Science Fair 2014

This was my Allison's first science fair at school. It was a privilege to belong to the SSES. The kids had a lot of exposure, and were trained to be scientists (chos!) at this early age.

Since I am "the busy mom", I was only able to extend a little help to my kapwa mommies. While most of the mommies really did extra miles for the event, i can only volunteer to do their nameplates and a few stuff. 

Now here's my Aton:

And her nameplate:

Earlier, Teacher Irene met us to discuss how the presentations would go. Ay, napakalabong usapan as usual. Lols. All we understood about the usapan would be that this kid will go solo, these kids would present by pairs, this kid will do this, this kid will do that.

We were under the impression that we are to present all three experiments. One of these called for dried ice. Alam naman natin that it's very hard to find. But my co-mommies were very much eager to get some, for the sake of this fair.

The dry ice search failed. But we were able to go by. 

Our group had this instead:

The fair was held on a friday. The monday before that, I was all ngarag preparing for it and practicing my Aton for their demo. I am very thankful (again, and as always) that my kid is always game for the challenge.

Here's the first part of her demo:

We were debating pa whether it is hydrogen carbonate or sodium bicarbonate for the other compound. So we weren't able to record a video for the discussion part.

The event was a success. It was a training ground for my aton and her classmates and i was also able to make friends with my co-mommies. I am a happy nanay :)

For the love of my three little indians,

Xoxo,

Lorie

My First Grader's Poster Making Project

Poster making's sisiw for Allison. She's a creative kid. Mataba din utak nyan. But of course, she still needs guidance.

I was excited for her group's poster making project. Kaya naman I had no second thoughts on inviting the kids over for some dry run. May konting briefing with the kids and the mommies have assigned their kids on individual tasks para nga naman hindi na magkagulo on the event itself. The drafting, outlining, coloring, and show and tell tasks were delegated accordingly.

The kids are very masunurin naman and they played pretty well on team work. :) Happy mommy here.

I am wondering though, on what happened to their presentation. We haven't received any feedback yet fromt Teacher Irene..


For the love of my three little indians,

Xoxo,

Lorie

Allison Joins KF Pilipinas

Last year, Aton joined the Kids Fashionista Pilipinas. It was her first time to join a contest outside her school.  I was then, a clueless mom. This was the time when we were still recuperating from our financial struggles. So we really didn't have the budget to spend for her stuff. We still joined despite that because I wanted Aton to gain this experience.

Pero promise, next time, paghahandaan na talaga yan ng kanyang stage nanay :)

Let me share a few clips from the event. Nung mga panahong ito, wala ako kahit man lang digital camera. Though I have a phone naman. A Nokia C3, and I was able to take a few pictures with it. Subalit may mabait na kumuha ng phone ko (God bless you :)). Anyway, if it wasn't lost or stolen, baka wala itong aking present phone. Sabi siguro ng Nasa Taas, "Lalai, it's time to upgrade I will give you a budget, just please upgrade!". Lols. Well anyway, going back, here are a few clips--

The Final Rehearsals:

Their Opening Number:

And Aton's Presentation:

I would be the guiltiest mom non. It was just the two of us. And it was our first shot on a contest of this nature. True enough, you would really need some budget when joining competitions like this. I was looking at the other kids' outfits, ang bobongga! Eh fashion competition nga pala ito. So what should I expect?

Anyway, next time, babawi ako kay Aton. On this competition kase, her Twiggy inspired outfit was just hand-sewn by yours truly. Nakalimutan ko pa nga atang gupitin yung thread after my last buhol. Mejo kita sya sa video. Hindi man ganon ka-bongga yung outfit, but it's a labor of love =) Buti na lang, my Aton never complained =)

The other contestants have PA's and make-up artists with them pa. Sila siguro yung mga sanay na talagang sumali sa mga ganitong competitions. Si Aton ko naman, pinulbuhan ko lang at nilagyan ng lip gloss. Yes, lip gloss. Because at that time, I haven't learned yet the prettifying effect of a lipstick! So walang lip color ang aking bagets. Ganun talaga. First timer kase na hindi nag-research, at di masyadong nagplan. Well, anyway, okay lang yan. We'll koin future events pa naman if Aton would still be interested.

And do you know that she never ever rehearsed her walk on that stage? Sya lang gumawa ng mga poses nya nung sinalang sya sa stage on that day. It was impromptu! Ni hindi man lang sya napractice ng magaling nyang ina. =( Buti na lang at keri naman pala ng powers nya. If you notice though, there was a part when she asked one of the dancers of what else to do. Eh kase nga naman, hindi sya nirehearse ng mommy nya! Pakipalo nga sa butt yang mommy na yan!

I remember, when we were queued for one of their pictorial sessions, yung ibang mga kids who were taking their lunch, mga fastfood yung mga baon nila. Kami ni Aton, we brought our packed lunch. Hehe... Limited kase ang budget ni mommy =). But Aton never complained. Pinabaunan pa kami ni Lola nya ng biko one time. And Aton was proud of her baon (favorite nya kase ang biko). She was sharing  this baon to the other kids, and proudly says, "luto po ng lola ko yan!" Ang babait din ng mga mommies na nakilala namin. On the next sessions, dinadalhan na din nila kami ni Aton ng food. Hehe.. Yung baon namin, rice at maling lang. Pero bigla kaming nagkakaron ng pizza o kaya fried chicken at fries. Astig no!

This event somehow exposed Aton sa mga kids in different walks of life. She also gained friends. And confidence. Maraming maraming confidence. =) Joining the event was one thing we will never regret. =)

And I am so proud of you, baby! Very very proud :)

Xoxo,

Mommy

Officially, A Stage Nanay

It was a dream for me to be hands on with my kids.  I was as supportive as ever.  And just recently, I was given the chance to be a stage nanay to my Aton.

Ever since she started attending the special science class, she became very busy and never ran out of activities. Curriculars and co-curriculars. Days have been jam packed... She's getting used now to waking up at 5AM to prep herself for school. In class from 7AM to a little after 4PM. Tutorials from 5PM 'til 6PM. But still had energy to play with her siblings by the time she gets home. Where is this energy coming from? :)

The parents were all oriented with how the acad calendar would be. So it really was not surprising anymore. I just had to be ready!

On the first month, they started preparing for their culminating activity, which was supposedly held by last week of June, but then postponed to first week of July. This gave us more time to prepare then. :)

Just imagine how my 6-year old was able to memorize two (2) considerably long story telling pieces in a short time! We had the stories posted on the wall and she memorized them her self. I really didn't want to push her into this big memorization thing. But she enjoyed it anyway :)

I wanted a standee for her story telling but then I didn't have the budget to have somebody make one for us. So i tried to DIY it! Kuripot/dukhang nanay, it is!

I made an old lady (pseudo) standee using the biggest illustration board I can find at National Bookstore:

I started painting it but I ran out of blue water color, midway! :( This resourceful nanay then painted half of it with white poster paint mixed with a few drops of blue food coloring. Di naman pala masyadong halata yung difference nila. So let me call that, a success! Haha..

Then i made these farm animals for her hand props:

And painted another (pseudo) standee for her story telling in Filipino:

I suddenly turned into a props man slash stage nanay!

Before we left for school early in the morning, we had run throughs for her story telling pieces.

Now, for her dance performance, she did an ancient Egyptian Dance:

And finally, for her Science Experiment, she showed her classmates how to make a lava lamp:

Grabe. The two weeks were really jam-packed!

And her presentations were all successful! Thank you for always guiding us, Papa God!

And we concluded the event with a Speaking Achievement Certificate:

I love being this hands on to my Aton, for the very first time in her four years of schooling. I hope I can be this hands on and full-time. I wish I can always be a Stage Nanay. I wouldn't mind having very little (sometimes, even zero) rest at all. All for my aton. All for my indians. I will be their ever supportive nanay. 'Til the end of my days :) #joysofsinglemommyhood

Xoxo, 

Lorie