For those of you who still read my blog :)

If you're wondering why I haven't bloged in the past week, it is because I have become a busy nit-picker! Over the past years, I have volunteered at my kid's school to help find head lice & nits. I must say, I seem to easily spot them & have become good at it, too. For the last two weeks, I have been helping check children at our local day care center. Someone referred me to them when they called the school to ask for help with their ongoing lice problem. I check kids heads for 3 hours a day, twice a week. If a lice or nit is found, kids are sent home with instructions on what to do & how to deal with the problem. When they come back, I do a re-check. It's a little odd when someone refers to me as a "professional" though. :) It gives me a great feeling to be able to help.

Chicken with dijon mustard

Here's my family's favorite chicken recipe:

baked chicken breasts with dijon mustard, teriyaki sauce, parmesan cheese & bacon bits

Crochet project

Heather's scarf is finally done & just in time for the crisp, cold mornings.

I'm currently working on Paul's scarf & will post pictures of it when I'm done.

Did you know?

The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds!! Now that's one humongous pumpkin.

In preparation for halloween, my family carved pumpkins & did a little bit more decorating outside our house. We were also "haunted" by some friends, and we did some "haunting" of our own last night. My kids & I enjoy all the fun that comes from preparing for halloween!

Thank you!

Thanks for all the birthday greetings that were sent my way yesterday by ecards, phone calls, emails, visits, texts, etc. :) It was a great day which started with greetings & a serenade from my little family. I had a nice long walk after I dropped the kids off to school, helped a friend find something & had some friends stop by. Thanks so much for remembering! It was also great to hear from family & friends halfway around the world thru emails, texts & phone calls.

I feel very blessed & am so grateful for my family & for the joy & meaning they bring to my life. During my walk yesterday (as I was admiring the beautiful colors of fall) when I was under one beautiful tree, I looked up and felt a big wave of love flow through me. It's one of those wonderful times when I have truly felt that a loving Heavenly Father is watching over me & letting me know that He loves & cares for me. It was a wonderful birthday!

Fun facts :)

I thought it would be fun to blog about my fun facts. This is brought about by an upcoming activity this week in church to get to know each other better. We were also asked to provide a baby picture for everyone to guess. I will post my baby photo after Thursday. :)

- I LOVE to cook
- sleeps with eyelids not completely closed
- cannot sleep without a mosquito net on my feet
- had 6 surgeries in 9 yrs
- cannot sleep without my 5 pillows (sorry, no decent picture of me & my pillows)
- was a president of a youth organization for 3 yrs
- was in a band playing Banduria (a Filipino string instrument)
- a little (?!!) obsessive
- was born at the base of this active volcano
- rode a bicycle for the first time at 14 & didn't ride again until 10 yrs later & have been riding ever since
-I LOVE shoes!! (think Imelda Marcos) - family owns rice plantation (similar to the picture below)

Of toddlers & sleepovers

Paul & Heather's friend, Hannah, spent a fun Friday evening with us. It was a treat for our kids to have another friend spend the night. The kids had a wonderful time mostly playing & hanging out.

Saturday, we were happy to borrow Justin for the day while his parents visit The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Manhattan temple.

yet another beautiful day with friends,

climbing trees,

taking walks with a little friend,

practice climbing the stairs,

And playing with sweet kitties..

What fun times with family & friends. :)

Pasta dishes

Tortiglioni with chicken, sweet peppers, zucchini, peas & red pepper sauce

Rottini with sweet red peppers, cherry tomatoes, olives, sweet onion, herbs, cucumbers & mushrooms

Music

Gordon B. Hinckley said, "We recognize the universal power of music to touch the hearts of men & women everywhere & in all generations -- to inspire & encourage, to sustain & lift, to comfort & bring peace."

I found these CD's recently:

They are another great form of worship! In addition to listening here at home, John was able to copy them into my ipod so I am able to listen & enjoy them during my walks as well.

7

This is Heather's favorite number lately.

Reason #1: She is 7!

Reason #2: She lost her 7th tooth yesterday, the 6th (the tooth couldn't hold on for another day). :) When I dropped her off to school, her already wiggly tooth started bleeding a little. She said she went to visit the school nurse but even before she could see her, the tooth came off while she was waiting. She is very excited as she usually is whenever she looses a tooth. And I'm relieved that I don't have to keep watching her wiggly tooth. :) She is growing!

where her tooth used to be

she put her tooth in this tooth-shaped necklace the school nurse gave her

proudly wearing her necklace & tooth!

What a surprise!!

Imagine all our surprise when we came out the front door to head to school & work this morning! This is the sight that greeted us:

What a wonderful surprise on a usually crazy & rushed Monday morning. We appreciate the hearts with sweet words!

Thanks so much, whoever the culprit(s) are. :) We're guessing you are fairly tall, since you are able to reach the highest point of our front door!