Mommy Moments: Black and White

This is Helenia, my one and only dalmatian. I ran out of budget to buy her a costume for the Trick or Ttreat party of Punta Fuego. I just made spots out of black colored papers and we pasted them on her white pajamas. It didn't turn out good but it wasn't bad at all because my one and only dalmatian enjoyed making her own costume. 

Mellow Yellow Monday: Easter Eggs

Part of the 2,500 candy-filled Easter eggs for the children of Punta Fuego Village. 

Mommy Moments: Rainbow Colors

Last March 24, 2011, I attended my daughters’ school’s craft fair. Student artists and crafters displayed very nice and cute items made from colored papers such as fans, flowers, hats and birds. These were school projects they made. The children also prepared songs and dance numbers to entertain the parents and a variety of goodies such as cakes, ice cream, juices, cookies, chips and candies were available for sale. Some of the foods and drinks were made by the students. The proceeds were used in their closing party. I bought a lot of stuff and ate a lot of food just to show my kids that I support them. For two weeks, my daughters spent an extra 2 hours at school preparing and practicing for the presentations. This craft fair was a fruit of their hard work that’s why I value it so much. From the colorful decorations, to the for sale stuffs, to the food and drinks, these were all done by them with the supervision of course of their teachers. Seeing my 6-year old Helenia dancing then selling candies to people and my 12-year old Mikaela playing keyboard then afterwards  mixing some sago-gulaman drinks just made me one proud Mama.

my Helenia dancing "swing"

my Mikaela playing "Born this way"

I bought a lot of these :)

these were sold at 3 pesos each

my Mikaela's class

parents buying drinks from their kids :)

another craft made by Mikaela

(By the way, I've been having a problem with my cam. I can't adjust the date..)

Happy Mommy Moments!

It's Summer!

It’s summer once again and I haven’t enrolled my youngest daughter in a summer class and she’s becoming restless at home. Her dad had been thinking for a trip again to his hometown. It would be a lot of fun since it’s his only time to take a break from his daily sales routine. Certainly, I would be the one to take care of the planning for this summer vacation. Budget comes first of course, then the list of the items to bring for or else we might forget things. I’ll be needing individual kids backpacks for each of my kids since each of them has a lot of things to bring like favorite toys, pillows, clothes, towels, hats, slippers, sunglasses, toiletries, cd players, first aid kits, and anything that they would like to bring. I let them do their own packing because I don’t want to be blamed if I do it for them and I forgot something they’ll need. If only there are personalized duffle bags around, it would be a lot easier for them to bring everything as there would be enough room for their stuff. The like to have our vacation on a beach, but working in a beach resort just made me tired of being in a beach again. For goodness sake I wanted something different, like camping in a place where the weather is cool and away from the smell of the sea.  Staying in a hotel where the landscaping was done like Dallas lawn maintenance would be much better. Anyways, with so many things to bring I don’t want to forget an item that would spoil our vacation as this is our chance to spend quality time together.

Mommy Moments: Birthday Photo

This is my second daughter Kathleen's 4th Birthday. Shot using an old cellphone camera, this picture is so precious to me.  After Kathleen's 4th birthday, I never had a chance to be with her on her succeeding birthdays. I've been separated from her father when she was two years old. I got my eldest daughter and Kathleen was left with her father.  But leaving Kathleen behind doesn't mean I love her any less. God knows I did all the efforts. On April 24, Kathleen will be celebrating her birthday again. This time I'll make it sure that I'm there. 

Watery Wednesday: Morning Duty

My dad is already 63 years old but still works as a school guard at a nearby high school during nighttime shifts. And during his offs, he’s making it sure that he still does some house works. He sweeps that yard, takes care of his pets, cleans his house, washes his clothes, and waters his plants. I told him that he should let our household help do those things but he insisted that doing house works were his way of relieving stress. I  woke up one early morning and found him watering his beloved plants. Too bad my camera didn’t get a shot of him, my dad’s camera shy.

Visit Watery Wednesday for more entries. Have a great week ahead.

Nasugbu Mamaraka 2011

Our town is having its Mamaraka Festival 2011. This is a trade fair that happens yearly during Holy Week usually a week before Palm Sunday until Easter. Local products will be on display at around thirty or more stalls. Locally grown fruits and vegetables, salted eggs, home-made peanut butters and handicrafts made by the Nasugbuenos will be on display. A minimum fee of seven hundred pesos is charged to anyone who wished to join this event. That cost will cover the canopy rental and the electric consumption. Many businessmen and entrepreneurs will be participating in this event as this will be the perfect time to do business. I’ve been thinking that if there will be pop up trade show displays, it would be a lot easier for them to show their products and it would attract more customers as these come in different shapes and colors. You can even add graphics to them to make them even more attractive.  I’ve been thinking also of joining the event.

Last week, I went to our local tourism office and inquired if clothes and accessories can be included and I’m glad to know that dry goods are also allowed in the trade fair. My soon to be business partners agreed that we should have pop up booths instead as it is easy to install and the frames will open up just like a canopy or an accordion. Once our pop up booth is up, it would be easy for us to just hang the panels and presto! Our business is on. People can’t miss this big event as it will be at the center of our town. There will be music and entertainment. I heard there will also be some actors and actresses invited. Anyways, I’m looking forward for having a good trade show pop up and I’m very sure that this will give us a lot of income. I’ll be visiting more trade shows to check on a lot of pop up displays in different forms. I know they will give better results through instant attraction.

Mellow Yellow Monday: Helenia's Toys

My youngest daughter Helenia is so sweet and so pretty (this is her mom talkingJ) and she love stuffed toys and prefers them over dolls.  She loves hugging them, talking to them, and taking them all to bed. When I was cleaning their room yesterday, I realized that I had bought so much stuffed toys that they won’t fit my kid’s cabinet anymore. I sort them out, kept the ones that were in good shape, and gave the rest away to my neighbors. But of course I asked permission first from my daughter who agreed right away saying that the neighbor’s kids would surely love her toys too. I’m so proud I raised a good kid.

April 9 is Araw ng Kagitingan

Today, April 9, 2011, Saturday, is Araw ng Kagitingan.  It was proclaimed as a Philippine regular holiday to honor all of our heroes especially the veterans of Bataan who sacrificed in defending our democracy and freedom.

If an employee has a Monday to Saturday work, but he takes a holiday off, he will still be entitled for a 100 percent of his daily wage. But if he or she chooses to be present, makes his or her reports, prepares vouchers, answers calls, prepares summary of receipts, and does a lot of tasks, (I’m not implying that it’s us) even it’s a holiday, he or she will be entitled for a 200 percent of his or her daily wage and another 30 percent in excess of eight hours.

This post goes out to me and my officemates. Mabuhay Tayong Magigiting!

(Janice, our Senior Billing & Collection Staff)

(with yours truly)

(Victor)

(Ednes)

(Angel)

Ooops sorry, too busy to adjust cam's date :)

Watery Wednesday: Chopper Ride

We were tasked to take an aerial shot of the whole Punta Fuego that was needed for the cover of our annual report. The chopper ride was too scary for first-timers like us. Were smiling, yet our insides were trembling. The pictures didn’t turn out good that there was a need for another session, this time with the professionals.

Visit Watery Wednesday for more entries. Good day everyone!

Ruby Tuesday: Mochi's 1st Birthday

My son's first birthday. And what a co-incidence, I had red eyes :)

Mellow Yellow Monday: Straws

Shot at my kids' school cafeteria. There was a renovation going on but they made it sure that the place was still clean, specially the softdrinks' straws. Thanks to the cafeteria staff for letting me took some shots. Visit Mellow Yellow Monday for more posts. Have a nice week ahead.

An Open Letter To My Eldest Daughter

My Dear Mikaela,

I’m so proud of you. Seeing you walk the stage to get your elementary diploma made me teary-eyed. I know you’ve worked so hard on your studies just to please me. You worried that these were not enough, that you never made it to the top ten of the class, but baby having you here with me is more than enough, you’re perfect. I remember taking you on your first day of pre-school. You were so shy and so small and you would cry and I would hug you and said “It’s OK”. Then I would stay outside and listened if you would cry and it was funny, I was the one crying.  I always wonder what you were doing at school and I’ve been thinking about you all throughout the day. I can’t believe that here I am still watching over you as you begin a new life for high school.

You were born a beautiful baby girl and grew up to be a pretty young lady. I know you have all the opportunities to shine. I will be worried that there will be lots of suitors knocking at our door but as what I’m always telling you, I will be there watching over. I’m glad that we have this mother & daughter relationship that I know and you know that we can talk about anything and you can trust me on everything.

I love you so much. I love you everyday but you can never know how much I love you and I can never say it enough.  Though you’re a perfect daughter for me, I may not be a perfect mother to you. I made mistakes in my life but I’m so thankful that your unconditional love made you forgive me. And I love you ever more.

As our favorite Kung Fu Panda line goes: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, that’s why it is called the Present”.  Yes, today is a gift, more to me than you. Believe that you will go far and I know you will get it. Wherever life leads you, I’ll be there anytime you need me.  I love you so much and I thank you for giving me happiness every day of my life.

Love,
Mommy

Day at the beach

My family during our trip at the beach and where everything is blue..

Online Business Plans

I came from a family with marketing backgrounds. When I was a kid, my grandmother was a sugar dealer and she had me take in charge of her store when she’s out of town. My mom too once made chocolate candies and home-made catsup and she let me sell them in stores in our local market. Now that I got four kids and no matter how hard I worked, the daily budget doesn’t seem to fit at all. I’ve been thinking of starting a business that would help me out with finances because frankly speaking I don’t earn that much with my current job. Basically I would like to have an online shop at Ebay where I could offer a variety of kids’ clothes, ladies accessories, and beauty products like body lotions and perfumes. My only problem is that I’m afraid I may not run the business well. I’m scared of losing my investment. I’m glad there’s this Dropshipping and Wholesale Guide that will help me Make money on Ebay. They can give me some guides on how to double my marketing returns while some were likely to be losing money. I’m not expecting that it would be perfect but I am serious on putting this to work but anything that Dropshipping and Wholesale Guide may have for me would really be great.