Movie Date: Eclipse

I read twilight in May 2008 during my maternity leave. At first, I dont want to read another lame vampire book sequel, but my sister said its "kilig" daw. Ok, to answer to my boredom at home, I read twilight and was instantly hooked. It transports you to high-school, teen-life romance, drama and adventure.

Edward to Bella: "You're my brand of heroine".

I am now for Team Edward.
I read New Moon the day after I read twilight.
I read Eclipse the following week
I waited for Breaking Dawn in August 2008.
I watched Twilight and New Moon in HBO (Sorry no time to watch in moviehouse.)
Now, I hope to watch Eclipse with hubby, please, time, be kind : )

You'll never walk alone

Dear Luts,

You have a lot of well wishers tonight...

"Good job Daddy! We love you!
- Lia and Ali (daughters) (in video, to be posted soon)

"Our warmest congratulations for a job well done anac, Thank you very much for being a wonderful son to us and a responsible brother to Indira, Ulysses and Aldrin. From all of us in Cagayan, we wish you all the best in life. We pray that God richly bless you and your family. We love you very much."
- Daddy Flor and Mommy Jean (parents)

"More power and success! Keep up the good work, may you live in peace, love and harmony. From the bottom of our hearts, We love you very much!"
- Mommy Flor and Natal family (mother-in law)

"Have a good time. Goodluck. Regards. With love"
- Papi (father-in-law)

" Congratulations Luts! Our kids and I are so proud of you. Your success is our family's success. So to our family man who will now be a very busy bee, we will always be here beside you to give you our LUTS: love, understanding, time and support." As my closing, I'll sing one of your favorite: )

When you walk through a storm,
hold your head up high,
and don't be afraid of the dark,
at the end of the storm,
is a golden sky
and the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
walk on through the rain,
though your dreams be tossed and blown,
walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
and you'll never walk alone
you''ll never walk alone...


--- poknats (the original, one and only partner of Luther for life) a.k.a wondermom A.

Key to a Woman's Heart: JBD Jewellery

I always believe that a key to a woman's heart is neither chocolate nor love letters, it's jewellery : )

I've been following Jul B. Dizon Jewellery blog for sometime now, and they always feature well-crafted and well-designed jewellery, even promoting Filipino culture like their current collection of bahay kubo inspired by their late designer, Mr. Florante Pineda.

I would love to have a jewellery collection from them someday...hint hint : )

If you will notice Anne Curtis in her big billboard for Folded and Hung, she has one accessory, a green tourmaline cushion cut with brilliant and rose cut diamonds in yellow gold ring from JBDJ. love it!

Home Inspiration: 33 Shades of Green Home Tour

I follow a lot of blogs about interior design and renovation.  I particularly liked  Remodelaholic because their blog is about DIY at its finest.  I envy their talent and passion for creating something beautiful out of the ordinary and sometimes, even out of something trashy and ugly-looking.  One feature of their blog is inviting bloggers to share their own DIY home improvement, inspiring more readers to do the same. 

Recently, Remodelaholic featured a fellow blogger 33shadesofgreen, an interior designer by profession.  She gave a photo tour of her home, which was tastefully designed and warmly decorated.

Here are some of the pictures that I love and inspired me to further improve my own home : )

I like the kitchen because of its wide space, well-planned storage and cabinets and its location, where you can see everything (living room, dining room) while you're in the kitchen.

I want a screen porch in my dream house someday... I can imagine me drinking tea and reading a book, and just enjoying the breeze here.  I love the combination of colors from orange throw pillows to peach carpet and black and gray sofa set.

Plants for me are always a great interior accessory.  It makes the place alive and warm!  I need to plan a trip to Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon Avenue and buy my own indoor plants. 

Another wish is to have my own craft room, where I can do my sewing, scrapbooking, DIY projects and other sorts of stuff that working moms do on their rare day off :  )

Check out their blogs so you can be inspired more!

P.S. will post soon the before and after pictures of my home :  )

- Wondermom A.

Weekend Reading: Real Home Ideas 5

For those wanting to have a good read over the weekend, why not check out Real Living's Real Home Ideas 5 for small space solutions.

Instead of hiring a professional, why not do the design on your own and gloss over the interesting and practical suggestions from this book to make over your home...from improving your living room, work area, to storage solutions for your kitchen and room cabinets. It also comes with a do-it-yourself furniture layout which you can design before you re-arrange your area.

I just love reading interior design books and magazines. They make me feel that it's so easy to do the makeover and that a well-designed home is not a dream but can be a reality. I think I'll go to my neighborhood bookstore and get a copy of my own for onlyP 195.00.

Can't wait for this weekend of good reading!

- Wondermom A.

(Picture from Real Living http://www.realliving.com.ph/blog/)

Shopaholic alert: Father's Day Sales

Here's a shout to all shopaholics!

There's going to be a Nike-Adidas clearance sale up to 70% off starting today till June 20, 2010 at Megatrade Hall 1, SM Megamall. Great gift-hunting spree for Father's Day.

http://www.shopcrazy.com.ph/2010/06/nike-adidas-clearance-sale-up-to-70-off-at-sm-megamall-mega-trade-hall-1-june-16-to-20/


Here's another sale from Paul Smith (GB4 and Shangrila Mall) for Father's Day. They will be giving out a 20% discount on all men's lines.





http://www.shopcrazy.com.ph/2010/06/fathers-day-sale-get-20-off-on-mens-lines-from-paul-smith/


Let's go!

Are you going to the office?

Once she wakes up, my daughter Lia would ask me "Are you going to the office?" and based on my experience with this line of questioning, I would put on a really sad face and say "Yes, anak, hay, but I will miss you!" and she would also put on a sad face that we will leave her at home.

But now, instead of this sad face, she would really be putting a whiny answer which sounds like " grngnnsnng hmpp"...

Luther and I have exhausted our sad faces answer and we're beginning to understand that we are now again entering the separation anxiety stage that we thought we have graduated already...maybe we'll try to explain why we need to go to work from Mondays to Fridays, hoping that at 3 years old she will undertand it. Even on weekdends, she asks us if we are going to the office? and luckily, our answer is the one she wants to hear..." no anak, daddy and I will stay here with you!" A resounding "yehey! with jumping is her answer...o diba kataba ng puso, just a kid missing her dad and mom...yun lang pala : )

So I guess we should try and try to explain why we are going to the office...bakit nga ba?

Most Talkative

Is it possible to feel old and young at the same time?

My eldest daughter Lia attended her first day of school today. We walked from our house to the Holy Spirit of Quezon City,










(picture from the school's website http://www.shsqc.edu.ph/)

reminding her not to cry, listen to teacher Iza, dont forget to give her pencils to teacher, eat her baon, raise her hand if she has a question hehehe litany of reminders within a 5-minute walk, and really I am the one who's scared...what if...what if...but she looked happy to be walking, enjoying her brown uniform which is still a little bit big for her.

I learned from Luther than she was a bit talkative during the class, she was listening but also talking a lot, she raised her hands when she finished her clay circle, she did not cry (sniff big girl na baby ko!) but she often looked outside the room to check that Daddy and Ate Lala are still there. She did not eat all her baon (Zesto, strawberry fruit, ceraals, inipit bread), she only ate cereals..I asked her if she enjoyed school and she said " I'm a little teapot". Luther explained that when they were asked to get toys, she got the teapot...and when told to pack away the toys, she packed them away also...good job on your first day Lia...I hope you had a wonderful time, and would learn to love school and would love to learn...

Hey, not bad for my first day also right, I didnt have any separation anxiety but I asked for a detailed feedback on what happened at school. Tomorrow will be my day to bring her to school, and remind her that we parents and yayas are until the gate only...

I think what helped in letting children be independent is I let them try things on their own, assisting and correcting only when necessary, lengthened my patience and understanding when I correct them, and conditioning them that its fun to do things on their own. Teaching kids to be independent is hard noh?

P.S. when I was in Prep B at Holy Spirit, my mother was surprised that I brough home a worksheet with zero grade and "most talkative" marked on my sheet, because I was talking all throughout the session, I wasnt able to answer the sheet and thus, the zero grade...I am hoping that daughter now is not like mother me hehehe : )

nesting, school opening, gardening and more

I've been so busy this past few months, with the renovation of our house in April, moving in and final interior design in May, Boracay trip in mid-May, and now come school opening in June. yehey Lia will be in nursery already...sniff how time flies so fast. If only I could lengthen the time to 32 hours a day I would! more time for blogging : )

Our house is now a work in progress, the interior design is not yet complete, with paintings and other accessories not yet bought, i'm finding the time (and the money) to buy them...but slowly we've adjusted to our new home, will hold the purchases until I can unload all the things inside the boxes and arrange things in their proper places. I hope I can take pictures already for the before and after portion, maybe after school opens I can start on it, wait for it it another blog...but now we're more focus on preparing Lia for school...I've completed putting name tags to her things, its fortunate that we bought her school bag, shoes, and other stuff way back in January, so we wont be caught in the shopping frenzy now. bag, uniform, shoes, lunchbox, PE uniform/shoes, undergarment shorts -check; tags on school supplies - check; covered notebooks/books - check; haircut - yikes not yet, should be this weekend, maybe a trip to Toni and Guy will do the trick...

Putting aside my school mode, Luther and I started fixing our small patch garden in front of our house last weekend. We bought flowers (white angel, santan) and other yellow green and maroon plants (names I forgot) to liven up the home front. I know Im a green thumb, I know I am...the garden will be my test. now we're going to plant palm trees so the house will have more shade, less use for electric fans, less expense yihee!

ok im off to work again...see you on my next post...
P.S. hey mommies, what are you planning for father's day? share!