Grateful...

I just want to write a post about how thankful I am to the Lord for blessing us with the kind of life that we wanted to live.  We may not be blessed with financial abundance now that we have decided to stay in the Philippines for good but we have enough and that's all that matters.  I am in awe how God works wonders in putting things in order for me and for my family.  At the end of each day I am excited for the coming days because I feel like there are still more surprises God has in store for us.

To date, I am no longer a stay-at-home mom but a work-at-home mom and I'm happy.  Everyday my hands are full juggling my online work and my duties as a mom and a wife.  Our house help went on vacation two weeks ago and eventually told me that she's uncertain when she will be coming back because she needs to fix some family matters in the province. There are days when I feel dead tired but I love that feeling.  I feel like I am accomplishing a lot of things each day and at the same time having the luxury to just stay at home and look after my family.  I have already adjusted with my work schedule and thankfully I have flexible working hours.

I have also enrolled for a Master's Degree program and I will be majoring in Guidance and Counseling.  My classes starts next Saturday and I am very much excited but anxious at the same time since I will be out of the house every Saturday of this semester.  My class starts at 8am and ends at 6pm with one hour lunch break.

I want to share my work area...

Yes, those are vapor rub and katinko ointment.  I take them with me so that if ever I need to put some on the kids I won't have to stand up.

From Monday to Friday I am stationed at our dining table so that I could easily stand up and leave work for a few minutes if ever I need to attend to something. I have a small working table in our bedroom and I used to work there but after our house help left and I was the one taking care of everything in the house, I realized that though climbing up and down the stairs is a good exercise, it would just result to minor injuries every now and then especially when I'm rushing, hehe.

That small table was custom-made as a bedside table when I was still single.  It was originally painted white then I took it with me when I got married and painted it green and eventually painted it brown. Since I was the one who repainted it, the paint now is starting to wear off, hehe..

That is my small nook in our bedroom.  I am still in the look out for a perfect working table.

As for the rest of the brood, my husband works from home, too and the kids would still be home schooled. They'll start classes next week.

we are family: homeschool

In 2008, when I first came to Riyadh, my two older kids were left behind in the Philippines (they were under the loving care of their grandmother and great grandparents) since they were still enrolled in a regular school. I would stay in here for 6 months then go back to the Philippines and be there for the next six months..that went on for 2 years. During those times we were really planning carefully what we want the set-up to be. We miss our 2 boys most of the time and there are times when the 3 us (my husband, me and our youngest)would only look at pictures of all of us together to compensate for our sadness..in as much as we would want to be complete in a distant place from home, we are hesitant to bring the 2 boys over since we know for a fact that schools here in Riyadh are pretty expensive..the thought of working here would enter my mind every now and then but there will be other things to consider like who would look after them while i'm still at work, etc. etc..

as fate would have it, I came across a website promoting homeschooling. I've had ideas about it before but didn't really bother searching into it since i was already working as a teacher and my two boys were enrolled in the same school where i was teaching. i looked into it and searched for other articles and write-ups about it. I presented it to my husband but he was unsure about it at first. but it seems as if God has already planned something for us..while i was in the Philippines (about to enroll the kids for the upcoming school year) i discovered that one of our close neighbor's daughter is working in a school which is tied up to a homeschooling system. They oriented me about the program and answered all my questions and apprehensions..in less than a month, my kids were already enrolled in the homeshcooling system..

homeschooling has lots of benefits, i tell you. i get to practice being a teacher plus i don't have to worry about my kids since i can always look after them 24/7. by the way, the kids' materials are called PACES - every area of learning is divided into 12 paces (booklets) so it's easy for the child to accomplish and understand every subject. plus, the child gets to pratice discipline since they really need to read before they can answer..and the best part of it is we have all the time in the world!!! =)

i think i'll have another post for the pros and cons of homeschooling =)


these are the kids' desks and bins that we got from IKEA. the stools we bought from Al Swalim supermarket for 8riyals (2 dollars) each =)


the eldest's materials..he has 8 subjects (areas of learning) now.


the second one's paces..he's got 7 subjects.


these are my youngest's materials (he calls them PACES, too)..he's not yet enrolled so i just bought the workbooks from a bookstore back in the Philippines.


hubby brought this home one day (he printed it out from his office computer)so that we can motivate the kids to eat more vegetables and to try out the gross-looking ones, lol..we placed it right in front of their study desks.