Kids' First Birthdays

This is Sophia's first birthday picture. It was just held in our house. We just invited few friends including her godparents and their children. It was fun because it was memorable for everybody. Sophia was so behave the whole party. It started at 2p until 7pm.

Here's our Lil Man in the house. Our fourth of July baby. Even though our friends were busy for the fourth of July activities, they still arrived and celebrated with us for Eric's 1st birthday.

                                                          Here's Stephanie, my eldest. She has lots of visitors during her birthday. The house was overcrowded but they had fun.

I am so happy that I was able to keep all these pictures. People said that they all look the same but looking at these pictures, not really. They have similarities and have different beauties. Time flies so fast. I felt like it was just yesterday when I planned for their first birthday.When I prepare for their 1st birthday invitations , choosing the best cake decoration and choosing the right outfit. I just want everything to be perfect. Throwing a party is a hard task but as you look back 5 years from now. It's all worth it because the memories are worth reminiscing.

Wordless Wednesday



 

We went to Garden Party last Saturday.My Sweet Sophia can't wait to taste this beautiful and mouth watering garden cake. She's about to cry but wait a minute I saw a bowl of peas. She was hesitant at first but when she try a bite..mmmm yummy..Thanks a lot for healthy peas :-) . 

Before He Gets Totally Bald

I have the most gorgeous husband in the world but he's significantly older than me :-). And I'm keeping him for the rest of my life. God knows how thankful I am for having him in my life. He gave me three adorable kids. He never hurt me. He trust me. And he is the most responsible and hardworking person next to my father :-) I've ever met. Even though he's good looking, it's funny because there's already three people who mistakenly thought that our kids are his grandchildren. He's not offended but one time he decided to natural hair loss products before he gets bald. I teased him for being vain. He was so persistent about it. He's using Rogaine.  I've already noticed that hairs are showing in his scalp after many months of using. His friends noticed it also. I'm so proud of him. Patience is indeed a virtue.

Miracles Never Fail To Happen

Some people who went through trials and tribulations thought that they're being punished by God. I used to think that way before. It's really a hard feeling when you feel alone and you feel like there's no one to turn to. As I muddle through my own problems I realized that all of these are just part of life. I'm up then I'm down. All these struggles have taught me a lesson how to be strong . Most importantly, it draws me closer to God which is the most significant part for me. You know the feeling that even though you're living the simplest life, just living within your means, and yet you have these feeling in your heart just feeling so blessed , that's what I felt right now. All I want is keep praising God. He is so good, so forgiving and very caring. He gave me a husband who is very understanding, a family who truly cares for me and friends who always stand by me. I hope that those people who've been through a lot of struggles also, will never give up. Please just keep your faith. Let go of your fears and let God do the rest. He knows what is best for us all.

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

According to David Humes, "Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them." I had this funny experience the fist time I got here in America. I went to Walmart to buy a whitening cream.I couldn't find it in their shelves by the beauty department,so I asked a sales clerk. She looked at me kinda clueless. It's as is it's the first she time heard about whitening cream. For us Filipinos, it's very common because some Filipinos use it everyday to get a lighter complexion. It's the opposite here in America because women are sometimes use tanning bed lotions to get darker complexion. My husband was wondering how come  Filipinos hide themselves from the sun, and I told him that we don't want to get darker. He said that we have beautiful color. Some of my friends here said, they hate their color because it's so white. But for me, it's beautiful. My point is, no matter what our color is, what is important is we are beautiful in each other's eyes.

Effects of Mirena

It's been a month since I had my Mirena. Mirena is a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system. It is a hormone -releasing contraceptive that is placed in our uterus.Mirena is also the first and only contraceptive FDA-approved to treat heavy periods in women who choose intrauterine contraception. Even though I heard horror stories about it, I'm still not giving up on it. One of the effects that I experienced so far is nausea, bloating and menstrual cramps. And ever since I Hades the Mirena, I have my period everyday. Another side effect that I haven't experienced yet is having pimples but I can always get the best acne treatment so I don't worry about it. I have some mood swings too. I'm just glad that my husband is super understanding. I'm optimistic that everything will go back to normal pretty soon. My body is still adjusting that's why.

She is so Spoiled Not Just By Me

AfterSteph's 3rd birthday party, I decided to make the kids' next birthday celebrations simpler. I used to organized parties for her and invite many people but now as our small family is growing, we can't afford to be lavish anymore. But even though I didn't organized a party for her, it will just turned out like a big celebration. On her 4th birthday, her best friend Adam and his brothers surprised her with doughnuts for breakfast and later in the afternoon her Aunt Marie and her kids brought a cake for her.So I end up throwing a party for her on the following month for the rest of her friends. I'm not the only one spoiling her. Everybody is!

Steph's Birthday Cakes

Her first birthday was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the 2nd was Dora the Explorer. I ordere all of them at Safeway. They're pretty good. I always order chocolate cake with custard and strawberry filling plus I make sure that the frosting is real whipped.

Can't Be Hereditary All The Time

Asthma, Diabetis, Hypertension or any related health problems are mostly genetic. So if your family has issues with cancer, does that mean, you are more likely to get one too? My friend's dad died from a colon cancer then now she's suffering from severe headaches, she 's already thinking that she will most likely die from cancer too. Health issues can be complicated. You can listen from your doctor and you will get serious treatments and medications. When I bump into naturaldiuretics.net, I was enlightened that it's really up to us how we want to be healthy. If we eat healthy foods, I don't think we are sickly. On my case, I like salt in my foods. And to think kidney problems run in our family. The food just taste bland without salt. And I noticed that in our family we use a lot of salt too. Health problems is not always hereditary, it's the lifestyle I guess.

Me and My Son Have Something In Common

Last night at around 10 o'clock, my son told me that he's hungry, so we both went to the kitchen and ate rice and Teriyaki beef that I cooked for dinner.Me and my son both love to eat. Actually all my kids does. But he's the one basically eat everything. He's not picky. When I'm cooking in the kitchen, he watched me.He likes helping me. He rinsed the dirty dishes for me. He also helps in cleaning the kitchen. While his sisters are playing, he prefers hanging out with me. That's why when we eat, we ate a lot because we both enjoy eating. It's funny because last night we ate late, now at around 6 am, we woke up and both hungry. Even though he ate a lot, he's physically fit.Well, we rarely eat junk foods. I will probably consider taking all natural diet pills to lose some pounds. I've been doing some sit ups lately but it's not consistent but I'll get there soon. It's just hard when you 4 kids. They took most of my time. It's okay, it's all worth it.

Let Go Let God

I have too many worries lately. I feel like I'm carrying a huge burden in my shoulder. You know the feeling of helplessness. You want to help but you just can't. It's upsetting. But this is life. I will never let these hardships put me down. I'm thankful to God because He never leave me.Whatever difficulties I'm facing right now is the result of my actions. I don't have any regrets at all. Instead it inspired me to keep on fighting, to set my goals and focus on my priority. God, I'm letting go of my worries for today, and I completely surrender my actions and decisions to you. Can you handle them for me just for the moment?

Something Awesome and Unique

My friend's birthday party is on the 2nd of October. She works on a department store that's why I'm having a hard time choosing for a gift for her. She likes dresses and shoes but the only store that sells nicer clothing here in our small town is where she works. I want to give her something cool and unique. She loves to wear something different from any body else. So I was thinking about giving her some vintage t shirts. I found lots of nice and funny shirts at junkfoodclothing.com. The shirts has funny and humorous designs. When you wear their shirts, you don't have to worry about running into someone who is wearing exactly the same tshirt that you're wearing.

Bunco

Last Sunday I was invited by my friend to play Bunco with them. I haven't played that kid of game before.Out of curiosity I said yes right away. I'm happy because I was having so much.I met new people and they are all nice. At first I'm kinda shy when I was introduced to them because I realized that some of them are from the high level of society in this town. Some of them are lawyers. But as we started playing Bunco, I became comfortable with them because they made me feel so welcome. Most of them were drinking and smoking. I just drink soda. I haven't seen them smoking cigars.  I guess it's not their thing. But I know many people use it instead of cigarettes as their way of socialization.
Anyways, even though it was my first time playing Bunco, I already like it. It's easy. It is a played in teams with three dice. There are six rounds starts from 1 to 6 where the number of the round serves as the target for that round's rolls. Within a round, players alternate turns rolling three dice, aiming to obtain the target number. Players gain one point for each die matching the target. If the player gets three-of-a-kind of the target number (a Bunco), they get 21 points. The round stops when a player at a head table obtains 21 points. Whoever wins the most rounds is the overall winner and usually receives a price. I almost won.And I won the raffle. It was really fun. Hopefully they will invite me again.

Shopping Temptation

I'm glad last night I wasn't able to buy anything but it took me so long to decide. These coupons that were sent through email were the culprit :-). Yesterday I got this free shipping for any order from Victoria Secret. But I saw it like about midnight already. So instead of doing my important stuffs online, I was just browsing around and save them in my shopping cart.When I decided to pay them already,I realized that my wallet is in my son's room. I'm too lazy to get up and get it. Besides I'm scared in the dark. I'm quite proud of myself because I'm not a bad shopaholic anymore. I used to shop against all odds. I'm happy that I know now how to control myself when it comes to shopping splurges for myself.When it comes to my children though, it's a different issue. I always can't resist buying stuffs for them. Last Sunday, I bought 8 blouses and hoodies for the girls,well I got some for me too but I got the best deals. I only pay $80 for all of them. I got a 15% discount from sears plus free shipping. These stuffs are named brand clothing such carters, southpole and Disney princess designs which are still expensive when I saw them on the store two days before I shop online.   I must say I'm doing a pretty good job to handle shopping temptations.

For My Family

After so many months of thinking about it. I finally convinced my husband to buy another insurance plan for the family. It's because I don't have life insurance. My husband has from his work and other companies. But what if I go first. Life is unpredictable and death is inevitable. I feel good knowing that if something happen to me, my family won't be burdened at least financially. So I ask for life insurance quotes and I was able to pick one for myself. I'm paying quarterly. It's not high because I'm only 32 years old and I don't smoke.I really feel good about this decision. But I will do my best to stay healthy so I will live longer for my family.

An Appreciation Is What Matters

No matter how perfect motherhood made my life there's still moments that I got burnt out. Those times that the house is a huge mess.After cleaning it up for more than an hour, I just turned my back, then there you go, the kids are making a mess again in just  matter of minutes. I know this is normal if you have kids but I'm just a human being, I get tired also. Cleaning and picking up after the kids' mess can be really exhausting plus errands that I need to do for the house, and thinking about a new menu for a tired hubby.But at the end of the day, when my kids told me that they love me so much and my husband told me that he's proud of me. That I'm doing an incredible job for keeping  our home together. All the stress and back pains fade away. All my hardships are all worth it.

Laundry Time

Yey, it's Friday. How time flies so fast. Sometimes I like, sometimes not. It depends on the circumstances. Now, I'm excited because it's the finale of the soap opera that I've been following. And I have to do laundry today. I know that not all people like it but me, doing laundry is my favorite chore and that includes folding. I'm just glad that our laundry room in the house is big enough for me to hang-out there but it's just that I'm annoyed with the noise from the bathroom fan. I should not whine about it though because it's a great help in eliminating the bad odor from the soiled clothing. In fact, I'll buy more of these and send it to the Philippines for our bathroom there. I know they can buy it there but I trusted the quality of the products that are bought here in America.

International Manufacturing Technology Show

On September 13-18, 2010, there will be an International Manufacturing Technology Show at McCormick Place in Chicago Illinois. There will be a huge display of industrial equipment, tools, structural supplies, engineering supplies and many many more. Engineers,technicians, and hobbyist showcase all the cool stuffs in the manufacturing industry. This is the kind of show my husband would die for. He always loved collecting tooling equipments,bearings and power transmission and anything he can used for his shop. This show is also good for the engineering students where they can explore the different tools and equipments they haven't use before. I wish there will be an event like this in the Northcoast somewhere closer to us. I wish for the success of this show and more power!

Money Saving Tip For Your Car

Do you know that it is better that we keep our car out of the sun whenever possible because gasoline can evaporate right out of the tank and it evaporates faster when the car is hotter. I'm thankful that I learned about this because I always park my car outside the garage. I'm too lazy to open and close the garage. From now on, the car will be park in there. It's economical and it's secured.

In With The New

According to an article that I've just read this morning, bottled water is already outdated. People are using the counter top water filters or pitcher filters. But these filters only feature a single pressed-carbon filter that merely treats as it passes through it. It's not as good as the eSpring Water Purifier . It is the latest in the water filtering system. I think it's a good investment. I realized that in my household we spent so much money in buying water bottles. Having 4 kids in the house, two cases of water are not enough for a week of supply.
Then I just learned that 40% of these bottled water were just filtered tap water. I feel like we're just throwing money. The kids don't even drink the whole bottle of water. The eSpring Water Purifier will be a big help to our financial situation. I could just imagine how much money we'll be saving.
The good thing about this purifier is that it is the first in-home system designed with a patented dual-technology cartridge which combines ultraviolet light with a proprietary carbon block that can reduce more than 140 contaminants. I love this product because as a mother, I want the best for the safety of my children. Knowing that this purifier can filter the lead, pesticides, mercury and other contaminants can really give me peace of mind.
This purifier is worth every penny because it is certified by NSF International to meet NSF/ANSI Standards 42, 53, and 55B. I would recommend this product to every household who wants the best for their family's health.