Ballet and Anarchy

Last Saturday, Marguerite's dance school had a "viewing" day. Most of the time, they don't allow parents or guardians inside the studio itself, but every now and then, they open the class to parents, relatives, friends... anybody who would be interested in seeing the children in action. So off we went, plus Marguerite's Tita Patch (my cousin) to watch. There are 4 four-year-olds in Marguerite's class (she happens to be the youngest and the rowdiest) and one teacher who is the epitome of patience. Let's just say that with people watching them, the excited girls amped the usual mayhem to a fever pitch. After that, I can really appreciate the kind of dedication that goes into teaching ballet to little kids.

Pictures for now. I might post videos later (since I still have to resize them - but oh, all the horseplay will be more evident in them, lol). You can totally see Marguerite having her own agenda in the last two pics and Tita Patch and I trying to get her to pay attention from the sidelines. Sigh.

How about an I *Heart* Sheldon Cooper shirt?

I was over at Cafepress earlier and giggling at the funny slogans on the T-shirts. I’m especially partial to geek humor so you can safely assume that I like “The Big Bang Theory”-inspired shirts, like that Bazinga shirt! I love Sheldon! I have a weird crush on him, lol. I like geeky jokes and geek rock and geeky people… could it be because I’m a geek myself? I’d say, nothing so lofty. I’m a self-confessed dork, but my uncoolness has nothing to do with smarts, lol. Going back to shirts, I also want the Old School shirt and the Cat Says Mu shirt and the… I guess I have a long list of Cafepress funny t-shirts that I want. I want to get some for my sister too since she’s usually my companion when watching “The Big Bang Theory”. I think she’ll like the Knock Knock Knock Penny T-shirt and the Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock one. They’re definitely great Christmas gift ideas since most people appreciate witty lines or quotes on shirts. While there, I remembered that I actually have ideas for custom shirts, but most of them have to do with Christianity and my blog. It would be awesome to have a Spinning Lovely Days shirt giveaway. Speaking of which (my blog, I mean), I have to remember to get those business cards done soon. I actually have a whole bunch of printing to be done, most of them related to the holidays, so this HP coupon code might come in handy.

Star of Wonder, Star of...

Night? Light? Might? I've never really been sure. :D
Remember the origami item on my 34 Things to Do list? Well, I've started on it and thus far, I've learned 4 new patterns and intend to learn more. Paper folding is a lot of fun. I know Marguerite has been learning to make boats and hats in Sunday School, so I hope she'll be ready for more complicated patterns soon, lol. I showed her the other day how to make origami lucky stars and she loves them. She can't make them herself yet, so she demands that I make them for her. She's in charge of making pretty paper (she colors newsprint) to cut into strips we use for the stars. We also use unimportant ad pages from magazines. Anyway, she collects the stars and keeps them in a box. We'll probably turn them into some sort of Christmas décor. Or not. Marguerite is all about collecting them for now. Chip offered to make bracelets and necklaces with the stars, but Marguerite told her she didn't want that and protectively put her hands on top of the box with all the air of a lucky star hoarder/miser. Maybe she'll change her mind when she sees how pretty a lucky star accessory is.

Collecting Cynthia Voigt

Marguerite and I were supposed to hang out at the nearby Starbucks yesterday (we had gift certificates, lol). We'd stopped by Book Nook - this Book Sale branch in the same mini-mall as the Starbucks we meant to go to - found myself a Cynthia Voigt for Php10 and a back issue of MS Living for Php15, as well as a board book-cum-puzzle for Marguerite for Php45. Armed with knitting needles and crochet hooks and worsted and notions of a genteel moment over tea and milk, we made our way to Starbucks, only to be foiled by the madding crowd. There was some sort of hullabaloo involving bands and freebies and long lines of frenzied freebie aficionados, lol. Afraid of being trampled, Marguerite and I made a detour and went to the frozen yogurt shop instead.

That's why instead of blogging about knitting/crocheting, working on puzzles, reading, bonding yadda yadda at Starbucks, I'm going to talk about Cynthia Voigt. I'd been meaning to for a long time now anyway.

We first saw the movie "Homecoming" on channel 9 before we had cable. It was a very moving story and lovely enough to leave its mark on us permanently. We would chance upon the movie on different channels through the years, until I finally found a copy of "Solitary Blue". As I was reading it for the first time, I noticed the names of the characters (just supporting ones) were the same as those from "Homecoming". I got hold of my sister and we shrieked (we're shriekers -- it can get obnoxious) about the dejavucowinkydinkeureka moment. "Solitary Blue" was awesome in itself, but it was even made more special by its connection to that wonderful movie we had seen years ago. Shortly thereafter, I stumbled across another book, called "The Runner" and realized while reading it that the protagonist in the book was the "Homecoming" kids' uncle. That's how we learned about the Tillerman series. And became huge fans of Cynthia Voigt. Period. Just huge fans. We don't limit ourselves to the Tillermans either. That's why when I came across a copy of "The Callender Papers" yesterday, I immediately grabbed it and audibly cheered "Yay!"

Side anecdote: I was invited by the school where I used to teach to give a talk on being a writer. One of the classes I gave my talk to was Mr. Oviatt's. I think I mentioned Cynthia Voigt somehow and Mr. Oviatt informed me that he had given Cynthia Voigt her first teaching job ever (he used to be a school principal/headmaster). You can just imagine how thrilled I was. I started gushing all over the place, totally bewildering my audience, before I finally got a hold of myself, momentarily dedorkified and went back to my talk.

Anyway, here are the Cynthia Voigt books in our collection thus far and we'll keep on hunting down the ones we don't have yet.

Print Happy

I’m currently working on the design of a business card for this blog. I had planned to go to the printer’s, but I changed my mind and decided to just print them out myself. I just need to buy fancy card stock, make sure there’s enough ink in the printer cartridge and hunt up the pressing and cutting board I know is knocking about somewhere.

Whatever the hassle I have to go through to print my own cards, it’s still more practical than going to the printer’s. An ink refill does not even mean a trip somewhere anymore. For printer cartridges and other printer products, you can simply visit Printer-Cartridges.com, a very accessible and user-friendly site. Its service is quite comprehensive and the product and brand lists, very extensive. It has everything from all kinds of cartridges and refill kits to cartridge parts and accessories. It carries three hundred brand names, so with the guarantee of a wide selection, customers are sure to find exactly what they are looking for. The business ships to almost anywhere in the world. If you have a printer brand that’s not common where you are and cartridges and refills are not easily accessible, you only need to visit this site.

Marguerite Chooses Giveaway Winner

As promised, today I reveal to you the winner of the "Flipped" DVD Giveaway Contest. Once again, I'd like to thank all those who joined. I wish I could give all of you a DVD of the movie, but I only have one copy to give away.

Having said that, here's the video of Marguerite picking the winner (actually, she picked a number and the person whose entry corresponds to that number won). If you must know, I almost gave up on the video since it occurred to me that I didn't know how to work the camera (huge tech spazz), and the tripod was in the trunk of our car (parked outside Mark's office, of course) besides. It would be too much hassle (for me, lol) to bug  Mark at work to ask how to operate the thing so I almost just went with random.org. Anyway, by sheer dumb luck, I stumbled upon some common sense, studied the buttons and whatnots, tried pressing LV, followed by a couple of other buttons and pretty much got a hole in one, lol (which never happens to me... never!). I was finally able to record this:

Don't ask me to do it again. I still haven't figured out how it happened. I'd be lost after LV, lol. Anyway, pictures are easier. Here are some from yesterday. 

We had some good fun prepping for this draw, a real mom-daughter bonding moment. I meant to do face paints, but I did such a good job hiding them from Marguerite (she colored all over her body the last time - which lasted a few consecutive days - she used it) that I couldn't find them myself. I tried using makeup, but it's just not the same. The draw itself was a lot less elaborate than  what I had imagined (which involved much more fanfare and Marguerite acting like a TV host - she was doing it during practice too, saying "Good afternoon. The winner is - noisemakers - number..." Oh well, she did pick a number, lol).

Entry No. 10 won and that's from Yohann. Congratulations! I'll be sending you a message via Google Friend Connect regarding the details of your win. :)

Hash Chorus

I think most churches have a hash chorus which the members have memorized. I love chorus medleys. My sister and I call them "segue songs", but they aren't really. We have a list of secular segue songs - these are songs that have similar tunes, sounding enough alike that they can have you starting with one and ending with the other in just one line, and without you intending the morph at all, lol... (not mashups - "segue songs" are supposed to come off funny e.g. "I've got one hand in my pocket... it don't matter if you're black or white" or for a local appeal "Tubig at langis... na 'di na kaya pang lumipad"). Anyway, in the case of the hash chorus we sing in church, the segue usually happens on the word that the two consecutive songs share (ours involves five songs). It's really fun to sing.

Every promise in the Book is mine!

Every chapter, every verse, every line.

I am standing on His Word divine,

Every promise in the Book is...

Mine mine mine Jesus is mine
Mine when I'm weary
Mine when I'm cheery
Mine mine mine Jesus is mine

(Mine all the time, He is...)

*I think the last part was just added to make it connect to the next song, hee

Wonderful, wonderful, Jesus is to me
Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God is He
Saving me, keeping me, from all sin and shame
Wonderful is my redeemer, praise His name

(His name is) *ditto

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go

... tell it on the mountain,

Over the hills and everywhere

Go, tell it on the mountain,

That Jesus Christ is born. 

Where to Foist the Emo-ing

Maybe it’s because I’m not from this generation that I don’t appreciate emo at all. Frankly, I don’t really understand it all the much. People and music are highly emotive? All dark and angst-ridden, but not enough to be Goth? I know the territory goes with being a teenager, but I don’t know why this brand comes off to me as kind of funny and rather lame - like the anger isn’t real and all the eyeliner and black clothing just lend themselves to the poseur. With the technology these days too, it’s just everywhere and I have to say I’m losing patience. For instance, I have a few teenage friends on Facebook and I just cringe sometimes at the emo-ing on the status fields. I want to tell them to make tracks for the Emo chat rooms and bring their “I’m too sensitive for this world” posturing with them, lol. Just a harsh knee-jerk reaction from my more intolerant self. I get over it right away. Whatever. Maybe it’s because I’m already “old”. For all I know, this was exactly how the older ones looked at the grunge generation - kinda comical and exasperating. The thing is we were emerging from such a “chemical” era (great music - if you like New Wave - but such unnatural trends in fashion and beauty, lol) that grunge just seemed so raw and sincere. Then again, it was probably being 15.

My Dad's Party

Our church was supposed to throw a party for my dad last Sunday (his actual birthday), but he wasn't available in the afternoon, so it was moved to yesterday. For our contribution to the program, Chip and I hosted a "Let's Face the Music/Name That Tune" kind of game. I got together a list with 10 songs that have some sort of association with Dad (some of the tunes were "I'd Rather Have Jesus", "Still", and "I'll Fly Away, Oh Glory"). Chip gave the riddle or clue, while I plonked out notes on the keyboard. Marguerite had a repeat performance of her "Jesus Loves Me". She was cute both times. At Mom's party, she sang ahead of the accompaniment, while at Dad's, she sang several pitches too high, lol, but the ballet routine was always adorable. I'm glad she's not scared of performing. I'm not sure I would have done it at that age.

That "Name That Tune" game got a little crazy, hehe. The second pic is of me after I had murdered one of the songs with my plonking. I'm holding my cheat sheet, which I  had made myself, only I was not about to trust it, esp since one of the staffs had SIX lines... lol

   

Marguerite and her friends after they'd hijacked that stroller from Baby Benjamin; I and my mom, and no, we didn't color coordinate;  Marguerite with her friend Misha. Dad blowing out the candle on his cake (in case you think that's a picture of him surfing, lol)

Cursive Experiments

I'm not yet trying to teach Marguerite how to write. I did say I'll put off intentional intellectual learning until she's about 7 or when she shows that she's ready. What happens now is she just learns by imitation, natural observation, etc. If I want to try teaching her something, I do so in a game. If she gets it, good; if she doesn't, no worries - I'll try again at a later time. I introduce things and if it's a hit, good, etc., etc. I really just pretty much give her free rein when it comes to play and creative exploits (within reason - so long as nothing gets destroyed or nobody gets hurt, and as for the mess... I believe in children being as messy as possible, and then just training them to clean up - and I do believe in starting early with this one, lol).

So the whole point of this post is that I'm really fascinated by the theory that it's better to start with cursive in teaching children how to write. I learned very traditionally and way early. My mom was pretty committed to making me ahead of the class when I was younger, so she was really hands-on during my preschool years and when I was about to start grade school. I remember the summer before first grade, I had to spend some time with her learning cursive before I could go off and play. She was a real Simon Legree about it too. When school started, the writing teacher didn't even start teaching cursive until the 4th quarter. That's essentially the story of my grade school: I spent a good chunk of the school year being bored with lessons I already knew... such a waste of childhood time. I mean, when would I ever be 7-8-9-10-11 again? And I entered puberty way early too, so when I'm in a whiny mood, I really consider myself cheated, lol. Anyway, going back... while Marguerite and I were playing with her slate last night, I decided to check if it's easier for Marguerite to copy script or print. I didn't start taking pictures and trying to put structure in the experiment until too late, so I can't effectively show you my findings, but it does seem that, yeah, cursive was easier for her to copy. Take for example the letter M (since her name begins with it):

She had actually already done the letter M before, but with instructions from me to go up-down-up-down with her pencil. When she had to copy, she couldn't do it. Anyway, here are other pictures from our game last night.

"Flipped" DVD Giveaway

Remember my post about the movie version of "Flipped" here? The bestselling young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen was brought to life by Rob Reiner, the genius behind two other personal favorites of mine, "Stand By Me" and "The Princess Bride". It was never released in the Philippines (much to the disappointment of fans of the book here), so now we're looking forward to the DVD which will hit shelves on November 23. To promote the DVD release, a special relationship widget was created to encourage moms and daughters to bond on the importance of love and relationship. Among other things, the widget features interviews between Madeline Carroll (the lead actress) and her mother. Check it out:

I'm also hosting a Flipped DVD giveaway.

This will run from today, November 19 until next Tuesday November 23 at 11:59 pm Manila time. This contest is open to everybody excluding my immediate family. There are several ways to join:

- (1 entry) Follow Spinning Lovely Days. Followers don't have an automatic entry. You have to leave a comment indicating the name you used to follow my blog, e.g. Followed Spinning Lovely Days; handle: ivy

- (1 entry) Follow me on Twitter (@wahmivy). Leave me a comment informing you have done so or are already doing so, e.g. Followed @wahmivy on Twitter; handle: ivy

- (1 entry) Leave me a comment explaining why you're interested in the movie, or if you've seen it, what you like about it.

- (1 entry) Mention this giveaway with a link to this post on your blog. Leave a comment with the URL of your blog post.

Leave a separate comment for every entry. I'll base your entry numbers on the sequence of the comments. Invalid entries will be removed before the draw and comments that are not entries will be skipped over in the numbering. In effect, you can have as many as four entries. Comments for this post will be closed at 12am November 24 (Manila time). I'll let my daughter pick a number and the entry that corresponds wins. I'll videotape the draw. (I know I can just go to random.org, but I think this way is more fun :D). I'll announce the winner on November 25. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you can join!

***This contest is now over.***

It Would Have Made Sense with an Urbane Gentleman Around...

Okay, we haven't determined yet if my dad meant it as a joke since my mom recently got her senior citizen's ID, or if he was really being kind since my mom has been complaining of knee pains (not enough to make her hobble or limp though), but he came home last night and presented her with a... walking stick. I know you don't have to be elderly or feeble to use one, but around here, only the ones who have trouble walking use canes. In any case, Marguerite and I have been having fun with Mom's. My daughter's more imaginative (and dangerous to fragile objects) when she plays, while I mostly stick to my Dr. House impressions (thumping it on the floor, while yelling "Attica! Attica!" at innocent bystanders).

Blurry pictures up ahead (Marguerite kept on moving):

Unfolding Scenes in Marguerite's Mind

Sometimes Marguerite and I sit together with watercolor pencils and concoct picture scenes based on her imagination (I'm actually hoping to write a complete story doing something similar - as of now, I can't map out a plot yet from her as she'd rather keep on adding "friends" to the picture instead of developing a storyline, lol). This is something we worked on last November 15.

The first picture started with a mushroom and from that single element came the following:

There was a mushroom. It was orange with no circles. A mouse lived in it. It was small and purple. It was also nice and cute. What was the name of the mouse. What was friends with a nice, pink cockroach named Pink. They liked to play ball together. Their favorite ball was a red one they bought from the store. One day a small cat came along. It was gray. It was nice and became friends with them. There was also a white boy hamster. They had a party. They ate the instruments of the band.

The second one started with a tree:

In the middle of the garden a big blue tree that bore sweet grapes. A fat little boy came over to eat the grapes. His name was Tricia and he was orange. He was a happy kid. One day a hamster showed up. It was blue and funny. Really cute too. It said to Tricia, "Hello." Tricia answered, "Hi." There was another hamster. Her name was Girl. The hamsters bit the kitty cats (which I didn't know were supposed to be there and were pink, so I had to add them).

We were supposed to work on a third one, but Marguerite espied a pink highlighter from her art box and got busy making marshmallow people (as she called them, although from what I gathered from her, there's supposed to be an elephant there somewhere too).

Oh and the next picture... concerns something over which I'm vacillating. There's a school of thought (a branch of Waldorf - or maybe all of Waldorf, I'm not sure) that says it's more natural and developmentally appropriate for children to start learning how to write using cursive. I think that scribble of Marguerite's may support that. I don't know. I still have to read about it. If ever I do decide to go with that thought, I'll use the Spencerian script to teach her, hehe. I transcribed and catalogued archaic documents for the National Archives as a part-time job when I was in grad school and I just fell in love with the old-fashioned scripts. :)

Playground Pictures

I have quite a number of things to do today, so it's going to be a quick post with mostly pictures. These were taken at the mall on Saturday evening. Mark and Marguerite went to one of those indoor playgrounds while I searched for a gift for my dad. Mark used his phone for this, in case you're wondering about the quality...

Sue Grafton Prevailed over Pacquiao

I'll be all Pinoy and say "hooray" for Pacquiao's win against Margarito. We had lunch out since it was my dad's birthday and when we got home, my aunt in Fresno called to say that Pacquiao had won. Usually her calls reporting Pacquiao's victory come simultaneously with fireworks from the city hall, so we can pretty much guess if it's good news or bad. Just like a seasoned sportscaster, my aunt headlines with the result and then gives highlights, lol. I watched until Round 5 and then decided that I'd much rather read. I was glad, but I'm over it now. I guess at this point, I feel that only a fight with Mayweather would truly count.

So anyway, Marguerite had ballet lessons last Saturday and I went home with 2 Sue Graftons, 2 Jill Churchills and a back issue of Life: Beautiful magazine. Yesterday, my sister Chip also found a copy of Cynthia Voigt's "Sons from Afar" besides this really neat craft book, so I'm hoping that I'll get something productive done this week...

Happy Birthday, Dad!

taken during Marguerite's first birthday

Happy 64th birthday to my dad - a man of God, a steadfast champion of a responsible, holy and righteous life, a father who has always been more than a parent; he is also my pastor. It may not have been the easiest thing to grow up a minister's daughter, but it was never confusing (it never is, in the straight and narrow - you always know if you're going with or going against, lol). I thank the Lord for blessing me with an extraordinary father, a person who has very clear principles and sticks to them, a person whose testimony of faith edifies and inspires those who know him, a person who has prayed for me every single day of my life and more (so that in my years of folly away from the Lord, I was still surrounded by His protection and blessing)... I pray that the favor of the Lord always be upon him, that his health remain good, that his ministry continue to flourish, and that his life be blessed more than ever. :)

Acoustic Love

I loved the original version, but I really dig this one more. Mad props to Hillsong for thinking to do an "unplugged" version of their songs.  I think I'm going to plunk down some cash over at iTunes.

Bathroom Issues

I have to confess I’m somebody who is very particular about bathrooms. I’m so particular that it has actually affected my health. When I was in college, I had a mild case of Urinary Tract Infection. It cleared up right away, but still, I didn’t have to go through that. It seems I got sick for being too finicky. I would prefer to hold it than to use a public restroom that has not been maintained well.

In homes and temporary lodgings, I always appreciate bathrooms that have been well-designed. While I like the rustic feel in many things, I definitely do not like rustic bathrooms, lol. Since I’m still in the planning stage when it comes to my own home, I like to dream up designs in my head. I enjoy browsing through home décor sites to be inspired. When it comes to matters concerning toilet, shower, sink, etc., betterbathrooms offers a fine selection of everything and anything you might want to put in your bathroom. They cover everything from the basic, such as toilets and showers, to the extra, such as whirlpools and Jacuzzis; from the large features, such as furniture, to the small accents, such as accessories. They have the classic as well as the latest.

The site guarantees safe shopping and offers extensive choices. They also feature special offers and sales. It’s definitely a good place to visit for bathroom shopping.

Living Epistles

I know my own testimony is my living epistle, but I think as a parent I also influence the writing of the living epistle that is my daughter's life. I have a long and growing list of values that are important to me and it's a concern of mine how to effectively inculcate them in Marguerite (especially if I might be struggling with some of them still). I just wanted to share a couple of episodes of which I'm really proud, although I can't take credit for either of them since I don't remember myself at any time being an example for something like the following:

The day the Sunday School teachers came over to our house to work on the Christmas pageant props and backdrops, my dad came home with four packets of strawberry cookies. Besides Chip, Mom and myself, there were her two aunts (who are both Sunday School teachers) and her Ate Icee and Ate Bianca. As what has been her habit, Marguerite started offering the packets around. She gave one each to Ate Icee and Ate Bianca and then gave a pause. She had two left and there were still her two aunts. She obviously hasn't learned fractions yet at four, but after a split second, she decided to give all her remaining packets to her aunts. We all sat there waiting to see what she would do and all went "Aaaaw" at her "sacrifice". I just got so choked up to see that she would rather go without as long as the others had their share. Icee and Bianca did give Marguerite back their packets (I guess they felt sorry for the little girl, lol), but not until after she had already given away all of her cookies.

The other episode happened last Sunday after Mom's party. There were just five balloons. My cousin Luigi got them down and managed to pop two in the process (he tried to remove the masking tape from them - we'd taped them up, lol). The third one - he left the tape on - he gave to Marguerite. Naturally, the other kids wanted balloons too. Luigi gave the fourth to Antonella's grandmother, but forgot to warn her not to remove the tape, so that one popped. The last one, Antonella and her cousin managed to play with before something happened and it popped as well. Antonella was upset, of course, and wanted another balloon. She's only three, after all. The only remaining balloon was Marguerite's and Antonella came over, looking sadly at it. Now, I was actually torn myself. I wanted my daughter to be able to keep her balloon, but I thought it was one of those opportunities for character building. Tentatively I told Marguerite that she would make Antonella really happy if she gave her balloon to the little girl. I didn't tell her to give it to Antonella because I knew she would have done just that, but only to obey me. I wasn't really sure how that would have turned out, so I didn't know how to deal when Marguerite gently handed her balloon to her friend and then burrowed her face into my chest, crying. I told her that she did a wonderful thing and assured her that she could have another balloon the next time we went to the mall. I think Marguerite was also tired at that point, so she just stayed in my lap crying quietly. When it was time to go home, Tita Maf (Antonella's mom) brought the balloon back, thanking Marguerite for letting Antonella play with the balloon. We told her that Marguerite had already given it to Antonella, but Tita Maf really wanted to give it back. I asked Marguerite if she wanted it back or if she wanted Antonella to have it and she said that she wanted Antonella to have it (and her still crying about it too). Tita Maf was adamant though (laughingly pointing out that she had a hard time convincing Antonella to let go of the thing), so in the end Marguerite did get it back.

Am I bragging? I guess a little bit, which totally takes away from the awesomeness of those moments. Also, it's not all like that, of course. She has moments when I have to remind her to share her toys, when I have to roar before she pays attention to what I'm saying, when she throws a fit at what happened to the sky (nothing... the sun rose and it officially became morning)... But whatever. I have these memories to cuddle and stroke during dismal moments for the rest of my life. More to come, I hope. And I just pray ceaselessly that ... oh please, please, please, with God's grace and guidance that I get the parenting bit right...

Now, here are pictures of living epistles...