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!"