Loving the long weekend

I started the weekend on a Friday. Worked from home. TBH though, it was more work from the road (sssshhhhh! don't tell my boss though hehe). My mother sent us a couple of boxes Lanzones from Cagayan de Oro and I had to pick it up from the airport. There was heavy downpour in the afternoon, hence the delivery was so late. For 3 and a half hours.

Anyway, I hurried home to attend a birthday party of a friend's son. The little one was so happy coz he had a lot of playmates. He was the youngest boy and I was afraid he'd get bullied, but was so proud to see him assert himself. When they were playing basketball and he was pushed, he told his playmate, who was 2 years older, "Don't push me! Say sorry!". When I heard that, I knew he can take care of himself.

Saturday was spent playing badminton the whole morning with hubs and a couple of his office mates. And then we met up with a prospective architect (yes, finally decided to build that house, hopefully in January! Wish us luck!) and just hang out. And did a lot of FarmVille hehe

Sunday went to the palengke for the weekly food budget. Dropped by the nearby weekend flea market. Waited for the Marquez vs Mayweather game on tv. Uploaded pictures on facebook. FarmVille again (though it's not working now huhuhu!). DVD marathon(Hangover, Fast and the Furios 4, The Management, Ice Age 3 and about 5 more DVDs). Helped the little one with his homework. Heard mass in the afternoon. And had barbeque dinner at the newly opened Reyes Barbeque at Nuvali. Chatted with my Papa and requested for my birthday gift :D. Played lots with the little and now blogging at 12am. The hubs is also still up and blogging too.

It's a fun filled weekend and we have an extra day tomorrow! I just loooove it :) Tomorrow would be swimming at our club house so we're all praying for a sunny day. Finish the little boy's homework. Get a mirror hopefully, as we don't have a big mirror. Taebo at 7 :)

Long weekends are such a blessing.... could we have more?

Bonding moments

Hubs, little one and I are in front of our laptops.  Well, the little one is sharing his Dad's.  It's 10:31pm, they're playing a game on the net and I'm, well, obviously, blogging and facebooking :D  It's bedtime in 5 minutes.

This has been our usual pass time of late.  We hardly watch TV anymore, which is good.  I'm trying to cut down on TV time.

A few minutes ago, I asked the little on stand on my aching back.  I swear it's the best massage ever!  Better than Spa massage.  Cheaper and so much fun to do :)  My backache is gone and the little one had loads of fun.  Anyhoo, tomorrow's Friday!  And Friday, I'm in love! :) 

My little bugoy

The pictures above were taken last weekend, while we were watching World Cup of Pool on TV.  He likes to have his picture taken.  He specially likes it when the camera captures his open mouth and his big eyes.  He's never been camera shy, as you can see in the above.

His loves nowadays: Hi5 (the Australian tv show for kids), playing games on the computer (not sure about the site coz he plays with his Dad), play badminton (he's not good yet but we make it a point to play with him) and school.

I'm still amazed at how fast he's grown.  A few weeks back, while I was rushing to do my errands with him in tow, he was requesting to play at the slides.  I told him, slides are for little kids.  He stopped walking, looked up to me said "I'm a kid Mom".  And he is right, he's a kid.

My son has a great memory.  He just picks up things and remembers them.  I don't know how he does that, but his teachers have been amazed as well.  Anyway, when he remembers something, my husband and I are always quick with praises.  One time, I told him he's smart.  And then he replied "Smart Buddy" - you know, the pre-paid of Smart Communications.  :D

And oh, he loves to party.  Thank God he's still 3 and not yet a teenager! LOL.  We were invited to his classmate's birthday last month and he was the youngest one who loved joining the games.  There was a portion in the games were each participant would say "Happy birthday" the longest.  He was 3rd in line and when it was his turn he said "Happy birthday----day----day----day-----day!" haha  Instead of saying "Happy birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"! :)  Everyone's amused. 

Boracay on a budget

Travelling is something my family enjoys. We don't have a lot of budget for our travels, so we always look out for cheap fares, clean hotels and good food. Travelling with a kid also has it's limits. When as a couple, we could so easily roam and get familiar with a place in 2 days, we have to consider our son's schedule. He naps in the afternoon and can't walk for long. He gets picky with unfamiliar food, so dining should be something he likes...not all the time what we like.

Last April, Cebu Pacific had their discounted fares promo. Travel period is between June to October, I think. Anyway, we were torn between going home to Cagayan de Oro or going somewhere else. The hubs hasn't been to Boracay, so I thought Boracay it is then. I called their reservation but it was a book and buy promo and by rule, I don't transact business over the phone or online. Specially tickets. So I went to their ticketing office in Carlos Palanca, Makati. And got 3 round trip tickets to Boracay for PhP 3,000! :) What a bargain, right? Our trip was scheduled for Aug 17 to 21. And turned out that Aug
21st was a holiday :) August is a rainy month in our beautiful islands, so I prayed long and hard for a sunny weather.

I searched resorts online. Got a deal with the Orchid Resort. It was very cheap, PhP1,080 per night. So I booked for 4 nights. It was on Station 3 and one had to walk along an alley for about 5 minutes to get there. The resort was fine, our room was clean but it wasn't well lit, and mosquitoes were abundant too. The location wasn't working for us, having a kid to bring around. On the first night, our son had fever. We had problems finding dinner too.

The next day, while we were just hanging at the beach, I went to Villa Camilla to check if they had affordable rooms. Our budget is less than 2k. Since it was off peak, they had a lot of vacancy. The receptionist gave me a brochure, but the cheapest room they had for PhP2,300. But she gave me a great deal, for a Deluxe room, with a mini sala, she'll give it to me for PhP1,500! I was elated! We were definitely transferring the very next day.

When we did, it was marvelous. Villa Camilla is beach front, so we'd just change into our swim clothes, walk less than a minute to reach the beach and swim the whole morning. The room was clean and very spacious, the bathroom was clean too. We also had a big tv and a ref. Very important when you have kids with you.

Dining wise, we were limited. So we frequented Yellow Cab, Shakeys, Andoks. On our last night, I was insistent on trying out the buffet by the beach. So we checked the food, they had great selection and the little boy actually wanted to eat there. Kids below 7, I think, are free. We ended up paying for just 2 persons, for PhP500, for a buffet! Neat no?



Overall, it was a very restful and fun trip. Days just passed us by, we enjoyed the beach and the experience. We savored spending time with each other, talking, playing, resting. The weather was perfect beach weather, it didn't seem like August at all. God was and still is so good to us.

It's worth travelling on the off peak season. You'll get cheap flights, hotels and food. Also, the beach was deserted. We didn't have to go to the other secluded beaches around the area since we had the whole White Beach to ourselves :)

Discipline at our home

My husband and I don’t believe in corporal punishment. When I was still pregnant, we have agreed that we won’t hit or spank our child to displine. I never had experienced spanking from my Dad. I did though from my Mama, as she was the main disciplinarian in our family. But after every bout of spanking, I was more resentful of her and not really sorry of what I have done wrong. So I was resolved not to spank or hit my child when I become a mother.

I’m not a master of discipline nor do I claim to be, so this shouldn’t be taken as a rule. And this post is not to critize parents who use corporal punishment to discipline their kids. That’s their choice. And mine is to discipline differently.

When the little boy was younger, it was easy to discipline him. He couldn’t do much and didn’t speak back. Now that he’s 3, quite active and can speak his mind, disciplining becomes difficult. I don’t want to bring up a spoiled brat into the world, even when it’s so easy to do that specially when he’s our only child.

Before we go out or go somewhere, we talk to him and agree that he should listen to Mommy and Daddy. He needs to know that we are ensuring this to make sure that he doesn’t hurt himself or others. When he insists on buying something he wants when we are out, and that toy is not part of our plan, and start to go into a tantrum, we don’t feed on his tantrum. He ignore him and move on to a different part of the store. There’s a chance that he still will throw a tantrum, but more often than not, he will follow us and in a few minutes forget about the toy. Children do have sort attention span :)

This one time we were doing the grocery, and he was running around without looking, he was hit by a cart. We discipline him at home. When he was younger, his only form of discipline is a time out where he is kept inside a room. One minute for every age of the child. Now that’s he’s older, he has two options. The time out and facing the wall. Every after a punishment though, it is important that it is explained to him why he was punished. It is also important that the parent who saw the problem should be the one to do the disciplining, so the child doesn’t get confused.

We still have a long way to go. And we’re taking it a day at a time. We are focused on the goal to bring up a responsible, happy child and not loose our sense along the way :)

Starbucks and Songs

The little one with his Auntie Xan (my sis, the one in the middle)

and Ate Cookie (our niece), he was clearly enjoying himself :)

Totally having loads of fun

If the place is child friendly, the little boy tags along with us. Starbucks is one of the places we frequent that he loves. Last Sunday, we drove my little sis back to Tagaytay where she's currently doing OJT. And of course Starbucks is a must-stop. Our little bugoy loves the hot chocolate and donut in Starbucks.

Today at dinner, he was singing "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday". A song he learned today at school. So all of us at home are humming that song! :) What an LSS! haha

Little school boy

It's another school year and our little school boy was so excited. It's his 2nd year in school, he's in Pre-school 3. We agreed yesterday not to send him to school today coz he had colds then, but come Monday morning, when I called from the office, he was begging to go to school.



And this is his ID picture :)





We're trying not to push him too much, he's just 3 anyway. He's learned so much though, he knows his numbers, all the letters, colors and shapes. He also started reading already, counting and writing. He does have a great memory, remembers the littlest detail. He's going to be a great investment banker. Or doctor. Or engineer. Or research director. hahaha!

Vacation quotes

• We finally had a vacation last week of May. My parents and sisters came to visit for a whole week. The Manila Ocean Park was our first stop, then we went to see Mall of Asia and then off to Baguio for about 3 days, we spent the Hubs' birthday there. We then stayed in a Makati hotel for 3 days, 2 nights.
  
  It was always great to spend time with family. We talked about so many things. And came to know the following:
  
• My second sister gets very cranky when she's hungry! haha
• 
  

• My son does really have a great memory! He can remember road signs and can now definitely read :)

• My Mom is getting old. But she likes to take vacations still, while she still can move about


• My youngest sister can be spoiled but she can be kind too. And she adores my son to bits.


• My hubs didn't grow up to have his family spend time like we do... and he's slowly liking the way we bond

and oh, got a few quotes from our mini vacation:

• My son said this while spelling the wrapper of my crackers: "R-E-B-I-S-C-O, crackers!" Nice try little bugoy :D


• We were discussing Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston and why Brad Pitt choose Angelina. I turned to the hubs and asked him who he would pick. He said "Carina" (that's me) which he got a "Cheesy" from my sisters :P


• My youngest sister asked my other sister what do the people from Pampanga call themselves, to which my other sister without batting an eyelash answered "Pampangasians!"


• Again, my second sister said that the rice from a restaurant we just ate at was like "NPA rice"


• My son says this when he takes our picture "Look at me, smile!" quite like the grow up

I wish our vacation was longer. Hubs and I had to drag ourselves to work the following Tuesday, we actually had to take Monday off. Now we are back to reality, back to work. Until the next vacation in August :)

Happy Birthday D!

I hope you really did enjoy your birthday... I know it was not ideal as you were doing "serbisyo publiko". But I know that just being together, spending the day together is always a treat. I love you!

Kids are so funny!

“Mom, there’s a party in my tummy.” - Said my little one after we had lunch at home. Asked him what he meant, he said that he’s already full and doesn’t want to take another bite. =)

“Ya, I ate this morning.” – Answered my little one after we caught him licking something from his finger, which came from his nose…. It turned out to be his booger. =D

“Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head. Mommy called the doctor. The doctor said, No more monkeys jumping on the bed.” – My little one suddenly sang out while we were on our way to pick up his Dad. That was a Tuesday, he memorized that song just the day before. =)

I just love how kids are so honest. I pray and wish that the little keeps being honest, even when he's grown up.

Long weekends

Could mean many things and could make new things happen. It could mean doing things that you previously didn't have time to do. It could give you time to reconnect and rebond with your husband, your kid and your friends.

I do wish that we'd normally have 3-day long weekends. I wish that we'd always find time to see who our partner really is.

I did all my errands in 2 days. Bugged the maids enough, and got things done. I played a lot with my son, we spent every second we had. He's growing up so fast, he told me "When I grow up, I will play tennis, basketball" :) He's a big growing boy.

Tomorrow is going to be swimming day! And BBQ lunch. Not just any BBQ mind you, but CDO-recipe BBQ. I'm totally excited! :)

Where is your playground?

Being in HK used to give me a high. Even with 10 million meetings the whole day and taking the crowded MTR to dash to the meetings, I would still be up for shopping and sight seeing the following night. One time, I had to purchase another luggage coz I just had too much shopping! haha So the following trips, I remember to always bring a just-in-case bag. The bag usually had a case to be used for! hahaha

HK was my playground. I loved the shopping, the pulse of the city, seeing people rush to work or out of work. I loved how fashion is so funky. I loved how no one cared if you're eating alone and there are actually a lot of people who eat alone. I loved looking at couples, young or old, totally into each other. The older ones still holding hands :)

Last year was a really fun trip. It was the first time I travelled to HK with Mom. She's a government employee in the Philippines, so she doesn't have an opportunity to travel overseas much. If and when she travels locally for work, she'd always find herself accomodated in these cheap hotels or pension houses. So it was a treat for her to stay in a really nice hotel, she enjoyed the wonderfully soft pillows, the big nice bath robe, the great food. Plus she finally believed me when I said my colleagues are nice hehe!

This year though, I found myself in a different HK. Maybe also because I'm missing my boys every single minute. But also because I realized that HK no longer gives me same high. On the career side, speaking face to face to clients is still very enriching. The insights and the knowledge that I get is still great.

Shopping for me isn't as exciting anymore. Plus I feel guilty if I shop for non-essentials when I hear of people losing their jobs both back home and even among my clients.

Come to think of it, maybe HK has changed too... but the one who changed more is me. HK is no longer my playground. My playground is home. Where my boys are. Where my loved ones are. And where I will hurry home to on Sunday.