Separated : Our First

Being a career mother, I always make it a point to stay away from possible appointments and activities that would lead me to not sleeping at home during nighttime.   With our little girl still breastfeeding and would not be able to sleep at night without me on her side, these situations left me no choice.

But now, I could no longer escape from certain responsibilities at work.   I was told that I will be attending a 5-day seminar-workshop and this means to be separated from my little girl during sleeping time since the venue is a 2-hour travel from home and the activity ends at around 7 PM.

To The Family's Superhero

Not all superheroes wear cape or carry a gun.  Our superhero is not covered with steel costume or does not produce webs out of his hand.   But he is as strong as any superhero you know, our very dear Tatay.

Always up for games and surprises,
Tatay joins our parlor games during our  2012 Christmas Party.

A salute to our Tatay, not only for raising us to be the person that we are today but also showing to us how he really loved our dear Nanay.   We are not born rich and well-off but our Tatay always made sure that our needs are always met.   Not only a great provider for the family but also the strong wall for everybody to lean on especially in times of confusion, trials and sickness.   While Nanay is (a bit) strict and expecting us to be disciplined; Tatay is more of playful and relaxed by the rules.   However, Tatay also has his own shares of rules to follow and he always mean what he says.   Tatay always has the habit to tickle our armpit to make us more relaxed despite stressful days or heavy works at home.   I sometimes got irritated by this but this always made me smile.   Lol!   He is also a man full of words of wisdom.   You can try seeking advice from him when you're in doubt or just to lighten up your mood.   Or ask pieces of "quotable quotes" from him.  (Tip : He always enjoy reading books and watching epic movies.)

Kaizle @ 2 : The Breastfed Toddler

Well, yeah, I have to admit that it sometimes bothered me knowing that at 2, I am still breastfeeding Kaizle.   I thought it was already inappropriate that at her age, she still have that habit.    However, I have encountered an article on breastfeeding a toddler and it inspires me to continue breastfeeding Kaizle as long as I have enough supply of milk. Lol!

I want to share it to all moms out there to better know the advantages and benefits derived from breastfeeding.

DeeWorkingMom's Video of the Week

I saw this video on Youtube and I can't help but share this with all of you, especially to our dear mothers.   This is one of the most touching videos for mothers I ever saw.   Mother's Day is everyday, I guess.

Indeed, "Life does not come with a manual, it comes with a Mother."

A MOTHER'S LOVE

by : Jim Brickman (feat. Mark Masri)

Thank you for watching over me
All of the sleepless nights you lay awake
Thank you for knowing when to hold me close
when to let me go

Thank you for every stepping stone
And for the path that always leads me home
I thank you for the time you took
to see the heart inside of me

You gave me the roots to start this life

and then you gave me wings to fly
and I learned to dream 
because you believed in me

A Mother's Love : Mother's Day Tribute for My Dear Nanay

She carried me for 9 months in her tummy.  I know how tiring it was to walk with a heavy bump, or how hard it was to lie down or to even sleep soundly having a little mover kicking inside your tummy.

She could not get enough sleep just to feed me through the nights or even to play with me until the wee hours of the evening.   She could not rest during the day just to play with me, sung me a song or read me a book.   She patiently taught me how to walk and talk, to dance and to sing, to read and to stand by my own.   Unceasingly, she took care of me despite my tantrums, quirks and demands with a smile.   

Taken on June 10, 2009 during my werdding.

However, she is more of a disciplinarian.  She taught me values and principles; instilling discipline if necessary.   She will not always tolerate me once I was stubborn, especially during my teenage years.   But she never deprived me from enjoying life and discovering my self.

Henna Tattoo in Boracay

Who would not miss a chance to have a henna tattoo while having a vacation in the island of Boracay.  I'm not a fan of tattoo.  Don't get me wrong, I also appreciate tattoo as another form of art expression.   But putting the tattoo (permanent) on my own skin?  I really have to say NO!

However, during our vacation in Boracay, I opted to chose a design and put a henna tattoo on my skin.  I find a hard time choosing a design since most of them are nice.  

Gastronomic Adventures in Boracay

When you are in a vacation, food pops out of our mind.  Have a Boracay vacation blast by not only enjoying the beach, sand and water activities but also the foods Boracay offers to its guests.

Refreshed from the summer heat with this Halo Halo from Pancake House (D' Mall).

Kaizle enjoying her Gurts at the Pancake House (D' Mall).

White Sand, Sun, Beach = BORACAY SUMMER FUN!!!

My husband and I decided to have a Boracay vacation as a gift to our little Kaizle on her 2nd birthday.   This wass not our first time in Boracay.  Actually, we've been here for a couple of times already.  But what's special about this vacation is that this was the first Boracay experience of our little daughter.

We had our vacation on April 7 - 9, 2013.  I was very much pleased that Kaizle enjoyed our treat for her.  As expected, she loved to play with the sand with her pail set.  She woke us up as early as 6 AM and would insist on going to the beach front for a swim.  

Here are the photos of our little Kaizle enjoying the sands and beach of Boracay :

First Day ...

ATV Rides & Buggy Carts : A Boracay Experience

Okay, I have to admit that I don't have a driver's license and I don't know how to drive.  Or better yet, the proper words to use are, "I don't have the guts to drive!"

Well, I love adventure.  I already tried life-risking adventures like wall-climbing (without the harness and other sfaety devices attached to my body), rappelling from a high mountain, zipline and other forms of adventure.  But really, I am too scared to drive a vehicle.

With the famous ATV and buggy cart rides in the island of Boracay, who would not miss this kind of fun.  Credits to my husband who was around that we rented a buggy cart.  Me as the passenger and husband as my driver.  (Sorry, I am really scared of driving even a buggy cart.)

Boracay's Happy Dreamland Trick Museum

One of the attractions in the Happy Dreamland Amusement Park is its Art Museum featuring 3D portraits.  You get to feel like its real when looking at the pictures.

Sharing to you some of the pictures taken inside the Art Museum :

Happy Dreamland

Welcome to Boracay's newest amusement park!  Entering to Happy Dreamland feels like entering to a mini-Enchanted Kingdom.  But before going inside the dreamland, I have to tell you that the Happy Dreamland has shuttle vans roaming around Stations 1 - 3 where you can ride going to and from the amusement park - for FREE. We never knew about this until we end our tour.

(photo credits from http://yesfm911boracay.blogspot.com)

From our place in Station 1, we rode on an E-trike going to Happy Dreamland for PhP75.00.  As per conversation with the driver, the E-trike is a project of the local government unit there but still on a trial period.  As of date, there are only 10 units of E-trikes functioning around the island.

Inexpensive Accommodations Near Station 1, Boracay

For the nth time, we went to the island of Boracay to spend a 3-day vacation.   This time, we chose an inexpensive place because we will be only using our room to rest or sleep and to take a bath or change clothes.  Most of the time, we will be out of our room doing beach activities, eating, touring around the island or swimming.

For this vacation, we chose the Casamso Boracay Resort.  Casamso is the sister hostel next door to Frendz Resort Boracay.  We booked at Casamso through their Frendz' Facebook account.  The transaction went smoothly where they required us for a 50% deposit through online banking.  You can also try to connect with them through this number 0939 3242789.

DIY Balloon Hat

You want to impress your guests with a very crafty balloon art on your children’s party or you want the children in the party to engage in creating balloon shapes for themselves?  Try the balloon hat.  This is one of the basics and the simplest form of balloon art where you can create a hat with just one balloon.  However, you can add more balloons to make it bigger.

How to do it?  I’ll teach you!

What you will need :

·      Long balloon of different colors

·      Hand held balloon inflator

Balloon Column : Do-It-Yourself

A plain and empty yard can be turned into a great party place once adorned by colorful balloon decorations.  Balloon decorations are usual must-haves in every parties most especially children parties.  Balloon decorations are also considered as inexpensive yet make every party colorful and alive.

So if you’re planning a party, be it for your kids, for the school or your community fair, consider making balloon column.    Today, I will be sharing to you how I did the balloon column I made during our Kaizle’s 1^st birthday party having a Tinkerbell theme.

getting crafty... with POMANDERS..

I learned how to make tissue pomanders during our daughter’s 1^st birthday party and I also want to share it with you.

What you will need :

tissue paper
scissors
5″ Styrofoam balls
Hot glue

Wire

A Breath of Fresh Air : The Bukidnon Tour

One good thing about staying in Bukidnon is its cold air even during noon time.   We happened to visit and tour around the Bukidnon Forests, Inc. located at Sayre Highway, Malabay City, Bukidnon.

Bukidnon Forests, Inc. (BFI) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) under the National Resources Development Corporation.  It was funded by the national government of New Zealand until it was terminated as a foreign-assisted project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 1998.

Widgets : A Blogger's Must-Have

Instagram's been a useful online tool in photo-sharing and a social networking service that allows us to take a photo, apply digital filter and share it to other social networking services such as Facebook or Twitter.

Now that Instagram has over than 9 million active users, might as well have an Instagram feed directly to this blog site.  How did I do this?  Again, I searched for an expert partner in dealing with this task.  I have come up with a widget showing a slideshow presentation of the photos posted in my Instagram account.

"Like" & "Tweet" : Buttons for Blogger

A newbie to blogging, I am determined in making my page to be nice looking, if not perfect.   I have been trying to understand codes that some sites were offering but it seems that those codes were so technical that I could not grasp even on its first how-to steps.

10 Things You Should Not Miss in Boracay

Summer is finally coming!  With the temperature rising, the beach always comes first in my mind.  And with the beach in mind, BORACAY is the coolest summer vacation one has to try.

I have been in this beautiful island for so many times already, yet, I am still considering this place to spend a summer getaway every year.

Seasons on this island are classified into three :

                         LOW SEASON : June 1 - November 30

                         HIGH SEASON : December 1 - May 31

                         PEAK SEASON : December 21 - January 10, Chinese New Year, Holy Week

Each season has its good and not-so-good points, yet, irrespective of the seasons, Boracay has so many thing to offer to its tourists.

Here's my list of 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT MISS IN BORACAY :

Rejuvenate : SIRA-AN HOT SPRING & HEALTH RESORT

This is considered as one of our spur-of-a-moment trips.  My husband and I have been talking about out of town yet inexpensive trips.  We already went to this place sometime in 2010 yet I wasn't able to enjoy the whole time we were there since I was still pregnant.  However, I thought of this one when asked by my husband where to spend our weekend since Kaizle, our daughter, was having cough at that time and a bathe on the sulfuric water of the spring can help ease if not cure her cough.  I remember during our 2010 trip there that my nephew was suffering from bronchial asthma however, after a day's bathing and swimming on the hot spring, his asthma was gone immediately that night.

Sira-an Hot Spring is situated in Anini-y, the southernmost part of the province of Antique, Western Visayas.  It is 43 kilometers from the capital town of Antique and two hours travel from Iloilo City.

Didn't miss the chance to have a pic on its welcome sign. Everybody did this.

rompers!!! for my lil girl...

A romper suit is a one-piece garment worn by children and sometimes women. Somewhat similar to a coverall, it is loose fitting and usually has shorter legs that may be gathered at the end. Puffed pants are particularly associated with rompers. Rompers usually are meant as a combination of shorts and a shirt, though the term can include jumpers, one-piece bathing suits, and clubwear fashions to name a few.  
(Source : Wikipedia)

I adored seeing little girls wearing romper suit or rompers, as we mostly call it.  Seeing them in rompers makes them look more bubbly.  Rompers now became part of every little girls closet. Unlike the conventional rompers, it has now a more girly touch with fabrics that varies from lace, silk and cotton.

Bought from Rhainella's Couture.  Some of their rompers have headbands or bows to match with.

I have not wasted my time searching for a romper for my little Kaizle through online shopping.  I have found two good sellers which have a wide selection of rompers and pettiskirts.  I have a hard time selecting rompers since almost all of their items are so beautiful.

MATCHED!!!

"A mother has far greater influence on her children than anyone else, and she must realize that every word she speaks, every act, every response, her attitude, even her appearance and manner of dress affect the lives of her children and the whole family. It is while the child is in the home that she gains from her mother the attitudes, hopes, and beliefs that will determine the kind of life she will live and the contribution she will make to society."

Having a little girl is like having a mini-me in the house.  A copy-cat of my self.  At the age of one year and nine months, Kaizle seemed to imitate most, if not all, of my gestures, mannerisms and expressions.  I carefully chose my actions and language at home since I have an important role in molding our daughter to be a person of good character. 

HOME... is where Christmas is...

We, Filipinos, celebrated Christmas season the longest.  This season started on September and ends on January 6, during the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany or mostly called it the Three Kings.

Actually, this was posted so very late because of a very busy schedule.  I have a handful of tasks lately being a working mother and a wife that I tend to set aside one, among the many, favorite hobbies.

I would like to share to you our very own Christmas celebration which was held last December 25, 2012.

We started the celebration with a lunch.  Each family brought foods to share and everyone enjoyed it!   Of course, Pinoy celebrations will not be complete without the presence of the videoke.. Anyone who wants to showcase their singing talents (even those who have not any of that talent) took a chance to got hold of the ever reliable Magic Sing microphone.