To Be, To Be. Tutubi.

Meet my husband Noel, the handyman. His shirt says "Do It Yourself" and that was exactly what he did yesterday during the holiday. He made a chair and a table, and spray painted the refrigerator. Too bad he doesn't know much about air conditioning and we still have to check with an Air Conditioning Company if our wiring can withstand a new aircon. But I know that he would have done it himself if he knew.

Here is yours truly painting the table and chair. I did a terrific job, if I may say so myself, ha ha ha!
It was a very productive weekend for us and although we weren't able to go out for a family time, the kids had a wonderful time too playing! They made those wooden guns from scrap wood and played police and robbers.What a nice weekend!

Kids will always be kids. They can find the most amusing stories and play with the most basic of toys. But they can adapt to the most high tech of gadgets unlike us adults! I know because I still cant work a PSP properly while my son can play with my Samsung phone as though it was his!



When I was growing up, I have gumamela leaves, takip ng tansan, balat ng candy and lots of junks as my toys. I didnt feel inadequate back then and I know that despite the differences in gadgets and toys, the kids are happy with what they have!

There are 3 great reasons why you should join Quicker8's blog contest like me:

1st prize - Ladies Chronograph (bic face) watch (Which I will win, by the way!)
2nd price - Kate Spade kikay kit (orange) (Which I can also win)
3rd price - Kate Spade kikay kit (floral) (Which I might also win)

I love the prizes, what can I say?

To join, simply follow these:
1. Subscribe to her feed via email located right side bar (REQUIRED) - 1 Entry
2. Blog about the contest along with the Prizes {You MUST include the Prizes and the link}- 5 Entries ( If you have multiple blogs, much better). Each blog post along with the Prizes -5 Entries.
3. Leave a comment in this blog post telling what you did and give the link of the blog post. 1 Entry.
4. Comment to any of her posts from August 8,2010 to Sept 8,2010 and you’ll have 1 entry each comment. (Make it sure it's at least three word ! LOL And NO SPAMMING, PLEASE!)

So join now and get a chance to battle me for that watch! Ha ha! I love this contest! Good luck Quicker8!

These are my kids and their cousins when we went swimming to Bosay Resort last weekend. Water and the kids really do get well together!Just look at the fun they are having!

Check out more more Waterery Wednesday posts!

I remember during last year's typhoon and I left my laptop's power cord in the flooded waters of our house and I felt so helpless! I wanted to post our status on Facebook to tell our relatives and friends that we were fine but I was running on low power! I wanted to see how our other friends in other areas so I wanted to see updates on Twitter but I cant! Too bad I didn't know then when I might find a good shop for netbook repairs. I was too sad to find out that the defect from the flood was not covered by the warranty and during that time, I have no time to prioritize laptop repairs. I was afraid to open my laptop as I fear damage to it by the rain and worrying about my brand new gadget and the devastation of the house was just too much. If I have known that there was a shop like San Diego PC help where you can get efficient, fast and reliable service then I wouldn't have to worry about it and add to the stress I was feeling at that time. Just check them out if you have a need for laptop repairs! In the meantime, I have to read up on some interesting things on loan modification for my work.

We went to Bosay Resort in Antipolo City last Saturday to celebrate the 62nd birthday of my mother-in-law. We love swimming, so most of our special occasions are celebrated with a swimming party. The resort is located at Near Galang/Roco Farm Marigman Road, Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City and it was easy to find. We rented a jeep for 18 of us and we were at the resort a little after 7am.

What I liked about the resort:
1. Being a rainy season, August is a good place to be at the resort as it was not packed. When my sister and her friends went there last May, they cannot see the water!
2. There were many cottages to choose from, ranging from P500 to P2500. Since we were there early, we chose the one beside the kiddie pool.3. There were a grill for each cottage.4. There were P5-karaoke machines for every three cottages.5. The tiles at the pool were not slippery and there were no accidents with the kids. 6. There is a convenience store.7. The ambiance was good and you can see that the design of the resort took careful planning.8. There were enough pools, but we mostly stay at the kiddie pool and the therapy pool.What I didn't like about the resort:
1. At the entrance when we had to pay the entrance fee, the guard counted us all and said we were all adults and had to pay P150each. Kid's below four feet are at P110 so I had my kids go out of the jeep and measure their height. Turns out three of the kids below 4 feet. My mother-in-law also asked for senior citizen discount so she only had to pay P120. The lady at the counter was not very helpful as well. We were asking for a calling card because we liked the resort and hoped to be back but she said she ran out of cards. She didn't even bother telling us that they have a website!2. There were not enough people to man the karaoke machines. The mike was grounded, the coin slot was faulty and we had a hard time asking for a song book. And the karaoke machines open at 12nn.
3. They were too strict at the swimming attire for the Olympic pool and disco pool. Even board shorts were not allowed, strictly bathing suit, trunks and cycling shorts!4. The prices at the the convenience store was horrendous! A bag of chips costs P40, a kilo of rice at P50!Still, all in all the family loves this resort and we hope to be back soon for another special occasion. But for sure, I will not be here on a summer holiday because this resort is sure to be filled to the overwhelming again!Hours:
Day Swimming 7am-5pm
Night Swimming 7pm to 5am
Rates:
Day Swimming Adults P150 Kids P110
Night Swimming Adults P170 Kids P110

Corkage on drinks and electrical appliance also apply.

My kids love watching movies. I have always lamented that they hate reading but love watching TV and movies. And here they are posing at the lobby SM Cinemas at standees of some movies that were showing one weekend that we were there. By the way, SM Sta Mesa and Manila offer this P10 movie.


Of these three movies, only Drexelle and I watched Karate Kid. The rest, we watched only on DVD. I wanted him to watch this new movie and compare it with the karate kid I grew up with. My son liked it, loved the soundtrack with Justin Bieber singing and just plain adore Jaden. Me, I found it sweet that my son and I bonded over something we both loved!

More reason to shop at Robinsons Galleria on August 23, 5pm! Woooohoooo!

I just realized last night that I really prefer reading over watching TV or movies. I have lots of movies on my laptop because I download any movie that my family asked me to. Then I will convert it into a format that their PSP can play. The latest one that I have is the complete three seasons of the Avatar which my office mate gave me. I watched the movie which I liked although but I have only watched the first three episodes of the cartoons. Its good, but when my sister brought home a Cecilia Ahern book, you bet reading won. I gave my sister the laptop and I asked for the book. If only my kids can learn to love reading, then I will be a very happy mother! I am actually looking for articles on how to make children love reading over at Article Alley. It doesn't help that their father loves TV too much so I guess its really up to me to look for reasons for them to take up reading. I also know that reading is not something you can force to the kids but I do hope I can find some reading materials on how to make it interesting for them.

My husband is a certifiable TV addict. He can sit all day in front of the TV and watch it all day, standing up only for restroom breaks and meals. Okay, maybe not that much exactly because I don't let him do that at all. But I know, if left to his own devices and with nothing else to do, he can just do that. That is also one sore point when it comes to the kids: I tell them no TV during school days. But they cant help it when the TV is on and their Dad is watching, right? And we have a small living room! Just last night, we were all outside and he was alone in the house watching basketball and we can hear him laughing by himself. When I get back inside, I asked him why he was laughing and he said it was something funny at the TV. I told him when we move to Montalban on our dream house, he better save up for a satellite dish because I don't think there are cable operators there yet. Of course, that is already part of his plans! And he is even saving up for an LCD TV. I better start saving up a treadmill too, otherwise my husband will grow as big as a mountain!

I heard about Wrightsville Beach homes for sale and I am buying one. That is, as soon as I get my inheritance from my long-lost billionaire grandfather who has been searching forever for his only grandchild. Or as soon as I get my hands on those millions of cash from Namibia that an email told me about. I am waiting for the money to come in now because I gave them my bank account number and signed a waiver. Or once I receive my winnings from a contest I didn't join but won anyway according to a text message I just got. If you cant tell, I am obviously dreaming here. But I have always believed that dreams are free so we should never set any boundaries. Its true that owning a beach house is one of my grandest dreams and if I can find a way to make it come true, then I will. My kids love the water, and I am an Aquarian, so I do too. Although I do not know how to swim, I know that the sound of the rolling waves is enough for me to love the beach. I can give you a thousand reasons why I would love to own a beach house, or just a house for that matter, but I think you all know those reasons already. I am just dreaming but what if it comes true?

I was looking at some old pictures on my computer and I found this 2006 family picture taken on a beach somewhere in Ilocos Norte. My husband's mother was born in Ilocos, but my husband has been there for maybe 4 times in his life. He does not speak the dialect as well, and he nor his mother are not stingy, as they say of Ilocanos.

I was so excited this afternoon when I received a text that I won an all star challenge from Western Union. I have no idea what an all star challenge was but I still felt like I won the No Med Exam Life Insurance. I would have really rejoiced had I won one of those! I joined the Western Union promo so I know that the text was legitimate. The grand prize is a trip for two to the US, all-expense paid and the all star is one of the grand prizes. I was hoping that it was something that I want and need, since some of the other prizes are Ipod Shuffle and Kindle. So I called the Western Union hot line to inquire what the item was only to be severely disappointed! I won one of the grand prizes, and it was a CD! Okay, it is the American Idol Star Challenge but I can get that from somewhere else right? I know I should still be grateful that I won something but I still have to get it from their office in Libis. I don't think the CD is worth that effort. I googled it and it is worth $4.00 at Amazon. So I won, but I don't want it. Any takers?

That's me trying a fun shot during our family's bonding time at Tom's World. I cut my hair maybe seven inches shorter and my office mates are now calling me Dora the Explorer! I was hoping to look younger with my new hair, but I overshoot it by 20 years!

I love my new look though. I look younger and I feel younger, even if I look like Dora!

I love books! I started my love of reading when I was in elementary, borrowing Komiks from my neighborhood sari-sari store. And then I went through the Sweet Valley phase, the Stephen King phase, the spy thriller phase and I just continued reading. I have a whole bookcase and a balikbayan box under my office table to prove it. Sadly, not one of my three children love reading!

But they my Ishi loves coloring books, and my eldest loves K Zone magazines. I do hope they count!

But I am not giving up on them. I buy them childrens illustrated books and story books. I just hope they will pick them up someday.

My mother in law's tenants from hell moved away last month and we are all happy to see them go. I guess they did not inform their creditors of a change of address because collectors are swarming in since for the last two weeks. I hope their deposit can still cover the bills that they left. Anyway, after some major repairs to the apartment, my mother in law is now looking for new tenants and that means new neighbors for us. She prefers students or a family of four with adult children, just like her other tenant. They are very good neighbors because they are friendly and gets along well with other residents in the compound. They do not bring in unruly and drunken guests, unlike the other tenants. They do not make the barangay tanods come to our compound with complaints from other people. They do not bang at the gate at an unholy hour because they just came from a drinking binge. They do not have guests who stole other people's bicycle. Can you feel that we are relieved to see the other tenant go? We just hope that my mother in law can find new tenants that we can be proud to call our new neighbors.

I am so itching to makeover this blog for sometime now and the only thing that's stopping is my pretty butterfly in the header :-)

But I will soon have to give in to the itch, as soon as I find the perfect template!

I found a new website called You Say Too and its a site where you can earn more money by revenue sharing. I am still reading up on how you can do that but according to one post, all you have to do is sign up, link your site and write. And then your article gets published twice, once in your site and then at You Say Too, which gets redirected to your site every time it gets clicked. That is one cool site huh! But other than the income opportunity, I also found some cool stuff worth sharing in Facebook just like this application called make your future baby. It allows you to see what your baby would look like after uploading some pictures. It is fun and has lots of potential, if you know what I mean, ha ha! I also saw this game called monkey defense and it is very addictive. I wish they have an application like this that I can download on my phone. But enough about the games and cool stuff because I need to read more about how I can earn some money from this cool website! Why don't you try and visit it to see for yourself?

I love taking pictures of my kids and they love posing for me. But most of the times, the candid shots are the more memorable ones. These are my recent favorites.