Kite Flying Time...

Kyle got a kite from school on their last day which was Friday. The weather was nice the following day and there seemed to be winds strong enough to fly a kite. The kids and I decided to go to the field near our house and try to fly the kite.

Minecraft Creations...

I did not know how kids can get creative in the game "Minecraft" until I saw some of the stuff my kids designed.

Lex's water slide

Kyle's epic city

Aloysius' awesome city

Kid's version of their stuffed toy Brownie

Netflix - Jackie Chan Adventures

All my 3 boys seemed to be addicted to the game Minecraft. They spend most of their time creating something. Upon searching Wikipedia, I found out that the game is played by generating your own world by building anything out of textured cubes in 3D. It involves exploration, gathering resources by mining, etc. Looks like a good game to enhance a kids creativity. However, playing the game on a PC or an iPad puts a strain on the eyes and we do not want our kids to be develop eye problems. Thanks to Netflix, they found another form of enjoyment. They found out about the series, "Jackie Chan Adventures" and now they want to watch it every night. Some maybe thinking, they still use the eyes to watch. Well, at least the eyes are not as focused/strained as when they play the games on their iPad or PC.

Weekend Art - Kids

 

I Love My Earth

It is nice to know that schools are teaching our kids how to care for the environment. This is something that my son made when he was in grade 1

Crayola Crayon Maker

Finally after 4 months, I was able to purchase the toy I wanted to give my kids. As early as November 2011, I was looking for a Crayola Crayon Maker which according to the website of Walmart was available. I went to all the nearby Walmart locations I could not get one. I guess the toy was in demand that the persons in charge of updating the inventory was not able to keep up. I asked my friends and even my brother in the USA to keep an eye out for it. I even frequent the Kijiji and Craigslist site to check if someone is selling a used one. I was surprised to see ads for it with a price range of 100-150 dollars. I decided to just wait.

Just yesterday, while shopping for something else I happened to see 3 of them in the shelves of Walmart (Queensway Branch). I immediately took one and paid for it. My kids are excited about it as they can combine different colors and make a crayon. I was a little disappointed because it does not make a full size crayon. However, melting a crayon as small as half an inch and molding it half the length of a real crayon is nice. No need to throw away the old crayons. Old ones can be used to make new usable ones.

Halloween 2011

Kyle received a Bumblebee Plasma Cannon as a gift from his Godmother Faye about 2 Christmases ago. We also got him a Bumble bee helmet that matches it. Both items does not fit him very well that time so I guess he was not very interested about it. Kyle is now almost 6 and the Cannon and helmet now fits him perfectly. When he saw the Bumblebee costume at Walmart, he did not stop until I finally gave in and bought him one. It is a good thing that it went on sale the week before Halloween.

My youngest son Lex got his Optimus Prime costume from his Godmother Wei. I guess both Kyle and Lex liked their costumes because they have been wearing them since Friday. They only take it off when they go to the washroom hahahaha!

It was a good thing my eldest son Aloysius has a creative mind. He did not ask us to buy him a costume. He said he had something in mind and all he needed was an eye patch and a face paint or makeup. He said he will go trick or treating as his evil twin. I guess he regards himself as a very good boy and of course, the alter ego is his evil twin.

Here are some photos of the boys

Video Games, Only for Kids???

Last Christmas, my brother and sister gave my kids a gaming console. My Sons got the Wii that they have been dreaming of and asking for about some time. The bundle that they got included the Wii Sports game. The games were very simple compared to the PS3 and the X-Box games that have very complicated instructions and detailed graphics. But even then I am certain that the kids are enjoying the video game every time they get a chance to play it.

A week after they got it they convinced me to buy accessories and more games. I got them some games, these were: Nerf, Wii Resort, Sis Flags and Super Mario. I also got them the gun the gaming accessory that included the gun, fishing pole and the cue stick for billiards. It has been years since I played a video game like that. The last one I played was the first generation of Nintendo which also have the Mario game. I decided to try it when I was on vacation leave. My kids were in school and my wife is in a salon getting a facial rejuvenation. I loaded the Mario game and actually enjoyed playing it too. I played for about an hour before stopping to do some household chore. It was a nice experience to be able to play the same game after a while and feel like a kid again. I only wish these things will be for adults as well. The only problem is getting the chance to play if the kids are awake.

Kid Friendly Directories/Links and Searches

I have three small kids that are all boys. They are ages one, four and eight. One of them is currently attending secondary school and another will be in primary school this coming September. I was very surprised to find out that my eldest already have a computer subject. They are taught to research using the internet for their assignments and projects. I am a BS computer science graduate and have been using computers in almost 70 of my time at work. However, I actually was able to learn about and use a computer when I was in college.



I like the idea of having them start at an early age to use these advances in technology so they will grow up knowing a lot. Integrating computer literacy in the curriculum for kids I believe is a good idea and would benefit the students. The only worry I have is that there are a lot of stuff in the internet that are not for them to gain access to. Let’s face it, kids that are starting to learn how to use the internet will click away on any link they could see especially if it looks colourful and attractive.



I came across the website Kidsclick.org. It is a web search and directory for kids made by librarians. It is like the Yahoo directory which is a widely used business web directory. Another site is Business.com site which offer a variety of business resource. The difference between these two sites to the Kidsclick.org would be the orientation as the latter is for children. And since the site is owned and maintained by a department at a state university, a parent can be rest assured that the content or links on the web site is for general patronage.



I used to have Google as the home page on my kids computer so they can readily search anything one they launch the web browser. I recently have changed the default home page to Kidsclick. I firmly believe that it will definitely limit if not totally eliminate the chances of my kids stumbling upon adult web pages. This web site has links to directories that I feel is safe for browsing. The site also has small icons that are designed to make the kids enjoy the browsing experience. Aside from the readily available links, the site also have picture, sound and website searches and lesson searches that helps kids find and filter information that is not available.



To say the least, I am very happy to have found such a site and I would recommend this to my friends who have small kids of their own. For further information about web directories, you may visit the following link from Wikipedia -> Web Directory

All Clear Stair Guard

I recently e-mailed the MP(Member of Parliament) assigned in our area for help in finding out the status of my sponsorship. I feel that soon there will be a favorable result.

I am now excited and have continued buying things for the kids. Continuing as I have started to buy clothes for them even last year when I find good deals. One of the things on my wife's wish list is a Stair Guard. Our apartment has a stair which is too steep and dangerous to my small kids. That is why we need a stair guard or gate. My friend Gina gave me one but it will not work in our setting. If we have to go over the gate to go down the stairs, it would be dangerous to me and my wife too. So I looked for one that swings open. I found one at The Bay. It was on sale for CAD 40 Tax included. It was priced CAD 70 before. I thought it was a good deal so I took advantage. I actually installed it and took some pictures. I hope my wife and the kids would like it.

Another Baby Boy for Us!!!

I am very thankful to the Lord for blessing us with another baby boy. He was born November 23, 2008 at 1:54 PM Manila Time and he weighs 7.26 Lbs. We will be naming him Alexus Mitchel, thanks to my eldest son Miggy who suggested it. We now have 3 boys, the other one is Kyle who I am sure will be adjusting as he will also be a "kuya" or older brother. I am very excited however i will just have to be contented to seeing our new born on PC camera and on photos that my wife will be publishing. Holding him would have to wait until next year when hopefully they can be with me. Stay tuned for his pictures.

Arts and Craft

I have always liked drawing, painting, sketching and coloring. It is too bad I was not able to hone these skills. I was not fortunate enough to have the necessary materials to be able to do so. Aside from that, I was distracted by the cartoon robots that were shown during those days. I would also prefer to play with my friends which is free so I forgot all about my love for drawings. My eldest son Miggy seem to like arts/drawing and recently also his younger brother seem to be getting interested as well. If my kids are performing well in class and they got it from their mother. The artistic side would definitely be from me (I hope my wife will not be able to read this blog as she might differ. LOL)


My kids and I have a lot of drawings/sketches, paintings and crafts we did in the past. I have photographed them and uploaded them in Webshots and Facebook. The links can be found below.

Link 1 - Arts & Crafts

Link 2 - Colored Drawings

Link 3 - Sketches

Link 4 - Others