Growing Up

Early Saturday morning, heading to Thomas Jefferson High, Andrew representing Iraq in Model U.N.  Conference.  This is Andrew’s playtime.  He loves international politics.  His mother wishes he’d lean towards Engineering,  but as kids grow they need to choose their own path.  He’s sophomore; today is Political Science, tomorrow might be another.

Waiting for the other Osbourn High students before leaving.

Last Day for my Purse

What a stressful early morning I had!  Timothy and I were all set to go @ 6:40am to pick up Andrew from Seminary, when I realized I couldn’t find my keys.  We checked my purse, the key hook, and the whole house, but we couldn’t find them!  Then, of course, Timothy started to PANICK!!  He “will be late for school!”

I continued to look around;  I even emptied my purse, still no sign  for keys.  When time was too close, I started to call and ask for help to get my kids to school.  I was so relieved when Linda Goodfellow came over to pick up Timothy and take the boys to school!

When Timothy was gone, I  checked my purse again.  What made me even more mad was, I found my keys  sitting deep in one of  the side pockets!!   This is not the first time, I lost things in this purse. I guess I will make this,  the  last day for my purse.

25 Homework

It’s almost gone, but this is one of my favorite Christmas presents.

 This school year, each time Audrey submits homework, she gets stamps, which she can then use to buy items from their school store.    I was so touched when Audrey gave me a gift bag on the day we got back from our Christmas trip.  In it was a candle, that smells sooo good when lighted.  She  saved 25 points to get it for me!  Thank you Audrey!

Easy Chili Beans in a Crockpot

Here’s my basic recipe for the  chili beans.  Warning:  I am a traditional Pinoy cook, which means I don’t measure my ingredients.  I go and  guesstimate  how much I need,  then throw ingredients  in the pot. I  adjust (seasonings)  according to taste.  Please do the same if the proportions here don’t fit your taste.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (80% lean)

1  med. yellow onion, finely chopped

1 packet Taco Bell seasoning

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 med. green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalopeno pepper, chopped

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can garbanzo beans, draiined

1 (14.5 oz. ) can diced tomatoes

1 ( 14.5 oz) can beef broth

Directions:

Brown ground beef on a skillet, add chopped onions.  Stir until onions become translucent.  Add  taco seasoning, stir. Transfer the cooked meat in the crockpot, add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cook for 4 – 6 hrs.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese,  chopped cilantro, & lime.  Enjoy!

One Cold Morning

House was finally quiet, kids were all  in school, I started my usual house-cleaning  morning.  I started with the dishes,  then laundry, moving to the living room, and off to the bedrooms.

When I went into Audrey’s room.  A corner  caught my eyes and a sudden  feeling of tenderness came to me.  Her pile of stuffed toys were gently covered with her favorite pink quilt.  It was cold last night.

As I sat on her bed, I realized she’s been doing this on cold nights. I was too busy to notice.  On this day, it struck me to see  how my daughter observes and imitates my actions.  Each night, I go to their rooms before my bedtime, and make sure they are covered and warm.   She does the same to her “babies”.  I hope the things she picks up  from me are only the  good things I do.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Here’s a recipe I tried from http://allrecipes.com by Lisa Kreft. My kids enjoyed the muffins. They are not too sweet, and they taste great with milk.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

School and Timothy

Nov. 21, Timothy’s cell project was due.  Two weeks before, Timothy tried to make it with his favorite medium, the legos.  He found out how hard it was to get the effects he wanted.   During the week, he decided to think of another idea.  He came up with a cake.  He asked if I could bake him a cake.  On Friday, he left me a list of things I needed to buy for him.  His list included  mostly candies.   Sunday night, he frosted the cake and put the  ”cell organelles”.   Here’s Timothy’s cake project.

One quality that I like about Timothy, is that he works very hard on things required of him.  He has fun creating and using his hands, but academic subjects are not that appealing to him.  He is my artistic son.  Timothy doesn’t like school, in fact he hates going to school each day.  This year was a hard year for him.  It is his first year in public school.  Learning in a group of 25 and 30 kids with one teacher, is overwhelming, and at times frustrating,  for him.  HOWEVER, despite this, he religiously does all his homework every single day!   He has to put a double effort just to understand new concepts being taught.  One joy he gets from this is, his successes are so much sweeter because he puts his best efforts!

An important lesson I learned being a mother is, how different my kids are from each other.  Each has been blessed with unique abilities in life.

Eagle Scout Andrew Done

Andrew started scouting at age 8. He worked on many belt loops and had fun working on the requirements. He earned as much as he could in the time he was in Cub Scouts. At 12, he started working on merit badges. When he entered high school in OHS,  he was loaded with school work and after school activities, not to mention an adjustment from being homeschooled. Despite all these, he squeezed in his time, the Eagle required merit badges. He needed 21, plus a leadership project. He earned 26 merit badges, and chose a project that stretched him, physically and mentally.

I am proud of Andrew! He is driven to succeed, and puts his best in many things he does. Sometimes these qualities don’t sit well with peers. I often remind him, that his true friends are the ones who are happy for him when he succeeds on the goal(s) he sets. I love Andrew. I want him to remember how blessed he is for the special gifts given to him by Heavenly Father. He’s been blessed with mental abilities, that if he uses wisely, will benefit him and others.

Timothy’s Metz Orientation

Today is Timothy’s Metz Orientation day.  It was hard for me to send Andrew & Audrey to public school after homeschooling them, but it is harder for me to send Timothy.  He was just more needy than my two other kids, so we worked harder together.  He seldom gets excited to new experience.  He prefers to know way in advance what to expect, and takes him awhile to get used to things.  However, he is growing  and growing up fast, maybe trying Metz this year wouldn’t be such a bad idea.  I will miss him dearly during the day!

 Here’s Timothy before leaving home this morning.

Next,  is a quick snap of him all stiff walking into Metz hallway.  He said he needed to go to the bathroom.  He was nervous, so I got to sneak in, to point  him where the restroom is.  I kissed him goodbye and let him go…one of the hardest thing  for me to do.  

What he doesn’t know is that I walked away with tears in my eyes.  I sat in the car for a few minutes, then drove out.  A new chapter in his life has just started.  I hope his first day in Metz will be a good one.

Timothy’s Thoughtfulness

We had a week of a quiet house without the boys.  This afternoon, my boys are back and the house feels complete again.  Andrew and Timothy came home happy, tired, and stinky, but with a lot of  stories to share.  I am so grateful for their leaders who volunteer their time to help these young boys have a great experience and learn.

They shared a lot of stories, and we enjoyed listening to most of  them.   One thing that touched me was Timothy’s thoughtfulness.  We gave him $54.00 for his spending money before he left.  The minute he came in the door, he handed me a Goshen Camp mug.  He bought his Dad a blue pocket knife, and Audrey a cute pink flashlight.  Paul said, Timothy handed him $41.00 as soon as he got in the car, his leftover money.  He didn’t spend anything for himself, not even an ice cream or candy!  I asked him, why didn’t he buy anything for himself.  He had a simple answer, “I didn’t need anything.”