January 2015 Monthly Roundup

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
- Still reading Tempting Fate by Jane Green
- 17 Kisses by Rachael Allen
- Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
- The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
- Teardrop Series Book 1: Teardrop by Lauren Kate

What movies and/or TV shows did I watch this month?
- Paranoia
- If I Stay
- X-Men Days of Future Past
- Before I Go to Sleep
- One More Try

What special days did I celebrate and how?
- Our Anniversary ♥♥♥

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
- Even if the weather is cool and it's allergy season, I'm so blessed that I didn't get that much allergies this month. Thank you Lord!
- The kids though, they got a couple of allergies, infection and stomach problems

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
- Get together with College friends
- Post Christmas get together with CFC Upper Household
- Pope Francis was here!
- Family Day
- School Fair and TalentFest
- Went to Tagaytay to celebrate our anniversary!

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
- Greeka Kouzina with family
- Sumo Sam with college friends
- Domino's Pizza
- Cafe Breton with my little girl
- Ninak in Pasig
- Cali Burger
- Toby's Estate's Flat White
- Lunch at Pancake House
- ChaTime
- Sonya's Garden
- Bag O'Beans

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
- I treated Hubby for a massage on our anniversary
- I got an EHD from him. Woot! Woot! Thanks, Hon!

What have you learned this month?
- There is no such thing as a perfect family. It is composed of people who make mistakes. But the beauty of it all is that when someone makes mistakes, we have the power to forgive that person and move on and continue to live as a complete family. Siblings are bound to get mad at each other or disagree on certain situations. But siblings are supposed to be there for you no matter what.

- The family is the basic unit of society. We as parents have to take care of it. We need to make God the center of the family. And from there, everything will fall into place. ♥

- God is good. Hold on to faith that expects greater things to happen!

Lugang Cafe

Our first time at the famous Lugang Cafe. It was a perfect time to celebrate my "coming home from Europe".


I was expecting a lot from this restaurant but the food wasn't that good except for this...


The rest was oily and just ok.




Maybe we will give it a try some other time. Hopefully we get to order better ones!

Pope Francis' Quotable Quotes

I love these quotable quotes by Pope Francis during his visit in the Philippines.


"When you lose this capacity to dream, you love this capacity to love...." - Pope Francis




Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Fun weekend at the School Fair
2. Cali Burger
3. Caterpillar Ride
4. Toby's Estate's Flat White
5. Talentfest ♥
6. Bonding with my kids
7. Meeting their Friends
8. Movie Night
9. Planning a siblings getaway soon
10. Free ebooks!

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

2014 Thunderbird Poro Point Getaway: Hearing Mass at Balanga Cathedral in La Union

When we were in La Union, we were lucky enough to find time to visit the glorious Cathedral called Balanga Cathedral. We were all able to hear mass here and we were impressed by the interiors of the Church, it was definitely beautiful!


The mass itself was great too. It was our first here in Balanga Cathedral, La Union and we will surely never forget it. ♥♥♥


Sharing a Song this SUNDAY: Promise

Having a quiet Sunday? Enjoy this beautiful song from "If I Stay" soundtrack. Super love this song!


This is Promise by Ben Howard. This is indeed a beautiful Sunday, enjoy! (*wink*)

2014 Thunderbird Poro Point Getaway: The Swimming Pools

Right after our swim at the beach, we immediately transferred to the beautiful pool of the resort.


Oh, it sure looks very inviting!

The kids had a grand time!


This is by far our favorite place in Thunderbird, Poro Point. ♥♥♥

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Looong weekend. So thankful for the time spent with family! ♥
2. Pope Francis' words of wisdom
3. Long naps
4. Pizza
5. Movie Night
6. Family Day
7. Quick stay at the inlaws' place
8. Blessings, blessings and more blessings as the year starts!
9. 1 Photobook done. Woot!
10. Post Christmas Get-together with CFC Household

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

The Pope Francis List.

I love this list...


Perfect to start off the year, right? Let's do this!

2014 Thunderbird Poro Point Getaway: It's Time to go to the Beach!

Knowing my family we looove the beach so much. So what did we do the first thing in the morning in Thunderbird? Go to the beach!



I wasn't expecting much on the beach, but LOOK, it was beautiful!


The weather was also perfect!


A few hours here made our stay unforgettable.


It's so obvious how much we love the beach, right?


More about Thunderbird Poro Point soon.

Sharing a Song this SUNDAY: Until We Get There

This is a beautiful song from "If I Stay" soundtrack. Enjoy!


Have a blessed Sunday, everyone! (*wink*)

2014 Thunderbird Poro Point Getaway: Hello, Thunderbird Poro Point!

Aaah, we are finally here! After hoursssss on the road, we finally saw Thunderbird.


And when we saw our "home for the weekend", we got excited, especialy the kids and their cousins!



Beautiful villa and rooms, we will definitely have a great weekend here at Thunderbird Poro Point. ♥


2014 Thunderbird Poro Point Getaway: It's a Road Trip with the Whole Family

Right after my trip to Europe last May, I went straight to La Union for a quick getaway with the whole family!

We left Manila as early as 6PM. It was definitely a long ride. After our stopover at North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), we immediately continued our road trip. Traffic was everywhere on the way to La Union and finally by 12noon we were at the town already.

We had lunch at Max's Restaurant and oh, how I missed the chicken! I've always loved Max's.

After lunch, we went straight to Thunderbird!


We're here!


Looking forward to a relaxing and fun weekend here. (*wink*)

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Relaxing weekend
2. Get together with college friends
3. Coffee on a Monday morning
4. Decluttering last weekend
5. Toys and loots last Christmas were overflowing! Thank you Lord!
6. Chapter Assembly
7. Coffee date with friends
8. Vacation Photos ♥
9. Back to our daily grind
10. Long weekend soon

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

This is Me....

Yup, this is me...


A mommy. I may not have the best patience in the whole world, but I try. I try to do the best I can. If not for God's grace I wouldn't be able to do it. So this year I'm praying that HE will continue to bless me with HIS grace and more and more and more patience on being a MOMMY.

Five Ways to Manage Sibling Rivalry By Mariel Uyquiengco

Here's a nice article to read to start off a good week. Grabbed from MumCentre.com as always. I really love that website!

Five Ways to Manage Sibling Rivalry
By Mariel Uyquiengco

Conflict is a fact of life. Plants compete for nutrients in the soil, predators establish their hunting territory, and herd leaders exert their dominance over other members. Sibling rivalry is one way that conflict manifests in family life. There is bound to be conflict along the way as each child tries to have his needs met, attempts to establish his individuality, and explores the limits of his freedom.

Sibling rivalry is almost always present in families with multiple children, often starting before the second child is born. It may be readily apparent in some and undetectable in others. In extreme cases, it can even be destructive to the family dynamics. Our goal as parents is not to stop all conflict; rather, we should coach our children into how they should resolve their arguments and turn something negative into something beneficial. Here are some tips:


1. Never Get Involved

Never getting involved is an important tenet in managing sibling rivalry. Unless the fight has become violent or ground rules have been broken, it is imperative that parents merely observe what is happening and give the children a chance to resolve it on their own.

When parents get involved even in petty arguments, insinuations of favoritism might crop up; moreover, it robs the children the opportunity to practice negotiation techniques and to accept compromise.

Parents should remember that it always takes two sides to fight. Placing blame only makes matters worse most of the time.

2. Set Ground Rules


As fights are bound to happen anyway, parents need to be prepared. Establish clearly what is allowed and what is prohibited. For example, physical violence, name-calling, tattling, cursing, swearing should not be tolerated. Time limits for a problem to be resolved should also be set.

Parents have a wide leeway in setting ground rules. Whatever they are, these should be set early and not during the heat of an argument. Family meetings, which should be held regularly, are a great venue to lay them out. More importantly, they should always be followed so as not to confuse the children.

3. Recognize their Differences

Handling children fairly does not mean dealing with them equally. An older child might be allowed to do certain things that a younger sibling can't. Differences in their temperement, physical traits, and medical condition are all factors we need to consider when managing sibling rivalry.

Sometimes these traits are not apparent and parents need to actively search for them. A good way is to spend some alone time with each child. Ten minutes a day focused on one child is a great way to start.

Once differences are identified, we also need to explain these to our children. For example, if we explain to a child that we need to spend more time his brother because he is sickly, the reason becomes clear to the child and chances of feeling neglected are lessened. This also teaches the child empathy, a valuable adult skill.

4. Teach Them to Express Themselves

Siblings in conflict are often emotional, sometime to the point of being overwhelmed by their feelings. When a parent says, "Stop crying", the message a child gets is that crying is wrong and should be repressed.

On the other hand, the question "Why are you crying?" allows a child to examine himself amd voice out what actually is bothering him. This exercise of acknowledging and expressing emotion instead of suppressing it allows the child to take control over his emotions.

In dealing with emotions, it is important to note that children will take their cue from their parents. A parent who easily gets angry and lashes out sends mixed signals to children who are learning to control their emotions.

5. Take Timeouts

Tensions are often high during a quarrel. Sometimes, even the parent who is supposedly there to referee gets dragged into the conflict. During these times, it is better to have both parties retreat to their respective "neutral corners" first for a few minutes before tackling the problem. An exasperated parent may also need a time out and defer to the other parent for the mean time.

Timeouts are not periods when we expect high emotions to passively dissipate. Parents should continue to coach each child during these times. Teach them relaxation techniques and guide them through it.

Sibling rivalry is inevitable; it is a part of family life. As parents, our role is to guide our children, but not dictate to them what they should do to resolve conflicts with each other.

Teaching our children to handle themselves in arguments provides positive long-term benefits in terms of social behaviour instead of just always curtailing fights wherein children do not learn what to do the next time around.

SOURCE.

Sharing a Song this SUNDAY: Thinking Out Loud

Aaaah, I LOVE this song. Another one from Ed Sheeran. He is now officially my favorite!


I love you, Ed Sheeran!

Happy Sunday, peeps! (*wink*)

Surrender your Dreams to God

Why?

Because...


God will give you the best version of your dream. 
- BO Sanchez

Aaaaah, what a nice message! This is definitely my mantra for 2015. Happy weekend, everyone! (*wink*)

Wednesday Happy Thoughts

Happiness is...

1. Back to woooork!
2. Reminscing our Palawan Getaway
3. Safe travels
4. Fun family bonding ♥♥♥
5. Friends
6. Community
7. Coffeeeee
8. Loving kids
9. Good health
10. It's 2015!!!

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

2014 Year in Review: December

Mom's Arrival

Just before the busy holidays started, Mom arrived...


After fetching her to the airport, we went to eat brunch at Gram's Diner!

Second Christmas Party: Highschool Friends


Christmas Lunch with Co-Mommies


Third Christmas Party: CFC Old Upper Household



Fourth: CFC Household




Fifth: Office


Trip to Palawan with the Whole Family!

To end the year with a BANG, we went to Puerto Princesa and El Nido with the whole family!






2014 Year in Review: November

Birthday Celebration

This month was extra special because we celebrated Kid #2's birthday!


She got lots and lots of gifts from us, Titos and Titas, Lolos and Lolas.

Date Night

We may not be going out EVERY week but during this month we were able to go out, I think twice. Japanese dinner treat by the Hubby!


And a movie and dinner date too. We ♥ the Mockingjay movie!


Our Christmas Tree

And as early as November, we were able to setup our Christmas tree already!


Our First Christmas Party in 2014

And we celebrated our first Christmas party with Chikadoras!


It was definitely FUN, FUN, FUN!

Sharing a Song this SUNDAY: Last Time by Taylor Swift


This is the first Sunday of the year, it's time to start off the year right. Let go of the frustrations, the hurts and the past. Let's all move on to a greater year. (*wink*)

2014 Year in Review: October

There weren't any much activities during the month of October but we were glad because we had time to rest and unwind.

Get Together with HS Friends

My highlight for the month, finally we were able to celebrate our birthdays together.


Fun and meaningful get together with my highschool friends, from lunch until dinner. (*grin*)

Random Weekend in October


I couldn't forget this beautiful sunset while Hubby and I were in Ortigas area. It was simply God telling us that HE LOVES US. Thank you, dear God!

Visiting the Cemetery

It was that time of the year again where we visit our loved ones who passed on.


IT was also time to see our relatives for lunch and get together. Fun day!