V Day

I'm not really the showy and touchy type. I spread love through subtle actions. Sometimes, I wish I know how to handle and express my feelings well.

After two kids, I realized that I did improve on that aspect. Everyday, I shower my girls with hugs and kisses, encouraging them to be more expressive like their Dad. And when they do give me an unexpected hug and peck on the cheeks, the day becomes brighter for me.

I thought Valentines day is something people should celebrate. Not necessarily with their lovers. Because this is the time that we have the license to be as sweet as we can be to all of our loved ones.

Let's spread our love!

:D

Waiting in Line

Every start of the year, I have to go through the process of waiting in line. I kept my cool each year having had a clue of what to expect. So far, I was never disappointed. Every news is as good as it gets.

This year though is quite different. The change last year left me wondering where my efforts went. I'm clueless! The only hope I have is my faith that I did my best and that it will be appreciated once more.

A few more days to go and I will know where I'm heading or supposed to be heading. I'm praying for good news despite the hard times. The need to support my family is making me more than anxious... I hope waiting in line will be all worth it.

:)

I can do this!

Immune system completely down, still not feeling well...

Throat is burning, slight coughing, runny and then blocked nose combined with low temp a/c the whole day.

The flu-tab and lozenges are the ones that kept me "alive" at work today...

I must get well tomorrow!

I can do this!

:{

Potty Training 101

Before going to bed, I told my 18-month old Beatriz to wake up Mummy if she wants to pee and that it is alright to wake up Mummy. That I will bring her to the toilet to pee no matter what. She nodded.

... At 2:30AM, I heard my little-big baby say "Mummy, wiwi!!!!!"

Yeah, first time she did at the wee hrs of the morning!

(result of a week's teamwork of Mummy and Yaya Tata, hurray!)

Note to self: Yzabel was potty trained at the same age! How lucky am I? :)


****

After an hour, just when i was feeling the need to sleep, Triz sat down and said "wiwi!!!" I brought her back to the toilet & waited for 5 mins... No pee. As if knowing that it's already taking a long time, Triz finally said "done!"

She slept as soon as she touched the bed.... And I waited until my alarm set off at 6am.

:D

Kapoy Kaayo

... my girls and yaya are all sick, super mommy/wifey mode the whole day!

All worth it though, my girls gave me a dozen kisses before they slept as if knowing how tired their Mummy is. :)


... Just for the sake of making myself believe that a day can be well spent...

- brought girls to pedia for checkup in the morning
- washed dishes after lunch
- afternoon nap with girls
- cooked meryenda: champorado
- baked egg pie for tom's breakfast
- finger painting with girls
- balloon sculpting for the girls
- washed all baking tools
- cleaned triz's feeding bottles and steamed them
- roasted chix inasal
- prepared ingredients for tom's dish - chopseuy
- set the table for dinner
- wash dishes again
- prepared triz's bottles for the night
- washed triz before going to bed

... No wonder i'm this tired hahaha!

Thank God Wah helped cook the Chopsuey. Yaya felt better after resting and she washed Yzee before going to bed.

:D

Yzee can read at 4-yrs and 3-mos

Before actually teaching her, I planned first on how I will go about our reading lessons. I found it difficult to teach reading in English than in Filipino. The sound of the letter is not that straight forward unlike in my country's language.

I assessed Yzee's knowledge by randomly pointing to a letter and asking her to say the sound aloud. Then we would recite GUG's zoophonics which we learned when she was 2-yrs old. At night, my husband would play some phonics videos from Youtube for Yzee to watch. We followed this routine so frequently that it became very natural for Yzee to say the sound of the letter easily. We also played phonics guessing games with Yzee until she got everything correctly.

When it seemed that she was already familiar with the letter sounds, I started combining consonants and vowels. I showed her how to put the sounds of two letters together. We continued the Youtube phonics videos every night. Then we moved on to three-letter words when she was able to handle the two-letters well. She was proud of her progress. She was doing really good. But then, I noticed that after a few days she was bored again.

I bought the book "Big Sister, Little Sister" for Yzee to practice on. I know that she will find it interesting since she will be able to relate to the story, having a little sister of her own. However, the book consists of simple to complicated words. Aside from my worries that she might refuse to go through it, the word variations will be challenging for me to teach as well.

I started to introduce the book to her by reading the first page, demonstrating how to read. For three consecutive days, we read the first three pages slowly, going through word for word. On the fourth day, she asked me if we can move on and read the rest of the book. We read the first six pages the next three days. On the 7th day, I realized that she was bored again. She was already guessing some of the words based on the picture. So I tested her, I browsed a page that she hasn't read before. I was surprised to see that she can read the sentence stopping only if the word is too complicated. From then on, we tried reading the rest of the pages until we finished the book.

Every other night, we went through the book. We did this for a week.

Today she read the book with minimal help from me. I'm very proud of how fast she learned.

My Yzabel is very intelligent!

:)

When "E" is not enough

In a perfect world, one's behavior, skills, attitude and professionalism affects his rating at work. He must be the best in what he does before he gets rewarded by movement and better compensation.

Unfortunately, my world is not perfect. I felt like being in high school again. Being the best in Math in a class composed of the best students. And yet, my excellence was not enough. My grades were pulled down by the majority of the batch who did not do as good. In the end, it seemed looking at my final grade, I'm as ordinary as anyone.

Then came College, the best time of my life. I worked hard, I aimed high. And I did get what I deserved. I excelled in Math, I'm best in what I do. It was life at its best. I graduated with very good grades despite dealing with
home issues that time.

I joined the work force and again, gave my all at work. I was noticed. My ratings would always be high. In all three companies I worked for in the PH, I received my prize. My hard work would always pay off.

Then came SG. When "E" doesn't matter because of market issues, the bucket is at its lowest. When climbing up would require being visible as its main factor rather than quality of work. When sudden rules neglect what real excellence should be.

I know the card is not with me right now. But I will refuse to bow. Because I wanted to move from where I am. And get what I deserve. If it will take visibility as what was said in order for me to be there, then I'll go for it.

:)

Best Egg Pie

After altering the measurements of the ingredients and doing extra tricks in the procedure, I made the best egg pie on my second attempt!

Now, the ultimate test is to let friends do taste test. Though I trust my husband's taste buds, it is good to know if it would pass the general public's palate.

Let me post the pics that I took of my egg pie.