The BEST 40th gift

Psalm 90:12 - " Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

We went to my sister house for family picture (we usually do this every time we went home). Aside from the picture taking, they bought food, drinks, dessert, after eating lunch we did some games and it's super fun, the last event was they asked me to sit down and there they bring out all the 40 gifts. Yes I was surprised, why? because before we went home I've been telling them that they need to give me gifts but they always ignore it hahahah, anyway, before I can open a gift I need to answer or act before I can get one and open it. Turning 40 is a big deal for me, why? Now a days most of the people die early, that's why they said life is too short, beside that it's the time where I can spend my special day with the people who are dear in my life and that's my whole family, but it's not always happy because before my birthday there's one not so nice news that I got (sorry can't share it yet). It's been very hard and tough for me in dealing with it, but like they've said life must go on, I love all the stuff they gave me, mostly is my melody items😂😂😂, but the best gift that God gave me is MY FAMILY, we're not the  perfect family, but if God will ask me what kind of parents and sibling I want for my next life, I will and still want them, we are imperfect but that's what make us unique in our own different way, the warmth, care and love they give is priceless, we may had our own life and families but if we need each other we are there hand in hand, together we stand divided we fall.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate all the things you guys did on my birthday, I know I'm not the kind of person who is very expressive but deep inside my heart I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life. Know that I really love all of you.

The LOVE Ingredient

1 Corinthians 16:14 - " Let all that you do be done in love."

When I was like 12 or 13 yo, i remembered I always watched how my mom cooked our food, I knew that one day I will cook food for my family, my growing up years I tried to cook like sliced pork with shitake mushroom and fried potato, sunny side up eggs, steam egg, hotdog etc. now that I have my own family, I tried to cook the food that I know only, sometimes I used to search and cooked it, some failed some not. When we went back to the Philippines last July, my mom cooked fried chicken, she cut it into a very small pieces, and I really taste good, so I asked her how did she marinate it.

So I tried to do what my mom did, bought chicken that was already cut into pieces, marinated it and fried it, viola my girls and hubby likes it, dinner time my girls asked me what are the ingredients that I put in there, so I told them try to guess it, so they some right some wrong, but one thing they both said that really melt my heart, they said "mommy, the best ingredient you put is full of LOVE." 

As a mom it's not really an easy task to do everything, but knowing that my girls knew how much love I put in taking care of them makes me happy, I'm not a perfect mom, we do argue, had our opinions but  in the end I always seek God for wisdom and knowledge on how to be a good mom to my girls.

Excited

1 Chronicles 16:34 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Wow! I can't believe that it's end of June already, time really flies so fast, yes, I just watched the inauguration of the new president of the Philippines, it was a nice speech, and this year we are going to visit our families, it's been 2 years already since the last time we saw them, so my girls are super excited and can't wait to ride the plane, they've been counting down to the date of our departure. I know this would be a long flight for us especially for my girls plus the change of body clock, I just pray that we would make it, not only that I'm just super excited to celebrate my birthday with my families. 

So for now I need to write down all the things I need to bring in my backpack, will be back for my birthday wish lists😂😂😂😂

Happy Father's Day

Just want to say thank you for all the things you've done to us, for protecting us, giving us a comfortable life, bringing us to restaurants we like, for being so funny everyday, your the best husband to me, best dad to our girls, mas mahaba pa pasensya mo kesa Sa akin, you really taught me a lot, I really thank God for giving you to us, I cant asked for anything more. Happy Father's Day dad, we love you so much ❤️❤️❤️

Last day of school

Wow, I can't believe that today was the last day of school, I really felt that the time flies so fast and another year passed, so for this week, almost everyday they asked each child to bring home all their stuff from notebook, planner, pencils and so forth. I just can't imagine that my girls are growing so fast as well, whew!!! So today, while inside the car going home, shobe showed me a paper and read it, super speller award, before when achi was first grade they don't give this kind of special award to students, so I was kinda surprised, so each award they give one to girl and one to boy, there's best in math, athletic etc. I think the teacher gave her that award because she won the spelling bee last year, but the most important part of it seeing shobe happy was the best of all.

Happy birthday Shobe

7 years ago I gave birth to a very little cute girl, though I went through a hard pregnancy but it all worth it, we fondly called her shobe. She is very pretty, maarte, loves to wear accessories, kind and loves the Lord, as you turned 7 last April 7, i can't held but sad because I don't have any more baby, but happy at the same time that your growing to be the person that we want you to be, happy birthday dearest shobe, you know very well that daddy, mommy and 姐姐 loves you so much, may you always put God in your life and heart and always have a strong in Him.

Sick

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The last time that I went to hospital was year 2009 when I gave birth to my youngest daughter, then last March 21 Ronald need to bring me to the ER for I was really sick, this happened days before when I started to hear something from my hear, then come Sunday I told Ronald about it so he drove me to a doctor to be checked, since it's weekend, he dropped me off and they went somewhere else, the doctor did not give me any medicine to take, coz she find interesting about I told her, so Sunday afternoon I already felt a little bit dizzy so I just lay on the bed, Monday early morning, around 1:30am when I need to go to bathroom, my whole world is like turning around, i almost lost my balance in standing up, then after my pee, I vomitted and had some diarrhea as well, so 5am woke up to prepare foods/ breakfast for my girls, I vomit again and again and again, that's where i told Ronald that I think I need to go to hospital already, so we dropped off the girls to school and went to hospital, I don't have any energy anymore, imagine I vomitted all the food already and am afraid to eat for I know I will vomit it too, so the nurse check my bp, took my temperature and asked why, they said its vertigo, so I was asked to go inside the ER, put something on my finger for the heart, asked me to change to hospital gown, to pee in a bottle and took some blood for bloodiest, I was so scared that time esp when the doctor said that I need to had CT scan, when the nurse put medicine into my IV, that medicine will helped me to stop my dizziness and it works, so they prescribed medicine for my dizziness and nausea, and they discharge me after 4 hours staying there. With what happened to me, I prayed so hard to God to give me another chance to live, my girls are still young and I can't accept to leave them just like that, I know that our lives are just borrowed from Him, and we cannot hold our lives only God knows when am I leaving this world, so with this I want to spend more time with my families, to build more memories with them, and to live my life to the fullest. 

Simple Poem

While cleaning the house, especially all the papers that my girls used, yes they used a lot of paper in drawing or writing something, then I came to this piece of paper and was surprised when I read it, it a poem that Elle wrote to her dad, when I showed it to Ronald, he asked Elle if she copied or did her own, and she said she did it on her own, it even took her 30 minutes to finished it, it's not a long poem it's very short but it means a lot to us especially to Ronald.

Valentine's Day

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Happy Valentine's Day! What is really the true meaning of Valentine? Why do most people celebrate it? This is the day when you buy flowers they are expensive already haha, a lot of store sells different kind of chocolates, lots of cute teddy bears that are on displays, well, my Valentine is just an ordinary day, since I have two girls, I told Ronald that I want my girls to feel special, so we bought a cute lamb stuff toy and he will buy a rose for each, so this morning when Ronald was about to go out, Elle immediately said she wants to go with him, so he don't know how to buy rose already, funny because Elle asked his daddy instead to buy a yellow tulip to give to me (yes that's my favorite flower and color as well), so shobe and I were waiting and it's already afternoon and we are hungry already, atlast they came home and Elle hand me the flowers, honestly I don't expect my husband to give me flowers anymore, for I felt it's a waste of money, since the flower will die too, but on the other hand I thought that it's better to received flowers while I'm still alive and appreciate the beauty of it than receiving it while I'm inside the casket and would never appreciate it anymore, anyway go back to my story, we gave our girls the stuff toy and a flower for each, they are so happy, seeing them happy makes me smile, so they went to their dad and thank him and gave him a hug and kiss, I don't think we need to wait for February 14 to celebrate this event in our lives, everyday can be a valentine for us, because the Love that we give to our loved ones are the most important, the love and time are the most precious gifts that we can give to people who are dear to us.

Look like an Angel

Luke 20:36 - " They are like the Angels, they are God's children."

At school, every Christmas all the first graders will perform to what they called Christmas pageant. It's all about the story of Jesus Christ, from there the teacher will give each kid a paper and asked them to write what role they want to play, to be a reader, an angel, 3 kings, Joseph and Mary. When Elle was first grade she wants to play the role of an actor but sadly the teacher gave her the role of a reader because they knew that she perfect fit for it, and yes she kinda felt bad that time and cried while asked me why would they asked you to write if they won't give you what I want, we need to explain to her properly so she would feel better and yes after some explanation she totally get it and she feels happy for her role, now for Erin, she knew what she wants, to be an angel, and when the teacher gave her the paper and saw she was an angel she was too happy, so from time to time they practice inside the school, then one day, she told me that she had a special role but can't tell us the full details because she wants to surprise us. December 17,2015 was the day of the program, we just borrowed the costume from the teacher (for I don't want to spend anymore, just being practical ), so I asked her what shoes does she need to wear and she said flip flop, so literally she wore a angry bird purple flip flop that we bought from Philippines two years ago, when we were inside the venue and waiting for them to come out, Ronald and I started to laugh because other Angels were a white sandals and our child is wearing a flip flop hahaha, so the story begin by the Angels singing, after that the reader read their part while the actor do their play, then Erin went up to the stage and raise her two hands, so that's the special part that she's telling us, after the play we change into uniforms and says our goodbye for they need to go back to their classroom. That afternoon while checking my Facebook, the school post picture of the play and I was so surprised to see the picture of my child, she was so beautiful, whoever took that photo, she was really good in taking the angle of it, she really looked like an angel, everytime I looked at the picture I can't help but really thank God for giving them to us, they are my ANGELS.

Blessing

Psalm 127:3. "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."

I know this so a super late port that I've should have write it last November 2015, forgive me about this hehe 😊  When I was younger, I'm not the smart kid, I really don't end up with honors but as long as I had a passing grade I'm fine and happy with it, so I told myself I'm not going to push my children to get a high grades or whatsoever, because I knew I'm just going to give them pressure in the end. Now having two wonderful girls, I really didn't expect them to win any contest in the school, I always pray and want them to grow up very good girls but if they excel in school that's an extra factor that God gave to my girls. With Elle, I knew that she will do well in school for at the very young age, she start and love to read until now, so as a parent we support her by buying her books and read with her.

Remember the post that I wrote last time about the spelling bee, ok when she was first grade, that's the first time the school start to do the spelling bee, she won, second grade and last year she won again, but this time they have vocabulary bee, they gave them 100 lists of words with their meaning, and yes they only gave them a week to review right after the spelling bee, so when we started to review the words that she got wrong, she needs to review it again just to make sure she'll remember it, so come now 19,2015 the day of the vocabulary bee, I just pray that she will remember all the things we reviewed and I just lift everything up to the Lord, so that afternoon when I picked them up, I asked her how was the test, she said she got all correct and told her good job, I forgot when but that day when I picked my girls, they start telling me that in the morning show inside the school and announce the winners of the vocabulary bee, and yes for Elle grade level 4 of them won, two from each class, funny is when Erin heard her sister name she was happy but got disappointed when they mispronounced our surname (yes, they are having a hard time saying a surname). We are so happy and proud for all Elle's achievement in school since first grade.

Seeing my girls excel in academic, I can't help but thank our Lord, for giving them to us, for children are truly BLESSINGS from GOD.

Award

Year 2013-2014 was the first year where the school start giving an award they called PRIDE award, what does this PRIDE award means: P- Positive attitude, R- Respectful behavior, I- Independent learning, D- Dedicated to safety, E-Engaged in learning, per class the teacher would choose one student per semester, nobody know, students and parents don't know who will win, the award is given every end of the semester, and parents will only know who win through email that we do received weekly from the school, last 2 years ago, both my girls won the award, yes both of them, in the same semester too. After winning, we thought that's it, but we are wrong, last Thursday, while waiting for my girls to pick them up, as soon as shobe went to the car, she told me that she won the award again, she was surprised when her name was called, am I happy? Of course, but at the same felt a little sad for my older one, I know how she wish she would win the award too, so Ronald and I assured her that she will win again, and beside she already won before.

I always thank the Lord for giving my girls to me, they are not perfect but I just love them the way they are, my only prayer for them is they become a good people with full of love in their hearts ❤️❤️❤️

Happy 10th Anniversary

Wow, time really flies so fast and imagine we are celebrating our 10th year already, hmmm... So where should I start, let me think! The day when I said YES to marry Ronald I knew he is a great man, he's not perfect, we do argue with small things (very seldom happen) he is very kuripot but practical, he looked serious outside but inside he's funny, caring and loving. So today, we went to for lunch while the girls are still in school and for dinner we went out to celebrate it as family, I'm just thankful that God gave Ronald to me, as my husband, friend, protector and comedian. I prayed that may our marriage will last forever till death do us part. And may we continue to put God in the center of our lives and family,just love him so dearly.

So as my gift to him, I went to buy a card and put angpao inside it, now he just asked me that I can keep the angpao hahahah yes 😂😂😂😂 (just kidding ).

Journaling Bible

Just this month I started asking my sisters on what best Bible version, you see, the one that I'm using right now is NIV, honestly they said it's easier to understand but I don't know I'm having a hard time to understand some of the verses or story, or maybe my spiritual life is at its lowest point for years already where I need oil to keep me burning, I don't know, so while chatting through viber my achi told me that most of the pastor recommend the NASB or ESV, so I set a day to go to a Christian store to check the differences of the Bible, and yes I find that ESV is easier to understand rather than the NIV, and before I left the store, they hand me a schedule where they will do some journaling bible. 

The first time I heard about the journaling bible is from achi too, I've been thinking of giving journaling bible to all my sibling but 2 of them asked me not to give anymore. So January 12 I went to the store again to join the journaling bible, at first I don't have any idea what to do, because everytime I read bible I just used a notebook and notepad to stick in the bible, so as I sat down, I looked around we are just 6 people in there, and they gave me a sample notebook introducing what really you should do when you get a journaling bible, my mind or brain is not working, so I just copy it but change the verse in it, then came home happy so I was inspire and search for more ideas about it, saw something that is really cute so I copied it again (well, I admit I don't really had artistic in me). Now I'm just thinking if I would continue to draw but using a notebook or just do what I'm doing reading and posting the verses that really touched me.

Here's what I drew :

My 2015

2015 was a good and a little not so good for me:

We went through something that I did not anticipate and really pissed me off, its something I tried to forget and moved on but it seems that wont happened. As I faced this situation it helped me come closer to God, for I know He will only give me peace and contentment. but as people says, God wont give you problem that you can not solve, and I would say its true, all we need is to had a strong faith in HIM and to stand in what believe and always follow the 10 commandments.

It was a wonderful year as well for my family, my girls won in their spelling bee, achi won in her vocabulary bee, and most specially my whole families (in both side) we all are healthy and safe. And I thanked God for keeping everybody well.

As I welcomed 2016, I just prayed that things will go smoothly for me and my family, my girls will grow to be a better people, that my family will always stay healthy and safe too, and I hope that I will be able to write more inspired story of my life (the good one :) ).

Happy New Year :)