MMB Christmas Show: A Celebration of Life

Video of Carl and Chloe (and HipHop/Jazz Kidz 2 Class) during their rehearsal, dancing to the tune of Christmas Medley:

Chloe (and the Beginners 3 Ballet Class) dancing to Christmas in Our Hearts during the Christmas Show:

Chloe's FB Post About Her Passion for Dancing

Just copied this from Chloe's facebook posting:    Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 3:04pm

My DANCING LIFE. :)) ♥ -I can say its a story for me. :D

This note might be a little long to read. but I wrote it nicely with all my heart appreciating my Passion in dancing and thanking Everyone I knew that helped me Love my skills in dancing. <3

I started dancing when I was 5 years old. I was maybe prep that that time(???)
it all started when we had cheer dances in my school, L'ecole.
When mom recognized how good I was, she took me to a ballet school. Which was MMB.
At that time MMB was still in front of Lopues San Sebastian.

At my first day in MMB, I met so many new friends with the same age as me. They we're all pretty and cute, hehe. They love to play around. Horsing, roaming around our studio every break time. Laughing at each other, every time there's a mistake, haha. And the most that I loved in MMB was the teacher. She was so nice. We can understand what she says easily. and we learned so much in just a day, hehe. But when I was at first grade, I stopped dancing in MMB. Well it made me feel bad for a while.

Toe Shoes

Chloe finally wears toe shoes during her Ballet lessons. Her toe shoes were bought last May 2010, in preparation for her upgrade to Beginners 4 ballet class. Although they were not yet using them, she had been constantly wearing them at home, even without toe pads. She twirls and dances around the living room like a little ballerina. Last Monday, after her ballet lesson, she exclaimed proudly that she will not be using her old ballet shoes anymore. Because from that moment on, they will be wearing their toe shoes during every lessons.

Edward Cullen Forever

Haven't watched "The Twilight Saga:  Eclipse" in the theater, but have seen it thrice in my laptop already, and I have no plans of deleting the movie either.

I am so crazy about this movie. Of the three Twilight saga installments, I think this is the best one. Edward is still my favorite in the movie.  He played his role so well, intense, brooding and very much in love with Bella. So looking forward for the last part, Breaking Dawn.


Edward Cullen: Twilight Pictures, Images and Photos

Twinkle Flies Away

Once upon a day in May 2010, Tito Aumar brought home a little bird he found at the school campus where he works. The bird cannot fly because there was a gap in his left wing. Everybody welcomed the little bird as a new pet at home, and named him Twinkle. Kristian fed him water daily, Chloe gave him rice, Tito Aumar even bought a small can of worms. Makit, who constantly looked after him, also fed him fish and corned beef. He frequently chirped back as if in conversation with Doc Chuck. He eventually learned to fly, albeit very low and only in short distances. He usually stayed in the laundry area, sometimes flying in and out of the kitchen, or just inside the house. We were all fond of him. We thought he'd never survive outside with the other birds because of the things we're feeding him.

But on June 19, he surprised everybody. He flew away with the other birds. So to Twinkle, cheers to your freedom. You can come back anytime to eat fish and corned beef with us.

Advance Father's Day Celebration

We watched The Karate Kid at Robinson's Movieworld. Wonderful movie, loved it very much. We bought  Tater's fries and dip, sweet n sour popcorn and drinks. Jayden Smith, son of Will Smith, plays Dre Parker in the movie, and Jackie Chan, Mr. Hung in the movie, is the kung fu mentor. There were lots of fun moments, as well as teary-eyed moments in the film. Some touching lessons in life can also be gleaned from this film. :)

Movies to watch out for in the coming weeks:  The Eclipse (Chloe and I are going to watch this), Predators, The Inception, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and many more.

Face to Face with Coco Martin

Our schedule for power interruption this week was from 12 noon to 5 pm. That is equivalent to five hours without internet and work. No internet, no work, no output, no income. So Langging and I have been going to Bobs Cafe to drink cold coffee and avail of free aircon and internet for the duration of the brown out. But today is different, there was no table available near a power outlet at Bob's. So we tried our luck at Bar 21 and luckily found a nice and quiet place to work.

While I was engrossed with my work, Langging interrupted me and asked, "Nang, artista na sa ho?" (Sis, is he an actor?). She was curious because there was someone sitting on a sofa just a few feet from us, and female guests kept sitting down beside him for picture taking. So I looked up and, gosh!, there was Coco Martin, one of the two Tayong Dalawa Teleserye male leads. I didn't expect him to be sooo .... young and handsome. Maybe ten times more good looking than in the screen.

Martin is Class President

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
                           -- John Quincy Adams
 
Good news everyone. The shy and reserved,  yet sometimes "kulit" little boy, Martin Mirc, is the president of his class. He couldn't wait for class to end after the class election to tell his mom about the good news, and to ask for a reward.  His choice - to play computer.

Chloe is Chairman of the Tanglaw ng Lahi or the Filipino Club. She will be joining the Leadership Training in the coming week. So proud of you, Weng.  Guess, it's time to speak Filipino every Friday afternoon. :)

Way to go guys. More power Class President Martin, and Filipino Club Chairman Chloe!

Class Opens. We're back to our normal routine.

June 15 marks the first day  of class at CSA-B. Carl is in second year high school and Chloe is in grade 6 and will be graduating comes March next year. For the record, they went to school on the first day at 6:45 am, way too early, but they avoided the traffic rush, and everything went smoothly - no things got left behind, no wallet or cellphone forgotten.

The cousins also had their first day of school at Jack n' Jill. Martin is in Grade 2 Gem class, Wico in grade 1, Kristian in Prep and Icee in Kindergarten. 

Kid's Got Dancing Feet this Summer

The kids enrolled at MMB Dance Center for a six week summer dance program. Chloe continued with her ballet class and joined the HipHop class for the first time. This summer is Carl's second summer in HipHop class. Their culminating activity was held at St. John's Institute Gym last May 15, 2010. As always, MMB once again showcased the talents of our children, making us, parents, proud to be there in the audience - watching, cheering, and yes, also congratulating ourselves for our persistence in sending our kids to dance school despite the expenses involved and precious time taken off from work.

Here's the video of Carl, Chloe and the rest of the HipHop / Jazz Kids 2 class during their rehearsal:

Video of Chloe and Beginners 3 Ballet Class during their culminating day:

Summer 2010 Rundown

April 24, 2010.  We went to Roxas City to deliver some goodies to Mark and family. We stayed there for 24 hours only, but we had fun at the pool and ate a lot of everything:  talaba, pork barbeque, grilled scallops (hmmm), pizza, shrimp and alimango which was very rich in "aligi".  We just have to go back for more next year.  With me and the kids were Joan, Yeyet and Steve.

April 25 – 26, 2010. Spent two night in Iloilo with Chuck. Stayed at Residence Hotel courtesy of Tito Jess (thanks!). Ate out, lazed around the hotel room, did some malling and shopping, and walked along the Baywalk at night.  Ate at Uncle Toms the first night with Mark, Yeyet, Joan and Steve. Then at the Barbeque Park on the 2nd night. Gained plenty of memories and extra pounds. :)

May 8, 2010.  We spent the night at the Baviera's residence in Cadiz City. We lazed around the pool and had fun with the kids.  With us were Langging, Aumar, and kids Martin and Kristian, Nene and Juel (who owns the place), Tita Virdz and children, Robin, Apreal, Chinchin and Aries.

Summer = sun, pool, food, fun, fats

Chloe's 2nd Ballet Recital: Aladdin

March 13, 2010.  MMB Dance Centre held its 7th Grand Ballet Recital featuring the story of Aladdin.  This was Chloe's 2nd recital in ballet.  The first one was in 2008, where she danced as a butterfly in their show entitled, "Thumbelina."  As a beginner 3 ballet student, she and her group did two dances in the recent show.  They did the peasant dance during the first act, and in Act 3, they did the flower dance.

The show was very entertaining, filled with glittering and colorful costumes, and a variation of beautiful dances.  It was truly a night to remember for all the dancers, the parents and the staff of MMB dance centre.  For the dancers, it was with pride and confidence that they showed off the dancing skills they've learned during their twice-weekly sessions throughout the years, despite their busy school schedules. For us parents, we watched our children dance with great joy and gratitude, finally realizing that all our efforts in sending them to ballet school really made a difference in our children's self-discipline and self-esteem.

Congratulations to MMB Dance Centre for the successful show.  Congratulations to the dancers and the parents.  And congratz, Chloe, we are very proud of you.  We hope to see you dancing your way to your dreams.  Keep up the good work.

Ten Reasons Why I Love My New Digital Camera

1. This is the first digital camera I ever bought with money earned doing freelance writing jobs online. I ventured into freelance writing four months ago. And it's a luxury for me to buy a digital camera at this point. But it's one camera I can afford and it's well worth it. 

2. It is light and small, and I can carry it with me wherever I go. I didn't know taking pictures of just anything that catches my eye is an enjoyable experience. So from now on, I'd explore this newfound world.

3. Owning a digital camera allows me to take pictures of my family just about anytime I want to. This makes making albums and scrapbooking a whole lot easier and a lot more enjoyable.

4. With my digital camera, I can record videos of my daughter's dances and my son's participations in their school activities. It's good to have videos of them on file in my laptop. These videos are worth watching from time to time, pondering on these children's talents and how fast they grow up. They can surely use these videos and photos on file on one of their alumni homecomings one day.

5. It's amazing how much savings a digital camera provides. I just have to focus, click, then save or delete. I can choose and print what I like. Some really good shots are made into prints and put up in frames or photo albums, but a whole bunch of good photos are also stored in my laptop.