Summer vacation in the province

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The last family trip that we had was last summer break. We had a two-month vacation in the province. RJ was able to get to know and play with his cousins. I was able to have a stress-free life for two months, well almost-stress-free.

 

Life in the province is so simple. If there’s a school there that’s as good as the school’s here in the city, I would definitely prefer living there. But the education system, even the private school’s there, are not as advanced as the RJ’s school here in Manila.

 

How I miss life in the province.

 

Ghost Rider

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I don’t have any idea who Ghost Rider is but I think my son’s drawing is really nice. I’m glad that he spent some time drawing yesterday, instead of playing with the PSP (he’s grounded from playing) or reading his K-Zone magazines.

 

 

 

I would love to see him draw some things pleasing to my eyes and not that scary, but this is good for now. 

 

I will buy him more how to draw, or paint, books. I would rather spend lots of money on good books to hone his talents than spend on things that doesn’t even do him any good.

 

Do you have a green thumb?

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My Grandpa has.

There’s this small plot in front of the family house in the city and a bigger piece of unused land at the back. A few of our tenants, we used to rent some of our vacant rooms before, tried planting on the dry and unhealthy soil. But no one was successful.

My Grandpa, who I call Lolo To, started cleaning the soil to make it more healthy. He patiently removed the broken glasses and rocks every spare time that he has. He also made compost pits all over the yard, every time a pit is full, he covers it with soil and digs another compost beside the already full one. 

grabbed from Grandpa’s FB account

He’s very patient with gardening. And now that he’s retired from work, he has more time to spare in adding more flowering plants and fruit bearing trees to his small farm in the city.

What's your favorite breakfast?

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RJ's favorite breakfast is a bowl of coco crunch cereal with milk.  I don't have to stress myself with cooking something for breakfast because it's super easy to prepare -just put the cereal in a bowl and pour milk on it. Voila, done with RJ's breakfast.

RJ still feels sleepy when I wake him up in the morning -always! But he can eat his breakfast real quick because it's easier to chew coco crunch cereals than any other food prepared for breakfast.

Where to throw your trash

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Pardon my lousy picture. I only used my cellular phone camera since my point and shoot got broken last summer break for no apparent reason. It just showed a screen error when I was about to use it one day. Mother's Day might be over but my birthday isn't yet so *hint* *hint* - I need a camera. 

So RJ and his Dad joined a running event at Bonifacio Global City last Sunday sponsored by Robinson's Supermarket. There were lots of co-sponsors giving out free samples and free taste of their products. I can't help but be dismayed on how some people are so undisciplined. They just throw their trash anywhere they feel like throwing it. That particular picture above was courtesy of a group of women in their 50's. So they are old enough to know that they need to exercise to make their body stronger and healthier. Are they not wise enough to know where to throw their trash?

The organizer didn't put a trash can or at least a trash bag visible enough for everyone to see. I did saw trash bags inside the booths but none in the area where the runners can see it. The organizer might be at fault but the runners who are so lazy to hold on to their trash for a few second and look for a trash can or bin to throw it is at fault too.

This is just a simple way of keeping our surroundings clean, yet a lot of people can't do it. What about you, are you responsible enough to throw your trash in the right place?

How to make your child love sports

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My son was able to finish a 5K run last Sunday. I'm one proud Mama. We woke up at around 430AM and was at the race ground before 530AM. I know, too early for me but I can sacrifice my sleep anytime for my son.

RJ doesn't swim in school anymore, sometimes he swims with his dad but that happens once in a blue moon, so he needs to find another sports that he can do at least 3 times a week. Especially since my son is asthmatic, he needs to be fit and strong. Although he's into soccer and basketball already, his dad is encouraging him to try out running.

lose-weight-with-us

His dad joins running events every weekend so he's in a mission to make RJ love the sport also. He's already "doing what he's preaching" so hopefully he'll be successful in coaxing RJ to also love the sport that he loves.

How to run without getting too tired

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Tomorrow, RJ will run 10K. Yes, 10K! I know, too much for a 10 year old, right? His dad promised that they'll only do 5 kilometers of the 10K run. I might have a heart attack while waiting for them in the finish line because RJ is not ready to do a run that far. Mommy worrying again. 

Ok, so that is a bit of an exaggeration. But there's truth to RJ not being ready to do that run. He may have joined 2 fun races before but those were just short distance runs, like 2.5 kilometers. Hopefully, his dad will be true to his words. I should remind them to run in a slow pace. That should help RJ not to get tired easily and at least finish 5 kilometers. 

How to make a perfect dive

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I saw this picture while browsing for something to write about. RJ, with his yellow school swim team cap, all ready and waiting for the signal to dive and swim during a competition. A clean, perfect dive is really important for a swimmer to get a good swim result. Because even if one can swim fast, if his dive is not clean, then his result standing will suffer. That can also mess up the team's standing in the overall ranking.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to make a perfect dive in competitive swimming (livestrong.com)

Step 1

Curl your toes over the edge of the starting block. Bring your hands down and take hold of the block.

Step 2

Shift your weight to the rear. You need to propel all your body weight forward as soon as you hear the starter's pistol. To get the greatest depth on your dive, have all your weight and momentum to the rear so you can bring it forward when the starter shoots the pistol.

Step 3

Listen for the starter's pistol and then propel your body as low, far and as flat as you can. Drive your hands into the water, joining them to help you cut through the water.

Step 4

Hold on to your glide as long as possible. Keep your hands and head in the water as long as you can. In order to get the full value of your start, continue to glide and then begin to stroke and kick.

RJ still needs practice to do a perfect dive. Practice makes perfect so I know he'll be ready the next time he joins a swimming competition.

      

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How to find the best car repair shop

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My sister's husband bought a second hand car over a year ago. They should have bought a brand new car instead because they already spent so much for car repair. They must have changed all the old car parts with new parts since they bought it.  

Whenever there's a problem with the car, what they usually do is bring it to a car repair shop near their house. They could have at least saved a few hundreds, for car repair, if they researched and compared different car reap repair services first.

There are different repair price estimators online, so no need to call or go to each and every repair shop in the neighborhood just to get the best price for car repair. All that is needed is a computer and a reliable internet connection to find the best car repair shop within one's budget.

toy stories

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RJ doesn't have anything to do one afternoon. He's not allowed to play his handheld games that day nor was he allowed to watch television, I don't remember why anymore, so he was so bored. He asked for permission to use the camera and just take pictures of his toys.

Here are some of the pictures that he took.

He was supposed to create a comic book out of those pictures. But he must have forgotten about it already. I better remind him tomorrow. He's a very creative and imaginative boy so I'm always looking for ways to enhance those skills. Most of the time those ways come from his own suggestions.

How far can you run?

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RJ is joining a 10K run this coming Sunday. Yes, 10K. It's actually a buddy run and he partnered with his Dad. They were supposed to do 5K but his dad registered them for the 10K run. If RJ decides to not finish the race, his dad will get disqualified too. Since it's a buddy run, they're supposed to cross the finish line together.

They practiced today in a track oval near the house. RJ looked like he's powered by defective cell batteries. After doing two laps, he was already tired. Hopefully it's just for today. We went straight to the track oval from school so it's understandable that he's tired.

If he's like that on the day of the run, I wonder how they'll finish at least 5 kilometers of the 10 kilometer run? Goodluck to them on Sunday.

What's your favorite brown food?

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My son RJ has lots of favorite brown food. Fried chicken tops the list followed by bacon. I'm thankful and proud of him that he doesn't like eating chicken skin. I only buy lean bacon because he doesn't like eating anything that has fat on it. Healthy eating at 10 years old, hopefully he'll also start liking the taste of vegetables. 

And he loves eating chips and cheese sticks also. I've just realized that most of the food that he requested for his birthday party are all brown. 

So what's your favorite brown food?

Let the creative juices flow

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My son is sound asleep already. I've been staring at the computer monitor for more than an hour but I still have not done anything productive. I know my watch is working fine because I see the same time registered in our living room wall clock. I may not have a Phillip Stein watch but this watch has not failed me yet. So I guess I have "writer's block" today.

I have a lot of ideas but I can't seem to put the right words together. Now I'm getting sleepy. Maybe I should hit the sack already. Hopefully my brain will function well when I wake up tomorrow. Nighty night everyone.

Where to buy soccer shoes?

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RJ is not an Azkals’ fan but he chose to enroll in soccer club this quarter. During last Sunday's World Cup qualifying match between the Philippines and Sri Lanka, 4-0 in favor of the Philippine Azkals, he didn’t even took his eyes off the PSP even for a minute.

He did enjoy his first day in the soccer club. He’s excited for his second day today. I just don’t understand why he’s not into watching the sports on TV.

He still doesn’t have soccer shoes though. I though soccer shoes are called spikes, that’s what the coach said, but apparently it’s called soccer cleats. The term spikes is used for track and field shoes – track spikes.

So back to topic, as I have said earlier, he doesn’t have soccer shoes yet. Nike and all other shoe stores either has one that is too big or too small for him. He temporarily uses his rubber shoes but he needs soccer shoes because the large studs at the bottom assists in gripping the surface, preventing sliding and assisting in rapid changes of direction.

I need to find a store that sells soccer shoes for kids.

Ben 10 – Four Arms?

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RJ is a big Ben 10 fan. He collects Ben 10 toys, in fact that’s what he got for Christmas last year and for his birthday this year. The drawing above is his version of Four Arms. He named it Ultimate Four Arms. According to him, his version is better than Four Arms because it 1) can grow up to 100, 000 arms 2) has super strength 3) can jump up to 999, 999 feet high.