MY Great DIY Attempt

Like I mentioned in previous posts, my mind is going on an overdrive. I get inspired by a lot of things and the result is I have so much energy and so many lists of things to do I feel my two hands, one body and the 24 hours in the day just isn’t enough.

So, the only logical thing to do is start doing and ticking off those things on my list. NOW.

My mind is dictating that my hands do something. Anything. And so I looked for my guinea pig. Walking to and fro in our home sweet home, my eyes settled on the okay-but-not-fab- looking accent chair we picked up at Bangkal in Evangelista last year.

Jackpot!

And I began to work. Armed with a few meters of cloth of choice, my trusty staple gun and the hard-to-find brand of spray paint my DIY online idols love, I'm set.

But the moment I stripped off its fabric and saw the sad state inside, my triumphant smile left my face. I concluded it’s a job meant for a pro. Or maybe something I can tackle on when I’m more confident of my wood working skills. For now, it will remain as it is. A skeleton.

Jared on the chair before I took it away

In a sad, sorry state


So, I decided to look for my next 'victim' because I can't let the afternoon pass without celebrating a DIY success. No, I can't accept failure. Not when I cried so husband will buy me my staple gun.

I pranced to and fro again and zeroed in on the dining room area.

It was at this moment my dear husband became deathly afraid.

This set was his favorite and I am about to dismantle it.

After a mere 20 minutes, I came out victorious. It was so easy! And I proceeded to show the world my success by posting it on FB.

It was a good week when I tackled on the rest of the chairs and every single one came out perfectly. No picture of the full set because of my camera issues.

One good discovery: I never knew I had it in me. To be a DIY Diva. =)
Fuelled by this success, I am all too excited to start my next project.

Before I get too carried away, here it is. My lovely, lovely chair with a before and after and a close up shot.

To my dear husband. Yes you can still retain that look. I will really paint our kitchen.

Another look at the chair before I end this post

Mama is Home

After a few days at the hospital, mama is home. We can't be happier. For a time, during that 2-hour operation and the subsequent 3-hour stay at the recovery room, I got a bit nervous because they were a bit late in wheeling her in. And in those few minutes, my over-active mind went even more on the overdrive thinking of what could have happened.

We lost our father when I was 17, and my sister is 9. So for more than half of my life and 2/3 of my sister's life, mama was both a father and a mother to us.

During those few more minutes of stay at the recovery room, I prayed to God to please give us mama whole because isn't it that he took papa already, and at such a young age at that?

I may not be the most religious or spiritual person and I know I should not question God. But I am thankful He heard me that day.

Last Father's Day

It was supposed to be a surprise, this Father's Day breakfast. But that day of all days, the daddy of the house woke up early. No prodding, no kicking from Jared at all. So, he caught us by surprise instead.

Jared helped prepare our simple surprise for daddy. Here he is straight from the bed.

The breakfast platter. It's a wonder what some plating and presentation, plus a nicer camera can do. What he prepared were scrambled eggs (the mayo really makes a lot of difference), toasted bread with jam and 3-in-1 coffee.

Jared gave this card to his dad a few days before father's day. They made this necktie card at school. He gave it again to his dad that Sunday and the dad I think was touched the gesture.

The problem with using a cam not your own is you don't know the settings! All along, it was zoomed in. The result: blurred photos.

Belated Happy Father's Day, Daddy! We love you.

The Need to do Something with my Hands

The lack of posts had been due to so many projects to finalize at the office, sorting through hundreds of unposted photos and the need to create something with my hands.

I'm catching up tonight on things that might just be otherwise 'unremembered'.

Here's one photo that got my attention. It's a 5 layer cake for a baptism. Hope there's going to be an ocassion so I'll have the chance to do this again.

Mix and Match, Connect the Dots and What's Been Keeping my Son Busy

I remember years ago, my summer days were spent playing AND answering a booklet that mama so painstakingly prepared days before. That time, of course, it was literally a pain. Imagine, my playing time needs to be cut short so I can answer the multiplication table before she gets home at 6.

But it's true when they say, you will only get to fully appreciate your mother when you're already a mother yourself.

I am so thankful my mama still has the energy and the patience to do these kinds of exercise booklets for my son.

Her greatest reward is my son need not be forced into answering them. He answers pages in a matter of minutes, pages his lola so lovingly cut and pasted and colored for a few days. In fact, he cried once when he's finished one booklet because the next one isn't ready yet.

Our Son, The Rockstar

As parents, we have lofty dreams for our children, right?

One of our most common conversations in the car is: what will Jared be in the future? We have fun imagining our son as a doctor (hope we've saved up enough for that when he do decides to be one), as an engineer (oh goody, he'll build a nicer house for mommy), an accountant (teach me baby, please).

But my husband will always ask me if it's okay if Jared wants to be a rockstar. Yes, a rockstar.

A rockstar... hmm. That, well, rocks!!!

Then we'd imagine him on a tour with his band, with me in tow.

Of course, it's just fun thinking about it but seriously, I'd prefer he choose a more err, regular path. Rockstars lead difficult lives, me thinks.

So one day at the mall, when mama saw this spanking red drum set, I let go of my reservations and did not protest when she insisted she'd buy this for her apo.

Here's our rockstar.

What's In the News?

We love the weekends! Aside form the respite from the busy work week, I love waking up early and boiling water for our coffee jolt in the morning. These days, we favor the Kopiko brown variant. It smells so... breakfast-sy.=)

Another favorite part of the weekend is reading the paper. I read it from cover to cover, even the obituary. And I only get to do that on weekends. During weekdays, the most I can do is skim over the headline and the entertainment section. I love the smell (but not the feel) of the thick weekend edition and I linger over every section, starting with my favorites: life style and entertainment, then the metro, then the main section with the headlines and then the rest of it.

So, it thrilled me to see my son picking up the paper and 'reading' with mommy and daddy.

All Consuming Passion

I figured that the more I get inspired by personal projects, the more inspired I get at work--because probably, inspiration knows no borders?

Right now, my being is consumed by my desire to finally turn the third room in our house into Jared's play and study room. And also because 2 rooms turned storage rooms in a 3-bedroom house doesn't sound and look right.

So, I am raging an all out war vs. trash. With my main 'enemy': the biggest trash of all, my husband's dismantled billiard table. It's a useless thing taking up too much space. A space that can be made warm, happy and useful for our baby boy.

Here's my vision for my son's very own area.

Who would not get inspired by these?

I sing you are my sunshine to him so this is a meaningful artwork i will do myself.
Source: etsy

A modern looking playhousesource:http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-furniture/kids-furniture-from-true-modern-148801

Love the colors and the curtainssource: http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/a-modern-nursery-on-a-budget-for-gus-148445

I have a lot more pictures to post but I'll just update this blog about my progress with this room and project, probably in 3 months time.

Wish me luck!

Deja Vu

After we decided that Jared will go to school this June (yikes which is a few days away--they start school on the 15th), we had been going back to the malls looking for his shoes, completing his school things, and then going to his school to get his uniforms, his books (just 2, don't worry) and attending his orientation.

I was being OC, wanting to wrap his notebooks and box for personal stuff (yes, tissue for those emergencies) in matching, non cartoonish wrap, I had deja vu. I've been in this scene before. Only it was mama wrapping a ton of my notebooks and books in plastic.

I realized, that seemingly mundane stuff mothers do is actually hard. As in! And I only wrapped a box and 2 notebooks.

My 3 Year Old Gave Me a Pop Quiz

I am so over quizzes, especially surprise ones, but last Sunday's pop quiz was a surprise I welcomed.

At 5 am, Jared woke me up with...

Jared: (whispering into my ear) Mommy, what's the sound of the goat?
Mommy: (groggy) Huh?
J: What's the sound of the goat?
M: (finally getting up) Mee, mee
J: Very good, mommy!

Mommy prepares to go back to sleep

J: What's the sound of the lion?
M: grrr!

J: What's the sound of the train?

and it went on an on

Then, the lesson turned to his current favorite: opposites

J: What's the oppop (it sounds like oppop when he's saying it quickly, otherwise he can say opposite fine) of short?
M: Long
J: No, what's the oppop of short?
M: (thinks... hmm, di ba long naman?)
J: Mommy, the oppop of short is tall
And on it went... he already knows a lot of words and their opposites, and he understands their concept as well. I'll blog about that soon.

I get to answer his questions until this last one which got me stumped.

J: Mommy, what's the oppop of sheep?

Hehehe.

Jared Goes to School

He went to school last year, also during the summer and again, we enrolled him this year.

While his participation last year was mostly during recess, when he'd ask for seconds or thirds in whatever is being served, he really was part of the class actively this year.

The SchoolThe school is WishBone, a prep school a tricyle ride from where we live. It's a colorful building with clean bathrooms and airconditioned rooms. What I liked best was there were only 6 kids to a class manned by a teacher and assisted by 2 teacher aides.

The StudentArmed with a small backpack where his snacks, an extra towel and water are placed, he'll walk with his lola (grandmother) up to the village gate where they will hail a trike to school. Lola allows for a lot of time for that 5 minute walk because Jared has so many stops: to inspect a flat tire of the neighbors, to shoo away some stray cats, to check on the blooming flowers and the fallen mango fruits.

always excited to go to class!

seriously at work, este play. well, play is work for kids, right?

The Graduation

The 21 days of summer school closed with a ceremony. Well, his lola first of all should get an award since she so patiently brought and took home Jared from school everyday. But the ceremony was more of a performance, not a graduation. The kids in Jared's class were just participants this time. Next year probably, he'll sing or dance or do something in a program. I will for sure be a teary-eyed mom.

The Evaluation
What I liked was after the summer class, the teacher had a one-on-one with the parents to evaluate how the kids did in school. Teacher Kate was happy to report that Jared, at 3 years knows all the lessons, and is generally behaved in class. he's skipping junior nursery and will be enrolled as senior nursery upon Teacher's recommendation.

The Best of Us

I have a terrible voice. But I make up for it with my strong stage presence. Hahaha. I can follow dance steps fairly easily though.

My husband is the world's most lousy dancer. He is always one step ahead... or one step behind. Never with the groove. But he can hold a tune.

So, as a mom, I am wishing that my son sings like his dad and follows mommy's grooves on the dance floor.

But this early, he's leaning more towards daddy's dancing and mommy's singing. Ack!

Lately, he's taken to borrowing the microphone from the friendly sales people manning the Magic Sing areas at malls. That mic fascination started last month during our family outing.



His song? The oldie but goodie, 500 Miles.

If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

Lord I'm one, Lord I'm two, Lord I'm three, Lord I'm four,
Lord I'm 500 miles from my home.
500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles
Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home.

Not a shirt on my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way
This a-away, this a-way, this a-way, this a-way,
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way.

If you miss the train I'm on you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

Father’s Day Treat—Door Sign Printable

Welcome, June!

I’m sure the rest of the year will be a blur and before we know it, Christmas will just be around the corner.

Before we think of the holiday season though, let’s prepare a special something for Father’s Day is a few days away.

To those who can’t think of anything special yet to give to the man of the house, why not give them a choice of what they want for their special day?

Here’s a door sign that you can print on board paper.



Download the pdf file here.

*Credit to the scrappin cop for the SC animal ding font