Zoe with Zoe, Luigi with Luigi

Just a quick post...

As a young lady, I was never really the one to think ahead of the names of my future children. In fact, we only thought of the names of our kids just a few months before I gave birth to them. Sometimes, I, myself, feel amused on how my kids ended up with their respective names. :-)

Anyway, speaking of names, it was quite cute that my kids incidentally both have cartoon characters named like them.

Here's Zoe with Zoe (of Sesame Street):



And here's Luigi with Luigi (of Mario Bros.)

So cute, right?

Strawberry Sofa

Trust new upholstery to oomph your old sofa...

I decided to move our old rattan sofa (which we replaced with a brand new one from Mandaue Foam) from the sala to our family room in the attic. And since the family room had a new red color-theme, I had the sofa reupholstered using a strawberry-printed cloth.

All I can say is: it came out SWEET! :-)

From this old look:


...to this new look:

Before:

After:

Peso Power:

Strawberry-printed textile: Php 1,200

Labor: Php 600

It was a great project!

Yellow Painting - The One

My hubby and I have been "forever" looking for a yellow painting or artwork to put in our living room to replace the old oil painting that we've had for years.

After quite a long wait, we finally found something that fits perfectly in our wall and best of all, it's swack on the budget. We got it (of all places) from Dapitan and we've satisfied with how it looked.

See here:

Now our living room looks so much brighter and happy!

Goodbye Red, Hello Green

Early this month, we bid goodbye to our loyal but storm-battered friend (red) Mica.

And immediately after said HELLO to a new and bigger friend Mica (now colored green).

Taken during the car's binyag :-)

The kids instantly fell in love with him! :-)


Thanks be to God for another blessing like this.

Great Finds at Dapitan

At long last, my hubby and I found time last week to go to the popular Dapitan Arcade. It's crazy how it took us so long to come and visit the place. It's a shopping haven for those who love bargain house items and it's perfect for those who want to be the next Martha Stewart. LOL.

First up, cutie ceramic containers, best for those on the side toyo-patis-suka during meals. Only 15 bucks each.

And then, this cake tray, which I thought was such a hard thing to find in the malls, was literally all over the place! It even came in different shapes and colors and only for around 150 pesos.

Our next great buy are these matching candle-holders and bowl which complements our brand new sala set. Love it!

Something now for the bathroom - a pink fish-shaped soap dish. I like the color a lot so we bought it. At 45 pesos, who can resist it?!

Last, but not the least, a stylish liquid soap dispenser (pang-hotel ang dating). I love the flowery detail at the center. It makes our bathroom look so "five star".

Actually, there is one more thing we bought there. It's not so cheap but it's definitely the best buy of them all. I'll post it here soon after we put it up.... :-)

Dapitan Arcade - we're definitely coming back for more!

New Sofa

My husband and I finally found the perfect sofa for our living room. We had it custom-made and it arrived just this week.

Lookie here:



It turned nicely and it really matched the color of our walls.

Now all I got to worry about now is keeping the big sister from enjoying the sofa too much...

Foodie Find - Lydia's Lechon

My husband and I recently discovered that the nearby Lydia's Lechon in our place actually has a restaurant at the back portion. All along, we thought that it was just take-out place. Because of this discovery, we had found ourselves flocking there for "instant handa". One time, we got ourselves a couple of kilos of Cebu lechon. It was so yummy that it disappeared in no time.

Lechon is really a Filipino's guilty pleasure. Yummy!

My oh my...

I really seemed to have taken a vacation from blogging here.

There are just so many things going around now and it's mostly work, work, work. Nah, I'm not complaining (well not yet). God gave me a new job and I'm bravely taking on the challenge. I believe that better does not exactly mean easier. And at this point, I think it's foolish to think otherwise.

My oh my. I just hope I have enough stamina to go through all the changes in my life.

The house got robbed.

I never thought I could be writing something like this in my blog or anywhere else. Yup, our house (mainly our house annex) was broken into last Saturday in broad daylight. Nobody discovered it until it was already about nine in the evening. When the yaya got into her quarters, she couldn't seem to open the door to her room. She sensed that something was wrong so she immediately went down to ask F. "to look for her keys". So when F. went up, he found the doors of the two rooms destroyed, the room broken into and everything in chaos. He immediately tried to wake us up but to no avail since my husband, kids and I were already in deep sleep at the time. So he decided to ask the help of our neighbor instead to check the vicinity of the house just in case the burglar is still hiding or is still around the area.

Anyway, that's then that they discovered that all the valuables of the two house assistants were already stolen. The two rooms were a total mess and it seemed as if the trespasser was there inside for quite a long time since he was able to find all the hidden money and jewelries that our maids have and own.

Oh it's so sad.

We think that the robber went through our wall at the back or maybe through the garage. Plus I really hope he won't come back and try getting inside the main house (dear God, no!).

On our part, we're planning to build a higher wall with barb wires, pieces of glass -- the works -- so that this won't happen again. I also have been looking for a garage door remote that probably help us in terms of safety. With a garage door remote, we don't need to go out of the house to open the garage for the car that's coming. I saw the Linear and Genie brands and I think it's both good.

At any rate, please pray that this kind of thing would NEVER EVER happen again.

Zoe's a Flowergirl

This was taken during Ria and Michael's wedding last May 22 at Christ the King Parish, Church in the Sky in Taytay.

For the very first time, Zoe walked to the altar on her own. I'm such a proud mama. She's really growing up and becoming more independent now. Sigh .

For Sale

My dad is finally decided on selling his ’96 Toyota Hilux truck. We really love this vehicle since it belonged to the family for so many years. Actually, all the people close to us know that we fondly call this truck as “Rex” since my dad bought this car through his writing projects with Rex Publishing.

Anyway, this truck is still in good working condition, "hindi na-Ondoy", still has original parts and paint. It has several nice accessories attached to it such as a chrome tailgate handle, new sound system, step bars, etc. It’s colored red plus the tires are extra big. It runs on diesel so it’s economical compared to gas-run engines.

Anyone interested? Drop me a line.

One Thing I Learned from Cinderella

Zoe is addicted to Cinderella. She asks me to pop the dvd the very moment she wakes up and says, "Mom, Cinderella please!" ~

Some days I oblige, some days I don't (and she ends up in tears).

But if there's one thing I (we) learned from watching Cinderella almost everyday ~ is that we have to make our make our beds before we leave our room in the morning just like how Cinderella would do.

We've learned to pretend that Zoe is Cinderella and I'm one of her mouse or bird friends who help her along fix her bed (and prepare her bath) while singing "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes". And it's actually enjoyable to do!

And since Cinderella is Zoe's idol now, making beds is not such a hard task anymore.

Here's the youtube video:



Thank you, Cinderella!

For PWDs

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

PWDs or people with disability are gaining so much advantage and benefits from NMEDA. NMEDA or National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association is a non-profit organization that is there to help the many people with any form of disability in terms of transportation and moving around from place to place.

I myself have experienced this in my family when my Dad's mother-in-law was still alive. She had her lower leg removed due to complications of her diabetes and had to live with this disability for many years. And although she was given an artificial leg which is attached for her to be able to walk around the house, it was still hard especially when she needed to be brought out. What was extra hard is to bring her in and out of the car. You see, their car wasn't made for this kind of situation. Anyway, she had already passed away two years ago.

Now you can see what a benefit it would be for families of people with disabilities such as my Ninang's family if their means of transportation had a special feature that would enable the person to be brought in and out of the vehicle without the many hassles. Well, NMEDA is definitely there to promote this advocacy.

My Art Supplies Box

One of my perrennial organization problems is managing my art and craft supplies.

Coming from a standpoint where I was very "OC" when it came to my wedding, my kid's birthday parties and then now that I am officially a mother of a preschooler, I had accumulated so many of those art supplies which may "come in handy" when the occasion called for it.

Thus, my supplies were overflowing with too many...

...art paper

...pentel pens

...ballpens

...colored boards and papers

...crepe papers

...gift wrappings

...ribbons

...strings

...stickers

...etc. etc.

I finally put my foot forward and ended my messy tendency. I purchased a plastic box from the supermarket and organized everything craft and art-related into one big box.

Ta-dah!!! (My art supplies box is the one on top.)

Now, I don't have to keep on buying art supplies when I don't really need to since I can see everything properly.

By doing this, I believe that I saved my family a few hundred bucks.

On Grass and Lawnmowers

When I was young, our house had a beautiful lawn with Bermuda grass, some coconut-like trees and many flowery plants. I still remember those memories from my childhood when we would play hide and seek behind the bushes in our garden or play “luksong tinik” (I don’t know what’s the English translation of this) with our friends.

Among all those things, what was very memorable really for me is the grass that we had back then. It was lovely. If we still have it now, it would have been great especially with the kids around. I particularly love the smell of morning dew and freshly-cut grass. Well, who doesn’t? I still remember being asked to cut the grass manually using big garden scissors (I got calluses from that, oh dear). But you know, now there are great mountfield lawnmowers that can do the same job for half of the time. A mountfield mower looks efficient and easy to maneuver. If only I can recreate the garden we had back then somewhere in our new backyard, then I would be so tempted to buy a mountfield petrol lawnmower to do the grass-cutting for me.

Cleaning Challenge of the Week - Zoe's Study Area

With Zoe's very first time to go to a regular preschool this coming June, I thought of preparing her better by re-arranging her study table and books into a more conducive area in the attic.

I no longer want her study table to just act as a "display" and dust accumulator. It's high time to convert it into something useful. So first thing I did was to clean and clear this particular space in the attic to make way for her new study nook.

These rubber mats will "define" her working space, i.e. this space will belong to Zoe while the opposite side (for a later post) will be Mommy's working space.

After much introspection, this is the finished product:

Now Zoe has a space to do her "writing", arts, crafts and "studying". She also now has one place to put all her current books and bedtime readings.

She loves it!

I love it too.

Thank you for the greetings!

Thank you to everyone who remembered me on my special day. God bless us all.
Yeah, I'm one year older (and wiser) today.

Fish Fillet with Corn Sauce

I was a bit inspired by Pinoycook.net's fish fillet with corn sauce that I decided to try out the dish.

We used cream dory fish, dipped it in egg wash and seasoned flour.

Then I deep-fried it on our electric fryer (a wedding gift that we only got to use now, hahaha).


This is how it turned out.


On the serving dish...


As for the sauce, I sauteed garlic and onion in butter then added salt, pepper, cream of corn and a bit of water. That's it.

Ready for a yummy dinner!

Emer & Ruby's Wedding

Our good friend Ruby finally married her boyfriend Emer at Sta. Maria della Strada Parish last May 01. It was a joyous occasion and we were very delighted to have been part of the culmination of their love story.

The wedding was solemn and well-planned. (I am quite biased since I love the church so much ~ we got married in the same church, that's why.)

Anyway, reception was held at Ayala Hillside Clubhouse.


Our barkada picture...

Best wishes R & E!

*thanks to Gra for the pics!

Chapel Renovation

Our village chapel is going to be renovated soon and we are gearing up to find the funds for its much-needed face-lift. I heard that the plan is make the façade into something like an old Spanish-styled church. By this, they will need to redo the front window box planters and replace it with a planter that is of a different style, like something with bricks and rust-colored paint. And of course, the decorative planters need to be placed high above the ground since with our recent experience with the Tyhpoon Ondoy, all the ornamental plants in front of the chapel were all swept away by the high flood water. Tsk. Tsk.

In addition, I also heard that we will need to replace the chapel’s old roof. The existing one already has so many holes in it, thus, it needs to be changed too so that when the rainy season comes, there won’t be so many leaks here and there.

Oh, so many plans and so little resources! Please send financial help if you have some extras. For sure, your assistance will go a long, long way.

Zoe on Vacation

Zoe went away with my Dad and Ninang in Batangas for a vacation last Tuesday because we are yaya-less for two weeks.

It's been 6 days since then and I'm missing her so badly. I practically had never been away from her from the day our eyes met (minus the 3 days I spent in the hospital to give birth to Luigi). I miss her voice, her "kakulitan", our bedtime stories, her singing, everything!!! Whaaa!

But good thing is, today, she is coming home.

For sure, she will be smothered with hugs and kisses from her Mom.

xox

Fundraising Project

For many years now, I have somehow been involved in various construction projects for the Center. We ask for donations from generous people who are willing to help us in our worthwhile endeavors which benefit not only a small group but a huge number of people. We have done it before with the Tagaytay Conference Center, the Campanilla project and many other houses. These were all built for the spiritual as well as cultural formation of women of all age and social class. And now we are doing it again. Our latest project is the Kanluran Kamawi building which will be the venue for women, particularly for those less fortunate ones in the area. This will be the place where they can learn livelihood skills and even hotel and restaurant management. There will also spiritual formation given there. It has a lot of great possibilities and for sure it will do a lot of good for years and years.

Anyway, with the cost of construction going up by the day, we are in urgent need of more funds in order to pay the contractor. You see, the money that has been going to this project come purely from donations. And as of date, our fundraising thermometer tells us that we need to double the efforts so that we can finish this house on time and without going into debt just to pay the contractor. Good thing that as a response to the need, many of us are already doing our share of research on how to raise money for the project. Some even try to copy how school fundraisers do it. It actually works to copy to successes of others in order to bring positive results. And of course, there is nothing like praying and praying a lot to God to send more donations, since we know that this is all for Him.

Love Pillowcases

Aren't these so cute?


I found these here and can't stop myself from drooling.

Lola A's Birthday

It was my mother-in-law's 79th birthday last April 10 and we all flocked to their house to celebrate the occasion.

Here are some pictures.

(L-R) - Luigi, Lola A, Zoe and Robbie

Luigi with cousin Beni:


Zoe monopolizing the videoke:

Happy Birthday Nay! We love you!

Kitchen Renovation

My friends who recently migrated to Canada are starting anew with their growing family in this new country. They left their jobs in the Philippines to seek greener pastures as immigrants. For starters, they recently got a new house and are trying to do a renovation to suit their family’s needs. And since they are rather new and are not so familiar with the goings-on about general contractors, they are looking for ways to get the best deals. Good thing, the internet is helping them a lot in their search for a good, professional and reliable Calgary Contractor who can do the work for them.

First on their list is to tap a contract with kitchen renovation Calgary. They want a kitchen which has sturdier and space-saving cabinets and a place for their dishwasher and oven-top. Plus, they would want to be able to have ample working space for them to still cook up their favorite Filipino dishes even while in a far away country. Cool!

Tif's Treat

My kumare and good good friend Tif treated me out to dinner a few weeks ago.

We drove all the way to QC to a place called 8 Spices for a sumptuous Thai dinner.

She ordered these for 2 people to eat.

Judging from the pictures here, you can say what you want. Admittedly, we were overly-full but happy. (Note: My hubby, who picked me up that night, finished off our left-overs, hahaha).

Really, nothing beats a night of food, friends, stories and laughter.

Thanks Tif! I really appreciate the treat.