THIS IS THE LAST POST

Hi everyone...once again, I am going to be moving my blogs to a different address. For those of you who put me on your blogroll, please update it to www.zokeybug.com Amel has joined the bandwagon and is now in charge of the blogs. I must admit, it looks pretty nice, so if you have a chance, please check it out. Thanks for your understanding!

Mom

My mom is so cool! We usually try to get together once a week because I want her to know her grandchildren and I want to hang out with her too. We would usually go to the local Starbucks or IHOP. Anyway, this week, I wasn't able to because I was too busy. So, when she called one morning and I told her that I wasn't going to be able to hang out with her, instead of saying "See you next week" like she normally would, she asked me, "what do you want from IHOP?" and even better, "what do the kids want?"

Wow! What an unexpected blessing. She knew exactly what I wanted and had the eggs cooked just how I like it. It's funny how even though I have kids of my own, that she still takes care of me ...AND my kids in various ways! I will say it again, my mom is the coolest!

GOLDEN NUGGET: Learning to appreciate my mom, despite my terrible, teen years.

New Addition

Today was my first formal ultrasound for Baby #4. This is one of my favorite and one of my least favorite parts of being pregnant. Favorite because I get my first real glimpse of the baby and we love finding out if we're having a boy or a girl (hey, we like being surprised early, okay?) and it's one of my least favorites because after drinking about four cups of water, I have to hold it in for about 45 minutes to an hour tops.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we got to see all the vitals. The baby looks fine and we're going to go over the results on Tuesday, my next pre-natal appointment. By the way, we are having a Boy!

GOLDEN NUGGET: God-willing, we will have another precious addition to our family early September or beginning of October. It makes all these "hardships" that I'm going through worth it.

Opposites

My mom was gone for a couple of weeks. She was in the Philippines for her brother's funeral. Even though I told her not to worry about it, she brought back some "pasalubongs" (presents) for them. Here's what she brought back for the girls.

Zokey totally loved this outfit! She kept saying, "Is coot. (It's cute.)"


Now, Buggy Bug was another story. Look at those tears! You almost feel sorry for her, right?


This was literally two minutes after I told her she could take the outfit off.

GOLDEN NUGGET: My life became much more interesting when God blessed me with children.

Apple Cider Vinegar

This is a little embarrasing, but I'm going to post it anyway because I think it's important to know. Anyway, I've been having problems with an upset stomach lately and Pepto Bismol, Maalox, Tums, etc. just have not been working for me. So, I decided to go on the internet to find a home remedy cure for it. I forgot what website it was, but it was a forum-like site and people from all over the world would give their natural cures for this problem.

So, several people kept mentioning apple cider vinegar. They suggested taking one tablespoon, straight up. It would burn going to down, but after that, it's instant relief. Well, my problem was really bad last night and I FINALLY decided to give it a try. I have to say that I was too chicken to take it straight up, so I mixed it in with some hot water. After a couple of sips, I instantly felt better.

I just wanted to share this bit of information with you all. I hope you don't have to experience this as often as I do, but if you ever do, give this a try.

GOLDEN NUGGET: Knowing that you don't have to pay a lot of money to cure certain ailments. The little bottle of apple cider vinegar I bought was $1.32! Also, that if you do your research, you can use items you have on hand that are probably better for you than putting unknown chemicals in your body. Just a thought!

How Time Flies

Winter 2006


I had my quiet time this morning and it made me realize how short this life really is. I found some old pictures hidden in my camera's internal memory and it brought tears to my eyes. My "babies" hardly look like babies anymore.

Fall 2007


GOLDEN NUGGET:This verse says it all: Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am. Behold, you have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in your sight; surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Psalm 39:4,5

Limos + Kids = Great Time

This takes place after our dinner at Crustacean.



First, I have to describe their reaction when they first saw the limos. It was one of pure joy and happiness. They were so excited!



As you know, we had all the kids and they were active the whole ride to Crustacean. They drank all the soda. They were amazed by the colored lights in the limo. They sat on the floor and kept laughing the whole time.



Anyway, after our wonderful dinner, we were off in the limo once again. The kids were still restless, so we decided to play some games with them. The first one we played was the question game. We asked them questions like, why do people get married? What does it mean to be in love? Who do you like better Zoey 101 or Hannah Montana? I should tell you their answers, it was pretty funny. After a while they got tired of this game, so Jase decided to tell them a "scary" story.



The kids sat on the floor of the limo in front of Jase. He told Hubby and I to help him out with this story by scaring them at the right time. Of course we agreed. So the story was about some kids who happen to have the same names as Sonny, T, Jay, etc...Jase talked in a low voice and the kids seemed to really be scared! Finally, in the story, the kids were taking a walk in the woods and felt something on their backs. This was our cue to touch all the kids on the back and scare them.



So we grab the kids and they are genuinely scared because they scream. Sonny has tears in his eyes. Jay has her hands on her face. EJ is just quiet, I think he got a little too scared. I think Buggy Bug is just laughing. But T...oh boy, he is ANGRY! He gets up right after we scare him and tries to tackle Jase! Hubby holds him back and calms him down. He's sitting quietly by Hubby, but he's muttering some things because I see that his lips are moving.



Well, at this point, Hubby, Jase, Elle, and I are trying to hold back our laughs. I look away from T and tears are coming down my face because this was just a funny sight. I guess you just had to be there. There's just something about giving little kids a good scare that is just so funny.

GOLDEN NUGGET: Although they wreaked havoc in Crustacean, they made the limo ride so much fun. This is a memory I will never forget.

The Park

After being sick for little over a week and being cooped up at home, we finally got to enjoy some fresh air this past Tuesday at a nearby park. We haven't been there in while since we've been playing at the school playground. Anyway, it wasn't a sunny day, yet the weather was perfect: not too hot or cold.

Hubby was able to join us that day and they've put in a new play structure since the last time we've been there, which was almost three years ago. Anyway, there was a tube slide there that I would bet my life on that it was about two stories high. Being the brave and adventurous kids that they are, Sonny and Buggy Bug quickly climbed the stairs up to the top and came out of the slide two seconds later. It was super fast! Needless to say, the kids had a blast.

Zokey on the other hand enjoyed the baby swing and protested when it was time to go. Afterwards, we crossed the bridge to get on the "island." The kids saw a couple of ducks and a turtle! Hubby showed them the spot where his brother Jase almost drowned when he was kid. He stopped "drowing" when his uncle told him to "Stand up!"

Hubby had to go to the library, so we went to the local library. The kids enjoyed the books. They played with the little puppet theater with all the puppets and the cardboard blocks.

This was just a simple,wonderful way to spend time with the family after being sick with this awful flu for the second time this winter season.

GOLDEN NUGGET: Being reminded of the fact that my children are truly gifts from the Lord and being able to enjoy them on this ordinary day.

Kids and Fancy Restaurants

Here I am, ready to finally tell this story. I'm smiling as I type this because I think I mentioned this earlier, but this was a night that I will never forget.

To start: the reason we were all heading out to this fancy restaurant was to celebrate my sister in law's (R) birthday. Being the family person that she is, R wanted to share this day with just family; hers, my brother's, and J and E (who are like family to them.) Anyway, yes, that meant the kids and all. At first, Hubby and I were going to find a sitter for the kids, but when Hubby heard that J and E were bringing their kids, we decided to bring ours. Plus, I thought this would be a neat experience for them. If I had only known!

We met up at their house because we were going to be driven by limo. My brother and R really went all out and graciously gave us all a ride to the restaurant. Since there were so many of us, we had to take two. R's family went in one limo and my brother's family went in the other. Guess which limo had all the kids? Yes, our limo. We had Sonny, Buggy Bug, Zokey, Jay, EJ, Jed, T, and Jayday.

I wish I had gotten a picture of my kids' faces when they got in the limo. They were so impressed and so happy to be in there. Their excitement made Hubby and I laugh. The whole ride to the restaurant they kept touching everything, opening drinks, and just having so much fun. Poor Zokey was strapped to her carseat (so were Jayday and Jed), so she ended up taking a cat nap.

We got to San Francisco in good time. There wasn't even any traffic in Berkeley! Did I mention what restaurant we went to? One of my favorites: Crustacean. Why did we dare to bring our kids to this wonderful restaurant? Actually, I know my reason, it's because we weren't paying for it. : )

Anyway, there are two tables, and of course, we're at the table with ALL the kids. Here's where the fun begins. Buggy Bug has a fit because she wants to sit next to Jay after telling me that she wanted to sit next to Sonny. They are both on opposite sides of the table, so it wasn't easy to switch it up. Plus, EJ wanted to sit next to Jay too and didn't want to move from his spot. After a few minutes of whining, Hubby finally gets up and has a little talk with her. This is at the same time that my brother takes DenDen from the table and has a little chat with him as well. The conclusion to this is that Buggy Bug can sit next to Jay and EJ has to sit on Jay's other side.

Next, the food comes. I get the chicken. Hubby gets the crab, and Sonny gets the prawns. We decide to share our noodles with the girls. It turns out that both Sonny and Buggy Bug wanted the crab. So poor Hubby is working to get the crab meat out...for the kids! I'm sure if she knew what it was, Zokey would have wanted some too. So, the kids are bugging Hubby for crab and Zokey is just demanding to be fed, so there's very little eating happening for Hubby and me. Plus, these kids seem to automatically get food on the floor. I don't know how this happens, but after a meal, there is always food on the floor.

So, imagine all this happening at the same time as EJ breaking out because he's allergic to something, DenDen having yet another fit, and Sonny and T laughing really loudly about something and kids at different times having to use the restroom. Whew!

Finally, it's time for dessert. The kids get this wonderful orange sorbet served in an orange, but of course, they don't want that. They want Jaylen's chocolate cake, which she eventually shares.

Two hours later, our bellies finally full almost to bursting, we leave Crustacean. Now, I'm sensitive to snootiness. If someone is being snooty towards me, I could usually sense it. Though, I have to admit that I got none of that from the Crustacean staff. They were very kind to all of us, even the kids. They didn't seemed fazed by the noise or the mess that we made. But even so, I don't think I want to show my face back there for a very long time.

The ride back home is another story, so you'll have to wait for that.

Here are some pictures from that night. These are mostly the kids that were at our table.

My sweet girl


Boy...did she make a mess!







Ej, Jay, and Buggy Bug




Patners in crime Sonny and T

My sister Mare and niece Aly

GOLDEN NUGGET: Learning that kids and fancy restaurants don't mix...and we didn't have to spend a dime! : ) Thanks, Bro! Thanks, R!

Afterschool

Since we've moved, Sonny had to start going to the elementary school nearby. Coming from his other school, this school is nice. Don't get me wrong, his other school felt like home. It was actually harder for me than it was for Sonny to leave that school. But driving all the way there from our house was taking it's toll. I'm thankful that Sonny was finally transferred after Christmas vacation.
Anyway, as nice as this school is, it does have it's problems. For instance, trying to get out of the parking lot afterschool takes forever and a day. Thank goodness Sonny likes to run because he runs to our meeting spot and we run to the car and on good days we're out of there in less than ten minutes. One day, we were out of there in three!
The past couple of days have been so nice and so I decided to do a little experiment. I was going to wait until the traffic died. While waiting for that to happen, we decided to play on the play structure. Guess what? It took 15-20 minutes for the traffic to pass.
In the meantime, the kids were having a blast, burnt off all that extra energy and spent some quality time with each other. Is waiting that extra 5 to 10 minutes worth it? You bet! Next week, we're going to play four square and I honestly can not wait.
GOLDEN NUGGET: I found a built in, guaranteed, quality time with my kids...outdoors!

Anniversary Weekend

Okay, so I'm feeling a little bit better, so I think I can finally post that Kids and Fancy Restaurants story from a week or two ago. But before I do, I wanted to share this story of when Hubby and I celebrated our 9th anniversary in San Francisco.

We stayed at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel near Union Square. This was such an ideal location because we were smack dab in the middle of everthing. There literally was not a dull moment.

Anyway, Saturday night, we wanted to have a special anniversary dinner. So, after being told that this was THE restaurant to go to by several people, Hubby and I decided to go to Crustacean. Mmmm...my mouth is watering as I think about this place. If you've never been there before, this is an asian/european fusion cuisine restaurant and they are known for their roasted crab and their very delicious garlic noodles. Since this restaurant was only half a mile from Union Square, and we had been walking around all weekend anyway, we decided to ditch the car and just walk there.

BAD IDEA. The earliest reservation available was 8:45pm. Since we wanted to take our time, we left our hotel at 7:30pm. And you know it's really dark at that time of year. So, we leave Union Square and it's fine for the first few blocks, but then we notice that it's a little bit darker and there are hardly any people and there are questionable items in the storefront windows. And you know that feeling you get when you're being followed? Well, I had that feeling for a couple of blocks and I'm trying to drag Hubby along to walk faster, but he doesn't. In fact, I think he's walking a little bit slower. Why?!? Doesn't he know that I've watched a few episodes of Dateline and how one of my fears is to end up being on that show? Many prayers for safety were said during that short walk.

A few blocks later, someone passes us up, and I'm at ease once again. We arrive at the restaurant by 8pm and are seated immediately to one of the best dinners I've ever had in my life. I had their Shrimp ravioli and their fried banana with ice cream for dessert. Hubby had their lobster with garlic noodles and their chocolate mousse cake for dessert. Afterwards, we decide to take a cab back to our hotel, which only took five minutes and cost less than the valet parking at the restaurant.

Later, I asked Hubby why he did what he did, and he tells me that if we really were being followed, it would have been obvious because we were walking so slow and Hubby would eventually have turned around and asked the guy if he really were following us. Plus, he was ready for anything. Sounds crazy, right? But I don't doubt that's what he would have done.

GOLDEN NUGGET: Knowing that God's protection was on us, just by the mere fact we weren't mugged that night AND knowing that I can count on my husband's manly instincts.

Harsh Winter Season

This weekend, I suffered from the flu. This is the second time this winter season that I've gotten it, hence, the title of this post. In all my years, I don't ever remember getting the flu more than once a year, if at all. This time wasn't as bad as the first time I got it. First of all, it's not Christmas. Yes, I got the flu during Christmas. I went to sleep on Dec. 23 and I woke up Dec. 26. I wasn't in pain from head to toe and my fever didn't get as high.

Nonetheless, I was still miserable and had a couple of nights of tossing and turning. When I can't sleep at night, I believe one of the reasons that I can't sleep is because God wants me to pray. I've come to learn that I need to do it, and not try some other way to fall asleep. Like reading a book, or watching TV, or warm beverages. So, you can imagine how many times I prayed late in the night this past weekend.

Some of the things He's shown me is: 1) He's the Great Physician. 2) Everthing will work out for my good. 3) I can trust my life in His hands. 4) I need to be more compassionate when Amel and the kids get sick.

Out of all the things He's shown me, He humbled me with #4 the most. I have to admit, when my family gets sick, I'm pretty no nonsense. I give them their medicine, give them what they can eat, and send them straight to bed. But for me, I don't think that's enough anymore. In my heart, I need to be more compassionate. I need to give them extra hugs and kisses and I need to pray with them more often.

People always want more time with their family. That's just impossible, because God has given us a certain amount of time on earth that can never be subtracted from or added to. We just need to make the most of the time that they're given.

GOLDEN NUGGET: In my sickness, God showed me my need to be more compassionate.

Just an Ordinary Day

For those of you who know Hubby, you know that he is kind of a work-a-holic. He does not waste one minute of his life. He is either studying, in a class, cleaning the garage, meeting with someone, or working. Most women complain that their husbands lay around the house and don't do anything. I've never made that complaint in my life. My complaint is that he can't stay still. Don't get me wrong, most of the time, this is a good thing. But sometimes, the kids just want to be with him and he needs to stop what he's doing and do just that. Last night was one of those times. After dinner, he wanted to clean the garage, but the kids wanted to play with him before bed, so he played ping-pong with Sonny and Buggy Bug. Afterwards, Buggy Bug wanted to play Rockband, so we played the drums together while Zokey "sang." I wish I had taken a picture of them, it was the sweetest thing. They had a blast doing very ordinary things. It was one of those rare nights where he had no meetings to go to and nothing to study for and we had no where to go...and it was great.

GOLDEN NUGGET: Knowing that my children's happiness is mine as well.

Precious Ones

My daughter Buggy Bug is such a character. She says the funniest things almost everyday. For instance, yesterday, she was having a bad attitude about something and I had to have a little talk with her. After our talk, she gave me the saddest face and said, "No one wants to be nice to be nice to me." I looked her right in the eye and said, "I'm sorry, Buggy Bug, but no one is going to be nice to you when you disobey. That's not how it works." She just scrunched up her face and started to cry. A few hugs and kisses later and an apology from the person that hurt her and she was her spunky self once again. Oh, Buggy Bug...

Anyway, speaking of children, I serve every other month in the children's ministry preschool Sunday school. Honestly, it is such a joy to serve there. I really enjoy the age group that I have 4-5 years old. I've taught several lessons over the years, but something struck me yesterday as I was giving the very, very short lesson on Zaccheus. In my lessons, I have an introduction, the body of the lesson, application, and review. During the application time, I was trying to fill up the time by going off my notes and telling the kids how they needed to be eager to see Jesus, just like Zaccheus. As I was speaking from my heart, I was able to look each child in the eye and I realized that there's a precious soul in each of those little bodies. God is powerful enough and gracious enough to reach even the hearts of these little ones.

There are days when this is tough to see, especially when they're not listening for one reason or another, but I'm thankful for these days when I'm clearly reminded of my purpose here on earth: to spread the gospel and bring glory to His name.

GOLDEN NUGGET: Being reminded that the most important thing of all, our salvation, is in the hands of our loving, Almighty Father. May we never cease praying for those who don't know Him, especially those precious little ones.

Happy Valentime's Day

Hubby and I actually celebrated Valentine's day yesterday. We've made it a tradition to celebrate the day before because the actual day is always busy. I really don't believe in this "holiday" because I think it should be Valentine's day everyday. Nonetheless, I still enjoy going out on this day. Since it was a Wednesday, we had limited time since the kids were at the building and their Buzzie Bee and GTC classes were going to be done at 9pm.

Anyway, we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. We had to take Zokey with us, which is fine because she's pretty easy going. Zokey is very sweet, but she eats more than Buggy Bug and Sonny put together. As soon as the food came out, she started eating non-stop. I wish I had taken a picture of her belly after dinner, it gets so big!

I hope you all have a great day and are able to spend it with the one you love.

GOLDEN NUGGET:Hubby bought me a non-corded gift...ROSES! He did good!

My Son is Profound

Sonny is growing up to be a very thoughtful boy. We've had many interesting conversations regarding many different topics, but something he said to me last night struck me. I was talking about how they need to behave when we're out and to listen to me so that they don't get hurt. In the middle of my "speech" Sonny says, "Mommy, you sound like you want us to act like adults. But we can't act like adults, we're just kids!" I just stared at him and I didn't have a response. I finally had to tell him that he was right. I did expect him and his sisters to act like adults at times and I know that's not fair. I told him that he still had to obey his dad and me because of Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." But I will make sure to remember that they are just kids and not adults.

GOLDEN NUGGET:God using my son to correct my way of thinking.