Green thumbs up!

One of the most important things I learned from my grandparents is the love for planting or gardening. At a very young age, they have showed me the importance of keeping seeds from ripe fruits which we have eaten, drying them in the sun, and consequently planting them so that they would give fruits, shade and shelter. Of course, they didn’t miss telling me that trees also give us oxygen, and that’s the best reason why we should plant.

Farming w/ my grandpa, my mom & my cousins

My parents share the same passion so they taught us just the same. I could still picture the vegetable garden we had around our old house. It wasn’t a very stylish one with colorful patio umbrellas, though.

Under a mango tree w/ Dad & Arvid

Instead, for garden accents we had either “Alugbati” a.k.a. “Bilbilunak” or Bittergourd a.k.a “Ampalaya” leaves climbing up our roof through the laundry wires. Our lawn consisted of sweet potatoes crawling on the ground. Meanwhile, our tomato and eggplant planters, were formula milk cans and worn-out basins. This didn’t only spark my love for flowers, veggies and trees but also teach me the worth of reducing, re-using and recycling.

Having learnt the values of planting and hard work from very good sources, my grannies and my parents, I thought that it is but essential for me thank them. And what better way could I think of but to pass on the same teachings to the younger generations – Arvid and his cousins!

Here’s my little one using an old yet very useful hose to water his first tree at 1 year old and 6 months.

Growing together. Arvid and his Pomelo tree

WM tip for new moms like me:

Mos children aged zero to three will think concretely, retain some information, and process information primarily through their five senses—by seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, and smelling.* As such, it is best that you expose them to activities that you think would help them become the best they can be when they grow up. Come on! Give your baby a hose and allow him to love planting the way Arvid does.

*http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Growth_Ages_Zero/

Happy Birthday, Tita Annie!

To our dearest Tita Annie,

Beautifuuul, inside and out!

We may be too young to tell you how we appreciate you

for being such a wonderful aunt and playmate…

We may be too little to reach your hand when

we want to hold you to say “we thank God for you”…

We may be too far to share our giggles and laughs with you

every time you need some cheering…

But we will never be far enough not to make you feel

you are loved and being loved

far more than anyone has ever loved you…

On your birthday, we pray that God will always guide you so that

you’ll always be healthy, happy, stress-free and safe…

For the best Tita, who deserves nothing else

but the bests in life and love…

…happy, happy, happy birthday!

With much love,
Arvid, Christian, Pauline, Charles and Shaine

Angels on Earth

When Arvid started to walk, I couldn’t stop him in one place anymore. To give him more room to explore I looked for ways to make him busy. Thanks to costume parties for children for giving me an opportunity to teach Arvid (and his cousins) to mingle, play and communicate with other children.

Here are our angels on earth on Valentine’s day:

Valentine's Day Party

Antoinette in a prayer

My Little Angel - Arvid Matthew

Prince Charles and Princess Shaine

On love and writing

It’s the love month and perhaps you’d think I’d write something unnaturally romantic about love. Well, that’s what I thought, too, but I ended up doing it in a rather unusual manner.

A pile of old cards caught my attention. It was a thin pile tied by an imaginary red string holding a small piece of paper that bares this thought “packed together by love”.

Slowly, I untied it and examined each card with mixed emotions. They are already old, the latest being 10 years old; but I still knew what they are and where they came from. That fact made me feel hesitant for a moment or so. What else would these invoke?  The least that I wanted to happen was to bring back reminiscences of yesterday.

True enough, a tinge of sadness coursed through me as a parade of memories passed by – a vivid show of what was and how it affected my life, how it punched holes in my heart.  Suddenly, I realized that a piece of me was also carved  into the memories each card created and that transcended me back in a time when love, like writing, was a very personal pre-occupation.

More than a decade ago, lovenotes don’t arrive on text messages which may cost a peso each or cheaper when one has an unlimited subscription.  Instead, they arrive eloquently written on stationery or card bearing the intentions of the sender.  They don’t come instantly, either!  Each letter waits no less than three days before it reaches its destination.  As it seemed, back then, LOVE was really spelled T I M E.

Pinpointing another difference, the cards I found didn’t fight hard to remind me of true love and a mere “show”.  The details on the pages called to mind that an infatuation would be scribbled either on a plain card or a very elaborate one, but the words put into it are good enough to mean “Hi, just sending a card to say I am here.”  It would reflect that someone’s giving you an attention, but only as long as a minute or two – the time spent for the missive.

On the contrary, love would be penned on a thick card which has more room for greater expression of one’s thoughts and emotions.  It tells stories of day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute sentiments of its sender that would make you feel you’re a part of it.  It would, as the writing show, let you feel you are very special as each card comes not only once but sometimes twice a week; or twice a month during very busy days.  Quite a proof that lets you believe you are thought of countless times, 24-7.

I received both types of cards in my younger years – a few are infatuated ones, but many showed not only pure love but also devotion.  Looking at it now, I feel that I am so blessed to have been loved by so many; but far more blessed because in my heart those love were kept and cherished, thus making me the person I am now.

Going back to the pile of cards, I stepped on something and I heard someone cried “Tata, Pooh…”  It’s Arvid, pointing to his stuffed toy while asking me for a hug.  Now, that’s what an exceedingly wonderful love is!

Happy love month, everyone!

Clouds

The sight of you tells

my heart of cotton candies

claws, clowns, and cats.