Kids were so excited to open the gifts they got from Santa on Christmas morning but it was our family tradition to open our exchange gifts after dinner time on Christmas day. Kids (but also adults) could not contain their excited to see what’s inside the wrapped gifts. My youngest niece would even find the gifts with her name written on it and then guard it ..lol She so funny! She would also try to guess what is the gift and would giggle with so much delight.

Christmas is a time for giving and even though there are times that money is hard, giving just a small present to each of us is already big enough. We don’t need too much expensive or glamorous gifts for what matters most is that you share and remember your loved one during Christmas day.

We’re looking forward for the next Christmas and I’m sure we’ll all enjoy opening them once again. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all!

Few more days and 2012 is here already! Wow, time sure flies so fast. Another year will end and a new one will come. I have so many blessings received this year and I’m so thankful for that. I just want good health for my family this coming year. Mom will be operated next month because of her gallstones so I’m praying no complication will arise.

Speaking of my mom, she’s now very busy with her outdoor cleaning for she wanted our place to be clean and neat before the new year starts. Actually, she just finished her recent project. Mom already asked our helpers to changed our roof gutters before the rainy seasons will start. I’m pretty sure she still has lots of projects next year and I will not wonder if one day she’ll buy one of those outdoor thermometers and put it on our place.

Her new plants are also growing healthy plus she was excited to see some fruits on her mango tree already. Harvest will be on summer time. She still plans of planting another fruit tree in front of the house as she loves seeing her trees bear fruits. She definitely has a green thumb.

Aside from having online friends who are also going to give birth in few months time, my distant cousin S. is also going to have her new baby girl by the end of this month or early November. It’s their 1st baby and just like any new mommy, she and her husband are pretty much excited to see their gift from heaven. A dream that they wanted to have since they got married 5 years ago. Now, that she is coming not only the couple are excited but also us their relatives.

Anyway, I’m praying for her safe delivery and I know that the baby will make them more happy and complete family. I guess I’ll send a cookie bouquet when they arrive home from the hospital and I’m sure she’ll love this unique gift of mine that can be eaten. 

It’s been a long weekend here at our neck of the woods since Saturday up till Tuesday and the kids are enjoying their mini-vacation once again. We didn’t plan for any vacation getaway since it’s also a stormy day in the country. Out of the blue, my ‘lil 8 yr-old niece asked her mom to go on swimming at the nearby resort in our place. Of course, we didn’t agree because it’s been raining on and off everyday and it’s not very conducive to go out esp. swimming. For sure the pool waters will be very cold and I don’t think there are pool heat pumps to keep the pool warm. Again it’s also impossible since it’s raining.

My niece has been nagging her mom about it all the time and to appease her, we just told that we’ll go next summer and that made her smile.

I got a message at my Facebook account from my uncle who is in CA right now and he is advising me to tell my older brother to pick them up at the airport come 1st week of September. Yey, he is going back home again with my aunt for a vacation and I’m not sure yet how long they will be staying once again. Mom and bro will be fetching them at the airport using our van and they’ll go straight to the province. It would also be nice if we have an RV especially if we’re going to the province for a visit, but just thinking about the rv repair and it’s maintenance, then I guess it would be impossible for us to acquire one.

Anyway, tt seems that my uncle and aunt  are going back and forth from the US to PI most of the times now that they are already retired. I will not wonder if in the future they will also retire and go back home here in their native land as they are saying that life in the US is kinda hard already and staying here will be a good choice. Hmmm.. I’m waiting for the chocolates and some other pasalubongs (gifts) hehe..

The reason I bought a new 32" samsung lcd last April was to enhance our viewing times. We love watching TV all the time and it’s great to watch Tv shows and even movies in a bigger and clearer TV so I decided to buy a new TV for us. Mom and bro accompanied me to buy one last summer and thankfully, a store is having a sale on their appliances so I was able to get a decent discount for it.

Now, watching TV is more pleasurable and if it’s movie time, the fun and excitement is doubled. Recently, I’m also back to watching movies on DVD and I can’t wait to watch all the old movies that I weren’t able to catch on the big screen.

We all can’t wait for my nephew to finish his course in IT. Actually, it’s been taking him quite a long time already because he’s been missing some of his subjects due to his work. Yeah, he’s been studying and accepting works as well and maybe that’s the reason why he can’t take full load on his subjects.

I know that by the time he’s graduate, more works will be pouring on him but we all just hope and pray that he needs to concentrate on his studies first and let the work be the second choice. In fact, when he’s already an IT professional, he can even enroll an mba management technology online to get more good credentials on his shoulders. It can also be the key to a position that he could not even imagined once he has a good edge.

Well, we’re all hopeful that he’d be more focused on his studies and not let the work, game developing and even computers games hinder him from attaining a college degree and an mba management technology degree.

Teenage nephew is already hooked on computer games and I don’t think he’d stop doing that. After coming to school and on his free time, I always see him in front of their computer either browsing Facebook or playing games. The usual games that he plays are Cross fire and Special Force which are tactical games and I’m not sure if there are eotech 512 holographic sights feature included in it. Though he plays those games, he’s not abandoning his studies for his parents will definitely ban him from using the computer. Worst is he can be grounded for few days if he’ll not follow his parent’s advices.

Sad to say though that there are some students who are already addicted to computer games that sometimes they are already skipping school, lying to their parents and doing other bad vices. I hope they’ll realize that playing computer games is only a pastime and should not become their way of life.

It was 3 days ago when my sister and her husband came home from Riyadh for a month long vacation. They sure miss the country and of course, their 3 children and now they are making sure that they’ll spend quality time with them. What I like about my sister when she comes home is that, she never fails to give us tons of “pasalubongs” gifts that she bought there. She is very generous when it comes to that and that what she is known for.

I just hope that that she’ll not just give money or spent much on their vacation but hoping that she’ll have also an interest investing in something more practical. I know she has heard that gold is a good investment and that United States Gold Bureau is one of the leading sources of gold and other precious metals. It will be no surprise if one day, she’ll just go for it.

I’m not sure if I’m going to be alarmed with the eating habits and behavior of my nephew. At 13, he is just fond of eating rice only with soup (no meat or veggies) or sauces for his meal though he can eat some portions of spring rolls at times. We often told him that what he is eating is only fitted for babies and he can’t get lots of nutrition from that.

Others advised my SIL to just leave him like that and for sure in no time, he’d learn how to eat rice with chicken or meat in it. No doubt, that’s why he is so frail and thin for his age. He’s not also into sports as he finds playing computer games much more exciting. Ahh.. how’d I wish I can see him play basketball, soccer and other sports. It would be nice if he’d be interested in them and if that happens, I’ll be more that glad to give him basketball or soccer gifts on his birthday.

Oh well, I know that every kid has his own likes and passion and I don’t have to impose to him what to like.