New Year Menu

We all went to the grocery yesterday to buy the stuff that we need for tonights'  Media Noche. I expected not to cook much on the eve of New Year but my husband wanted something special to send the old year off. He requested me to cook Paella, and Chow Mein while the kids requested for fruit salad. We bought a quarter each of edam and blue cheese for the "mini" festive dinner.  And to complete the menu my husband also requested for gelatin which he volunteered to prepare that is if I successfully get him to wake up before I start getting busy in the kitchen :) Will make sure that I get pictures of our Media Noche dinner and post it as soon as I can. Happy New Year to everyone! May we all have Peace in our hearts!

2010...in Retrospect

picture borrowed from http://miipz.tumblr.com

If the Year 2009 has been kind to us...this year has proven even better! I say this because everything started with a simple dream and my husband is a mighty dreamer...once he does, he puts them into full fruition. My husband has taught me how to dream even against all odds.  When he left for Saudi Arabia more than a year ago, it was a sacrifice that we all needed to embrace in exchange for a better life. It was so hard for us to be apart as we have always done things as a family. Most weekends were spent home or somewhere else together. So when my husband went back to the Philippines for a vacation we began to dream again.  My husband and I would talk about this "dream" of ours even after he has gone back to Saudi after his month-long vacation. Then we began to plan and again everything else fell into place. 

Of course there were trials as well but not so much as the blessings that we received in return. And we have always been thankful for the trials that has made us stronger and every ordeal worth the wait. So as 2010 is about to end its course, our family would like to give thanks to having celebrated another year of the gift of life, of having new friends and the rekindling of friendship, of having our parents alive and well amidst adversities; and the greatest blessing of all...having one another...a husband and a soulmate, and children who surrounds us with laughter and so much love.

Our family acknowledges the greater force behind all these; as our Creator, only He holds the blueprint of our lives. There has not been a day that our family has not given thanks and we continue to thank God for the blessings, the trials and the miracles...

For 2011 my family and I pray for soldiers all over the world to finally be able to come home, for women to give their unborn child a chance to live, for broken families to reunite, for the rebuilding of severed friendships, for hearts to heal, for forgiveness, for sons and daughters to take care of their aging parents, for homeless and hungry children that they may know what it is like to have a home again and be able to eat three meals a day, for the hopeless that they may be able to rise above their hopelessness, for worldwide peace. For our family...the Lord knows what's inside our hearts...once again we entrust our life to Him...His plans will be ours  and His path will be the road that we will continue to traverse.

Happy New Year to everyone! May 2011 bring us new beginnings and whatever our heart desires! And may we also work hard for a better and peaceful life this coming new year!

Christmas Post Script

I just want to share with you the letter that my son wrote to Santa, he was in such a bad mood during the early part of Christmas eve. I was surprised to see this letter attached to his Christmas stocking...

Santa Claus returns

We forgot to bring my children's Christmas stockings and I did want to make our first Christmas in Saudi Arabia a happy and memorable one albeit the absence of Christmas decorations. Hence, at the last minute I thought of making them their Christmas stockings with whatever material I have available. :) Then I asked my daughter to make a name plate that we can tape on the stockings. I also asked them to post their letter to Santa next to their own stockings. Here take a look... :)

I used plastic bags which I asked my daughter to shape into stockings and I used aluminum foil as a trimming to make it look a bit "Christmassy." These are the gifts that they received from Santa :) Waking up on Christmas day to find Santa's gifts even without a tree is always one of the best Christmas memory for a child! I remember my own Christmas memories with fondness and I would like my children to have their own treasure chest filled with nice ones!

Ally received a Spongebob stuff toy, Alloy got a Ben 10 robot, while my youngest got a Ben 10 gun with watch plus chips and chocolates :)

Noche Buena

This is a bit late but I just want to share what we had for Noche Buena. I prepared two kind of salads - fruit and macaroni which is always present on the tables of most Filipinos during special occasions. I also cooked chicken siomai (chicken dumplings), Spaghetti Tomatina and my own version of tosta dulce (it goes well with Spaghetti Tomatina). And we had dates for dessert... :) dates are common here in Saudi Arabia and there are different varieties. My favorite are the ones that are not too sweet... Yum!

Primary complex

We had to bring our son early this morning for a Microbiology, as the Pedia who saw him, called it. We brought him yesterday for check up because of his cough and to find out what medicine we can give him as his Isonaizid is about to run out. When he was 3 years old, he was diagnosed to have primary complex and this recurred again now that he is 7. He may have acquired this from our previous maid. In this country there is no such thing as Primary Complex, in fact, most of the nurses we have come across with would ask me to clarify what it means. Primary complex is Pulmonary TB and there are no other subtle term for it here. I am just happy with the way the doctor is handling my son's case. Pediatric doctors here have their own specialization, and the doctor we saw is a Pedia in Infectious disease. She recommended the tests to be done to my son to check if his liver is still okay from the medicines he has taken for his primary complex and also to check the source. 

For this particular test, a small rubber "tube" was inserted inside his nostril, it was done pretty quickly, but because my son did not expect it to be done that way, he cried an awful lot. Right after, I gently explained to him why the doctor needed to do the said procedure as he felt very negatively about it.  We need to go back for 2 more consecutive days for the same procedure. In the end, he understood and am sure he will brave tomorrow's task.

My husband was not allowed to leave the office if even for an hour; he was supposed to meet us in the hospital and bring us back home. So, we had no other option but to take the cab alone... i mean without him. We have been here for more than 2 months but this was the first time my son and I rode the cab without my hubby. Fortunately, when we got out of the hospital we spotted one. My husband warned me early on about the cabs that we can and cannot ride. So after checking out from a distance, I knew I hailed the right one. I told the cab driver where he needs to bring us and asked him "Malum? (i don't know how exactly it is spelled but it sounded that way, and this means "do you know?") in fact i was asking the driver whether he knows how to go there if he says "mafi malum" then my son and I have to look for another cab driver who knows the direction. Good thing he knows the way, bad thing though, is he is one of those "la parfum concentre"  oozing really and once inside the cab did not know which direction to turn my nose lol. If i could only reach down I would have placed my nose between my own armpits haha. It was a quick ride though and was just happy that we got home safely. 

The night before Christmas! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a mouse

And that is exactly how it is at this very moment...the kids are sound asleep. It's a good thing my alarm went off at 12 midnight i did not even set the alarm before I fell into a deep slumber earlier. I was so tired as I had to wake up early to prepare the food for Noche buena. This morning I prepared macaroni and fruit salad which I kept inside the fridge to cool. Then after lunch I prepared siomai and the pasta sauce so that by the time we partake of the Noche buena meal I would have enough "mommy time."  

So the socks have been filled and I was wonderfully surprised that our flatmates bothered to put some of their own little surprise inside my children's stockings! God bless them! :)  I mislaid Santa's letter though, a couple of days ago I asked my husband to print out a copy but I seem to have place it somewhere so safe that I've forgotten. So, I had to do a handwritten one good thing that the copy is still in the recycle bin. It was mighty hard though to change my handwriting and make it legible at the same time. 

Merry Christmas to everyone! And a Happy New Year! Spread the Love!