Easter Quail Egg Hunt 2014

Just listening to them laugh, and have fun as they hunt for quail eggs in every corner of our three rooms upstairs make DH and I praise and thank the Lord because   HE is ALIVE!  :)  

 Our DD!

 

Our DS!

 

 

A HAPPY and BLESSED EASTER, Everyone!  :)   Go quickly, and tell His disciples
that He is risen from the dead.
 Matthew 28:7    

Blessings for our Daughter

Blessings abound these days -- as our DD won a Taylor Swift tote bag from Cornetto Ice Cream!  The bag may be a simple prize, but winning it is truly a blessing and reward for her!  Thank you, Lord, for making our daughter win a  Taylor Swift-related prize!  :)  

 

Children see magic because they look for it.

Christopher Moore,

'Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal'
    

DH's Birthday

 

It's DH's birthday and we had a sumptuous dinner at our favorite restaurant!  Praise God for blessing DH with another great year!  

I am glad that you work hard for us,

I am glad that you provide for us.

There are several things that you do

and for so many reasons, I keep loving you.
Jennifer Ronald

Dancing Queen's Moving-Up Day

Our DD's Moving-Up Day! 

 

We are very proud and happy for the hard work she has done this year! 

 

She received another 1st honor medal, and we are thankful and grateful to the Lord for all His blessings to our children.  :)

 

If you want your children to be intelligent,

read them fairy tales.

If you want them to be more intelligent,

 read them more fairy tales.

Albert Einstein

DD at Becca Fitzpatrick's Book Signing Event

 

This is another exciting day for our DD -- she got her Hush, Hush book series signed by one of her favorite authors, Becca Fitzpatrick!

 

We had to go early, and brave the crowd of fans inside the book store where it was held.  Still, we were rewarded by the endless and infectious smile from our DD. 

 

Anything to make this daughter the happiest...  :)

 

 “If you can’t feel, why did you kiss me?”
Patch traced a finger along my collarbone,
then headed south stopping at my heart.
I felt it pounding through my skin.
“Because I feel it here, in my heart,”
he said quietly.
Becca Fitzpatrick, 'HUSH, HUSH'

   

DS's Soiree

 

Our DS had another soiree this evening.  He had  a great time meeting new friends from this exclusive school for girls, and enjoyed bonding with his classmates too. 

 

We are happy that every so often, DS's section in the Ateneo gets to have an activity such as this to improve on their social skills and add more friends to their circle.  :)

 

There are big ships and small ships.
But the best ship of all is friendship.
Author Unknown

 

 

DD's Taylor Swift Concert Tickets

Our DD is blessed to have concert tickets of her favorite artist, Taylor Swift.  She is ecstatic and very excited for TS's The RED Tour Concert on June 6 this year.  :)

 

This is partly our gift to her as she turns 12 in April.  :) 

 

And for being a good daughter to us.  :)

 

Losing him was blue like I'd never known
Missing him was dark grey all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know
somebody you've never met
But loving him was red...
 Taylor Swift, "RED"

 

Happy Hearts Day!

We celebrated ours a day and two after --

because I was sick with the flu, and being a school day,

the kids were also busy in school and extra-curricular work.

 

DH gave each one of us chocolates on the 15th,

and we took out yummy Yang Chow fried rice and assorted dim sum on the 16th.

 

Here, however, is how the littlest one in our family celebrated it,

and it is the only photo we got this year for V-Day 2014!

 

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE!

 

Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine,

love, thou at every day my Valentine!

Thomas Hood

 

Mom's Back in the US

Feeling sad and heavy today...

 

My mom left this morning, back to her home in NJ.  Seeing each other again won't be too soon...  Her little, over two-weeks vacation/stay in Manila didn't do much for us to be able to enjoy each other to the fullest, but we are happy that she was able to spend most of her quality and quantity time with DS and DD. 

 

Both of us lead busy lives, and hers is set on the other side of the globe.  As for us, we have built our own here, and also for our children, who are both heavy in the academics and the arts.

 

Thankfully, technology has bridged the gap, and there is always social media to serve its purpose in bringing people closer, plus the very important Magic Jack, which we always use to talk to Mom every evening.

 

We all miss her, and the kids did tell us that too, the minute she left.  As I have told my friends in my Facebook account (and I do say here too, again), -- Whenever my Mom leaves, I always feel sad, and can't help but cry the whole day. I guess there is always an inner child in each one of us that longs for a Mom every time distance gets in the way...  <3 :(

 

As always, life goes on...

 

A mother is the truest friend we have,
when trials heavy and sudden,
fall upon us;
when adversity takes the place of prosperity;
when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us;
when trouble thickens around us,
still will she cling to us,
and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels
to dissipate the clouds of darkness,
and cause peace to return to our hearts.
Washington Irving

 

New Year 2014

From our family to yours,   HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

 

Claiming that it is going to be an AMAZING 2014 for us!

 

We will open the book. 
Its pages are blank. 
We are going to put words on them ourselves. 
The book is called Opportunity
and its first chapter is New Year's Day. 
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

December Rocks!

Today is a special day!

 

First up, my Mom just arrived from NJ,

and will be with us until the early weeks of January.

 

And secondly...

 

This.

 

 

 What greater blessing to give thanks for at a family gathering
than the family and the gathering.
Robert Brault

 

 

Birthdays Galore (My nth, DS's 15th, and Milkshake's 4th)

What fabulous months October and November are! 

 

 

Birthday celebrations abound ---

Mine (nth on Oct. 27), and which I promise that from this day on,
my mantra will be, to:

Then came Migs's turn (15th on Oct. 31),
and this I posted on my timeline wall for him:

and of course, our little darling, Milkshake's (4th on Nov. 9),
whose special day we celebrated with this (among other goodies!):

 

 The more you praise and celebrate life,

the more there is in life to celebrate.
Oprah Winfrey

 

Hermies Turn A Year-Old Today!

One year ago today, my daughter and I went to buy little hermit crabs from Lucky Hermits in the Mall of Asia.    

  And today, they turn a year older with us.  

  Two additional ones came after two weeks (Oct. 27th), as birthday gifts to myself.    

  They are such easy to care for little critters, not picky eaters, and are just good, agreeable pets.    

  Our Maltese dog, Milkshake agrees too.  (Watch out, for she too, will celebrate her birthday on Nov. 9!)  

 

Animals are such agreeable friends -

they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
George Eliot (1819 - 1880), 'Mr. Gilfil's Love Story,' Scenes of Clerical Life, 1857

 

 

Memorable Meeting

DH and I had a great, late afternoon meeting with our Spiritual Director (and we also consider him our friend), Fr. Jboy Gonzales, S.J., Associate Principal of the Ateneo de Manila High School.

 

As many of our friends do not know yet, we  have been led back to the Catholic faith (a long story; it deserves a solo entry in this blog) since 2011, and the process is slow, healing, and gently unfolding as our days roll by...

 

Fr. Jboy, Me, and DH

 

 

 

Anyway, our meeting with Fr. Jboy turned out to be another good and productive one.  This is our scond meeting with him, and we talked about our plans of having a very simple Catholic wedding on Dec. 27, 2013 --- incidentally, our 17th Wedding Anniversary!  So far, and as he also assured us, everything is on track.

 

He discussed what needs to be done, and so much more, because our two children will also be baptized, and confirmed.  I thank my Heavenly Mother, Mary, for helping me keep the faith, and for allowing us to take everything in stride, as we live our lives anew, as Catholics.

Many Born-Again Christian friends despise and convict us, but all the more are we led back because of this, as they top the list of several reasons why we decided to embrace the Catholic faith again.  I have yet to meet another one of our Christian friends who will not condemn us.  Sad, but true.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

St. Ignatus of Loyola