Crikey... he's gone!

Crikey's sudden demise brought sadness not just to many people around the world, but to someone so precious to me and my husband - our four year old son.

The news broke out yesterday afternoon. I was in disbelief. After reading the article, a part of me wished that they had the wrong person. How could a sting ray possibly kill a Steve Irwin? I am not a big fan of Steve but I feel distressed for he has left two young children.

I remember late last year when we visited Stevo's zoo up in the Sunshine Coast. Wiji had a blast during the "Crocs show" and overall had fun experiencing the wild life.

So when I came home last night, I told him Crikey's. And he asked me, "Where did he go?". Knowing he has no concept of death, I just told him that Crikey went to heaven already. But just like any other child, as if every answer you give them will never be enough, he threw a "Why?". I told him bluntly that he's dead because a sting ray "tusok" (pierced) his heart. And I thought being blunt will keep the conversation short. Still I got another question "What's dead?".

So how can I possibly describe or animate death to a child? Crikey! In the end, he understood that he will never see Steve again. That he's gone and he's never coming back.

Today on the way to his pre-school, we were listening on the radio for some Steve Irwin updates and tributes on the air. As soon as he heard something related to Steve, he cried out, "Steve! Crikey!? Bad sting ray! Naughty naughty sting ray!!!".
(Oh, Mr. Sting Ray, what have you done!)

I'm not so bothered even if Wiji sounded upset. I know one day he will understand.

Super Thanks!

We celebrated Eee-yon's on the 3rd of September, which happened to be the celebration for Father's Day too.

To all Eeey-yon's super heroes (family, playmates, ninongs, ninangs, titos, and titas), thank you for your presence and presents. You made him feel Supah on his first birthday celebration!!!

God bless you all!

Lola Returns....

Mama's back to look after the apos again. Me - smiling widely. She arrived today, Tuesday, a day past Eee-yon's birthday. That's why we're delaying the celebration.

Kuya Wiji, is his happy hyper self today upon seeing Lola. He had this quizzical look when she saw Mama. He ran towards Lola with such a confused look. Maybe trying to understand why it took soooo long to see her again.

Thank you Lord for Mama!

Happy First Birthday EeeeYon :)

Many months ago, I've decided that Leon's party will have a Justice League theme. I chanced upon a website suggesting a nice intro for invitations along this theme. Then, I saw Maver's invite for Nino.

So, I browsed for images and edited it together with Leon's pic in Photoshop. Then, went to Harvey Norman for mass production. (READ: mass printing of digital photos. hehehe!)

Here's the finished product and You're invited...

A BOo-BOo week - Part 2

Glad the week was over. But it ended with another boo-boo yesterday.

I knew I was going to spend Saturday, s-p-e-n-d-i-n-g (READ: doing our fortnightly groceries and preparing ingredients for the menu I planned for the week ahead). We have been on a tight budget so I cannot really splurge on anything unnecessary at present. (Geeze, how many times have I mentioned this in my blog, yet I often break the rule! Hehehehe! Don't tell my hubby!!!)

Anyway, for the first time I braved the local ALDI. This store has been around for a few years now. And all those years, I have been hearing good reviews in terms of product price and quality from friends. And lately from the internet (I've been frequenting this money savings vault website called Simple Savings). And upon hubby's prodding, I decided to give it a try.

Anyway, my boo boo wasn't about shopping. Hubby only dropped us (Luis and me) off at the mall earlier. He took Leon with him who was napping in the car. They went for a car wash as we did our groceries. So we agreed to meet at the parking lot after a couple of hours.

Anyway I was done and was happy with the bargain that I got. Luis got a free balloon on our way out of the mall. I saw Louie double parked, waiting for a spot. But I thought, heck - why wait for a spot when I can load these bags while the car's standing there.

As I approached the car, Louie signed that I should wait for him to get the parking space of someone already about to leave. But I said, "Never mind! I can do it from here. Give it to someone else." He even asked me if I was sure I can handle all those bags. And I was very proud to say, "Of course!".

Picture this, my little boy and I behind the car ready to load our bags. He was eating his sultanas beside me and enjoying his blue balloon and I was already loading the first batch, when he started yelling, "Mommy, mommy, mommy...." And I was still busy fixing the first batch (as half of my torso ducked inside the car). Yet, he wouldn't stop crying out for MOMMY. (Louie all this time thought Luis was crying because his balloon fled.) I got annoyed already so I turned around to him and said, "WHAT???" .. And before I could quickly grasp his thoughts, I saw his finger pointing to my trolley which was rolling down the parking lot already. Ahhh.. TAKBO!!!! (RUN!!!!) ... A few cars started entering the center and saw me running after my trolley. But the ground was just sloping downhill. Gosh, I couldn't catch up with it. It only slowed down when it hit the bumper of this car. (Oh no!) I was so shocked. Fortunately, the car had rubber gear protector. You know that black thing!!!

I must have amused some people. But I think most them thought how stupid of me to have not known that it was gonna come down to that since these trolleys, unlike strollers, have no breaks. I'm glad the car was not damaged even if hubby got almost mad at me.

On the way home, he started laughing as he recalled how silly I looked moments ago. I checked my hair - still hasn't gone blonde. Hehehehe!

A BOo-BOo week - Part 1

I had a very embarrassing, stressful week.

It started on a Monday - hubby and I bought a pair of band aids for $200 for Leon. And you might say, "what the $%^&?". That's just how I summarized that morning when I suddenly had the urge to clip Leon's nails. And yes, I accidentally nicked his skin or maybe I clipped beyond the "line"!!!

I wasn't panicking at first and then I saw blood. And then, more blood. Holy me! It was bleeding profusely. We put pressure on the finger nail. Leon wasn't in pain, amazingly, but he hated that I kept holding his finger. After 30 minutes of bleeding, I told Louie we needed to rush to the emergenecy cause I didn't know what to do anymore.

We took off and instead of going to Westmead Children's public hospital - which is like 20 minutes away, I thought we're better off taking him to the Hills Private Hospital - which is minutes away from home.

He was attended to right away. But the nurse instantly told me that there was really not much they can do but to apply the same pressure as what I've been doing for the last hour. I wanted to run out before they start giving me the bill. But I was too shy to even ask if we can just excuse ourselves and not be seen by the physician anymore - (so, er, I won't have to pay the consultation fee). And she was too quick to say, "Let me see what I can do.". -

She weighed Leon and took his temp. (My eyebrows were meeting in the middle already! - I mean, do you really need to do that to stop the bleeding?). Anyway, she escorted us to one of the emergency beds and I put down Leon who was still a happy baby. The doctor came and said the same thing.... "nothing you can do but to wait for the bleeding to stop." ... And I noticed, that the bleeding has slowed down. Hmnnn...

He ordered the nurse to put band aid on Leon's tiny thumb. She placed one over the thumb and another one around the thumb.

I had a laugh when Leon tried to suck his fave thumb. He must have found the texture unfamiliar.

Upon check-out, we had to pay $200 for doctor's fees. That's already discounted, mind you!

Oh Louie consoled me that the $200 has spared us from queueing at the public hospital for at least 5 hours. With $200 I was able to buy myself some peace of mind without arduously waiting. The band aids? Let's say they were freebies! Hehehe!

Want more? On to the next boo-boo...

1-800-GRANDMA

After 6 months of rigorous medical check-ups, my mom's health has been declared to be out of danger, for now. Semi-annual CT scans, ultrasounds, mammogram must be done to monitor the lumps and cysts lingering in numerous organs.

I have booked her to fly dowunder by end of August. It's always a better feeling for me to entrust my sons to my mom than to any baby sitter. I mean my baby sitter is good. But of course I cannot attest to that on those hours that I am away from home. Besides, she's getting a little too much to accommodate. Her phone usage is slowly soaring high. And although she pays me back the national and international phone calls she made, I noticed that she would delay it by looking for an excuse week after week. But still I didn't mind if she'd not pay me on time. What I got frustrated about was that there has been an increase in local calls as well. In my phone statement I don't have these itemized. So who do I charge. Of course myself! When in past we'd make maximum of 20 local calls in a month. This time we had 90. And it can't be possible that majority were made by me or Louie. We make phone calls when we're at work and not when we're at home. So, it's high time to call in for my mama.

Dialing, 1-800-GRANDMA.

Maan

Another year wiser

Everyone's (and I mean everyone at work) raving at my get-up... including my shoes. I guess they're not used to it cause I rarely turn up in a lady-like outwear. So when the email hit our inbox announcing that cake time is at 3pm to celebrate my, ahem, birthday - they all knew the reason for the frock!

Gosh... feeling a lil old again. Another 12 months to go and I'd be saying bye-bye to my twenTEENS. I should stay positive, as I always say, "another candle on the cake, can only make the room a little brighter".

Happy 4th

Nope, I'm not celebrating this American tradition but today is just a happy day for me.

We've just been to Domaine for our first building tender appointment. Well, this is our second first.

A year ago, we had the same appointment with another builder. But early this year, just when all the house plans have been drafted and approved by the council, and internal colors, kitchen and baths were selected, hubby and I decided to pull out. We knew that our hearts were not fully set on this "knockdown and rebuild" idea of our investment property. And the last straw that made us turn our back was that the street this property is on does not have gas line and I really love gas cooking. Hehehe!

Then, Domaine launched their 3 new big homes and we visited the display home and I fell in love with the nursery room adjacent to the master bedroom with an easy door access. (Leon was still 6 months old then. But I think a nursery room will still suit him well for the next couple of years.). So, we did our assignments hoping to find vacant lots within the suburb we live in. And found one around end of May. But before we can do anything with the land, we had to wait for the subdivisions to be registered in the Council. End of June the registration got completed. So we took our interest to build a Crestmead home to Domaine office. Hence, the initial appointment today to know the overall cost.

Anyway, back to the main headline... hopefully this new "start" will reach the finish line. Luis is way overdue to have his own room. While I'm already excited to have my own scraproom that's why I'm very very happy today. As for my squeeze, I think he wants his office, bigger garage and theatre room.

2gether4ever day!

Today marks our 6th wedding anniversary. We didn't plan for anything. We just bought a land (in the process again of building a new home) and even small purchases have to be reasonable at this time including my scrapbooking expenses.

(Yesterday, instead of buying an anniversary card - I thought I'd scrap what I want to tell hubby on this day. But I didn't have enough time to finish the layout, so I just told him the words that meant to go into the journalling. Hey, I'm trying to keep up my "expenses-reasonable". Although, I felt a bit guilty that I bought the scrapbooking magazine with free tiles instead of the greeting card.)

I know hubby doesn't fail to buy me a card on every special occassion. Yet, today, I felt I wasn't even going to get one. But I did... After having breakfast, I went inside our bedroom and saw the card lying on our bed. Oh, my loving hubby didn't disappoint me. My heart melted. And as always, words he wrote made me teary-eyed. Luis saw me and I told him mom and dad are celebrating their wedding day. And he said, "but I was not there."

We drove off to North Sydney to buy a cake from Red Mango and to Ikea for the Stocktake Sale.

Tonight, we heard Saturday vigil mass. Had sinigang for dinner. And to prove Luis that mom and dad married each other, I let him watch our wedding video - a tradition every June 24. And he quickly abandoned his toys and sat on the couch. He really had fun watching the MTV edited version. He had nasty comments on my looks while I was being made up and funny observation regarding his daddy's ears. Oh, this is going to be a new posting on my Parenting blog.

In case you wonder, these are the words I will put on my anniversary greeting layout, "After all these years of togetherness, hanging out with you is still my favorite thing to do."

28th of May PARTY

Luis celebrated his 4th birthday at Lollipops Playland with 31 guests. (You won't see all of them in the souvenir photo. A few were busy playing outside the party room.)

I didn't put too much legwork for this party. I'm saving it all for Leon's first birthday in August. (AS IF!). Truth is, I really don't have an extra hand to do "all the works". So Louie and I thought, it was much safer to do it somewhere where the kids and our little boy can play (and make all the mess they want) to their hearts' content. :)

Call-time was at 9:30 am. I knew the mums and dads would agree that it turned out to be the best time of all. Why, the partyland wasn't as crowded and the observant me knew that kids' are more vibrant (READ: cooperative) in the morning.

Luis, for the very first time, knew the meaning of having a party on his birthday. He was aware that he was the "star" of the day. He knew what the cake was for and the candle - why it was a number "four".

This party was more relaxing than the previous years. But I still ended up a little tired. Probably because we had two other parties the previous day.

SO I hope your kids enjoyed as much as Luis did. Until his next birthday party.

Hip hip hurray!

Follow-up...

Mom's going to have a second CT scan today to compare the lung nodules (still present from her recent chest Xray done less than 8 weeks ago) with the results taken last February. If they've diminished - then, well and good. If not, I'm not sure what's the next step is going to be. But I pray that they are non-cancerous.

If you're reading this, I hope you don't mind taking a minute of prayer for my mom to be delivered from this affliction.

Thank you and God bless!

Luis' Party @ Pre-School

For the first time, Luigi felt it was his special day. He has anticipated for the 28th of May for the last two months prompting him to always ask me if he has to wait "lots of dark times" - he meant, "lots of days", as night time concludes each day.

Anyway, Friday, 26th of May, Louie and I took a day off to run a few errands and one of them was to pick up the birthday cupcakes I ordered previously and bring them to Castle Hill Pre-School in time for their morning tea which is at half ten.

Both mum and dad were so excited to take a photo of Luis who was sung by his mates with his "requested songs" - ABC and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. (I almost cracked up! )

After which, the teacher asked them to sing "Guess, who's having a birthday today?". Then, it was time to blow out 4 candles on the 4 cupcakes as the children sang "Happy Birthday To You". Daddy, the shutterbug, kept capturing his smiles, the sheer pleasure he gets from being the celebrant of the day!


In case you wonder, where was Leon? He was being carried by me, the stage mum, all the time. Wiji was once like him - physically attached to mum. Carried and cuddled most of the time. And now seeing my once, cuddly, little Wiji blow out the four candles makes me want to cry "CUT!" - as memories of the past flashed through when he came out to this world - I just want to pause time so I can etch all of these moments - distinctive as always - in my heart.

I love you "anak"!

My Day in May

... Mother's Day.

Hubby surprised me with a "breakfast in bed". Don't think naughty!!!

He cooked some bacon. He arranged it on a platter with croissant, a few sliced tomatoes and sliced cheese. Put it on a tray with a glass of orange juice and a card on the side. (Goodness me, I forgot to take a pic of it).

Then, Luis hopped on our bed staring at my food tray. I know he was very curious what was it for. Anyway, his dad cued him to greet me a "Happy Mother's Day". I asked him if he wanted to share my breakfast. He said yes and I happily obliged.

How Lucky Am I?

Your Luck Quotient: 72%

You have a high luck quotient. More often than not, you've felt very lucky in your life. You may be randomly lucky, but it's probably more than that. Optimistic and open minded, you take advantage of all the luck that comes your way.

How Lucky Are You?

May Day! May Day!

Well, I cringe everytime May nears. It's the month when most of my loved ones celebrate their special days.

May 11 - my squeeze's birthday. (His birthday reminds me that I'll be getting older too, 8 weeks later. Shucks!)
May 16 - my Mama's birthday
May 17 - my parents' anniversary and Mother-In-Law's birthday
May 28 - our eldest son's birthday (Happy Birthday little hero!)

And then there's mother's day and birthdays of our "kumare" and "kumpare", my son's friends... etc. Every weekend of May is gonna be, pretty much, BUSY...

Maan

I've been Tagged...

4 Jobs I've Had In My Life
- I.T. Auditor / Junior Network Assistant
- Application Developer
- Senior Application Developer
- CIO (har har har!!!)


4 Movies I Could Watch Over And Over
- Pretty Woman
- An Affair to Remember (original)
- My Bestfriend's Wedding
-

4 Places I've Lived
- Quezon City, Philippines
- Sydney, Australia : Yagoona, Wiley Park, Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill


4 TV Shows I Love To Watch
- Prison Break
- Desperate HOusewives
- Commander In Chief
- Amazing Race

4 Websites I Visit Daily
- Maan's World and a BIP (Blog-In-Progress)
- Sydney Morning Herald
- Philippine Star
- Philippine Inquirer

4 Of My Favorite Foods
- Lindt cake, eclair, chocolates
- Pad Thai
- Prawn Laksa
- Singapore Chili Crab

4 Places I've Been On Vacation
- Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast
- US of A: California, Nevada, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Wisconsin
- Philippines: Boracay, Palawan
- Singapore

4 Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
- home with my 3 boys
- Manila with my family
- Spa

4 People I Wanna Tag
- All those who need to "blogstart"

Dishing out my own DISH

Hubby might throw a joke on me for including the dish I just cooked in my blog. Heck, I'm NOT the only one who does similar posting over the internet. Anyway, it's my version of spaghetti deli-meat-left-over-lovers ... but this time I added some fresh asparagus spears for added colour and of course, nutrition!

It's basically, ham, salami, chorizo, and whatever deli is in the fridge, (You can substitute my chorizo for hotdogs, why not!), sauteed in olive oil, onions and some minced garlic. And toss the cooked spaghetti noodles in. All done! This is going to be our "baon" (packed lunch) for tomorrow at work, and Luigi's lunch since he loves noodles.

Okay, I haven't tried it but I know it's gonna be good enough for one hungry stomach - hubby's! He's about to come home from his uni classes tonight.

Scrapping Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day and really hubby and I never celebrated it even before when we were still going out (it's been ages since we first started dating back in our college days). It was a little bit tacky for us and we often fight on this date. Once he bought me red roses and brought it to school and felt a little bit embarassed. I just don't like people giving me a teasing look that, yeah, I have a Valentine.

Anyway, when we got married, we still didn't find much excitement in celebrating it. Although, I must admit, I started to find interest. But sometimes, you run out of ideas, and creative ideas at that, on how to spend the day or what gift to buy.

So, I came back to one of my favorite past time and that is scrapbooking - a past time that really eats a lot of my time.


My "Love Workshop" class helped me create a Valentine's gift for my loving hubby. It's an accordion album with a theme of "I Love You Because". It took me almost half a day to finish it.


So let the photos speak for itself of what hubby is about to expect on February 14.

Mama's Executive Checkup

I feel so bad today. Mom had her executive check-up last week. Results came back two days later informing her of stones in her gall bladder and cysts in her liver. Those are needed to be operated by March... BUT it cannot be done until the doctors are clear whether her lungs have cysts or those shown on her x-ray results were just infection. Anyway, this week she underwent a CT scan. And results confirmed that my mom has two cysts in the lungs.

I can't help but cry. A friend's mom just died last January 22 due to lung cancer - that was diagnosed to be tuberculosis last October. Then a month later, doctors found that they were cancerous cells that has spreaded in her bones already - declared to be stage 4. Of course I know my mom, with God's help and grace won't suffer the same.

I just ask you and whoever comes across this posting in my blog to pray for my mom's health. She's yet to undergo another CT scan (for the bones) to rule out cancer.

New Blogspot Address

Oh yes.. I've renamed my URL to "http://maansworld.blogspot.com" .. I should've done that from the very start...

Goodbye to "http://maan13.blogspot.com".. Any ideas how I can update my blogmates??? Well, apart from emailing them. Just afraid, I might miss out someone...

Maybe I'll just create a new one with maan13 and then redirect that to maansworld... hmnnnn...

The world is such a complicated place... like me! Hehehe!

New Nanny On The Block

I'm trying out a new nanny by tomorrow who's going to look after Leon and Luigi whenever Louie and I are at work... I hope she's for real. Apparently, she'll do my laundry (which I intend to still do, but I can leave her hanging it on the line). She'll iron the clothes. She'll clean the house. BUT WILL NOT COOK. Although I can ask her to fry or reheat or prepare sandwiches.

Anyway, may God bless this new nanny.

Maternity Leave - Ending Soon

Oh no! What did I do? I emailed my boss last week telling him that I can go back to work on the 23rd of Jan on the condition that I will only go full time by March. Today he rang me and confirmed that they are OK with it.

It's starting to sink in.. I'll be back to the grinding stone in less than a week.. I hope the nanny that we're getting for trial, beginning tomorrow, can handle the my "mommy" duties.

2005 Christmas Newsletter

Hello friends,

I just got into this new habit of writing a yearend Newsletter to touchbase with family and friends. Helps me to recount the blessings of the year that has gone by. I'll try my best to K.I.S.S (keep it short and simple).

2005 started with a blessing. After testing positive on last year's Christmas Eve, in January, my salary review got a "high score". The extra dollars added up to saving more for the coming of the new baby and to augment the months that I'll be taking my maternity leave. Luigi also started preschool at Angel's Castle.

February, I started spotting. I was 9 weeks pregnant and the doctor recommended an internal ultrasound. The baby was fine and the bleeding was coming from the placenta settling onto the uterus wall.

March, Luigi stopped attending at Angel's Castle and moved to Nanbaree in the city - closer to Louie's work (CBA building). They enjoyed the time bonding in the morning when they both take the bus going to the city. My belly started showing in this month too. Louie's cholesterol level hasn't gone down even with the change in diet and added exercise. So he has got to be on medication for God knows how long.

April, after watching Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD, Luigi spontaneously wrote letter "H" for his first letter.He has memorized the phonetic sounds of the alphabets. We left for the Philippines to attend Louie's brother's church wedding in Pampanga. (Before getting to Manila we took advantage of the 5 hour lay off in Kuala Lumpur to get a quick tour of the Petronas Tower. Actually, all we wanted was a picture with it in the background.) Luigi was the ring bearer and was a "winner" in his barong. We hooked up with college friends during our 2 week stay. Visited Teks and Cync in Cavite. My sister sponsored Luigi's 3rd birthday party at Jollibee. Luigi still pronounces it as Jelly-Bee. We visited the beaches of Batangas instead of the cool breeze in Baguio. I've yet to fulfill my promise to Louie to bring him to Baguio. He hasn't been there, would you believe it???

May, Louie celebrated his 28th bday and Luigi's 3rd bday party was incredibly fun again. He adored Dash Incredible. Mommy celebrated her 53rd bday with us here in Australia.

June, winter has kicked in and I was getting a lot of leg cramps at night already. I was into the last trimester of my pregnancy. Luigi can now write "LUIS". We went to Masterton for an estimate of knocking down and rebuilding a new house on the property we bought in Castle Hill last year. My bestest friend Anna gave birth to Caitlyn in Chicago.

July, my birthday month.. Turned 28th and boy whatta good day it has been! A day filled with loads of surprises from CFC family. My birthday coincided with Tita Nestor's (Tita Mila's husband), 9th day. Luigi can now write LUIS MIGUEL REYES.

August, Louie and I pondered on either selling or renting out our very first "domain" in Australia - our cutie townhouse. Whichever came in first was our decision. After 3 weeks on the market, a couple met our selling price. We agreed to settle in 8 weeks. Anyway, finished work on the 26th. After a day's rest, I gave birth to Leon Maddox on 28th at 12 noon weighing 8.5 lbs. He came in a breeze as far as I can recall now. I have forgotten all the pain I went through to this day. I see him and he makes me proud realizing I still have a lot of love to give.

September, one week postnatal, was already spendin a lot of time driving around looking for a temporary place to live while preparing Leon's Christening. I just hate the pressure (physical/mental strain) but I had to deal with it. Louie got his bonus from CBA and our tax refund. Woohoo! On a sadder note, we became a victim of internet fraud… EBAY SUCKS! Gain some, lose some. Luigi started in Kindalin.. His 3rd preschool for this year.

October, finally bid farewell to our wee townhouse. We currently live to the next suburb Castle Hill. (Friends our postal address is PO Box 709 Baulkham Hills, NSW, 1753). Leon started sleeping through the night - well at least 80% of the time. Spent some days choosing bathroom essentials, kitchen, bricks and rooftiles. Started reading The Five Love Languages. It's a good one.. :)

November, after a year of helping me out during my pregnancy and looking after Luigi when I was working, mommy and daddy went back to Manila. A day after they left, we flew to Gold Coast to relax. We visited SeaWorld and MovieWorld and enjoyed the beach each morning. After coming back from Gold Coast, we flew the next day to Sunshine Coast with friends Edgar & Evelyn and Ida & Cirilo.

It's December again and merry-making time again. First week of December when Leon started to roll over. He must be over 8 kilos now. It was great catching up with Carla & Jon and April & Francis early this month for our yearly Christmas get together. It was an intimate affair from lunch til dinner on a Sunday. Lately we found out that April & Francis are moving to Switzerland in February and it's all making me weepy. This month, development plan to build a new house has been approved. I'm looking forward to my yearend meeting with Louie who suggested that we reflect on things we did this year, cherishing timeless memories, thanking Jesus Christ for His guidance and all the blessings we received, as we set our goals for the coming new year.

Thank you for taking time to read our 2005 Newsletter! I'll try to post this in my blogsite (http://maan13.blogspot.com) ! We hope that you can share yours with us (if you haven't). And to my friends who have gotten me into making one .. Thank you!

Until next Christmas!

Much love,
Maan (Louie, Luis, and Leon)