The one with Gumbo night

We are into trying out new restaurants these days.  You'd be surprised to see that the restaurants that you think are pricey have reasonable rates too.  Rather than eating in the usual restaurants we go to, we want our dining experience to be more exciting.  Last night, we went to Gumbo. ive eaten here before but not really often.  And best of all, they have  a promo.  Buy one, take one on main entrees, pasta, pizza, salads. (everything except appetizers) soo happy! we ordered USDA steak and chicken. With 495, you get to enjoy this along with two side dishes.  so technically, it's like ordering one entree for half the price. :)

The one with saving up

One thing I'm proud of my mom is how she taught us how to save, even in small things.  I realize that all of us siblings store this big bottle of water where we put coins in there whenever we come home from work.  I saw my brother's water bottle money banks and i got so excited that we have the same "banks".  I taught Simone this habit of putting extra money in coin banks, and i can see that she has gotten used to it already. :)

The one with holy week 2013

I had a very meaningful and fun holy week this year.  Simon took the rest of his paternity leave and started his vacation since Monday.  It was one whole week of family time.  We checked in at Linden Suites on a Maundy Thursday, then enjoyed our swimming, breakfast in the morning.  Then I also had a good girl time with several church mates.  We had so much fun talking about love life, family, our concerns.  It feels refreshed to be updated with each other's lives.  Then Saturday, we went to see a movie of John Lloyd and Sarah's. really really fun! and of course, Sunday is easter sunday! thank you Lord for everything.  before the holiday started, i also tried to complete my SSS requirements and SSS replacement. I'm so happy I was able to finish it, i wanted to check if i can also find online print solutions at eoncode.com but did'nt find any. Was trying to check if i can actually make some brochures if ever for Partyboosters.

Productive. fun. memorable. = holy week 2013  

The one with newsletter

So while having coffee with my friend Naan, we talked about he new job, my business, our new business ventures, and strategies or marketing techniques that we can do.  Since she's currently employed to an online company, she suggested a website where i can have make a newsletter of partyboosters. It's paper.li. We tried going to the site and i'm impressed. I might really want to try it and maybe it will be lie a brochure printing online too. :)

The one with garage sale online

I have a new pasttime...selling and buying stuffs online.  I'm a member of n@w, it's a closed online group of wives and/or moms who basically share the same roles in life. We formed an online garage sale, that instead of doing a physical garage sale, we post everything we want to sell online, describe it, explain mode of payment.  The first to say "mine" gets the item. it's that simple.

As of this writing, I'm waiting for a Lacoste bag to be uploaded. hahaha. I hope I won't get admitted to a rehab program for this, like one of those California rehab centers. hahaha.

I hope I get to say "Mine" today. :)

The one with addl battery

Everytime i have a new phone, the one thing i would always find myself is looking for an extra battery.  It's a little frustrating when your battery fails you, even on a camera, a phone or any gadget for that matter.  Like during simone's moving up day, I was all set to take pictures only to find out that i wasn't able to charge the camera so after a few shots, the camera turned off by itself.  I should have bought a maha powerex mh-c9000 so i can enjoy longer life for our batteries. It also usually happens to my phone batteries and ipad. hmmm, i really need to find a way to make my gadget's battery life stay longer. :)

The one with summer filled activities

I want to make Simone's summe uber fun this time. So i started by applying her here:

just fill up the application form, pay P550 as workshop fee, choose you schedule and that's it.  I chose April 8-12 for her, 1-3 pm schedule. She's excited already and wants to work immediately. hahaha. Good luch Mcdo!!!

I'm also interested in enrolling her to a painting workshop. So far, i have two choices, Sip and Gogh in Capitol Hills and Fernano Sena's workshop. I have both of their schedules already, just checking which one will be better for Simone.

And last week of April, we'll go back to Canyon Cove with our parents for some swimming and recreation time.

We're all excited!

The one with Kimberly Hotel

In an earlier post, I mentioned that we went here to have some quality time with the family.  We tagged along ate len so she'd have a breath of fresh air too. Then simon just googled playground in tagaytay and one of the top hits was Kimberly Hotel so we took a drive to the place. I got so excited to see the big playground and the organic farm, then the farm animals.  Simone had fun petting the rabbits, feeding them and the sheep, and i had fun buying potted herbs. The big playground was a big hit to all of us. hahaha. It has a small pool where you can dip as well.  In fairness, if i'd be chosen an intimate wedding venue in tagaytay, i'd probably choose this one.  it's really nice and still new, plus you won't see any arturo fuente cigars around as the place is a no smoking zone as well.

The one with music lessons

I'm really interested in enrolling Simone to music lessons this summer but i'm still contemplating if the timing is just right.  She just turned six last month and I'm not sure if this is the perfect time for some music lessons for her.  But when I told it to the husband, he said to just wait until she's more ready to choose what she wants.  It's better if the choice comes from her, to learn and study music.  But seeing her interest in it and her potential to learn makes me more willing to do my own little research when the right time comes for her.  So far, she tried playing around a piano, a flute, a ukelele.  She has'nt tried new Squier guitars coz im sure those are pricey but it would have been great to see her play a real guitar someday.

As a parent, i'll try my best to expose her to all the possibilities of learning or growth for her. Excited for more learning experiences for you baby!

The one with garage sale online

I'm soo happy coz i was able to declutter my wardrobe cabinet and earned almost 4,000.00 in a flash. yey! and almost all of these clothes are second hand, some were really used but still wearable, some were worn just once or twice.  I got so thrilled that from selling these second hand items, i was able to earn some shopping money. hahaha.

I love online shopping! Now, I want to do this every tuesday, to devote some time in posting items online in our n@w group.

The one with Simone's best bday gift

I'm so happy Simon bought a ukelele for Simone.  She's been loving music instruments lately so Simon decided to buy his daughter a small guitar.  When you ask her what birthday gifts she loved best, she would answer "daddy's gift to me...the small guitar." aaawww...and now, their bonding includes guitar playing and jamming.  It's not like the gibson es 335 guitar that he likes to buy for himself but at least it's something that Simone can start up with. :)

Happy playing baby. Now im thinking if it would be nice to enrol her to a music workshop. I'm torn!!!

The one with craft bonding with lola

While looking for materials to use for their arts and crafts, lola alma found some extra felt cloth.  She gave this to Simone and this is what they came up with. Cuteness!

The one with more financial plans

We're not rich people, we have dreams of a more financially stable life but of course, just to the best that we can do and achieve.  We dream of being able to help our families live more comfortable lives, help them to become more productive as well.  That's why when my mom in law's passion in sewing has opened Dresscode costumes, I really thought of pursuing a matching mom and daughter's biz for her too.  I can finance her business and maybe in time, we can be partners in this endeavor.  With my mom, I'll just support her with whatever plans she may have.  She's still thinking what to do so i'm just waiting what we can come up with.

I don't personally dream of living like the Gokongweis and the Ayalas, I dont need those china portion plates displayed on my shelf. I just want a more comfortable life.  Thank you Lord for the  blessings and for using us to be mediums of your blessings.

The one with financial investment

The husband would always ask me to take care of any financial plans that we want to try.  He admits that he's not very meticulous in familiarizing oneself on the details and benefits of financial investments, that's why, he lets me choose where to invest it.  

Recently, i've been interested in knowing more about annuity and its advantages.  I tried googling Learn More - AnnuityAdvantage.com and I found out that it's not that common here yet in Manila but learning more about it will be beneficial by knowing how many percent of interest you can get by each annuity plan.

I hope I'd get the hang of this and be able to keep up with the terms and process. 

The one with moving up

I still can't believe that Simone has finished her pre-school already.  She will be grade 1 this coming June already and I'm still having mixed emotions on how to handle this.  For me, she still looks like a little kid.  I don't feel like she's a grade schooler already.  But it may also be the fact that we're in denial (the husband and i), the reason why we still can't see Simone as a grader.

I also realized that six years passed just like a breeze and for another 6 years to pass as breezy as it did, oh my, she'd be 12 and i would'nt even know.

So cherish those moments while they're still clingy, while they still opt to sleep beside you and call you everytime they need to do something.

I love you Simone. You will always be my baby :)

The one with fun-filled weekend

And so Simone's party has ended. It was a part-by-part celebration, we made sure she'll have fun and we're so happy she did. :) We started with spending the whole day with her on her exact bday, asking her where she wants to go, what she wants to do etc. it's like whatever you want, we won't contest bday plan. haha. We capped off the evening with a dinner buffet at intercontinental hotel.  I got vouchers which i used immediately.     I'll post a separate story and review on that.  Sunday we had a simple party with family and closest friends and her classmates of course.  She wanted a fairy party so we gave her just that.  It was simple yet so much fun for her.  I was computing costs of a hotel stay with family, dine out and a school party vis-a-vis the shakeys party and it practically cost the same so we I headed on with booking shakey's instead. haha.  Simon had fun as well.  Later did he realize that it was fun to throw a party coz Simone gets to bring home lots of toys and gifts. :)

Monday, it was a spur of the moment thing.  We decided to drive to tagaytay with Heart. It was Heart's first out of town trip and Simon was not complaining with the long drive.  haha.  It was so much fun not having to worry about your car breaking down because Heart is all brand new. ahehehe.  We went to Picnic Grove, dined in Celina's for a buffet, then stayed at Kimberly Hotel for playground, farm visit, farm animal feeding and petting plus herb shopping :) We had so much fun.  Went home with lots of loads, pineapples, fresh carabao milk, kesong puti, and veggies :)

All in all...it was perfect! happy birthday again my baby! We love you!

More separate stories on each event. hehe. ;)

the one with restaurant play

My real order was sushi,sashimi and maki. Haha. And when i asked about the discount she said "free discount" which means no discount.hahaha.

The one with no daddy

Whenever they fight,you'd see this sigb.haha. at first i got a little concerned that the two dont't get along until i learned from my other friends that their hubbies anddaughter figjt all the time as well. whew!

The one with love letter to Simone

I want to start this personal tradition of writing a letter to my daughter every birthday and to start it off, here's one:

February 21, 2013

Simone is 6

Dear Simone,

As the day’s nearing, I found myself remembering several years back.  The time when I had you, your first poop, the first time you got sick, how I used to cry in the office everyday because I had to leave you behind, and everything else in fast, chronological order seemed to appear like a movie trailer.  I can’t believe it’s been six years.

Thank you Simone for growing to become the daughter I have always prayed for.  I pray that you will always follow God’s path in your life, as young as may be.  I thank the Lord for adding another year into your life.  I thank Him because He has entrusted me with such a big blessing in the life of you and I will always feel grateful that He gave me you.

This year, I’ve seen a lot of growth in you.  The transition of being a toddler to a preschooler has been an interesting one.  I love that you’re very interested in studying and learning.  It makes me happy that you enjoy what you do in school.  I’m proud of all your accomplishments.  It’s not what you have accomplished but it’s the effort that you put into that I’m at my proudest mom-self. J Thank you for being the sweetest daughter, always making notes to mommy, making love letters and banners saying “You’re the best mommy”.  Thank you that even at a young age, you always try to take care of mommy. Thank you for your super funny antics, jokes, quotable quotes that not only make my day complete, but those who read my FB wall as well.  Thank you for being a student who always have the initiative to study.  I’m so happy I don’t have to force you to do your assignments.  I’m just glad I’m blessed with who you are.  You’re not a perfect daughter but im not a perfect mom.  We’ll always have things to quarrel about, you’ll always find ways to be “mad” at daddy but know that we will always love you anak.  We will always take care of you as God has entrusted us with the greatest blessing of our lives… you J

Love, 

Mommy :)

The one with latest accomplishment

It was supposed to be just dinner with my bestest friends...but things turned out differently.

You see, Simon has always been known as someone's who is really good in convincing people to try out new brands, new things.  He can really be a great agent, i tell you.  But this time, things turned around.  While we were having dinner, I was cornered by my friends to consider buying a brand new Mirage for Simon.  They computed Simon's taxi expenses, repair expenses of his old car, so we' be able to compare.  And they also could'nt find the logic why we'd have to wait to move in to the new house before we buy another car.  So after much convincing, Simon and I talked about it the whole monday.  We made a table of our options and compared the two vis-a-vis.  Then it was just so fast.  But we feel more excited for it.  He's been working hard to provide for us, he deserves it so we contacted the Jason and Naan's agent, asked for a computation and went to the office the following day.  We did'nt realize it would be that fast, it took simon to think longer when he bought me a laptop that it took him to pay the reservation fee.

The following day we were able to sell his old car immediately.  Among the 4 interested buyers who were all starting to panic to buy it the night we posted it, only one came during the meet up.  It was as if it was meant for him and he was a pastor. cool!

So anyway, two hours after, we found ourselves driving to Manila showroom and getting giddily excited to reserve and submit our requirements. :) Finally, we were able to submit and pay for reservation fee. we won't get the unit though right away. On our way home, the bank called already for the approval of our loan which made us more excited. Now we can't wait!

I'm so happy I made my husband happy. In a way, it was still a surprise since he's not expecting he'd have a car so soon, and a new one for that matter.  Thank you Lord for the provision. Thank you for the blessing.  Always use us to be good stewards of your blessings.

And to Simon, im glad you liked it. as i always tell you, you deserve it beh. i love you so much!