posted by Jennie on Apr 8
Forgive my lack of posts. Our family has been busy with the little guy’s graduation from ABC’s with Ace and Christi. We have been rehearsing since last week and the week before that was his Karate promotion for Yellow Belt. Whoever said that a homeschooler’s life can be boring couldn’t be more wrong. 
posted by Jennie on Mar 24
Scrapbooking is one of the things I have always wanted to get my hands on but never really had the chance to get around to doing. That is, until last weekend when All About Scrapbooking and Hallmark got us to our feet and challenged us to get in our artsy-craftsy mode.
The closest I got to scrapbooking was when I got some photos printed in books via Arts Cow and my wedding album recovery attempt.
posted by Jennie on Mar 20
With over a hundred applications installed on my iPhone and the hubby’s iPad, one of the more interesting ones that I have recently discovered is the KinKast iPhone Video Sharing Application. For one, I have never found any other video application that processes just as fast. Second and more importantly is the option of privately sharing the videos.
There are YouTube and Facebook video sharing options all right. But all of them are all out in the open, unlike KinKast. Parents like us take videos of our child every so often. Those who have been regular followers of my blogs, inluding ChristianHomeschooler.info know that for a fact. We can’t miss out on all those milestones, right?
posted by Jennie on Feb 5
One of the many things I have learned by being a hands on mom of almost 6 years now is the importance of showing my son I value him by allowing him to usher me in his world of play. It is often easy to see a kids ongoings as petty and all. But I find that it means a lot to him that I indulge him as he creates robots and out of this world creatures out of lego pieces.
Jed calls this his tunnel tree.
With a lot of things in my head as being the lone person to take care of the house (and everything else), you can just imagine how easy it is for me to get distracted and do something in between the conversations of one robot to the other.
posted by Jennie on Jan 26
At what age should kids start to have mobile phones of their own? Not that this is a dilemma for our family now. But given that our son now habitually sends SMS to his papa everyday he is out as they send each other sweet nothings, I know that it is just a matter of time that this little guy would want to have his very own cell phone.
posted by Jennie on Jan 26
Pursuing learning activities outside the home while we are homeschooling is an important part of our son’s learning process. It may not exactly be dictated in the curriculum that we are using. But it is the supervisor’s (mine) responsibility to be creative and even schedule places we could go to. The convenient thing about this is we can do it at our own sweet time. It often makes for a family day out whenever we do.
posted by Jennie on Dec 11
We celebrate my mom’s birthday today. It’s her 65th and we continue to thank God that she has remained healthy and sharp. I know she’d correct me when she reads this and say she has had her better days. While I know that, I sincerely thank God that she is still good as she is. She might tell me of her wrinkles. But I’d say, each line in her face has its own story to tell.
If there was anything I vividly remember about Mama, it is her love for writing, or at least, her files upon files of Incoming and Outgoing Correspondences that she used to keep in the office table ever since I was a kid. She had me look into her slumbook from high school. She is such a sentimental lady! And boy can she write! I have always believed if there should be a bloggger in the family, it really should be my mom.
posted by Jennie on Dec 11
My husband and I are happy with my son’s progress in his Karate class. He has been with the class for two months now and so far he is enjoying every session he has with them and we see his skills progress. As homeschoolers, we really are not compelled to enroll our son in a supplementary subject like Piano, Voice, Karate or Taekwondo. But we found that it will benefit him as it further reinforces the need for discipline. Before that the only socialization he had was Sunday School classes.
posted by Jennie on Dec 2
It was last week of October when I got an email from best-selling author Anthony DeStefano, asking if I was willing to look at his newest book, “Little Star.” And with a little reader for a son, I figured a Christmas book should be a good addition to my five year old son’s growing collection of books.
As it turns out, Anthony DeStefano’s Little Star is not your ordinary Christmas Story book for kids. As opposed to all other stories about Christmas for children being told the same way, Little Star is a refreshing change. Not that there is anything wrong with the story we grew up with. It’s basically because the nativity account, this time, is being told from the perspective of the stars. The book was beautifully illustrated by Mark Elloitt, who did a good job at giving life to the characters. My son really got hooked and we were moved as we went along.
posted by Jennie on Dec 2
When our son got at least a couple of board games for Christmas last year, I thought they were to be left in the corner of his room for a few more years. That is until our five year old himself showed me the label from the box that the Monopoly Jr. is for the 5 year old and up.
It turns out I underestimated him. Our son’s being restless and playful somehow got me to think that he might not last a while sitting through the game. I cannot be more wrong. Apparently, it was our son who has kind of set a family game night as he became hooked to playing Monopoly Jr. for a while. He read through the instructions himself and got on to being the banker, collects, distributes the money allotted for each player like a pro in no time. He was a natural!
With my home-based work and the plateful of things I do on a daily basis, it can be hard to draw the line when to stop and just spend time with the family. Our family game time, which something that our son ever so looks forward to, at least twice a week, allows for us to strike that balance between working and family bonding time, which should really be of utmost priority.
posted by Jennie on Nov 18
I actually was not expecting our 2011 calendars to come in time for Christmas. We all know how delayed snail mails arrive during the holiday season. But here they are! We ordered these 11 x 8.5 calendars from Arts Cow, with the pictures and layout that we want — with the verses too. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Jennie on Nov 17
Our little guy was more thrilled than I was when this package came in the mail today. He also did not waste a second. He read on as he placed his Childcraft book aside. I will post a review of the Little Star soon. Thanks to Anthony DeStefano who contacted me himself last month and offered to give us a free copy of his season appropriate book. I browsed through the pages and I already love the illustrations!
posted by Jennie on Nov 3
Here is me and my son on a date when he went trick or treating last weekend. We went to Nido Science Discovery Center in Mall of Asia. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Jennie on Oct 29
My husband and I watched The Way Home movie last weekend. It is based on a true story, starring Dean Cain (Lois & Clark) as Randy Simpkins, a husband and father torn between the demands of his job and commitment to his family. Asked by his wife Christal to wach their 2 year old son Joe for a few minutes and Randy is distracted by work and Joe disappears.
posted by Jennie on Oct 21
Our family has been practically helper free since we started. Going 9 years now. The short periods I did hire a helper proved to be a nightmare when I saw with my very eyes how the nanny hit my 10 month old son with a balloon stick when he was just playing hide and seek with her. The mark on his arm proved this and yet that nanny lied straight faced. Needless to say, she did not last a month. Ideally, babies should be taken cared of by family members. I say this with conviction, because I only know so well how our patience could really be tested even by our own children. How much more can we expect stranger to have some compassion for someone who is not related to her. Makes sense, right?
