Narnian Portraits

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. 
I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia." ~Puddleglum, The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Playdate 2005

THERAPEUTIC THURSDAYS WITH THIRD GRADERS

The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson. ~Tom Bodett

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. ~Abbé Dimnet, Art of Thinking, 1928

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. ~Henry Ford

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. ~Winston Churchill

To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is 

spelled out is a spark. ~Victor Hugo

If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed. ~Lily Tomlin

A checked-off list makes me feel I accomplished something, even with small insignificant jobs. (Can't get any simpler than this list.)

My parents told me, "Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving." I tell my children, "Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job." ~Thomas L. Friedman

(lego + pasta = boy's favorite meal)

ASK THE ANIMALS

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, 

or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, 

or let the fish of the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know 

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

In His hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all mankind.

~Job 12:7-10

Pattern on Pattern (inspired by Ann Graf)

Urban Cat

Trés Rouge!

Bombers! (Pelicans)

Pinks

So close, and yet, so far...

Dusty Road...

Elektra

 Spider Tortoise

Very Hungry Rex (see how bony he is!)

Leafy Sea Dragon

3D Show (Philippine Corals)

Wanna kiss?

  Python + Children = Fun

ILLNESS to WELLNESS

The I in Illness is Isolation, and the crucial letters in Wellness are WE. 

~Author unknown, as quoted in The Heart Speaks: A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing

Exactly one year ago, October 17, 2008, my mom underwent a very sudden triple bypass surgery.  It caught us all off guard that kept us, along with families and friends from all across time zones, on our knees.  It was a long morning (6 a.m. till noon).

Alas, the surgery was a success! The healing process was very slow and oftentimes unbearably painful, but the fullness of life thereafter "overfloweth". Her love for life heightened even more after this "scary" experience.

Today, she continues to stay healthy, active, involved, never taking things for granted, and forever grateful, as we are, to the Great Physician, for the countless encouragements received in many forms, and to those who extended themselves to help out. (Special thanks to Auntie Aurora who relentlessly stayed by her side during the whole ordeal! You are an awesome sister!)

We love you, MOM!  Your zest for life reflects your immense love for your Creator Who gave you LIFE!

Our most recent family photo (sans grandchildren)

DOUBLE BLESSINGS!

Pregnant women! They had that weird frisson, an aura of magic that combined awkwardly with an earthy sense of duty. Mundane, because they were nothing unique on the suburban streets; ethereal because their attention was ever somewhere else. Whatever you said was trivial. And they had that preciousness which they imposed wherever they went, compelling attention, constantly reminding you that they carried the future inside, its contours already drawn, but veiled, private, an inner secret. ~Ruth Morgan 

(Full term; Six months)

Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; 

A mother's secret hope outlives them all.  

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison

Grandmothers are the people who take delight in hearing babies breathing into the telephone. ~Author Unknown

 When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?  ~Pam Brown

A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

~ OR ~

 God intended motherhood to be a relay race. Each generation would pass the baton on to the next. ~Mary Pride