Moriones Festival 2013

This is the second part of our Marinduque trip about three weeks ago. Marinduque is home to the Moriones Festival, a festival highlighting the Roman soldiers' hunt for Longinus. Usually, there's a contest on who had the best Roman soldier attire and this is generally how the men fulfilled their Lenten sacrifice...

Yamee sleeping in the arms of our part-time nanny there

all from shells!

it was his happiness to have pics taken with the Moriones

and yes, Yakee's eye was puffy from being bitten by some bug

Yamee was more intent in eating :)

I was a little shy approaching the men so this was my best shot of the masks on a fence

this one is at Boac (the previous ones above were all in Gasan)

how's this for father and son? :)

and this is my only pic taken of the Pugutan play we watched... where Yamee would gleefully shout Caipas and Yakee would later ask, "Si Jesus, nasa ref?"

For Want of Pets

Yakee and Yamee would always gape at the fishes in the aquarium where we occasionally buy cooked rice from. And a few days ago, Yakee asked where their pet snails were. Haha. I told him they died while we were away in Marinduque (I didn not elaborate anymore on how badly they smelled when I got to them) and he was adamant we get new ones.

Oh no, not again. I am not going to be taking care of 'their pets' for them again.

But it is really rather heartbreaking to see them longing and eager for dogs and cats and what-have-you's. Yamee would even drag a chair from our home to the neighbor's door so he can stand on it and look in on the neighbor's dog. And by golly, do I get scared they'd get scratched or bitten at the market place when we go because they keep going too near the stray dogs and cats they see.

Sigh.

Someday, I am resigned to the idea that I will be scouring the net for  petsupplies.com reviews and harassing friends for leads and recommendations. I promise, I am. But right now, I really just cannot handle taking care of more creatures.

Such a pity... when Yakee keeps coming up with really wonderful names for pets. I really wish I'd see him petting a cat named Lantern someday, and that we'd have a dog named Sirius.

Well, I promise... someday sons, you won't want for pets anymore.

Marinduque Family Bonding: Idyllic Days

Shall I just use pictures? :)

I was glued to this spot for all seven days... the best spot there is at my parents'-in-law's rest house (but yeah, the one in the pic is Pappie coz I was going to take a bath when I took this picture)

10 minutes into Day 1, Flapper was given to the kids. The next day, he was dead... due largely to overzealous boys who wouldn't give him peace.... so God intervened. Sorry, Flapper.

Yakee's version of exercise :)

Yamee seems to have grown an inch or too while we were there... suddenly, he looked less of a toddler and more of a little boy (and did he enjoy the water so much!)

undeniably my fave shot of the whole trip... Pappie was telling Yakee here about Longinus because we were going to watch a Pugutan play, which Yakee didn't like because he had to be told of a beheading :D

the only decent pic I have of our entire vacation

unfortunately for my boys, the kids near their age who will play with them are all girls

Day 3... the kids got crabs as pet. Yamee unintentionally killed two of them within minutes (sorry, crabs)

homeschooling moment... had the boys collect different leaves for us to compare :)

different kind of crab... met the same fate as the first ones (sorry, crabs)

I look sooo losyang but I love that this moment was captured... it's one of those many times when both boys would snuggle in the hammock with me and I'll just be singing to them. Pure bliss, I tell you.

I take better pictures, wouldn't you say? :)

second bonfire time... as Pappie struggled making the fire, Yakee pretended to be a warrior... and Yamee ate as much as he spilled of the marshmallows

I just really hope these times will stay stuck in our sons' memories :)  (Yakee dutifully collected dried sticks and driftwood for this fire)

Yakee was super excited about this halo-halo moment... but didn't like that the halo-halo they had didn't have nata, hehe

this time... I think no crab died :) this is called tipas, caught in the early morning and can be eaten (think crispy crablets)... scared me some though when I poured them on the floor (assumming they were already dead) and they all tried scampering off (eh they look a lot like fleas, haha, so I ran away)

too bad I don't have a pic of them napping at the adult tree house... but this is another fave shot

being outdoors all the time exhausts Bunso so... 

Every time we visit Marinduque, I feel so overwhelmed by feelings of luck and gratitude because it's hard not to feel RICH and BLESSED when you're there. And seeing the boys THAT happy was priceless. Truth be told, it was also a reprieve for me... as I said, I stayed glued on the hammock... we just hired someone to watch the boys and they generally forgot about us (except to show us every bug and stone and stick, of course).

It was the perfect setting for prayers of gratitude... for this crazy, striving family. The best is yet to come.

Of Dads and Anniversaries

I think we actually met online March 11, 2000... the night after hubs' dad's birthday. That was a Saturday and we missed the EBs of our respective chat rooms (this story is so much funnier the way I told it in a blogberk post, but I cannot find the post).

We talked all night that night, and almost all day the following day... and again the whole night that night. Then he called me at work, calling me 'Baby' even before we met that night. The following day (14th, my Dad's birthday), we agreed to go steady.

We broke up around three months after that... and there were so many highs and lows in between before December 28, 2005. But we got to the altar anyhow.

Now, seven years later... I really find it amusing how I thought I already knew him before, or that I already loved him. Because it really just got so much better, deeper and more rewarding. I hope he feels the same.

Our marriage is still not perfect. Lately, he's been making more comments about my housekeeping... but I'm happy to report, without pretense and pride (just amazement and gratitude), that there's so much (more)  love and commitment in our marriage :)

May the coming years be kind to us so that we can enjoy them more.

 

here's to 13 crazier years ahead... and more!

Next Gadget Quest

I hadn't realized that I could actually finish novels and what-not digitally. I used to be such a snob but thanks to Kindle and e-book readers, I am willing to embrace technology now. Haha. I still prefer books but now get it that tablets provide more options than just being read.

Which leads me to this desire for a tablet with a huge capacity for stored files. You see, the interactive stories I download for the boys (you know, those ones that allow you to make a mouse run via touch, or pots to clang, or giants to stretch their legs out) take up so much space... that I have to limit my downloads (for I haven't purchased anything yet... except a Waldorf book on temperaments) for my personal use. I've about used up all the 16 gig memory of the iPad my sis gave me.

Hubby, on the other hand, has been torn between the latest offerings of Samsung (more information here) and other brands. I don't want a fancier phone though because I like big fonts when I read but don't want the bulk of the bigger Android ones, so a tablet is really the perfect size. We both salivated over the last one Samsung launched though, haha and re giving ourselves a few months to think it over (and wait for more reviews).

Sigh.

Good luck to our pockets!

Happy 66th to FIL

A short blog mostly of pics from last Sunday :)

 

Lunch at S&R for their pizza, ice cream and clam chowder :)

 

love it!

 

really love it!

 

some insect bit Yamee soo his eyes were still pretty puffed here

 

Yamee's fave pose these days

 

Kids enjoyed S&R

 

see :)

 

Yakee on sugar high

 

dinner at Tramway

 

crazy in laws