Hey ya’ll ! If you are an avid reader or a subscriber of my blog, I apologize for the late Christmas post. I was kind of contemplating of posting this blogpost because it is way too late. Christmas is totally over already. But i promise myself to journal our Christmas for memories sake. I unfortunately skipped last year for the same reason because it’s late and i really regret that. Our Christmas the year before that is here. For that holiday season i decorated our humble home with white, silver and gold. For the past years, I’ve always had the traditional Christmas theme. It was decked out with red, white and gold decors . Plus a lot of plush toys ornaments so it looks fun for the kids. Check it out from this post, here. Now that they’re a bit older , i attempted to make our tree to look elegant-ish. Kinda imitating the ones i see at the mall. While i like the look of it, my husband totally loves it ! Surprise, surprise because normally he doesn’t pay much attention to decorations. I think it’s because of the clean look that coincide with his minimalist personality. For somebody who is not fond of change, it is quite surprising. I dressed up our dining table at Christmas eve dinner because it’s not everyday our table looking as good as this and besides it’s Christmas eve! This was taken after Christmas eve church service. I made sure we get our family pictures taken before everybody get all busy preparing and eating for Christmas eve dinner. If you can’t tell, the kids are playing around with the self-timer remote. I wanna highlight the bloopers here. After all, it was a beautiful mess. #formemoriessake Of course, the mother and daughter tandem looks. I tried to get the boys do a father and son twinning. They roll their eyes at me. They think they are too cool for that kind of stuff. #killjoy This was taken at Christmas morning. It was fun, obviously. Per say ” It’s the most wonderful time of the year ! “. Gosh, it was our 10th year of celebrating Christmas together as a little family. All of these were just a dream when i was a little girl. Now here i am living the life i dreamed of. I am grateful for everything even the not so perfect moments. For that, there were lessons learned and it shaped me, it shaped us. As we all know marriage and having kids test us with everything. Emotionally, physically and spiritually. There are not so great moments but there are amazing times that makes you so happy, it makes you question on what did i do in this world to deserve this. That kind of feeling. It’s the feeling of contentment, gratefulness and happiness. Even if we are broken human beings, even we are not a perfect family. I wanna look pass the hardship of married life and raising kids. I wanna remember these beautiful moments. Thank you so much for reading !
Year In Review 2018
Happy New Year everyone ! As for my first blog post for 2019, i would like to do a recap of our family highlights from last year. Disclaimer : It’s a long post as i’m trying to compressed those wonderful memories as much as i can. I have so many contents and blogpost that i wasn’t able to publish that year because i wasn’t able to keep up and things went by so fast. So many ideas that i wasn’t able to execute. But why dwell on it ? Let’s move on and start a new slate for 2019. I hope this year will be as good or even better than last year. Traveled with friends at Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina. Last year, it felt like the longest winter ever. We had so much snow early in the season even up to almost spring time. So we and our family friends decided to go for a road trip together with our littles last Spring break. It was our first time going on vacation with friends with our kids. It was a lot of fun ! I still feel like it needs a separate blogpost because i have so much to say about the place and our memorable time together. But as for now i wanna mark it as one of my favorite memorable highlights that year. We felt so grateful for wonderful friends. Family Summer Vacations Usually around summer break we don’t take long vacations because Michigan summer is great and we swim in the pool almost everyday. So we gotta take advantage of that. What we do, is take short road trips and getaways. So last summer we went to Columbus, Ohio. Read our post here and here. I felt so humbled and grateful for that opportunity and experience. We’ve never been to Traverse City, Michigan as a family of four. So we thought a short trip Up North would be a great getaway idea before school starts. Another separate blog post that i plan to make this year as i want to share more about our trip. Our youngest is already in Kindergarten Now this one is a tear jerker for me. Our little girl is the closest we got of a baby is definitely no longer a baby at all. For 10 years of being a stay-at-home, i am so used to having a child on my hip while tagging along another child. It was a juggling act between the two and i can’t believe that time has come that both of them are going to school full day. My exhausted sleep deprived self from years ago hoped for this day as i was struggling to handle the mundane task. Now, i just can’t believe how time flies. I graduated the toddler – preschooler stage but i’m up for another challenge. This time to raised these two as great individuals to the society. I am a student for life especially when it comes to parenthood. So much trial and error. I’m really hoping for the best for them. My eldest hits 10 years old milestone My boy, the one who made me a mom is a decade old. Also, we notice a transition from being a little boy to an almost teenager. Ugh, i can’t type teenager. It gives me chills. I’ve heard that raising teenagers is the most challenging. If you are mom with teens. I will need all the tips. While we are not in that phase yet. Hopefully, Lucas won’t give us a hard time. So far, he has been really good at school, he gets along great with other kids, helps out a lot in the house with me and his dad. He takes care of his sister and just over all greatness. I am really praying and hoping for the best. I don’t ask or expect so much from them, i just want them to be happy. To be safe, to feel safe. I want them to be kind, resilient, responsible, make good decisions and the right choices. It’s really what i pray and hope for everyday . I’m the hostess with the mostess I don’t know whose to blame here either me, my husband, my kids or my friends. But it seems like all the parties is in the house this year. My house is far from being grand. It’s not even close to being clean and organized but i tried to temporarily hide all my slack before the party hehehe. Regardless, this is the tenth year we lived in this house. I hosted so many parties and social gatherings. But i have to say i’m more low key now and prefer small intimate gatherings. My kids love it when i host parties in the house. They still request it up to this day. Sometimes i give in, sometimes we negotiate. As i’m thinking all the social gatherings that took place in this house, there were plenty. Not just mine but for our family and friends as well. It gives me that nostalgic feeling of good memories, lots of fun and laughter. It really all boils down to that. The memories you all share. Family and Friendships This is probably a bit more personal and something that i don’t want to go into details. But somewhere along the line of friendships and relationship with family members, things happen. It’s a mixture of really good ones and not so great ones . My take away from all the happenings that year is to always be kind. Be the bigger person. Be humble. Be grateful. We are all getting older. All of us are going to that same direction. Do the good thing, do the right thing. Find the beauty of everything, appreciate little things and don’t take anything for granted.A life free of hate and guilt .All these are easier said than done right ? But words are a driving force. Exercise your mind everyday to be the best
Christmas Card 2018
This year’s Christmas card is inspired by nature and classic looks. I tried to stay away from too much trendy outfits or too seasonal looks when it comes to a family portrait. I figured, i want to display our portrait all year round and not just for the holiday season. As you can see in that 16 x 16 framed rustic print that’s made from Shutterfly. In picking out the theme for our Christmas cards, i picked out designs that would compliment well with our photos that way it looks cohesive. I really love the Personalized Foil cards and Foiled Stamp cards in particular. Instantly it makes the card look elegant and just so beautiful. When I received the cards and the framed portrait, i just can’t stop staring at it. I truly love how it turned out and it’s such a beautiful keepsake for our family for years to come. Each year our cards and our framed print have a story to tell and how we’ve grown as a family year after year. Shutterfly have so many Holiday card designs to choose from, i can’t decide with one so i picked two. I thought it’s fun that way too. Also with this year’s card, i ordered personalized envelopes with matching design liners. It made the whole thing looked extra special. As someone that was born and raised in the Philippines doing a Christmas family portrait or even sending Christmas card to family and friends wasn’t a big thing. Unless they live far or overseas, then we send them a Christmas card. It wasn’t a tradition per say. When i immigrated in the U.S.A , that’s when it introduced me to that tradition. I think it’s sweet and heartfelt. Inexpensive way of showing love and gratitude. I wanted to have that kind of practice for our little family and hopefully our kids will follow through. Now that we have our own family, this is our time to create and build those memories. Tradition create memories and great memories bind a family. Whether planned or unplanned, it is something to talk about. It is a powerful family possession that profoundly link hearts together *Thank you Shutterfly for this post. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
Setting a Semi-Formal Thanksgiving Tablescape Idea + How to make a Charcuterie Board
Take Healthy To Go
This shop had been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., Kleenex, Lipton and Theraflu. All opinions are mine alone. #FluSeasonHacks #CollectiveBias It’s that time of the year again, I’m not talking about the holidays but the cold and flu season. When the weather changes it’s hard to escape the dreadful cough, cold and flu. Sometimes even if we get a flu shot, there are times that we experience a cough, cold or flu. It’s not fun at all especially when it’s holiday season as well. I remembered one time we were all sick on Thanksgiving day, obviously, we didn’t get to prepare anything but we still celebrated it. I remembered I just ordered everything at Kroger for our Thanksgiving dinner and thank God they have all kinds of menu options. In spite of it all, we were so blessed that we had a great meal and none of us got worst or end up going to the hospital.
7 Guides On What To Expect At Disney On Ice
Benefits of Playing Dress Up For Kids + Disney On Ice ( Detroit ) Giveaway !
As a kid playing dress-up means serious business. Both of my kids love to play dress-up since the age of two. My son was a super-hero, a train, a dinosaur etc. There were times he doesn’t have a real costume , he would figure out a way to make something out of it using boxes, papers, old clothes, whatever. Then he would come out and say “Tadaa, I’m a monster!” My daughter is the same way. When she was two years old, she would change at least 3 times a day. Why do some kids do this ? Why do they play dress-up like it’s their job? Benefits of playing dress-up for kids Expand their imagination – playing role model is a great way to expand their imagination and get creative. Kids love to mimic their surroundings and they do that through role playing. Gender identity – able to understand and explore gender identity. They would mimic behavior of such gender. Like, boys would want to wear dinosaur costumes, astronaut , cop, firemen etc. While girls would want princesses, fairies , mermaids etc. Regardless encourage your child with whoever they would want to be either a boy or girl role playing. Have them express their ideas ,feelings and explore different gender roles. Socialization – children develop interaction, it makes them show interest on others and learn how to give-and-take. Motor skills – through their imaginations, it would make them develop to create what interest them. Like creating a craft to accomplish what’s in their imagination or just by simply running, jumping , dancing etc. it helps develop their motor skills. Empathy – through role playing, it gives them an idea and an understanding of what roles play in other peoples lives. Like for example, my daughter loves to play mama to her dolls, she’s pretending her dolls are her babies. She knows that as a mom, she should feed them, bath them. change their clothes and play with them. It’s so amazing to watch how our kids develop traits and behaviors on stages of their life. Playing dress-up is one of them, it gives them freedom of who, when and where they want to be. It’s so fun to watch my kids when they are engaged in a dramatic play because you know their well being is progressing and developing on it’s own. GIVEAWAY TIME ! This is available around Metro Detroit area only. Disney On Ice Presents Frozen at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 18-21 . Tickets (starting at $15 ) it’s on sale already and can be purchased at 313Presents.com , Little Caesars Arena Xfinity box offices and Ticketmaster.com . To charge tickets by phone, call (800) 745-3000. Group discounts are available by calling (313) 471-3099. Read our last year’s Disney On Ice experience HERE To join the giveaway : Follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Leave a comment below or on my Instagram post so i know you joined. Additional entries if you tag someone. So simple, that’s it ! This giveaway runs from 8/28/18 – 9/4/18. I will mention the winner on 9/5/18. Good luck and Thank you so much! Thank you 313 presents . All thoughts and ideas are mine
Pool Party with Big Joe Pool Floaties
Family Portrait with Enchanted Photography by Marla Michele Must+ Giveaway !
Family is everything and such an important aspect of one’s life. It makes us happy, makes us feel loved and gives us that feeling of belongingness. Photography captures the moment, freezes time and has the power to move us. It reflects our personal story of the people we share our lives with and the places we love. Year after year, we always have a family portrait session where we dress up and shoot at beautiful places. As a mom, I want our family portraits to be a part of our family legacy. That our children would understand that we are a family unit and they are valued and important part of the family unit. It is the best way in preserving our history, our life and our journey. I am so happy to have one of my visions come to life with Marla Michele Must of Enchanted Photography here in Michigan. Her photography style is really what i desire as a perfect family heirloom that will be cherish forever and be passed on from generation to generation. It is classic, sophisticated and dreamy. That’s why I chose simple and classic looks for this photoshoot. Just like Marla’s photography style, I want it to look timeless. Seriously, these photographs brings tears to my eyes. I can’t believe they came out so great. Our session wasn’t long nor did we feel like we are being rushed either. The kids didn’t get fussy at all. Marla was really good with the kids, they were actually attentive the whole time. She also let us be ourselves and just captured our natural moments. She also helped us with some of the poses and our hand coordination. It is quite fascinating and the whole experience was great. I also admire Marla’s editing style, she uses hand artistry on all of her portraits. What is hand-artistry ? It’s taking an image straight out of the camera and transforming it into a dreamy piece of art by hand, without presets and actions, using brushes to paint in the light and add detail, highlights, and dimension. Today, we are giving away a gift certificate worth $575 one family portrait session with Enchanted Photography by Marla Michele Must. Michigan residents only. It starts 7/10/18 – 7/17/18. Winner will be announce on 7/18/18. Just follow the Mechanics below : 1. Follow Enchanted Photography by Marla Michele on Facebook and Instagram . 2. Leave a comment below. 3. Leave a comment by tagging a friend on Instagram. That’s it ! Good luck and thank you for reading! *Thank you Enchanted Photography by Marla Michele for this post.
