St. Nicholas, Santa Claus and Jesus Christ

I believed in Santa Claus until I was five. It was exciting and magical! I wrote to him about being a good girl and told him the gifts I wanted to get him on Christmas Day. Out of a long list of toys and dolls, I would get at least one.

I discovered that Santa wasn't real when we moved to the Philippines when I was five years old. There was no snow. The climate was too warm for Santa to go sleighing from one house to another. There were no reindeers. There were no chimneys. I wrote my wish list to Santa but I only got candies and chocolates sold from my Lola's sari-sari store found in front of their house.

We no longer had the tradition of writing to Santa after that. A few years later, I'd just see him in Hollywood movies, shopping malls and Christmas decors. After all, I learned that Jesus was the real hero of Christmas. This is something my husband and I taught our son,Polo.

Now, living in Luxembourg, we are introduced to another gift-giving character--St. Nicholas. History says that Santa Claus started as St. Nicholas. But not all acknowledge Santa Claus here. For locals, it is St. Nicholas, whom they call the Kleeschen, who checks if children are naughty or nice and gives them their most desired gift together with some chocolates, fruits and nuts on December 6 every year. The Kleeschen is not only a role acted out by the parents for their children but also by the god parents, friends,and family.

Preparing gifts for the children, lining up to get a gift from St. Nicholas in the malls, and everything that comes with it was all fun for Polo. But as Christmas approached, I wasn't sure if we should introduce the Santa and Kleeschen traditions to our sons.

We live in a country that believes in the Kleeschen; have family who live in the U.S., where there is a Santa Claus; and grew up in a country where it was too hot for the Kleeschen and Santa. We decided that as long as our son knows that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus Christ, then, we're good. :)

Mommy Visit Ikea

To counter the gray skies, frosty foggy mornings and to prepare for the winter and Christmas season, Marvin decided that we should add lively warm colors to our white and brown motif in the living room. Where else do people go here for a house re-deco stuff? No better place than Ikea! Last saturday, we headed to Ikea in Arlon, Brussels. Ikea is a must-see since we don't an Ikea warehouse in the Philippines.

Looking for inspiration for Polo's room. Mommy and Marvin
pose in the display area for children's rooms.

Lola Annie pushing Polo in the stroller down
aisles and aisles of home deco stuff.

Polo wants a toy kitchen stove (among a million other toys
on his wishlist) for Christmas. He was very happy to play
 with the Ikea toy stove.

PSP break muna si Polo while having a snack
at the Ikea Food area. Lola Annie is watching
over him.

On a saturday, the food area is full of people but there were only
few when we went there on a friday.

Nicolo testing out their baby cots.

Polo wants his room to look like this.

Doctor Polo in the House

He used to say that he wants to become a doctor -- a doctor of cars. Now, he says that he wants to become a doctor - Mommy's Doctor. I wonder, if he means that he wants to become an OB-Gyne. I think, going with me to all my OB-Gyne check ups here in Luxembourg, waiitng in the hospital lobby with Marvin while I was brought to the delivery room 3 times, and the daily visits he made with Marvin to see me and Nicolo while I was in recovery sparked his interest.

He is starting his training early with Nicolo as his usual patient. Ninang Joanne looks like he will follow your footsteps.

Are my ears clean, Doctor-Kuya Polo? - Nicolo

Say, "aaahhh," Moe-moe - Polo.





Shhh... Do not disturb. An operation is on-going here.

I hope that his desire to become a doctor will be stronger than wanting to be a bad T-Rex or a Pirate!

Polo viewing the T-Rex skeleton in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

 Playing a little Pirate in the Pirate Ship Playground in the city centre of Luxembourg.

Mommy's Sweet 16th Birthday

People always find a way to mask their real age. My mom had her "16th" birthday in Luxembourg. Her five-year old guest, Isaac asked how old she is and we all said "16." He said, "that's a lot!" Go figure how old she really is. We all wonder how shocked Isaac will be when he discovers my mom's real age.

The Sweet Sixteen Birthday Girl with the big boys
(from left to right: Mitch, Danny, JP, and Thierry)

Mommy had a Filipino potluck birthday. It was at the house of our Steland family friends in Useldange, Luxembourg. Hosting a party with a total of 19 people is a lot of work. May God bless Cla and Mitch for being our gracious hosts.

The menu was as follows:

• Mommy's Paella - Cooked with love, it had seafood, chicken, sausage and saffron. It was also topped with quail eggs, Cla's specialty



The Paella of Mommy and the Quail Eggs of Cla

• Mommy Ning's Palabok - Requested by the birthday girl herself. It reminded me of Red Ribbon's palabok.
• Mommy Ning's Dinuguan - Another item requested by the birthday girl. To me, it was cooked to perfection. Tamang-tama ang timpla.
• Marvin's rendition of Crispy Pata with a European Twist - Cooked for the love of the woman of the day
• Chicken with lemon and spices - Prepared by Ginggay for the children and European guests
• Pecan Pie - The addicting dessert by Ivana and Gel. It's their specialty that was mistakenly called Pelican Pie or Hongkong style Pizza.
• Strawberry Mouse Cake - The birthday cake specially chosen by myself for Mommy to save her from the evil of chocolates and yet satisfy her sweet tooth

The Menu (from top to bottom): Pancit Palabok, Chicken with Lemon and Herbs,
Steamed Rice, Paella, Dinuguan, Another serving of Chicken
with Lemon and Herbs, Crispy Pata with sawsawan

Lunch started at 1pm and ended around 3pm, which was time for merienda. We sang the birthday song and had Mommy blow the candles. Gift-giving came after. We feasted on the Pecan-Pelican-Hongkong Pizza and the Birthday Cake and some coffee for merienda. Some partnered them with Palabok. At past 7pm, we had dinner where we just reheated the food and rehashed some. It was all good!

The Birthday Girl about to blow the candles on her birthday cake

Mwah from Ivana as she gives the gift from the Alves-Fabic family

Christelle's mwah as she gives the gift from the Tarrason-Fabic family

Beso from Tina as she gives the Besana Family's gift.

The day was filled with the gusto of children playing, the chatter of endless tell-tales of Filipino life in Europe, the joy of Magic Sing Videoke challenge, and non-stop eating for all and drinking for the men. There was a lot of food that we were able to extend the festivities until 9 in the evening and still have some food to take home.

Watching the children while waiting for the food to be ready

Danny, songer singing his turn on the Magic Sing

Gel taking the mic

Marvin singing. We all know how that is... LOL!

Polo, Isaac, and EJ playing a game that was facilitated by Gel and Ivana.

Marvin and I were happy that we were able to gather all our Filipino friends in Luxembourg in one event and have us all bond, connect with each other, and make Mommy's birthday special even if she is far away from home.

Before the party, Polo gives Mommy a kiss
after helping her open our gifts for her.

Marvin's turn to kiss the Birthday Girl.

We are thankful to all in Luxembourg, Facebook, and in the Philippines for brightening Mommy's day.

God Bless You, Nicolo

Born on the 13th of July, 1:23am at Kirchberg Hospital, weighing 2.78Kilos, Juan Nicolo Amiel was baptized on the 2nd of October.

That's us with Fr. Eamonn Breslin and Gel and JP Alves-Fabic, Nicolo's godparents.

The baptism was at 11am in the St. Alphonse Church in the Centre. Our family friends joined us. It was a very solemn ceremony. The celebrant, Fr. Eamonn Breslin, explained everything in detail. Our friends Cla and Danny sang Yahweh, You are Near, and Ama Namin. We don't have much pictures in the church because Fr. Eamonn prohibited it to keep the solemnity of the ocassion.

Immediately after, we headed to Ristorante Villa Graziosa, a french-italian restaurant near our neighborhood. The second floor was reserved solely for our party of almost 20 people. We arrived at the venue close to 1pm and left close to 5pm. We had tomato mozzarella tart for starters, pork filet mignon with mushrooms and potatoes as the main course, and white chocolate and raspberry cake for dessert.

Cheers! Our Luxembourg Family: From Left to right-Danny, Mitch, Tina,
 Mommy, Mommy Ning, myself, Marvin, Cla, Ginggay, Thierry, JP, and Gel

To keep the children busy, we provided sticker activity books and had a few games. After that, they amused themselves by running after each other, dancing and playing their own games. They perspired a lot that they had to dress down.

Sticker book time while waiting for the food.

Boys will be boys. Polo with Kuya Isaac (left) and Kuya EJ (right)

Ninong JP as the dancing daddy the kids brought to the bring-me game.

Find the name of your dad and win a prize - That's me with the kids.
Ninang Gel is close-by to take pictures.

I loved the cake and was actually surprised at how big it was. It was very delicious. White Chocolate and Raspberry is a good combination. The mini fireworks made the cake very fun and exciting that we had them light it twice.

That's Joel. He's the one in-charge of the drinks in the resto.
He's great with kids.

We had children's books as prizes for the games. Our giveaways was a filipino kit with a filipino recipe book, filipino children storybooks, and a wooden serving fork and spoon to remind people of our filipino roots. We also gave out coffee-flavored chocolate to Daddies for Father's Day, which was celebrated the day after the baptism.

The table for the giveaways and mini-games for the grown-ups.

The gift for the Daddies



Eto na Kami Ngayon: Quick Updates

Mommy is here visiting with us. She'll go back to the Philippines in less than a month (Yes, Daddy, don't worry, pauuwiin namin si Mommy).

Polo started school at the Precoce last September. It's a big milestone. He's enjoying it. No more crying when we take him to school. When we wake him up in the morning, he will delay waking up and say that he is still tired but will still choose to go to school when we ask him if he wants to stay home instead.

Nicolo is 3 months going 4 months already. He can smile, follow objects and seems to recognize faces already. He enjoys the sitting (with support) position than lying down and doesn't like his car seat much. He is swaddled when he is sleeping at night but protests when he is almost about to wake up.

I gained weight because Mommy is the resident cook right now. With her around, I get to rest a lot! Hehehe... Soon, things will change, though, for sure, I will lose weight when she leaves. Thankfully, I am still breastfeeding Nicolo. I still wake up in the wee hours of the morning but I think that I get enough sleep as I can get.

Marvin is Polo's hero according to Polo. He is taking golf lessons and is learning to drink wine. He still sings videoke voluntarily and is starting to like Wii Just Dance 2.

It's autumn here. We wake up and see that everything outside is frosted. In the middle of the day, the temperature changes and the frost melts. It's cold outside but still sunny. Seeing the sun in this cold weather gives me a cheery feel.