Our Daughter's 15th Birthday: A Year Later

 As the saying goes, "Better late than never" , I am just now posting my daughter's 15th birthday.  I didn't have a functioning  gadget last year so I couldn't download the pictures in my camera and I wasn't able to post anything (valid excuse lol).  

Anyway, I am not the most creative Mom so my kids birthday celebration is always plain.  I tried though, I made her some mini pancakes to make the number 15.

She was appreciative of it so that's what mattered.  In the previous years, we would always go on a vacation right around her birthday but since there was the pandemic last year, we couldn't go anywhere.  Our plan was to go to the Philippines but was put on hold.

I am glad that my kids are very understanding of the situation and they don't complain for not having a party or something like that.

After her birthday, she took her written exam for her driving permit.  She passed and  my husband started  teaching her how to drive.  She is a  quick learner.

This post is a year later so at this time, she already have her license.  I can't believe how much our insurance have gone up since we added her to our car insurance, wow. 

I am so happy for a young woman she is becoming.  She's one smart cookie and very  goal-oriented.  She work hard for whatever she wants to achieve until she gets the  result.

She has been the class president since her  freshman year.  She wants to  build up her portfolio with extra curricular activities.

Our daughter enjoys simple things so whenever it is her birthday.  She gives us a list of  things that she likes and we we get it for her.

Dried mangoes is one of the  goodies she  always enjoys.

She definitely has half Asian in her with the choices of fruits that she likes.

Since she is  a little lady already, I got her a beauty set.

To my 15-year old Rylie Bean;

I am sorry for slacking off, for not  being up-to-date.  

Just know that Mom records every  milestone in her heart. 

Having you as a daughter is such a blessing.

Continue to strive hard and aim high.

We are here to support you.

We love you dearly.

Love always,

Mom

Sweet 16

 It's amazing watching your children grow and they grow very FAST!  This is the main reason why I don't regret giving up my career because I get to be there to witness every milestone of my children.  I am beyond blessed to have a  husband that fully support that decision.  I fully believe that the presence of the parents in the growing up stage of the children is very crucial.  

Having said that, I am grateful for a wonderful young lady our daughter has becoming.  She is one smart cookie.  She is not as outgoing as her brother but she spends  most of her energy in achieving her goals.  I am certain that she can achieve whatever she puts her mind to.

I remember when I was just teaching her at home how to read.  We did not  send her to preschool, I had  a hard time thinking of sending  her to school that early so we have decided that I would just teach her the basic things that she need to learn before she goes to kindergarten.  I think that was the best decision because she  can read, write, and do simple math  problems when she entered kindergarten.  She was a quick learner.

She is very driven.  When she wants to work on something, she put her 100% on it.  This year, they were given an opportunity to take the ACT and she was nervous about it but for a first timer with no preparation whatsoever, she did really well.  She scored a composite of 30 which is excellent.  You can tell, Madonna High School has a really good English teacher as our daughter ACED it, she didn't miss any.  She scored 36 out of 36 in English, I am so proud, I could cry ha ha.

We lost one of our dogs this year, which used to be  her best pal in pictures.  I am glad that our Jack Russell Terrier, Champ, played along and I got to take some photos of them in our backytard.

She will be taking her Driver's license test in two days and she is nervous about it.  I think she will do just fine.  She has been driving us all over the place, even out of state.  She's definitely not like me in that department.  I have been a licensed driver for 14 years and I have driven only twice lol.

I pray that God will continue to watch over her and guide her  for everything that she does.  

She is such a really good example to her brother and that's why her brother love his Ate very much.  EJ is very proud of what she have accomplaished so far.

Today, she  chose to do volunteer work at the vacation bible school.  She's been doing this since she was 12.  I think that is admirable, spending your birthday doing charity work.  I am one proud momma.

I am glad that she is level-headed and remain strong.  She can be a little opinionated sometimes but that's a good thing.  I  love that my kids speaks their mind in a respectful way.

In two years time, she will be heading out to college.  I don't even want to think about her leaving home wahhh.  Right now, she is leaning towards medical profession.  We will see if she doesn't change her mind.

To my daughter on her 16th birthday.

I hope and pray that you continue to grow beautifully inside and out.  Dad and I are  so blessed to be your parents.  We will always be here for you, to support whatever path you want to take.  Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter.  For making our lives colorful and meaningful.  Tank you for guiding your brother.  May God Almighty continue to bless you and watch over you as you continue to move closer to your future.  

We love you very much!

Mom

My kids are Scholarship Recipients

 Below is the essay my daughter wrote for the Joe Krivak Tuition Scholarship Fund entry.  She won $500 tuition fund that she can use for the next school year.

Being a Follower of Christ and a Leader in the World

On many occasions throughout my time in high school thus far, I have been prompted to

nish the phrase “Here at Madonna, we are...”, to which I routinely give the response, “Followers of Christ, Leaders in the World.” I hear this line time and time again: in school over the loudspeaker when the morning announcements are read, at church as the weekly Mass is concluded, and even at home, when it is repeated in a phone call from the school oce. Though the phrase may simply sound like a catchy motto, its signicance to me is very profound; it represents the way that, through being a member of the Madonna family, I have developed and strengthened both my role in the church as a follower of Christ and my position as a leader not only in the school, but also in my community and in the world.

Because of my experiences at Weirton Madonna, I am able to acknowledge that being a Follower of Christ involves more than just attending Sunday mass, reading the Bible, or praying beforebedeachnight. Tome,beingaFollowerofChristasapartoftheMadonnafamilymeans that instead of simply living my life with God in it, I strive to live my life for God. At Madonna, every school day, sports practice, extracurricular activity, or community service project that I attend is an opportunity for me to continue living for God and furthering my relationship with Him. Madonna High School has allowed me to enrich my faith life in many ways; from volunteering at local soup kitchens to donating to clothing and food drives to altar serving or proclaiming the readings at Mass, being a part of the Madonna family has helped me live my life while fully glorifying and following Christ.

 Also due to my experiences at Weirton Madonna, I have come to understand what being a leader in the world means. Though being a class president, a team captain, or a club ocer are great ways to lead, I have learned through Madonna that anyone can be a leader. To me, being a leader in school, in our community, and in our world means taking charge to make a dierence or make a positive change in someone or something. The change we bring about is made even more impactful when we lead others to follow suit. Being a leader through Weirton Madonna means standing for your beliefs and building up those in the world around you to do the same.

As I continue to be a part of the Madonna family today, tomorrow, and the days after that, I will continue to hear the same one phrase. It is when I listen to “Here at Madonna, we are...” that I am reminded that everyday is an opportunity for me to live my life for God and lead others to make a dierence in the world, a day to be a Follower of Christ and a Leader in the World.

My  son was also awarded a $250 scholarship for being a master of ceremony as a server at church masses.  Sending both of them to Madonna High School which is a catholic school is  expensive and this would help a little bit.  At least it could pay for their uniform and supplies.  I am very proud of my children for trying their hardest to maintain their good grades in school.

EJ's 13th Birthday

I am not up-to-date when it comes to my children's milestones for the past couple of years.  I am not as active in writing  important events anymore.  My  computer have crashed so I didn't have the means to download pictures.  My phone no longer have  storage so even if I have online access, I wasn't able to write  as much as I would have liked.  Anyway, my son turned 13  and then 14 and  I still haven't written about it.  Glad my husband got me a laptop for Mother's Day, now I can slowly start writing again.

EJ is very emotional so every time we  write him a letter, he  can't help but tear up when he reads it.

He wanted a pair of purple vans shoes so that's what we got him for his  birthday.  We also got him few items that he likes.

I always write an emotional letter to my kids on their birthday and it always make EJ cry.  I think it ios sweet when they can connect to you emotionally.

I hate to think that I have been neglecting  to write about my children's important milestone.  Time will come that I will no longer remember things as I get older.  I hope these little things that I posted will remind me of the great memories that we have had.

Dearest EJ,

I am sorry that your Mom isn't up-to-date with things anymore, please forgive me.  Always remember that you will always be my sweet baby boy.  I love you to the moon and back .

Mom

Homecoming 2020

2020 was a disaster for a lot of us due to the COVID19 pandemic.  Schools were closed and activities were canceled.  The kids really missed a lot of  fun opportunities including homecoming and other big school events.  My daughter and some of her close friends held a private HOCO at one of the parents' home, thanks to the Mehilis family for hosting it.  

They also had dinner dates with their friends at Ditka's prior to this gathering.

I am glad that  this was held, it gave the kids some relief after doing  cyber classes.  Man, those cyber classes were tough.  It seemed like they were doing so much homework everyday and it never ends.    

  Anthony is one of her closest friends and he asked her again this year to be his prom date.  I love seeing this kids grow up together.  My daughter started at St. Joseph School on her kindergarten days while most of these kids started during the pre-school days.  

This private HOCO was  not for the entire sophomore class.   It's only for the students in one subject so it was rather  a small group.  Beside they were following the  small crowd policy (pandemic guideline) for get together ,  It's a frustrating  times where not everyone can gather together but its a sad reality of this difficult times.  I'm sure that there are parents that  sure would love to see their kids dress up too for this occasion but wasn't able to because of the pandemic.  

I'm just glad that even though there was a restriction, these group of teenagers can still gather together once in a while and have fun.  Thanks to the parents who  step up and made all these possible. 

I have high respects for the parents who has the creativity in pulling this kind of event together.  Some of them  goes beyond and offer their valuable time, spend their day offs to take the kids somewhere where they could have a little fun.

Madonna High School don't have a big crowd and that's a huge blessing to me.  My daughter is super introvert so she's only close to few people.  I'm even surprised that she's the President of the class because she's not very outgoing.  I think its the challenge that she set to herself, to overcome the awkwardness in dealing with people.

She's very intelligent and hold herself accountable when it comes to maintaining her high grades.  She doesn't settle for mediocre result when it comes to academics.  Even when her grades are over a hundred, she still does the extra credit works that the teacher offers as a backup if her grade goes down (which seldom happens).  She works really hard to attain the best grades she could possibly get.  She sets a very good example to her brother, I just wish he would put much effort as her but they are two different people so I can't really compare.

I got to take some pictures when we dropped her off at the Mehilis residence.  They were kind enough to  welcome the parents.

So even though, the school did not haver a proper homecoming event, this kids have their own little private hoco.  They get to spend and enjoy some times together.

We bought her outfit before the pandemic hits so I am glad she was able to use them.  I am hoping that everything will get back to normal so these kids can enjoy the things that they missed for the past year.  I am glad that they are back to school full time.  As I mentioned earlier, the cyber classes were tough.   

If I Were Principal

Below is the essay my daughter submitted for the leadership she was going to do during her sophomore year but pandemic hits so it was cancelled.  I thought of saving her piece by uploading it here in the blog.  

Some of the most common questions I find fellow peers of mine asking during school are: “why do I need to know this?” and “what is the point of learning this?”. I believe that many students have the mindset that school is simply another daily obligation or another task to get through during the day. If I were principal, I would work towards changing this mindset, because I believe it would result in a larger number of students who were motivated and interested in attending school.

As principal, I would focus on helping students to look at school not just as an obligation but as an opportunity to learn and grow both as a student and as a person. I believe that unless students become aware of what the true point of attending school is, they will continue to be uninterested and will not be able to fully take advantage of the learning and growth opportunities that attending school offers. To create a more motivated and purposeful mindset for the students at my school, I would set a clearer focus on how the material that the students are learning could be applied to and used in their everyday or future lives. I would encourage the teachers to involve real-life scenarios and examples during lectures and classroom discussions to allow students to better understand the importance of what they are learning. I would also organize more field trips to further connect what the students are learning with real places and people around the community.

In my opinion, the paramount responsibility of a principal is to ensure the best learning and growth opportunities for each member of the student body and make every effort to bring about changes to benefit the students. If I were principal, I would do just that by changing the mindset of students towards attending school and getting them excited to expand their knowledge and grow as students and as people.

Dinner with Friends at Ditka’s in Robinson Plaza

 Due to the pandemic, a lot of school events were cancelled.   So all the plans are put to a halt but glad these youngsters are creative enough to go and have a little fun by creating a diversion by themselves.  Since they can go with the normal or traditional homecoming dinner, they decided to to do it by themselves.  They went to Ditka’s, an upscale steak house restaurant in Robinson Plaza in Pittsburgh, PA.

Our daughter went with close friends.   They went with their homecoming partners.

We took some photos before they left to capture the moment.

Time sure is flying by.  Both of our kids are now taller than me.  It makes me sad and happy at the same time, sad because  I miss the babies in them and happy because I witnessed their growing up years every single day.  I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom and be their primary caregiver.  I am blessed and I am grateful for that.