Yes, I did. This beauty is on its way to me in a month or so. It does have to travel over the oceans and continents… but it’s on its way, and that’s a good thing!

Thank you so much to all who gave glowing reviews about the Bind-it-all… you’ve been dream enablers, and I can’t wait to get my little itchy hands on this beauty!

Oh, what’s a gadget-lover to do while waiting! (heehee)

Do you do a good job of waiting? And if you do, how do you do it? How do you keep yourself from hopping on one foot and then the other while anxiously marking the dates on the calendar till D Day comes?

More to Hop About

Three really exciting things!

First: we have a new challenge at our Spraground. It’s a really exciting one, led by our guest challenge leader, Lindsan. In case you’ve stumbled upon my blog porch by accident, you might want to check out our challenges at the Spraground… we post them weekly on the General Forum Spotlight area, and anyone and everyone can come and join the challenges. (All you have to do is get yourself registered at our Spraground… oh, and did I mention registration is free? 😀 )

Second: there’s a HUGE secret waiting to burst forth on our Spraground… a new course, delish and fun and exciting! Jessica, our Spraground mama, has planned a really cool course and it’s open to all! Yep, that means every single person who wants to indulge in some creative fun! Are you a digi scrapper? Come and join! Are you a paper-scrapper? Come and join! Are you in between digi and paper–are you a hybrid scrapper? Come and join! Not a scrapper at all? COME AND JOIN too! See? It’s a great thing for every single one of you! Come and join us!

The big teaser will be out on October 10th… I hope to see you passing by our Spraground then! (In fact, you can start hanging around now, if you haven’t grabbed a swing or seesaw seat yet. 😀 )

Third: I have a huge secret kit that’s in the works, and it’s awesome! The most awesome part of it? It’s a collab with a very talented, very good friend of mine who’s dipping her toes in the designing waters. Don’t go snooping around, cos I’m not telling! hehehe. That’s part of the excitement! I’m just sayin’ that it’s been really, really exciting working with my good friend on this! So that’s one more thing to look forward to!

The Turtle Comes Out of His Shell

Last Saturday, my 4-year-old son S had his first stage performance. It was a school event dedicated to the mothers, where each of the preschool levels presented a class dance. The whole family  was extremely excited to see S perform, because for the most part of his 4 years of life, he’s been the really silent one, content to whisper or just speak to his mama, papa, and brothers. Lately, dh and I have been thoroughly thrilled since our dear S seems to have unleashed the energy of his tongue overnight, and now he talks so much, he’s practically hoarse (lol. It’s like he just discovered the power of his voice).

So there we were, our entire family in attendance. It’s incredibly hard to coax my eldest son to come to these kinds of events, but even he made it a point to come and watch (sweet!).

You know, working in a school for 17 years and teaming up with the principal for 15 of those years in managing and choreographing the performances of the children (from preschool to high school) teaches one a few things. I’ve learned that preschool children are, at best, iffy when it comes to performance day. Most will perform consistently on the day itself as on practice days. But it’s not surprising to have one child who performs perfectly every practice day, then freezes on the day itself, like a frightened deer caught in the stage spotlights. It’s also not surprising to find the flip side–that’s the child who doesn’t move a single extremity during the practice days, and then, stirred and excited by the lights and audience, magically transforms into the Energizer Bunny on the day itself.

So. I was curious to see which my own flesh and blood would be: the deer or the bunny?

Well. It’s hard to say which one he was. Maybe he was a hybrid. 😛

He froze, that’s for sure. He didn’t move a bit during the class performance… but I’m not sure it’s because he had stage fright (which I have). See, he had this twinkle in his eye, the kind that seems to say, “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Me? Dance in front of all these people? What? Are you kidding me? Nooooo way!” Bwahaha.

Here’s photographic evidence:

My little turtle is the one on the rightmost side of the stage. Notice him surveying the audience.

“Are you kidding me? Move? Me? Are you kidding me?”

“Uhm. I don’t think so… I think I’ll pass…”

“Bwahahaha! Look at that! Funny moves! Funny, funny dance moves!”

“Awww shucks. Fine. Fine. I’ll dance. Geez louise. (nervous giggle)”

“Heehee. I still think this is incredibly funny…”

So. At least in the last minute of the performance, he decided to join the dance. To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d be the anxious mom silently whispering under her breath, “Come on, sweetie, join the dance; let’s see you groove!” or if I’d be the silly mom who just laughs her heart out and says, “Oh well, that’s life! I totally get you, bud!”

You probably know by now what choice I made (hehe… laughter is always the best way out).

So… the other levels had their own performances, and then the finale came. Well, whaddayaknow? My little turtle decided to throw his shell aside and perform with gusto!

The finale wasn’t a dance; it was a song (wonder if that had anything to do with his willingness to perform… though at home he sings and dances with equal wild abandon).

And you know what? Deer or bunny, I loved watching him both ways.

As I sit here trying to remember what song it was, the only thing that comes back to me is that it was a song dedicated to the moms. I guess I was too busy being enthralled by the sight of my little one actually singing with that sincere expression on his face that the whole world went silent and for those 4 minutes or so, there was just this beautiful sight of my son and my motherly pride and affection… nightingales could have been singing or wolves could’ve been howling–all I knew is that I was caught up in the rapture of seeing my little boy’s intensely expressive face!

One more time, this sweetie’s face:

Now, ahem. I think there was someone less than thrilled by the performance…

Heehee. And on this funny note, here I am, signing off for now! 😆

Have a happy, funny, totally thrilling day!

CREDITS: Old Frames by O.N. designs