Don't throw some garbage..it can be a nice fountain!

Are you a Dad that does not have a 'green thumb'? And suddenly you can see that you have a lot of ceramic pot in your garden that are empty. Empty in the sense that you do not enjoy planting plants. Then do not be sad coz you can use some empty ceramic pots to make a beautiful fountain that could be placed in your terrace, living room etc. How?


Here are some materials you need :

- 2 pcs Ceramic Pot (pot 1 is the lower part of the fountain but a deeper one will be better for an effect and pot 2 should be the upper pot which should not be bigger than pot 1 so that the water will not overflow once you lay down that pot at the top of pot 1)
- 1 plastic pot (size depends on how deep is the pot 1 and enough to cover the pump)
- fountain pump (available in all hardware stores, around Euro 10 to 15 )
- 20 to 30 pcs of white & black stones
- half meter of plastic tube (diameter should be fitted to your pump)
- silicon (to cover some leak )

How to assemble your fountain?

Step 1. Clean the pots. Make a hole at the middle side of pot 2 which is as big as your plastic tube.

Step 2. Make also a hole at the bottom side of the plastic pot.

Step 3. Place your pump at the middle part of pot 1 and then connect the plastic tube to its proper place. Insert the tube to the hole of the plastic pot (upside position) and then insert it also to the hole of pot 2. (If the hole of pot 2 is too big for your tube, use some silicon to cover the leak)

Step 4. Decorate some stone around pot 1. Be sure that the stone will hide the plastic pot.

Step 5. Try to test the fountain. If the water is flowing outside pot 1 then adjust the level of pot 2. Using the stone, you can adjust the position of pot 2 and try to place stones (for adjustment) at the middle side.

Congratulations!!! You now have a beautiful fountain that has been made out of some garbage pots! For additional effect, put some small plants inside pot1 then cover also with a stone. I love to put my fountain beside the dining area during winter time and on summer days, it is placed near the terrace. Smile young father!

a kid can budget also....

Since we bought a new house 2 yrs ago , everyone including the kids should learn how to save something like water, electricity, etc. etc.

Scene 1

Dad: 'J,M!!' (sitting inside the car) 'How come you open the garage door already but still the lights are turned on!

J &M: 'Ooops, sorry'

Scene 2

Yaya H : Washing the dirty plates etc.

M : Tante H...yung water so stark, sparen (save) Tante, magagalit si Daddy!

Yaya H : Heh!

Scene 3

J : Dad let us eat pizza in our favorite restaurant.

Dad : I have an idea! Let us call the restaurant for special delivery and eat it while watching our favorite show (he he he). Tipid kaya he he he

Mom : Yap good idea Dad (wink wink wink)

Scene 4 (the best so far)

Dad : 'Hey M, what are you reading, werbung (advertisement)?'

M : Silent, maybe thingking. 'Dad, ist dass teuer? (Is that expensive?) Pointing to a big Power Ranger that cost around Euro 49.50.

Dad : 'Yap'

M : Ahmmm 'Ist dass teuer? Pointing to another Power Ranger that is really small (ha ha ha)

Dad : 'Nein' (NO) (Euro 9.50 ba naman)

M : 'Ahmmmm Dad, kann Ich dass haben....geschenk.....sa nexte geburtstag ko? with smile pa.(Can I have that on my next birthday?)

Dad : Ok.

M : Hug and kiss wow!

Kids sometimes know the word cheap and expensive, just explain and let them feel that we as parents should budget our financial needs. Smile he he he!

blaming will hurt your kid and in the end he will cry....'Warum immer Ich?'

'Warum immer Ich' (Why always me?') 'Am I the only person in this house who make mistakes!' 'Why does everyone say J do that, J did u blah blah, J clean your room, J why is your brother crying, J how come you did not do your assignment, J blah blah blah' 'You should not remind it everyday to me.' And J really cried loud and hard coz we can feel that he is full of little hurts that had been piling up everytime that we blame him. And I realized from that night, blaming can be changed to asking or requesting and sometimes, hugging a kid while asking something can be a different approach. It might not be late, we as parents could learn something from our kids.

How does a 5 yr. old kid pray? Funny. But sometimes it could hurt...

Praying is sometimes boring, tiring & sometimes it needs a lot of patience specially when we as parents would like to pray together with our kids. There is no pattern which day is the right day to pray. Actually my wife like it to be on a Wednesday coz she loves Mama 'M'(Mother Mary) and I admire her coz she has time to pray the rosary even if I could not join her. Since 2 yrs ago, we decided to pray as a family coz there is a saying 'a family that prays together, stays atogether'(naks). Being with kids(J & M) while having the rosary is definitely a comedy. And would you believe drama also.

Comedy:

Mom: Hail Mary full of grace ......(M will start to pick his nose) and his Mom will remove his finger from his nose while saying the sacred prayer. And M will just smile and will say something in his own words 'haiy mary full of greys blah blah' coz he & my wife are partners while myself & J answer them.


Drama:

It is a common way for us to end up the rosary with a short thanksgiving and lifting up something. And the most unforgettable experience was the time that M (youngest kid) pray and he said 'tenk you Lord...ahmmmm....'sana di malimutan ni kuya maglinis ng zimmer (room) nya....' (I hope my brother doesn't forget to clean his room). It was a simple prayer but we did not expect that kuya J felt bad about that. Kuya J voiced out (in a high tone) his suggestion to M. 'Why are you praying for other person?! Iam aware of it! You don't have to say it!' And as we realized, J did not even finish the closing prayer coz he ran to his room and he shouted and cried as if M did him something bad. How come it really hurt him? Until we uncovered something that he has been feeling all along...(to be continued on my next post he he he)

I am ok Dad (but deep inside he is not)

Sometimes ok means it's not really ok. It is like the weather being sunny but nobody knows that behind the cloud something is brewing. Do you ever ask your son if he is ok in school? And do you get an answer from him that he's 'fine - ok, no problem'. How about asking him if he has some difficulty with his assignments - does he reply 'nope'. How about asking him sometimes if he enjoys his new school and he replies 'yap'. You're definitely gonna thank God coz it seems you're not gonna have a problem. But just asking a kid if he is ok is not enough coz sometimes we as fathers should really sense the answer if everything is really OK. Until, the worst day came and I found out that my son is not doing well in his new school. And he did not even care to give all his assignments coz he didn't want to study anymore. How come? What is the problem? Silence. And then he cried. 'Dad, Mom, I am sorry. I do not like my new school. I really love to study in Vienna even if it is far from our home. I love to study in a Bilingual school. I am sorry. I am not OK!' And we embraced him and cried with him coz our kid is not OK (pala)!'

Test your patience. Can you still smile despite all these?

Being with kids should be happy moments but sometimes they will test your patience until you shout for Help! Here are SOME of the questions that will surely make you beg for help:

1. Dad can you watch your favorite show upstairs coz we (J &M) would like to watch Power Rangers in the living room. It it is better to watch it there coz it is wide screen.

2. Dad what are you doing? (Eventhough they can see me painting around or gardening or cleaning)

3. Dad what kind of shoes should I wear(question from 11 yrs old)? (That is the disadvantage when your kids have lots to choose from, don't buy unless the old shoes is not really old ha ha ha)

4. Dad why should we wake up so early (11 am)...it is Saturday!

5. Dad I dont like flakes today for my breakfast (11 am, Saturday), I like toast bread with butter & ham.

6. Dad can I skip breakfast and wake up around 12 noon just to have brunch?!(breakfast & lunch)

7. Dad I don't like to take a shower coz I had it 2 days ago.

8. Dad let us have a mass in Vienna (even if it is a 45-minute drive away) coz it is hard to wake up for a Sunday mass in our place (9:30 AM).

9. Dad it is sunny (but freezing cold outside 5 Celsius), can we bike?

10. Dad... where are you?! Dad!