We had a fantastic surprise last week after learning that our daughter who is in 1st grade had received a Silver Award for the first quarter. Her academic grades and character assessment were good and this qualified her to get such award. Her Math, Science, Social Studies and Filipino were all at A while Religion and Language at A-. Her only B grade is for Reading. On the Character rating side, she mainly got O and VG.

We actually got to chat with our mentor and she shared all of Zoe's points of strength and points for improvement. We also had agreed to set a goal for her to do activities that will help improve her Reading and Comprehension. As a product of this, I really would try my best to find time to read and discuss with her more books so she will gain that confidence and real liking for reading. I understand that she only turned 6 years old last weekend and may be struggling to cope with her classmates who are about 1 year older than her. I might explore finding a tutoring service for her just like how many other parents are doing now. 

Talking about reading, even when I was young, I really loved to read. This is evidenced by my thick glasses which I have now. Ha, ha, ha. My dad and I have an agreement that he will bring me to National Bookstore every month and he would allow me to buy 1 book every time. One day, I chose this book entitled "Heidi". I loved this book and was hooked on reading from then on. I explored the likes of Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Dickens and many many more (with no regrets whatsoever!).  I hope I will be able to share this love for reading with my daughter Zoe.

Our family spent some time together at Nuvali which is en route to Tagaytay. :-) It was my sister's last day in Manila before heading back to Iloilo so it was a great chance for us to bond a little. :-)

Sharing some pictures. 

Hello Monday! The weekend passed by so fast. Luigi was sick startingThursday and was brought to the ER for a check-up last the following day because he was having bouts of fever that we could not explain. I had to go the office that day and had to leave it up to my husband to take care of him. So blessed that my husband is on night shift, thus, is able to attend to the kids during day time. Thanks be to God, our little boy is okay already. He seemed to have had Gastroentiritis and that's the reason for the fever and vomiting. He still is a bit grumpy now but his temperature is already stable. Thank you to all who prayed for his recovery. 

With Luigi being sick, we decided to stay at home for most of the weekend. On Saturday, the whole family just watched the London Olympics Opening ceremony (enjoyed looking for the flags in our world atlas while each country is called during the parade). After that, my hubby and I just went to the grocery, had a quick treatment at the dermatologist and had a refreshing foot spa at the salon. On Sunday, it was raining hard so we decided to go to Mass in our village instead of the other church which is next to McDonald's hahaha (Sunday is always McDonald's Day for the kids). We haven't gone to mass in our chapel for quite a while and was happy to see that the walls are freshly painted and the altar area had new marble floors installed. After mass, we then went to the market to buy fresh meat, fish and veggies good for the whole week. Then we had a hearty lunch of chopseuy and left-over lechong manok. Yummy! In the afternoon, I tutored Zoe for her long tests in Filipino and Religion. Then that's about it.

Now, it's back to work for me. There is no school so this means there is more play time for the two kids. How I wish I was a student again so that every time there is a storm, there are no classes!!!

Lastly, a rare picture of my two lolas holding hands and smiling together. Lola Maring (left) is my Tatay's mother while Lola Gavina (right) is my Nanay's mother. Lola Maring passed away when I was about to graduate from college while Lola Gavina passed away when I was already working. I actually got to introduce my then-boyfriend, now-husband to her and her comment was - he's "pogi". Hahahaha! 

Happy happy!

"School's almost over. Summer is back!" That's what my daughter kept telling me yesterday as we went through her text books trying to study for her final exams this coming week.

She is actually right. School is close to being finished and we could already feel the summer heat. However, we still have some tests to go through. Actually, we still have a total of 4 exams: Math, Social, Science and English. Whew! This sounds really tough given that she is just at kindergarten level. Hahaha!

Anyway, now that summer is here, we can't wait to really enjoy it! My family has been planning on going on a trip to the beach! Or maybe if that won't work, we can go to a nice resort or club house swimming pool. This Friday, we're actually scheduled to go on a fun swimming party with my daughter's kinder classmates as a sort of farewell to school. Plus, it's also a fact that like Zoe, many of her other classmates will transfer to other school's already so the party will be like our last time to bond with the other kids and mommies.

The party will be held at the village club house. That club house swimming pool is open all-year round. No need to worry about the changes in the weather and seasons because it has synthetic turf all around it. Thus, even it the sun is very hot, none of the lawn grass will ever wilt! Great thinking, right? It saves them a lot of money to maintain the garden and foliage.