I just realized that yesterday was my blog’s 2nd birthday. Four hundred forty-four posts, 1800+ comments, 97000 hits, 50+ followers and 8 helpers later, I am still blogging. Hooray for me!
With the exception of my husband, my mother in law, my sister, my niece Jyl, and some officemates, most of my friends and family do not know that this blog exists. Sometimes I am tempted to link my blog to my very inactive Facebook account but then, I ask myself, “why do I want to do that?” Maybe for more hits? While spikes in my hit counter are always welcome, the reason I blog is for documentation’s sake and not for the hits. Maybe for the sake of sharing? But most of Franco and my FB friends ( we share an account), aren’t mothers and will probably find my blog boring. I still haven’t convinced myself if I should share my blog so for now it is still a secret blog. hehe.
Congratulations to Me!
What is More Difficult than Disciplining and Negotiating with a Toddler?
Disciplining and negotiating with a really cute and charming one!
Right, Gracie?
Galunggong Lumpiang Shanghai ala Rhodora
One of my projects this year is to learn and document how to cook our favorite family dishes. This is my way of preserving history. With the high turn-over of helpers, if I don’t learn to cook them myself, who will?
I am determined to learn my mom’ s specialties: embutido, tinapang isda sa sinigang na bayabas and lumpiang galunggong.
Lumpiang Galunggong seems to be the easiest so I tackled that first.
Ingredients
1/2 kilo Galunggong
1 bunch of kinchay, chopped finely
half of a red bell pepper, chopped finely
one small onion, chopped finely
lumpia wrappers
egg for sealing the wrapper
Christmas In February
aka my Valentine’s Day gift for Aki
I finally chanced upon a copy of You are my Miracle in Booksale. I am in love with Mary Causano’s first book, You are my I Love You. I blogged about it here. So, when I learned that she came up with a second book, I knew I had to have a copy.
You are My Miracle by Maryann Cusimano Love
I am your parent;
you are my child.
I am your quiet place;
you are my wild
I am your hot cocoa;
you are my marshmallow.
I am your nutcracker;
you are my cookie dough.
I am your gingerbread;
you are my frosting goo.
I am your paper;
you are my glitter and glue.
I am your wrapping;
you are my surprise.
I am your don’t peek;
you are my wide eyes.
I am you bundle up;
you are my dash outside.
I am your uphill pull;
you are my fast sleigh ride.
Wakeful Moments
A regular day with Aki is filled
With a lot of happy moments,
crazy moments,
playful moments,
fake crying moments,
Bitter Dilemma
We have a problem. A bitter one. The ampalaya (bitter gourd) crawled upwards into the neighbor’s house. From what I remember from the days when I used to watch Ipaglaban Mo, if your neighbor’s plants and their fruits are in your property, they are yours.
The wall is too high for us to reach even with a ladder. I also noticed that some of the ampalayas dried before they are mature for picking. Maybe because they are in direct contact wit the neighbor’s metal roof.
Family Field Trip: First Train Ride
As a single Washington girl working in Ortigas, I probably rode the MRT at least a thousand times. Most trips are boring but some are quite memorable. How can I forget when my bra got unhooked because there were just so many passengers?! haha. I will also never forget when I sat beside a mother in her 30′s and her toddler. It was the little boy’s first time to ride a train. Everytime another train would pass by, he excitedly shouted a name. According to mother, the kid was shouting the names of the characters in Thomas the Train series. From then on, I promised myself that I want to be there when my kids ride the MRT for the first time.
A few weekends ago, I finally convinced my fellow home buddy, Franco, to drive to Makati. We parked in Alphaland where we enjoyed watching fast trains go by.
This is it! Yes!
Alphaland is connected to the Magallanes MRT station
Stoooop!
When we were inside, Aki was so amazed that he could not be bothered to smile for the camera
I was expecting that the train won’t be jam-packed because it was a Sunday. But nooooo. There were a lot of people. Franco had to stand up.
Look, Aki! A river a deep cold river! (from our We are Going on a Bear Hunt book)
Instead of calling out the names in the Thomas the Train series ( he only knows Thomas because I haven’t let him watch the series), he kept shouting “Go, bus! Go, bus!”
We got off the Shaw station. I promised Aki that we will ride a carousel that weekend. Unfortunately, the carousel in Shang-rila Mall was taken out last December. But look who we bumped into.
Efren Cruz, our financial adviser.
On our way back to Alphaland, I just had to have a picture taken here. I have always thought that this bridge is visually interesting.
Dear Aki was already tired and sleepy so we went home immediately.
Family field trips are love love love. I wonder where we go next.
Trained
Slipper-trained that is. Aki is finally interested in wearing slippers.
I have had my slippers since 2004. Franco got his in 2006. I doubt if Aki’s slippers will last for more than 3 months.
We are taking a relaxed approach on potty training. I actually have two books on potty training. Both of them I haven’t read thoroughly.
