Sea Waves in the Clouds?

Since Mr. Man is not working on the comp, I get free use of my laptop, or at least enough tonight to do a post on my two main blogs. L-Infinity has her own comp needs for her AC DEC team, so there's that. As long as Google Chrome or Firefox can behave themselves, we can do a lot while we have the computer. After that, I don't know until it's truly fixed. My laptop is Mr. Man's back-up and go to unit when he's diagnosing the other.

But moving on... *relishing blogging freedom*

I guess the clouds decided to mimic my feelings towards Mr. Man's "back to work" departure this afternoon. By the time he left our complex, we heard that distant rumble that signals the coming rain. I needed to drop off some toys for my friend Heather who has a daycare and decided to bring along the kiddos and the camera!

What surprised me the most is how the clouds seem to mimic a tempetuous sea. (yes, I was feeling bummed)

Can you see the waves crashing and mad at the wind for brewing a storm ahead?
This one reminds me of a pending hurricane ready to pounce at any unsuspecting shoreline.
There's more of that "wave" like clouds. Must be quite gusty up there!
Is that a flying fish between waves? *imagine*
How about a dolphin and her calf escaping the tempest brewing below?
Here are some clouds looking like the wind rejected its reach so it got blown backwards.
The birds were even restless to see such commotion.
But inside, we were comfy, dry and happy to witness I-Dude's unbelievable creativity with Legos.
The rains hit an hour after and for only a few minutes. L-Infinity got to upload some pictures on Facebook despite the light show outside while J-Pony and her friend Alexis, enjoyed their time in Activity Days and even came back, still dry, with some soft oatmeal choc chip cookies!

A Long Saturday...

That night swimming we did Thursday totally set back our "school" schedule. Our bodies were sore enough that we've woken up at 9am since yesterday and have again gone to bed after 10pm. That's ok, Monday, we start over...

Well, the rain greeted us again this morning and by the time I thought to grab the Power Shot and snap away, this is all the proof I was able to gather. *hee hee*

Michelle joined us for two rounds of Rummikub after some oatmeal. Of course, each round, I was stuck with that one tile. *sigh*

I couldn't seem to get things together today. I'm so exhausted! I kept yawning, spacing out and just overall frazzled. I did manage to keep up with some pressing matters like schedules, reading program forms, birthdays and such, but I couldn't focus long enough to read a sentence in the new chapter of the book I was reading. So relieved I didn't burn any of our food, for sure!*yawn*

I-Dude was into his Lego masterpieces when he suggested I take this silly pose. Isn't he handsome? LOL
Look at that amount of concentration on his face... What are you gonna make for us today, I-Dude?
Here's some of the vehicles he's created. The one in the middle, a satellite vehicle. How cool is that?
Here's another view...
(You'll need to click on these two) Outside, J-Pony noticed several colorful dragonflies "dancing" on our little grassy area when I asked her to throw out the garbage. So I quickly set the camera to "Sports", steadied the lens, and snapped everytime I saw a blur pass by.
These two spots are right next to each other.
While I was getting ready to come in, I saw another blur at the corner of my right eye. I followed it and it, a moth, fluttered on to one of the lower set of leaves facing the LR window. I didn't want to take the risk of it flying away, so this is a zoomed out shot.
While I zoomed some more, I lost the spot where it was, but when I found it again, this is what I snapped- the moth flapping its wings!
For dinner, I made oven-baked chicken drumsticks, steamed rice and sauteed sliced green beans. Then we played 25 years worth of the LIFE-Twists and Turns game. While we played, I remembered to make our favorite, "Blackberry Shake".
It's so good, Michelle didn't mind posing with a near empty glass! LOL The kiddos had two small portions each. A blender full was just perfect for the four of us!

Some laundry's done, dishwasher was run, dishes were washed, the kids showered and put to bed.

Great news!!! My baby, L-Infinity and my darling, Mr. Man are coming home tomorrow! Yay!!!

I guess we're ready for Sunday... (I hope so...)

Just 'cause it's Rainin'...

... and wet; it doesn't mean that you have to mope around! No, there are still a lot to do!

For example... You can go to your local "haunts" like a fave bookstore (Half Price Books) and read a book or two while waiting for the rain to stop. If it persists, you can go to your local pet store (Petland) and...
hold a cute miniature Pinscher, or play "hide and seek" (the shoelace) with a playful and seemingly hungry (for anything) English Bulldog.
If it's still restless, you can feed it your daughter's flip-flop! ;-)
Then you can wander off to the birdie section and help them get used to "hoo-mans"...
or even just watch them show off! "Good bird, Indy! Thank you..."
How about catching birds? It's a good arm exercise! You should try it! LOL
Of course, no reputable pet store can stay in business without fish! Or a curious turtle for that matter. "Oooh... pretty girl! What's your name?"
Why not try using the variety of fish tanks as a photoshoot background? Of course, you'd have to work with the harsh lighting...
Finally, you can actually look into the aquariums and see what's actually in it!
"Look, koi and turtles! I want one!"
There's the other turtle, admiring itself in the glass. Who said, only "hoo-mans" are vain? ;-)
One knows that if you went to a bookstore and a library, you can't help but be inspired to read (and smile for the camera of course!)
Or play a new and so fun of a card game called...
It's so fun that you say, "Add to the Christmas list, please!" (I'm serious! It's fun!)
Of course, with any card game, each player has a face. A confident ,"I'm gonna win" face,

or the "don't show my game face" face. All while watching the rain!

With all that rain, we wanted something hearty so I made Asian dishes. This is "Ponzu Shrimp with Enoki mushrooms and Bokchoy cabbage." My own recipe. Yummy!
And the authentic "Beef Broccoli", not the kind you get from Panda Express! Their broccoli's too raw for my taste and too salty. This dish should be light and easy to eat and a little sweet.
If you're lucky enough to have Wii, you can play a couple rounds of bowling, tennis, baseball and boxing, while choosing another game to play as a family. We chose Horse-o-poly where you buy horses and training while you build your fortune!

You all know how daunting and endless Monopoly games are, so in between, we enjoyed a bowl of "Cookies and Cream" ice cream each!

To end the day, after the kiddos go to bed, you can even WALK IN THE RAIN! With a buddy of course! Michelle and I did and it felt great! It was lightly drizzling, and we only walked a good one mile, but wow! The night sounds, sights were quite invigorating!

There you are, several great tips to pass the time when rain dampens the plans. If you are flexible, any plan is a great plan!

Happy Monday!

A Wet Start

Well, L is still not home and now, Mr. Man is in Chicago, back at his new hangar station for several days. I miss him already...

To send him off, I made a great breakfast for us and we served him first... Before that, we again checked on our bishop's dog. She's so friendly. Along the way, we found at least one more fallen tree branch from the storm.

Having had the storm leave us with much rain today (and occasional thunder and "light show"), we were mostly indoors... (It rained from 10 am to 2 pm, at least!) Our Summer is proving to have quite a wet start... My poor soaked patio... ;-(

So again, we played two rounds of Rummikub; I-Dude (hand below) finished first, then me, then J-Pony.



The rest of the day was spent reading for their Reading programs and playtime outside when it all cleared up.

(green is for Public Library & white is for 1,000 minutes School challenge)

We even opened the windows to take in the breeze and freshen up our place. (Trust me, being cooped up inside for over 12 hours due to weather PMS is not fun!)

So, today, another FREE day- Library books, Rummikub and playtime with some friends!

Remembering Papa Don

We are still facing a lot of rain and thunderstorms here and the kids will have no school next week due to the swine flu, so we did what the day dictated:

See our waterfall? It lasted about 15 minutes of intense downpour. Right now, it's raining again!


We cleaned up the dining area more (pictures soon), washed the dishes, cleared some of my baskets, paid rent and visited one of my friends. We got back just in time before it rained again...

Today is also what would have been my late father's 71st birthday. So I made a simple dinnner menu and tablescape that he might like... Pasta with eggs on top and pineapple smoothie.
The sangria goblet came with 5 other ones and a pitcher. This Libbey set was made in Mexico and it is as beautiful as this picture on the front of the box (online picture).
Here's the simple table with our kiddos, L-Infinity, J-Pony & I-Dude. Don't they look happy to celebrate my late dad's birthday? That's because everything on that table, they love to eat! My dad loved fruits and cakes, but not a lot, so I made dark chocolate brownies, sliced up our freshly ripened mangoes and watermelon.

Then it was time also for L-Infinity to attend a church dance after the Youth Conference held by our Stake. The theme is "Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes!" So she loved wearing her Converse and yes the other shoe belongs to Daniel, her beau...

Here's L posing by herself. With that smile, she is a good combo of me and her dad. She's wearing a glittered party dress over a black T-shirt.

And here she is with Daniel. Like my magnetic door? That's next to be organized! I can't keep up with all the stuff the kiddos put up on it! ;-)

Noritake is my favorite fine bone porcelain china, especially after learning that they have a pattern called, "Carolyn". Well double my surprise when I learned that they also made a pattern called, "Adonis", my late father's first name! Look at how beautiful it is! One look at it and it reminded me of my father. Now I know which pattern I'll be looking for next. This is a lidded sugar bowl.

If you know your mythology, you'd know that the Greek demi-god, Adonis, was represented by red anemone blooms.

Anemone. Greek mythology linked the red anemone, sometimes called the windflower, to the death of Adonis. This handsome young man was loved by both Persephone, queen of the underworld, and Aphrodite, goddess of love. Adonis enjoyed hunting, and one day when he was out hunting alone, he wounded a fierce boar, which stabbed him with its tusks. Aphrodite heard the cries of her lover and arrived to see Adonis bleeding to death. Red anemones sprang from the earth where the drops of Adonis's blood fell. In another version of the story, the anemones were white before the death of Adonis, whose blood turned them red. (Mythencyclopedia.com)

The picture is from my own print; each bloom represents my late father's love for each of my children he never met...

And here is my late, beloved father, Adonis. Known as "Papa Don" to my children. None of them met him but I know that if they did, they would have loved him as much as I do. He was an avid-Elvis fan who had a similar voice, too! He loved chess and bowling, new tv's and freshly roasted peanuts! The last song I ever heard him sing was Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". It was his way of asking me to come home, but I just couldn't...

Back in December 27th, 1997, we woke up to a phone call from my second stepmother telling me that my dad was in the hospital due to pneumonia. I couldn't talk to him because the doctor said he was too weak. The next day, they said he was doing better and I relaxed a little. And that all he could muster was if I was coming. I told my stepmother that I'll be home; just to do everything to get him better and I told the doctor to place him in another and better room. In the afternoon, we went to my mom's house and three of my brothers, my sister, my mom, my aunt and Mr. Man watched me yell on the phone then collapse because the doctor declared that my father passed away. It was the morning of the 29th in the Philippines then.

He died on my 25th birthday, in the morning, after the doctor assured him that I was on my way home... I didn't get to fly out until January 4th, 1998...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, "DADDE"!!!

I STILL MISS YOU EVERYDAY...

MAY 2, 1938 - DEC 29, 1997