Our night without JoAnn

On Thursday Daniel and I left JoAnn with a neighbor and had a night out. His buddy, Kirk, gave him two tickets to game 2 of the UAAP finals. Sounds interesting right...well, Ateneo was playing De La Salle, their rivals and the finals are the best two out of three. Ateneo won the first game, meaning if they won the second game they won it all. So it was a big game for them and Daniel was so excited that Kirk had the chance to be a part of it. Right before we left, I got a lecture from Daniel about how I needed to wear something that showed I was chearing for Ateneo. I told him I was sure it really wasn't that big of a deal, but would wear it if it made him feel better. By the time we got to our seats, I was so glad Daniel had me change. It turns out that Kirk's parents had him offer his two really good tickets meant for them to someone else and he gave those to Daniel. We were literally first row right behind the Ateneo bench.
The view from our seats....
The game was a pretty intense game and Ateneo ended up winning. We had a lot of fun. I tried to get a video of the end on my camera, so I could show people what it sounds like to be at the game, but the sound quality on my camera isn't the greatest and it just sounds like static. These games are so loud its crazy.

After the game we went for our Taco Bell dinner and headed home. This arena is a pretty good distance from where we live, so in order to get there we always take the train and on the way back we realized that the walk from the train station to our car was going to be interesting. I guess we haven't gotten used to the rain here yet. Sometime during the game the typhoon that was in the area brought a lot of rain and it was pouring by the time we got back. Of course neither of us brought an umbrella since it was sunny and clear when we left. Usually I wouldn't even think twice, but there is no parking at the train station, so we had to park probably 1/2 mile away. We got soaked by the time we got to our car. Then to make it worse, our car's windshield wippers don't work and the roads were really flooded. It was quite an interesting trip home, but we had a great time going out by ourselves.

Maraming Pictures

That's Tagalog for many pictures and that is exactly what this post is full of. Daniel's parents just left last night to go back home after spending 10 days here with us. It was so much fun and so many things happened, I don't even know where to start and I am sure I am going to leave many stories out. They arrived early Wednesday morning and we spent Wednesday through Sunday catching up, playing with JoAnn, checking out the Arthur Center, visiting Tanza (one of the other places where the food from the shipment is being used) and Daniel and his dad were also able to check out the golf course across the street from where we live.

This was from when we went to Tanza. We had to cross a stream/mini river in order to get to where the church is located. Here is how it went for Dad...
Getting started...

Halfway there....

Wait, I'm missing something...

Fortunately, we had an extra pair of sandals in the car since Daniel had his sandals completely fall apart the last time he was there and we were going to return the pair he borrowed. It seems like Tanza is just not a good place for sandals.

Sunday after church, we showed Daniel's parents one of our favorite places in the Philippines...Boracay. It is a beautiful little island in central Philippines with the prettiest white sand beaches. We had a great time soaking in the sun, eating all we could eat at the breakfast and dinner buffets, golfing (well not JoAnn and I), playing in the sand/ocean and hanging out at the pool. JoAnn absolutely LOVED the ocean and the pool. Starting from the airport waiting to leave here are a few pictures of our time there.

She absolutely hated wearing the hat.
And I think she thought the sand tasted good.

Checking out the waves with Daniel.


JoAnn figured out how to use a straw for the first time while we were there. It really made life much easier not having to bring a sippy cup everytime we went somewhere.
When the guys weren't off playing golf one morning, Mom and I managed to sneek away and get our nails done. The pedicure wasn't really the brightest idea though since as soon as you step out of the shop you are walking on sand, but it was still fun.
Notice I am standing one step below Mom and I am still the same height. : )

Here are a few more random pictures.


As always it was a great time that went by way too fast. We loved having them here and JoAnn loved having some more time to spend with Grandma and Grandpa.

Random tidbits for the week

So, I really meant to be better about putting stories and pictures up than I am right now. The only reason I say that is because I already forget some of the stories behind these pictures, but I will do my best to accurately tell them.

Our neighbors right now are remodeling their place and let's just say they are not making friends very well with the parents of small children that live near them. They just finished week 3 of ripping out old tile and/or cement and the noise is so loud. I have to admit that sometime last week I was totally convicted of my attitude towards them. I kept getting so frustrated that JoAnn can't sleep with all the noise that I forgot I should be thankful that we have such a nice place. In all seriousness running water, electricity and a ceiling that doesn't leak is considered luxury for many people in the world and I shouldn't take it for granted. Back to the story, since JoAnn can't really sleep with all the noise, every time we go somewhere during nap time she comes with us and sleeps in the car and/or stroller. I forget which day it was but Daniel and I went somewhere during JoAnn's afternoon nap and she feel asleep in the car. So when we got back I asked Daniel to just lay her in her crib and see if she could sleep a little longer. When I went to go get her up later I noticed Daniel had forgotten to take her shoes off. I think I thought it was even more funny that it happened to be her favorite pair, the Crocs.


One of the many nice side effects of a sleep deprived one year old is that they just don't eat well. So, instead of fighting with her to get her to eat, I have been letting her drink her bottle while she plays. Again, I don't remember which night it was, but instead of playing JoAnn decided it would be fun to sit underneath the table in a place where we couldn't get to her without moving the table or the highchair and drink her bottle. Weird, I know.

Last strange picture...
She woke up really early the other morning and wouldn't go back to sleep unless she laid on the couch with Daniel. I guess she was really tired because he got up without her noticing and somehow she ended up sleeping like this. I would think that would hurt your back.

Yet another cute story

This story is from a couple days ago, but I thought it was really cute and worth sharing.
We used to have bunk beds in JoAnn's room along with a crib, which if we had normal sized rooms would not be a big deal at all. However, her room is pretty small, so with the bunk beds and the crib we only had about a two foot aisle that ran down the middle of her room. Over the weekend we got rid of the bunk beds and now there is a lot more space and JoAnn loves playing with all of the toys we moved from the living room to her room. So the other day Daniel and I were talking and she was playing in her room by herself for a while. A couple minutes after she came back in where we were Daniel looked at me and asked, "Did you put that on her?" I just stared at him blankly trying to figure out what he was talking about. Then I looked down. She had one of her Crocs on and it was on the wrong foot. Somehow, she must have found it and managed to put it on herself.


She was so excited about the fuss that Daniel and I were making over the fact she put her own shoe on that it took several attempts to get a picture where you could see her foot. I had to use the fan to distract her long enough to snap a picture.

This week we also started doing what Daniel refers to as the "Lunch Club" at the Arthur Center. Every weekday he is having someone cook up a big batch of food and if you need it, you can come eat. (I refer to it as a soup kitchen.) JoAnn and I went over on Monday which was the first day and I must admit it was a little surprising that the first 45 minutes or so of serving food we only saw about 15-20 people. I wasn't really discouraged, but more surprised. It usually seems like we have a lot more than that show up when we do other things and serve food. Then about an hour after we got home, Daniel got a text from our pastor saying that we ending up feeding 82 people. I guess after we left a bunch of kids came in and ate. I still am not sure how the amount of food we made fed that many people.

Yesterday, I was talking to one our friends who has a feeding program for kids in another area of town and since they got the food from the container, they decided to start a secondf eeding program in a village that is next to the one they work in now. I guess on the first day somewhere in the ballpark of 180 kids showed up wanting food. They weren't able to serve everyone that came, but what a blessing to be part of a program that is so needed. I think the craziest part about that feeding program is the lady they are getting to cook the food cooks over a fire. Can you imagine cooking for 180 kids over a fire pit?!

This Week in Review

I actually wrote this out yesterday, but when I went to add the pictures our internet went out again. Finally today it seems to be working...at least for the last couple hours.

On Sunday morning before church, Daniel left early to go pick up a friend from the US that was in town for a few days and was going to church with us. So, while Daniel was picking up Keith it was just JoAnn and I at home. That meant while I was getting ready, she was left to entertain herself for a few minutes. Right when I was ready to pick her up and walk out the door she came around the corner looking like this....


Somehow she managed to get into our dirty laundry and put my shirt on. I could not stop laughing and tried desperately to get the camera in time to take a picture. Then of course right after I snapped the picture the shirt got caught under her feet and Jo went flying. She managed to land right on her mouth and her tooth cut open her lip. It was the first time that she had any real blood from hurting herself and I was freaked out. All I kept thinking was, "Of course this would happen when Daniel was gone." Then after a few seconds I got my clear head back and was able to actually look at it and see that it was fine, she would just end up with a fat lip. So, I grabbed a piece of ice for her to suck on and headed out the door to meet up with Daniel and Keith.

A couple minutes after we got in the car Daniel said that he was going to take Keith to see Kirk play basketball and wanted to know if JoAnn and I would like to join them. I thought it would be so much fun to take JoAnn to her first basketball game. So that afternoon we all went to the game. JoAnn was really quiet the whole time, but loved playing with Keith and dancing to the drums.


Then on Monday, I took JoAnn with a few other women for her first shopping trip to Greenhills. It has been over a year since I had been and I love to go even if I don't buy anything. It is a huge indoor market where they sell everything from clothes to purses to shoes to pearls to whatever else you can think of. So, I dusted off the stroller and we went shopping. One of the big things that was everywhere were the Crocs. They had just about every style and color that you could think of, so when I saw the smallest cutest pink pair I couldn't resist. They are a little big still, but I think they are so cute. You wouldn't be able to tell from her face in the picture but she really likes them.

Last thing, I just have to do a little Man U promotion here...


Daniel thought it would be cute to put one of his soccer jerseys on JoAnn and I just liked the fact that it was from the all time best soccer team.

YEAH!!!!

Okay, so I am a little frustrated with the internet right now. There is something wrong with our service provider again and the only website we can access is Yahoo! I don't understand it and I am trying hard to be thankful that we have a computer and the internet at all. It is a little difficult to walk down the hall and have our neighbor's internet working perfect and still be happy, though. So, to sum it up I don't have any pictures to put up right now because I am borrowing a computer. I do have a couple cute stories that when our internet is working better I will put up. Let's just say JoAnn is getting cuter every day. The one thing I wanted to share my excitement about though, is that Daniel's parents are coming to visit! Well, that deserves a few more "!!!!!" I can't wait, it is sort of last minute, but as of right now they are coming in a few weeks to see the Arthur Center and help Daniel sort through all of his ideas about what to do with the food that was on the container. I seriously can't wait. I love the fact that JoAnn will be able to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. I do wish it could be everyone that we miss coming to see us, but I will take what I can get and be utterly excited. So, hopefully you will hear more from me soon. (Please pray either for my patience or that the internet will get fixed, or better yet, both.)

Bathtime Fun

The other night Daniel was gone while I was trying to give JoAnn a bath and I decided to be a little adventurous. There seems to be no such thing as a bath tub in the Philippines (I know they are around, but other than at a hotel, I have only seen one). So with a toddler you have to get creative at times. I have an infant tub that we usually use, but JoAnn's knees are pretty much in her face when we use it now and I have also tried just giving her a shower, but she really likes to splash in the water and you just can't do that in a shower. My other option is a big round bucket that is usually used to handwash clothes. The reason why I say I decided to be adventurous is because I have used it once in the past to give JoAnn a bath and in the amount of time it took me to turn around to grab her towel, she managed to climb out of the tub, out of the shower and was throwing her toys in the toilet about to go in after them. So, with that in mind, with the exception of her diaper I got her ready and everything out before I even filled the tub. Well, the smart little girl that we have must have figured out it was bath time because I only had it half way full before, diaper and all, she managed to crawl inside the tub and start playing with her toys. I wish I could find something that she can't get in and out of so easily.