december happenings

it's been busy for the past 2 weeks. of course, this is the busiest month of the year! well, i didn't really spend my time doing some christmas shopping for gifts. so aside from the usual domestic errands and responsibilities as a mother of two kids, i had to research and make an itinerary for my visiting cousins from oz and the US. i also had to help my sister and mom in managing the other laundry shop since they are also busy with their work.

also this month, raya had a field trip with her class at avilon zoo. she enjoyed feeding the goat and guinea pigs and rabbits.

and during the school's christmas program, she played the part of mary.

as christmas gifts to her classmates and teachers, raya gave sugar cookies and red velvet cake in which she helped bake. so proud of her!

balikbayans, friends leaving, christmas parties/dinner... its not an unusual thing during the christmas season. even though i am not part of the corporate world, i also am blessed to experience it. thank God for friends!

what also kept me busy is my other business. i made chocolate truffles and some small cakes to sell.

pics were taken using my not-so-high-tech-camera and that's why these pics are not that good. but the quality of the products are at its best. :) i received good reviews re my chocolate truffles. i am hoping i could sell more on valentines day. actually, i received an order of 50 boxes of truffles just yesterday. timing is just off. so i had to postpone the making and delivery to next week. i plan to try other kinds of truffles as well. and hopefully (and prayng for it), this will really take off.

really got tired and stressed past weeks. had a few hours of sleep too especially since i have so do the baking at the wee hours of the night to avoid distractions from the kids. haha. 

to cap it off, i'll just enjoy my christmas break with my family in B.O.R.A.C.A.Y!!

life is beatiful!

robin's development

i'm so proud of our second daughter, robin! with my two daughters, i am finally starting to understand the phrase "my reason for living". it's so amazing how motherhood can brng such impact in a person, huh?

on rob's first year, we were so worried that she still couldn't walk on her own. when she was 18 months old, we were worried that she doesn't know a word yet. now, she couldn't sit still and would always like to go outside to walk around the village. she would also talk or babble a lot that i am actually begging her to be quiet even for a few minutes! she grows up so fast. so charming, too. smiles a lot. very strong personality. if it's no, its really no for her. if she doesn't get what she wants, she gets so frustrated. she is at the stage wherein she is trying to imitate us. instances such as when she would also put moisturizer after washing her face, she wants to put on make up as i am putting mine, loves to wear her daddy's socks and shoes, and though her hair is short, she wants me to 'fix her hair' after i do ate raya's hair. she likes to play her ate's toys and bike, likes to play with my laptop or her ate raya's laptop, likes to color and build blocks when her ate is doing it too. then she would proudly shows her 'work' to us and says "tada!". =) one funny thing is that she also taps the remote control to the wall because she sees us doing it [when the remote isn't working properly]!

when excited, she would sometimes express her emotion by pushing or slapping us. if we say "oww", she would point at the 'injured' part then she will kiss it as if to soothe the pain. when her ate raya falls, she would offer her hand to help her up. when rob sees her ate raya cries, she will get her bib and wipe off the tears from her sister's face. when ate raya is reprimanded for being naughty, robin will come to her defense by being "mad" at us. actually, raya is the same way too. when robin is being reprimanded, raya will go to her and comfort her and will say "it's ok. don't do it again. what you did was bad and very wrong. just go to mommy and say sorry".

these things, tugs my heart all the time. it means a lot to me, to us as parents. makes me think that we might be doing something right. it's hard being a parent. when we see that the values we try hard to instill in them are being practiced, that is the greatest reward one could ever ask for.

raya's development for SY 2011-2012

i'm proud of my daughter, raya gabrielle! last october, we had a parent-teacher meeting with regards to her development for this semester. of course i was scared again. i even told my husband that he should do it alone. he refused of course, cos he is afraid too. hehe. anyway, so we faced it together.

we couldn't be more proud. :) according to her teachers, she has developed a lot academically. she knows her numbers already. up to 100. also by 10s. she knows how to write her full name by herself. though mathematics is not her strength, raya seems to show more interest in the arts fields. i'll post some of her works next time. we also noticed that since she likes to color a lot and do some arts and crafts even here at home. she loves the show art attack and would always ask me to do whatever she sees on the show. i try since i am not really artistic. anyway, this is perhaps one of the reason why we want to enrol her first in a progressive school so that she could expand her wings and discover herself more.

there's more that her teachers said. but the ones that really stuck to me and almost made me cry was that raya is a well-mannered and well-liked kid. that means a lot to me. i always admire those kids who have good characters and as a parent, i try and pray hard that my kids will grow  up good. i guess my patience is paying off. i thought that all the things i say to them just goes in and out of their ears. you know how we always hate our moms for repeating themselves over and over. hehehe.  i would also like to believe that somehow me and my husband are not just teaching them but showing them some good, right?

i had hopes that raya will get the brains of her dad who went to philippine high school in high school and passed UP as a mechanical engineer (though finished as geodetic engineer) or her aunt (hubby's elder sister) who also went to philippine high school and graduated magna cum laude in her micro biology course also in UP or her other aunt(hubby's youngest sister) who is a cum laude in UP.  well, we don't know yet what her strengths are nor if she's going to change her interest. gelio and i will support her all the way. and the priorities are her faith in God and the building or strengthening her character. because that's whats really important.

we were surprised at her development. sometimes it's different at home. we would try to 'study' or do activities, but most of the time she doesn't like and would want to play instead. i thought i was not teaching her enough. i didn't know that she already knows a lot. :) even when we talk, so much that she knows too. so so proud of her!

such a nice blessing.  

a door is about to close

we received an email yesterday from our lessor that they need the space of our laundry shop for their new office. translation, we need to vacate the place.

this came as a surprise for us. more so, it saddened me. gosh, i was so down yesterday.

this was our very first laundry shop. this was the reason why we were able to set up two more laundry shops and even the failed food cart business. we've invested money and time on it. this was our guinea pig.

actually, for the past months, it has been having problems. low sales caused by the vacancy of the apartments surrounding the shop. the huge lot where a lot of apartments sits has been bought and up to now, it remains vacant. we have also failed to visit the shop regularly and wasn't able to manage it. we have plans to improve the sales. we agreed to manage it more despite our different priorities. and then... we receive the news...

i would want to believe the saying that if a door closes, another door will open. i was thinking that this might be a bllessing in disguise or the change that we've been waiting to start anew. the thing is, it would cost us not only sales but loss of customers. we are given a month to vacate and we haven't found a new place yet. we are hoping to find a place within that long road since its a commercial area. it is also not that easy to move since we also have to inform our customers, we need to release the unclaimed laundry, and if ever we find a new place, we need to renovate it (install gas and water pipes, exhaust, etc). we also need to report this to BIR and city hall. we are requesting from our lessor that they give us more time since the move is not that easy as looking for a residential unit and that this month will be quite busy for everybody else due to the holiday season.   

major decisions need to be made and needs action immediately. and i hope that window will open soon.

Lord, i'll leave for you to solve this...

how to choose the next school

the year is almost over and in a few months time, raya will be, or should be, in a big school already. guess what, we still don't know where to enroll her. ok, panic mode on! since the start of this school year, i have been thinkinng about it. i asked my friends for recommendation. the thing is, there's really a gazillion choices. then there's also the choice whether or not we should enroll her in a progressive (a.k.a non-traditional) school or the old school (a.k.a. traditional). a friend also advised me that the choice of school should depend on the character of the kid. hmmm, come again?

so how nga should i chooose? anyway, like all parents, we want the best for our kids. we want them to go to the best school that will help them develop their characters and talents so that they could make it to the real world.

i think we are gearing towards the progressive school FIRST. in raya's 3rd grade or so, we might move her to a traditional school. top list of course is the school where i came from since me and my sisters and my friends turned out ok naman :) its a good school wherein faith in God and simplicity are one of the priorities. most of my batchmates got into the 4 great colleges such as UP, ateneo, la salle, and UST.

we dont have much problem choosing the mid school and college. the 'starter' school is hard. well, its really always hard during the firsts. :) perhaps we should first consider the good schools near us. gather info, check the sites, curriculum, motto, location then schedule for interview and test/assessment if there is.

need to do it soon. as in now!