halloween fun part 1!

it's that time of the year again, when i go all out in dressing up xia :)  it is becoming a tradition.  it won't last for long - i am giving it 2 more years before xia finds it corny to dress up for halloween hehehe... 

we went to 2 trick or treat parties - first one at the village and the next one at our office (gee, first time in my almost 9yrs at DKS!).  

she asked me this time if she can go as a princess.  i don't really fancy princesses that's why she hasn't been a princess in the last 3yrs.  but i had to give in this year.  

so she came as princess sofia (the 1st) at the village event.  

we also invited kuya matt over to join the trick or treat...  he came as a soldier :)  they look really cute!!!  

xia had fun going around the village asking for treats!  she joined the village kids and had a grand time :)  

she met maleficent along the way - who won the 3rd place for the best in costume contest...

she met more friends in different costumes.  she's not just too fond of scary costumes so she doesn't get so near them hehehe...

there was a puppet and a magic show that followed which delighted the kids :)

  
what a good time for the kids (and adults too!)...  xia brought home lots of sweets.  she certainly had a blast!!!  

i guess i had to have another post on the 2nd event to give justice also to the strories behind it :)     

ciao! 

grateful for today...

my heart is sooo full - all the time!  but today is even more special for two reasons...

xia's school celebrated the United Nation's Day.  i really love the way her school celebrates events like this - no fuss, no frills and no stress to parents!  totally suits me.  just like from the linggo ng wika, the kids were just advised to go school with any national costume.  they can even use the filipinianas if nothing else is available.  i had to do a little effort of asking friends for old costumes of their kids and was able to borrow a grasskirt from xia's ninang ann.  i just bought cheap accessories from the all P66 store to go with it :)  i am in no way going to spend more for it hehe...

i was surprised to find out from her yaya that she took home one of the best in costume awards!  there are 3 awardees in every class and she took one of those!!! i am very pleased about it especially that i didn't spend much for it haha!

but that is not just that!  xia got her midterm exam results for the 2nd sem and she got an almost perfect score again!!!  oh yeah, there's another stubborn 1 point missed but i am not complaining...  xia was just too amazing!!! #loveyourown ;)  

i get emotional at this because sometimes i think of giving up the tutoring and just hire someone who can help xia out.  it's no easy feat to go home from work (with all the stress esp that i am into this very complex project now!) and had to review her with her lessons before bedtime and do it again when we wake up.  i have to prepare worksheets while she sleeps to leave to her to do after school just in case i can't go home early the next night.  i have these huge eyebags now i swear!!! 

but honestly, i love doing this for her even if i am dead tired!  she has so much energy when we do this together.  so i can't just stop like that.  besides, time will come when she won't need me anymore and would prefer to do things on her own.  so i'd better cherish these moments when all she wants to be with is mama :) 

kaya ko to! :) aja lang ng aja hehehe!!! 

gold eagle award, baby!

xia ended up getting a GOLD EAGLE award for the 1st semester! woohhooo!!!  her enthusiasm and hardwork paid off.  it felt good too because my overtime on her was worth it!  the gold eagle award is the highest recognition given to top students.  it is followed by red and blue eagle awards...

good job, my dear xia!!!

coming from a montessori school the past 2yrs without a concept of grades and honors/awards, this is something new to me.  at least with the big / traditional school now, i am able to gauge her capabilities.  and with this, i am walking on clouds, really!!!

however, i have to stop and ponder because this is not about grades or awards.  while it is easy to fall in a trap of competing against others, i want xia (and me too!) to just enjoy studying and learning together.  minsan lang sya bata so i don't want her to miss out on the fun and play that should make up the most of her childhood...

so even if this is going to be the first and last time to get a gold eagle award, i wouldn't mind because i know now the feeling :)  we will just continue doing our best without compromising her childhood needs - that is what is important to me... :P

wrap up for the first term!

i am excited today for the card distribution of the first term and parent-teacher conference.  but the torrential rain was a killjoy!  classes have been suspended and so all the other activities have been postponed also ;(

xia has been giving me amazing results from her mid-term and end-term exams as well as her weekly short quizzes and activity sheets.  so i am excited to find out on her overall result!

but more than the grades from her academics, i wanted to find out how she interacts with her teacher and classmates.  while it's great that she's getting good grades, interpersonal skill is far more important to me.  so i grabbed the chance to have a parent-teacher conference with Ms Agus. 

due to bad weather though, i have to keep the excitement until it gets rescheduled.  hope it's going to be soon!!! ;) 

amazing xia!

for the first time this weekend, i was not able to teach and prepare xia for the week's lessons.  this was because the teacher has not provided the lesson guide for the next term and i also thought i need to give xia a rest since last week was tough because of the end-term exam for the first term.  she deserved a break after the rigid review we've been through.  in fairness to her, she was so cooperative during the week-long ordeal of going through her lessons.

she went to school today without knowing what her lessons are.  and i was glad she came home with perfect scores!!!  they did a lot at school today in english, math and filipino.  allow me to brag :)

and again the math worksheet reminds us that we REALLY have to practice more on writing!  while she answered correctly, there is still a lot to improve... me ika-career ako sa weekend hehehe!

so there, she can actually function properly on her own :)  it's good to know that you can just toss her in the water and you know she will survive.  that means a lot!!! :)

lesson on different feelings

xia handed me another surprise (after her ID of me) last night.  it was her drawing from school about the different feelings or emotions.

when i first saw it, i had to take a look at it many times because there was something on it that i can't explain.

while i had long realized that xia does not really have talent at drawing, this one just surprisingly got me.  it conveys the feelings of each faces in the drawing that it represents even if the drawing itself is not that outstanding...

posted it in instagram and friends had the same comment!  hehehe ang galing... siguro nga that's the real essence of art - it goes beyond what you see or superficial... 

but yes, she has to practice more and more on her writing... :)  we are working on it...  dapat magmana sya sa akin na maganda amg penmanship hehehe... 

"ID of me"

the little girl was too excited to show me her ID.  while parking the car, she was shouting about it and waving it at me.  she said:

"mama! mama! look, i have the ID of me already!!!"

hahaha ang cute lang ng ID of me! :P

and she's even cuter in her "ID of me".  hehehehhee...