Why Does It Matter?
The conversation at our dining table this past weekend was initiated by my son. He asked us, “why does it matter if other people want to marry the same sex, if they love and care for each other?” That came from my 14yr old son.
It shouldn’t, was our reply. But there are other people out there who believes a certain way and we must respect them too and hope that these people would also respect other people who believes a different way.
And then last night, North Carolina passed the same-sex marriage ban. I went to bed with a heavy heart, and wished for our move to happen soon. You go through the days feeling like you’ve accomplished something in raising your children well, and then you wake up one morning feeling defeated coz you can’t find the words on how to explain to them why certain things are unfortunately, just the way they are. 
And He’s 14
Just like that, my son is 14 years old. He’s going to be a freshman in high school in the next school semester. How does that happen? Please don’t answer that coz I actually don’t want to hear the answer to my own question. It’s a happy day!! We did his birthday cake-ice cream and dinner thing this past Saturday coz today is a weekday, he’s got school, while Dad has work and school as well. He won’t be home until 9pm tonight, and he’s working both days this weekend so that’s our crazy schedule here. Gotta do what you gotta do, right?
He got that new fishing pole 2 weeks ago, then on Saturday we gave him the rest of his gifts. A Nintendo DS card to since he already got an iTunes card this past Easter, and he also got cast from his grandparents which he said he’ll use to buy an iTunes card for his iPod. He also got 4 frames of classic comic covers. I wanted to give him a pre-paid cellphone but since he uses Skype to talk to his friends anyway we decided in the end we’ll hold off on that for now.
Anyhooo, thanks everyone who greeted him in Facebook and Twitter 
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Dessert Before Dinner
Because my son’s birthday happens to be on a Wednesday, a weekday, and the weekend with that would be a working weekend for my husband, we decided to celebrate in advance. We did it yesterday. And since we’re being advanced anyway, we though we might as well eat dessert before dinner. Hey why not? So we had cake and ice cream after a trip to the playground where the little girl and I stayed in the kiddie place while Scott and Caine played basketball. I think we were all so tired from playing that we attacked the cake and ice cream without even thinking dinner. It wasn’t after Caine blew the candles that Scott made a comment about we were having dessert before dinner.
The earth didn’t swallow us whole after devouring our dessert so I guess we’re good for right now . I’ll write about more about what Caine received as gifts on the exact day he was born just so people don’t think I’ve forgotten to blog about my son’s birthday.
Reminiscing Time
My son is turning 14 next week, Wednesday to be exact. So here I am looking at old pictures, reminiscing, and thinking where I’ve done wrong in raising him. Kidding on the latter, haha. Well, you know, I think every parent go through that thinking stage almost everyday. I saw this old picture of him playing a keyboard. He really loved that. I think even I learned how to play children songs those years too so we could maximize having a keyboard in the house. As years went by though, he never really showed interest in learning more so we took that as a sign that playing instruments is really not his thing. We tried guitars and drums throughout the years but he’d only show interest for a few months then after that it was back to drawing. He’s really more into art, graphics, games, and all that techy stuff. He still has a keyboard in his room though and he’d play once in a while. There’s also some game in Nintendo DS which teaches you how to play piano so he does that sometimes. I would get him one of those Suzuki Keyboards for his birthday if he’s really really into music like that but being a good parent also means accepting what your child is really not into and just support and help cultivate what he likes to do.
What To Give A 14 Yr Old?
My son is tuning 14 this coming 25th of April. My husband asked me yesterday what we should get him for gifts. We actually have something hiding right that we know he’s going to go bananas for. We just want to get him another item. I mean, the kid has an iPod which he got for Christmas. We just gave him a $15 iTunes card the other day as part of his Easter gift. He already has Nintendo DS which he got in 2010 for Christmas. I can’t even think of games right now that he could play in it. The thing is, his sister is pretty much the one playing with it now since he’s got iPod. He’s got a computer. Books?, he’s got plenty. I’m thinking of 2 things right now. A cellphone is a cool gift. Most probably a pre-paid one from Virgin Mobile, or one of those tablets for his graphics. So it’s either those two and a birthday cake, .
My Son, The Artist’
If you’ve been following me for years, like waaaayyy back in ’97, you’ve practically watched my son grow into a Teenager. Chances are, I’ve watched your kids grow as well. I suddenly feel all nostalgic. Anyhoooo, part of his growth that you’ve witnessed is his art work. I can’t even count how many times I’m raved what a great artist he is and how many artwork of his that I’ve posted throughout the years. They’re not limited to drawings either. My son can do digital better than anyone. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating but what I mean it, he’s really good. He once drew Popeye in Photoshop just using the draw tool then printed it and when his cousins saw it they all wanted one. These days he’s into creating videos and video games. I won’t even attempt to look into his computer to check out his files coz I know he’s got folders and folders of them. He has a YouTube account where he uploads the videos though. I’ll share some of the videos sometime. Right now, here are some recent and not-so recent drawings all over his room.
As you can see, he’s into Sonic these days. He’s also into Halo and he has drawings of that too which I’ll post sometime. When he was in grade school, except for that one week when he brought home 3 tickets in a span of one week for talking too much, he never really got in trouble for the usual stuff that kids gets in trouble with at school. Yah know like bullying, picking a fight, or being a distraction to other kids. Every time I had a meeting with any of his Teachers, his trouble was mostly because he liked to draw a lot. It sounds strange, doesn’t it? See, he would always rush his work so he could have that extra quite time to do whatever and in his case, to draw. So every time we’d talk to him about focusing on the task at hand, I always had this pain in my stomach. It always bothered me so much telling my son to ease up on something he’s obviously so passionate about so he could concentrate on other things.
Baking Chocolate Banana Cupcakes W/ Emma
Emma loves to bake. If it was up to her we’d be baking cookies, cakes, and cupcakes, everyday. But of course we can’t do that so we do it on the weekends. She definitely had fun with all the Holiday baking we did last year. Anyhooo, for Christmas, Nan and Pop gave her a Kid’s Cupcake Bake Set from Bed Bath and Beyond. The set came with apron, wooden mixing spoon, icing spreader, 5pc measuring spoons, 12 cup nonstick mini cupcakes pan, 1(24 count) mini cupcake liners, cupcake stand and vinyl carry bag.
We made mini chocolate banana cupcakes.
And regular sized ones too. BTW, I added chocolate chips on the recipe so the cupcakes are more decadent. And another thing, the cupcake bake set is currently on sale for $2.99. NICE!
Snow Pictures From NY
It was actually unusual that Upstate New York didn’t get much snow while we were there for our Christmas holiday. I told my husband we might have brought the NC effect effect with us. I mean it was definitely cold and reminded me of the 8 years that we’ve spent in New York before moving to the South, but not much snow. On the 23rd, it finally snowed but only 2-3 inches. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful scene so Scott took as much pictures he could take, and here they are.
