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  I believe God is the most creative of all. He never ceases to amaze me how He uses nature as His giant canvas. Just look at this magnifcent sky. I only had my cellphone camera at that time and wasn't able to capture the real beauty of the sky. I took these picutres right after hearing mass last weekend. It felt like a wonderful blessing seeing the sky unravel in different colors.
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GreyMom tagged me to do this nice meme. I appreciate the tag Mary. Here are some random facts about my Mom:  a picture of my mom Gloria1. Simple and practical when it comes to herself but lavish on her children. 2. She was operated for appendicitis when she was pregnant with me. 3. My mom started her career as a teacher. 4. She has phobia with all kinds of birds. She doesn't even eat chicken. 5. My mom loves John Denver songs. 6. Her waistline when she was single was 23. Oh, why didn't I get that gene? :) 7. She has lovely skin. Another gene I wish I inherited. 8. Being thoughtful and generous are among her wonderful traits. 9. Sadly she suffers from motion sickness so it's not easy for her to travel. 10.She's kindhearted and loving. I'm blessed to receive unconditional love from her. I won't be tagging anyone but please feel free to share random things about your mother. I enjoyed doing this meme and hope you would too.
 I had a one-on-one meeting with Yohan's teacher today. I'm very happy because of the positive things she mentioned about Yohan. Teacher Renn said Yohan easily absorbs lessons, great in following instructions and enjoys participating in class. She admires Yohan's ability to influence his classmates in doing classroom activities. Teacher Renn finds it amuzing how Yohan would whisper the answer to his classmate who might be having a hard time answering her question. Both Teacher Renn and Teacher Malou are touched by Yohan's sweet nature or in Filipino, " malambing." I'm so proud when Teacher Renn said that Yohan is showing exceptional progress in class and seems to be ahead of his classmates. In fact, she relates how the other day she gave Yohan an individual activity from the rest. She just told him the instructions and left him to do it on his own while his other classmates worked hand in hand on the same activity together. She just wanted to see how Yohan would do and to her amazement, Yohan did remarkably well. The teacher said that Yohan's weakness is his shyness. She sees a lot of potential in him but sometimes he can be a little shy especially when there is an observer in class. He is often shy of new people. The teacher told me that perhaps we can work together in helping Yohan overcome his shyness. I told my husband about the teacher's favorable remarks and he said, we should give our son a little incentive for doing well in school. It was perfect timing because it was the first day of showing of Ratatouille. We decided to have lunch at the mall after the meeting and watch the movie together. We all enjoyed the movie. It's a great film for both kids and adults. It's funny and moving at the same time. I appreciate the life lessons shown in the film. When we got home, Jules and I thought of donning Yohan in an apron and making him a chef's hat. I remembered that he had a toy rat and used it for this fun make believe shot. Do you see him holding it? It was fun taking this picture. We even put some toy fruits and vegetables and gave Yohan a wire whisk for props.
Jules made some cheese ravioli the other day. It was supposed to be Parmesan Ravioli but since he didn't have time to buy some at the grocery, he just made use of the cheese we had at home. Recipe inspired by Jamie Oliver's recipe.  Although Jules didn't have all the ingredients needed for the recipe, he still came up with this delicious dish ... 
Thank you to my friend, Vicki of Mahal Kaayo for tagging me with this meme. Three things that scare me
1. A loved one getting sick. 2. Death of a loved one. 3. The thought of being alone in life. Three people who make me laugh1. My bestfriend, Chary. 2. My close friend, Jackie. 3. My son, Yohan.  Three things I love
1. Getting comments on my blog. 2. A slice of blueberry cheesecake from Becky's Kitchen . 3. Listening to my son sing. (He may not know all the lyrics of a song but I love how he sometimes closes his eyes and sing with all out emotion).
Three things I hate
1. Thunderstorms (I don't like thunderstorms 'coz I'm forced to turn off the computer. haha!)2. People who profit from swindling innocent people. 3. Cockroaches. yuck!
Three things I don’t understand1. War and chaos. 2. Greed for power. 3. On a lighter side ~ Why some girls can stay slim with just the minimum effort. :) Three things on my desk1. Cellphone 2. CDs 3. A glass of cold water. Three things I am doing right now
1. Answering this meme. 2. Listening to Nikki Gil's version of If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight. 3. Singing the lyrics of the song. Three things I want to do before I die
1. Go on a cruise with my husband. 2. See my son graduate in college. 3. See my grandchildren. Three things I can do1. Lend a sympathetic ear to a friend. 2. Make homemade cards. 3. Blog hopping until the wee hours of the morning. Three things I can’t do1. Swim 2. Cook 3. Iron clothes. Three things I think you should listen to
1. My parents. 2. My husband. 3. My son (it's amazing what you can learn from a child).Three things you should never listen to1. Rumors. 2. People who say bad things about other people behind their backs. 3. Unsolicited advice from people you're not close to. Three shows I watched as a kid1. Care Bears 2. Sesame Street 3. Smurfs Three people I am tagging1. Nina of Nina Republic2. Chona of Antuken's Bubble Thoughts3. Rowena of The Sweet Life
 I've been awarded my fourth Rockin' Girl Blogger award and it feels absolutely great. The first three awards were from my sweet blog friends Hootin Anni, Julie, and Connie. The Rockin’ Girl Blogger concept was started by Roberta Ferguson. This time, the Rockin Girl Blogger award is from my dear blog friend Alice of Hello, My Name is Alice. I'm so touched the way she described me and my blog... Rachel of Heart of Rachel:
She has the sweetest spirit!
I always leave Rachel's blog feeling
happy and contented. Reading her entries
is like watching a feel-good movie.
~~ Alice
Thank you Alice for being so sweet. I'm smiling because of you. I'm happy to have met you through blogging. You have a gift of spreading happy and positive thoughts to your readers. Take care! I'd like to share this wonderful award to the following people (in no particular order). 1. Vicki of Mahal Kaayo - A kindhearted soul. Her thoughtfulness and generosity are among her greatest strengths. Vicki is a great homemaker, supportive wife and fabulous mother to her two lovely children. Thank you Vicki for touching our hearts in so many ways.
2. Rowena of The Sweet Life - A nurturing person who devotes her time and energy to her family. She has a big and sympathetic heart, easily moved by events happening around her. Thanks Rowena for always taking time to greet me a wonderful day.
3. Mary Jane of Vineyard - One of my closest friends since grade school. She was into blogging before I even knew what a blog was. She has always been the smart one, always topping exams with minimum effort. I'm thankful for the many times she has helped me in school (from grade school to graduate studies). Imagine that! We've certainly come a long way. Miss you MJ! Hope to see you soon.
4. Luiza of Beyond Normal - A pretty face and a beautiful heart. I admire her for being strong in life. Sometimes it's not easy and she experiences setbacks but she's a fighter and a survivor. Luiza, I hope you'll find the happiness you deserve.5. Kia of Italian Cozy Corner - I admire her sweet and gentle nature. She always goes out of her way to let you know that she's thinking of you even though she's a little busy. Kia is on a little break right now and I'm going to miss her. She left me this lovely message. Thank you Kia and Zeno. See you again this September.
 To Vicki, Rowena, Mary Jane, Luiza, and Kia: Each of you may share your award to 5 other people of your choice. Go on and spread some smiles around us.updated: 2:26 P.M.
How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!
~George Elliston
Last July 18, 2007, Yohan turned four years old. My baby is now a young boy.
His birthday fell on a school day, Wednesday so I made some loot bags for his classmates. I put some assorted chocolates, candies, chips and mini cupcakes.
 Yohan had a small birthday celebration at home with the family. His Dad cooked dinner for the special occasion ~~ spaghetti bolognese, bbq ribs, mashed potatoes, and chicken rosemary. Yohan's Tita Chona & Tito Norman gave him a nice Justice League cake (as requested by the birthday boy himself) and his Uncle Mark & Tita Joan brought some ice-cream.
  
Yohan is a lucky boy because he is surrounded by people who shower him with love and affection. Just look at all those wonderful gifts he received on his birthday from family and friends. It warms my heart to see him so excited to open his birthday presents. It was a wonderful and memorable birthday celebration. Yohan had a grand time!
Thank you to everyone who made Yohan's birthday special and memorable. Thanks to everyone who greeted my son Happy Birthday! We appreciate it.
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Before anything else, please pray for Photo Hunt's kind hostess, TNChick. She recently suffered from Bell's Palsy and I hope that she can recover soon especially the function of her left eye. God bless her.
I like flip flops. They are very comfortable to wear. When I saw these cute miniature ref magnet flip flops made of locally grown abaca, I thought of buying them immediately. The tiny yellow and purple flip flops are scrapbook materials I got from the bookstore. I just bought them on impulse because they are so cute. I put a pink marker beside to give you an idea of how tiny they are then thought of taking a photo of my son holding them in his palm.
Happy weekend to all!
I feel really blessed to meet so many wonderful people through blogging. Vicki is a dear blog friend and it's heartwarming how she has been kind to me from the start. She even sent Yohan great gifts. Thank you very much Vicki for sending Yohan this wonderful package. Such perfect timing --the package arrived on the day of his birthday. Yohan loves the Pokemon cards! He immediately played with it. Special thanks to your son, Sascha for giving his cards to Yohan. They are in perfect condition. I told Yohan to take good care of them. I'm glad 'coz I found a perfect plastic case for it at home. In behalf of my family, we would like to thank you for being so thoughtful and sweet. Thank you for the nice keychain, lovely bookmarks and most of all for the beautiful card and the generous gift inside. :) We really appreciate your kindness. Best regards to your lovely family. 
 My little Prince meets Tita Princess (more fondly called as Prency in the family) for the first time. Tita is a Filipino endearment for Aunt. Tita Prency is a dear aunt and blogmate as well. She is the first one in the family who learned about my personal blog. Some of you may have already met her in the blogosphere. Her site is called The CooknTcher Mom. She's here in the country for a vacation with her husband, Tito Ed. Yohan is so thrilled to receive lots of wonderful gifts from Tita Prency and Tito Ed. Here are just some of the wonderful gifts he received. He also received several Matchbox die-cast cars, clothes, book and yummy goodies. 
 Thank you Tita Prency, Tito Ed and family for all the great gifts you gave our family. We appreciate your thoughtfulness. Have a fabulous vacation!
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My husband and I enjoyed sipping our favorite frappuccino as we watched the lights and shadows play during this time in the afternoon at Serendra Piazza ("a cool dining park where you can hop from one restaurant to another").
I'm so glad the weekend is here! Sorry haven't been able to do my usual visits but I look forward to do some catching up. My old template has been experiencing some errors and had to do some quick changes. What do you think? Finally we were able to watch Transformers the movie a few days ago. We weren't able to watch it sooner because Yohan was not feeling well. We watched it as soon as Yohan was feeling better. The movie was awesome! Jules bought Yohan a Transformer shirt and our lil' boy appointed himself as another member of the autobots.  I was thrilled that we were able to watch Harry Potter on the first day of showing but Yohan didn't quite share the excitement at the beginning. He was insisting we watch Transformers again. After some prodding he agreed. Judging from his reaction, I'm sure he didn't regret it.
 Happy weekend everyone!
I'm thrilled because the new and exciting Pinoy Moms Network (PMN) is out and now running in full swing. The old PMN website has undergone a wonderful transformation. From a site that showcased latest members' blogs , it is now a remarkable e-zine (electronic magazine), launched last July 10, 2007. The PMN e-zine is an interesting source of original articles shared by Filipino mothers, divided into the following sections: The PMN e-zine was conceptualized by probloggers Connie and Noemi and together with the other hardworking section editors, Annamanila, FeistyMomma, Pinoyexpat, and Sexy Mom), the PMN e-zine team is off to a great start.
We are not dictating and we claim no expertise. We are mothers and we want our voices to reverberate all over the world. - Connie The idea of putting up an e-zine was first presented to PMN members during our successful Mommy Lunch two months ago at Swiss Deli and Bistro. Everyone gave their all out support to the project. In just two months, it's fascinating how fast the idea turned into reality. You may visit the PMN e-zine here.
More memories ...Yohan's Christening - September 7, 2003    I ♥ cakes! Yohan's first one was a lovely 3D 2-layered Blue's Clues cake from Art Cakes. It was a gift from his Lola Dol. I loved the perfect details on the cake and it was delicious too! We were delighted with every slice of rich, moist chocolate cake.   Jules and I invited our family and friends on this joyous occasion. It was like a grand reunion on both sides. The celebration was held at our village clubhouse right after the baptismal ceremony at our parish church. We gave away CDs (compilation of our favorite children's songs) to guests as souvenirs. Previously: Memory Box (Part I)
 Special thanks to my friend Pea for inspiring me to make this newspaper lay-out.
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This week's theme was quite challenging. I had to go through old pictures to find a suitable one and I came up with this. You could see Yohan giving the tiger a big hug. Don't worry it's a fake so it won't bite nor scratch. It's just a big stuffed toy we saw at the mall several weeks ago.
edited (11:45 am): I purposely blurred the background so you wouldn't see the shop behind. :) Happy weekend everyone!
Where does the time go? I almost can't believe Yohan is turning four on July 18, 2007. Time can go by so quickly. I went over some old photos and I enjoyed remembering the special milestones in Yohan's life. I felt an overwhelming sense of joy seeing how Yohan has grown through the years. These memories are blessings that I will always cherish and be grateful for. I would love to share some of these treasured memories with you ... Life Inside of MeOn January 19, 2003, Jules and I learned we were having a boy!  Yohan's Arrival  You're so precious and oh so sweet,
tiny hands and adorable feet.
Given to us by God,
a wonderful little boy for us to love. 
I was tagged my Mitch for this meme. Hate - to have strong emotions against
1. Food I hate. - I refuse to eat medium rare steak. 2. Fruits I hate. - I haven't discovered a fruit that I don't like. 3. Veggy that I hate. - I don't like the smell and taste of radish.4. Celebrities/People that I hate. - No one in particular. 5. Event/Situation/Incident that I hate. - Everytime someone close to me is sick or burdened with a problem. 6. TV Show/Movie that I hate. - I can't think of one right now. 7. Music I hate. - Techno. 8. Household chore that I hate. - I'm not fond of washing dishes. 9. Things that you hate about the world. - Poverty and War. 10. Thing/s that you hate about yourself. - Bad habits such as procrastination and impatience. I'm not tagging anyone but please feel free to do this meme if you're interested.
My husband, Jules is a fan of Jamie Oliver's cooking. Jules loves watching his show and finds Jamie's cooking methods very impressive and entertaining. Jamie Oliver has a good sense of humor, making his viewers laugh at his jokes and remarks. Jules tested Jamie's Roast Pork with Peaches recipe in our own kitchen and came up with this delicious meal for lunch earlier today. 
The pork was cooked just right. It was tender and I love the delicious fusion of the sauce.
In case you're interested, you can find the recipe here. Enjoy!
I was tagged by Cookie of ScroochChronicles for this meme. What Were You Thinking when you first met your current partner? (husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other)
The first time I met my husband was at work. Before I even met him in person, there was already some buzz circulating at the workplace that the nephew of the boss might be assigned to the Makati branch (where I was working). It was not taken lightly by my colleagues thinking he might be a threat or even a spy. The rumors did not materialize. He was assigned at the main branch which came as a welcome relief to everyone in our branch. We were properly introduced when our group went to the main office. He seemed friendly although he didn't talk much. More brief encounters followed but nothing extraordinary. Then one time, just when our group was about to leave the office, his driver came to our service and gave me a large Toblerone. He said it was from Jules and left in a hurry. I was puzzled but didn't have time to question the reason behind the gift. That same afternoon, I received a message in my beeper from Jules asking if I received the chocolate. That first message was like an ice-breaker. After a few beeper messages, he began calling me on the phone. Our first date was at a car show. To cut the long story short, my colleagues and I realized Jules was the opposite of our first impression. He became an ally and a good friend of everyone. Then we became more than friends. :)
Why not learn to enjoy the little things --
there are so many of them.
anonymous
When you look around, there are countless little things that give you joy. Like these cute little toy roosters from Monet. She bought them for Yohan and Tisha. Yohan is so blessed because he is loved by many. His Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles always give him lovely little presents when he comes over for a visit.  Yohan looks on as his Dad shows him how to play with the toy rooster given to him by his Tita Monet. Yohan patiently waits for his turn. :)  These photos were taken last week when we went to my in-laws' house. That day, Yohan also received activity books from his Lola Norma and miniature Pokemon toys from his Tita Ves. I'm thankful for all the love they give my little boy.
 Click here to join the madness.To my fellow MM participants, sorry I haven't played for months. I'm happy to resume playing today. It's a pleasure to get in touch with familiar people and look forward to meet new ones too. 1. Do you do your own laundry or do you send it out?Our household helper does the laundry in our house. 2. Do you laundry at your home or a laundromat?Our laundy is always done at home. 3. Are there certain articles of clothing that you need to have dry-cleaned on a regular basis?Yes, there are a few items we send out for dry cleaning such as formal clothes and some delicate items. 4. How often do you do laundry? Is there a certain day of the week that you consider "laundry day?"I'm not exactly sure because someone else is in charge of doing the laundry. 5. Do you iron your clothes as you pull them out of the dryer or do you wait until just before you wear the clothing to iron?Once the clothes are dry, they are properly folded. Those that need to be ironed are set aside. Clothes are ironed at least once a week. 6. Do you hang your clothes outside to dry or do you dry them in a dryer?Our washing machine has a spin dry feature but the clothes are still hung at the back of the house to dry. 7. Do you own things that need to be hand-washed or do you try to avoid buying things that you can't wash in the washing machine?Yes, there are a few pieces of clothing with delicate fabric that are handwashed.
You're probably aware of the saying, "When it rains, it pours." I couldn't believe it! Just moments ago I posted about Jules' recent winning moment when I received an MMS from him. His text message included this photo below ... 
It's a fresh shot of his latest triumph in badminton this very day.
Congratulations to Jules and his partner, Dr. Lulu F for winning the 1st Runner Up (Level 6 Mixed Doubles) at the GV 99.9 Tournament. Jules and Dr. Lulu have been partners before. In fact, they won the championship at the Summer Smash 2007 Badminton Tournament held last April 2007. Great job to the both of you. Keep up the good work! Even the weather is rejoicing because I could hear the rain falling outside ...
Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is. - Zig Ziglar
.jpg) Congratulations to my husband Jules and his partner Rodel for winning the 1st Runner Up (Men's Doubles) at the NFHF 5th Open Badminton Tournament last June 27, 2007.
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Three things I love
My little Prince meets Tita Princess (more fondly called as Prency in the family) for the first time. Tita is a Filipino endearment for Aunt.
Thank you Tita Prency, Tito Ed and family for all the great gifts you gave our family. We appreciate your thoughtfulness. Have a fabulous vacation!
Jules and I invited our family and friends on this joyous occasion. It was like a grand reunion on both sides. The celebration was held at our village clubhouse right after the baptismal ceremony at our parish church. We gave away CDs (compilation of our favorite children's songs) to guests as souvenirs.
Yohan looks on as his Dad shows him how to play with the toy rooster given to him by his Tita Monet. Yohan patiently waits for his turn. :)
These photos were taken last week when we went to my in-laws' house. That day, Yohan also received activity books from his Lola Norma and miniature Pokemon toys from his Tita Ves. I'm thankful for all the love they give my little boy.
.jpg)
Congratulations to my husband Jules and his partner Rodel for winning the 1st Runner Up (Men's Doubles) at the NFHF 5th Open Badminton Tournament last June 27, 2007.
