What is perseverance?

What is perseverance?
Staying with the task and not giving up
Demonstrating commitment, pride and a positive attitude in completing a task
Working hard without giving up
Pursuing worthy objectives with determination and patience, while exhibiting fortitude when confronted with failure
Demonstrating self-discipline

What does perseverance look or sound like?
Spending time practising a skill
Trying something new that is very difficult and not giving up
Having to overcome personal obstacles to reach a goal
Saving money and making sacrifices to buy something
Working toward a goal for a reasonable period of time before questioning whether the goal should change
Believing a goal can be met , even when success doesn’t come easily
Learning from past mistakes and avoiding the same mistakes in the future

The heat is on...and so is the baseball game

I am privileged to join a team who find time to unwind in the middle of the work week and call it our "off site team building". We sneaked out of our offices at lunch time and went to the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre aka Skydome at Downtown Toronto with the whole team including our Director.

It was my first time to watch a Major League game and also enter the Rogers Centre which was so huge, it took us a long time to find our seats. Since the game was held on a weekday, there were lots of schools who sent their students on a field trip to cheer on the Jays. It was so hot like in the Philippines, I felt like my skin was burning. Good thing, I wore my baseball cap to protect my face. The game was exciting, I learned a lot today because a fan in front of us was explaining to his companion what was happening in the game and his voice was like a megaphone, we could hear his explanation vividly. Although the Jays lost by a point, it was still a nice experience. I remember my first NBA game at Dallas where the Mavericks lost to Lakers but now I realized that they become champions and where did the Lakers go this time. Maybe in a few years more, Blue Jays will become champions again. Here are some photos from my first Blue Jays game:

Meet my gardeners

We started to fix the garden. We bought a manual reel lawn mower and we were excited to try it this morning. Even the kids wanted to push the mower, good thing it was not heavy but we still need to help them because it is dangerous for kids - they might trip on it. Just looking at the different tools and gadgets in the flyers we received for gardening, we found ourselves overwhelmed and too scared to spend. These gadgets cost a lot, we need to research before buying anything because they are considered investments.

Here are my new gardeners in their first attempt at mowing the lawn:

My mini garden and mini Lex

Who says that only those with their own houses and large pieces of land can do gardening? Patio Gardening is an in thing here during summer especially for those who are living in apartment buildings like us. Since I received 2 flowering pots last Mother's Day, I added some veggie plants to go with my hydrangeas and mini roses. Lito and I tried if we had 'green thumb' by planting indoor plants. I wonder if they will grow. I will post the pictures of successful pots. I was hoping that the cherry tomatoes and bell peppers I put in these pots will grow and bear fruit (or vegetables? hahaha)



I haven't posted about my children's milestones in a long time and I guess it's about time that I updated you with my mini Lex who is now 2 and a half years old. He is very agile and his developments both physically and socio exceeded those of his brothers. I think it helped that his older brothers show him the things he needed to do like tidy up, go to the washroom when it's pee time (yes, he learned to pee on his own at 2) and wash hands (use soap and dry them). At his young age, he talks like an adult using the right words or grammar, but sometimes, only he can understand the words he is saying we end up just asking him to point what he wants. Here is my toddler, in his favorite toy with his grandma - Mama Naty.

It's BBQ time! Kain tayo sa labas

It's almost summer and time to go out and enjoy the sun. It's also the time to remove the BBQ cover and cook our dishes in our BBQ grill, just like most of the families here. And just like them, we enjoy our food in our own little patio and picnic table. Lito mastered his BBQ Porkchops. Tara, Kain tayo sa labas.

A Trip to Mississauga

We visited Tito Nilo and Ani in their respective abodes this weekend. Mama and Dadilo were able to view the beautiful houses in the City of Mississauga. A relief from the view of apartment buildings. We had a late lunch at Tito Nilo's and met Neil and Keli there. Afterwards, we visited Ani who is in her 9th month and about to give birth to her firstborn. The night before she went to the hospital but it was a false alarm. We were happy to see her and shared stories with one of the best friends of my sister Wen. Ani wished Wendy to come here too and we talked about them applying here as immigrants because of the new system of processing immigrants now. Only those whose career belong to the Priority jobs like Physical Therapist will have a greater chance of being granted a visa. Later that evening, I asked Wendy to call Ani to give them an idea or encourage them to apply here instead of waiting for the US which is too elusive to them as of now. I got excited but it still the Lord's plan that will prevail so we will just pray for it. It's an opportunity for them esp now that they are expecting twins. Children benefit a lot here in Canada.

We enjoyed our weekend even if it drizzled. Dadilo was especially happy because he got a kiss (beso-beso) from a Brazilian gal hehehe.