end of the year...

it's time to say goodbye to 2008. i am very grateful for the whole year of blessings my entire family & i received. we all have been blessed. i'm looking forward to a new beginning... god bless us all!

the day after christmas

merry christmas!

before christmas

we have one girl here who is very excited... worry.... impatient..... all becoz santa claus is arriving tonight. before christmas océane accidentally saw santa claus and had the chance to sit on his lap and told him her christmas wishes. it was a long list....

i have been good, santa....

hmmm let me see... i want pink laptop, the littlest petshop, pokemon dvd, my melody house....

december 14, 15, 16

hmmm what seems to be new..? it is still very cold, the sky is grey and i still prefer to stay under the warm cover... sipping starbucks coffee.

last night i got some thing new for my christmas decoration. this which came from starbucks hong kong. i've requested bernard to bring me back this since it is not available here. océane said told me that doudou is not for mama but for children only:-)

december 13

it's a freezing saturday here with only -2°C. océane & i went out and there was even a strong wind, terribly cold.

december 12

on the twelfth days of christmas,

my true love sent to me

twelve drummers drumming,

eleven pipers piping,

ten lords a-leaping,

nine ladies dancing,

eight maids a-milking,

seven swams a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

december 11

on the eleventh day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

eleven pipers piping,

ten lords a-leaping,

nine ladies dancing,

eight maids a-milking,

seven swams a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

it's zero degree here and océane was not cold when we were walking on her way to school early this morning. i guess, it is due to her excitement of eating lunch in her friend's house.

here's the finished trees that océane & i started doing yesterday. actually, océane finished hers last night. since we don't have enough pins and i've waited for the shop to open at 10am today, i finished mine just before 3pm today.

mother & daughter trees

december 10

on the tenth day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

ten lords a-leaping,

nine ladies dancing,

eight maids a-milking,

seven swams a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

today is boyet & len's wedding anniversary.

december 9

on the ninth day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

nine ladies dancing,

eight maids a-milking,

seven swams a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

december 8

on the eight day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

eight maids a-milking,

seven swams a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

today is the 17th years of our mother's death anniversary. for unknown reason i had a difficult time sleeping last night until past 2am. almost the same time when nanay passed away 17th year ago. perhaps, she visited us...

it's a cold monday for us today. i stayed home most of the time.

this evening, océane lost another lower tooth. the toothfairy is very busy with océane this year.

lost another tooth

on the other side of the world, ate and alyssa was at bonifacio high. geez, next time they will pose for the camera, they will be at the same height. hahahaha

mother & daughter

december 7

on the seventh day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

seven swans a-swimming,

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

december 6

on the sixth day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

six geese a-laying,

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

december 5

on the fifth day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

five golden rings,

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

it's me, océane! this is my official photo taken in our school. my smile is like that because i don't want to show that my two front teeth are missing.

december 4

on the fourth day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

four calling birds,

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

it is very cold... non-stop rain all mornings, windy and humid. i was out and it felt my ears will fall off anytime. this weather sucks! i spend time bringing océane to her school... then picked her up... brought her back after lunch and picked her up again in the afternoon after the class. luckily it stopped raining by that time. the only good part of my day was having my dose of starbucks coffee.

then a long phone call from alyssa filled with good news regarding their songfest (their class won!); her graduation picture (a very long story)... and just a long talk:-)

december 3

on the third day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

three french hens,

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

wednesday afternoon, i brought océane at maison de l'alsace to attend her first christmas workshop "atelier gourmand pour les enfants." luckily, there were only 3 kids on the first day of workshop (the succeeding wednesdays are fully-booked already). océane had lots of fun and wishes to do it again. she's crazy with pain d'épice or gingerbread.

december 2

on the second day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

two turtle doves,

and a partridge in a pear tree.

it's a death anniversary of our father. we remember this day...

at 8 o'clock in the morning, this is how it is in our courtyard. yes, the sky is really this blue. the office building (our neighbor) in our courtyard is almost empty.

wishing you a merry christmas

december 1

on the first day of christmas,

my true love sent to me

a partridge in a pear tree.

today is ate yssa's 13th birthday. she is a teen-ager now! joyeux anniversaire, ate yssa!

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also, today is emma's birthday. she is my cousin on father side. she is 12 years old now. she lives in marseille. happy birthday, emma!

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my dose of starbucks coffee... océane's advent calendar and starting today she eats lunch here at home.

another tooth

océane's another lower tooth fell this afternoon:-)

unexpected surprise

santa claus at galeries lafayette

océane's unexpected chance with santa claus. she's one very happy girl!

just blogging

this is during the 5 o'clock autumn afternoon. autumn and yet since yesterday, the temperature is 1°C. i wonder, what will be the temperature when it will be winter...


i was thinking about the red cup at starbucks instead, i got this red aluminium bottle shaped of coke.

surprise!

yesterday, océane came home from school with a big surprise.... her bedroom is now with christmas decoration. she's been bugging me to put up christmas decorations for a longest time but i just don't feel like putting up any decorations at all. hahahaha anyway, wednesday night the christmas lights at champs elysées were switched on and océane found another reason to bug me for decorations. finally, i gave in and put up decorations in her bedroom.

le beaujolais nouveau

le beaujolais nouveau is here! we'll have a bottle tonight for our dinner.

we had this georges duboeuf beaujolais nouveau. "vin fruité, tendre. d'une belle robe rouge vif cerise, il a des arômes de fruits rouges. en bouche un vin bien équilibré."

santé!

today...

i've finally, worked on my december daily album, which took me few hours this morning... decided to make it real simple, so it will be easy to do and finish:-)

front cover

back cover

red is back...

yes, red is back at starbucks:-)

today, i tried mocha cerise griotte and it's yummy:-) my daughter said it smells so good. hehehe thanks kuya eras!

while i was enjoying my starbucks christmas pleasure, océane wishes for these two items (the child's gingerbread mug & christmas teddybear girl)....

happy halloween!

all i want for christmas is my two front teeth

this song is for océane....

Every body pauses and stares at me

These two teeth are gone as you can see

I don't know just who to blame for this catastrophe!

But my one wish on Christmas Eve is as plain as it can be!

All I want for Christmas

is my two front teeth,

my two front teeth,

see my two front teeth!

Gee, if I could only

have my two front teeth,

then I could wish you

"Merry Christmas."

It seems so long since I could say,

"Sister Susie sitting on a thistle!"

Gosh oh gee, how happy I'd be,

if I could only whistle (thhhh, thhhh)

All I want for Christmas

is my two front teeth,

my two front teeth,

see my two front teeth.

Gee, if I could only

have my two front teeth,

then I could wish you

"Merry Christmas!"

second upper front tooth

yes, océane lost her other upper front tooth while having her afternoon snacks.

happy birthday, tonton eras!

"no, it is not my birthday, tonton eras. it is your birthday!" said océane as she talked to my brother on the phone earlier. oh she was excited and one would think it was her birthday:-) she's like that --- excited even it's someone else's birthday. when kuya eras asked her where is her birthday gift, she replied: "ops!" hahahaha

well, happy birhtday, kuya eras!

toothfairy, where are you?

océane woke up this morning... then her upper front left tooth finally fell. oh she's been trying to take it off last night to no avail:-)

oh, it's friday

it is good to hear the word "friday"! we brought océane at the school this morning. of course, she was one happy girl walking holding her papa's hand on her way to school. then a quick trip to the bank. oh before that, we stopped and had a cup of café (for him) and a cup of chocolat pour moi in his friend's bar.

mon chocolat

then on our way home, we pass through parc monceau. oh this park was part of océane's daily life when she was a baby. i used to bring her there almost every single day... weather permits!

love the autumn colours at parc monceau!

my thursday!

my thursday? hmmmm it just grabbed me out of the blue. what is it with my thursday? i guess, just the regular daily stuff. i brought océane to her school. took a little walk... went to starbucks for a cappuccino and now i'm home blogging. oh, my first load of washing is already in the washing machine. the second one is waiting and clothes for ironing is piling up. that is basically my thursday morning:-)

100 ans d'industrie aérospatiale française

i brought océane to the exposition to see these....

by lunch time océane was hungry and happy with some goodies she got from the exposition.

week in the life - sun, mon, tue

week in the life - saturday

looking on our thermometer right outside our window made me hope we are back in thailand or manila. it's 5°C right here right now and they say it is autumn! hah! staying on bed under the cover is much better.

this evening i got my new canon eos 450d digital slr camera:-) i am loving it!

week in the life - thursday & friday

every thursday, océane have a swimming class in the morning. she go to school with her school backpack and her swimming bag.

oh yes, she's happy after school. i guess, she must be hungry and just looking forward for her afternoon snacks.

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ah friday.... :-)

it's good enjoying the friday morning and looking forward to a weekend.

week in the life - wednesday 01/10

today is the usual school-free day for océane.

she prefer to go to the park or garden. however, with this low temperature, it is a little out of the question to bring her to the park or garden to play. she may end up getting sick and she'll miss going to school, not a good idea. she is not used to go shopping (it is something that will make her complain... oh yes, not like her mother... lol). recently, she likes to go to virgin megastore only becoz of the pokemon card.

after our morning walk and seeing the pokemon cards at virgin megastore, she's one happy girl already. gotta love simple pleasures in life!

week in the life - tuesday 30/09

a rainy & cold morning day when océane and i went out to go to her school.

basically, every day i have time to take a walk either after i brought océane to school or before lunch and sometimes even before i pick her up in the school. our neighborhood is very interesting area and of course, there is the avenue des champs elysees that always filled with tourists. then the rue faubourg saint honoré and ave. montaigne -- all haute couture shops good for window shopping not unless i am with kuya eras. it will be a real shopping! lol