Back To School Fun #GameOn

I know it's November already and back-to-school has been  months ago but I  have been so busy that I have not  been  able to post  things as much as I want to.  But anyway, I will just summarize some of the important dates  for the month of August (Yeah I know, I am uber late!!!)

• July 11 was  the school registration.   The school did it differently this year. We registered the children earlier and we had to make an appointment to do it.  In previous years, we would take all of the school supplies  for the school year, then register and pay but this time it's different.  New school administration, new rules and  some policy changes.  As usual, the tuition   increased a bit.   Because of the introduction of  chromebook for each students, we paid almost 5 grand for both kids, whew.  Luckily, this is something that hubby and I  saved for so that we can pay everything upon registration and be done with it.
• August 17:  We brought in all the supplies that the children needed and also meet the new teachers.  We also covered their books.  

First Day of School. I can't believe my #children are now in 7th and 5th grades, where did all the time go? #BackToSchool

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Aug 18, 2017 at 4:23am PDT

• August 18: First Day of school.  The school always have a  mass on the first day and  kids love the first day as they get to go to school without wearing their uniform yet.  

Bringing the school supplies and meeting the new #teachers today. #backToSchool #schoolSupplies #SpartanKids #StJosephSchool #CatholicSchool

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Aug 17, 2017 at 6:37am PDT

• August 24:  The priest  from our church and school wanted to  bring some fun with all the students after the mass.  It was a fun  surprise that  was not revealed to the kids until after the mass.

The kids did not have any idea what they were  suppose to do  after the mass which was awesome.  Everybody was wondering why they were brought to the high school gymnasium after the mass.  

I am glad that our school still recites the  pledge of allegiance, sings the  national anthem, and pray.  With all the crazy things happening these days, I am grateful for  those things.  

So what exactly was the surprise?  It was  a little  fun time batting baseball with Fr. Dennis.  Each year, the school starts with a vision and goal.  This year is "Stepping Up to the Plate" so even though a lot of kids did not know how to play baseball, they stepped up to the plate and play along.  Even our new principal, Mr. Fuscardo, have also participated  to the game.  

Both of my kids  plays a couple of sports  and baseball isn't one of them but they had fun  participating to the game.

I thought it was a great  idea of having  this event for the kids.  Everybody had fun and everyone was willing to try even though it was out of their comfort zone.  Our new priest and principal  are working together to  bring this kind of events to the school which is great.

Rye Bean hit one ball which surprised me but she did good.

As usual, EJ was dancing as he listened to the music being played in the gym.  He thought I wasn't looking but I took a picture of him lol.

My son and his best friend, Josh discussing something.  I don't know what they were talking about but it looks interesting.

Fr. Dennis told me that EJ can be a baseball player lol.  He did good as well.  Overall, this event was a total success, everyone had fun and they get to release some adrenaline before going back to the classroom.  Kudos to Fr. Dennis and Mrs. Fuscardo and all the  parents involved in  putting this together.

My daughter and  my son's best friend's baby brother.

Earlier on this month, I received this $20 Kohl's gift card from Influenster.   We seldom shopped at Kohl's so it was a great opportunity to  check out what they have for back to school.  We bought my daughter's uniform and my son's pair of school shoes there. 

One thing I like about my kids wearing uniform is that, all children wear the same outfits so we don't have to deal with other kids making fun of what other kids are wearing.    It's also  easier for  a parent like me to shop for school clothes.

We got our son's school uniform shoes but we didn't find one for the little lady. Thank you Kohls and Influenster for the complimentary $20 gift card. It wasn't enough to pay for my son's shoes but at least it paid half of the amount. Received a complimentary gift card for testing purposes. #GameOn #ad #footWear #BackToSchoolShopping #bloggingPerks #influenster #shoes

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Aug 5, 2017 at 4:05pm PDT

Here at Kohls for back to school footwear shopping. #backToSchool #shies #shopping #Footwear #GameOn

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Aug 5, 2017 at 10:57am PDT

I still have a lot of event to post but for now, this will do. Just tune in for the next  post about the Blue Mass, Octoberfest, and the latest was Falloween.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for visiting.

Fun Surprise and a Great Book for Kids

In mid-September our  friend     invited us to a surprise party for their  two daughters.  It was also a surprise for our  kids because  we did not told them that we were attending a  birthday party of their friends.  We have done this before and  they  were completely surprised  that we  pulled a trick on them.  This time, we  said that we will  see if the girls would  like to come and play tennis with us and they  were  excited about it.  When we got there, they saw some  kids in their classes getting off their car and they immediately got the message.

 I admire their Mom for  getting this  surprise party a secret because I am sure could not pull it off  if I were her lol.  They created a diversion for the girls, they were at  their friend's house until the party   is ready to  start with all their friends there waiting for them.  It was funny seeing their reaction.

 It's awesome when you have a swimming pool in your backyard because it is a great entertainment for the kids.  My kids didn't know that I packed them their swimsuits but  they were delighted when I handed them the beach bag containing  what they need to join the fun.

 It was really a fun surprise for everybody.  Even the adults have enjoyed the party.  Thanks to the Mascio family for inviting us over to their new  home.

 I also want to share this great book that Wisdom Tales have sent me for my kids to read and reflect  on.  It is called Talking to God, it is about the list of prayers for children  from the world's religion.  

An award winning  author and illustrator, Demi, shows in this book how Jews, Christians, and Muslims pray.  Also included are prayers  for Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and Shintoists.  There is also  prayers from African and American Indians.  

I love the fact that Demi also included an appendix with notes on the  the prayers and illustrations.  She  described clearly what the prayer is about and also the illustrations.  

My son's favorite  prayer are the Taoism and Shintoism.  They are short but precise, direct to the point and  very easy to understand for  little kids.

Taoism Prayer:" In dealing with others, know how to be gentle and kind" (Lao Tzu)

Shintoism Prayer :O spirits, wash away my sins from me" (Traditional Prayer) 

While waiting for her sister, @e.joops.3o0o is reading the book "Talking to God" from Wisdom Tales. This book has different #prayers for children from all religion including Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, American Plains Indian, and Christianity. #books

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Sep 28, 2017 at 6:00pm PDT

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the complimentary product/s mentioned  for testing purposes and to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Camp Magis: My First Experience of Being Away

Hello this is Rylie, it's been  a while since I wrote something on my blog.  Thanks Mom for letting me.

I am so glad we are off today. I am so stuffy and not feeling so well. I just got done with my homework and I thought of writing about my experience at Camp Magis. This was the very first time that I was away from my family. I have never gone to any sleep overs or anything like that so I didn't really know what to expect without my parents and brother with me. We do everything together so I was a little nervous embarking on this journey.   I have to say though that I had so much fun with my friends out there.  We had three parent chaperones  that came with us so I felt  like my  Mom and Dad were there with me.  Fr. Dennis and Deacon Vince was also  with us.  

Let me tell you about Camp Magis a little bit.   Camp Magis is a program put together by the  the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston’s  for all seventh graders in West Virginia Catholic schools. This  awesome journey is held at at the Bishop Hodges Pastoral Center in Morgantown.  According to the information provided to us, Bishop Hodges Pastoral Center  is a 1400-acre property centrally isolated in the heart of West Virginia. It is operated by the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.  The center is a place set aside to help young people like me to  fall in love with Jesus Christ and His Church.​   In this 3-day adventure, we have learned about our faith and encountered God through the line up of high-adventure activities, prayer, fellowship, and liturgy. The place was beautiful and very relaxing.  

The morning we left school

The four main goals of  Camp Magis includes:

1. TO PROVIDE STUDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO FALL DEEPER IN LOVE WITH JESUS CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH.
2. TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN MORE ABOUT THEMSELVES THROUGH NEW EXPERIENCES, STEPPING OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONES, AND OVERCOMING THEIR FEARS.
3. TO HELP STUDENTS SEE HOW THEY FIT INTO THE LARGER BODY OF CHRIST BY SPENDING TIME IN A NON-CLASSROOM SETTING WITH OTHER STUDENTS AND RECOGNIZING THEIR SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN NEW WAYS.
4. TO INSPIRE STUDENTS TO RETURN HOME AND FIND THEIR OWN UNIQUE WAY TO BE AN ACTIVE, CHRIST-LIKE SERVANT IN THEIR COMMUNITY.

We left  on Wednesday, August 30.  I packed all the things that I needed in the camp during the weekend.  I  used the army roll technique in packing all my clothing, bedding, towel, and pillow so it won't take a lot of space in my suitcase.  I packed  my stuff very neatly so I only  needed one  medium size of suitcase.  I was excited and nervous at the same time.  I woke up  very early on Wednesday.  My Mom and Dad were already awake.  Mom cooked breakfast, we ate, and my Dad dropped me off at school at 5:45, he waited until we departed from school.  I can tell, both of my parents were anxious.

It took us about 3-4 hours on the road before we arrived at our destination.  Our very first activity was a team of two  challenge.  One has to lead  the team while they are blindfolded.  My friend Jules was my teammate and I was the one who led her the way.  We learned how to trust each other on this activity.

I have learned a lot on this camp experience.   I told my Mom she would have been so proud of me if she were there because I did  house chores just like I do at home.  We  cleaned dishes and  other things.  Some of the fun  activities  that we did includes archery, farming, canoeing,  swinging up high on a tree, and we did  a lot of self reflection activities.  On our camping list supplies, we were asked to bring a journal and a pen and we used it to jot down our thoughts and  emotions.  

Only few of my classmates  did not go on this out-of-school activity.  I wish they would have gone with us because they missed out on a lot of fun and learning experience. 

I think my Mom would have loved it there, because of the  fresh vegetable in the farm and the animals like the pigs and bunnies.  I love bunnies, so I was happy to see a lot of them there.  I felt bad that one of the pigs escaped the pen when  my friend and I went inside.  Even though the  guy did not show it, I could see that he was displeased of what happened.  It took him a while to catch it and I felt guilty.

The photo below   was taken on our way back home.  We were all exhausted.  I think the lack of sleep  drained my energy because I felt terrible the next day.  I went to our volleyball practice and when I came home I was having chills and body ache.  My Mom made and gave  me  some ginger tea and Daddy gave me a shot of medicine.  I fell asleep and stayed in bed for hours.  I felt fine  on Sunday but today I am feeling bad again.  

One of the motivational speaker during one of our group sessions  shared his personal experiences about his life.  He told us that if plan doesn't go as we hope it to be, we shouldn't let it  drag us down but  instead, take it as a  stepping stone to move forward.  My question is, what if we don't have a back up plan?  I guess, I will figure this out when I get a little older but it definitely made me think.    

Here is the video that one of our chaperone's took of me when I was on  the swing.

As much as I would love to elaborate more, I have to go because I have piano in an hour and I need to practice. I wasn't able to really practice this week because of the camp and volleyball practices. I hope that I would feel better soon because we have our very first volleyball game tomorrow. Speaking of which, we have so many volleyball games line up this year. We are now teamed up with St. Paul so I am learning new techniques. I am trying to really strengthen my serve outside the court. I am not there yet but once in a while, I get lucky with my serve. Anyways, I really have to go. By for now. Until next time.

Balloon Fight and a Rain Shower

My daughter was volunteering  for the set up of the vacation Bible school in her school on the day of her birthday so  her little brother wanted to surprise her  with water in balloons so they could have a  water balloon fight when she arrives.  He even learned  how to  tie the balloons himself, that's how bad he really wanted to do something special for her Ate.  

I told him to use the wheelbarrow to put all the filled balloons so the  dogs  won't bust them.  

They had so much fun.  They  asked me to join in but I told them that I will just do the documentation.  They told me to  use  the stand for the camera but I didn't want the camera to get wet .  That was actually my excuse  lol.  The last time we had a balloon fight, I was the main target ha!

Anyway, towards the end of their balloon fight, the rain started coming down.  That was an extra  bonus because  they seldom play in the rain due to lightning and thunderstorm that comes with it most of the times.  This time it was only raining so it was safe for them to  play in the rain.

I told them that when I was a kid, we  always played in the rain every chance we get and it was a lot of fun!

The balloons that they used is not really the water balloons you normally used but a regular  baloons that you blow that's why they were huge.  My son said that the regular balloons  carry more water and it is more fun because you get wet right away when you get blasted.  The issue of it was that, it was hard throwing it  far.  Nevertheless, they had so much fun.

I am glad that my son initiated this  activity, it really made my daughter's day when she came home from school,

Even our dogs took part in chasing them but then ran away when  they got splashed with the water lol.

Those balloons are bigger than their heads lol.  I think they were filled with more than a gallon each.

As a birthday present, EJ let  her  Ate throw a balloon on him without  him running away.

Here us the video I managed to  record of them  throwing those big balloons at each other.  

5 Fun Things to Do When Boredom Strikes on a Rainy Day

Outside is gloomy, wet, and mucky—what is there to do? Plenty. Especially if you are planning a day of boredom-busting fun for your family. Keep reading to see 5 fun things you can do to banish boredom on a rainy day.

Have Your Fortune Told

 Call a hotline, host a psychic, or brave the rain in favor of fun at the local faire or carnival—whatever way is convenient, you should get your fortune told just for fun. Ask questions, discover what you were in a past life, or delve into the love and romance details of your future.

Host a Neighborhood Water War

This suggestion is a huge hit with kids because they love to get wet and muddy in the rain. Fill up some water balloons and play host to a neighborhood water war. Invite entire families, encourage them to bring their water blasters, and plan for hours of muddy, soaked, rainy day entertainment. But be sure to slather yourself and your guests with coral safe sunscreen [left over from your recent beach trip]. It might be raining but you could actually get sunburnt because the sunshine’s rays are strong enough to penetrate clouds, and water intensifies the effects.

Learn a Language

What better time to dedicate yourself to something serious than when rain keeps you indoors for the day? Learn another language, such as Spanish, French, or Italian. Download some learning tools and online books, and get to work while the rain pours down outside. You’d be surprised how much you can learn in an afternoon.

Spend the Afternoon Baking Something Delicious

There is nothing quite like fresh-baked sugar cookies on a rainy afternoon. So roll out the dough, bake up some goodies, grab a fresh cup of hot tea, and sit down in your favorite chair to watch the rain stream down your windows. That’s what you call relaxing.

Watch Cartoons from Your Childhood

Do you remember getting up for those old cartoons when you were a kid? Saturday mornings were devoted to watching television for hours, soaking up the crazy antics of your favorite characters. Now, as an adult, you should relive those childhood days while it rains. Build a pillow fort, find some old reruns of your favorite cartoons, pop a bag of popcorn, and watch hours of laugh-out-loud moments that made your childhood great.

These fun things to do are perfect for rainy days, particularly if you have a family to entertain. So, use these suggestions as you see fit. Or, implement them as stepping stones to something even more fun and entertaining. Either way, have a good time and enjoy the rain.