Thank YOU!

To those who sent greetings, wishes and gifts.....

ThAnK YOu vErY mUcH!

Christmas Eve part3

if video is not working pls go to this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRZL3HiugiE

Christmas Eve part2

if video is not working pls go to this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r86SBFhM5vQ

Christmas Eve part1

if video is not working pls go to this site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSh_MFkCiLI

the christmas concert

her own rendition of the christmas presentation

if video is not working, here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2bVDXFaZ-0

School Christmas Party

Day after the program was the christmas party, also the last day of school this year. Vivian was wearing her party dress , no need to bring some snacks. parents were assigned to bring food & drinks. we brought fruits with a little christmas touch.

I also volunteered together with the other moms to arrange and set up the playground and assist the kids. after some games, they went to their rooms to rest and freshen up. they went back to the playground lined up headed to their assigned mats and sat there waiting for their turn to get food.

there was music, kids were eating then getting more food and actively talking and sharing ideas to us parents. then after, they went back to their rooms and surprised to see father christmas appeared and gave presents. nice way to end the party.

when we fetched vivian, she was so excited showing us the little mermaid book with cd that santa gave her and she asked, "why is santa wearing rubber shoes? i think he's not the real santa!" =)

BFF (viv, siobhan & iman)

Christmas Program

Vivian's christmas presentation of "Nasser the Camel" with fellow reception students was held in the main hall of the school on dec 16. parents were waiting for the parade entrance of the kids with their omani costume. while i was trying to operate the camera i borrowed from a friend. our own was with my husband who was on his way home from out of town work, unfortunately he did not make it. he'll just settle with the pics and video i took.
if video is not working, go to this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x6-REPTbFY

Holiday Cheer!!

MeRRy ChRIsTmaS!!!!

to all of our families, friends and loved ones!!!

from all of us - Bong, Thess and Vivian

click to see our special dance for you

camel crossing

Camel Crossing - informs the camels that this is where they can safely cross the road

I first came across this road sign during my driver's training sessions here in Muscat and, of course, one would know that it's a camel crossing sign and one should be wary of pedestrian camels whilst driving at least 120 kms/hr.

What wasn't clear to me then was...how where the camels trained to know that this is where they should cross the road? (wink wink)

Surprisingly enough, during my recent desert trip, I noticed that camels did cross the roads around these areas...which leads me to conclude, camels can teach humans a thing or two.

by the way, the second sign there refers to a wadi...which means a river or natural canal for water to pass thru during rains or storms.

Christmas in the air update2

v-day in school (12-02-07)

Vivian celebrated her 5th birthday in school. all her classmates and teachers greeted her by singing happy birthday. she gave cupcakes to everyone and party bags to her friends.

here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_RCG0fQSRc

V-day (12-02-07)

Vivian's 5th birthday celebration......

The celebration(s) started off with mommy and vivian's preparations for the class party...
After slaving in the kitchen, mommy came out with a bunch of moist chocolate cupcakes and began icing them up. On seeing the glossed goodies, Vivian tore herself away from her task of preparing all of her friend's giveaways and having a taste test of the treats. But not before... blowing of birthday candle with mommy and daddy.

Just before noon, we went inside Viv's (then empty) classroom and setup the cakes and gifts for her friends. After a short wait, the kids started trickling in one by one hungrily eyeing the cakes as they walked past. (see next post for more details). while it was Viv's day, mommy and daddy also had themselves a treat by seeing viv among her friends and how they were behaving around their teachers.

After school, a somewhat long drive and a quick change, Viv had lunch at her favorite restaurant at City Center... Chilis!! She had her favorite Chicken Alfredo pasta and couple more entrees.

After the heavy lunch (still at City Center), we tried to walk it off by shopping around for Viv's new clothes. Tried looking into a couple of nice shops but couldn't find anything she liked...and then we ended up in Zara. She found several nice size 13 dresses and blouses that were supposedly for the same 13 year aged kids.
Around 4pm, drove off to a nearby mall named Al Bahja. The destination... toys r us!! After consulting with one of her friends from the Bratz and debating with the Hulk on what toys she should get....she sped off with several new Barbie stuff , add-ons to her play kitchen and a large fluffy dog stuffed toy.

After a long drive back to Al-Khwair, which thankfully gave Viv time for a quick nap, we went straight to Turkish house to meet some pinoy friends for dinner around 7pm. We had the usual Turkish favorites... the grilled Hamour fish, Houmous, Arabic bread, baked shrimps and calamares!

With the busy day winding down, Vivian opened a few of her presents from daddy and mommy, Lolo, Lola, Nana and a bunch of her friends!! The perfect end to a perfect day for our (not so) little princess!!

To those who sent greetings and gifts... Vivian sends out to all of you....a big big

Thank You!!!

christmas in the air update

"it's nice daddy, thank you for putting lights on our christmas tree." - vivian

christmas in the air

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas. it's cold out there, i started playing christmas songs, and to our surprise we found christmas trees and decors in stores! i am so happy, we will be able to set christmas-in-the-air mood, more importantly for vivian even just here...in our home.

I remember, my father used to play ray conniff we wish you a merry christmas album (my favorite!). he will put the long playing album (no cd yet) to his turn table and we could hear it all over the house. i tried looking for that here and of course.. found it! vivian enjoys every song, just like me and tatay back then (with my siblings and nanay).

vivian putting the star on top of the tree

National Day in BSM

november 19, vivian was wearing an omani national dress as the school celebrated the 37th (oman) national day. the picnic was held in the playground and there were lots of food from all over the world, the school asked the students to provide one from their country of origin. mommy also volunteered to help on the day itself, arranged the food and assisted the kids (also managed to take lots of pics). it was a fun one hour celebration, the kids went back to get food..twice..thrice..more.

in her omani dress

our puto and pansit
vivian and friends

jolly phonics

She started jolly phonics by singing with movements and sounds of animals and objects (like the video of "ants and snakes"). she can read simple two to four letter words and gets excited seeing familiar words in billboards, restaurants and malls. wonder what will be her first own reading book

if video is not working please go this site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt3BV8fE89A

happy bday song

"happy birthday mommy
happy birthday
happy birthday
happy birthday mommy"

if video is not working, pls go to this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL7aM6be1ro

My Bday

November 21, 2007 was not an ordinary wednesday for me. a year older and a lot wiser (more white hairs). how did i celebrate?

after we dropped vivian to school, bong and i headed to an appliance store and got my first present, the black and decker white oven toaster. no more toasting in the stove oven or teflon pan.

next stop, Sunglass Hut. i chose a Ray Ban with light shade. it's hard to find that fits on my face, this one is almost perfect.

lunch time,we picked up vivian first from school then ate at Silk Route, a thai and chinese restaurant. we mostly ordered thai dishes and decided to visit again to taste chinese.next, we went to a nail salon. we relaxed while having our mani-pedi spa. daddy also had one. he was in a different room , was not able to take pic.

more presents....flowers and purple balloon (vivian's idea)

dinner at turkish house....

the best calamares

grilled fresh fish

and our favorite hammos

last stop...vivian had one scoop of baskin and robbin and i had my favorite toffee nut latte from starbucks.

thanks to my husband, who took a week off from work and for driving the entire day. to vivian, thanks for singing the best "happy birthday" song.

the tale of the 'Great Effort'

Vivian caught the eye of her swimming teachers, Ms. Van and Ms. Smith, today. For the very first time in her life, she was able to float on the water all on her own... albeit with the aid of the noodle (an elongated floatation device), it was still on her own. Even in our previous swimming ventures, she would always be wary of being on her own in the pool and not daring to be left alone while she would try to float. You can imagine our joy upon hearing the story...of her Great Effort paying off.