What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
- Steig Larrson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Judith McNaught's Once and Always
- Currently Reading Rick Riordan's Red Pyramid
What movies and/or TV shows did I watch this month?
- Harry Potter Part 3 and 4
What special days did I celebrate and how?
- Harley's 3rd Birthday. Met up with my highschool friends
- MIL's birthday. Lunch at their house
- My friends Mon and Steph. We had dinner and drinks.
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
- Toy for Harley and a home accessory for her Mom
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
- Had a day of migraine. I also got hyperacidity for days!
What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
- Dinner with MBAPs at Chilli's Greenbelt
- Went to Cebu with a couple of MBAPs with our families. Stayed at Shangrila Mactan. It was fuuuun!
- Hubby and I joined CFC's 5k Walkathon
- Hubby and I had dinner at Mangan and coffee at Mary Grace
- Enjoyed the long weekend (Aug 27 to 30) by having dinner and drinks with College friends and CFC Household
What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
- Lunch and Breakfast at The Tides (Shang Mactan)
- Lunch and Dinner at Tea of Spring (Shang Mactan)
- Dinner at Sutokil, Cebu
- Breakfast at Delifrance Terminal 2 (airport)
- Dinner at Mangan
- Had coffee and cake at Mary Grace
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
- Bought shorts and top at Forever21
- I bought a facial promo at Institut Santre
What were this month's disappointments?
- This month was really, really fun! (*wink*)
What were my accomplishments this month?
- We survived the little girl's first periodical exams! She said her exams were "very easy" and she didn't have mistakes. WELL, we will see about that. For now, we are happy that we got through it and was able to review her properly.
I realized that this is the first time I posted about my birthday. The first time I greeted myself in my blog. Hahaha! I must be getting old! But anyway, since my blog is still a journal to keep memories, I might as well greet myself and post updates about how I'm doing (but, I'm definitely not posting my age!).
The year 2010 - 2011 went by like a blur! I can clearly remember my last birthday and I couldn't believed that it's been a year already. I remember Hubby and I went to BOHOL to celebrate my birthday there. We both had a great time and wanted to go back with the kids hopefully in the next few years OR should I say, if the budget permits.
This year, Hubby and I (together with the kids) went to Cebu with our friends. It was our (Hubby and My) birthday trip this year. It was all worth it! You see, I make it a point to treat ourselves when it's our birthday. It's one way of making ourselves feel special and loved. (*grin*)
Hopefully we get to travel again next year whether to celebrate the kid's or our birthdays. I also wish that God will continue to be faithful in His promises. To always provide and bless us with LOVE and JOY and PROTECTION for the whole family. They make me feel complete, makes me feel very blessed to have them. My family is His greatest GIFT above all. Thank you Lord for the gift of my family.
1. Long Weekend!
2. Meetup with College friends
3. Visited the in-laws over the long weekend
4. Meetup with CFC household for dinner and drinks
5. Family Bonding!
6. Rick Riordan's Red Pyramid
7. White Wine
8. My hyperacidity is almost gone now
9. The Ate's Linggo ng Wika presentation
10. Salu-salo after the presentation
To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.
Parenting is such a tough act. There is always that challenge of becoming a good and
effective parent without having to look like a dictator or feared by your children rather than love and respected. Parents have this huge responsibility of ensuring that their children will grow up to become good and honest citizens and the best way to do this is by developing their personality even at a young age.
But is there really a way to make parenting fun? The answer is yes. Parenting need not to be all strict as if your kids are on a military household. You could find ways on how to raise your kids in a fun and loving environment. Start by giving them household chores that are light and easy to do.
Kids of today love the idea of being treated as an adult. Assign chores for everyone and teach them the proper way to do it. Let the younger ones do some light work such as putting place mats on the dinner table. This may look like a game for them but on the other hand you are already instilling the value of responsibility.
Of course spending some quality time with your children is very important. As most
parents are probably busy with work. Devote at least an hour or so to ask your kids about their day. Keeping the communication lines open will make the parenting task easier as your kids will be able to speak their emotions freely. Also, a nice weekend getaway or an annual family vacation could strengthen family ties and relationships. Just keep in mind that there is no need to be all serious at all times, let loose and be just like a kid sometime and your children will surely appreciate the effort.
Cindy is a freelance content writer is also fond of traveling and outdoor adventures. She enjoys writing uplifting news and sees this as an opportunity to share stories and inspire the readers.
Ever since I tried Shang Mactan's breakfast buffet last February, I've always wanted to try it again. That's why I was excited for our breakfast buffet at The Tides a couple of weeks ago.
There are a couple of choices from cereals to breads to sushi. Everything was available for us. The kids were even excited to have breakfast for the first time.
They had cereals, bread, rice, sausage, and eggs.
I was happy with my 2 cups of coffee! Yummy!
While we were having breakfast, Polly was there again to greet us. But too bad, Andie was really scared of him.
Good thing the Dada was there to comfort her! Thanks Dada! (*wink*)
Anyway, we were at The Tides having breakfast for 2 hours! I'm glad we woke up early for this. At least we were relaxed and was able to make the most out of the buffet. It was definitely unforgettable!
My first dinner at Sutokil was unforgettable that's why I wanted Hubby to try it too. So when we were in Cebu a couple of weeks ago, I made sure we had dinner there. So my friends and I agreed on meeting at 7PM at the Shangrila Mactan lobby for dinner at Sutokil. While waiting for our ride, we had our photo taken first. (*grin*)
We ordered seafoods of course - Garlic Scallops, Fish in Sutokil (Sugba, Tinola, Kilawin), Buttered Shrimps, Chili Crabs and Noodles for the kids.
Unfortunately, this is the only photo that Hubby was able to take. We were so busy with our food! LOL!
But after our dinner, the kids were in the mood so I took their photos...
And our photo at the elevator on our way to our room!
After taking a nap for more than 2 hours, we felt so rested, we were ready to face another activity!
We met up with our friends at the Adventure Zone and when the Ate saw the slides, she was sooo excited! Her new friends were already there having a great time so after we registered, she went straight to the slide. I can't exactly describe the JOY that the Ate had so just look at the photos that the Hubby took while she was sliding.
I would say she was having the time of her life!
While the Ate was having fun, the baby girl was also having a great time at the Toddler's area.
She didn't like to slide though. At first, I thought she was scared but when the Ate finally joined her, she finally agreed to try the slide with her Ate.
Well, that's what we felt when we saw our room at Shangrila Mactan the moment we went inside. We felt like a miliionaire during that weekend. Look at this, you would surely understand what I meant...
I also loved the bathroom which was very spacious and clean. The toiletries were really nice too.
The kids were ecstatic the moment they entered the room. It was posh! After our heavy lunch at The Tides, we immediately went up to our room, fixed our stuff and took a nap since we were going to have a long day. We had an early flight too so the kids were a bit cranky already. After we told them to stop talking and start taking a nap, the room fell silent and we saw them sleeping already...
We took a nap too and I think it was the most peaceful sleep I've ever had. When I woke up, I felt very much rested and ready for the long night!
One of the things that I can't forget from our quick getaway to Cebu with friends was the FOOD! Oh yes, I love to eat and one of the highlights of our food trip was our lunch buffet at The Tides.
I was so happy I was able to avail a 1+1 voucher last April and since the kids were FREE, I only paid one person for our lunch buffet on our first day in Shang Mactan. The Tides lunch buffet was not the usual buffet wherein you will feel overwhelmed with all the choices. Hubby in particular tends to get that feeling when he's in a buffet so he ended up eating only a couple of servings.
At The Tides, the choices were not too big but almost all of the food were good. I immediately forgot about my diet (Bad!) and indulged myself with appetizers, roast pork, steamed vegetables, chicken fajitas, buttered potatoes, and more more more! The kids were also happy!
I indulged in the desserts like tiramisu, mango cheesecake, and a little bit of marshmallows dipped from the chocolate fountain. Oh it was bliss! While I was in heaven, the Ate was also happy with her strawberry ice cream with chocolate sprinkles.
Oh it was one of those lunch that we wanted to sleep after (oink, oink!). So right after, we went straight to our room, which was already available and took a nap for a long day ahead.
With this wonderful view, you wouldn't want to go home anymore!
But of course our trip to Cebu was just 3 Days and 2 Nights so we made the most out of it and started with our activities on the very first day. Right after we checked in, we went straight to the beach!
We were allowed to use the beach toys so the kids were even more excited!
After playing in the sand, we went to the water to feed the fishes.
There were so many fishes! We were so surprised to see all of these...
Good thing I brought some crackers with me, at least we were able to feed the fishes.
For a couple of minutes we just enjoyed the beach, had our snacks and stayed there until it's time to try the pool.
It was BLISS!