Milestones

Before the year comes to an end, I'm hoping to be able to fill in this blog with the important events and moments in our life that somehow didn't make it on time. Haay, so much for making this blog a time capsule when it's not even updated. Anyway, here's a rundown of our happy moments and I'm so looking forward to more in the coming year :)

Staying Strong at 72!
We celebrated my Mom's 72nd birthday last month. Had a simple dinner at Sentro in Greenbelt where they serve great Pinoy dishes.

the whole fam bam 

Some of the delectable dishes we ordered. You gotta try the corned beef sinigang, vietnamese spring roll and dalandan juice. 

The celebrants. That's right, my sister and brother also celebrated their birthdays last month. Can you imagine a household with 3 Scorpions in one roof? haha :)

Happy birthday Mama! Thank you for always being the wind beneath our wings. 

Making Memories Last:

Another milestone for us was to finally do Sam's moulded hand print. We did this before for Sophie and attempted to do it for Sam when he was 1 year old but it was a flop.

I really wanted to have these memorabilia hanging on our walls; it's nostalgic and timeless. Sophie now wears a size 32 shoes while Sam wears a size 30 and these imprints remind me of the time when they were both mommy's pig tail, always tailing around even inside the bathroom and holding on to 'mommy only' while in the mall.

After 3 years, I found another brand in Powerbooks. With the help of Ate Sophie, we did Sam's hand mould. The little boy was pretty amazed to see the details of his hand when he saw the final output :)

My one note for this brand of mould is that it's more for older kids. The instructions said to keep your hand (of foot) on the gel mixture for 2 minutes or until the gel sets. I don't think a baby or younger kid can stay still that long. Sam's mould had some glitches because he was already squirming after a while. I like the brand I used for Sophie's hand print. I bought it at Rustan's but it's now out of stock.

Cute chubby hand trying to stay still

 the almost finish product. The pack comes with a frame for display. 

Cheer Dance Competition:
The Gray Monkeys, that's what these first graders were called during the annual cheer dance competition.
It's our first year in traditional school and watching these kids compete and my daughter being part of a big activity was exciting. I was pleasantly surprised to see her on the front row, cheer leading and being good at it. I'm so proud of my little girl and the rest of the gray monkeys. They put so much heart into their performance and the will to win was so evident. They went home with a 2nd prize trophy, beating the higher levels. Yay! All hard work paid off :)
Watching them reminds me of my school days - the cheering and dance competitions, winning and making history and having so much fun!

The gray monkeys in full action. 6 to 7 year-old kids in synchronized performance. Amazing :)

 waiting for the announcement of winners. Can you see the anticipation on their faces? 

 The winners' faces. So happy and tired 

Another Celebration of Life:

Last but not the least, husby celebrated his 37th birthday last December 16 and we had a quiet celebration since it was a weekday and exam week for the kids. We tried a new resto in our part of the hood named Alejandro's. Love the food there, we were so hungry I didn't bother take pictures but you gotta try their monggo with gata, crispy pata (the meatiest I've ever had) and fried chicken. There are two other branches of Alejandro's both in Cebu so the newly opened resto in Regalado Avenue is the only one in Manila.

Don't forget to make a wish first 

Husby kept repeating that's he's already 37 like it's as surreal as it can get.

But life is like that, in my opinion, overwhelming and surreal. It's how we handle life - age, problems, blessings, people around us and so on. Without these spices in our lives, it would be a total bore, don't you think? Anyway, I always believe in the saying, 'what won't kill you will make you stronger.'

I'm a realist, sometimes too much for my own good but I also appreciate the little happiness that comes to our life like these milestones. They maybe simple to some but they are big time to us.

As for the problems we encountered this year, I just try to remember what my mentor would say when things get rough: 'It'll all fall into place at the end of the day.'

An Ode To My Husband

Eight years and a day ago today, I got hitched. Yesterday, I woke up with the same feeling as that defining December 10, 2005, knowing very well that I made the best decision ever - marry the man I forever love. Ah wait. I hear a poem coming. Totally inspired for one right now.

So without further ado, husband, here’s a poem from me to you:

Eight Years After (Short and Sweet and S***)

To my lovely husband

My most treasured friend

(and that is an understatement)

Thank you for your love

If not, so Sophie no Sam

Thank you for the dozens of flowers

For being my driver for hours and hours

Without even trying you make me laugh

Life is beautiful, no matter how tough

 

To my dearest husband bestfriend

I love you to the moon and back

I’m forever grateful for our special bond

Now it’s time for some hanky pank (*wink *wink)

Happy Anniversary dear husband. We have a lot of dreams for the our family, our kids and the future and it's inspiring to work on those goals with a great partner. As the quote on our wedding souvenir goes 'God is a great matchmaker' - Jewish Proverb.

May we have forever more :)

Marriage: Car Talks and Kaltok Moments

My breakfast last week but I'm not here to give you a rundown of reviews and comments about the too sweet coffee or the sinfully good croughnut (or did I just give you my review?).

But this post is meant to share something else - marriage and, as they say, beyond.

I'm in similar settings on some days the past weeks, killing time with breakfast and coffee. One time, I decided to try a new location being 2 hours early for work, the newly opened coffee shop across the office. The scenes and smell of our cafeteria in the mornings just got a bit tiring.

I'm usually early for work but for several days I'm SUPER early because of Stephen's erratic work schedule.

As much as I'd rather catch more zzzzs in the morning and tell husby to go ahead without me, I know that goin to work together in our car will definitely save me cab money. Plus he is paranoid about taxi scams nowadays and insists we just take the car together.

More than saving money, car rides with husby to and fro work has become our exclusive couple time. The 'car talks' are as random, funny, honest and unadulterated as it can get *wink* wink*. No qualms because we know it's only us who can hear the conversation so we swear, we debate, we rant, we do dirty talk *wink again*  and we make random chismis. Haha!

Sometimes Stephen gets confused where one story ends and the other starts, I appreciate that he is really a good listener and keeps up with me during those 'confusing' times. It's a rare trait for a guy, do you agree? If you have been reading my blog for years now, I believe you have this rare trait as well so thank you for visiting back :)

I honestly love our 'car talks' and I hope we can enjoy that for years to come. Of course, we always entertain car poolers when needed. We will behave when you're riding with us don't worry :)

We have a rule between us too of no sleeping in the car because you have to entertain whoever is driving (and it's usually Stephen). Even if it's a 30-minute or a 6-hour drive, the rule is absolute.

Oh and here's another unspoken rule: I have to pretend to be genuinely interested in basketball-related yadada and say 'Stephen supplied' comments like 'Oh really?' or 'talaga?' with much gusto.

At this point, with almost 8 years of marriage, I can tell you that communication and humor are two important factors to keep a relationship together. There is never an excuse not to make constant talks and discuss matters, even how serious or trivial, with your husband.

And humor. Well, I think it's one thing that we can laugh together with our partner, at each other and at ourselves everyday. As one Tacloban victim said when asked by a CNN reporter why they are happy, 'Laughter is the best medicine.'

If you want to have a doze of our funny moments that we fondly call our Kaltok moments, visit my Stephen's blog here. It's not updated anymore but that's basically how our everyday life is, nag-iiba iba lang ang kaltoker and kaltokee. hehe.

Here's a more recent kaltok moment:

We attended a children's birthday party yesterday and after the party, friends decided to continue to get together in another venue. With the kids in tow, of course. One friend, his wife and son rode with us in the car on the way to Starbucks.

Friend: (to Stephen) Yung kaibigan natin, wala pa baby. Sabi nga niya pagbalik niya from abroad, wala na daw labasan ng kwarto (alam niyo na yan).

Friend's son: Huh?! Bakit hindi lalabas ng kwarto Tatay? Paano yun, paano siya kakain, baka mamatay siya dun?

The adults in the car laughed silently, the kid was seriously worried.

Me: Sige, daddy, magpaliwanag ka ngayon. Explain in writing!

Everyone (err just the adults) laughed while our friend tried to string words to explain 'walang labasan sa kwarto' to his son. Guess who got one big kaltok.

For My Friend and Lover

Six years ago, I sat on the corner of my bed in a Linden Suite two-bedroom suite praying for a fine weather and a memorable wedding. That’s it and I surrendered everything to Him. I slept that night with anxiety at how everything else will turn out on December 10 but I never even had the slightest worry that I may be doing the wrong thing or that I may be marrying the wrong guy.

I was sure that my husband is my soul mate, my twin flame or whatever astrologers call it. We’ve been through a lot for 12 years before we finally tied the knot. 

Six years later and 2 children after, nothing has changed. He still is my bestfriend, best critique, best supporter, most avid fan and my soul mate. We have accomplished so much and it’s just a proof of how well we work together. We have more dreams to accomplish and I'm glad that we do good at making them happen :)

To my dearest husband, Happy Anniversary to you. I love you, not even death will change that. (sorry for the late post, I forgot to pick it up from my draft )

Happy Birthday Daddy!

December had been suuuccchh a busy month that I haven't been able to update my blog regularly. There are commitments left and right, up and down that it was such an effort to even access the internet. Anyhoo, I promise to update you of our December activities within the week (hope i can keep that promise ;} ). 

Lemme start now. Last December 16 was my hubby's birthday. Since it was a busy week at work for both of us, we weren't able to take a leave to celebrate his birthday. The morning after he left for work, I requested Sophie to make a birthday card for hubby. I found this postcard which was one of Disney's merch items during my husband's cable career. 

I requested my daughter to write Happy Birthday Daddy, and this is what she made. Except for the letter D and Y which I helped her write, she wrote all letters on her own :0

Ah yes, the round thing is Daddy's tummy, Sophie's interpretation at least. The night of his birthday, when we were all in bed, we handed him the card. As soon as my husband saw the card, ah yes you got it right, he was teary-eyed again. He's such a cry daddy especially when his daughter is involved. Sophie and Sam (his own version) then sang a happy birthday song and gave him many kisses and hugs. My husband was practically speechless with joy! Happy birthday Daddy! We love you so much :)