As I write this post, I am in my hospital bed. I’ve been in the hospital for the last three days where I have been diagnosed with adult onset asthma. Bummer! Allergies have been in my family and I’ve been dealing with my children’s allergies for years. So it’s not a surprise, really, that I should develop it. What surprises me is that I got it in adulthood. As it turns out, there is adult onset asthma.

I haven’t been feeling well since Christmas last year, but with all the rush and the busyness, plus with my kids also with coughs and colds, I failed to focus on my own illness. I did go to an internist who prescribed me with antibiotics. I finished two different rounds of antibiotics but was not feeling any better.

Last Thursday morning, I had my usual breakfast of cereal with milk. The milk, however, was not the brand that I used to buy. Right after eating, I had a coughing fit which caused me to vomit all that I ate. I wasn’t nauseous at all, but it was the severity of the coughing that made me vomit. Feeling quite bad after that, I decided to rest and take it easy for the day.

I’ve been lying down and just resting the whole day, but I still did not recover. In fact, I felt worse. I had difficulty breathing and my back had such a tight feeling. Guitar Babe finally told me that I should go to the hospital because I looked bad.

I called up hubby from work and asked him to meet us at the hospital. When there, they told me that my CBC did not show any infection (it should because I’ve been on antibiotics for two weeks), and that my chest x-ray was clear. The doctor recommended that I go home. Hubby was ready to take me home but I persisted. I asked the doctor, if all those tests show that I’m fine, where is this dry, hard cough coming from? And why did I feel so bad?

The ER doctor agreed to admit me and referred me to a pulmonologist. After going through several tests eliminating that my difficulty in breathing did not come from a heart problem, I had a Pulmonary Function Test. This test involved several breathing exercises into a machine where they measure my breathing capacity. I became so exhausted after this test which the therapist said was not normal.

The test finally confirmed that I had asthma.

At first, I felt grief in my heart that I should have this illness. I’ve seen my sister suffer through asthma and I got scared. After awhile, I then realized that it’s such a good thing that I insisted to be checked and did not agree to be sent home. Otherwise, it would have been very bad for me if the asthma had still gone unchecked.

Yesterday, I had another asthma attack and hubby and I didn’t even know it. I just knew that I couldn’t breathe well and felt really bad. In the afternoon, they finally placed me on oxygen which helped a whole lot.

Well, I’m still in the process of processing this whole thing. The doctor told me that weight loss is a major help in managing this. I’ll have to stop making excuses now and finally face the reality of taking care of this body of mine.

The doctor is finally releasing me today. I can go home and I’m so looking forward to being with my children again.

I do love our Christmas this year. Despite my previous post about feeling melancholic about last year’s Christmas, this year has been memorable for me.

Our kids got to spend more than a week with their cousins at their grandparents’ place. Nothing beats seeing the smiles on their faces and hearing their laughter. Of course, there were also lots of crying but that came with the territory.

We celebrated Gary D’s birthday with most of the family at a pizza place near our house.

We also visited my hubby’s family and had time to catch up with each other. We haven’t seen them for a long time it’s just good to catch up with them.

Gary D. also had time to be with his brothers. With everyone so busy these days, we have to make the effort to be with each other.

Just when I thought that I’d never get the gift buying and wrapping done, my sister and I went to the Noel Bazaar on December 22. Yes, it was all last minute but I was able to buy gifts for our loved ones.

Surprisingly, I also got a lot of my Christmas cooking done. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures for that because I sent my daughter/photographer at her grandparents to spend time with the cousins.

The highlight of our Christmas is watching Kaos at Resorts World Manila. Hubby got all of us tickets at a discounted rate making it affordable for most of the family. It was an unforgettable show and we all enjoyed watching it.

Here’s the whole family posing under the Christmas tree at Resorts World Manila. We had so many kids, I was busy counting heads every ten minutes for fear that we might lose one of them!

There’s nothing like celebrating the Christmas season with your family. I’m glad that we made the effort to see most of our family members.

God is good!

Photo courtesy of Public Domain Photos and Images

As the month of November came to a close with December following closely on its heels, I started feeling melancholic. I remembered the past years when the month of December meant loads of activities for the kids, parties to attend, gifts to buy and wrap and lots and lots of cooking to be done.

When did Christmas stop being a time of awe and wonder for me at the birth of Jesus Christ? When did it start to become just a month of rushing to and fro resulting in exhaustion at the start of the new year? These and other memories of past Christmases filled my mind constantly.

True enough, upon the first week of Christmas, the activities and invitations started coming. There we go again rushing from one place to another with barely enough time to breathe.

This morning, hubby Gary D., called all of us together for our family devotion and prayer time. We read Matthew 1:18-25:

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (NIV)

Although we read this passage every Christmas, there’s always something new to learn each time. As we started talking about Mary conceiving even before she and Joseph got married, I asked this question: “Why did God let Mary conceive before she got married? Did he not consider that Mary will be placed in a delicate position -  that of a young girl becoming intimate with another man when she was already engaged to another?

Gary D. said that it’s something I should think about. Suddenly the answer came to me! It wasn’t that God did not care about Mary being put to shame, it was part of His great plan for us! If Mary had conceived the baby Jesus after she and Joseph got married, how can we say then that this was a conception by the Holy Spirit?

Once more this is proof that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. Our ways are not His ways. God is not bound by our human standards but we can certainly count on Him to have the best plans for us! As my favorite verse Jeremiah 29:11 says

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

I was truly encouraged by this new understanding and knowing the Lord better. I realized that I should really be thankful for this Christmas season and every Christmas that I have celebrated and will celebrate. This season may have become extremely commercialized, but the message of the birth of the Messiah will never, ever change.

”She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (NIV)

Our family has had a crazy month and it’s still not over.

In mid-October, our son, Flash Boy, was brought to the hospital because he has been vomiting the whole day. He wasn’t eating or drinking anymore because he just vomits everything he takes in. After four days in the hospital, we brought him home. A few days later, his sister, Sunshine Girl, woke up one morning and complained of a headache. She didn’t want to get up from the bed and did not want to eat. After lunch, she also started vomiting. So again, we went back to the hospital to have her treated for dehydration. Both Flash Boy and Sunshine Girl have been hit by a non-specific virus.

Not even a week has passed, when Artsy Princess told me that she feels sick. I told her to get plenty of rest and drink lots of water and Vitamin C. After three days of this, she’s still not better, she developed a low-grade fever and rashes were breaking out all over her body. After a call to her doctor, we brought her to the hospital to be tested for dengue fever. True enough, she was positive for dengue. Sigh… another four days in the hospital. It was starting to feel like we lived in the hospital, I haven’t even had the chance to unpack our bags from the past hospitalizations.

The whole experience felt like being hit by a truck many times over with no time to get up and recover. The hospitalizations have left me exhausted and at times, discouraged. I asked the doctor what it is that brings it on. She said that children are really prone to sickness nowadays with the terrible pollution in Metro Manila. Here’s a picture to show the smog covering our city.

* Photo courtesy of Guintong Tahanan *

That picture was taken from a hotel in Ortigas. You can’t even see any blue skies anymore.

One day when I was walking on the street outside the hospital to buy our lunch, I was thinking about how hard this time is for us. The Holy Spirit reminded me that other families had it much harder. I know of a family in our TOS Crew whose two children have illnesses that they have been dealing with since birth. Hospital visits are a part of their lifestyle. Another family had a mom dealing with fibromyalgia. A mother whom I saw in a drugstore the other day was worried about where to get the money to pay the hospital.  

Looking at it from that perspective, I realized that we had much to be thankful to the Lord for, despite the illnesses. Our children may have gotten sick but these were simple illnesses that they recovered quickly from. It was scary for me to see them being so weak, but after a day of being infused with IV fluids, they recovered quickly.

We didn’t worry at all about our hospital bill because we have previously made the wise decision of getting medical insurance for the whole family.

We had the support of family and friends who visited us and also prayed for our children. The messages of my fellow Crewmates on our TOS Crew also did much to bring me encouragement.

Last Saturday, I was so excited to attend our church’s worship service. It was a time for me to worship God once more, receive His word, and to refresh myself in His presence.

Whatever may come our way, we are assured that we have the Lord with us. We are never alone in our trials in life. It is during these times of difficulties in life when we hold on to God’s promises. We see God clearly and know that He is working hard for us, too. Yes, God is with us in good times and bad.  God is truly, truly good!

“Dear brothers and sisters, when trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when  your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

James 1:2-4 (NLT)

This is the second part of my answer to the missionary mom’s letter which I blogged here and here. However, I got another letter from another mom and I’m posting her note here because I would be giving similar answer to both questions. My answers are printed in blue italics.

Letter from Missionary Mom:

Just wanted to ask about your homeschooling system i.e. how you got the kids “enrolled”, what age did you start each kid, do they take regular tests sa DepEd to get accredited, etc etc.

Letter from Inquiring Mom (I called her this because the subject of her email is “INQUIRY”)

Hi Miss Michelle! I’ve read some of your great and inspiring blogs! May I please ask where you enrolled your kids? How do you go about homeschooling?

Your insights will be a big help for our family! Thanks so much!

The question “How do you go about homeschooling?” seems like a very general question that can have a lot of answers. Homeschooling is different for every family just because every family is different. So there’s really just no point of comparison. But just to answer this question, I’ll share a few things about us.

First, we started with a goal in mind. One of the goals we had was that we wanted our children to be educated at home because we wanted to be their main influencers in life. We believe that sending them to school would also mean giving up our reins to their teachers. Every family who is considering to homeschool must begin with a goal. This goal would carry them through all the trials that they would be experiencing. The goal must be deeper than just saving a few thousand pesos. Because if that is the only goal, then as soon as you have the money to pay the tuition fee of a regular school, off to school your child will go.

Then, I read all I can about homeschooling and I still do until now. I researched a lot that’s how I found so many sites online about it. You have to be aware, though, that the research can actually overwhelm you because of all the information that is available. But the continuous reading on my part has helped me tremendously in my homeschooling philosophy.

I spoke to a lot of Filipino homeschool families, attended orientations and studied the available materials available here. My children have gone through two homeschool providers then studied independently, and this is now our 3rd year with Kreative Kids, Moms and Dads.

I started homeschooling when Guitar Babe was 7 years old. We used Alpha Omega Lifepacs which are very good. Artsy Princess was only 4 years old then and I did not formally teach her anything until she was 7 years old. I did not enroll Artsy Princess when I started teaching her. What I did was to buy workbooks from Powerbooks. I did purchase Sing, Spell, Read, Write for her and it went great. She only learned to read when she was past 7 years old because I did not believe in starting her academics too early. It’s a different case with Sunshine Girl now, because she really wants to learn. So I’m already teaching her now even if she is only 5 years old. They have not yet taken any DepEd tests and when they do, I will share it here.

Our homeschool at home is not as consistent as I would like it to be. I mean that I try to follow a schedule as much as we can, but life really just happens. I always have to remind myself that my priority is to teach my children at home. However, I’ve also learned to view the life experiences as opportunities for my kids to learn about real life.

The one thing I’ve found that helped me is to always have a plan, no matter how loose it is. Plan what the children will study for the school year, what materials to use, how long they will study, the days of school, the holidays. The quote “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail” is just as applicable to homeschool.

Finally, the best thing that I believe I can do is to pray and commit our homeschool to the Lord.

Proverbs 16:3 (New Living Translation)

Commit your actions to the Lord,
      and your plans will succeed.

Missionary Mom and Inquiring Mom, I hope that I have somehow answered your questions and that I have been of help to you and your family.

God bless you!

I’ve just reread my blog post answering Missionary Mom’s letter if I ever sent my kids to regular school. I believe the next logical question to ask would be if I would ever consider sending my kids to regular school again. Missionary Mom did not ask this question but it just seems like the unasked question in her letter.

After seven years of homeschooling, going through all its ups and downs, I would still gladly keep on teaching my children at home. Up until my last child, Flash Boy, finishes high school, at least. If you do the math, that’ll mean another 15 long years – and this is just fine with me. I’ve written in my previous post why this is our conviction.

Some people tell me right out that my children will miss a lot of the experiences that children going to regular school have. Well, let’s see now exactly what those experiences are that my children are missing.

1. They’ll miss the daily commute to and from school, in the middle of traffic, pollution, rains and floods.

2. They’ll miss the daily rush and the intense pressure in the morning of getting everyone fed, clothed and sent to school.

3. They’ll miss the peer pressure from other children in their school.

4. They’ll miss having to do tons of assignment after they have been to school for eight hours.

5. They’ll miss having to compete with 50 other students for one teacher’s attention if they don’t understand the current topic of study.

6. They’ll miss the influence and authority of other adult figures in school, whether positive or negative.

7. They’ll miss being forced to rush through a topic that they barely understood just to get in with the teacher’s schedule for the day.

8. They’ll miss the friends that they will make in school.

Below are a few good things that they will really miss because they are not going to school:

9. They’ll miss the teachings of a really, really good teacher who is an expert on her subject.

10. …

So far, I can’t think of anymore to put in number 10. My point here is this, if those are the things that my children are missing, then they are not missing much. Even number 9 is also not a big deal because there are so many in the family and among friends that are experts in their own right with whom our children are exposed to.

My children tell me that sometimes friends ask them if they don’t miss school. They will ask back with this question, “What’s there to miss?” Their friends would respond with having school friends, the prom, etc. When Guitar Babe had this conversation, she said that she’s not missing much. She has lots of friends in church and among our homeschool group. As for the prom, she asked, “What’s the big deal about proms?” I replied that they get to wear nice gowns or outfits and party with their friends. Both Guitar Babe and Artsy Princess said, “But the prom is not the only place you get to wear a nice outfit and party with your friends!”

To end with, my husband and I firmly believe that whatever it is our children are “missing” are definitely not as valuable as teaching them at home. We place great value in family and our faith in God. And we are able to impart these values everyday in our homeschool and daily life.

I always look forward to Saturdays. Saturdays are when I bring my kids to their homeschool co-op classes at Kreative Kids, Moms and Dads. Saturdays are also when I get to be with my fellow homeschooling moms. We trade stories, give advice, help each other, watch out for each other’s children and pray for each other. We share our books, parenting styles, and homeschool stories. I love it!

Just this past Saturday, one of the newbie moms, who also happens to be an event coordinator, said that one day soon she’ll plan a homeschool event and she’ll have us as guests and exhibitors. She’ll call us “The Supermommies”. She said that ever since she’s met us, she just can’t help but just be in awe of everything we do. Aside from homeschooling multiple children, most of us have our own income generating activities that we do on the side.

I can’t help but chuckle about this when I remembered it later on. Me, a supermom? How can I be super when I’m so organizationally-challenged? Believe me, there are many times that I berate myself for not preparing well for our homeschool. At this time last year, I was so smug in reporting to the group that we are already well into our studies. This schoolyear, it’s different. I feel like I can’t get a grip on my schedule that I can’t even finish organizing my children’s books and subjects! So much for the supermom!

Add to that the fact that I haven’t written a blog post or a review in the last two weeks. I’m feeling very inadequate already. I’ve been praying hard asking the Lord to bless my planning for the homeschool, asking Him to give me wisdom in setting my priorities,  but I’m constantly attacked by thoughts of inadequacy. These thoughts of inadequacy have been my constant companions these past few days. I’ve been berating myself about the one thousand and one things that I needed to do, but I can’t or am not doing. Phew, it’s tiring.

Speaking of tired, I have been tired lately just by my going around and around. By that I mean that I’ve been out constantly getting errands done. I shared with my husband earlier today how I feel guilty over having to leave the children in the care of our househelp. He told me to stop berating myself because it’s not like I’ve been irresponsible, I’ve simply been doing what had to be done.

Well, supermom I’m certainly not. In fact, it’s not even what I want to be at this point in my life. When I was younger, I must admit that I really tried to be the “Supermom”. I did everything that I thought a mom should do and more. When hubby went abroad to work while I was pregnant with Flash Boy and left me with three kids, I smiled bravely and declared to the world that “I can do it!” He came home for the birth of Flash Boy but left after two weeks. Again, I smiled bravely and declared, “I can do it!”

Three weeks after hubby left, I was teaching Guitar Babe and Artsy Princess while breastfeeding Flash Boy, my then three year old Sunshine Girl started acting up. Suddenly all these thoughts came zooming into my head one after the other so that a few minutes later, I was trembling and on the verge of tears. I didn’t know it then but I was already experiencing an anxiety attack. My psychotherapist sister told me that these attacks come because I am already overwhelmed by all the things that I am doing and I don’t get any breaks.

Since then, I’ve had a number of attacks, one even landed me in the hospital ER. The hospital sent me home, of course, after I calmed down. There wasn’t anything wrong with me physically but spiritually and emotionally, I was drained trying to play supermom, superwife, superwoman.

Did God really call us women and moms to be super? Is it what He wanted us to do? I have to wonder. I listened to Dr. Charles Stanley’s audio message the other night (after having another attack yet again) and he said that there are things we expect of ourselves that God does not even expect of us. He also said that living with anxieties is also living in bondage.

My take on this is found in Philippians 2:12-13

Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.  For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

I don’t believe God meant for me to be supermom. I believe that He meant for me to be the kind of mommy who would love and care for my children as best as I can replicate God’s love for His children. In this, He has already given me the power to do so. And during those times, when I am tired and overwhelmed, I can rest and know that God’s grace is sufficient for me.

My heart is filled to overflowing today as I think about our family’s past week. I am so grateful to the Lord for He hears us and answers our prayers. How good and great is the Lord our God Almighty!

Well, since it’s the start of the rainy season, it’s no surprise that the kids got a touch of cough and colds at the start of the week. It’s not a surprise, but tough on us. What made it even tougher for me is that I also came down with diarrhea at the end of last week. It has left me weak and tired all the time. And even if the diarrhea stopped, I felt that my tummy has not settled down completely since I still can feel my tummy rumbling.

I’ve spent the last few days assessing where my children are with regards to their homeschool. I’ve been reading The Trivium Mastery by Diane Lockman. I received this book from the author so that I can review it but I did not know how much it will bless me until I started reading it. She also has a website with a tutorial which I’ve been doing this week. I’ll write more about this in a future review. For now, suffice it to say  that I am tremendously blessed with The Trivium Mastery.

Also, I’ve done research on what resource I can use to teach my preschooler, Sunshine Girl. Believe me when I say that there are just so many, many kind and generous people who have created curriculums for preschoolers and have put it up for our use for FREE.

In my search, I’ve decided that the curriculum that I wanted should be Bible-based, encourage the reading of rhymes and books, should be full of craft activities, and should not require me to source books that are not available here. Before I share what I’ve decided is the best fit, I’d like to share first the various preschool helps/curriculum I’ve found online:

If you think that you will need to purchase an expensive curriculum to teach phonics to your child, look at this website first. Progressive Phonics is a FREE all-in-one reading program. It has books that you can either read online with your child or have it printed and bound. You will need to register to use this site but it is free to register.

Starfall is an online, interactive reading program that will hook your kids. It is cartoon-like and is very interesting. Sunshine Girl loves to get on this to learn her alphabets with music and games.

The Letter of the Week Preschool Curriculum by Brightly Beaming Resources has a complete complete curriculum to teach your child with books and songs.

Now my Sunshine Girl loves to create. She loves to paste things and has done a lot of creative crafts on her own. So I’ve looked for more ideas for crafts for kids. And here are some:

DLTK’s Sites has so many wonderful craft projects for kids to learn their ABC’s, shapes and numbers. It is a huge sight that includes Bible crafts, animal crafts, countries and cultures and many, many more.

Confessions of a Homeschooler is a blog owned by one of my fellow TOS Crewmates. She offers a lot of printables that we can use to teach our own preschoolers. I’ve learned a lot from her, too.

Tot School is fun time with your tot, says 1+1+1=1 the blog owner. Just like Confessions of a Homeschooler, her site is full of ideas and printables that you can use to teach your tot at home. I love this site, too.

No Time for Flashcards is brimming with so many different ideas to teach your child. I haven’t been through so much of this site but I have used some of this site’s great craft ideas.

Homepreschool and Beyond is a blog owned by Ms. Susan Lemos. She blogs about faith-based, developmentally appropriate homepreschool / homeschool using a literature approach. She believes homepreschool should be based on the 4R’s: Relationship (with God and family), routine, readiness, and reading aloud. She has published a book which I, hopefully, can review in the future but you can read excerpts and a lot of ideas on her blog.

Now I use a lot of great ideas from all the resources above. Sunshine Girl expecially likes Starfall, so I’m going to let her keep using that. But there is one site that I will be using to teach her.

HUBBARD’S CUPBOARD offers a complete curriculum for ages 2 – 6. It comes complete with weekly and daily lesson plans, printables, book list. It uses the rhymes and Bible stories, Bible memory verses and is full of craft activities. I’m using this because it looks like the best fit for me and my child. We’ve been through week 1 so far and it’s been good.

I’ve presented here several sites for you to go through. It can get overwhelming at first, but don’t let this get you down. See what works best for you and your child and only use those. If it doesn’t work, discard it.

God bless you all!

Week in Review is a new part of my blog. I’ve seen a few of my TOS Crewmates doing their own weeks in review on their blogs and thought this would be good to do on my own blog.

Last week is our first few days of homeschool. This schoolyear, I have decided to formally start teaching Sunshine Girl, my 5 year old. Although I believe in starting them late, she has been asking to learn. She already learned a few alphabets on her own and that amazed me.

Using Hubbard’s Cupboard curriculum, we started on the first week – reading about the first day of Creation in Genesis 1. She had fun with all the activities that I prepared for her – night and day sort, learning the number 1, reading Baa, Baa Black Sheep and memory verse.

Artsy Princess is once more enrolled in the Weekly Writer Program. Weekly Writer is an online Language Arts program for kids from Preschool to 8th grade. The owner / teacher is Judy Steidl and she has prepared several activities for her students. On Weekly Writer, Artsy Princess writes her own blogs, talks about the books she reads and meets new friends online. Apart from that, we also started her Geography lessons.

Unfortunately, Artsy Princess was hospitalized early this week with an infection that had her vomiting for a whole day. We stayed in the hospital for three days. When we got home, there was a big storm and we lost power for a day and a half.

Guitar Babe has also started with her Roman history lessons. I assigned her to read the first chapter of her book and answer the study guide. When I checked her work, I’m glad to see that she was able to answer all but one of the questions in the guide. She even reported to me that she found the Roman history very interesting.

In our homeschool support group, I’ve been tasked to teach my two classes the local song “Sitsiritsit Alibangbang”. It was relatively easy to teach the children and they also learned to sing the song easily.

In the middle of all this, I had to deal with Flash Boy also getting sick. Artsy Princess’ hospital confinement also left me exhausted but there are just so many things that a mother has to do at home. In addition to all this, I also have a writing assignment that I needed to finish up.

It definitely has been a full week for us. I came across a question sometime this week, “What is the best thing you like about homeschooling?” There are times during these last few days when I’m reading to my children and the two small ones start fighting. Then when they’re through, the two big ones start their own “kulitan” (sorry, what is the English word for that?). But later on my Guitar Babe prays,

“Lord, thank You very much that even if my siblings and I fight, I know that we love each other very much. Thank You for giving us a mom who is very patient with us. Thank You for giving us a dad who works hard for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

And that is one of the things I love best about homeschooling! The Lord is good!