oh, yes! oh, yes! it's springtime! (at last!!!)

waking up from long hibernation during the loooong winter. seems very timely to start blogging again :)

today we were out and about since lunch time. it's the bratislava open doors day, a.k.a. bratislava for all. it's the day(s) when you can go to museums and different bratislava attractions for free. there are also some free rides, including historical transport vehicles. 

this year, we were able to ride the historical bus to zelezna studnicka. just by chance. originally we planned to take the tour train to the castle, spend some time at the playground, and take the historical trolley bus back to town. but, the wait was long and the historical bus 33 was right there and about to go.  so, what do we do?

we went all the way to the ski lifts. it was about 20 minutes hike from the last stop. the ride wasn't free though, only tomorrow it will be. no wonder there were no queues. but at 4€/pax (children up to 6 are free) two-way is reasonable enough. so we went up and back. 

on the way back, no more hiking. we were just in time. we caught the normal bus, but we didn't have tickets. good thing it was just 3 stops and no checker. :D we also didn't wait too long for the real free ride back to town.

andy fell asleep at last while still in the bus. so we decided to just walk to eurovea for dinner. kolkovna was fully booked, so we ended up in mercado. it was not a cheap dinner, but i think it was a good ending to a good family day out in the city. 

we didn't get too much of the free stuff that the city was offering. but it was a good, hassle-free day that everyone enjoyed. :)

T.I.R.E.D. but...

i wanted to post this on FB but seemed too long for a status. so then i just decided to write a little bit more and put it on my blog. it needed an update anyways, after almost half a year. :D

--oo0oo--

lately, TIRED has become my favorite word. wasn't even able to cook proper lunch nor dinner for hubby. it has always been a problem for me to think about what to cook given the short pocket of time that i have and the varied appetite of my customers (namely the piglets and hubby); moreso now that hubby is on a special diet after the operation.  sigh!

on a positive note, we've got good progress on alex's family tree school project. and i feel really proud about it.  we've known about this project for a longer time. from the very start, i knew exactly what we would do. but then, things got busy.  there were cakes to bake, parties to organize, hubby's operation, and andy's birthday celebrations, etc., etc.  

today, at last, i decided to start the ball rolling. since the morning i was working on it.  it was so frustrating. i had the idea, but executing it was a different matter. add to that that piglets keep wanting my attention. the whole day's schedule was just getting in the way.  but then after dinner, i finally got it! eureka! 

i cannot remember putting so much time and effort to my school projects like this.  and it's really kinda fun.   just a little more tweaking and then it's done. oh wait, we still need to practice her presentation. oh well, at least we'll get to see her presentation this time.  very much looking forward to it!

excited much?! :D

brought the kids late to kg. i was still driving when i got a call so i wasn't able to pickup. later i got a call from my friend that there's a delivery guy waiting for me. so i called back the guy and asked him to wait for me. and so he did. 

i was in a hurry. thinking it was the kid's house for the garden, i ran to him asked him to go to the garage. he must be thinking i'm nuts because then he showed me a much smaller box than i imagined. and then i read the word "kvety" which mean flowers. i felt so silly!!! :))) later on i realized that the house order was already cancelled :D 

thank you daddy!!! muah! i love you! this time you got the colors right! it's perfect! ;) 

and thank you to all my friends and family who greeted me and is about to greet me. you all made an impact in my life whether big or small. each and every touch made me who i am today. thank you LORD!

surprise baby shower honoring

had a good day today. was at a surprise baby shower honoring for a friend who is also temporarily leaving bratislava to deliver the baby in philippines.  as surprises go, we were the ones who were caught off guard when the honoree walked in on us still not done with the decorations.

i've always been thankful for the friends i've met here in bts.  however, i'm not sure if i just tried to play it cool this whole time or what.  but surprise! surprise! i started shedding tears while reading my prayer blessing.  i almost choked on my words.  i guess they've touched our lives so much that my emotions got the better of me.  they are not just friends. they are our family here in this far off place.

thank you LORD for this day. and thank you for the people you've sent our way. we love you all!

andy and karol

16-month old andy and 9-month old karol

swinging at the aupark playground

my little pirates

today karol and alex have carnival in kindergarten.  in slovak tradition, a carnival is where kids dress up in character. today the biglets are dressed as pirates.  however, due to the cold weather, i didn't get to see them in their full costume and face paint.  i did their face paint but they had to dress in kindergarten.  i could only imagine how they are based on our dress rehearsals. :D

philippines vacation

at dinner, daddy told me that alex was crying in kindergarten.  so i asked alex why, and her story goes something like this...

alex told her friends in kindergarten that she will be going to philippines for a long time.  now one of her friends was crying and telling everyone that alex will not be coming back.  so alex was crying with her friend, saying that she doesn't want to go for a long time.  i was surprised, because ever since we mentioned the vacation she's been too excited.  she asks me from time to time if we can go already.  and when she finally understood that we will be going after christmas, she began waiting for christmas.  so i asked her why she doesn't want to stay longer in philippines. her reply was, "but i only want to go to philippines to eat fried banana, cheese whiz, and stuff like that that we don't have here." 

you see, fried bananas are really a big thing for her.  :))

the family that prays together...

our family prays before every meal.  sometimes, when the biglets are too hungry, they come running to the table and asks if they can start eating already. my standard reply is to wait until we have said our prayer.  it worked for some time and then the biglets became smarter.

now instead of asking if they can eat first.  they just go on and pray by themselves so that they can eat ahead.  so one time, i told alex that we should wait until everyone is at the table because "the family that prays together, stays together."  

now karol, having very little self control would run to the table and tell me that he wants to eat already.  then he would start doing the sign of the cross, bring his hands together and then say, "i prayed already!" and then start eating.  (note: he still doesn't know the prayer.)  alex, not wanting to be outsmarted, told karol, "karol, the family that doesn't pray together will not stay together. so you should wait if you want to stay with the family."