Leon's 9th Birthday Party

Rainy season has begun here in the Philippines. It has literally been raining every day, something that I am not used to. Because of this it has made me more lethargic and I find myself taking naps in the afternoon. It reminds me of when I was little and we had a porch outside in the front that was surrounded by a screen so the mosquitoes wouldn't come in and I would take naps there when it rained. The breeze was cool and it was very peaceful and very relaxing.

 

 But this post is not about me it's about my son Leon who turned 9 on Wednesday June 2nd! We had a blast and it turned out nice despite that it had rained a couple of hours before the party started. I was hysterical as it had rained really hard and it rained for over an hour non stop. The party was supposed to have started at 3 p.m. but we didn't get a chance to start decorating until 2 p.m. so because of this the party did not officially start until 4 p.m. It was a Pokemon theme and I had tried my hardest to find Pokemon stuff here. It was hard though. I did find these cool Pokemon posters that I plastered all around to add some spark to the place.

Kuya Dong and Mammang contributed the taurpalin and the chairs. The taurpalin came out nice and it featured Leon's beautiful face on it. I had made some lovely centerpieces for the tables as well as some candy that was labeled for the adults. The kids received plenty of candy from the pinata as well as the goody bags which were stuffed with more candy and tons of toys to play with. The food, thankfully was just enough. We didn't think we had enough but we managed with what we had. The cake was the
yummiest and the moistest cake I've ever tasted. It makes me want to buy one now as I'm writing this!

 

 We had played 5 games for the kids including longest breath, the boat is sinking, musical chairs, hep hep hooray and bring me. We played 2 games for the adults which were fun as well. Afterwards we had the videoke in which we sang songs and had some drinks. We had gotten Leon a scooter, which he really wanted and he was so happy. He also got lots of fun toys to play with from his friends.

I want to thank Grandma Aurora and Grandpa Glenn for contributing money to Leon's birthday party, we even wrote their names on Leon's balloons. Thanks to Mimi also who contributed the invites along with balloons and the happy birthday banner featured behind the food table. Overall it was a success and all the kids had fun which is what it is all about:)

More pictures of Leon's birthday

What has Anna been up to?

I know, I know, it seems as if abandoned this blog but fear not I've been absent for a good reason. As you know I've started on a journey into internet marketing a couple of months ago. It's taken me this long to sort out through all the crap out there because there is a lot and I have finally invested in a mentor.

His name is Alex Jeffreys and it's really been life changing for me. It has gotten me focused and I am following a proven system which is key to being successful. Also, Alex Jeffreys is a six figure earner in internet marketing. If you search his name on Google there are no bad write ups about him which is unusual especially with internet marketing. He is down to earth and is real genuine. On top of that he is only my age, 28, and if proves to me that if he can do it, so can I.

True, there are tons of people that want to make it successful online but never do. It is also a fact there is room for everyone because the internet is an endless place of infinite possibilities. As I set out on my quest for success I think it is important to surround myself with like minded people and stay positive at all times. It is going to be hard work despite what you may think about internet marketing and it is going to take dedication. I am ready for this challenge as I want financial freedom for myself and my family as well as the lives that I touch as a result of this.

Please visit my new blog solely on my journey in internet marketing at Valuable Internet Marketing. My motto is providing value through internet marketing. I truly believe that if I help enough people get what they want than I will get what I want. You will find a lot of great comments from my fellow students as we are all supporting each other. Also, for those that are interested in internet marketing please visit Easy Cash Webinar System where you can watch a free webinar and get a wealth of information from my mentor Alex Jeffreys.

For those that may not be interested at all, please let someone know that may be interested as it may change their lives. I really feel that this path I'm taking is going to lead me to financial freedom and I invite you to do the same as well!

Easter Sunday Celebration

We had the funnest Easter Day Celebration this past Sunday. We had the party at Mammang Lou's house and is was complete with games as well as karaoke which is what they absolutely love to do here in the Philippines.

We started the celebration with singing a song that Mammang had written on a big poster size paper. As you can see from the pictures we had two of the girls hold it up while we all sang. Afterwards, we did the Easter Egg Hunt. Mammang hid 12 eggs that were color coded and wrapped in plastic wrap. Depending on the color of the egg that you found than you won a certain amount of money. I found one egg but it was worth the most as it was the golden egg. I won Php 50 for it!! Leon and Leanna both one two eggs and were happy that they won some money.

After that we had played three more games that were really fun, you really just had to be there to see the laughs and looks on our faces because we were really cracking up. Leon and Leanna had a throw down against each other on the karaoke machine and whoever got the highest point won. Leanna had sung "Make It Real" her all time favorite song that she sings all the time. Leon sung "I Believe I Can Fly" and he was the winner!! He scored higher then Leanna but they both did really well. Leon and Leanna also danced to a song and Mammang even gave them some money for that. After all the games and prizes both Leon and Leanna went away with over Php 100 so they both were really happy.

We ate some good food too which included a roast chicken, barbecue and even honey baked ham that Mammang's son from California sent over and some really good vegetable soup.  It was all so delicious but I'm glad I kept within reason on my intake as I didn't want to gain more pounds. For dessert we enjoyed some ice cream on cones and some coffee.

Overall we had a blast and Leon and Leanna really had a good time. I can't wait for our next together. There's nothing like enjoying the company of your family and just having a good time, that is what life is really about:)


Easter Celebration Pictures

Holy Week = Culture Shock!!

It's Easter today but this past week was Holy Week here in the Philippines and it was a total culture shock for both Leon and Leanna. Here in the Philippines they conduct what they call Mandarame and that is where you see guys on almost every street corner parading around and striking their backs with a whip like thing. The noise alone is very loud and you can hear it from our apartment and when you hear this sound that means shortly after you will see a bunch of guys striking their backs.

The gross part about it is that this whip really hurts their back and you can see that they are actually bleeding. You will also notice the crowd walking beside them and if you walk too close you make get some blood splattered on you too. You will also see some people carrying the cross just as Jesus did.

The whole point of doing all this is for these so called sinners to repent what they have done and they do this as a sacrifice. They parade around so that people can witness them repenting but they cover up their faces so people will not see who these sinners are as they are embarrassed. They also actually televise people that volunteer to hang themselves on the cross with real nails that actually pierce through their skin just like what really happened to Jesus. There were 6 people that chose to do it this year but we did not attend as I did not want to witness something that gruesome and thought it would be a little too much for the kids.

Both Leon and Leanna were scared at first and it was actually Leanna that was a lot more scared then Leon. She was so scared to the point that every time she saw or even heard the people coming she would cling on to me like a little baby and cry. To help her get over her fear Mammang Lou suggested that we take care to see the Mandarame in person so that she would see firsthand that it was nothing really and also explain to her why they did that. You will see in the pictures we all were watching on the street as the parade of guys came and after awhile watching Leanna was not afraid anymore. It's still hard for both of them to understand though why this is done but at least they are not so scared.

The Mandarame lasts the whole week with a lot of them doing it mainly on Thursday and Friday. I'm glad it's over though as it is still gruesome to watch even for me. I guess it's because of all that blood and even the smell!! If you can take seeing more pictures then click on the link but if not then don't!

Mandarame Pictures

Leon's Moving-Up Ceremony

 My young scholar

Leon had his moving-up ceremony this past Tuesday and we celebrated with a dinner afterwards. Here in the Philippines they do it a little bit different and they only recognize the children that achieved honors in the ceremony that they hold at the end of the year. To qualify for honors you have to have a grade of 80% or above in all of your subjects. Also, because Leon was considered a "transferee" he got a special citation award as he had missed the first quarter of the year. Leanna was so close to making honors but unfortunately she did not get it as she missed it by 2 points. Next year though she had said she was going to get it and that is something that I will definitely help her in achieving.

If you don't get honors they really do not recognize you but you still pass and can move on to the next grade. Leon was only two people in his whole third grade class that was recognized so it was a real honor. There were a total of only 8 kids in the whole grade school department, from grade 1 to grade 4 that had gotten recognized. The children from the preschool department all got recognized though and those are the ones you will see in the picture that are wearing the white gowns.

The venue where they had it was a bit small and they had a lot of parents standing up but they later managed to get more chairs so they could sit. The kids performed a number singing "Go The Distance". They also had the children present roses to their parents which really touched me and I had started crying when Leon was coming up to me with the rose. I was thinking of all the times I had pushed him and that it really paid off in the end and I am so proud of him.

After the ceremony we went home to prepare the dinner that we had that night at Mammang's house. We had salad, spaghetti, barbecue and fried rice. We also got to sing karaoke and dance so we all had lots of fun. Leanna discovered a new song that she liked to sing so she sang that song about 10 times, no joke!! Everyone was tired of hearing it but we let her keep singing anyway. For dessert we had made Leon's all time favorite fruit salad and Mammang had ice cream cones for us too. As you can see from the pictures we had a lot of fun dancing and even taught the girls who didn't know how to dance to do the "achy breaky"!! Fun times:)

I am proud of both Leon and Leanna as they both have come a long way. I see a major improvement in Leanna and am very confident that next year she will definitely make honors along with Leon. Leanna had drastically improved in Math especially. Her third quarter grade was a 77 and for the fourth quarter she had gotten a 93 so I am very happy about that. Also, I forgot to mention that Leon had gotten a special academic award for being the "best in mathematics" so we are so proud of him for that too!! Although they had learned a lot from Brighter Kids and even met a lot of friends we have made a decision to move them to a different school that is a better fit for them. It is an international school for one and the facilities are bigger and their curriculum is better as well. Their new school is called Living Stone International School and they will be taking their assessment next week. The next school year starts in June so two months with them at home, what fun!! Leon will be taking up guitar lessons and Leanna singing lessons so we'll see how that goes. Will keep you guys updated!
Enjoy the pictures!!

                                                                                            

Moving-Up Ceremony Pictures

Badminton Tournament

I held this tournament two weeks ago and I know, I'm really late in posting them, but better late than never right? It was a lot of fun and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

The thought came about to have the badminton tournament because there are so many kids here in the neighborhood and I thought this would be a fun way to spend an afternoon. We had posted a  poster to let the kids know about our tournament and the different age divisions that we were going to have. To make it fair I wanted the kids to play with other kids in their age group so we had three age groups. Age 7-9, 10-13 & 14-17. We did charge the kids an entrance fee to play which was only Php 20, only $0.43. The fees I collected from all of the kids did not even come close to the amount of money that I spent on everything but that didn't matter as this was all about the kids and as long as they had fun I was happy.

For each age division I gave out three prizes, the first prize was Php 500 which is about $10.86, not bad after they only had to pay Php 20 to enter. The second prize was a little gift for the top boy player worth Php 100 and the third prize was a little gift for the top girl player worth Php 100. All participants that played though did get a bag of candy just for participating. In addition we also fed the kids a full meal which included pancit (noodles), hot dog and rice. For dessert we served fruit salad in little cups. So like I said I did end up spending more than I collected but it was satisfying to see all the kids having fun and just being happy.

I don't speak the language well yet and can only understand a few words here and there. It has been a real challenge for me but I manage. A parent had came up to me and let me know that what I had done was "beautiful" and that no one had done that before and they really appreciated it. They were speaking this in Filipino so I understood only parts of it but when he said that to me I felt really happy that someone acknowledged what I did. I also know that this is something that the kids won't forget either and as long as I am able to make an impact someway and somehow in a small way that is all that matters.

Because this tournament was such a success a lot of the adults have been coming up to me asking when the tournament for the adults is going to happen. I let them know that we will plan it sometime soon. I was also thinking to myself to cut down on my budget as well before I go broke (ha ha joking only)!! Enjoy the pictures.

Badminton Tournament Pictures

Tony Sanders Products

If you've ever been on MySpace or Facebook lately than you will notice ads all over the place promoting the popular games such as Fish Ville, Farm Ville & Mafia Wars. Tony Sanders otherwise known as T Dub Sanders is a popular author who has written a handful of ebooks on these popular games as everyone wants to be the top and win.

There has been a craze all over these social websites and these games have been played by millions of people. If you are looking to dominate these games than these guides are just what you need.

The following are the products that Tony Sanders has:

• Beta Gaming Testers
• Cafe World Domination
• Country Story Secrets
• Farm Town Secrets
• FarmVille Secrets
• FishVille Secrets
• Happy Aquarium Secrets
• Hit Gold Cap
• Mafia Wars Blueprint
• Pet Society Secrets
• PvE Bible
• Restaurant City Secrets
• Roller Coaster Kingdom Secrets
• Warcraft Formula
• Warcraft Reputations
• WOTLK Secrets
• YoVille Secrets

There are a lot I know but that just goes to show you how popular these games really are and believe it or not they will continue to grow with more fans who are eager to play these games each and every day. If you or someone you knows want more secrets and tips to these popular games than visit Tony Sanders Products where you can get more information.

Cheesesoft Products

I am now promoting Cheesesoft Products which are software solutions for your computer. If you have experienced any PC problems then this company has the solution for you. They offer great customer service and they strive to increase productivity and protect sensitive information with their products. Cheesesoft also offers downloads with free trials so you can test the product to see if it suites your needs. The products that they offer is as follows:

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Updates

I've neglected this blog I know but with good reason. As I mentioned in my previous blog I have been looking for ways to make money online. With so many options out there, it's hard to sort through what is real and going to make me the money versus just useless information and believe me there is a lot of useless information out there!

I've been focusing on this internet marketing thing for a little over 3 weeks and I have found myself in information overload at this point. I still am keeping positive though and know that there is money to be made out there is cyberspace, I just need to keep at it and stay focused.

With that being said right now I am focusing my efforts on affiliate marketing as I have read that for newbies that is the best way to go. It's easy and you don't have your own products and you don't even have to have your own website. The costs are minimal if you choose to get your traffic the free way but if you want to pay for traffic running campaigns you can do that too. There is a little bit more flexibility in being an affiliate too. Right now I am testing a bunch of different techniques to drive traffic as of course that is what is needed to drive sales!

I will be posting my affiliate links here periodically as getting backlinks is another method to SEO marketing. I would like to start off with one that I hold near and dear to my heart and that is the Truth About Six Pack Abs Program. As many of you know I have used this program to lose my unwanted belly fat and am totally thankful for finding this program as it has really opened my eyes to the dangers in the foods that I was eating and also taught me the right foods to eat that I now have incorporated into my daily eating habits. Here are the following sites that I have dedicated for this program:

The Program Itself:
www.blastbulgingbelly.com

The Blog I created:
www.blastbulgingbelly.blogspot.com

The Videos to Exercises listed in manual
Ab Videos

The videos are new and what a lot of people have been looking for as it is much easier to apply and on top of that there is a feature in which you can download them right to your iPod so you'll be able to access them in the gym or even at home easier.

So far for this particular product I have ran some campaigns on Facebook and Google and have made 2 sales and they both happened within a day of me running the ads. I did however stop running the ads as I was running other product campaigns and they weren't making me any money and I didn't want to go in the hole before I even started so I decided to just stop all my campaigns until I researched more and found out what the best way was to advertise. I was really excited though about those two sales because again they happened within a short period of time and although it may not seem like a lot it proved to me that I could do it, I just need to focus my efforts on what will work. They have a saying in the online marketing world and it's "show me you can make a dollar online first" once you do that you just have to tweak and perfect what you have done to make that dollar and more will come rolling in. I hope for me that's soon:)

There are a lot of other affiliate products that I have decided to promote but as stated earlier I will dedicate a blog post to them separately. I will also do my best to update my progress as writing it all out will give me a perspective on what I am doing and will also give me a chance to think through the things I am doing.

Trip to Baguio City Philippines

Me and my husband went to visit Baguio City Philippines a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't been there since I was a kid and my memories were very fond of the place. I remember it being cooler there as Baguio is located in the mountains. I also remember taking trips there with family and us packing the car and taking a long road trip. I'm not sure how long it took us before to get there but I would imagine that it had to be longer than the 6 hour bus trip that we had taken to get there a couple of weeks ago. Since then the roads have improved and even though there's not really a highway so speak that you take to get there the bus was going at a constant speed.

I was really surprised though at how those bus drivers are able to maneuver through the winding roads as we were literally going up these tall mountains and the roads were narrow and only with one lanes. We had made quite a few stops though on our journey because apparently there are a lot of people that go to Baguio, so as the bus driver saw someone waving him down then he stopped to pick them up. We stopped at two rest stops to stretch our legs and get snacks to eat. The majority of the time going there me and my husband listened to music on our iPod's. The time coming back was spent sleeping as we were tired and it was a very long day.

It was just a day trip for us as we did not plan on staying there for awhile. My husband just wanted to see the place and get a feel for it as he had heard a lot of nice things about it. He absolutely loved Baguio!! He enjoyed the weather first of all and he also liked the people there, they were very friendly and nice. I was not used to the cold weather though and although I was wearing my jacket I was still cold!! I had even started sniffling and sneezed here and there. It must have been around 70 degrees and if anyone knows me that is too cold for me!

We left around 8 in the morning and arrived in Baguio around 2 p.m. We walked around the park that was there as well as went to SM Baguio City which is the Super Mall over there. We had something to eat at the mall and took some pictures on the second floor overlooking the city. We only had a couple of hours there which was enough as like I said before this trip wasn't really planned. Besides we didn't have any other form of transportation besides us walking and with walking we could only go so far especially since I was cold. We didn't take too many pictures so it's really not worth posting a link to Kodak Gallery for them like I usually do with my other photos but I will post a few here.

My husband really liked it there and actually went back another time before he left with one of his friends as he had a music contact out there that he had to meet with. We talked about having a getaway place there to come to relax when we needed a cool place to stay. Next time when we visit we will definitely check out some places:)

Leon's new hairstyle

When my husband was here he had decided to lock Leon's hair like his. Although Leon's hair is a different texture he was able to do it but now it's my duty to maintain it which takes time. Lucky me! I have to do it every other day now.

Leon actually wanted his hair like daddy's for a long time now. He always liked it long, that is why we never cut it. He used to wear it down when it was shorter as he always loved the comments he would get from people everywhere we went. I also liked his hair down as he had some amazing curls, even better than Leanna's. There were a lot of people that would think he was a girl though but that didn't bother him any because the people that could tell he was boy just adored him and especially his hair.

When it got longer and especially when we moved here to the Philippines where it's really hot he always wore it in a pony tail. A lot of the kids from school liked his pony tail and admired that he had different hair than the rest of them. We finally locked it up a couple of weeks ago. It's still in the beginning phase and it's going to take a while for it to permanently lock up but eventually it will. Right now it just looks like he has a bunch of just bigger curls. As you can see from the pictures it still looks nice. He still keeps it in a pony tail though. We'll see how it turns out in a couple of months:)

Enchanted Kingdom

I have really been slacking on writing on my blog. I guess it's because I've been really busy with my husband being home. He has now left though so I have time on my hands now to work on this.

In my last post I had mentioned blogging for profits but I have not even heard back from Google about my Adsense campaign that I want to run on this blog. I knew it was going to take a couple of days but I didn't think it would be this long. I guess I should contact them huh? I'll do that and see what they say.

Meanwhile I hadn't posted these pictures up so I thought I should. These pictures are from when we visited Enchanted Kingdom the first weekend in February. The kids really enjoyed it. There were not too many rides geared towards adults and Levar was sad about that as he thought he was going to ride some rides. We opted for just letting the kids ride the ones they wanted and joined them for some of the rides as well. The water log was as usual really fun and we got a little wet which we wanted to do as we wore our bathing suits underneath. To my surprise they didn't have any other water related rides besides the water log. The kids were disappointed as they really wanted to soak in the water.

There were some rides in which the lines were really long. Particularly the huge ferris wheel that you'll see in the pictures. Unfortunately we didn't ride that one but it was nice to see. We had arrived around 11 a.m. and good thing we did because as the afternoon rolled around especially around 4 p.m. it started getting really crowded. Mom didn't ride any rides at all. She was in her own little world, walking around the whole park and admiring the landscape and the different types of rides they had.

Overall it was a fun-filled day with the family and one where we could say that we've been to Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines. We would like to take the kids to Disney Land Hong Kong so we will be planning for that sometime this year.

Enchanted Kingdom Pictures

Work At Home or Get a Job?

I've worked all my life since after high school when I started as a bank teller. Ten years in the banking industry has been good to me. I've gained a lot of skills including leadership, management, & social skills. Not to mention good pay. I have been fortunate to have a job to help sustain my family and live a lifestyle in which we didn't have to struggle.

Being in the Philippines for five months now it feels weird not working at a JOB but don't get me wrong I definitely do not miss the stress of having a job. I have been keeping myself busy with writing three business plans actually and another two business ideas that I have also. Which leads me to think about if I really want to stress myself out again by working. I knew that I didn't come to the Philippines only just to work for someone else. Unless you have your own business or you have a high status job here then you are likely to make enough money to just barely get by here. It's a sad truth that many people experience here but that is how it goes.

Being an entrepreneur is not easy either. It takes time, dedication and the will to work like you've never worked before. There is however, different types of things you can do as an entrepreneur such as working from home in the comfort of your own home or starting a brick and mortar business. The business plans I had written were in fact for brick and mortar businesses and I'm starting to think that it might not be something that I don't want to pursue at the moment. The reason why I'm saying that is the fact that I will be taking time away from the kids and the time that I spend with them in studying with them for school.

While I know I could hire people to do the work, it's not that easy to do that here in the Philippines, I don't think it's easy to do that anywhere. The labor costs are real low so it wouldn't be hard to find people looking for work per se but the difficult part is finding the right people that will do the work and people that you can trust. On top of that since I don't speak the language it's harder for me to really trust someone and know if they are really on my side or just out to con me. It's not good to think about things like that but if you don't then you will not be prepared if something bad does happen.

I know that if I do start a brick and mortar business I will be spending a lot of time getting it up and running and not dedicating the time to my kids and that was the main reason that I liked about being here was the time with my kids. For the last couple of days now I've been online trying to think of things that I could do from the comfort of home and not compromise the time with the kids. Of course the main thing that I found was internet marketing. There are a bunch of different ways I can make money online, some that are just flat out scams but some that are legitimate and worth it and will actually make me money. One thing that I have already established is this blog that I'm writing in right now. Although I started this blog to keep in touch with friends back home and for them to keep track of what's happening with my life here in the Philippines I didn't realize that I could also make money from it also. It's a natural progression that I think would be good for me. I don't consider myself a great writer and I know that it will take time to hone my skills but I think I could write some stuff that people will be interested in.

One last thing before I close out this post (I know, this post is long already) is that I actually applied to be a Foreign Service Officer otherwise known as a Diplomat. I know I just posted about not getting a job but after learning about what they do it sparked an interest in me and being curious I decided to just go through the process to see where it would take me. On top of that I thought it would be some good experience for me. Being a Foreign Service Officer means being employed by the US Department of State and being dedicated to representing America and responding to the needs of American citizens in other countries. I will be taking the test in March at the Embassy in Manila so I will keep everyone updated on that.

I miss my parents

It's been six months and counting that I've been here in the Philippines and am feeling somewhat home sick. I guess you don't realize how much you miss people, especially family, until time passes by and you start thinking about them a lot. Although I talk to my parents on a regular basis it's still not the same as seeing them face to face especially seeing them interact with the kids. I'm sure they miss seeing Leon and Leanna and spending time with all of us too.

Mammang Lou gave me an old picture of mom and dad the other day that was hand painted by some painter back when they had lived here in the Philippines. Don't ask me what year the picture was painted but it had to have been some time before 1991 because that was the last time that we had lived in the Philippines. Also judging by the picture dad was a bit skinnier so it definitely had to be in their younger years because dad has gained a few pounds since then. They both look so cute and so young, two lovebirds in love. They have been married now for 41 years and their love gets stronger and stronger as the years go by.

Having raised 4 children, all with different personalities, must've been hard but they have done it and speaking for myself they did a good job:) I owe everything to mom and dad and am very thankful everyday for the many blessings and the things they have done for me in my life. Their love for each other is a true example of what love is. They have been through everything together and they have each other's love and commitment to keep going for the rest of their lives. This is an updated picture of them. Aren't they still so cute? Thanks mom and dad for everything, I truly love and miss you guys:)

Me Pictures

Finally getting the chance to post some pictures that I had taken of myself. These pictures were actually taken back in November but did not get the edited pictures until the beginning of this year. The pictures were taken by a very talented young lady named Raleene Cabrera. I found her online. She is only 19 years old and is currently going to school for interior design but she loves taking pictures on the side. It is her hobby and she said that is actually her passion. She does photos for different people when she can and she also does some professional shoots for magazines and various models as well.

My hair as you can see from the pictures was not cooperating with me. I had taken the pictures in Manila which is about an hour and a half away from where I live in Pampanga. My set time to meet with Raleene was at 1 p.m. so I left around 8 a.m. which would be give me time to travel there plus find a place that would curl my hair for me to give me some volume. Everything was going according to plan but unfortunately when we got there we had a hard time even finding a place to do my hair. I didn't want to just go to any salon that I saw so I had to do some searching for one. Of course the taxi driver was no help as we were in Makati and he didn't know where a good place was and on top of that he was a guy so he didn't know much about all that hair stuff. I finally found a place called Ystilo Salon that I thought would be good but boy was I wrong. I had my hair curled alright but it was definitely not what I wanted and I was crying because of how bad it was! By the time the hairstylist was done and another hairstylist had tried to fix it, it was already close to 2 p.m. I didn't have any time to argue with them so I left with a bad do.

I didn't even want to take the pictures anymore but I didn't want to bail out on Raleene so I just sucked it up and took them. She helped me with my makeup and for my hair I just put water on it and that is why on the pictures it looks flat and just outright ugly. In the end, although I was not happy with my hair I thought the pictures turned out o.k. Next time I definitely will make sure my hair is right:)

Having fun with hubby being home

I haven't blogged in a week as I am busy spending time with my hubby. I can't believe he's been here for a week now, my how time goes by!! It took him a long time to adjust to the time here and he still is feeling a little sleepy during the day. I keep telling him that he needs to stay awake the full day without taking any naps in order to have a good nights sleep but he won't listen.

We have just been hanging out at the house and spending lots of time with the kids, when they're not in school that is. The kids were off yesterday and today so they have an extended weekend. We have decided to go to Enchanted Kingdom tomorrow. Enchanted Kingdom is the Philippines' version of like a Disney Land. We're taking Gerlie and mom so there will be total of 6 of us going. What fun!! Can't wait and as always will post the pictures as soon as possible!

Busy Week

I am having a busy week this week!! First it was the wedding on Sunday then the kids have their final exams for the 3rd quarter this week which has been keeping me extra busy. Add to that the fact that I am preparing for my hubby's homecoming this weekend and I feel a little burnt out!

The kids have a lot of material to test over and since Monday I have been studying and reviewing with them at least 7 hours every day. I know that seems like a lot but I actually alternate my time between Leon & Leanna. Both of them have exams and the material is just as tough for each. The kids get home around 12 noon and we start studying around 1 p.m. after eating lunch and playing a little bit, then it's hitting the books until 8 p.m. when they have to go to bed. I'm glad that I am able to spend this much time with them though. There's nothing like being able to study with them and watch them grow and learn new things. The kids have 11 subjects believe it or not and here is just a sample of what they had to study for the 3rd quarter:

Leon - 3rd Grade

• Language: Sequencing events, adverbs (place, manner & time), prepositions (prepositional phrases & conjunctions) & kinds of sentences.
• Christian Living: My faith will make me a better person, fair at home, school & everywhere & 4 memory verses.
• Science: Plants (comparing them, monocots & dicots, & uses of plants and plant parts), matter & energy (states of matter, useful & harmful substances, & changes in the state of matter), energy (sources of light, how light travels, path of light, other sources of light, & behavior of light).
• Computer: Windows (desktop, icons, & start button), Microsoft Word (basic screen elements, formatting & editing text, closing, opening, renaming, & saving document).
• Math: Numeration (skip counting by 2's to 10's), multiplication (1-2 digit multiplicand & multiplier, & properties of multiplication), & static division.
• Sibika at Kultura (Philippine Culture): Mamamayang Nagkakaisa at Nagtutulungan, Pamayanang Urban, & Pamayanang Rural.
• Filipino: Pang-abay, Pang-angkop, Pangatnig & Pangungusap.
• Reading: Sequencing of events, characterization, & following directions.
• Mape (Music, Arts & PE): Musical phrase, musical instruments, string instruments, woodwind instruments, folk art, making cards, ethnic designs, track & field & lead-up games.
• Spelling: spelling words in all subjects.

Leon's school books

Leanna

• Language: Adjectives (limiting & descriptive), comparison (positive, comparative, & superlative).
• Christian Living: signs & notices, Jesus helped many people, & 3 memory verses.
• Science: Matter (characteristics of objects, basic feel of objects, states of matter, & 2-3 dimensional shaped objects), energy (sound, light, heat, motion, push & pull, other forces - magnet, wind & electricity).
• Computer: the monitor, the printer, computer lab rules, & windows.
• Math: place value, comparing numbers, reading & writing 3 digit numbers, multiplication, days of the week, & months of the year.
• Sibika at Kultura: Mag-anak, Pangangailangan ng mag-anak, & mga katulong sa pamayanan.
• Filipino: Pang uri, & Kaantasang ng Pang-uri.
• Reading: community helpers, parts of the house, mother and young animals, sequencing events, & sentence construction.
• MAPE: movements & rhythm, musical beat, rhythmic pattern, folk arts, paper craft, ethnic designs, individual games, group games & native games.
• Spelling: spelling words in all subjects.

Leanna's school books

It's a lot I know, but now you know how I feel. Wish me luck:)

Santos-Ocampo Wedding Pictures

The wedding this past Sunday turned out really well. I was up early as the people doing the makeup were at the house early. I thought they had come too early as it was around 7:30 in the morning when they had woken me up to go get mine done. I should've done my own makeup because as you can see through the pictures the powder they used on me was too light!! Oh well, I made the best of it and even tried to wipe it off a little bit. The makeup artist said it would absorb anyway during the day.

The wedding ceremony was touching as the groom was singing "Beautiful In My Eyes" while the bride was walking down the aisle. I kept telling myself I wasn't going to cry but when I saw the bride walking down and plus the song in the background I was overcome with emotion and I shed a few tears:) I'm a crier though, I love to cry! Leon was my photographer during the ceremony so some of the pictures are a little off but overall he did well.

The reception was nice as well and as expected there were a lot of people. The food was really good and I was glad they had served the entourage and the other sponsors as I would not have wanted to stand in the buffet line. The table I was sitting at was on the dance floor so I had a great seat on everything that was happening. I also took a lot of good shots. I was surprised that a majority of the guests left after eating but apparently that's what they do here in the Philippines. I don't understand why people take the time to get all dressed up then don't even enjoy themselves when they go to functions like this!

The kids and I had a great time though and of course the bride and the groom were as happy as can be. They will be going on their honeymoon tomorrow. They will be gone for three weeks taking an asian tour I believe to Thailand, Malaysia and other places. Congratulations to the newly weds, may their life be full of happiness, love and children in the future:)

Wedding Pictures

Holiday pictures 2009

Pretty tree

The kids with their presents

Me and Leanna

Me and Leon

This is kind of late but better late than never!! Here are our pictures from the holidays which includes Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and our outing to Manila on the 27th.

We went to Manila to give wedding invitations to Uncle Rudy's side of the family which included visiting 3 houses. Each house had food for us and after the first house I was already full but we still had to eat at the other houses of course! In the evening we went to Araneta Coliseum to watch Disney on Ice which was a fabulous show. The kids had lots of fun. We had left 7 in the morning and did not return until 10 p.m. that night so we had a long but fun day. Enjoy the pictures!!

Holiday Pictures 2009

Dress fitting and a fun filled day

Yesterday was a fun filled day. I was sad I didn't bring my camera with me because I really wanted to take pictures of yesterday.

I tried on the dress for my cousin's wedding this coming Sunday. It was a bright lime green long skirt and a corset spaghetti strap top that was green as well but had vertical lines of dark purple on it. After that we had lunch with Tin Tin (Christine, the bride to be) with her mother at a place called Toll House that was really good. Afterwards, we went to Ribeye Function Hall where they are having the reception to get everything organized and ready for the 570 guests that will be in attendance. Yes, that's right, there is a guest list of 570 people!! It's going to be interesting to see how the night is going to go especially when it comes time to serve the food.

They are having a buffet table but some guests, like the entourage and the immediate family of the bride and groom will be served at their seats. The hall was a bit outdated but it had a dance floor, a stage and a good sound system and was pretty spacious. I'm anxious to see it all decorated with flowers and stuff. Afterwards the girls (me, Mamang Lou, the mother of the groom, Maryann, the sister of the groom and Tin Tin) headed to SM (Super Mall) Clark to look for some shoes to go with our dresses. I was not lucky to find any shoes but Mamang Lou and Maryann were able to find some. I will just be borrowing a pair of silver shoes from Mamang Lou (we have the same size) for the wedding.

Well can't wait for the wedding!! Four more days. Will definitely blog about it the next day as well as post some pics.

My first blog for 2010

Well I am definitely ready for a new year!!! I have changed the theme of my blog and will be doing so every month as I like a little change here and there!

The kids are off today (Monday) and they resume their classes tomorrow. They have been off for the last two weeks and are ready to go back to school. They will be studying for their exams they have to take all next week so I will be helping them do a lot of reviewing.

My hubby will be back two weeks from now so we are all so excited about that too!! We will be taking the kids to Enchanted Kingdom which is a theme park in Manila. It's kind of like their version of Disney Land here in the Philippines.

My cousin (Peter Santos aka Kuya Dong) will be married next Sunday so we are getting ready for that as well. I haven't gotten fitted yet but I should be doing that this week. Leanna needs to try on her dress too.

Well I can't wait for the things to come this new year!!! Sadly as another year passes by my kids also get older. I always said that I don't want them to ever grow up and I still feel that way because they are my babies. It amazes me how fast they grow up right before my eyes. Leon will be 9 this year and Leanna will be 8. My, how time goes by!! Well at least for now I can truly treasure every moment with them and take lots of pictures too:)