Happy Birthday Christine

Today is January 10 and it's the 10th birthday of my daughter Christine.  Hubby took a half day off at work and we prepared a simple celebration for our daughter who invited some of her classmates to come to our place after school.

 

The children enjoyed the food and swimming in the pool.  I'm happy that my daughter enjoyed her day.  Thanks to her friends and classmates who joined her in celebrating her 10th birthday.

Happy birthday my dear daughter.  We love you and we are always here to support you.  You and your brother are the greatest gift God had given us and we are really thankful for that.  Be good always and don't forget to pray.

Love you baby.

It's Our 10th Year Wedding Anniversary Today

Today is June 6, 2011 and it's been 10 years since I was married to my wonderful husband.  I thank God for this most amazing blessing He have showered me, giving me someone special to share my life with.

Ten years of happy married life and blessed with two adorable kids (a girl and a boy), wow, God has been so good to us.  Of course life isn't always fun, we're only human and we have our individual flaws that sometimes brings tension to our relationship but thanks God, with His guidance, we were able to surpass all the trials and temptations that we encounter along the way.

To my husband, Andrew, I'm very blessed to be your wife and I'm looking forward for a grand golden wedding anniversary with you.  May our love and respect for one another become stronger and stronger each day so our children can learn from us how to live their lives full of love and respect for one another.  Let's work hand in hand, together with God's guidance, to raise our children become responsible citizens of this country and be a blessing to others.

Happy Anniversary papa, I love you and God bless us always.

Valentine's Day 2011 Celebration

It's Valentine's day once again and just like any other years, hubby and I celebrate this day together with the kids.  So in our family, valentine's day becomes a special family day.  

This year we had a pre-valentine's day celebration since Valentine's day falls on a Monday.  After hearing the Sunday mass, we went straight to the mall and had our lunch at our favorite restaurant.  We were supposed to watch the movie "Tangled" because it's what my daughter's been asking since the movie was shown a few weeks ago but the movie was shown in a 3D cinema that costs twice than the ordinary cinema so I persuaded her to just buy the VCD once it will be released.  Good thing she agreed.

Aside from dining out, hubby also gives us presents on this special day.  This time he gave me flowers and a set of earrings and necklace.  Of course there's also a little something for the kids.  In return, I gave him a box of chocolates.

A bouquet of roses for me

A cute pillow for my little boy

Teddy bear for my little girl

Chocolates for hubby

My daughter asked us what she can give us on this special day and we told her to be good and behave just like a responsible sister should and she just gave us a big grin ... hmmm, little girl, are we really asking for too much?

Anyway, Valentine's day or not, we should always show and make our loved ones feel that we love them and we treasure them more than anything or anyone else in this world.  Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

Happy Birthday Christine

Happy Birthday my little girl!  Although you're a big girl now and wanted to do things your way, here in my heart and in your papa's heart, you will always be our little girl, our little baby.

We always thank God for giving you to us and we pray that He will continue to light our path so we can guide you to become a responsible individual, living a life pleasing to the eyes of our Lord.

We love you baby and we will always be here for you.

It's My Special Day Today

Treating the children at a mini zoo on my birthday

 Today is my birthday and another year has been added to my age ... wow, I'm already 41 years old.  I can't believe it, I still feel like I'm just 25 years old ... LOL.


Actually, age doesn't really matter to me.  As others say, age is just a number ... that's right, it's just a number that keeps on adding yearly.  As long as I'm happy and contented with my life, age will never be much of an issue for me.  In fact, it's a blessing and something I have to thank God for.

Goodbye 2010 ... Welcome 2011

A few hours from now, year 2010 will officially end and it’s time to welcome the New Year, 2011.  Time really flies fast that it’s like only yesterday when we welcomed the year 2010 and now we’re welcoming another new year.   

Year 2010 was a wonderful year for me and my family.  Almost all aspect of our lives was blessed.  Of course there were difficult times but God is really great and mighty, He is always there to lift us and brighten our day.  So with a grateful heart we say goodbye to year 2010 with lots of memories to cherish.

Year 2011 will officially start a few hours from now and we will welcome the coming year with lots of hope. The past year had been good and we are hoping that the coming year would be better from the last.

Happy New Year everyone!  

God bless us all.

Seasons's Greetings

Merry Christmas everyone.


May the hope, peace, joy and love that the season brings be with us not only this season but all throughout the year.

Let us not forget that Jesus is the real reason for this season, may he always reign in our heart.



God bless us all.

It's My Mother-in-law's Birthday

It's my mother-in-law's 79th birthday today.  Happy Birthday mamu, we love you and we wish you more birthdays to come. 

My husband and I planned to treat mamu (my mother-in-law's popular name among relatives and friends) on Saturday but decided to have a little celebration today as well.  I took an early quit at the office and went to the mall to buy a cake and lechon manok (roasted chicken) while my husband bought ice cream.  At home I asked our house helper to cook some noodles, a.k.a pancit.  Voila, we have something to feast on.

Mamu with hubby and the kids 

A birthday won't be complete without pancit (Filipino style).

Rocky Road Cake from Red Ribbon ... hmmmmmmmm....yummy!

Nestle Rocky Road ice cream ... husband and I didn't have an arrangement but ended picking-up the same flavor for the ice cream and cake.

After two attempts, the children prompted to help their lola blew the candle out.  "You're taking too long lola, we're anxious to take a big bite out of that cake."

Celebrating Our Mother's Birthday

My mother joined our creator twenty-three years ago but that doesn’t mean that we stopped remembering her especially on her birthday.  Last Saturday was her birthday and as way of remembering her special day, my brother and I (there are only two of us) decided to meet at the mall together with our family to have lunch together.  

A simple lunch at Gilligan's Market Market

It’s kind of a get-together for us especially for the kids who really had fun playing with each other.  I have two kids, a girl and a boy and my brother also has two kids, both boys … they are still working for the third one because they really wanted to have a baby girl … hope they can get it right this time …LOL   

My brother and I with our respective partner

The children having a good time

After our lunch and a little rest we brought the kids to the children’s playground and let them play to their heart’s content while we “the grown-ups” were having a little chit chat while watching them play.  We really had a good time and I know our mother and also our father (he died earlier than my mother) would be very happy and proud of us.

Children's playground at Market Market

Our Company's Halloween Celebration

Children toured around the office for the trick or treat event

It’s the end of October once again and Halloween celebrations are just everywhere … malls, subdivisions, villages, schools … there’s just a lot of Halloween celebrations going out there.

Here in our office, it’s been 5 years since the company started holding this celebration.  Children of employees, 12 years old and below are allowed to roam around the office area with their costumes doing their trick or treat on each department.

At first, the celebration was just a simple giving of treats to the children but later on, efforts were put on this celebration and decorations were prepared for the children to enjoy … or be scared?  The creativity of each department was also showcased because prizes were given to departments who have created the most attention grabbing decorations.

This year, the theme is about sci-fi movies.

X-men, 4th floor's entry (a team effort by electrical, instrument and mechanical departments)

X-men characters ready for action

Ready for action girls?

4th floor's treat for the children

  

Avatar, 5th floor's entry (joint effort of civil and OIT departments)

Camera ready avatars

 

Star Wars, 6th floor's entry (Piping and OEDM departments)

Star Wars' characters

More Star Wars characters

6th floor's treat for the children

Kingkong, 7th floor's entry (HRD and finance departments)

Jurassic Park, 8th floor's entry (Process and PJO departments)

Many children were present during this event and this time the children relaxed a little compared to previous years where the theme was more scary and a little too much for little children to handle.  My children should have enjoyed this event but they were not able to come ... too bad ... but it's okay, this coming weekend there will be another trick or treat at our place.

The winning entry for this year's halloween celebration is none other than our very own entry, X-men.  At last, our team made it on top, thanks to the dedication and creativity of our young engineers and secretaries who really gave their time and effort in preparing all those displays.

It's My Husband's Birthday

Today is Andrew's birthday.  Happy Birthday papa ... you and the kids are the best gift God has given me.  I love you and I'll always will.

We planned to take a whole day leave at the office today but later on we decided to just meet after office hours.  However, I took an afternoon leave at the office so I have some time to buy a birthday gift for my husband but I just can't decide what to give him ... I'm not really good at buying and giving gifts ... I ended up buying some things for myself ...ha ha ha.

It's good that he left his office earlier so we have time to shop together.  I let him choose what he wanted for his birthday ... so problem solved, I have bought him a gift which he likes and definitely he will use.

After a little shopping, we had our dinner at Tony Roma's.  Andrew loves steaks ... and treating him to a tenderloin steak at Tony Roma's was a real treat for him.

Great food ... great view.

Mouth-watering medium rare tenderloin steak with baked potatoes and mixed vegetables.

After our dinner we went home immediately because the kids are calling and are asking why we did not bring them to dinner with us. Well, we're a little guilty but sometimes it's nice to have a little time just for ourselves.  Anyway we'll be having an extended celebration of my husband's birthday on weekend together with the kids.

CJ's 4th Birthday

July 4, a day special for the American people....it's a special day commemorating their independence day.  To all my American friends, happy independence day to all of you.

This day is also special for our family because it's my son's birthday.  Yes it's CJ's birthday and he turns four years old this year.  Time flies so fast, it's just like yesterday when I gave birth to him, so small and so fragile but look at him now, so energetic and full of life.  If given the chance, he loves to run and run and run.

To make this day special for our little boy, we invited our relatives to join us for a simple celebration at our place.  My husband cooked Igado (an Ilocano specialty which is his specialty) and pancit (canton noodles).  Pancit or spaghetti is always present in any birthday celebration, Filipino style.  It signifies long life, as what I heard from old folks.  As an additional treat for children, we served hotdogs, fruit salad and my brother brought some ice cream.  Oh I forgot about the cake, my son equates birthdays with blowing the candles on the cake so it's really a must for us to buy a cake.

We occupied a space at our subdivision's clubhouse so there is enough space for the children to play and later they were not able to resist the temptation of taking a dip in the pool.  It was really a lovely day and the children enjoyed their bonding moments.  CJ was very happy and satisfied at how his birthday was celebrated.

The birthday boy (wearing red polo shirt with black lines) with his ate and cousins.

                                  The children just don't get tired of running.

                      At the playground taking their rest before dipping in the pool.

Celebrating Father's Day 2010

It's the 3rd Sunday of June, a special day dedicated for all fathers, the head of our family.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all fathers especially to the three special men in my life, my father, my brother who is a father to two energetic boys and of course to my husband who is the father of our two adorable kids.

My father already joined our creator a long time ago and I don't have that much memories with him but one thing I'm sure is that.......he loved me and my little brother.

To celebrate this special day, we started the day by attending the morning mass and because it's father's day, the priest's homily is of course related to all fathers.  The priest reiterated the importance of the special gift fathers can give their children, and that is, their TIME.  Time is so precious nowadays that fathers are so occupied with their jobs that time for the family had been sacrificed, so it is a very big challenge for fathers to find time to be with their kids, play with them, talk to them or just listen to them. The homily was really enlightening not only to the fathers but to the whole family as well.

After hearing the mass, we decided to just spend the day at home, watched Wall-E for the nth time on Disney channel, prepared items needed for our kids' school tomorrow and my hubby and children had their nap while I'm working on this post.

For our lunch, we called for a food delivery from North Park.  We enjoyed their chow mien, yang chow, soft tofu vegetable stir fry and lechon Macao....yummy. 

Chow Mien

Fan Chow

Soft Tofu Vegetable Stir Fy

Lechon Macao

It's just a simple way of celebrating father's day but for the kids, it's already a treat for them.  It's really that simple to please children and make them happy. Hearing a lot of  "I love you" and getting a lot of hugs from them already brightens up our day.

My Mother Wasn't There

My mother wasn't there when I had my first boyfriend.

My mother wasn't there when I graduated from college.

My mother wasn't there when I have my first job.

My mother wasn't there when I got married.

My mother wasn't there when I gave birth to my children.

My mother wasn't there because she doesn't want to but because she can't. She already joined our creator when I was just 17 years old.

It is now my 23rd year of celebrating mother's day without my mother...that is, physically ...but here in my heart she will always be with me.

I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!!!

Let's tell our mom how much we love her while she is still with us...when we still can hug and kiss her .... not tomorrow but today...