived at the main pier we found out the next boat was not till 10:15 and a different line so we had to buy new tickets. After we got on the boat everything was "plain sailing"! But it just wouldn't be right to not have some cultural complication.

Symbol of Authority?

We were driving up to school today and somebody was trying to drive through the gate at the bottom of the hill the school is on. Only they didn't have the right sticker on their car to go through that gate. They argued with the guard for a while as the queue of traffic built up on both sides of this one lane gate. People started papping their horns and signalling their impatience but this driver would not back down. Eventually, the guard reached above his tiny hut and grabbed his shotgun (I've no idea if it was even loaded!) and, in a very deliberate gesture, slung it round his neck while staring the driver down. The driver decides he's lost the battle and slowly reverses so the other cars can pass, while still attempting to negotiate with the guard about passing!!

Motorbiking in the Rain

I thought I had pretty much seen everything when it comes to motorbikes and the way people ride them here - no helmets - or helmet slung over arm; helmets that look like they will crush if you ever had an accident; people wearing flip-flops and minimal clothing with no thought of what might happen if they are in an accident; whole families of 2 adults and 2 or 3 kids wedged on a bike; babies carried by mothers - but today I think I saw the clincher. It was raining and as I was pulling out of the busy junction at the entrance to our subdivision in our car, I saw a man on a motorbike trying to cross the junction. He had no helmet but was holding an umbrella in his left hand while trying to balance and drive his bike across the traffic.

I had a little chuckle.

A new preschool

This week was our first week of preschool. We have moved to two days a week and up to Faith Academy. It's really nice to not have to re-arrange our house and hide things away, to have more space, more facilities, to be able to walk away at the end of preschool and not spend the afternoon tidying away, but to be able to forget about it.

We have 20 children aged over 3 both mornings and it's tiring but a lot of fun. I know when we hit our stride it's going to be much easier. Of course, then it will probably be break!

The Mad Week

This week was Admin Council again. For being so spaced out (every quarter) it seems to come round pretty fast! But I am already into the second year of my two year term, which I have to admit I am pleased about!

Tuesday morning the traffic was terrible. It was raining and I think Cory's death also affected the traffic. It took me an hour and a half to get to the Manila Centre. Sam and Emma were also arriving that morning so I was very conscious of that Steve went to get them and also experienced very bad traffic. He said it was his record for longest time taken - over 2 and a half hours!! Then their flight was delayed an hour and a half anyway! Also we were hosting the Elementary Dinner that we like to hold before the start of the new year for all the teachers and spouses. So I left early and went the back way and got home in 45 minutes. One of my friends generously offered to come over early and help with the cooking and furniture re-arranging so I had little to do when I got back which was lovely.

I did not choose to come home Weds and I'm sad about that as it was Rose's first day back at school on Thursday and I was not there. Not that she would have cared but I did.

It made it a hard council to concentrate as there was so much going on at home but my brother and Emma were brilliant and despite only just arriving in country got stuck in, looking after Josh and Naomi.

A change in group dynamics, too, made this council feel like a heavy trudge rather than a light skip!