First Quarter Celebration in our Homeschool

I shared our homeschool accomplishments in the past quarter in my previous post. We have covered a lot of topics surprisingly given our busy schedule. Thus, I've decided to spend this weekend to celebrate.

 

I was very happy to discover a very good deal a couple of weeks ago at Metrodeal. Unlimited play at Active Fun, The Fort was at 56% off! This was definitely good news to our family since our kids (our eldest son especially) love playing there. I bought 8 vouchers right away. I plan to use the other vouchers in the next months to reward the boys for their accomplishments and as a gift to my eldest when he celebrates his birthday in October.

The voucher/deal is valid for use from Monday to Friday from August 6 to October 15, 2014. That's ok with me because I'd rather let them play there on weekdays when the play center is not too crowded.

We went to Active Fun, The Fort last Friday after we had lunch at home. We went to my husband's office first for our flu vaccines. Then, the boys immediately played as soon as we arrived at Active Fun. Incidentally, because last Friday was in between a holiday and the weekend, there were many parents who brought their kids to play at Active Fun as well that day. I was mildly disappointed but when I saw that my boys were still having a great time playing there even when there were a lot of other kids also, my disappointment was replaced with joy. Active Fun unlimited play was perfect for my active boys!

Unliplay at Active Fun equals unlifun for my active boys!

My original plan was to work on my next book project while the kids were inside playing. But I've decided at the last minute to check out the stores nearby. I hardly go out these days that I'm pregnant so I used that time to see if I could find some of the things I'm looking for in those stores. I'm very glad I did! I found a number of things that made me really happy!

Yanthy was so happy when
his Dad finally bought the globe.

First, I found a globe that is cheaper than the globe that we saw at  National Bookstore. My eldest has been requesting us to buy him a globe for some time now. We saw some at National Bookstore last week but I thought of checking other stores first before deciding where to buy in case we find better and cheaper options. We saw two kinds last week. One was around P1,700 while another one was P2,700 plus. The main difference between these globes was that the more expensive one can be lighted like a lamp. The cheaper alternative I found at the Fundamentals store, Active Fun building at The Fort was only P1,400 and it was the same size as the other globes we saw at National Bookstore. That was surprise number 1 for me. 

I got my second surprise when I went to Mothercare which was also in the same building. I checked out some clothes with bulldozer or backhoe designs. I plan to give this as a gift to my 2-year-old son on his next birthday. It will also be his birthday outfit because that's the theme that I chose for his next birthday celebration. I was so happy when I found two possible outfits! One had a bulldozer design in front and a backhoe at the back. It was almost perfect for my son! Almost because the biggest size available for that design was for 2-year-olds. My son will turn three (3) already in November. The other shirt I found had bigger sizes. It had a backhoe design in front. I waited for the boys to be finished with their play time before deciding what to buy. I asked Mateo to fit the shirts first. As expected, the shirt with a smaller size was a bit small for him. I bought the shirt with the backhoe design instead. the shirt came with another construction-themed shirt in yellow color. My son and I were still happy with our find.

My third surprise was that I found briefs with Thomas the Train designs. Mateo loves Thomas a lot! We are also potty-training him. So far, he has not been wearing diapers anymore during daytime. He only wears diaper at night. We are hoping that he would be completely potty-trained before I give birth to our third child or by his 3rd birthday. Like what we did with his older brother, I thought of giving him briefs as part of accomplishing this milestone. His older brother got Lightning McQueen briefs before. This motivated my eldest very much. I'm hoping that this would work again with Mateo. So, I bought these Thomas the Train briefs for him together with the construction-themed shirts. 

I got a bit hungry while walking around so I had my snack first in a coffee shop at Bonifacio High Street. Then, I went back to check on my boys. The boys were sweating even though the place was air conditioned. I asked the boys to change their clothes first and drink some water. Then, I looked for a table where I can work on my laptop.

Good thing there was still a vacant table and I was able to squeeze in some writing time. I got to write a few sections on my upcoming ebook. Before I knew it, my mobile phone was already ringing. My husband is already on his way to fetch us so we can hear Mass at the chapel in SM Aura. It was a bit challenging to make the kids stop playing. They still want to play even though they were already playing there for over three hours. I made a mental note that next time, I will let them play from morning until evening.

I hurriedly asked the boys to go out and go to Mothercare with me to ask Mateo to fit the clothes I found for him. We didn't have time to buy the globe though because we were running late. I'll just ask my husband to buy it tomorrow.

We got to the chapel just in time. The Mass started a few minutes after we settled on our seats. I was very happy that we still got to hear Mass as a family for it was the Feast Day of the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven.

After the Mass, we had dinner. We granted my eldest son's wish to eat fried chicken for dinner. I chose to have lechon macau with yang chao fried rice. I enjoyed my dinner very much! I even got a bonus! I found a store that sells avocado ice cream! I thought that I was just rewarding the boys for a job well done. But when I found the avocado ice cream, I felt that God was also rewarding me that day. :) Shared the ice cream I bought (avocado and vanilla with brownie flavors) with my husband and eldest son. 

Next, we headed to the bookstore to buy some supplies for our homeschool. We also checked some books. My fourth surprise came when we found a nice book about the planets in the solar system. My husband and I bought it right away. Our kids were so happy and excited to read their new book!

Mateo loves this book! He loves singing the planets song
while looking at the pictures.

It was a long and tiring day for us but we enjoyed every moment of it! I thank God for all the blessings and surprises we received that day.

Do you also celebrate milestones in your homeschool? Would love to hear from you. Feel free to share by leaving a comment on this post.