After a couple of days, I now get to use my laptop again.  Is it just me or have I really been relatively “silent” the past few weeks??

I have been feeling quite guilty the past few days, since the doctor ordered that I stay away from anything that could cause any stress or tension. She advised against homeschooling (we’re THIS close too, you know? — THIS close to finishing!); Action flicks or series are a no-no;  And personally, I haven’t had the drive to go on the net either— not even to write.

I expressed this sense of “guilt” to Dennis (nothing serious though)— how I haven’t done any housework in a long time, how I haven’t been able to homeschool, to blog….And what he said greatly reassured and encouraged me: “Yes you could be a homeschool teacher now, a housewife, or a blogger….but right now, you have to choose to just be a mother. Nothing else. That’s your priority now.” (He actually said this in English ha! hehe ) As the doctor said, the priority now is to protect this baby that’s in my womb and to try to help it thrive.

I know this sounds so basic, and it really should be something that I should’ve grasped already, but again, there are just times when you need someone to say it to you out loud. I am really not used to not doing anything and not seeing any fruit or evidence of productivity in this household as far as I’m concerned, and so….there are random moments when I am just itching to be able to move about already. But I thank God for the wisdom of my husband, who constantly reminds me that the purpose of bed rest is really to be able to REST.

I guess it’s always a good thing to be reminded of this thing called priority. Making something a priority is a choice we deliberately make. It means out of all the the many things that I can do, out of all the demands that I feel I have to do— THIS is what I choose to devote my time and efforts in.

When we look at our budget and checkbooks, what do they give away? What do we value? When we check our calendars, what do they tell of what we have chosen to take priority? When we assess how we build and keep our relationships, what do they say about what is truly important to us?

Whether we are aware of it or not, we make choices everyday as to what our priorities are. I hope we make choices, not only based on what will satisfy our current interests or fulfill our ambitions, but based on the roles we have been given— as wives, as mothers, as women of purpose.

Here’s a list of things that made my day today: (in order of “happening”)

1. Alyanna told me she looked for me the moment she woke up because I’m “special” to her.

2. I was reminded again of how much God loves us and how merciful He is as I read my Bible.

3. Mika kept asking me to hug her.

4. Alyanna asked me to increase our homeschool time. To be more specific, she said, “Mom, how come our study time is so short na here at home? I want you to give me more work to do for school.” (In short, nagpaka-nerd siya! hehehe)

5. Dennis volunteered to do his sermon preparation where I would be staying while waiting for the kids because he didn’t want me to drive in the rain. (This one really got me so kilig earlier! heehee!)

6. I spent the afternoon reading a good book while Dennis was in front of me the whole time finishing all three of his preachings for the week. (In case you didn’t know, my number one love language is time)

7. I had really yummy chocolate-filled coffee buns—two— with good coffee. (I think this made my day until I realized the calorie content, but oh well… )

8. We went on a family date night.

9. I enjoyed a very tasty and nutty  pesto pasta with really soft, buttery, and garlicky bread….oh, with barbecue sauce smothered all over fried chicken.

10. I finally bought something I’ve been praying for, for three years already!

As I finish typing this list, I could actually imagine you yawning and asking, “Is that it?” or “Where’s the ‘happening’ you mentioned earlier??”. It’s okay, I won’t take it against you.

….Come to think of it, today has been one of the “relatively-steady-and-relaxed” days for me. I chose not to think about (or do) any housework or ministry-related duties that had to be done— which I know would never get done anyway.

But you know what? Even if this was any other day that was full of events and work and stuff— I probably would still be listing down the same things here.  :)

Thank you Lord for allowing us to enjoy the wonderful blessing of family. Thank you for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the joy of being with our children. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy ever day with you. Thank you that things don’t have to be grand in order for us to enjoy them. Thank you. Thank you.

What about you?

What made your day today?

Have you expressed your gratitude, yet?

PS: I told you I really didn’t think of anything work-related today….not even anything blog-related (well, except for now)— I didn’t even bother taking any pictures!

I seldom see Dennis over-react to something. He’s not like me who SOMETIMES just wants to exaggerate every emotion and reaction. Hehe…. God, in His sovereignty, knew that he had to create a Dennis who is stable in his emotions, to give to a Thammie who is….well, a woman.

What I witnessed earlier, however, was something quite out of the ordinary. Upon waking up, Mika rushed over to us to tell us about something very exciting. One could tell how excited she was to share what she had to share from her smile, her eyes, her tone of voice….well, just about everything. I guessed that the reason for the excitement was because she was about to tell us about her summer class. I was right— it was about that….somewhat.

I initially thought that Mika was excited simply because it’s the first time that we enrolled the kids to any summer class (That’s right. After six years of Alyanna’s existence, she finally knows what it’s like to have summer classes!). But more than the activities, Mika went on to tell us about something else:

Mika: “Mom! A guy in my class told me, ‘Oh, you’re sooo tyoot (cute)! I want to kiss you!” …And then he tissed (kissed) me! And then we all started laughing. My other classmates also started laughing because he tissed me and said that I was tyoot! But it’s otay (okay) because he just tissed me on the cheets (cheeks) lang! ”

Me: *semi-shocked but trying to contain myself* “Uh-huh. I see…..okay…go tell dad about it….”

I then motioned for Dennis to listen and PAY ATTENTION. He was playing NBA at the time that Mika told me about it (FYI: NBA = physically present but mentally absent unless otherwise requested to be present mentally as well).

Mika: “Dad! A guy in my class told me, ‘Oh, you’re sooo tyoot (cute)! I want to kiss you!” …And then he tissed (kissed) me! And then we all started laughing. My other classmates also started laughing because he kissed me and said that I was tyoot! But it’s otay (okay) because he just tissed me on the cheets (cheeks) lang!” *excitement still showing*

Daddy: *drops the iPad and turns to Mika….then points his finger to emphasize the importance of what he was about to say* “What?!?! Okay, the next time a guy does that to you, you tell me right away okay? I’m going to fight the guy and get mad at him!”

Innocent little four-year old Mika: *gulp* …and I assume there was a thought bubble that said “Uh, did I say something wrong???”

After a few seconds, she said “O–kay…”, but she still had that “gulp”-y expression on her face.

Mighty emotionally-stable mom to the rescue!!!

Me: “Oh, Mika. *big smile* How nice noh? They think you’re so cute, maybe because you are so kind to them, huh? *big smile*….But the next time someone tells you that they want to kiss you, just tell them right away that you can only kiss mom and dad okay?” *big smile*

Dennis: *starting to get my drift….now trying to sound calm* “Yes, and remember the ONLY boy who can kiss you until you have a husband is daddy. NOBODY ELSE. Okay????”

Mika: *back to her excited self* “Or maybe I can just tell them only the cheets is allowed??”

Dennis: “NO! Not even the cheeks. Only daddy. No boy is allowed to kiss you!”

….Okay…. Dennis, you still have about ten years (I hope) to work on your “my-daughter-just-said-the-word-boy!” responses.

Good thing you have a very calm and stable wife, eh? hehehe ;D

One thing that I love about homeschooling is that we are not bound by time nor space when it comes to doing our schoolwork. We have the liberty to bring our children with us whenever we choose to.

I attended our Biblical Counseling Seminar, but I was already out the whole day and so we didn’t get to study yet.

Thank God for “portable” schooling! hehe

I could listen and take notes while Alyanna did some drills…

And when it was time for group discussion/workshop, I also went back and did our own version of discussing…about our lesson.

Er….Uhm…In case you noticed and were wondering why Alyanna’s holding an Ipad instead of her book…. ah…well, the pictures were taken when I was already checking her work. But, promise— We were studying! And I gave her legit work…really. Promise!!! hehehe O:)

Here’s another mother-daughter dialogue over lunch:

Alyanna:”Mom, why are you so quiet all of a sudden? Are thinking of how to fix our house?”

Me: “Hmm…not really, but yeah I’m also wondering about that, I guess…”

Alyanna: “But mom, you don’t have to! Our house is perfect!”

Me: “Oh, thank you! But when you say perfect, what do you mean? What makes you say that it’s perfect?”

Alyanna: “Well, because you’re special. So even when you’re just thinking about fixing, it’s already special. It’s already perfect to me. Does that make sense or you still don’t get it?” (She was so cute when she said this, so…feeling grown-up!!)

Me: “Hmm…Can you explain that some more please?”

Alyanna: “I said, diba you’re special to me? So that means whatever you think about, it’s special also. How you fix the house, it’s special to me na….so it’s perfect for me!”

This couldn’t have been a more timely reminder for me. As homemakers, we (or is it just me??) easily get caught up with trying to make the house look nice and neat, with the intention of providing our family with the best experience of “home”. I need to get all the countertops organized! I need to arrange this so it would fit perfectly and go with that! I need to fix this and work on that!

What Alyanna said struck me: our home is perfect, our home is special…because mom is special. She didn’t require for her room to have all the best stuff, nor her closet be filled with the nicest clothes, nor her shelves be lined with the most expensive toys. She didn’t mind the current mess that’s sitting in our hallway waiting to be moved before she could say that our house is perfect.

THIS….is “perfect”?!???

Our kids’ definition of perfection is different from how grown-ups would usually define it. Their perception of a perfect home is not based on how their house looks like, but about the people that make up their home— their family. In short, they would rather have me playing with them and sharing memories with them than me spending the entire time fixing our house or finding nice things to put in our house. They would rather have me and be with me.

Mom is special, and that’s what makes the home special!

And it doesn’t matter to them either that mom often make mistakes (in my case, a lot of them! hehe). To them, mom is perfect on the basis of her place in their hearts— because she is special. And as long as they are with mom (and dad of course), home is special….and perfect.

Whew! Thank God! No pressure na!

Last week, I noticed that Alyanna’s lower front teeth had moved forward. I initially thought this was because of her occasional tongue-thrusting, but she assured me that she has been able to stop herself from doing that habit already. This week, I observed that the teeth had moved forward a little bit more. When I checked her teeth, this is what I saw:

A PERMANENT TOOTH ERUPTING!!!!!!!!

What?!?!  How did this happen??? Last week there was nothing behind those  teeth and now…. a permanent tooth?!?!

This transition only means one thing: My little  girl is growing up at a faster rate than I thought! (Waahh!!!)

*sigh*

So yeah, I’ve been a bit sentimental lately. Mika’s growing taller…Alyanna’s getting taller…. Mika’s hair is growing longer…..Alyanna’s hair is getting thicker…their pajamas are getting shorter…. lahat nalang!

OA is what you can call me, pala. Hehe It’s a good thing the girls are riding along and have been extra sweet to me too!

Let’s enjoy our kids being kids while we still can!