Treasures

I'm a person that when I learned that one of my family member will go abroad, I will asked them to buy something for me, of course I will, pay them back (but they don't let me pay it, thank you for that), that is why they called me Ms. Pabili, for I know I won't be able to travel to places where they went), last April my parents and sisters went to China to visit our families there, and when they came back, I asked my mom did she bought the things I asked for and she did, when I asked her how was their trip she told me everything about it, then she told me that my dad bought a jade bracelet for my sister in law, then I joked and said I need to talk to my dad and asked why we don't have, but of course I didn't do it, I just learned that my parents bought us also, I was super happy really, you know why, it's my wish, a wish that I'm longing before, you see my dad never gave us anything when we were young, he's the typical Chinese dad, so when he (and my mom) bought us the bracelet, I felt so happy, I used to dream that my dad will give us all something to remember him, I don't know why but it's so different to received something from our dad, so the bracelet I'm wearing it now and everytime I looked at it you can see the smile in my face, for I felt that I'm with my dad everyday, that they personally choose the design for us (sorry if you guys feel I'm so material girl but I'm not), then my achi went to hong kong with her whole family, when came home she bought us a little carebear keychain for each of us ( different color for each) , i just loved the thought of it, that she really think of something to give us as a souvenir, I know it's just material things, but the thought itself are very precious to me, and I will TREASURE all of it for the rest of my life.

Jade bracelet my parents gave to me.

The sibling carebear my achi gave each one of us.

Missing HOME

I never thought in my wildest dream that I would be living my life at the other side of the world, I used to envy some people before when I heard that they went to US, I thought it's fun, they said living the American Dream, but for me it's not, when I learned that I'll be leaving my family, i became so sad, I know that I will missed all the events like birthdays, Christmas, outing etc..the first few years of my stay here was really hard, I do cried for some nights missing my family, even now I still have that moment when I will just sit and then remembered all the things in the past. But as I missed them I felt some pain too, you see I always call them but they don't even bother to talk to me, a hi and hello is hard for them to do, sometimes when I'm talking to my mom she will asked me to call again because she will watch her show first, when I will call my sister she will not even looked at the phone, I tried to sent message first through viber (group chat) like how are you stuff,  but it seems they are all busy, yes I tried to understand them maybe they are really busy with their errand, so sometimes I just shut myself up from them for a few days then go back to what I used to do to them like nothing, everytime when we chat together it makes me happy, really happy, but life is life, right? Reality check that we had our own family to looked after and care for, and I should not expect a lot from them, maybe I just missed them that's why I had my moments again.

Gifts to remember

March 2007 when I moved to the other side of the world, it's hard for me to leave my family behind, I cried for days, that time calling home international would cost a lot, I still remembered every time I want to call my parents, I would used Ronald's cellphone to call, but very limited time, that's why when Apple release iPod touch, it gave me the idea to give them iPod as a gift, that's where I start to talked to my sister Irene and asked her the favor to asked how much is the iPod touch there in the Philippines, due to my budget, I can only afford the 16gb, I also asked her to ask the rest of my sibling on what color they prefer, white or black, since majority want white I said white, 2010-2011 I started saving money and sending it to my sister so she can buy the iPod, my plan was to give it before Christmas of 2011, so when Irene told me she already bought 6 iPods I was so happy, I still remembered when Irene gave the iPod to my brother ken, his reaction was priceless 😊, the reason why I gave them the iPod is because I can talked and text them anytime of the day for free, it will lessen my homesickness too.

Year 2013 when I started to think of something to give to them again but this time I told myself I want something that will last forever, something that they will remember me even when I'm gone, something that is precious, and one thing came to my mind it's jewelry. That's where I asked my mom about the price of necklace alone and with pendant, but again due to my budget I said for now just necklace,so my mom purchased it (thanks mom), then while cleaning and packing things I happened to saw a 7 charms of slippers, and 2014 when I visit them, my plan was to write a letter to them attaching the necklace and charm in it, but as I'm starting to write my tears began to fall, and I just told my SIL if she can hand it to them when I leave.

Why I give them gifts every time I visit them, before when I'm still single, I never give them anything, I had have this time/moment in my life when I shut myself to them, and I really really regret it til now, I want to make up for everything to them, it's not about the gift that I gave, it's the thought that I want them to remember, that even when I die that there is something that I left for them and that thing called LOVE.

2011-2012 gift

2014 gift

Happy Father's Day

He was quiet, when you see him he is serious, but no one would ever imagine that he is funny, full of jokes, a lot of humor, a family man, always want just to stay home and be with the kids, every time he come home, they will play tag inside the house, will watched movie with kids, eat out, grocery together,   No wonder the girls loved him so dearly, 3 weeks ago, when I talked with our girls on what plan we need to do for Father's Day, they said they will buy cards and gift, I said what gift?Elle said daddy's favorite car, all i thought it was just a toy car, but I'm wrong a real car, so I told Elle we don't had enough to money for that, so Elle said she will study hard and earn money and buy daddy the car and her own car and color it purple and I said that was so nice of her. So we ended up buying a Lego car, I bought 3, then we went to target, as soon as the girls saw the hallmark section, they started looking and reading cards to give to their dad, it took us 1 hr (no kidding), then they want to give cake too, asked them what kind they want Mario cake, so I did what the girls request. Ronald is a great husband but the best and greatest dad to our girls, thank you for loving us, protecting us, and just a BIG thank you for everything, you know how much we love you, you are our hero, fighter and shield.

Happy Father's Day dada, we love you so much.

The girls card for Ronald 

The cake and our gifts for him

All the picture that I took on every trip we went.

Happy Father's Day Pa

For 30 years I stayed with my parents until I get married, for that years, we been through tough times, imagine, raising 7children, all of us studying in private school. I'm not close to my dad, I was afraid of him instead, he was so strict especially when it come to study, he wants us to get good grades especially to my other sisters for he know that they can get or do better. Yes we do get a lot of spanked from him when we do something not nice, I still remember that his rule is no boyfriend until we finished college, no nail polish, from time to time he will checked our nails if we cut it or not, no make up, no to everything hahaha. He's the type of father na quiet but if someone did something to us, he will rush to school and protect us. But right now I do appreciate my dad so much for bringing all us up like this, kasi matitino lahat kami, we know how to respect people. I can see how people respect him it's so different, he is full of wisdom, now that I'm on the other side of world, it's hard sometime for me, but every time when I talked to him he will just listen and after will tell me what to do, I would say that my relationship with my father right now is more closer than before, he was cool, he will buy things for us (even we're old na) he will shop with us, eat with us like ice cream or drink coffee, I truly missed and love him so much, I may not say it to him but deep inside my heart he was a perfect dad, my protector and I will want him to be my dad again in my next life. 

To my dearest papa happy Father's Day, always stay healthy for I still want to do travel with you and mama, eat together and shop too. I love you Pa.

Say......Camera

I don't remember when I started to tell Ronald that I need to change my camera, but I've been telling him that my camera needs to change. Back 2007 when Ronald brought me my ever first camera (yes it's true) for I want to capture every moment of Elle ( she was 3-4 months old that time), we (Elle and I) was still in the Philippines that time while Ronald was in the U.S., so when Ronald came back he already bought me a Sony camera, I find it hard to use, then when we migrated here, he bought a canon camera, he needs it for his travel, that where I found that canon camera is very simple to use, on, point to where you want to capture and click, even to download it to laptop it was so easy, so I asked him if we could switched our camera, and he said yes.

For 8 years, I always bring the camera with me, wherever I go, it smell and handy, for I want to make sure that I can capture all the activities of my kids, I even used the video of it to record all the shows that my kids perform in their school, but as we all know that gadget doesn't last long, lately I've noticed that every time I press the click button, you need to hold it long and you will hear a click sound, so if I asked somebody to take picture of us, we've always told them to press it long, that's where we decided to look for a new one, when Ronald asked me what I'm looking for a camera, I told him that I want handy where I can put it inside my bag, that even your moving you still can capture a nice picture, he said DSLR camera are like that, but that's way too big for me.

So when we searched we saw from Sony it's a small version of DSLR, but when we saw the price we were surprised, it's way expensive, so I said maybe we could wait till the Black Friday sale (November thanksgiving) then just 2 weeks ago we purchased a TV, but when we start to do the settings we noticed something is wrong, and decided to return it and get a new one, that where T (Ronald ofcmate/friend) told him that he can get a great discount from sony. 

So Ronald emailed the person in Sony and he gave us a great discount, 25%off, I was so happy and thankful at the same time, for we saved some money, for I've been praying if we need to buy that camera, and here's my answered prayer.

My old canon camera (8yr old)

My new Sony alpha A6000

Craft

Back then when I'm studying, at school we used to have a home economic subject, where the teacher will teach us how to cook, do some crafts, and I really like it, it's one of my favorite subject. Doing craft you need patience, need to concentrate and to be focus, I like that it let you think of what ideas you want for your craft. Now that I'm a mother of two girls, I really wish to pass to them my loved for crafting, just like this morning, I taught them how to do the peler beads. I let them choose their design and colors and let them put it one by one in a square thing, after that I did the ironing so they would stick together, it's a fun thing and a bonding moment also for us as mother daughter thing.

Like Twins

When Ronald and I shop for our kids,me like to get them matching outfits, I felt it's cute. Then last year when we are in Philippines, my sisters told me that I should stop doing it so that they could have their identity. I began to wonder if I need to change or not.

So this morning, since my girls earned a free dress pass (for perfect attendance) I dress them up the same, same dress same hair style and same shoes, that's where I start to asked them their thoughts of wearing the same, I first asked Erin, and she said she was happy because she felt that she and her sister are like twins, (yes, many thought that my girls are twin, they looked so much alike) and that they are sisters for life then with Elle, she said the same thing and it's fine with her, it doesnt bother her either. 

I don't know how long my girls will love having the same outfits. Maybe at some point they will change their styles based on their personalities. But in the meantime they will always look the same. It may not be the good way to dress them like that always but I'm happy that they don't care. What really matters to them is being associate with one another because they are sisters, partners and BFF (best friends forever).

Worldly Songs

In my younger times, I love listening to love songs and OPM songs, I bought a lot of them especially when I liked the singer and their songs, then when I was baptized to be born again Christian, at church they play all Christian music which is really good, so as I attend church every Sunday, we do had praise and worship where all the songs are really great, now with 2 kids, I'm kinda careful of the songs that i played inside the house or at the car, I just felt that with this generation their music or lyrics it's so different. So what I usually play or listen to is all Christian songs, then one day as I picked my kids from school they start telling me about a songs sang by Katy perry. Elle told me that all of her classmates knew the lyrics except her, so I asked her does he felt bad? And she said NO.  do I feel bad about it? At first yes but now not anymore, you see the songs/lyrics before are so different from today, I know I can't control them forever, there will come a time that they will hear all this wordly songs, at least right now I can see that they can differentiate a good songs from bad songs, and I will continue to play all the Christian songs for them.