February 24 - Cloud

For the past two months I have taken pictures of clouds in different forms.  The latest I had that I was really glad of capturing was the sun behind a big one.  Good thing for today that the sky is decorated with them as well and this one is a good picture of artsy clouds.  Nothing much to say here for today.  I just want to take some more relaxation time as it will be a busy week ahead starting tomorrow.

February 23 - A Word

What could be a striking word for today’s prompt?  I thought of love and family first though I was looking for something other than this that may be different.  As travelling is another passion, I searched for ‘travel’ word around but found none.  So I took the picture of the magnet with the first country I visited outside the Philippines.  

We bought the magnet for the kids, as they love Disney though there is no Disneyland in Singapore just Universal Studios.  I do not know why Mickey and his friends are in the magnet but I would not put so much thought in it.

I picked the word Singapore because it represented a place that I enjoyed going to.  Of course it was more fun travelling with my husband and since it was first time for both of us in this country.  

Singapore is one place I would love to come back to with all its interesting places to see and visit.  I have not seen them all yet and am waiting for another promo fare so it would not be that expensive, hehe.  And it is nice going around using the their subway train that is fast and efficient not to mention a very clean country to be in.  So if you have not been to this modern yet green country, then you should put it on your list.

February 22 - Makes You Smile

It has been a gloomy week in our place.  Weather has been depressing with scattered rains and thunderstorms for the past days.  Living in a tropical country, many would think that Mr. Sun is an everyday thing especially after the rainy months are over.  With the climate changing, so is the weather.  January to March should already be warm months here but it is not so apparently.  It seems that after two days of blue skies the next four to five days are cloudy or raining.  What a somber mood it is that there is no other topic than the weather.

And finally, after several days of morning rains, the sky has made an appearance.  It did rain in the morning but surprisingly in the afternoon, the sun was coming out.  I hope it will be like this for the weekend.  Yes, it is quite hot but better than pouring rain especially when it is time to go out with family.

February 21 - Full

One thing I have come to realize after a long week of working until Sunday is that my body wants to take a break.  I should take at least a day off from the energy that consumes me when writing articles.  Still I shove the thought on the back of my head, as I wanted to have a busy week again.  I mean time flies fast nowadays, don’t you agree? 

Oh well, that plan did not go as I thought since my body was really looking for a break.  Not just for a power nap or a few minutes worth of shut-eye but a longer one.  So that kept me from taking pictures for the prompts for the rest of the week.  It seems that my body is shutting off to even think.  Finally, I did have my rest although no subjects that says full.  Only thing I found is the Valentine’s card my son made where the heart was full of sequins to add some art to it.  Way better than any I could think.

February 20 - Where You Stood

As many of you know, my son's daily routine to school is the only time I get to go out of the house.  So that would be the image I had in mind of this prompt.  You know, the corner of the street where I wait for the local transportation, motorela, to come by to get me back and forth the house and school.  That sounds morbid but I find it somewhat comforting that I can be with my kids and still earn within the four corners of the house as long as I have internet connection, lol.  

So anyway, that image did not materialized into an actual picture as I am not over yet on the time with family at the beach since the picture I pick out for today was taken on that day already ten days from the prompt.  And yes, I think this one is more fitting than what I first thought.

February 19 - I am...

This prompt was more difficult than 'yourself' and 'what you do' because it covers a lot of sides being a mother, wife, online worker, traveller and many more.  And yes, it took me days even after the 19th to finally choose a picture that represents me.  It added to the daily challenges that move me to do tasks and actually finish them.  Yeah, laziness sets in sometimes after a week of being too busy, the brain wants to do more but the body wants to do otherwise.  Hah!  Amidst all the usual stuff in my daily routine, it is great having to do something other than just being a mom.  But then again, ironically, the one thing that I can say is that these two little boys easily define who I am everyday and I am proud to be their mom.

Random Pictures I Have To Capture

I have decided to bring the camera whenever I accompany Hammie to and from school.  There are so many moments that are just perfect to capture.  I realized well that it is the only time of day that I get to go out and opportunities to take pictures are abundant.  Sounds like I am such a hermit but I don't really feel I lack exposure to the outside world.  I just go out when I need to for groceries, church, dates with hubby, family gatherings or when I feel I need to get out of the house.  Well, anyway, here are some of my random pictures last week.

Hearts made by students placed on the door on Valentine's Day

February 18 - Something You Don't Like

Today, I had to wake up Hammie for a long time as he needs to go to school.  He complains that he wants to sleep more.  Ironically on weekends this was not a problem since he wakes up early.  So now I am back to disliking and dreading Mondays.  Before, when I stopped working, this day was not really much of a concern since I do not have to wake up early other than cooking breakfast for hubby.  

Now that my son's going to school this has been a routine especially on Mondays no matter how I condition him the night before.  It gets frustrating at times as it makes him late for school.  Though I hope in the long run, he will get used to it.  I don't know how long it will take for him since school is almost over.  I guess I need to stretch my patience more and allow him to adjust on his own with my constant prodding.

February 17 - In Your Hand

I wanted to capture another photo of my kids hands as I did not succeed the previous attempt for the prompt HOPE.  So this day's prompt would be a great opportunity for that and I tried again to get my kids' hands on top of my palm but still Louie did not want to participate.  Oh, well.  The only difference for this picture is that my hubby's hand was part of the image.  Maybe next time Louie will finally cooperate.

February 16 - Perfect

When I saw the prompt for today, I though of capturing my kids while sleeping.  They just seem to be perfect as they especially when they are dreaming away.  But I was too engrossed with my work that day that I actually forgot.  So I chose a picture I took last Sunday that depicts the perfect weather to be outdoors.  I wish that I can apparate (yes, like in the Harry Potter books) to that place right now, don't you too?

February 15 - Inside Your Fridge

I wasn't that worried about today's prompt because basically this is not my house and my in-laws.  Yeah, in the Philippines we do that.  So lacking any inspiration to shoot a particular thing inside the fridge, I just snapped what was inside it right away.

I think I need to explain what's inside.  Those on the plastic containers on the bottom area are vegetables of all sorts that are juiced up by my in-laws.  The big container with the brownish stuff is concentrated juice.  On the upper middle portion are leftover lasagna and other foods.  A bit of my Sola is left, a pitcher of some vegetable juice then another container of vegetables on the left side.  So yeah that's about it.

What I Did On Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day.  I have come to realize that there are other days to be cheesy than just Valentine's Day, like 364 other days.  Besides everywhere people are having dinners out so traffic is something that I do not want to deal with.  Ever since, I worked from home, it is the one thing that I am thankful not to experience everyday.  Then restaurants are actually crowded which decreases the romantic ambience people seek on this day.  And of course the flowers are very expensive at this time.  I told hubby that it is okay if he does not buy me flowers for today.

So I asked hubby to just have a special dinner at home and later take the kids out.  I baked lasagna and made fruit cocktail for our Valentine's dinner.  After that we went to the recently opened mall, Centrio and let the kids have fun at the playground.  There were still a lot of kids and I was not too comfortable with that as older kids might be pushing the younger kids unintentionally.  

There was even one kid about two years old who fell down while climbing up the curvy platform/stairs leading to the slide.  He was well-balanced going up between the gaps of the curved stairs but he got bumped by an older kid.  And his parents were sitting around and too late to save him from the fall.  Good thing he was fine.

Anyway, after a few rounds of sliding down, hubby said to get the kids to rest since he was also not too keen on a cramped playground.  So my kids were running around on the garden going up the shorts step then down.  And I watched them then took some photos of flowers that have bloomed already in the garden area.

Hubby whispered something to Louie then they walked together to Hammie and hubby whispered something to him.  We all went back to the car and Hammie was excited.

Hammie then said: Mama, we're going to buy flowers for you.

Though I had a feeling we were going to the flower shop, I can't help smiling.  Hubby then said that he wanted to bring the kids along in buying the flowers instead of buying by himself.

Hammie repeated that we are going to the flower shop to buy flowers for me.  His father shushed him as he is ruining the surprise already.

To which, Hammie said sorry but then he turned to me and in a whisper said that they will buy flowers for me. LOL! Epic fail I might say but I was enjoying the moment.  

And so to cap the heart's day brouhaha, my boys got me these:

Three roses from my boys.
It's nice for the three of them walking together towards the car with each one holding a rose wrapped in this pink plastic.  

Hope you had a lovely time not just during this day but lots of days throughout the year.

February 14 - Love is...

There are so many ways to interpret today's prompt.  But the subjects I had in my mind boils down to family.  It was about my sons holding each other's hand, having fun playing together, having their brotherly conversations that seem to increase as they grow (and hopefully so), hubby spending time with our kids, hugs or just about anything that expresses love.  Then I got the perfect picture in mind that depicts the bond that my two sons share.  This picture is not taken today but at the beach last Sunday.  Maybe I'll have a random picture for today's prompt but I hope for this day, this will do.

Ah, yes Louie, my two-year-old found a place to hide and so Hammie, the four-year-old followed suit.  As a disciplinarian, I wanted to stop them from going inside (they took turns) because it was a resort and maybe the resort people would not like it but I just let them be and let them enjoy the moment.  And enjoy they did and I also loved taking pictures of them with big smiles on their faces.

February 13 - Walking

My first thought for this day's prompt is my usual everyday morning walk after I send my son to school.  But as there will be an early mass today for Ash Wednesday and no class after so that walking photo was not possible.  We were able to attend mass in the evening and that was the only time I got out of the house to do some 'walking'.  So I skipped yesterday and decided I will just take a picture of walking today.  It's still Feb 13 at this time on the other side of the world so I guess it'll pass.  Haha... excuses, excuses...  anyway, I got my photo for the day for February 13 with the theme 'walking'.

My Random Pics For Today 02.12.13

When I started the photo a day challenge I have come to realize that I always have other pictures captured aside from the prompt.  At first I hesitated because they do not fit the category but in the long run I realized that I can just shot away at anything I want and put up a separate post about it.  After all, there really is no rules on taking photos that are not part of the challenge.  The photo a day challenge even provides more opportunities to see the ordinary things around you in a not so ordinary way.  So here are my two shots for this day.