Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Rediscovering Q.C. Circle

Last October 30, on our 6th wedding anniversary, we decided to bring the kids somewhere we've never been to. So we braved the glaring heat of the weekend sun and drove ourselves to Quezon City Circle to check out the playground and other facilities there.


First, we were greeted by a long range of tiangge stores.





Some stalls were selling fancy home stuff which of course caught my attention:



Look at those LV kitten mittens! Cute!




Then we proceed to check out the food stalls - and subsequently had BBQ and pancit for lunch from one of the stores there. At less than 500 bucks, we were uber full plus the kids loved the experience! Sorry, no pictures.


Then we went to the Circle of Joy - which brought the kids joy indeed.





There was also a new Zipline.


Mom and Luigi share a cone of dirty ice cream.



Pictures below tell me why it's called dirty ice cream. Haha!






...but we ate it all anyway!

And balloons! Who wouldn't want balloons?





There were also carts for kids.




Boat rides for the whole family!




And slides! Lots and lots of slides!





A trip there is so worthwhile. Just make sure you bring an extra set of clothes for the kids and yourself because it could be a very sweaty and tiring exploration. :-)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Anniv, Hunny!

This year, we celebrated it with some nachos and drinks at Agave Eastwood.



Blogged about it here so I will not forget when we reminisce our past celebrations.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Zoe and Family

I received a priceless gift from my daughter this week.

She came home the other day with a "card" for Mommy. She said, "Mom, this is our family. This is me, Luixx, you, and Dad." Awww, it was so cute.




At the back of the card is something that made me think.

If you can't decipher, the card goes:

Dear Mommy
I love you Ate Cat
I love you Mom
I love you Dad
I love you Lxxxx
From: ZxxxVxxxxx


I noticed suddenly that it was a "Dear Mom letter" but then the first line in the body of the message says "I love you Ate Cat." Hahaha! Whether t'was intentional that she wrote her Ate Cat's name before me doesn't really matter since I am no longer a sour-graping Mommy like I used to be. The fact that she is very thoughtful and caring to all of us in the house makes me happy, regardless on who takes, like in a movie title, the top billing. :-)

The card did teach me something more -
Our family is very important. God willed that each human person enter the world into a family. When we teach our children how to love, that same kind of love is something they carry within themselves and poured out to the other people around them. 

As St. Josemaria says in "Christ Is Passing By" -
...theirs is a home full of light and cheerfulness. The unity between the parents is transmitted to their children, to the whole family, and to everyone who is involved in their life. In this way, every truly christian family reproduces in some way the mystery of the Church, chosen by God and sent to be the guide of the world.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Field Trip 2011

Sharing some pictures from Zoe's recent field trip to Seriland inside the Manila Ocean Park. These are from the Trick Art room:








Apart from Seriland, their class also went to Davao Crocodile Farm and Museo Pambata. :-)

Taxes Time Again

Over dinner, my husband and I were having a discussion about how our individual careers are going. I mentioned to him that in my office, there was already an announcement to all employees to get their tax documents ready for the annual filing that is due around March or April next year. Being a new hire in my office, it was said in the memo that it would be my sole responsibility to submit all necessary documents from my previous company and all other tax status changes that I might have incurred in the past months. We are already at Q4 of the calendar year and it’s about time to get some papers ready for tax submission. Thus, I suggested to him that we prepare for that early on because in my job as Payroll Manager before, I have seen countless employees doing their taxes late. As such they were all dazed and in a hurry to touch base with their accountants to prepare their respective tax annualization reports.

I also shared with my husband about this website that can help people with their tax preparations and assist them in filing for a tax return extension if in case it is needed. Also, they can help in getting your due tax refund at the earliest span of time. All you need is to fill out a form online and leave it all to them. Now tax preparation is no longer a hassle. You can concentrate on doing your work well and performing beyond the expectation of your company and clients.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

One Day...

I promised myself that one day, I'll bring my kids to Luneta Park just like how my parents would bring me and my sis there when we were young.





Last month, I have seen the realization of that wish. Seeing Dr. Jose Rizal right there brings back wonderful memories of our happy family. He stands there looking proud and happy to be a Filipino. He made me feel that too! Luneta is still an enigmatic place full of history and culture and I hope it stays that way.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Happy Birthday Hunny - belated post

Hi everyone! Sorry for neglecting this blog again...for 2 months to be exact. Good thing, I found an"open" slot in my calendar today to allow me to do a quick post. Hopefully, little by little, I'll be able to mark a permanent time again to do my posts, including those which send me to short trips to the bank. Hihihi.


Anyway, for this quick post, I want to remember the birthday of my hubby which we celebrated last month. Again, just like last year, we had it at the Paseo Uno at the Mandarin Hotel. Love, love their lunch buffet!

Happy Viewing!

The birthday boy:



My Appetizer Plate:



His Main Course Plate:




Caramel Cake ordered from Estrels:





Happy Birthday Hunny!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

May Santacruzan 2011

In honor of Our Lady of Fatima, our village's patroness, we had a kiddie Santacruzan last May 14. Zoe joined in as a flower girl.

Sharing some pics...


This was her flower bouquet.


Zoe posing with her Lola and baby brother:


Lining up with the other kids:


Happy to join the procession:

My Birthday

I celebrated my 35th birthday a few weeks ago. Whew. There. I said it. I'm 35 and I obviously feel old. (Sigh).

Anyway, my day turned out great! I have a new job and went to the office bringing KK goodies!



Here's a pic of my new officemates. They're really nice!


I took the afternoon off to go to mass and confession and have lunch with my husband. We dined at Wee Nam Kee which served Hainanese chicken rice.


Of course, we also ordered noodles for long life. :-)


Here is a picture of me with my wonderful husband...



As a treat, he bought for me a Gelato Cake from Cara Mia and it was so yummy!


We spent the rest of the day strolling around the mall and window-shopping! After that, it was time to go home to be with the two kids. Here's me with my adorable kids. Zoe made a birthday card for me...and it was the best birthday gift ever.



Thank you, Lord, for another year of life!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Look Alike?

I'm not so sure if I've blogged about this before. Tsk tsk. I think that's what I get for not updating this blog for months.

Anyway, at any rate, just want to show these two pictures taken side by side. Someone is claiming that he has a picture that is so similar to the picture of my son Luigi: the eyes, the hair, the ears and a whole lot more. Bottomline, this person is saying they look alike.

Well, looking at it now, there may really be a certain similarity. After all, the one in the older picture is...



...my eldest brother-in-law. (Kuya, sige na nga, pwede na rin! Hehe)

Here they are now and tell me if they still look alike.


:-D

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Nanay at 80

My beloved MIL celebrated her 80th birthday last April 10.

It was the Pineda family reunion to beat.


Here's my mother in law with all of her grandkids (plus one great grandson). My son Luigi is the youngest of them all. Let's count...



...ang dami!




Happy birthday, Nanay! We love you!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Zoe's School Pics

The schoolyear that was...




It was a fun year of learning and discovery. I am mighty proud of her.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

New Year's Resolutions

I was scouring through my uberly-neglected personal inbox today (which will take hours to finish off actually) and found something so new-yearish. A portion of an email quotes this nice line from a film: "Do, or do not. There is no try". That's from Yoda of Star Wars. Nice, isn't it?

This really hit the nail in the head because so many times this year, I found myself always saying myself, to another person, and even to God: "I'll try, okay?". I realize now I'll try seems to mean that...

1. I don't like to.
2. I'm too busy.
3. I'm not sure (of myself or of what I really want).
4. I don't care.
5. I don't love you (refering to God, others or even myself).

What's worse is this "I'll try" response comes from me not having a hold of my own priorities or as if I couldn't do anything (and it's not my own fault). I know that God should always be number one. But it's just so hard so I say "I'll try". Sometimes, I know I have to give myself to my family and my kids and I end up not doing so I say "I'll try" next time but it happens over and over again. Even with my own self, I say "I'll exercise today or I'll eat healthy today". But then when I wake up stressed and worried (not good signs), so I say "I'll try" again.

Good thing that God brings forth a new year to remind us that we can still change. He gives us the ample grace to be able to go above our weaknesses and start anew with new hope, new strength. "I'll try" is not all that bad. But actually doing it so much better and will please Him more.

This 2011, I might not be able to do all my new year's resolutions like becoming slim again which by the way, may only be resolved by a california plastic surgeon. There may only be hope for that with ethnic plastic surgery with the help of Lloyd Krieger, MD. But who knows, right?

Anyway, for the rest of the things which I've had misgivings, here's wishing that I'll be able to do better. I hope to be able do right again, put God on top of all things because that is how it should always be, and everything else will fall into place.

Belated Christmas Post

We celebrated Christmas in the traditional way. Our whole family attended the Christmas Eve mass and we sat down at 12 midnight to pray and eat our simple Noche Buena.


In the morning, Santa surprised the kids with nice presents.

Zoe was so ecstatic to wake up and find something big hidden underneath the Christmas tree.


Obviously, Santa heard her plea for a new bike and she got it!


She immediately got dressed and drove away!


As for Luigi, he was content on the car that Santa gave him.


I'm sure the gifts Santa dropped this year will go a long, long way.

And as for living the true spirit of Christmas, we had the usual lootbags prepared for the kids who pass by the house to greet us Merry Christmas. Dad was kind enough to buy the stuff this year since I was sickies with fever and cough the whole Christmas week.


By 9am, all of the goody bags were all given away! I really hope all the kids are happy! :-)


Happy Birthday dear Jesus!
 
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