The Laren School

http://larenschool.blogspot.com/
The Laren School is envisioned to be a learning community offering alternative education for 3 - 18 year olds using the Montessori approach.

Mica scores!! =)

My little soccer player

Mica in Polo playing soccer - April 23, 2008 =)

Team Spirit!

I'm watched mica do his soccer drills today at polo and he's so sweet... He's the only kid in his group that puts his hand out for a high 5 when the other boys come around. I'm amazed at his team spirit! Without fail, when he or the others come around, his hand is up and he's yelling "good job!"  he's so amazing! Ü

Dusting... A deadly drug use

I got this in an email... We need to be vigilant with the things that can affect our children.  I know my kids are young pa, but I cannot imagine what it would be like to be the man who wrote this... Please take the time and read the important information below! Latest Drug in Middle School - 'Dusting' First, I'm going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for it's crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor would not allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs.  I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs.  I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them.  On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.  On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.  I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM.  I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting.  A take off from the Dust Off name.  It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said so.  Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant called R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas. Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. IT KILLS YOU.  The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE . You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as you're breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing 'the hit.' That 's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open. The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. And that's why its more accepted. There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.  It's easy to say hey, it's my life and I'll do what I want . But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care.. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. T he other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.  After Kyle died another story came out. A probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this 'new' way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.  We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some 'professionals' do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it. April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus.  This Officer is asking for everyone who receives this email to forward it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers!

The power of prayer and belief

Message: A girl went to a party
and she ended
up staying longer than planned,
and had to walk home alone.
She wasn't afraid because it was a
small town and she lived only a few
blocks away.

As she walked along under the tall
elm trees, Diane asked God to keep her
safe from harm and danger.

When she reached the alley, which was
a short cut to her house, she decided
to take it.

However, halfway down the alley she
noticed a man standing at the end as
though he were waiting for her.

She became uneasy and began to pray,
asking for God's protection.

I nstantly a comforting feeling of
quietness and security wrapped round
her, she felt as though someone was
walking with her.

When she reached the end of the
alley, she walked right past the man
and arrived home safely.

The following day, she read in the
newspaper that a young girl had been
raped in the same alley just twenty
minutes after she had been there.

Feeling overwhelmed by this tragedy
and the fact that it could have been
her, she began to weep.

Thanking the Lord for her safety and
to help this young woman, she decided
to go to the police station.

She felt she could recognize the man,
so she told them her story.

The police asked her if she would be
willing to look at a lineup to see if
she could identify him.

She agreed and immediately pointed
out the man she had seen in the alley
the night before.

When the man was told he had been
identified, he immediately broke down
and confessed.

The officer thanked Diane for her
bravery and asked if there was
anything they could do for her.

She asked if they would ask the man
one question.

Diane was curious as to why he had
not attacked her.

When the policeman asked him, he
answered, "Because she wasn't alone.
She had two tall men walking on
either side of her."

Amazingly, whether you believe or not,
you're never alone. Did you know that
98% of teenagers will not stand up
for God?

Repost this as A GIRL RAPED IN (your
city) if you truly believe in God.


PS:
God is always there in your heart
and loves you no matter what

"If you deny me in front of your
friends, I shall deny you in front of
my Father"

STAND UP FOR HIM

93% wont repost this

The definition of "Frustration"

There is no one in this world that can annoy, irritate and frustrate me like my younger brother.  Maybe that's what younger brothers are for, but I think that it's more than just a case of younger-brother-itis. 

He's so relentlessly self-centered, it's not amusing.  Nor is it excusable by reason of youth because he's freaking almost 20 years old.  Maybe it's his upbringing and how his parents are raising him, but that's just a convenient excuse.  Personally, I think it's something he chooses.  He knows what is right and wrong and he consistently, bull-headedly chooses wrong.

I am so frustrated with him and (just to put a better face on it) I say na lang that it's the pregnancy.  But I have felt this way for a loong time now - even before I got pregnant.

He has no respect.  Not for his parents, his siblings, his neices and nephews, certainly not for the belongings of those people (houses and cars included).  He is so freaking spoiled, it's not funny.

I want to be able to just put it aside so that I don't get bothered by it.  But i just can't.  He annoys me no end! AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Ate says that it's because of him that I am so good with my boys.  But that's like saying that if my younger brother were an angel, I'd be a terrible mom.  I know she means well - and I know her heart and intentions are in the right place, but it doesn't make it any better.

And so I pray for patience every single day.  I pray that God gives me the tolerance I so desperately need and look for when Mikho is around.  I pray that I don't have to see him or hear anything about him so that my day isn't ruined.

Tennis lessons for the kids

In Rockwell =)

Manila Ocean Park

Rafa, Mica, Antonio, Gabe and Andie

We went on a Villarosa Trip to Manila Ocean Park - the only ones missing were Kuya, Mayette and Sandro (her dad had just arrived from the US so they didn't join us). We had loads of fun! Lots of people, though... The fish were plentiful and varied. The displays beautiful and engaging. It would have made a better experience if they controlled the number of people inside and provided some benches to sit on and contemplate the beautiful fish, but on the whole, I enjoyed and so did the kids =) We ate in Ilustrado in Intramuros after and the food was yummy! Overpriced, but yummy =)

Mayette's birthday! =)

At their beautiful home in alabang...

Mica and Rafa plays soccer!

They're so cute with their cleats and knee high socks! Both of them are so enthusiastic about soccer, it's unbelievable!

Ava in Polo

Rafa scores!! =)