Leighanne wants to sleep

At 7 months old,  Leighanne had a habit of plowing her head on the pillows before she slept.. Eventually this stopped when she learned  to stand up on.the eight month.

                                                                                   

                                                                                           

                                                                                 

                                                                               

Today

Today is a big day in our lives. There are events marking this day. Some may be sad . Some could be full of fun like celebrating birthdays, promotions, travel,.and many more. Count this day as a gift from God. Do not worry about tomorrow. God will take care of it. Your plans before could have been been answered today.God is there for us. Enjoy today.

Leighanne

Leighanne was barely  two years old when these pictures were taken. She wanted to answer the phone call. We were able to capture that moment. Her aunt Claire was on the other line.
                                                                     

                                                                  

                                                                      
                                           

                                                                                  

Blessings from God

        Count your blessings from God and thank Him. God will add more. Counting your problems day by day without asking God in prayer to solve them   and complaining to yourself and others about problems. Life is a blessing in itself. I have than it before . In prayer, I complained to God regarding my problems. Will it no longer end? But God, being a loving Father, was in control. I just did not understand Him at all. 

      When we are suffering, we forget that Jesus suffered the most . We said our prayer in lip service. We memorized the " Our Father "   and any prayer taught to us. Yet our prayers are not sincere. God is listening to our prayers. He sees what are  in our hearts. Simultaneously, God has the power to answer prayers of millions of people on earth in one moment.  Consult God first before making decisions. We have  many failed decisions because we did not consult God first.
        God has saved me from instant death. God allowed me to defeat  evil spirits through my prayers. I am really thankful to God to have given me second life. I asked God to be with my children . I am sure that God is with them and for them. God makes all things possible.

                 . 

Hard boiled eggs

      I noticed  many cracked eggs when I boiled them.   Being a Science teacher, I recalled some principles. Like a balloon, when exposed to heat, it explodes when the heat temperature reaches its maximum. The hot lava, ashes of a volcano will also find its way to the crater once it explode. So , I decided to prick the egg with a needle on the round part of it so that when  the egg heats up, it would not crack. The hot water content will go up to the small hole opening.

Child at play

Kaegan wanted to do his first crawl . He tried but failed. His cousin Jamie was there to follow him. It was a sight worth watching.
                                                      

                                     Jamie and Kaegan

Adgitize but read thoroughly.

When we adgitize, let us read the present and past blog . There are articles that  are helpful as they are
the blogger 's  personal experiences. Do not leave  the blog quickly   to adgitize more .

Household Tips

   1. Half-cooked rice- Pour water into a cup at half-full  and put it  on top of the half-cooked rice. Cover and

put under low fire.

   2. Hot water scalding - Pour cooking oil on the affected area. Wait until the pain  stopped.  Do not put
 anything    on the red mark except the oil. Water and oil do not mix. So, the hot water evaporates.

  3. Gizzard of animal break the stones that they  have  eaten    Gizzard can break  kidney stones in human  beings       too   Remove the white membrane lining the inside of the gizzard of a native chicken and wash it. Let it dry.. In a glass of water, put dried gizzard membrane and drink the water. It is somehow bitter in taste. You can repeat it in as many times as you can. Gizzard of chicken is a good food too.

   4.  My pomelo tree  did not bear fruits for many years.  I cut the main branch and  other branches leaving only four to five . This allowed new branches to grow and  bear fruits. We harvested  many sweet , juicy pomelos later.

   5. Urinary tract infection- I suffered this ailment a long time ago. It was painful. Upon advice, I gathered the plant sinaw sinaw /shiny bush /olasiman. This  grows in your garden . It has a shiny leaf . and thrive without watering for many days.I washed  the plants without removing the roots, boiled a pitcher of water with the leaves. I drank the water and had to consume the water in one morning. Soon, I urinate that sometimes without notice water came out of my body even before reaching the toilet.

Thank you, bloggers

I take  this opportunity to thank bloggers for their time and efforts in reading my blog" Bloggers from Sampaloc, Rizal,  Benguet, Sweden, Singapore, the USA, Davao City, Ireland, Australia, and Vietnam , thank you,

Mount Apo climbers

               At the entrance of our subdivision, one can see a breathtaking view of Mount Apo on a clear day. Only clouds can hinder the view. Mount Apo  is the highest peak in the Philippines. It is overlooking Davao City. It  can be seen from other places in southern part of Mindanao. Its elevation is 2,954 meters.

             My second daughter had wished to climb Mount Apo. One day, she told me that she would climb the mountain. I never thought about it seriously until her college friends  planned about climbing. Though exhausted from the college intramurals where she was one of the softball players . Their team won.  Together with her classmates and professor, they climbed the mountain. Unfortunately, her own pictures were destroyed by flood .

            My youngest daughter had shared  her thoughts of climbing Mount Apo. The opportunity came when the  head of  office planned Mount Apo climbing during the company's anniversary. There were many employees who signed in and  joined. My daughter was one of them. My daughters had also their own stories to tell regarding their experiences in mountain climbing,
              Shown below is my daughter Jesenie at the top of Mount Apo.

                                                            

It's Justin's Birthday -August 14

                                   Justin and Mom JM

                                                                                  

A child's smile and laughter

Our Lady of Fatima

     Honor the Immaculate Conception. Pray the Rosary daily. Pray for the consecration of Russia. .

Our school journalists

           Marlene   was my student in the high school. She represented the school in the Division Secondary School Press Conference. I know her potential as a good writer and she won. We went to Saroma Convention Center for the Regional Secondary Schools Press Conference in Digos City , Davao del Sur. Another winning student, Jocelyn, was with us. I was their moderator and coach. While there, I told these students to try their best. With some knowledge and talent in writing. Marlene won 3rd place in Feature Writing. She was one of the ten winners in Feature writing category  who qualified for the National Secondary Schools Press Conference (NSSPC ) in Olongapo City.

         Marlene became  a school  celebrity. However, the PTA could only finance the trip of one delegate  to the NSSPC. I got worried for Marlene because aside from going alone during the trip , she needed a chaperon-coach  to further enhance her writing ability. I told Marlene to go to Olongapo without me. She was sad . It was also her first trip to Olongapo City. I sought the help of my friend to act as chaperon to Marlene.  Her student also won in the contest. I gave some notes to Marlene about writing. Although, hesitant to leave,  the honor to represent the school weighed more than the hesitations she had in mind. Although Marlene did not win:, I was still very happy for her.  In March, Marlene graduated as Valedictorian and was given the award as"Journalist of the Year"..

        Marlene became my role model for other students to follow . She is now based in Sweden. To you Marlene, thank you for representing our school in all contests in Journalism.

        

        Jocelyn  is a talented student- journalist. Together with Marlene, we went to Saroma Convention Center for the Regional Schools Press Conference. Although she did not win, Jocelyn was my representative the following year to the same venue. This time, she won; and the privilege to represent Davao City  in the NSSPC which was held in Surigao del Norte. Unfortunately, the school  cannot afford again  to send two delegates. For the second time , I felt  frustrations for not accompanying my winning writers. The only encouraging words I gave to my writers is " I won' t accept no for an answer because I know you got the talent and you can make it. Do your best.". These same words were mentioned by Jocelyn  when she was our school's commencement speaker.  Jocelyn went to the National Secondary Schools Press conference without me. I let her go with the same teacher who accompanied Marlene in going to Olongapo. Jocelyn graduated Valedictorian. and also received the award as Journalist of the Year. She taught college and has been going to other countries for further work and studies. She went to Thailand and is now in Australia on scholarship grant.

            Maria Clarinda is my second daughter who won in News Writing in ( English ) in the division level.  She became the school's delegate to the regional contest. I was her companion. It was a two hour trip to General Santos City. It was during our trip that her tooth ached. It was a terrible pain.. I gave her a pain reliever but the pain did not subside until the contest proper. She tried to rest because the next day would be the contest proper. I let her sleep most of the time to ease the pain but woke up writhing in pain again. The next day, she tried to practice writing news. I coached her and gave her again a pain reliever. The pain continued until the result was announced. She did not make it. Maria Clarinda graduated as Salutatorian in high school. she became a teacher but quit  teaching after a year. She married a Texan guy and together with their seven-month old baby son, they  will be leaving for the USA this month.I wish my daughter the best of everything. God is with you and for you and your family.

         Analyn  was a school transferee of Maa National High School. She was recommended to me by Frivie, her classmate . So I accepted her membership as one of my writers in the school's newspaper.       Fortunately, Analyn won fifth place in Feature Writing in Filipino. We went to the Regional level contest. She got the third place. Analyn was one of the ten delegates of Region XI  for Feature Writing to the National Secondary Schools Press Conference held in Baguio City.  Together with our school principal, Analyn and I traveled by land transportation from Davao City to Baguio City. It was a very exhausting trip, sitting  on the bus seat for three days and two nights. The bus stopped during meal times and during body calls.. We arrived in Baguio City late in the afternoon. The next day, Analyn and I explored  some places in  Baguio City by ourselves. the following morning.. We went to Mine's View Park . I  told Analyn to do her best and seek the help of Almighty God for guidance and wisdom. The contest was  held in the afternoon

         She told me that the featured write-up was about Baguio City. The day of announcement of the winners came. I was sincerely hoping that Analyn would win a prize.  The tenth place down to the third place winners were announced.  I was already losing hope for a win. When the emcee announced the first name of the second placed winner, It seemed  a ray of hope beamed down on me and then the middle name was announced and I   was already beaming with smile because she had an A  as middle initial. Then the full name, I jumped with joy, She too jumped .  It was an unexpected win because our co-delegate was also from a prestigious school in Davao City  but unfortunately. she did not win. It was our first national award in  Journalism.   Until now, I do not know the whereabouts of Analyn. She did not graduate with honors because she was a transferee.   She , however, received the " Journalist of the Year " award. 

        

Blogger friends

Hello everybody:
            I appreciate all your visits to my site. Thank you all!  God is with you and for you.

Birthdays

 Francis - July 13   
   
          Hi Francis. Your birthday with your friends and family was the happiest moment. We all love you, langga. Happy birthday. Smile sa grandma bi. Pagka cute sa smile o.

                                                                   

Claire   -July 29

" May you have many blessings and more birthdays to come. We all love you. "

                                 Claire and son Kaegan
                                                                            
 Justin- August 14

           Hello Justin. It will be your birthday on the 14th of this month. Wishing you Happy Birthday. We all love you. Your smile is your greatest asset. Keep it on. You never fail to charm us with your simple smile.

                                                                                  

Why everyone must pray

           Serve God today. It might be late when you serve God tomorrow. Do not pray at the church only. Pray any time. We can say our prayer while working, while bathing. Let  God  wash our soul as we wash our body. When we eat, let God feed our soul as we feed our body. 

          Inside a vehicle, let God sit beside the driver for safety and for God to oversee other drivers on other sides of your vehicle. When we work, let God make our work easy so that we wont get easily tired. Let God enroll your son or daughter to high school or college. Let God find means to give college education to your children. Give your sufferings to God because He will stop it. Trust God. He is a great provider. 

          Practice the habit of greeting God.We make the mistake of greeting our superiors or our teachers when we met them but we forget to greet God. Say, " Good morning , Lord " God  will be happy to hear that. 

          When one urinates in public place, it is a practice to say," Tabi po" especially during the night One is  seeking evil spirit's approval in that manner. Why not pray to God to accompany you in an unknown place to urinate .The evil spirits will go away when God is your companion.

           Let God be your Physician. Let God examine first your sick loved ones before  you see a doctor. Pray everyday, everywhere.Prayer can be done without kneeling. Many miracles happened during your instant prayers. Pray to God the Father in Jesus name. Let the Holy Spirit be with us always. Each person has a devil on his side, tempting him to commit  sin. Let the angel of God be with us , too. 

          Pray without ceasing. God is just waiting for our call.

Our Lady of Fatima

        I attended a prayer meeting at Loved Flock. We  honored our Lady of Fatima by saying the Hail Marys 2000 times. The First Saturday of the Month is truly inspiring.The prayer started at 12:00 noon and ended at 11:00 pm

       My secret wish was granted. Thank you , Lord.  Also, the food offered was delicious.  A mass was held in the evening. I take this opportunity to request readers to pray for the consecration of Russia. Here is the link to the Holy Rosary-

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnRzs03RVHY&feature=related
      I am also inviting you, readers, to visit the Our Lady of Fatima website. It's Fatima.org.

https://secure.fatima.org/forms/prayer.asp
       You can also request Holy Water, Holy Rosary and scapulars.  Please pray the Rosary daily. Let us give the Lord our time to honor and pray to Him.

An encounter with evil spirits

          As I type this post, I am listening to Christian songs on You tube. I want God to be with me.

           My husband and I went to a school to enroll my daughter and see her college dean.   I was  not feeling well because of muscular pain on my leg.. It was afternoon and there were many students at the second floor of the building where the cashier's and registrar's offices are located. Some students were verifying their grades before enrolling,  Others were busy filling up their forms. 

          We asked for the location of the college dean. We passed the hallway and walked to the end of the building and we saw  two people, a man and a woman, inside the room. We asked  them ,though we were only at the door,  where the office of the dean was. We were told to go upstairs. As we walked our way  back to look for the dean's office, we did not see the students on the same floor of the building. We wondered.  It was strange because there were many students  around. We only saw classrooms.  We  went upstairs and asked a man we met,. He did not bother to answer us.  So, we went downstairs, and still the second floor  was empty, just classrooms. We went downstairs and walked on a path leading outside the building.

         We went  back to the second floor and there  we saw the students and the offices  and asked again for the office of the dean. and we were told that it is located on the third floor. We went upstairs passing the room where we saw the two people.  Upstairs, we finally saw the dean. We inquired about my daughter's performance. She helped us in the enrollment and she volunteered to look for the next schedule of classes of my daughter. As we arrived home, I noticed that something unusual happened to me.. I started to feel pain in my body  and told my husband and sister-in-law that I want to see a faith healer . He arrived  an hour later and began his ritual of healing. Later on , he surrendered and told my husband that he could not help me.He said , there were forces behind his healing .  I felt some pain in my heart and told my husband to bring me to the hospital. while inside the taxi, I prayed to God to let me reach the hospital on time. 

                At the emergency room, the doctor examined  my condition.  I was brought to the ICU. While there, noises of various machines attached to other patients bothered me so much. As I closed my eyes, images of the evil spirits haunted my vision. I opened my eyes. I could not believe what I saw. I did not shout for help because  other patients would be disturbed. I opened my eyes and saw other patients. They were suffering like me. My heart's beat was abnormal.. I opted to close my eyes again. Various images of the devil  occupied my vision again. This time, the frequency of their appearance was after  every second. 

              I had the idea that they wanted to get me. I prayed to God not to leave me. If I closed my eyes for an hour, flashes of different forms of the devil  appeared on my vision  by the hundreds. But I had to close my eyes in order to sleep. Sleep wouldn't come, the images kept haunting me.  Sounds of the machines did not make me sleep. I told the nurse who was observing the monitor that  I couldn't sleep  . I requested to be transferred to another room.     

            They brought me to the CCU.  There were two heart patients  lying on their respective beds. I learned that one was to be airlifted to Manila for further treatment while the other patient was in coma and dependent on life machine.  I heard the hospital is awaiting for the arrival of the daughter, a doctor from the USA, to make decision on what to do with the condition of her father..

          The devils did not stop haunting me. They appeared every time I closed my eyes. They would not appear when I opened my eyes or in dream when  I fall asleep.  Clinging to my prayer, I asked God's help that should I die, I would go with Him. I asked the Lord not to give me to the devil. I kept on praying for God's presence. The devil would show me images of God but the images would change into their form. I oftentimes asked, " Is that you, Lord? " I never  ceased praying as the images appeared.   If I were to be asked for their number,   it may have reached thousands since they flashed repeatedly every other seconds. 

               I asked the Lord  to let me hold His white robe so that I wouldn't be taken by the devil. I would prefer to be last in the line for as long as I enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes , I was not afraid of death if it was God 's  will . I just wanted to enter heaven.  As my condition  worsened,  I asked the hospital nurse if they had a Holy Bible  and a Rosary. She gave me the book and rosary and requested her to open the Bible on Psalm 91. I further requested her that should something bad happened to me, she would seek the help of Mother Theresa. I put the Bible on top of my heart and prayed the Holy Rosary. Soon  I slept, not remembering if I had finished praying the Rosary.

                Constant beating on three different areas of my body  - my abdomen, heart, and forehead was a great torture. I remembered the story of my husband during their training in the military  when a soldier  was asked for preferred punishment. When he chose beating with a finger on his forehead every second and lasted for an hour or more, it was painful and the soldier would collapse.The beating I felt was a pain but I went through it with prayer since the devil did not stop haunting me. As the doctor examined me, the devil did not stop. I did not bother to tell the doctor about the images. 

               It was the hospital chaplain  whom I told about the images. He prayed for me and gave me my daily communion. The images haunted me for three days and three nights. Their faces are the worst I have  ever seen.   No horror film images can equal them. They were  horrible and they came in various sizes, color, and forms.

              I did not stop praying and soon, the images began to lessen their appearances. Until the fourth day, the images no longer appeared. I requested to be transferred to a ward as  I was already feeling better .             There, I perspired profusely. My hospital attire became wet. I thanked the Lord  God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit for not leaving me . I also thanked the Virgin Mary for her intercession. It helps to pray.

           I know that in a near death situation , the devil would resort to his last attack to get a dying person. Had I cried and shouted for help, I would have died  any moment as my heart will gave way to fear and possible death.. My faith in God gave me strength to survive from the onslaught of the devil. It was a horrible experience. I can only tell my readers not to wish for a death while sleeping or death through accident as there is no chance for repentance. God's help comes even in near death when the faith is strong . Never surrender to death without asking God's help and forgiveness.  It is written in the Bible that death is at its worst pain. For me, I would prefer to die when I am conscious because I would still have the chance to seek God's help at the last moment of my breath.. A dying person's mind is semi-conscious although  he can not talk because I know God is waiting for a repentant soul at the moment of his death.

             NEVER CEASE TO PRAY.  God is mighty wonderful and loves us.

God is my Physician

                When a member of the family is sick, I oftentimes ask for help from   everyone's  Physician, God. I always ask God to examine the whole body of my sick loved ones. God has His own way of curing a sick person. He uses instrument like the medical doctor if He wanted the sick member to be examined and I am not complaining because God knows best.  Before consulting a doctor, seek God's help first. It works.

Pictures of my grandchildren:

                       The girl:

                                       Jamie@3

                       The boys:

                           Kaegan at 6 months

                                           

Three year-old Francis and one year- old Cian

                             One year old Justin

                

Stage Decoration

              My extra work as stage decorator in the school did not earn me compensation.  It is service beyond the call of duty. I cut letters after office hours, even bringing  the materials at home. For 38 years, I am always assigned to decorate  the stage during programs -Filipino Week, Nutrition Month, Foundation Day, Commencement Exercises , among others.  Last March , I suggested that we  use the tarpaulin and for the first time, I was able to relax a bit. My stock of letters  made from styrofoam are stored in  a cabinet. I will soon recycle the styrofoam into Christmas decors. 

            I got my first assignment on stage decoration when I was in college. I was a student teacher that time and the high school principal requested me to decorate the stage.