The Inconsistent Me

The posts in this blog come in bursts! Jared, if you are reading this, know that during the times mom is "absent" from the blog, something big is happening in real life-- it may be a big meeting for mom (like what will happen next week) and mommy is seriously drowning in preps and reports, or traffic is worse than usual and I am dead tired upon arriving at night, or we are enjoying our weekends so much I choose to document at a much, much later date.

I'm uploading new posts, as soon as I unearth that phone cable.

p.s.
I hope you find mommy's posts enlightening, or amusing at least. Love you!

I Shop for Clothes at the Grocery! And other revealing facts about me

I can't hide it. I like shopping, and I like nice things. But I'm also afraid that one day, we might not have saved enough. And that one day might come soon.

So, now I have to find a balance in saving and buying. And my, it's one hard feat.

Until I discovered just how much more fun grocery shopping can be! That is where I found my answer.

See, I like new things, but they don't have to be expensive.

Grocery shopping has always been my stress reliever. I don't like carrying lists and besides, even if I buy a wee bit more than usual-- we still consume them eventually, right?

So one day, while going through the aisles one by one (I do this when I have time), I found something that made my heart skip!

Ladies tops from P100 to P299. One of my greatest finds to date were the Baby Gap rash guards for P150. So cute I want to get them all!

Below are some nice finds at MOA Hypermart. Pajama tops at P150 (although I've bought a pair with bottoms at one bazaar for P150), sports bras, the coral sleeveless F21 top is P199 and the kids dresses are I think Gap at P150 each.

Aside from SM, I've  enjoyed shopping at Shopwise for everyday undies and shirts for kids.

So now when I go to the grocery, it takes me twice the time to shop. The husband is not amused but the wife is so, so happy!

Playdates and why it's not just about play

My body is showing signs of aging. I almost can't keep up with our energetic boy. That plus the fact that I do have to work at home sometimes, or the fact I'm too tired, make me turn down a few of his requests to "come play with me mom. laro po tayo".

That is why I jump at opportunities to join playdates. The boy gets to have his fill of play, and mom gets to chat with like-minded mommies.

The setting of the playdate is the wonderful Tribeca Residences where they have this bigger-than-the-malls play area and the piece de resistance' : a football field!




Found his buddy (Mec's son) for the afternoon as they are the bigger kids in that batch.

Posing at the bleachers.

 After going through several shirts, it's time for the art activity.

 All geared up and waiting for instructions from Teacher Khrizzy.




 In full concentration.

And then this was unveiled and became an instant magnet for the kids.

Here are the kids with their artwork.

In between play, I managed to grab him to pose for a souvenir shot.

It was a riot getting the kids to pose properly. And we were looking in different directions.

Before said bye and thanks to our hosts for the day, Tita Mec obliged and showed Jared some knitting basics. Thanks, Mec!

Until the next play date!

Someday

On most days, I let Jared take the lead in choosing his books. Especially in mama's house where there are plenty lying around, he gets to choose whatever he feels like reading.

But when my friend Maqui wrote about this book, I was compelled to find a copy. I am always thankful and pray that they don;t close shop, that there is a Booksale at the ground floor of our ofifce building. I run there for emergency assignments and to look for certain books.

I succeeded on my first try.

So one weekend, I took out the book and let the boy sit beside me.

Curious about the content.

Even if he can read on his own, I wanted to read this to him. He was absorbed...

until  the middle of the book when his eyes got watery.

Here he is after we finished the book. My poor baby got so affected he cried and declared he never wanted to see that book again.

The book now rests inside a cabinet. I will take it out again when he's ready... someday.

Freezer Paper DIY Tshirt Stencil

There will be many more "I can't believe I haven't posted this yet!" as I really have bene remiss in blogging. Aside from not finding enough time, I seem to be to tired to even open the computer to start writing.


But this raining ( and flody) Monday, inspiration struck and here I am hoping to catch up on almost half a year of delinquent posts. Like this.

I believe we did this last January.


Prior to my Instagram addiction, I was quite hooked on Pinterest. Before Pinterest, I never even knew there was such a thing as freezer paper. I know foil, sure. But freezer paper? Until more and more DIY crafts appeared on Pinterest and it got me really intrigued in trying this out.



Thankfully, I got hold of a roll last December and here's our first project. Our first-ever freezer paper stenciled shirt.


You'll need:
- Paint
-brush
-your chosen design
-freezer paper
-cutter
-plain shirt

I chose a fairly simple one: a whale! Drew by free hand and cut it out quite easily. You should then iron the shiny side on the shirt and make sure it is fairly secure.

The next job is the easiest and most fun. Just start painting.

Before the paint fully dries, peel off the freezer paper. Let the paint dry completely.

And here's our tshirt made with love. You can iron over the print again to make sure it stays put. Ours did not fade or run even after several washings.

This post is really late because the boy has outgrown the shirt several months back. Won't fit him so maybe it's time for another DIY project.

Let's Talk About Weight

If I were a kid, I'd fail the marshmallow test. Big time.

I'm always excited, too excited. Thankfully, I also know when to keep my mouth shut so secrets are safe with me. =)

So even before this diet program comes to a full completion, I am already reporting my progress.


I'm average-sized ever since I can remember. I wear medium-sized clothes, wear sample size shoes. I'm of average height for a Filipina. I didn't care about what I eat, or how much I eat.

But it's true that as you age, your metabolism slows. More so if you get zero exercise (or if like me, exercise comes in bursts like 2 days straight in a month).

When I got married in 2006, I must have been 115 lbs. It quickly ballooned to 120 lbs, then to 130 lbs and my weight before giving birth was 160 lbs.

I lost all the baby weight and more through breastfeeding so by the time Jared celebrated his first birthday, I was 116 lbs again.

I've lessened my carb and calorie intake, but no matter how little I eat, my weight will only go down by 1-2 lbs.

Anyway, this post is really just to motivate me further. A little over a week into this diet, I can fit into a size 6 dress again!

I prepare my own food, bring my food with me everywhere. To work, when we go out malling, when we attend birthdays. I ignore the all too enticing smell of food and I brush my teeth when I get the cravings.

So far, I've lost 9 lbs in 10 days. And today, I will bring out all my old dresses which I thought I can never wear again. Despite of the rain, and the misgiving about not being able to enjoy champorado in this cool weather, I will carry on. =)

Will post about my diet in detail by September. Let's see if I can keep this weight off.

The Value of Money

Our bedroom is peppered with random numbers bearing the dollar or peso sign. We take it as a sign that the little one is slowly being aware of money and its value.


While there maybe a bad side of being money-aware so early on in childhood, I believe with guidance, it has its good points, too.


On Budget

I will be forever thankful that he is not one to throw tantrums. At toy stores, he will be content to push or pull you to where a certain toy caught his fancy-- but will not ask you to buy. His dialogues will range from:

• This is nice, mom
• I will buy this when I have money
• Mom, is this cheap?

Because budgeting is still hard for me, I am looking for ways to teach him that money is something that me and his dad work for, and is not something that comes to anyone easily.

But I don't want to deprive him totally-- so I have an imposed P20 budget for when we go to the mall and he wanted something -- most often at National Bookstore.


This exercise has taught him patience-- he scours the racks to find an item which will suit his budget. And the boy can be patient if needed. He has also learned that things can be pretty expensive... all the more reason to drive home our point that we shouldn't spend and spend but save instead.


Start Saving
 
So now, if he wants something, he things of it in terms of jars of money. He is always counting his savings (something he does almost every other day) because he wants to know how much more he needs to save (teka to save to be able to spend--may mali pa din ata hahaha).



For example:

After passing by Sofitel
Mom, I want to sleep there. How many jars (of money) do I need?


After seeing a for sale sign at one big house
Mom, can I buy a mansion? How many jars?





 At the most unlikely places

Another happy place for him to learn about money, among other things is the grocery. He'd look forward to this almost weekly chore with gusto, writing his grocery list ( I generally don't carry a grocery list with me because writing the grocery list stresses me out-teehee!) like this:

You can see what's important for my 5 year old here: Food!!!

So here, he's pretending to check his list and get the actual item to place inside his cart. Pretend because I don't see onions in his list.

For now, I'm so thankful that our jar is full, blessing -wise. 

My Weekend Came Early

Weekend came early for me last week. We had our little mother-son drama while I was giving him a bath ("My classmates' mommies always pick them up from school. Can you bring me and pick me up from school, please please mommy?" complete with pleading and watery eyes) so Friday was declared a holiday for mommy by the little boy.

As I was reviewing my photos from the past few days, I realized my Friday to Sunday was so full, imagine how happy it would be if we have 3-day weekends?

Anyway, these happy pictures will be my fuel to take me through work this week.

My weekend actually started on Thursday. I know we cannot have that 3-day weekend my heart and my boy so desire, so in my mind, I've declared Thursday night as the start of weekend.


Both mom and dad brought him to school on Fiday. I then brought the dad to where he can conveniently take the bus because the little boy also declared "dad should take the bus because Jared and mom will go to the mall after school".

I wanted to kill time while waiting for school to let out so I took my 2nd breakfast at Mcdo while reading the day's news. I tell you, I really appreciated this quiet time.

On my way back to school to pick up the boy, I passed by the Las Pinas Arts and Crafts Center inside BF Resort, near the Gawad Kalinga Village.  They make various items out of water lilies and does custom-made pieces.

Then, it was time for lunch! 

Even had time to visit the Off Price Show at the Filinvest Tent in the afternoon with my sister.

 Didn't get to buy anything--was too tamad to line up

Then on Saturday morning,  the whole family went to Divisoria. I'm impressed with the new Lucky China Mall, it is so nice there! Had lunch at Shih Lin and went around the shops while smelling stinky-- because we walked around Ilaya and Tabora Streets for a good 2 hours before going back to the mall. Parking was nice, airy and well-lighted and we only paid P50 for 4 hours or so.

We look like we're in HK or Singapore here

The Divi trip only took half a day. Feeling the need to use the soon-to-expire container of semi sweet cocoa powder, I browsed the net for the easiest choco cupcake recipe that didn't require too much butter. No, it wasn't for health reasons-- we were almost out of butter!

My assistant checking the yummy-ness of the batter. have to try that egg-free batter from www.pepper.ph soon so no risk of salmonella!

What the cookies lacked in form (they sadly were flat), they made up for extreme chocolate-y goodness. I printed this recipe out for good measure.

Then on Sunday, we met with my college friends (minus two) for some chika-fest at Global City. We don't venture out to this area too often but my, this trip had me changing my mind. I love the wide, open spaces and the chance for our little boy to make friends. Too bad my phone battery died before we reached High Street.

We were so hungry when we reached Serendra at 12.30. Had to fill our tummies fast. Conti's was the choice resto of the daddy

 

 

And a visit to a bookstore was also in order.

He played everywhere: benches, the grass, the shallow pools, even getting his foot wet drenched.

And fooling around the cam at Wee Nam Ki.  Love their wallpaper!

 I love weekends!!!!!

Summer in Manila: Our McDonald's Kiddie Crew

If given a chance to eat one food for the rest of his summer vacation, I'm pretty sure this 5 year old would say "one piece chicken and rice, please" from where else but McDonald's!

I've been blogging about our love for the McDo on a hill, and how we always treasure our weekend mornings there. Working at his favorite place would surely thrill him no end. Thanks to mama who found out we can actually enroll him at 5, because I've read materials the minimum age is 6.


The Uniform (and snacks)

Even before his 5- day stint officially began, the parents and guardians were asked to come in for a brief orientation. With the P500 fee, the kids were issued a kiddie crew shirt, an apron, a cap and a sling bag! That alone was worth maybe more than the fee already. Not to mention they also provide snacks to the kids before their duty ends everyday.



The Duty
Of course I was more than excited for my son to begin his actual "work". He was enrolled on April 8 to 12. Good thing we have the April 9 holiday so we get to watch him on the floor.

He got to be an assistant at the cashier

studying the order slip

reading it, or trying to

looking for utensils and tissue

Helped at the takeout counter

He mostly placed tissue on the trays and was heard saying " what, tissue again!" After placing tissue at a customer's tray probably for the nth time.



Welcomed and thanked the guests

Welcome to McDonald's and Thank you for coming!

hmm,  play or work?

tired na?

all smiles

Served food

 


Aside from the duty, they also participated in some fun stuff!

Learned the "Do the Ronald" dance
 
Like singing, and dancing.

Dance away (never mind if he's in the opposite direction =) )

Painted their apron

He loves anything involving paint and this one is no different.

And the highlight: made their own burger!

ahhh, will post the photos once I find them


The Awarding

If the 5 days weren't special enough, they received special pins and certificates towards the end of the program.
 
A this point in time our son must have felt he can do anything!!!!

Thank you, Mcdo!

I'd be forever thankful to whoever started this summer activity. True, the kids were sometimes a handful, and in truth, was slowing them down more than being of help. But the crew at Mcdo were so helpful and good at this already the kids felt they were truly helping. In fact, my son was so proud of his work stint he continues to wear his kiddie crew shirt as much as he can long after those 5 memorable days were over.

Approved!