Starting Christmas Off Just Right

 

Thank you, Lord, for everything you have given me — just the right amount of some things to make me worthy to touch these lives. Such a gift, this responsibility of taking part in their formation (however small). Thank you for the gift.

b

December 13, 2008 – Saturday.

After weeks and weeks; entries upon entries; cajoling, encouraging, coercing, bribing, and downright threatening — the BloGame of the second trimester 2008 was finally done.

The boys stayed on one side:

 

allergic to girls

While the girls stayed on the other:

 

allergic to boys

 First came the announcement of the winner.

Teacher proudly announces…

 

with a grand total of 93%

(Thank you so much to the three teachers – who may be unnamed, but not without our utmost gratitude…)

 

THE WINNER IS…

 

Gale Palillo for her sketch blog!!!!

Gale wins: bragging rights choice of activities for the “field trip,” and a treat from teacher.

Time for bonding!!!! Let’s have some pictures taken.

 

hmmm. maybe we need to warm up a little bit more

 

maybe we need to take another one… just one more shot (thanks for taking our pictures, Teacher Jai!)

 

 

that's more like it!

 

 

You guys will bond, if that be the last thing that I do… Grrrrrrrr!!!

Off to the Alabang Town Center we go! After the toy store – Time Zone here we come!

Of course it starts off slow… people whom you’d expect to stick together indeed did.

The girls:

 

hit it!

Playing all sort of games

hit it real good!

just sticking together

driver sam and driver gale

 

even playing games that teacher never thought they would

ya! ya! yeeeeee-ya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and winning, of course!

 

they may just be candies to you, but they sure were hard earned

The boys: Sometimes together, a lot of times alone. But never with girls.

 

teacher really doesn't know what it is about guns

Pow! pyowh! pfffpffpfff!! ratatatatatat! 

 

scares me no end!

 

 

 

 

 

These boys seem to like it, though.

 

They spent quite a while there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nothing to it!

This boy, especially.  

even from another angle, still cool as ice

Just shooting and aiming; shooting and aiming.

 

Wait! Isn’t that aiming and shooting? 

 

See? Teacher will never understand guns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes driving…

vroooom! vroooom!

 

Teacher is STILL 

QUEEN OF THE ROAD! Yeah!!! 

 

 

crash and burn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swerving and careening…

 

How many times can I die in this thing?

 

 

wani clobbered teacher on this one

Shooting hoops… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

last two minutes!

 

 

alone, or together. It really doesn’t matter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tanananan-tanan!!!!

 

 

 

what matters is…. how many balls go into the basket!

 

 

 

 

 

jetski wani is cool

 

 

 

They also tried out a whole host of things.

 

 

 

 

 

yeehaw!!!

 

 

 

like being a bronco dude.

 

 

 

 

Then, slowly – these young people got over their allergies.

 

 

wani vs gelay

 

 

 

 

The magic of air hokey

 

 

 

 

 

wani vs sam

 

 

while Gale hams it up for the camera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gelay vs mark

 

 

The competitive spirit takes over…

 

 

 

 

 

 

tux vs sam

 

 

and everyone gravitated towards the air hockey game

 

 

 

 

 

 

tux vs wani

 

 

they played in different permutations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

tux vs wani again

 

 

sometimes, in the excitement of things… there’d be table-climbing, puck flying… even paddle soaring.

 

 

 

 

wani vs gale - with teacher as cheerleader

 

 

 

they even extended this spirit of fun unto other games.

 

 

 

 

And then — HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY…

They all decided to…

 

race

 

 

all together now

 

teacher was just about ready to cry

 

 

they race, i take pictures

such is life.

People DO come together and have fun in spite of themselves (and their initial discomfort, uncertainty and fear). After all — that’s the natural course friendships take.

 

stolen

And so teacher DID cry when they all got together  (leaving teacher on the bench — drained and gratified) – deciding as a group to find out who can beat the scary gorilla kong. I stole a picture of that scene to share with others.

 

My heart took its own – just for me.

 

Anyway – teacher, exercising some authority over the brood, COMMANDS them to troop into the cheesy (but much fun) photo booth.

 

 

one-two-three CLICK!

We didn’t even know where to look! It’s a good thing these things give you several choices.

It was all easier (and harder) from then on.

Easier because they were finally comfortable with each other – realizing that the others are people, just like them. 

 

yum, yum!

 

 

 

Just like them, these people eat…

 

 

 

 

 

shakey's!

 

 

 

 make fun of teacher…

 

 

just a little. =b

 

 

 

Also harder (for me!!!!!!!) because they were soon comfortable enough to go off and explore.

 

"so, what are they doing?' you ask

 

 

 

 

 

what else?

 

 

... you saw me standing alone...

 

 

 

playing “blue moon” in tandem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

while mark finally found what we were looking for

 

you so deserve the bakugan!

his prize for being the all-time highest scorer in the jeopardy game (for end-of-trime diagnostics).

 

some corner INSIDE hobbes

 

 

 

WAIT! where are my other boys?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

busy doing their own thing

 

oh! to be so cool and unaffected by all the color and excitement surrounding you.

hmmm. if this trance can be psp-induced…

i am sure i can find a way to make it book-induced soon (hmmmmm)

 

it took a lot of glaring and foot-stomping to finally have them pose – right before we went to our final destination

 

by hobbes

yes… it is what you think it is. 

 

i think it was mortal combat

 

 

life is full of compromises. a trimester of hard work… social interaction smoothly put in play… they deserve 15 minutes, me thinks

 

scary how serious they could get

 

 

and strictly 15 minutes (I made sure; made arrangements with the counter people out front. not a second longer).

 

 

After a few hours of indulgence…

the unwinding after a whole trimester of grueling toil and drudgery with teacher beepsie

the friends finally troop to the car for the ride back to wordlab.

back to reality for me.

 

now, back to wordlab, friends!

we got to wordlab at 2:30pm (on the dot!).

Thank you very much to all the parents, for entrusting their children to my care for a few hours. 

Special thanks to Atty. Gentugaya for agreeing to take care of our transportation.

Thank you, Manong Sonny, my new non-textmate — for patiently waiting for us. And for bringing us to and from Wordlab  safe and sound =b

Thank you, Mrs. Palillo – for the response you gave: “a promise is a promise.” I know how hard it is to fulfill every promise given. Thank you! I am so happy for Gelay.

AND.

Finally.

Thank you, my beloved ones.

For teaching me so many life-lessons.

In just a few hours.

Truly – in each of us is a teacher.

And a student.

God has made us so.

Perfect.

Haaaaay! MERRY CHRISTMAS, INDEED!!!!!

b