"I Want Homework!"

This is my daughter's own book. It helped us with potty training.

I love reading this book to my kids. It helps remind them that I think about them the whole day.

I love them every single minute of the day. 

I often hear this from my 4 year old daughter when her brothers are doing their homework. My boys, on the other hand, are whining about their sister's neverending playtime. How I wish it was the other way around!!!

On top of being a cake artist/baker/delivery person/purchaser/inventory person, I'm a mother of 3 beautiful, active, talented, and very curious children. I must admit when the boys were my daughter's age, I was more zoomed in on them when it came to "homework". Aside from school, we would have our own mini-learning centers at home and we really allotted time for reading, writing, art, a little bit of science and math. I would really prepare worksheets and tables and exercises to help them practice what they learned in school.

But times have changed, and I now have a thriving cake business that keeps my hands super full. It takes more effort from me to give "homework" to my little girl.

My little teacher

She's pretending to be a teacher reading to her students...or student (just me!) 

I just reminded myself to go back to the basics..how I started with my boys. I remember taking notes from the boys' teachers, who were also really good friends of mine, about what I can do to enhance their learning at home.

1. Handwriting Without Tears

This is the curriculum that my boys' school follow to teach their students how to write. I would have my own worksheets for them to practice on. What I like about this style is that they teach writing through play. My kids initially thought it was just a drawing activity.

They learned that the lines  and the curves that we practiced in our previous exercises helped them write their letters properly.

To know more about it, check out their website here.

For an added activity, I got my daughter a writing activity book that she can take with her everywhere. This helps her practice writing her letters, even when we're on the go.

2. Word Cards

One way to teach kids how to read is through sight words. Sight words are words your children should recognize by sight without having to sound them out. There are a lot of sight words printables available online but you can also do them yourself. All you need are index cards, pentel pen, binder ring, and a puncher.

I used to make sets of word cards for my boys to practice their reading. I wrote commonly used words on index cards and fastened them together with a ring. We would also read a favorite book together and I would write down the key words on the cards. We would go through the cards every now and then. And the next thing I knew, they were reading their favorite book on their own

I also wrote down some words and attached them to objects/things around the house. I know they may seem difficult words to start with but they remember from memory.

3. Teaching Values through Books

Did I ever mention that my kids and I love books? I think we're book hoarders! Haha! I have a stack of books in my bedside table, that just keeps getting higher. My kids are similar, especially my eldest. He never leaves the house without a book tucked under his arm. Super cute little boy! I call him my little walking almanac/encyclopedia. 

When the boys were younger, they used to have this short activity in school where the teachers encouraged the kids to D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read). I adapted that activity in our "home school". (Disclaimer: I do not home school. I can only wish that I have the gift and the patience to home school my kids.) 

Books are great tools to teach kids about anything and everything you want them to learn. Check out some of the books that I got my boys when they were younger. These are the books that I read to my daughter from time to time. One of our favorites is The Little Critters series. They're simple books alright but they definitely helped me with a lot of "kid issues".

I read this to the boys when their little sister was inside my tummy. 

They were very excited for the coming of their baby sister. 

I got this book for my eldest son when he went to the hospital for an ear operation. 

The boy in the book had the exact same problem. It helped my son overcome his fear. 

It relayed the procedure of his operation. 

This book teaches about the benefits of eating healthy and exercising. 

This book teaches about being thankful. 

This book talks about the funny responsibilities of being an older brother.

This book talks about what different kids like to be when they grow up. 

These books show kids that they really have nothing to be scared of when going to the doctor or the dentist.

And this is an all-time favorite. It talks about the tiring routine of putting kids to bed. 

I learned that my kids relate really well with books. It's like they realize that they are not the only ones who face the issues they go through, even if it's only relating to a little critter. Hehe! It's a great way of teaching them without overwhelming them. 

These three are just a few of the many ways that you can encourage little kids to love learning. I believe that when you instill in them a passion for learning and cultivating curiosity, they will never get bored. These things are easily lost and replaced with mundaneness. Our role as the primary source of education of our children is to lead them to the path of loving learning and staying curious, AND most especially, to be resourceful in finding the right answers to their questions.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Living the Life

Seasons are a part of life.  It marks the beginning and the end of a period of time.  It is important to accept where God places you and make the most out of it because truth to be told there's so much you can gain and so much you can miss out. Each season has its lessons and joys, and each has its challenges.

www.artbyerinleigh.blogspot.com

Lately, God has been changing my perspective and transforming my heart.  This change followed when I committed to live purposely for Him.  I have for quite a long time held on to God's promise of living life to the full (John 10:10) but looking back I had a wrong premise for it.  I thought that it was just being in faith, claiming the promise and waiting for God to bless me.  I would grumble, be complacent and convince myself that my time hasn't come yet.  I was afraid of taking risks or pursuing things in fear of missing out on the right ones.  In His faithfulness, God showed me that living to the full is about living the purpose He set before me whatever season I was in.  It was balancing faith and actions and giving my very best.

I remember my prayer:
I'm going all out.  I'm going to give my best to You and the people you bring in my life.

My doubts:
but Lord, what about me? What about my dreams and desires? 

His assurance:
Trust me with your heart.  It's time to grow up, but you will always be my child.

With that I knew that it was time to step out in faith and step up in His purposes for me.  Yes, it is for most part inconvenient and requires a lot of discipline.  However, I can just see how God has been continually expanding every area of my life.  He also brought great friends who encourage and pray for me.  He's given me a confidence that I've never had before.  I really feel His grace at work in me.  I feel as if I've just started really living.  The amazing thing was that God in His sovereignty used the times and opportunity that may seem like I wasted as elements to where I am now.  I still have moments where I am shaken, where I want to give up, where I just want to let idleness get the best out of me, where I just want to do what is comfortable, where I would rather escape what's set before me.  But I remind myself (and my friends remind me) that I'm meant to live not merely exist.

Hope in a Broken World

I've found myself changing a lot of my reading and media intake to things that build up. One of my favorites to read and on Twitter is Joyce Meyers. As I read her devotional book (Joyce Meyer: Promises for your everyday life - A Daily Devotional), I was stuck by the article yesterday entitled "Are You Hopeful?". Here' what it said:

When you think about the future, are you hopeful? Or do you struggle with a sense of dread?

People who have seen God's faithfulness in the past tend to be very hopeful about the future. They know a bad situation can turn into a wonderful testimony in a matter of minutes. 

On the other hand, people who have lost all hope view life from the perspective of dread. A close cousin to fear, dread steals the ability to enjoy ordinary life and makes people anxious about the future.

While reading it, I realized that most of the time I struggle with a sense of dread about the future and this makes me very anxious. But before falling into discouragement, the next paragraph gave me hope:

Hope allows us to leave our unanswered questions in God's hands; it empowers us to remain at peace, and it enables us to believe the best about the days to come.

I don't know about you, but I have so many questions, particularly questions about my future. But when I look back, when I look at my prayer list, God has really been faithful. Despite the challenges and insecurity, I can truly feel my days getting better and better. I've never been as excited for the future as I am today.

Open Books
One of the reasons why I love watching movies/plays or reading books is because I find out the ending of the stories after 2 hours for movies, and a few days (or months, in my case) for books. But I know that it's not like that in real life. I can never know the ending until I'm really at my life's end.

Like we all know from school, there are 5 parts of a story.

1.) Exposition - this is a fancy word for the beginning of the story where the author sets the "stage"

2.) Rising Action - this part is where the complication is introduced and tension builds

3.) Climax - is the most exciting part of the story

4.) Falling Action - this usually wraps up the story

5.) Resolution - or the conclusion; this is when the conflict is resolved

In these stories, we can be hopeful because most authors won't write a sad, depressing ending. Usually the complication gets resolved. The tension is released. The problem is solved. Everybody happy.

But our lives aren't closed books. Our stories haven't ended. Our author is still writing Chapter 34, Chapter 35, Chapter 36, Chapter 37, and so on. And this is something to be hopeful for. My author, who knows me by name, who knows when I sit and when I stand, who knows my every thought (Psalm 139), is the one in charge of my story, my life, my worries, my concerns, my fears.

You have searched me, Lord, 

and you know me. 

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar. 

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways. 

Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely. 

You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain. 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence? 

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast. 

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me," 

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you. 

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well. 

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be. 

 (Psalm 139:1-16 NIV)

 

I read this earlier from the Relevant Magazine that reminded me that there's hope in this broken world we live in.   (Read the whole article here. )

Some of you have a good handle on things. You are confidently moving forward in your stories. Others are scared and feel like absolute misfires in the world. But for the screw-ups and wanderers, as well as the orderly and in control, God has His own story in mind. His story makes sense of our stories .

He invites all people into His community of faith, into His story. And the names He has for them are “friends,” “beloved,” and “beautiful.” That is who we are. We need only live out the story of our names.

As long as my life is not yet over, as long as my Author says that my story is not finished,  I will have hope. I will leave my unanswered questions in His hands because I believe that His answers are far better than what I'm cooking up in my head.

Pottery by Mia Casal

Mia Casal is one of our favorite entrepreneur friends.  We are so inspired with how she turned her God given talent into a successful business.

At Mia's exhibit in Greenbelt

Here is her account on how she started getting into pottery.  Her experiences in her work is evidence on how God is involved in whatever we do in life.

I felt like I was on a crossroad back in 2002, I was working for our family business but wasn't really happy with my role.  One day, I visited Ugu Bigyan's pottery haven located in Tiaong, Quezon.  It was the first time I ever felt the spinning of clay in between my hands.  It was a whole new experience and that started my love affair with pottery.  I wanted to learn more about the craft and so after looking around I came across some pottery studios.  I went to Lanelle Abueva's Pottery Exchange located in Eastwood City and Jon Pettyjohn's School in Makati.  Seeing how the simplicity of the raw material of clay forming into a shape spoke deeply into my heart.  I felt like I was being called into the world of pottery.  I heeded the call by looking for ways I could master the skills and techniques.  I traveled to New York and Italy to broaden my perspective and style.  

What interests me most about pottery is taking on the role of a creator.  Never in my life did I grasp that something could be created out of something seemingly nothing.  With just a certain amount of alterations, an earthly material such as clay can form into something beautiful.  It is like making something come to life!  One of my unique styles are odd looking plates and bowls.  I remember how I would just consistently make bowls for one whole year, yet up to now I still enjoy making them.  What's nice about handmade things is that no two pieces are alike.  

Before knowing Christ, I was sitting on a potter's wheel one day in my old studio.  A thought came to me "Maybe this is how Jesus is to me.  He forms me between His hands and gives me purpose.  Oh, what a wobbly piece of clay I am!"  True enough, when I started reading the Bible, I came across Isaiah 64:8 "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."  Realizing that Jesus transforms us, gave my life clarity.  It is not easy to change, we cannot do it on our own.  Jesus lets us go through a refining process to remove our bad habits and impurities and make it into something beautiful and purposeful.  With that in mind, my perspective on trials have changed.  It is in those moments where, like clay, He expands our capacity.  I have learned that He strengthens us not for our own fame but to glorify Him.

Mia holds pottery classes in Clay Ave.  Check out the site for more details!

Core Strength

Building and developing our body's core strength is important.  I used to have a very vague understanding on what it actually entails, I thought it was just about building abs and looking good.  In Fort Rock Fitness, the gym that I go to, they always give emphasis on the core.  A big percentage of the workout program they come up for me is targeted on that specific area.

I asked Coach Aries Fonacier to explain what this core craze was all about.  His knowledge and some further research helped me gain a better understanding on it.

The core is composed of the abdominals, the obliques (side muscles) and the back muscles.  It's called the powerhouse, the anchor and the foundation of your body.  It is what supports your spine allowing you to have balance, strength and a good posture.  Any kind of sport or activity draws its strength from that area.

There are two kinds of functions where our body draws strengths from:

1. Static - where the core exerts force on an object, the muscles stay at the same position.
2. Dynamic - when you apply force repeatedly and you do loads.

Whether you are a student, a stay home mom, an athlete or whatever your walk in life is it is important to have some core workout at a regular basis.

Here are some of the core exercises I do in the gym:

TRX Rip.  Check out a previous entry on TRX.

Pressure Machines.

Medicine Balls.

Kettle Bell.

Planks.

Others.

I can really attest to the advantages of having a stronger core.  I was amazed on how it's easier for me now to walk on high heels and carry grocery bags!  It also helped my tennis games, I feel more flexible and have added power in my shots.

Do try to incorporate some core exercises in your routine, it will make you look good and feel good!

Acknowledgement: Fort Rock Fitness is located in Manila Polo Club.  They do customized workout programs and adventure excursions.  For more information check out their website.

Exemplifying Values

I've been thinking about values after a talk with my parents last weekend. My dad pointed out a lot of things to me and my brother...some words of wisdom, some truths both painful and sweet, and he shared some of his dreams. I couldn't help but be thankful to God for giving me a father like my dad. He's far from being perfect, but he's my Papa and he has helped mold me become the person I am today. My dad may not be the most active father in the world, but he taught me values by being a great example to me and my brothers.

My dad, Tali & I

I was further reminded of this last Sunday when I read an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer about "What to bequeath our children" by Minyong Ordonez. I was struck by what he said towards the end.

"Are we passing on our Filipino values to our children by persistently verbalizing them? (It needs repetition.) By exemplifying them in the way we live? (Seeing is believing.)"

(Read the whole article here.)

It reminded me of my parents. Again, they are not the perfect parents but in their own ways, they exemplified the values they taught us. Mr. Minyong Ordonez was right when he said that we cannot give what we do not have. If we are not hardworking, how can we teach our kids to be hardworking? If we are not disciplined, how can we expect to have disciplined children? If we do not treat our helpers well, how can we expect our children to be courteous to their yayas or to their drivers? How can we expect our children to keep their word if we don't keep our promises to them?

As if to really drive home the idea of looking at my values, while waiting for my parents to get home for our family meeting, I watched the movie The Help. I couldn't help but get emotional as the story unfolded.

I found myself tearing almost every scene, but I was sobbing when it came to the part when Skeeter (played by Emma Stone) confronted her mother about her nanny. Apparently, her mother just dismissed Skeeter's nanny for no apparent reason. When she asked her mom for the real story behind it, the mom explained that she did not have a choice. The daughter of Constantine, her African-American nanny, humiliated the mom in front of her friends and she was forced to kick out both Constantine and her daughter. (Background of the story: the setting is 1960s when racism was rampant). When Skeeter found out about it, she went ahead and published her story about how African-American maids were maltreated. She went against her mother and her friends and did the most courageous thing. She had all of the stories of the maids she talked to published into a book. In the end, the mother of Skeeter applauded her and told her that sometimes the good values of families skip a generation. She thanked Skeeter for bringing the courage back to their family.

I really don't want to be a generation that missed what's really valuable.

I remembered the importance of exemplifying values again after watching that. The mother may have forgotten her values and succumbed to the pressure from her racist friends, but it didn't stop Skeeter from showing courage and fighting for what's right. I don't know what the background of her family was but I think that her parents and her grandparents exemplified courage and that's where Skeeter learned it.

A nice example is the Fort Bonifacio War Tunnel.

Last Friday, I read about the plans of  BCDA (Bases Conversion & Development Authority) to rehabilitate the war tunnel that once served the Filipino soldiers, our Filipino Heroes, during the war. People walk above this historical structure unmindful of its significance to our freedom as a country. We are also like that in a way. We are unmindful of the values that our parents have demonstrated to us. We take them for granted not knowing that these values are the ones responsible for our own freedom or the luxuries that we enjoy now.

Our own heroes, our parents, helped shaped what we are now. Just like the war tunnel, they have been there all our lives. Sometimes we just pass them by. We credit other people or ourselves for the successes we achieve, but really it's the foundation of values that they built in us that contributed greatly to our existence.

The point is, we need to exemplify our values, and to do that, we need to truly KNOW our values. We need to appreciate the people who helped form our values and we need to reinforce what we've been given.