Gripe Water

Through Grandma Paa I learned to use Woodward's Gripe Water. Gripe water is a home remedy for infants with colic , gastrointestinal discomfort, teething pain, reflux and other stomach ailments. It is typically given to an infant with a dropper in liquid form, and adults may also take gripe water for soothing intestinal pains, gas or other stomach ailments including flatulence. It is equivalent to Aceite de Manzanilla we have in the Philippines. The only difference is on its application because it couldn't be administered orally.

Brief Book Review of Let's Go Book (3rd edition)

Earlier today we were asked to make a brief review of the English book we're currently using. Based on our book review, our manager will decide whether to change our book or not.

The Let’s Go Book 2 (3rd edition) features beautiful full-color illustrations in a clear and attractive format. Creative activities, utilizing a wide range of skills, engage students in a variety of learning experiences. The students love the songs that appear in the “Let’s Sing” portion of each unit’s first’s lessons. The students are always looking forward to play the track and sing with it before we’ll start our class.

This book emphasizes communication within a carefully controlled grammatical syllabus. Beginning with the first lesson, students are provided with a variety of activities that focus on interactive communication. The activities gradually increase in difficulty. Students are regularly presented with new vocabulary and structures so that they have adequate language to communicate with at each new level.

The dialogues, songs, and exercises feature real-life situations that the children are familiar with. This helps the students to quickly begin speaking English in their own natural pace.

I like this book and I vote that we're still going to use the same book for the next term. Another reason why I don't want to change our book for ป.2, it's because I already have lesson plans for it and I don't need to make another bunch of leson plans for the next term.

God's Awesome Plan

God’s Plan
By Ryan M. Akers


This is a prayer for the sick, the lonely, the discouraged…
Feeding off listless days with mixed meals of despair and disgust
Yet there is a reason for delay, you should still be encouraged
For God has a plan for you, a plan unseen yet a strategy you should trust.

Try to find that one thing that brings you hope, brings you wonder
Revives the sense that you are not alone in this dark night, in this difficult fight
Something to lift your chin and realize with the power of echoing thunder
At the end of each dark hour, there is hope growing in the widening light.

Very easily said yet actions speak suffering with a severed spirit and broken heart
Very easily denied yet applied when you look past regret and learn to accept
Some dreams in life have weak seams, unravel with experience and slowly tear apart
But others are sewn in steel wool and will be yours fully, truly, without precept

All my life I have seen visions of what I hoped would be my future, a dream
Lovers a bliss and never amiss in the narcissistic amuse or most harrowing of times
And although that love is not something I will ever hope in esteem
My potential for love is harmed and mimicked a fool by my own selfish crimes.

So now you see you are a lot like me, like any person who has dreamed and slipped
For love, for life, for any measure of greatness to make a person feel fit
Yet despite all the consternation, I move to a migration of a man well equipped
To surface beyond the darkness and take faith in my charm, my smile, my wit

These rains, these tears from above, will soon pass away to something better
A new sun is dawning on the horizon you have not seen, far beyond the storm
So throw off the shackles, the cuffs, the fleeting resolve, even your sweater
Because God has a plan for you… some place you’ll be loved, encumbered, and warm.

Yes, God has a plan and he is not telling
A plan specifically for you without the slightest clue
A plan that you’ll soon find yourself no longer rebelling
A plan fit perfect for his vision: a vision of you!

A tactic resurrecting a dream anew
A special plan for the one and only you!

I love this poem. It encourages me to keep trusting God no matter how hard our circumstances are. I know that He has a very special plan for me and for my family. I believe that the things we consider "best" for us that were stripped away from us will be replaced with greater things much "better" than the things we once treasured.

When my husband's contract from his former school ends, he didn't apply to other schools so that he could take care of me and our newborn son. On the other hand, it's not an easy decision for us. Itmeans our income will be cut off 50% for the meantime. We consider that he'll find job by next term (May) for that time Hyzyd will be 7 months. We were glad for this opportunity that one of us could really be with Hyzyd in his early stage of life. We want that we will be there for his first smile, laugh and other "firsts"things of his life.

Our neighbor (another Filipino couple) told us to try applying to one of the big schools in Songkhla. We come to agreement that he will visit the school and pass his resume the following Monday so that if they needed one for the next term he will be prioritized. I called our head in the English Department that I will be absent on Monday with my reason to take care of my baby because my husband will apply to one of the schools in Songkhla. She agreed readily for she understands well our situation.

Joseph called me around 12:00 pm telling me that he's accepted and was told to start having class at 1:20 P.M. Of course, I was overjoyed. I called my friend who has his mother-in-law with them if she will be able to take care of Hyzyd. By the way, a week before , I told "nanay" informally that if ever Joseph can find a job, we would like to get her to take care of Hyzyd. I'm quite confident that she's available. I didn't know that somebody already asked her service . I'm devastated!:)

I turned to God for help. I prayed for His ways even when there seems to be no way. We prayed for Joseph's job, God provided and now another challenge arised, we needed someone to babysit Hyzyd. I called our friends from the church, no one is available, we looked for nurseries (though as much as possible I don't want my baby to stay in a nurserybecause of the bad experiences of other Filipino babies) -all are fully-booked or else wouldn't accept a 2-month old baby. I could quit my job and take care of my baby, that's not a problem but if I do so I will also lost my visa as well as my husband's and work permit. God touched our neighbor who happened to be a nurse to volunteer for a day to take care of Hyzyd while I still have time to look for baby sitter. Around 5 PM, the wife of our Pastor gave me a ring and told me that a Grandma will babysit as long as we send the baby to her instead of her going to our house.

I thank God for the on-time answer of our prayers. Grandma Paa is the babysitter we have at present and we're grateful for her helpful tips in taking care of Hyzyd.

Recipe for the New Year!

Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

Talk to God about what is going on in your life.

Buy a lock if you have to.

When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'Mypurpose is to__________ today.

I am thankful for______________'

Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

Drink green tea and plenty of water.

Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

Try to make at least three people smile each day.

Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

Eat breakfast like a queen, lunch like a princess, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

Don't take yourself so seriously....no one else does.

You are not so important that you have to win every argument.

Agree to disagree.

Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

Forgive everyone for everything.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

GOD heals everything in his own way - but it helps if you ask Him.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for__________. Today I accomplished_________.

Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

God Bless You!