Wyons and Tigehs and Beaws, Oh My!

The zoo is a magical place. It's where a child's imagination can run wild - no pun intended. And because it's still officially winter, a good coat of lip balm is advisable, right Shea?

The first thing Shea wanted to see were the penguins. Because they were the very first exhibit at the entrance. What a memory on kids, huh?

Sheazie's namesake (Sheazie Bear).
  

*Yay! Being outside is so much fun!*

The Zoo is not only good for your imagination, it's also a good place to get edumacationed.

"That, Sheazie Bear, is how you make see-see!"

"I don't want to make see-see! I'm going to sit here and play with Thomas."

Right about this moment, Shea was probably silently singing the theme from Disney's The Lion King. Because soon...

He belted out the song's opening stanza!

Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata! 
Ain't no passing craze
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!

 

"Mommy, I want to be a wyon!"

"Mommy, I'm Simba!"

"Okay, Mommy can we go now? Hurry, I'm scared of wyons and tigehs and beaws." (Oh my!)

*This sucks, and I don't mean the binky! I can't wait to be able to walk, and get out from behind this plastic barrier!* (Hala, Mayet, ma kapoy ka'g gukod nija!)

Here, here Jaida Bug. Have some milk (with hand signal). Please promise me you'll stay close to me when you learn to walk, okay?

Hee puh poh tah' moose.

Another edumacational moment...

That is what happens when you don't brush your teeth, Sheazie Bear.

And Shea simply replies: "Hee puh poh tah' moose!"

Auntie Netty taught him that.


You have to be careful what you teach a child though. What I would give to know what he was thinking at this moment...

And then Shea's action reveals his thoughts...

"Would you like to see my map? You can tear it into strips if you like..."

Out of the blue, Shea whips out a bit of philosophy on the apes. "The monkey is sad. But we don't look sad..."

How about that for edumacation! A child sees the truth. It is the truth because his eyes are innocent and unbiased. So what do you think Shea is really telling us about ourselves?

Hmmm...

Oh my...

"We have the same hands! But the monkey's hand is broken."

The SAME hands, he said! And, it's BROKEN. Oh my... I'm beginning to think that children may be better than PhDs at teaching ethics and philosophy.

 

*Hmph. I just can't wait to be able to walk... Hey, you got a binky I can suck on?"

*Oh, hello friend.*

*You too, huh? Yeah, my kuya gets to play with the exhibits and run around. Not us; we get stuck behind the glass. I feel ya, sistah...*

Jaida Bug, you wanna go see Preacher next?

"What? Who's Pweachah? I'm scared. Wyons, and tigehs, and Pweachah..."

(Oh my!)


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Running in Place

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When it's raining torrents, or snowing blizzards, or hailing marbles, or most especially when I unexpectedly find that my bottle of sunblock is empty, I run in place. In the comfort of my pajamas.

Aaaaaah...

Sorry Sonya. I promise you, you wouldn't want to be out there either.


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Hut, Hut, Hike!

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 It's college basketball season. While Sheazie Bear and his daddy went to a home game, Jaida Bug stayed home with Uncle 5-Star to watch the game on TV. See, Uncle 5-Star is a football fan through and through, so football is what you eat, drink, and dream in our house.

Uncle 5-Star has lofty plans for taking Jaida Bug to the Husky home football games this fall. So he's getting her used to the sound of crashing helmets.

By the time the first game comes, Jaida Bug will be well versed in football strategies, and be familiar with every one of our Husky players' names and positions.

*Blue thirty-two!*

*Blue thirty-two!*

*Hut, hut, hike!*

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I Confess: I'm Getting Old [Fashioned]

We hadn't had a good snowstorm since the winter of 2008. That's when Palomino rang us up in the middle of the night. "Let's go play!" he declared.

5-Star merely turned on his side, and resumed his sweet dreaming.

Not I!

I ran out with the only downhill snow equipment I had, and met Palomino at the top of Main Street hill.

[CLICK] Main Street Renegades

The next day Main Street was closed. But I'm sure it wasn't because of the snow; it was because the police couldn't keep the sledders away, so they might as well join them!

(Palomino holding the pink sled, 5-Star Scotty right behind him.)

Fast forward three years, and this is what you get...

[CLICK] Snow Falling on Netty


A little old lady with no more sense of adventure, no drive to defy authority, only the contentment of making snow angels, and staring at the falling snow and eating it.

 (Photo by Mayet)

A Weekend With Jaida Bug

A weekend with Jaida is never boring. We started out with an hour-long physical therapy session (to assess her physical progress, especially since she came into this world two months early), which worked out her abdominals.

Then Jaida Bug watched football with Uncle 5-Star all day long because it was just too wet and windy to be outside.

And yes, we did our PT homework, which Jaid wasn't too thrilled about. Do babies get sore like adults do after a hard workout? Hmmm...

A weekend just isn't complete without Mass. So Tita Netty dressed Jaid up in this colorful outfit, and off we went to hear about young Samuel, and Jesus gathering his disciples.

Whewh! It was a hard day's night.

And of course a bright morning with Preacher right there to give her morning kisses.

On Sunday it snowed really hard. Jaida and I drove through white-out conditions to get back to her mommy Mayet. Who then bundled her up and took her outside to tire her out even more!

Here's Jaida Bug's first snow...

 

Same time next week Jaida Bug?


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When Someone Borrows Your Camera

The most interesting window into another person's life is through their own eyes. And this is what you see when you loan them your camera...

The first subjects of this photographer were Sheazie Bear and his family.

Jaida Bug

Daddy

Mommy

The viewer has to wonder how anyone can get any peace and quiet in the house. 

(Thanks Grandpa Richard!)

What peace and quiet?

But don't you dare point that foam gun at Jaida Bug!

Sheazie will blast you to kingdom come!

Food is a common staple that binds this family.

Only problem is WHICH ONE?

But apparently, at the end of the feast, not a dish is spared from a ravenous bunch.

*I can't wait to eat solid food!*

The new Mommy fad is to let the oldest child push the stroller.

The new hat fad is to wear matching hats with your uncle.

*I'll say it again, I can't wait to eat solid food.*

Smart phones are the rave, even iPhone knock-offs, as Shea's Uncle calls them.

So hot, they'll stop a child from playing to stare, instead, with catatonic stupor, at its miniscule screen.

The apples of the photographer's eye:

 

Raneeza borrowed my camera.

Raneeza too, is my god daughter.

Two generations of loveliness.

That, my friends, was a glimpse into the life of Raneeza.

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I Confess: I Am Sick

In his losing battle with the Cebuano chieftain Lapulapu on a sandy shore of Mactan Island in 1521, Magellan cried

Mother, Mother I am sick
Call the doctor very quick.
Doctor, doctor will I die?
Tell my mother Do not cry.
-Yoyoy Villame

Today, without the romance of poetry, and plagued with the modern chest cold I cry:

Airborne!

Well, let me try my hand in poetry...

Sore throat, plugged nose go away!
Here comes Airborne to save the day.

An Airborne a day
keeps the cold at bay.

Yeah, very original.

Bow.


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