Our non-traditional Thanksgiving greeting

Thanksgiving is full of traditions:  dressing in your holiday best, gathering with family and friends, feasting on turkey and cranberries, going round the table and telling everyone what they're thankful for.  I didn't grow up celebrating Thanksgiving, but over the years that I've lived in the US I've come to enjoy the holiday and appreciate everything it stands for.

A life well lived, a life well loved

On March 31, 2011 a cousin of mine passed away. It was a great shock to his whole extended family; he was just 26. He is the first relative of my generation to go. The wake and funeral was held in the Philippines. I was asked to say something on the last day of the nine-day vigil; since I could not be there, I wrote something and asked my sister to read it. I've been crying off and on since he died, so I've decided to publish what I wrote, as kind of tribute to him, and closure for me.

Ten Years of Memories

Wow. The Pea's age is in the double digits now. She has lived a decade. And I've been a mother for a decade.

Ten years is a long time. It's long enough so that we remember events, but not the details.

Me Love Cooooookie!

I can't think of a name more perfect for these babies than Peanut Butter Cookie Bombs. They are explosive, deadly to your waistline and any diet you happen to be on. The recipe is in Gina Von Esmarch's cookbook, Taste This!, which I reviewed a while ago, but keep coming back to because the recipes are so great.

Gina is like this evil culinary genius -- how else can you explain how she got the idea of planting a Reese's peanut butter cup in the middle of a peanut butter cookie? And the recipe is waaaay too easy. If it had 50 ingredients and required sifting, food processing and all the nitpicky preparation I hate, I could at least say, Nah, it's too difficult to make. Really, there's nothing standing in the way of me and these cookies except my willpower. Much to Alfie's dismay, this is one love affair I can't seem to end.

Find more things people love at this week's Love Thursday post.

Last Day of School

Dear 3Po

To you, the Last Day of School doesn't mean much. To you, it's much like any other pickup day, when mama meets you as you exit your classroom and chases you down as you attempt to play one last game of tag with your friends. Maybe you notice a couple of differences. The Last Day is a chance to get a dayglo-orange popsicle to lick. It's a day when you get to take all your artwork home. For you, it's more about that First Day of Summer than the Last Day of School.

But this Last Day is bittersweet to me, because it's truly your last day as a pre-schooler. In September you and your brother will be in kindergarten. You'll be one of the Big Boys now. Your sister won't be able to tease you about not having proper lessons (well, she'll always find something to tease you about). Being a twin gives kindergarten an even greater significance. Now you and your brother will be forging your own, separate identities and going your separate ways.

No doubt I'll feel this way each time you move up a notch in the educational hierarchy, and when you enter college I'll wipe away a tear and laugh at myself for thinking that Kindergarten meant you were now One of the Big Boys. Tomorrow I'll rejoice with you and say I'm so excited you're entering your grade school years. For now, just let me stare at your stained, sticky face and wish you could be my little boy forever.

Love,
mama

For more Love Thursday posts, click here.

The Tooth that Fell Out Too Soon

Jammy has lost his first tooth. He's loving his new look, and the extra cash that came with it. I still can't quite believe it. He's barely five years old, it's much Too Soon.

It first started wiggling on Christmas Day; when I saw it moving and saw blood, I thought he had knocked another tooth loose, and scared poor Jammy with my panic attack. Even when the blood stopped and everything seemed fine, I thought, Too Soon!

For the next several months we coddled that tooth, taught him to bite food off to one side, cut all his apples up. That tooth hung on tenaciously. January turned into February and into March. We couldn't believe the tooth still hadn't fallen, but it certainly strengthened my opinion that the tooth had gotten loose much Too Soon.

In the end, Jammy woke us up last Sunday, on Alfie's birthday, with the news that his tooth had fallen out because he had yanked it off himself. Whaaat! You're not supposed to do that! You've made it fall out Too Soon!

Obviously, the problem is not the tooth nor the timing, it's me. He's just a little boy, my baby, he can't be having loose teeth because that would mean he's not my baby anymore. Sweet Jammy with the gap in your smile, I love you. I love the baby you used to be, the boy you are, and the man you'll become. I just wish I could keep the baby just a wee bit longer. You're growing up, and that's what's really happening Too Soon.


I know, it's not your typical Love Thursday photo or post, but in my mind, this is as much a love story as any out there. For more love stories, go and visit Love Thursday.

Don't you wish kids still dressed like this?

Today I thought I'd feature a photo from Alfie's childhood. Don't you just love the retro tricycle that he's riding on, and the cars in the background? And doesn't his outfit (coat, hat and boots) look smart? You don't see many kids wearing berets these days. Apparently Alfie loved that beret and refused to take it off, even at night.

We were watching the Angelina Jolie movie, Changeling, the other day, and Alfie commented on how cute the little boys looked, going to school in their berets and ties. I do wish kids were as smartly dressed now as they were back then? (BTW Changeling is set in the 1920's so I'm not implying that Alfie's photo above is also from that era!).

I used to dress The Pea in embroidered, smocked dresses every time she would go to birthday parties until I realized that everyone else was in regular play clothes, and she was better dressed than the birthday child. But in a time when those kinds of dresses go for $40 or more (we get ours from the Philippines, where they're much much cheaper) I don't blame anyone for choosing the $10 knit cotton dress from Walmart. But I do mourn the loss of well-tailored children's clothing.

For more things people love, click here.

Pink Pancakes

A photo left over from last Saturday... Alfie's Valentine breakfast. He slept in later than usual because he wasn't feeling well, and I took the opportunity to make him a special Valentine's Day breakfast in bed, complete with pink heart-shaped pancakes and Irish oatmeal that I had to simmer on the stove for 30 minutes. And after all this effort, when I took the tray upstairs, I found him pulling on his jeans to go downstairs. Aggravating man! He did enjoy my Valentine's Day present (he liked the oatmeal so much that for the past couple of days he's been lamenting the fact that we're in too much of a rush on weekday mornings to spend 30 minutes to make oatmeal).

Oh, I enjoyed my Valentine's Day present too -- Alfie did all the breakfast cleanup. Now that's love.

For more images of love, click here.

What a Sweet Heart

3Po and Jammy attended a Valentine's Day cookie party this morning. Surprise, surprise, all the little girls showed up in pink and red, and spent most of the time decorating cookie after cookie after cookie. Not that the boys were too far behind in that department. They piled on the icing and candy hearts until each cookie was loaded with sugary treats. Oh, well. Valentine's Day comes only once a year, right? (and so does St. Patrick's Day. And Easter. And every other annual celebration that simply must be accompanied by a cookie decorating extravaganza.) At least it makes for a cute photograph!

Happy Love Thursday!

The food of love

This combination of graham crackers and cool whip sandwiches is one of our current snacktime favorites. As Jammy puts it, "It just fills my whole brain with love".

For more expressions of love, click here.

Love Thursday, Thanksgiving edition

How wonderful and appropriate that Love Thursday and Thanksgiving both fall on, well, a Thursday.

Here's wishing everyone love, thankfulness and togetherness this Thanksgiving!

And one last thing: if you're still online, reading my blog.... you shouldn't be! Go spend some time with your loved ones and get off the internet. (Don't worry, I'm practicing what I'm preaching. I'm offline right now. Like all my piecrusts, this post was premade).

For more images of love, click here.

Hearts in the sand

The Pea loves drawing in the dirt. It won't be long before her artwork is scuffed away by hundreds of sneakers, sandals and clogs, so I thought I'd capture it for posterity.


For more images of love, click here.

Second looks, second chances

From afar, it's just an ugly old wall of ivy. You have to get up close to see the hearts. See? Sometimes you can't rely on your first impression; you have to give things a chance.


For more images of love, click here.

Alien love

I couldn't resist posting this little Halloween flashback for Love Thursday. When Jammy and 3Po trick-or-treated around Santana Row , they got a bick kick out of holding each other's tentacles (probably the only time they've willingly held hands). And don't you think those big yellow symbols on their chests look sort of like hearts?

For more images of love, click here.

Halloween Hearts

Last weekend I was setting out some Halloween-themed sprinkles for cupcake-decorating at our Halloween party, when I stopped and took a closer look at the pumpkin-shaped ones. All of a sudden it occurred to me that they sort of look like little hearts when you turn them upside down. How appropriate, considering I heart-heart-heart Halloween.

For more images of love, click here.

Love Thursday

When I was growing up, I saw my cousins every weekend. For almost 2 decades we played and fought and laughed and talked. I'm so glad that The Pea is getting a chance to bond with her own cousins -- my sister's children, who moved to a city just an hour's drive away. So far, we've been getting together about once a month, and it has been such a joy to see them playing together, just like I did with my sister and cousins so long ago.


For more images of love, click here.

I heart the Shutter Sisters Photowalk

I joined the Shutter Sisters on their first-ever BlogHer Photo Walk last Saturday. I joined the lovely and talented Karen Walrond as she led her group through the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown. I had my mind full of tips from Me Ra Koh's excellent photo session, and I was trying to play with her aperture and time setting suggestions and keep up with the group at the same time. So I wasn't really looking for any Love Thursday photos and I certainly didn't expect to see any hearts around Chinatown. But we turned a corner there it was, amidst all the Chinese Character signs, a lone iron door, all red and curly. How could I not snap it?

For more images of love, click here.

Nothing comes between me and my teddy

Isn't this sweet? Teddy was given to Alfie on the day he was born. X years later, he's still alive and kicking and very well loved, albeit a bit threadbare and worn in some spots. However, the shirt and trousers that Alfie's granny knitted for Teddy have not done so well, so the kids have dressed Teddy in one of Pansy and Jane's outfits. So Alfie can still cuddle up with Teddy anytime he wants.

For more images of love, click here. Incidentally, I can't wait to meet the Shutter Sisters next week!

Somebody loves me

She used her most prized stickers, the best and most precious of her collection. 'Nuff said.

* for more images of love, click here*

*check out the birthday giveaway on my review blog, Bonggamom Finds!*

What do you love?

Alfie loooooves motorcycles. I never really thought about motorcycles being works of art before I met him, but the artistry in some of the bikes features in this year's Legend of the Motorcycle show is undeniable.

Here's a rather cleverly hidden heart on a motorcycle gas tank:

This is Alfie's current "must-have" bike (aside from the one he already owns). It was ridden by actor Ewan McGregor from John O'Groats, Scotland all the way down to Cape Agulhas, South Africa. The bike doesn't look that great to me but I love the tank detail:

This is another of the bikes on display:

And this is my favorite one. WTF?? Is this the Baby Jesus drinking beer?! I love it!

For more things to love, click here.