There's a time for everything and now is time for me to say goodbye to blogger and say hello to my new blog. I hope that you will follow me there! All the best :)
We all stay home but BIRTHDAY’s not cancelled.
Just like most of us at this time of crisis, I’m home all the time. With Benjo and the boys. We are still here in Singapore. How are you all doing?
This is me and this is Miguel now. He just turned 12 recently. Before Covid-19, we planned to go camping. Everything was ready and we have been watching camping hacks in youtube and we bought some camping gears as his birthday present so the anticipation kept getting higher.
Until, just a few days before his birthday, the Singapore government announced that as part of the nationwide circuit breaker, CAMPINGS ARE NOT ALLOWED. To Miguel’s disappointment. He locked himself in the room for sometime to process the news. Sorry ‘nak :(
17 April... morning... SURPRISE!
It’s May 2020 and we are in the midst of a bad pandemic. I am praying everyday for so many people.. especially those who never stop working to help us all get through the bad times... to those who are in great suffering.... to those who lost a loved one. May God give you the grace and courage. This too shall pass.
Until, just a few days before his birthday, the Singapore government announced that as part of the nationwide circuit breaker, CAMPINGS ARE NOT ALLOWED. To Miguel’s disappointment. He locked himself in the room for sometime to process the news. Sorry ‘nak :(
17 April... morning... SURPRISE!
We set up a camp in our living room. I was preparing myself for some awkward moments considering this might be too “childish” for him already... and I was right.. the first few moments were awkward! But he’s too respectful to show it so we continued with the day... lolll
‘Sit on your birthday camping chair’ I said.
‘Eh’ he said.
He’s been eating homecooked meals for a while now it has become too boring so we surprised him with his fave Long John Silvers. It may not show in his still awkward smile but he loved it ok.
Mindsetting time. Convince gid da ang anak mo nga mag enjoy sa camping nya. Hahaha!
Daw ang iban ya mas nasadyahan ho..
Never too old for a favourite — cookies and cream cheesecake...
It was a lot more fun in the evening when it became dark and we had to use the lights.. things became camp-like... we played charades and “Pinoy Henyo” ... Daddy’s “water aerobics” acts
will never be forgotten!
Thank you Lord for a wonderful day... So simple... so humble... it was just the four of us,
but it was great ❤️
Birthday boy the next day. Proof that the birthday camping was NOT CANCELLED.
Happy birthday Anak! We love you so much!
The Tale of Two Wedding Receptions
I'm not talking about the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. This wedding I'm going to talk about happened the day before the Royal Wedding. Read on...
Since the day Benjo and I got back from our pilgrimage, I haven't completely adjusted to my normal schedule, haven't caught up with the laundry, barely even touched any of my business and crafting backlogs and... I haven't lost any of the fats I gained after 13 days of eating pasta and drinking wine everyday. I was so frustrated and overwhelmed that I mindlessly just survived each minute taking care of the boys, the home, the life ... never ending chores, parent-teacher meeting, case conferences, and eating some more! Haiyooo!
I was at that emotional and mental state when Cathy my friend, asked me to make some wedding giveaways for our friend Evev and Tito who were to be married in two days! Are you kidding me? Two days ah? I said NO. Partly because I was really not in a good shape and partly because I really didn't have time. But we all know that even in an hour, if I really wanted to do it, I could just drop surfing my instagram and do it right. hahaha. That's the advantage if you are that gut-level with a friend. You can say no trusting that they'll understand. And she did. But then I felt guilty afterwards. hihi.
The next day. Cathy was still very busy with the wedding details. Cakes. Giveaways. She was very active in our group chat following up with the bride about everything. And managed to settle things smoothly with very little help from the self-absorbed, fat, hormonic me. lol. And then we found out that the cakes and the giveaways were not really needed because THERE IS A CAKE. and THERE ARE GIVEAWAYS..... ALREADY! Hmmmn... what to do with double everything?
I felt for Cathy... I admired her enthusiasm, touched by the love she has for our friend and somehow found myself feeling the normal feelings of a true friend ... So I rolled up my sleeves, forgot about the less than 24 hrs timetable, and proposed a DOUBLE CELEBRATION! The original reception hosted by the organizers and another one which would be a SURPRISE for the bride!
We witnessed a simple, lovely wedding and fantastic reception with three other couples and their families and friends which we enjoyed so much ... and then we had an after party at my place. Cathy and I had to prepare all these before we go to the wedding venue. We couldn't have done any of these without our dear husbands' support.
I only had 2 dessert plates so I had to run to the nearest mall to buy four more and buy whatever fresh flowers were available. Happy with what I found!
By the time I was setting this up, I had no idea what food we were gonna serve. I just wanted everything to be pretty and wedding-ish :)
I had to rely on what's in my stash and nothing could make me dance for joy at that moment than finding this gold crepe paper! And of course, that was a perfect time to bring out those coordinating throw pillows --- one of which I just saw while buying the plates, can you believe I even had time for that?
...simple calligraphy using gold Pentel brush pen
... remember I said no to make the giveaways? I think God made me say no (justify pa more hahaha!) because Cathy found these online and they are adorable! She packed some sweet treats inside and assembled each and every box by hand.
The cake. Cathy ordered a plain white cake in fondant and I decorated it with fresh flowers. First time to do this, I had to search "how to..." from pinterest :D
... to finish the whole set up, I added our personal gifts for the couple. I hope they like it.
This is us. Having a mini fine dining over moscato and --- since we didn't have time to cook --- FOOD PANDA! hahaha! It was such a cute party I must say. We started by playing the video montage Cathy made, a prayer and then we didn't plan what to do next but it sure was fun! If you don't zoom in to what we were eating, you wouldn't really know those were onion rings, chicken wings and potato wedges. hahhaha.
You know what they say, "What you do in love is done well"? It's true. I feel that we did well. Look at those smiles! Cheers Tito and Evev! We are very very happy you said "I DO" again. This time in front of God and the church. Love you guys! Bless the Lord for this day! Bless the Lord always!
To Cathy, success Mare! I'm glad I got the chance to turn things around after I said no to you at first. Mwah! Fist bump! Haha!
Since the day Benjo and I got back from our pilgrimage, I haven't completely adjusted to my normal schedule, haven't caught up with the laundry, barely even touched any of my business and crafting backlogs and... I haven't lost any of the fats I gained after 13 days of eating pasta and drinking wine everyday. I was so frustrated and overwhelmed that I mindlessly just survived each minute taking care of the boys, the home, the life ... never ending chores, parent-teacher meeting, case conferences, and eating some more! Haiyooo!
I was at that emotional and mental state when Cathy my friend, asked me to make some wedding giveaways for our friend Evev and Tito who were to be married in two days! Are you kidding me? Two days ah? I said NO. Partly because I was really not in a good shape and partly because I really didn't have time. But we all know that even in an hour, if I really wanted to do it, I could just drop surfing my instagram and do it right. hahaha. That's the advantage if you are that gut-level with a friend. You can say no trusting that they'll understand. And she did. But then I felt guilty afterwards. hihi.
The next day. Cathy was still very busy with the wedding details. Cakes. Giveaways. She was very active in our group chat following up with the bride about everything. And managed to settle things smoothly with very little help from the self-absorbed, fat, hormonic me. lol. And then we found out that the cakes and the giveaways were not really needed because THERE IS A CAKE. and THERE ARE GIVEAWAYS..... ALREADY! Hmmmn... what to do with double everything?
I felt for Cathy... I admired her enthusiasm, touched by the love she has for our friend and somehow found myself feeling the normal feelings of a true friend ... So I rolled up my sleeves, forgot about the less than 24 hrs timetable, and proposed a DOUBLE CELEBRATION! The original reception hosted by the organizers and another one which would be a SURPRISE for the bride!
We witnessed a simple, lovely wedding and fantastic reception with three other couples and their families and friends which we enjoyed so much ... and then we had an after party at my place. Cathy and I had to prepare all these before we go to the wedding venue. We couldn't have done any of these without our dear husbands' support.
I only had 2 dessert plates so I had to run to the nearest mall to buy four more and buy whatever fresh flowers were available. Happy with what I found!
By the time I was setting this up, I had no idea what food we were gonna serve. I just wanted everything to be pretty and wedding-ish :)
I had to rely on what's in my stash and nothing could make me dance for joy at that moment than finding this gold crepe paper! And of course, that was a perfect time to bring out those coordinating throw pillows --- one of which I just saw while buying the plates, can you believe I even had time for that?
...simple calligraphy using gold Pentel brush pen
... remember I said no to make the giveaways? I think God made me say no (justify pa more hahaha!) because Cathy found these online and they are adorable! She packed some sweet treats inside and assembled each and every box by hand.
The cake. Cathy ordered a plain white cake in fondant and I decorated it with fresh flowers. First time to do this, I had to search "how to..." from pinterest :D
... to finish the whole set up, I added our personal gifts for the couple. I hope they like it.
This is us. Having a mini fine dining over moscato and --- since we didn't have time to cook --- FOOD PANDA! hahaha! It was such a cute party I must say. We started by playing the video montage Cathy made, a prayer and then we didn't plan what to do next but it sure was fun! If you don't zoom in to what we were eating, you wouldn't really know those were onion rings, chicken wings and potato wedges. hahhaha.
You know what they say, "What you do in love is done well"? It's true. I feel that we did well. Look at those smiles! Cheers Tito and Evev! We are very very happy you said "I DO" again. This time in front of God and the church. Love you guys! Bless the Lord for this day! Bless the Lord always!
To Cathy, success Mare! I'm glad I got the chance to turn things around after I said no to you at first. Mwah! Fist bump! Haha!
Easter Basket
These days, I found myself being reunited with my blog once again. Although I think I have said that before. I just feel this time it's different =) Been re reading my posts from forever-ago and I cannot believe how corny I sounded during my early years of blogging hahaha! But whatever, I thank myself so much I did. The memories captured and kept are soooo precious. Had I not started this blog, I would have forgotten most of them.
So yeah, to show you all how sincere I am with wanting to blog again, here's a little project I did recently. This may be a little too late --- or way too early. You decide haha!
I was assigned to make Easter baskets for the children of our community and I want to share how I did it.
I got these cheap bowls from Daiso (3 pcs. for $2) and altered it with some washi tapes.
Filled the bowls with these shredded crepe paper from cold storage.
Next I made flower accents using a Sizzix die-cut machine using my leftover foam glitters.
Also with the same machine, I cut these tags and did a little brush calligraphy with my Pentel brush pen.
The fun part! Fill the bowls with treats (I'd like to thank Valerie and Jolene, sisters from the community for helping me search for these yumm chocolates!). Then wrap these bowls with plastic gift wraps I also got from Daiso.
Done and ready!
Happy Easter from us! Christ is risen!
So yeah, to show you all how sincere I am with wanting to blog again, here's a little project I did recently. This may be a little too late --- or way too early. You decide haha!
I was assigned to make Easter baskets for the children of our community and I want to share how I did it.
I got these cheap bowls from Daiso (3 pcs. for $2) and altered it with some washi tapes.
Filled the bowls with these shredded crepe paper from cold storage.
Next I made flower accents using a Sizzix die-cut machine using my leftover foam glitters.
Also with the same machine, I cut these tags and did a little brush calligraphy with my Pentel brush pen.
The fun part! Fill the bowls with treats (I'd like to thank Valerie and Jolene, sisters from the community for helping me search for these yumm chocolates!). Then wrap these bowls with plastic gift wraps I also got from Daiso.
Done and ready!
Happy Easter from us! Christ is risen!
To be happy ...
You can have flaws, be anxious, and even be angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments. To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures. It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity. Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny's author. It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul. It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life. Being happy is not being afraid of your own feelings. It's to be able to talk about you. It is having the courage to hear a "no". It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified. It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us. To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It is to have maturity to be able to say: "I made mistakes". It is to have the courage to say "I am sorry". It is to have the sensitivity to say, "I need you". It is to have the ability to say "I love you". May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness ... That in spring may it be a lover of joy. In winter a lover of wisdom. And when you make a mistake, start all over again. For only then will you be in love with life. You will find that to be happy is not to have a perfect life. But use the tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your losses to train patience. Use your mistakes to sculptor serenity. Use pain to plaster pleasure. Use obstacles to open windows of intelligence. Never give up .... Never give up on people who love you. Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show.*
- Pope Francis
- Pope Francis
Happy Autism Awareness Day!
Hi! I’m Rujim Paul. I’m 12 years old. I have autism. I am blessed. I am happy. Life is surely challenging for me most of the time but I am thankful to be surrounded with my loving family, friends and my community, the Church who shower me with so much love, support and understanding. They love me and accept me for who I am, I don’t have to pretend or try to be someone better and perfect. I am free! God loves me. He loves you too!
De-stash for Romero
One of my goals this year is to start living a minimalist life. To not just de-clutter but de-own my things. To own as less as possible. And what better way to de-own my scrapbooking stash than to clear them for something meaningful?
I have packed some of my scrapbooking goodies into 25 grab bags and I'm selling each of these for a worthy cause. Are you in? Keep reading...
Each bag contains a mixture of brand new and preloved items such as patterned papers, embellishments, at least 1 stamp, and a mix/any of my fave medium (ink, mists, glitter, paint, etc), alphabet stickers and/or thickers. Total value of each bag is around $35-40 or more!
AND YOU CAN HAVE THIS FOR ONLY $15!!!
100% of the proceeds will be given to Romero. He is my husband's former colleague back in Cebu and he needs all the support he can get. Please follow his story HERE.
Please note that due to a high shipping cost, this will only be available in Singapore and Philippines, but you can still extend your help to Romero wherever you are through the Give Asia campaign.
If you are from Singapore, you can buy these by coming to my house personally so you are able to choose and pick the ones that you like. First come, first served. Please send me a personal message at my facebook page, Thoughtful Crafts to arrange pick up schedule.
If you are from the Philippines, you may send your payment through my Philippines account, and I will randomly pick a bag for you (since you can't be here to pick up hehe) I will bring the grab bags when I go home to Philippines very soon. Likewise, please send me a personal message at my facebook page, Thoughtful Crafts to arrange.
This is such a win win for everyone. You will be happy with your loot, I will be happy clearing my stash, we all help Romero! Thank you in advance for your support.
Here are some of the grab bags!
Looking forward to hear from you soon!
Gen :)
I have packed some of my scrapbooking goodies into 25 grab bags and I'm selling each of these for a worthy cause. Are you in? Keep reading...
Each bag contains a mixture of brand new and preloved items such as patterned papers, embellishments, at least 1 stamp, and a mix/any of my fave medium (ink, mists, glitter, paint, etc), alphabet stickers and/or thickers. Total value of each bag is around $35-40 or more!
AND YOU CAN HAVE THIS FOR ONLY $15!!!
100% of the proceeds will be given to Romero. He is my husband's former colleague back in Cebu and he needs all the support he can get. Please follow his story HERE.
Please note that due to a high shipping cost, this will only be available in Singapore and Philippines, but you can still extend your help to Romero wherever you are through the Give Asia campaign.
If you are from Singapore, you can buy these by coming to my house personally so you are able to choose and pick the ones that you like. First come, first served. Please send me a personal message at my facebook page, Thoughtful Crafts to arrange pick up schedule.
If you are from the Philippines, you may send your payment through my Philippines account, and I will randomly pick a bag for you (since you can't be here to pick up hehe) I will bring the grab bags when I go home to Philippines very soon. Likewise, please send me a personal message at my facebook page, Thoughtful Crafts to arrange.
This is such a win win for everyone. You will be happy with your loot, I will be happy clearing my stash, we all help Romero! Thank you in advance for your support.
Here are some of the grab bags!
Looking forward to hear from you soon!
Gen :)
UPDATE: We have given 100% of the proceeds to the wife of Romero last December... and it is with our deepest sympathy to know that Romero had already passed away. May God grant him eternal rest.
What a Wednesday!
Having no helper for 2 months now (after getting used to having one since my two boys were born) took me out of my comfort zone. The change gave me unexpected twists and turns some almost make me cry but most are just priceless moments. Like these ones I will share with you today.
Yesterday morning, I forgot that every Wednesday, Kuya’s school bus comes an hour earlier. Totally missed it so I had to be the one to bring him to school (thanks to Uber!). I lost 2 hours in my schedule but anyway, problem solved.
Next concern: to rush back before Miguel gets home but just couldn’t so I called him to meet me at the mall. He waited for me at the food court. This was what I saw.
My youngest one making his homework while waiting for me. The sight made me teary-eyed and happy. The feeling was priceless.
So the day went on with the usual Wednesday stuff. Until after dinner I remembered it's children's day the next day and I had nothing planned and I couldn't just shrug it off because Miguel's expecting gifts for his classmates. We have been doing it since nursery.
Guess what happened.
Hubby helped me! After putting the boys to sleep, we did our last minute project. He ran to the nearest store to buy some chocolates while I prepared the paper strawberries. Turned out to be a fun experience for us. We only didn't make 40 little presents, we actually had our date for the week!
What a wonderful day it turned out to be!
Yesterday morning, I forgot that every Wednesday, Kuya’s school bus comes an hour earlier. Totally missed it so I had to be the one to bring him to school (thanks to Uber!). I lost 2 hours in my schedule but anyway, problem solved.
Next concern: to rush back before Miguel gets home but just couldn’t so I called him to meet me at the mall. He waited for me at the food court. This was what I saw.
My youngest one making his homework while waiting for me. The sight made me teary-eyed and happy. The feeling was priceless.
So the day went on with the usual Wednesday stuff. Until after dinner I remembered it's children's day the next day and I had nothing planned and I couldn't just shrug it off because Miguel's expecting gifts for his classmates. We have been doing it since nursery.
Guess what happened.
Hubby helped me! After putting the boys to sleep, we did our last minute project. He ran to the nearest store to buy some chocolates while I prepared the paper strawberries. Turned out to be a fun experience for us. We only didn't make 40 little presents, we actually had our date for the week!
What a wonderful day it turned out to be!
Currently
LOVING my Easter victories. Feeling at peace despite challenges.
EXCITED FOR next week. Business partners from Thailand and Philippines will come over for our Asia Pacific Convention and Benjo and I will be awarded for our efforts. I can't wait to be ignited and spend time with our team!
LISTENING TO Kuya's laughter while he watches Smurfs 2. He watches movie every morning after breakfast. After that he will exercise. Then prepare for school.
ENJOYING my home office and all the stuff I do at home. I am happy to wake up before sunrise, prepare breakfast and lunch boxes and pray early. I want to maintain this habit. And I also hope to maintain blogging. I know I say that every time I post. Lol.
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