Alright. Here we go. "Take a deep breath." That's me pushing myself to breathe and get back to life. Fifteen long months of silence and here I am again, resurrecting from my extended furlough, fit for the battle(?)
As a starter, allow me to walk you through my family photos stored on my Iphone for the last year or so. "What a journey it has been," so the lyrics of a song goes. Where have all those days and weeks and months gone? But God. God has been faithful through the seasons. Isn't it wonderful to have your Iphone handy all the time and snap snap snap capturing those fleeting precious moments.
Welcome to my world...
 My kind of girls De Chavez side. Three of five adorable nieces l to r Keila-Ava-Lala and the Daughter. Missing Drew and Baby Avi here. |
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| The Daughter Selfie a lot. |
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| The Hunny and Me...my friend Tita (Aunt) Carol Jacob and Dr. Jo Arago, my sister-in-law. |
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| My Little Bear just created Spiderman his parachute. |
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| Lord of Harvest AG Church ladies...we love cell-grouping hang-out style at this OLD SPAGHETTI HOUSE. |
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| The Daughter with her fishtail. |
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| How about a bunch of bread for your starter at Sofitel's Le Bar? |
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| Our hotel room with a view of the evening fireworks at SM Mall of Asia. I know, I know, it's a bad picture. |
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| Sofitel's famous Cheese Room at the Spiral Restaurant located at the ground floor. |
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| Matthew Henri or we simply call him Matt, my youngest nephew, son of my youngest bro Henri. |
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| Matt's killer photo....love love love...oh with that quill in his hand oh with that innocent joy painted on his face! |
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| Matt on Boquete Island, Puerto Galera. |
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| So this was how our Solar System Project was assembled. |
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| My kids had fun learning about astronomy last school year on Apologia Science. And this was their culminating project done with their Tita (Aunt) Nini whom I've asked to co-teach on the 3rd and 4th quarters. What can I do? This poor teacher-mom was a graduate of Mass Communication and she was a bit intimidated by the subject matter. Thank God for lil sisters like Tita Nini, a Registered Nurse, ha! |
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| Solar System show-off...and I couldn't tell how many times he has done this during playtime or pastime! |
Church boys foolin' around. The future Dr. Clarence, (bottom center) my nephew. And by the way, he's our Youth Pastor.
Ming and the Daughter
The Daughter and Lara
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| Breakfast at Auntie Lola's, Calapan City. My Inay (Mom) and Kuya ( a term of respect for older brother), we also call him Pastor Chris. |
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| Another epic selfie by my Unica Hija. |
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| My Darling Sunshine, selfie a lot. |
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| Who needs a DSLR camera if Iphone's giving you a lot of this? |
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| And this? |
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| And more of this? |
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| And that? |
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| This sold at the public market in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro. |
Breakfast at my older brother's place in Calapan City. Extreme left, Dr. Joey, and the rest of us.
The Son's first pet chicks named "TWEETER" and "PEEPER".
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Cousin BFF Julienne Bianca (right) and Mom Bibian (left) at the cinema.
Julienne Bianca adorable as her cotton candy. She's also a cupcake!
My sister-in-law, Bibian, has a green thumb! Homegrown chillies galore!
Never would have thought of getting my hands and nails dirty with plumbing repairs?
But when the Hunny was far and away, and leaking faucets and corroded pipes scream of disaster, this Girl puts on her plumber's hat. Must she forget, she's a daughter of a carpenter?
That stinking China-made GI pipe crushed like flakes or wafer inside the threaded PVC pipe and this Girl panicked like crazy she might damage the entire water tubing that's buried deep into the concrete CR wall.
So, this Girl had to run to the nearest handyman store to buy a new set of water faucet kit.
Teflon tape around the thread. Check. The right connectors to the right connections. Check. Pipe wrench and a hammer. Check. Safety glasses on. Check. The Daughter with the Iphone camera ready. Check.
My fingers and my shoulders sore for the pounding and hammering and wrenching! Check!
But we have a Daughter who graduated from sixth grade. And this photo taken by her stage Mom with her Iphone inside the studio was forbidden!
Again, this photo taken by the Daughter's stage Mom with her Iphone was forbidden inside the portrait studio!
So, the Tita-Aunt...the lil sister of this Girl sifts and kneads and ferments and bakes away...sour dough...
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| THOR DE CHAVEZ!!! |
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| Just see what happens... |
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| What significantly happens... |
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| What amazingly happens... |
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| When the TV is shut and the PSP is off...creativity spills and all possibilities are limitless. I often wonder, had I not decided to stay home with The Son and The Daughter, and chosen to stick with them as we journey the less traveled road to homeschooling, would I ever have the privilege of seeing this Boy-Wonder emerge as an inventor and an engineer, clad in his own outfit creation? thriving in his own creative realm? defying expensive store-bought toys and gizmos and gadgets in all their sophistication and he creates his own toys made of recycled boxes and cartons and plenty of markers and duct tapes? |
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| Me and my Hunny at a neighbor's birthday party. |
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| Our home-made Advent wreath this year and that wooden rotating candle holder stands proud which I haggled from my favorite surplus store. Then I didn't realize that I bought 6 candles when I only needed 5!!! I got too excited, maybe? The four Sundays of the entire month of December and one for during Christmas Eve. We light a candle each Sunday, we talk, we make sense of this family tradition, meaningful conversations purposefully making a room for the true Reason for the season, reading the Word, we all get excited as we countdown to Christmas, a Christ-centered Christmas. Ann Voskamp says it for us: "I don't want a Christmas you can buy. I don't want a Christmas you can make. What I want is Christmas you can hold. A Christmas that holds me, remakes me, revives me, I want a Christmas that whisper, JESUS." |
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| My Unico Hijo, also my walking buddy...and here we're literally on top of a hill, enjoying the cool December breeze, Calapan City. |
