Happy Hearts Day!

Happy Hearts Day to the two little men in my life who make my heart go pitter-patter.  And to the not-so-little man who still makes my heart melt to this day.  Love you all! 

Happiness...at home

My family caught a nasty bug last week.  Everyone had fevers and sore throats.  By the end of the week, their rashes broke out.  Good thing it wasn't dengue.  And thank God they're back to normal this week.

Watching TV with daddy

Horsing around

Have a good week ahead!

Happiness...on Sundays

My family celebrated my youngest brother's engagement to his soon to be wife last Sunday.  This is what the boys wore for the event.

So guwapo!  :)  Have a great day!

Happiness...with lazy weekends

We had  quite a relaxed weekend this past week.  Had the chance to take the boys with my mom to try out Cyma at Greenbelt 3 last Saturday night.  Glad they liked the pita bread with Tzatziki.  It's a good opportunity to introduce new cuisine to their young palettes.    

Bungisngis!

This face says it all...YUMMY!

Look at their clean plates :)

Also took them for a site visit yesterday morning, and they wanted a photo with the excavator in the background.

Happy Monday! :) 

Happiness at...Bonifacio High Street

Since it was the long weekend here in Manila this past week, our family decided to venture out to Bonifacio High Street in Taguig for our usual Sunday dinner.  The kids had fun playing at the new courtyard where there were new restaurants that opened.  We had dinner at Sariwon Korean Barbeque.  After dinner, they went out and ran and ran and ran...It was one of the more relaxing weekends we've had in a while since there was no school the next day.  We were also able to try Jamba Juice and find out what the fuss was all about.  

whew!  we're tired

With Cousin L

  

Smile!

It was a great long weekend, wish we can have more of these.

Happiness...at Home

Who wouldn't love waking up to the sight of these beauties and warm hugs from all my boys?  Got these for my early birthday celebration.  Thank you boys!  Mommy loves you very much!!!

My super long weekend...sort of

On my way home from work last Friday night, it started pouring hard.  Needless to say, traffic was a b**ch.  And when I got home, hubby told me to look at our laptop computer. Waaaahhh, this is what I came home to!  All the keys were piled up by the side of the laptop and there's only blank little white things on the computer itself!  My little munchkins were none too worried about what they did, but readily said sorry for this transgression.

my kawawang laptop

Saturday night came, and when hubby and I got home from work, yaya immediately told me what the two little devils did that day.  First, Kenji poured a half bottle of virgin coconut oil on our bed.  To clean up his mess,  he poured a full bottle of "green water" (rubbing alcohol) on top of it and used our blanket to dry it up.  Whaaaah!!!!  That's not all.  He found my stock of Ventolin nebules on the dresser drawer and opened them one by one.  By the time yaya found them, he's already emptied 10 tubes and was trying to wipe them off with tissue paper.  Imagine the mess they created.  And money down the drain.

I asked Joshua who the culprit was and he kept on pointing the finger at Kenji.  I asked him what he was doing.  He didn't want to say but I was sure he was laughing so hard that it egged on his little brother to do more.  So frustrating.  I asked Kenji what he did and he said "I was playing."  I couldn't spank them by then since it was already a couple of hours after the fact and I could only talk to them and repeat to them that the next time it happened, there will be consequences.

By Sunday morning, both my boys were sick.  Joshua had a cough and Kenji had a fever.  They were both so quiet and I had to quarantine one from the other.  Kenji wouldn't leave my side and just wanted me to carry him around the whole day.  It made me realize that all those things that were lost the previous days were nothing.  They were just material things and I can always replace them.  But my two boys are irreplaceable.  

Both are feeling much better today and are back to being their noisy selves.  Just hope our mattress won't smell too bad the next couple of days.  

Happy 4th Birthday, Joshua!

My dearest Joshua,

Happy birthday to you!  It's been four years since I first held the miracle that is YOU in my arms.  I am so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to have you in my life and that I am able to nurture you and watch you grow.  You have taught me what it means to be patient, to be understanding and to be selfless.  I now know what unconditional love means.  I am so proud to call you "my son" and I thank you for loving us and being so protective of us.  Don't grow up too fast.  Daddy and Mommy love you so much.

so serious....

Happiness with...Angkong!

This was taken during our recent Holy Week vacation with my husband's family.  Love it!

Happiness with...Just.Be.Enough

Wandered through this website called Just Be Enough and thought that it was worth sharing.


From their site ~
"Just.Be.Enough. will share the stories, the voices, the truths of many. Its mission is to empower, inspire, and remind women, parents, and children that that the time has come to celebrate ourselves. We must. We must carry the weight of confidence and empowerment on our shoulders instead of allowing the burden of our flaws and imperfections to push us down."


Enjoy!

I'll Miss You Cous...

Last week, my family lost a special girl.  It was so sudden, so unexpected, and I guess that's why it hurts more.  

Sheilah was my aunt's 2nd child.  We weren't as close as other cousins were, but I still remember her as the little girl playing with all of her siblings.  She was very quiet, very poised and very loving.  I only saw her during family gatherings like our grandma's party or Christmas parties.  And the last time we had a long talk was before she was planning to leave for Singapore and she wanted to ask for some tips about the place, as I worked there for a couple of years before, too.  But she was very mature and ready for the move, so I knew she would be fine.

She was  supposed to come home for her wedding last December 18th, and I was really looking forward to seeing her in her beautiful gown.  She even got my boy to be one of her ring bearers.  But a few weeks before she was about to come home, she got really sick, and never recovered. 

She was a good friend, a loyal fiance, but I knew her best as a loving sister and daughter.  From her friends, I also gather that she had a strong faith in God.  She definitely left a void in our hearts.   

We'll miss you Sheilah Marie.  Rest in peace and watch over us while you enjoy God's Heaven.  

Happiness is...at Shangri-la Boracay

Our arrival at the docks, via Shangri-la's own speedboats

our room

the beautiful beach

relaxing at the gardens

reception area, getting ready to leave

at the docks, getting ready to leave

What a beautiful place to relax and unwind...till next time!

Ama and Kongkong

Found a couple of photos of my Kongkong and Ama in my hard-drive and thought I should post them.  These were taken several years ago when both of them were still healthy and able to travel.  First was taken at our house in Richmond, while the second was just taken from one of our family gatherings.  Seventy years together and still counting, what a great feat!  I'm so happy that we grew up having them in our lives and I'm glad that my boys are still able to meet them and know what great grandparents are.  We love you Ama and Kongkong!

It's a Party!

My family celebrated an important milestone last Saturday, July 23, 2011.  We celebrated my grandpa and grandma's 70th wedding anniversary and also their 90th and 86th birthdays.  70 years together, can you imagine?  Because of this important event, everyone was asked to attend the party and all my family and relatives from abroad were able to fly in.  What a grand reunion we had!

We hired Kimberly Evangelista to be our event host, and I think the guests had a blast.  The food was good, the venue was decorated festively, the cake was ginormous, and we handed out some nice prizes during the trivia game, wherein guests had to answer some questions about Ama and Kongkong.  Ina prepared a nice AVP of Kongkong and Ama's old photos.  Donald also performed a number (he sang L-O-V-E), and a few of the grandkids and great grandkids serenaded the guests with Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" with matching choreography!  I was so proud of them!

We also hired a photo booth (snapphotobooth.multiply.com) for guests to take photos as their mementos of the event.  Here are a couple of me and the kids...I didn't know even their yayas joined in on the fun!  hehe....

say cheeessse!

my parent's grandkids with their yayas :)

Happy anniversary Ama and Kongkong, we all love you very much!

Gratitude Journal - June 17, 2011

Today, I am thankful for my two brothers, who have been with me since...forever!  Haha...I'm the eldest so it feels like I've had them with me my whole life.  Even though we all live in three different countries now, I still feel close to them and we manage to keep in touch as often as possible.  We've been through a lot together - first loves, first heartaches, new schools, new homes, new friends, new places to visit, new experiences, etc.  But we've managed to enjoy the ride and turned out okay :)  


They used to tease me a lot, since I was the only girl, but having them has toughened me up and made me competitive.  They also pushed me to keep up with them and being an only girl has not stopped me from trying out some of the "manly" things that they do.  I think living with them has also prepared me now in how I relate to my two sons.  I learned that boys are just as sensitive and emotional as girls are.  And they are also just as loving and malambing as girls are.  So thanks bros, for being a part of my life, and for being a part of me.  I love you both very much!

this was taken on my wedding day in 2006

Our Family Holiday Card - Year 2010

I've ordered our holiday cards for this year and this is a preview of what people will be receiving from us, yipee!  I love sending out personalized photo cards as I think they add a special touch to your gifts, don't you think?


This is courtesy of The Picture Company.