Cats and Dogs

My brother and I are like cats and dogs when we were little and Cobi and Bela are just like that now. Well, Cobi is actually the culprit as he always teases his ate. Good thing Bela is such as understanding ate that she will always give in for his little brother.

But if there is one thing that both of them agreed on, then it is they both love strawberry donuts:

Just look at them enjoying their donuts from Dunkin Donuts as we dined in a Vietnamese resto. LOL.

Cobi & Bela's New Hideout

This is Bela and Cobi’s new hideout:

This is the free space just right outside our bedroom. Hubby decided to setup the extra TV and DVD player that we have so Bela and Cobi can enjoy their favorite shows and DVD while their dad can watch NBA in the living room. LOL.

But my kids love staying in this area. There is enough room for them to play and they have easy access to their toys too, which are located in their room. There is also a big door leading to the terrace just beside the TV, which brings in a lot of air to the room, so they find it very comfortable.

This inspired me to decorate the space a bit. Maybe some kids bean bags, bookshelves, toy organizers and the like that will add a lit style and organization to this room.

Just look at these ideas, which I got from Pinterest: 

Sniffles

The cold month is here again as both Bela and Cobi have sniffles now. If only sweet get well gifts can do the trick and will wash away all their sickness….

My husband and I are actually sick too as we are both coughing like a dog. We went out last night to meet up with friends and the very next day, both Bela and Cobi have colds already.

I wish they will get well fast as it will be more polluted this coming weekend with the fire crackers and all to celebrate the New Year which I know will worsen their condition. That is why my siblings and I and our other cousins are trying to find a place where we can spend the night to welcome the new year just like what we always do every year (we are just a little late on the preparation this time, so I am hoping we can still find a nice place in Laguna or Tagaytay).

2011 has not been a very good year for us in terms of our health so I hope that 2012 will be different and we will all be healthy and free from sickness always.

Looking for discount batteries?

After we moved to the new house, the kids now have their own room, which gives them a lot of space to put their stuff (aka their toys). The kids have accumulated a lot of toys over the years and so hubby asked the nannies to sort them out and arrange them in their respective cabinets.

After arranging all their stuff, hubby discovered that the kids have a lot of nice educational toys that they were not to play with because it no longer has a battery and so hubby’s quest to find a battery store started.

Thankfully he discovered Batterymart.com where we can get discount batteries. They sell all kinds of batteries from TV batteries, cell phone batteries, laptop batteries, motorcycle batteries, power tool batteries, portable DVD batteries and many more. What is best about this store is that they offer very affordable price for their batteries without sacrificing the quality, so we will be guaranteed that the batteries that we will buy from them for the kids’ toys will really last.

Hubby was really glad to have discovered Batterymart.com where we can buy batteries so the kids can enjoy playing with their great educational toys instead of letting it rot in storage.

On Preschool and Motessori Method

When my Bela turned two years old, my husband, my mom and I have been debating whether it is time for Bela to enter Preschool or it would be best that we just let her stay at home.

My mom is a retired preschool teacher but she is so used to the traditional method of teaching where kids should be behave and should learn to just stay put on their sit as they listen to what the teacher is saying. That is why my mom was so scared to enrol Bela to preschool as she thought that it might be a traumatizing experience for her at a very young age.

But we discovered, Giraffe, a Childcare Dublin and Early Learning center which offers Montessori Method of teaching. With this method, children are allowed to explore and learn through play. Children will also get to learn and explore in their own pace as each student received a one-on-one lesson from a teaching staff.

Because of this discovery, my mom finally agreed to enrol Bela to Preschool and we are glad that we made the right choice because she enjoyed it. We believe that she is a smart and confident kid now because of her experience in a Montessori environment during her preschool years.

And now that we have Cobi, we will not think twice and Cobi will also get to experience the Montessori Method of teaching when it is time for him to go to school.

Trick or Treat:: Halloween 2010

I really did not plan for any Halloween activity for my kids because I know that hubby has plans of going home to Bicol on All Soul’s day to visit her mom. It was only a few days before Halloween when hubby told me that their office is organizing a Halloween event for the kids of their employees where there will be games, face painting, costume parade and trick or treating and he is ok with the idea that we join that event.

So the day before October 30, I head straight to Robinson to have some last minute shopping of costume for my kids. There are only limited costumes left so I don’t have that much choice so I ended up buying the Arabian girl costume for Bela and the Bee costume for Cobi.

Jacobo is still too young for this activity so it is really for Bela. She was really so excited for the event that she dressed up early as she can’t wait to be at the event. As soon as we arrived at the venue, she quickly mingled with the other kids and she joined the games too where she won a cake as her prize. Then she joined the costume parade (though she did not win the Best in Costume award. LOL). After the announcement of the winners for the best in costume, all the kids lined up and went out of the clubhouse to go around the residences within the compound for the Trick or treat.

Bela really had a blast and she was able to fill two pumpkin bags full of goodies. She told me that this is her best Halloween ever.

Next time, I will really make sure that I prepare in advance so my kids will have better costume for Halloween.

Lingo ng Wika @ St. Scho

Last August 19 was the Prep Tugmang Bayan at St. Scholastica. They sent out invites so the parents can come to school to watch their kids perform.

Bela was so excited as she has been working hard to memorize the two poems that they will recite for the program: “Ang Maya at Pipit” and “Pinya.” She will often complain every time I asked her to practice at home but we were so surprised because she knows all her lines.

Both Howell and I went to school to watch her perform and so she was so happy and was so proud to introduce us to her friends and teacher. Before the program started, we saw her looking for us as she specifically told us that we have to watch her and so we really made it a point to visit her on her designated chair and told her where we were seated so she will know that we are watching her perform. She was even waving her hand at us when she was on stage already as she is just so ecstatic that both Howell and I are there to watch her performance.

After all the Prep students recited their poem, they all danced to the tune of a Badjao song (because their adapted region for their Buwan ng Wika is Mindano) and according to Bela this is her favorite.

You can view more pictures here.

For Bela & Cobi

Ballet Class
Swimming Class
Enopi

These are just some of the extra curricular activities that keep Bela busy. Though we are happy at how these activities have helped Bela improved her skills and talents, it is no denying that this cost a great amount of money. And now that we have Cobi, this means that we have to double the budget that we allocate for these kinds of classes so we can enroll both our kids to these great extra curricular activities.

That is why Howell and I have been really talking and we both agree that we should really start saving for our kids. We also talked about trying out other investments so we can secure our kids’ future and the investment that tops our list after doing research is gold investment.

Gold is a very good investment as it is widely accepted so it can be easily converted to cash. That is why after checking out the site of United States Gold Bureau, we got really convinced to buy gold bullion from them and their hard asset professionals can help us with our initial gold investment.

We know that with gold investment, we can never go wrong.

Swimming Class with Aqualogic Again

Bela started with her swimming class with Aqualogic last Saturday. She actually doesn’t want to continue after the summer class because she got a bit traumatized when Teacher Ria did a one-on-one on her. LOL.

I was actually not with her when she attended the class and she was accompanied by my sister, her dad and her yaya. But according to my sister and just as we predicted, she got really excited and she wanted to jump right to the pool as soon as she sees the toys and the other kids swimming. My sister also told me that she is not scared to dive and swim on her own.

I am really happy with her improvement in swimming and I am planning to enroll her with Aqualogic all year long. I also inquired for Cobi and they have the Aquababes program for babies 6 months to 18 months of age. But I have to get in to quick weight loss diets so I will not be ashamed to wear my swimsuit as one parent should accompany Aquababes students during class. But I am really excited for Cobi and I hope he will be like his ate who enjoys the water too.