Ocean Adventure Fun with the Santos

Last December, our good friends from Canada spent their holiday season here in the Philippines and we are happy that we were able to spend time with them even just for one day. We took them to Ocean Adventure in Subic as we know that their kids will love it there.

Ocean Adventure is one of Bela’s favorite place and she really enjoyed all the shows (even if she has seen it numerous times already), with Cobi, Alijah and Aaron. The highlight of our trip was the kids’ interaction with Tonka the whale, the dolphins and the Dakila, the Sea Lion. Here are some of the pictures:

Christmas Presents

I can’t believe that it is September already and before I know it, it is Christmas already. That is why my husband and I have been talking about our plans for the coming holiday season and we have discussed also our gifts for the kids.

Hubby said that he plans to buy a new TV for the room of the kids so they can watch in their room. He is also looking at mounts and more so he can mount the flat screen TV on the wall to save space.

Oh I am really excited for the coming of the Christmas season.

Easter 2013

Bela has been asking us where will we celebrate Easter and I can’t give her an answer because I know that Sweet Royals has an event that day. So I searched online and luckily, I was able to find an Easter event that is just across the venue for Sweet Royals event,

So after setting up the candy buffet for Lucas’ first birthday, hubby and I left my brother-in-law and my yaya at the party venue and we went to Eastwood to join the event.

There was an entrance of P550per kid and I was hesitant at first but after the event, I can say that it was really worth it. There are different stations that you can try like the bouncing castle, Garden of Sweets, Hundred Acre Wood, Dino Island, Art Attack and more plus there were also different shows in the Courtyard like the Mad Science show that we were able to catch.

Cobi and Bela had so much fun that we plan to do it again next year.

Mommy and Daughter Day

Last Saturday, Bela and I were able to enjoy the pool, the food, the rattan outdoor furniture and more at Ace Water Spa.

I promised Bela that we will have a mommy and daughter day and her request was that we go to Ace Water Spa. Hubby is away for a planning session so we have no car and so we took the public transportation to go there. We actually got lost as we rode the wrong jeepney and so we have to walk for more than 5 blocks before we reach Ace Water Spa.

We were so hungry when we reached the spa that we had merienda first before going inside.

Bela really had fun as she tries all the amenities from the kiddie pool, the river pool and the different hydro massage (her favorite is the bubble pool and bubble bed).

Despite my blooper, we still had the best mother and daughter day. My heart was filled with joy when Bela told me “Mom, this is the best day ever.”

Thankful for my Dad

This is the everyday road that we take on the way to Bela’s school:

My dad will drive Bela to school and since my office, hubby, my sister and my cousin’s office is in the same way as Bela’s school, my dad will drive each one of us to work every morning. He will drop my husband first, then my sister, my cousin, Bela and then me to Makati.

We all owe my dad a Swisher Sweets for doing this for us. Imagine, even if it is raining, he will wake up early everyday and drive us all to work plus he will come back to fetch Bela at 1 PM.

All my friends are saying that I am lucky that my dad is doing this for us. At least I am sure that my daughter is in good hands everyday as she goes to school, not to mention the convenience of not having to worry about my ride everyday to work.

The Benefits of Acai Berry

Our dear daughter just turned 6 years old today and my husband and I realized that although she is growing up fast, she still has a long way to go and there are still a lot of things in store for her and we want that we will always be there to witness all of that.

And so we came to a realization that my husband and I should really learn how to take care of our health so we can live longer for our kids. Our first step is taking supplements like Acai Berry.

So what are the benefits of Acai Berry?

1. Do you need tips on How to lower cholesterol? Well acai berry can help you with that as is said to prevent heart diseases because it helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels which helps prevent heart attacks and other heart disease.
2. Acai Berry also helps boost immune system so it helps fight infections and it gives the body energy to do more.
3. Acai Berry also contains a lot of natural fat which can aid for those who want to lose weight.
4. It is also rich in antioxidant which flushes out bad toxins from the body so it is said to help prevent colon cancer and other deadly diseases.
5. Acai Berry also has anti ageing effects so you can have youthful skin if you continue to take acai berry.

You can easily enjoy the benefits of Acai Berry as it is available in many different forms like fruit juices. You can also enjoy the benefits of Acai Berry by taking Acai Berry supplements which you can buy from stores which sells vitamins and supplements like Krill Oil, Acai Berry and more from healthychoicenaturals.

Change in lifestyle and Supplements is what can help us live longer so we can be with our kids as they grow up and be successful in life.

Excited for Her New Room

We just moved in today in our new home. The house is still a mess as we just unloaded the boxes from the moving truck and nothing has been removed from the boxes yet.

Good thing it is still a holiday tomorrow so Howell will have one whole day to at least unpack and sort everything.

Being a little OC, Bela was having a hard time sleeping on our first night here at our new home. She was looking for her dolphin pillow, her quilt and the aircon in our room, which hasn’t been installed yet. LOL.

She already saw her room and she got all excited when she saw her bed inside her room and she told me awhile ago that she is now ready to sleep in her own room. I am sure hubby will be excited too to decorate Bela’s room. Hubby was able to collect some of Bela’s artworks, which we can hang in on area of her wall as what we have now in our old house. If only we have a document imaging software, then we would have been able to save all of Bela’s artworks since she first learn how to hold a crayon. But at least we were able to save a major part of it.

I am not sure what we will be able to finish tomorrow but I hope all the junk will be thrown away and whatever will be left in our new home are the essentials and the things that we would be needing.

2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Birthday Party Photo Books: Done

A few weeks ago, Artscow had a promo where they offered their 30 pages Photo Book for only $10 and it even comes with free shipping. I saw the photo books that my friend had created and ordered from Artscow and thankfully, I got inspired and found the mojo to create Photo Books for Bela’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th birthday party.

I am really happy and I was so inspired that I was able to do one photo book per day just in time for the deadline of Artscow promo. Thanks to the Album Template of Ate Jen who made my life so easy because all I have to do is upload the pictures and just drag and drop them to the template (no wonder I was able to work that fast. LOL).

Now I have no more backlogs for Bela’s party pictures and my next project are our travel pictures.

Bela & Cobi in Rizal Beach

Last June 30 was the first death anniversary of my mother-in-law and so we went to Bicol to commemorate Mama. This is the second time that Bela has visited the hometown of her dad. The first time we were in Bicol, we went to the house of my father-in-law’s sister, which is just in front of the beach, and so Bela and her cousins were able to take a dip. So when we were in Bicol again last week, I know that Bela will not miss a trip at the beach. So on our second day, they scheduled a trip at Rizal Beach.

Rizal Beach is more than an hour drive from hubby’s house in Abuyog and so Bela was so giddy with anticipation already so she hit the water as soon as we arrive. She was later joined by Cobi and her dad and her cousins and with hubby’s other relatives.

I did not bring any beach toys for Bela and so they just played with her cousin’s metal cars, which unfortunately were swept away by the waves. Bela’s cousin cried buckets over this toy. If only we have metal detectors garrett, then maybe there is a better chance of finding the toy and it would have saved the tears of Bela’s cousin, Gelo. LOL.

After an hour of swimming and building sand castles, we called it a day (as the sun is setting already) and then we head back home for dinner.

Even though it was just a short trip at the beach, Bela and Cobi still had so much fun.

Win-Win

Hubby discovered a gadget that has been introduced to him by our friend when we visited them in Toronto last month. It is called O Play and what it does is that you can connect an external hard disk containing movies to a TV and you can view and play those movies in the TV.

We have a lot of movies which hubby and I downloaded so this gadget is perfect for us. Bela will be able to put this gadget to good use as she loves to watch also and we already have a compilation in our external hard disk of movies that Bela loves.

This gave us an idea to purchase a digital tuner so we can use the old TV that we have so we can get a chance to watch our favorite shows which we will be able to do since Bela will be so busy watching all the movies that we have for her on our 1 Tera Byte external Hard Disk. LOL.

Hubby already checked it online and it is just affordable and it even comes with free shipping so we will definitely get this gadget so both Bela and us, can enjoy watching our favorite movies and TV again.

Tomorrow is Father's Day

Tomorrow is Father’s Day and we will be visiting Bela’s grand father (the father of hubby) to celebrate with him as this is the first Father’s Day where mama is not with us.

We were not able to visit papa when we arrived two weeks ago as hubby was still away and is attending training in the US so tomorrow will be the first time that we will see Papa after our long vacation in the US.

We have no plans yet on how we will celebrate Father’s Day but I already bought gift baskets which contains sugar free candy for my father-in-law as our Father’s Day gift for him.

I am sure he misses Bela and Cobi so much so with or without any big celebration, my father-in-law will be very happy if we pay him a visit. So our itinerary tomorrow will depend on what time we will be able to wake up (which I am sure might be a little late already since it is bed weather) so I guess anything goes for tomorrow’s Father’s Day celebration.

Girl Bonding

Every time my friends talk about makeup, I am always clueless. That is why I am wondering if I will be able to give Bela guidance when it comes to this arena. LOL.

That is why I got really interested and I started checking out Chattanooga beauty school, when I learned about Regency Beauty Institute. Chattanooga beauty school is one of the branches of Regency Beauty Institute and this school is very popular for giving good training in the fashion and beauty field to all their students.

What sets them apart from other beauty schools is that their campuses are like upscale salons, thus giving their students a great venue for their hands-on training.

I am sure I will learn a lot about make-up and fashion if I enrol in any of their courses so this is something that I can really consider doing someday. So when the time comes that Bela is already a teenager, I will no longer be clueless when we talk about make up and fashion and this is one of the passion that we can share together as mom and daughter.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 2288 Gunbarrel Road, Chattanooga, TN 37421

Thankful

Finally our dreams are starting to materialize for our kids. First is we got the approval from our bank for the housing loan that we applied so we will finally have our own house. The house is fairly new so there is no need for major renovations and I think all we need to do is just change the fixtures like adding pendant lighting and paintings on the walls, and buying new furniture that will match the theme that we want for the house.

Then our dream of finally taking our kids to the US is also coming true this year for we are scheduled for a three-weeks US vacation where we will visit Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Washington DC, Toronto and if there is time, San Diego. Bela is very excited and everyday she will ask how many more days before our vacation. I am sure she will go crazy once she sets foot in Disneyland and Universal Studios and see the animals in Central Park Zoo and Sea World.

I am really happy that the start of 2011 has been really good for my family. We are just so thankful because all of this is indeed a blessing from the Big Man up there.

Something New for 2011

On our way to Bela’s swimming class every Saturday, we always passed by the Dapitan area where there are a lot of new Town houses for sale. Bela will always say how she wishes that she live in one of those houses.

My husband and I are glad that we will be able to fulfil Bela’s wish in living in a nice and spacious house as we just signed the contract today for the housing loan that we acquire to purchase a house and lot that Howell’s colleague is selling.

We are all excited actually to move in to the new house. Howell gave Bela a magazine which showcase designs and themes where we can get inspirations for Bela’s room. In the new house, Bela and Cobi will have their own room (but I am not sure when I will be able to let them stay in their own room) so they can do whatever they want with the decoration of their room. They can choose their own area rug, wall decorations, bed, furniture and the like as long as it is not too crazy to pass for Howell’s taste. LOL.

We will not be moving to the house right away as there is still a lot of paper work that needs to be done before we can transfer the title to our name. But thinking about it makes me forget all the fears and worries that I have in acquiring this loan and now I just feel so happy and excited for our family.

Excited

As I posted on my other blog, we are considering buying the house and lot of hubby’s officemate. We actually made our decision already and we can’t wait to move in to our new house by mid 2011.

Bela and hubby went there last week to give the seller the earnest money and Bela was just so ecstatic upon seeing the house. Hubby was even laughing as Bela was already making plans already on where she will put her shoes, her toys, her pet museum and she kept on talking to the house owner that she wants to stay in a big room that is color pink.

But just like Bela, hubby was already picturing what he can do with the house. In fact he already knows what type of Quoizel lighting he will use to liven up the mood of the house. He also designated already which rooms goes to who and on where he will put his toy collection.

As for me, I am just happy that the master’s bedroom has a walk in closet as what I always dreamed of having.

We will get the result of our housing loan application this week so please pray for us that hopefully we can have our wish come true.

Project

Bela’s 5th birthday party at Hospicio de San Jose
Bela’s 5th birthday party at The Creamery
Book Week program at St. Scho
Cobi’s 5th month birthday celebration

These are just some of the pictures of my two kids that I have yet to download and upload in Facebook and Flickr. Hmm, I think it will be a bright idea to get a digital frame in the coming Black Friday sale so at least I can display the pictures of my kids instead of it just being stored in DVDs.

I know I should really sit down one day and try to select pictures that I will send for printing. Or better yet I should be like my friends who always take advantage of promos from Artscow and they make Photo Books of their pictures.

I guess this should be at the top of my To do list and I really, really should try to accomplish this before the year ends.

A Big Sister

Bela just turned 5 years old last Tuesday. I can’t believe time really flies so fast and my baby is now a big girl already.

This also made me realize that it is really time for us to seriously consider making investments to secure the future of our kids. I am actually checking out the site of United States Gold Bureau as my husband and I are considering to buy gold bullion.

Gold is a very good investment as its value does not depreciate over time. It can also be easily converted to cash as gold is universally accepted. Its storage won’t be a problem also as it can be safely stored in a safety deposit box at home or arrangements can be made for its storage in any local banks.

I know time will fly just like that and before we know it, our kids are all grown up already. So now that we can still afford to make investments, we should really take this opportunity as it is for the security of our kids.

Priority Change

When I was still single, I am always looking forward to paydays as it means that I can go shopping for clothes, gadgets, shoes, bags and etc. But what they say is really true, once you became a parent, your priorities will change as what you can only think of is the security of your kids.

That is why now that we have Bela and Cobi, our priorities have really changed and all we can think of now is how to save to secure the future of our kids.

We have been doing some research and we have been reading the site of United States Gold Bureau so we can really learn a lot about gold investment. We learned that gold is a very strong and stable investment and so we are thinking of investing in gold coin.

As parents, nothing tops our list of priorities but to give a very bright and secure future for Bela and Cobi.

Perfect Time

Cobi is just four months old and so it is just Bela who is going to school now. But Howell and I are already preparing because we know that in just a few years, Cobi will be going to school too and this means that a big chunk of our salary will go to Bela and Cobi's tuition.

So now that we still have extra money while Cobi is still not going to school, we realized that this is the perfect time to make some investments which might earn interest in the future. And so we are considering to invest in gold and buy gold bullion.

Gold is a very good investment as its value does not depreciate in time and so it is safe to say that it is a very stable investment. It is also universally accepted so it will not be a problem to convert it to cash.

We are sure that we can save for our kids' future with the help of gold.

The Value of Gold

Bela will be turning five next month and this made me realize that time really flies fast and before we know it, she is already on her way to college. This is a big realization for us that it is really time to save up for our kids’ future.

I was reading the website of United States Gold Bureau and I really learned a lot about gold investment. I learned that gold is a very good form of investment unlike other hard assets or even real estate, as its value does not depreciate over time. It is also universally accepted so we can easily convert it to cash if the need arises.

After gathering information about gold investment, it really convinced us that we should buy gold in the form of gold coins as our starting gold investment. We know that with gold, we can totally secure the future of our kids.