The Storytela

Jul 14, 2015

Rainy Day Cuteness…

Growing-up, rainy days were pleasant days especially when we have the opportunity to play in the rain.

I remember few times I got to do that and once, I did play in the rain after I graduated from the University. LOL. I remember that day so clearly, we were at home chilling and it began to rain. I had just loosened my hair and watching the rain fall outside, I was irresistibly drawn towards going downstairs and I did just that. It was a private compound, so nobody saw me apart from my sister who was at home then.

Yesterday, the rainfall was heavy and I had to get things done outside the office so I had to drive in the rain, men! That wasn’t funny! And when I couldn’t drive anymore as my next destination didn’t have a parking space, I had to shuttle and then walk, talk about being stressed!

Anyway, all of that stress disappeared when I saw this cute toddler son of my colleague holding his Spiderman Umbrella. Wow! I couldn’t resist the urge to take a photo and when I did, my friend and a top commenter on my blog simply said ‘I know where you would put that picture’.

LOL

I really love the look of the boy under the Spider Man Umbrella. I can imagine what my son would do if he had one, trust me, everyday would be a rainy day at home and the Umbrella might just become a bedmate. He just loves Spiderman.

Anyway enjoy the Cuteness of this pix and also the Rainy Season.

Jul 4, 2015Jul 11, 2015

Enjoy This Story & Don’t Let Go!!!!

There was a story i heard over the radio on November 14th 2006. I just read it up in a mail I sent to a friend and I thought I would share it to inspire you.

It’s a story about three trees, they all had their dreams, the first wanted to be used as a crib for the Kings children, the 2nd wanted to be used to build a big ship that will carry Kings and rich men all over the world, the 3rd wanted to be the tallest tree in the forest, very close to the heavens and everybody will stare at even from the mountains and wonder at how close it to God.

Some men came into the forest to cut trees, they said they wld send the first tree to the carpenter, it was happy cos it wld get to be used for a crib. The second they said is very strong and would be sent to the dockyard, that one too was happy cos it’s dream was gonna come true. They looked at the third and felt it would not be used for anything so they just cut it and left it lying around It was sad cos it felt it’s dream was dead.

Meanwhile, the first tree was used to build a manger for feeding animals, of course it felt bad, the other was used to build a small fishing boat and the third kept lying around. A while later, a man came in with his wife and she delivered her baby in a manger, the tree knew there was something special about that baby and soon learnt that the baby was a king, it was happy cos it’s dream had come to pass.

The small fishing boat witnessed a spectacular event when one of it’s passengers who was sleeping during a storm suddenly got up and said ‘Peace be still’ and the sea obeyed. Instantly it knew it was carrying someone greater than all the Kings on earth put together, what more, the man even walked on water. It was overjoyed becos it’s dream was fulfiled in a greater way.

The third three lying there was picked up and built into a cross on which this same man was crucified. It stood there, tall on the mountains carrying the son of God.

The dreams of these trees all came to pass in a way greater than they imagined, in God’s own way.

Don’t let go of your dreams, they will happen if you believe!

Jun 29, 2015Jun 13, 2020

When Retro meets Modern…

When my Mum sent me the traditional Igbo woman dress of a blouse and two wrappers, I was so sure that I would never get to wear it, so I folded it neatly and kept it inside my box.

Recently, I was tidying my room and decided to try it on and it fit perfectly. Coincidentally, the mid-year thanksgiving service for Christ Embassy was just around the corner so I decided to rock it to Church. However, I pushed the sleeves of the blouse a bit of my shoulders to give the blouse a modern feel and instead of tying the big scarf that would usually go with it, I got a friend to pack my braids as shown in the picture.

Also, I decided to honour my Mum by taking a picture posing like she would normally (as shown below) and to also pay a tribute to my late Grandma by posing for the old classic picture (shown above) and saving it in Sepia.

Lol. I had fun dressing up and posing for the pictures. I hope to wear more ‘old school’ dresses with a modern twist.

Dalukwanu o! (Igbo word for ‘Thank You’ when talking to a group of people).

Jun 26, 2015Jul 11, 2015

Life With My Boy: A Family of Singers?

Do you remember Sound of Music? The Von Trapp Family Singers… aha! With their many classics especially ‘Doe a Deer…’ I can hear you humming already! Voila! It’s been 50 years since that movie premiered and history is about to repeat itself most surely, right in Lasgidi, Naija and if you zoom in a little closer, you would land right here in my sitting room. Ehen!

Trust me, it pales in comparison to the mansion that is the home of the Von Trapp family but nevertheless, it’s home and full of love.

Zoom in a little further and in the place of Maria, you have me, yes moi! A very unwilling Singer. It’s amazing that after having spent a little above 10 years in the combined school choir of my Primary and Secondary schools, I still do not know my voice part, yeah, Thanks.

In the place of the 7 cute Von Trapp children, you have my son and no, he is not dressed in Naval like clothes and standing like a statue or jumping at the blast of a whistle, rather he is seated on his blue child sized plastic chair, drumming with two unequal pencils on his red plastic table.

“Mummy sing another one, sing I know who I am…” he adds excitedly

I start the famous lyrics by Sinach, singing on any key that I find convenient and switching keys without even realizing it. My son drums excitedly, his face beaming with joy.

We carry on with our medley and though I really would like to stop, I continue for his sake and we go another round and then another round and then…

Oh no! Momma is tired and it’s bed time. I send him off to sleep, ignoring his protests and once more, we return to our peaceful family of non-singers. LOL.

Jun 22, 2015Jul 11, 2015

Life With My Boy: It’s Zobo for moi!

Working on my son’s school project recently, something hit me and it hit me really hard.

You see, one of the tasks they were asked to do was to build a literacy album with pictures depicting words from a-z. In helping him out, I found myself looking for things like P is for Polar Bear and Y is for Yoyo.

At that point, a thought came to me. Why can’t Y be for Yam? P for Palm Kernel and Z for Zobo. Please can anyone tell me what a Yoyo looks like? Yeah I know I’ve seen pictures of it and all but we need more than pictures to learn don’t we?

I just took a lesson from that and immediately changed my search to everyday things that can be seen in Nigeria. Afterall, my son is growing up here and I can count the number of times I’ve seen a Polar Bear on none of my fingers.

The thing is, I’m resolving to make sure that my son is taught relevant things, to help him develop local intelligence that would be of benefit to not only Naija and Africa but also to the whole world!

I think that’s one of the issues we’ve had with the educational system in our country, it’s not real… We finish from school and can’t apply what we’ve learnt. But then, things are changing speedily, the curriculum of schools these days are amazingly real and the kids are receiving education for life. Thumbs up to the 21st century educationists.

We just have to tweak a little more, as we practice the British Curriculumn, let’s also completely adapt them to Africa so our children can learn real things.

Cheers to you with a glass of Zobo!