Picasso Playdate Finally!

I can’t draw but I can paint! That is what I proved to myself last month. I have found another creative outlet and it is very forgiving.

Last April 20, Aki’s friends, Buwi and Maia came over for a painting playdate that I have been wanting to organize for ages.

Time really files. These were taken during our first playdates  in 2010.

St. Rita Orphanage Visit

It is been more than a month but I am still on a high. Our visit to Saint Rita Orphanage is definitely one of the highlights of the first half of 2014. It all started when I was sorting the items for our garage sale. There were items like a well-loved baby bolster pillow and 3rd-degree hand-me-down baby blanket that I did not have use for but it did not feel right to sell them. I was not comfortable giving them to preggy first-time-mom friends because these items, although still useful are not as cute as they used to. What to do? What to do? And then a lightbulb moment. Why not donate? Soon, almost half of the baby and toddler items that were supposed to be for sale, were transferred to the “donations” box. I mentioned in one of my blog post of my plans of visiting an orphange. Leslie contacted me thru FB and said she wanted to join.  We asked our online group, Newlyweds@Work, if anyone wanted to donate. Last June 22, a total of 10 families went to orphanage with us.

Reblogging from the MommyJuvs Blog: Liam Meets Aki

One of the topics that I find somewhat challenging to document are playdates. There are just so many things that I want to say but I can’t find the right words and pictures to tell the story. So…… I am reblogging Juvvy‘s post on our first ever meetup.

We met thru blogging about a year or 2 ago.  Juvvy has been sending thoughtful gifts all the way from Cebu. Am so glad we finally got the change to meet personally. Because of our blogs, we skipped the awkward introduction part and jumped right to the chika part. We read each others blogs so we both felt that already know each other.

Juvvy captured almost everything I want to remember about our first playdate. There are just 2 that she missed. One, she gave the sweetest giftssss. So sweet that Franco whispered to me that our gift for them looks so cheap compared to what we got. Haha. Two, Juvvy and I plus our our hubbies, were partially stunned when we looked at the prices on the menu. And it just showed that we were very comfortable with each other because we talked and laughed about the shock brought by the prices. That is something Franco and I almost never do with people we just met. Unfortunately, transferring to another resto was not an option because the kids and the parmesan cheese were inseperable.

It was so nice meeting you, Liam,Dino and Juvvy!
Thank you Tita Ninang Leah for taking our pictures

mommyjuvs

Oh yes!! At long last, we were able to meet Familia Kiki during the holidays when we were in Manila (yeah, this is another late post.  Sowee).  Leah, my SIL, was the one who introduced me to their blog, and  I got hooked to their site ever since.  I even wished that we’re neighbors. Hehe

With only a few days in Manila, I was glad that they are also available on the date we set.  I’ve let Maqui do the planning (Thanks Maqui! :)) as this was the first time Liam (we) will have a playdate.  We agreed to meet in Book Sale MCS, since it was books that made us bond on the first place.

Am doubly glad that Leah is also available and offered to be the photographer that day (Thanks Ninang!!). hehe  I will not make this text heavy and will let the photos tell…

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What are You Thankful for Today?

We had the most wonderful time when we visited Pepper, Mark and A at their beautiful cozy home. We were only supposed to pick up the little something Pepper made for me but we ended up chatting and eating for what felt like hours. It is refreshing to spend an afternoon with another couple for a change. Franco was not his usual KJ self because he and Mark had been friends even before we got married. It was also great to not mind the kids who were busy playing.

Here is the ballerina doctor taking Aki’s blood pressure. Hehe. After that short doctor doctor game, they spent the rest of the afternoon pillow fighting.

Here is the little gift from Pepper.

Weekends with Kuya Aki

Thank you, Maggie for this post.
One item of my backlog list. Hehe
First time to try this reblog feature. wonder how it works 😛

Mommy Maggie's Musings

Maqui has said it several times and I will say it again: it’s great to have mommy friends living nearby. One of the perks would be impromptu playdates.

I told Maqui that if they want to go for a swim at the condo’s pool, all they need to do is to send me text message. It has been two times already when Aki and Maqui would be swimming at our place but we won’t be joining them. One weekend, we finally got to swim with them!

Kuya Aki is so brave and loves the water so much. When they were done swimming, Aki was already a mulatto. Hehe.

Next time the ate’s or the dads should join us so Maqui and I can do a lot of chikahan hehe.

We also had a weekend when Dom of Studio invited us for a photoshoot. One of the photos that I want…

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Playdate with my Favorite Bloggers

Morning! Can you believe it is Friday already? Long lazy weekend, here we come! Oh, I just realized that I don’t have the license to be lazy since Ate Doring is on vacation leave. The kapitan in her barangay sent money so she can go home and vote…. I know what you are thinking. .. oh well, who am I to stop her from her civic duty to exercise her to right to vote?

One thing I am so looking forward to this weekend is our playdate with Mapi and Ryken. So excited!

Speaking of playdates, looking at the blog posts of my mommy blogger friends reminded me of the long overdue post on our playdate last February. Or was this around March? Hehe. I missed the last get together, the baby shower for Aimee so I will definitely make sure that I will be present present present come our Christmas party.  It is so nice to see how the group has grown. Originally, which was 2 years ago, it was just me, Em, Dew, Maggie and Marsy. Now,  the circle is bigger with Sha, Aimee, Pepper, Faye, Erlaine, Peachy and our latest victims recruits Vivian and Ging. I hope I did not miss anyone. Hopefully this December, Sieggy, Lanie, Rachel, and Kaye will be able to join for the first time.

Anyhoot hoot, here are some of my favorite pictures from our Feb playdate at the Ayala Triangle Park. Special thanks to Dom of Studio 2916 for our gorgeous portraits

Here is Aimee and Tala

This is really nice, noh?

Pepper and A with Mark.

What I love about this shot is the joy and pride in the parents faces as they look at their pretty daughter.

Erl and Kelsea. I want a shot like these! I will bring Aki’s bike next time

Maggie and her beautiful family. So so so thankful we have at least one friend who lives nearby

That’s one future heartbreaker looking straight at yah

Pizza Playdate with Coco and Rachel

Last June,we had an impromptu pizza playdate with Rachel and Coco. It was our first time to have a playdate since we went to the Fun Farm August last year. We had been planning playdates but for the longest time but something always comes up. Hopefully, the one planned for this month, will push thru.

For our pizza making activity, I prepared flour tortillas, pizza sauce, ham, pepperoni, quickmelt cheese and chopped homemade burger.

Coco and Aki after making their pizza.

I cooked the pizza in the oven at 180 degrees and ta-daaaaa!

If I had more time, maybe we could have  tried making our own pizza dough. Mixing and kneading are always fun. The store-bought tortillas are not so bad either. They are hassle free and crisp up nicely after 15 minutes in the oven.

These are the best pictures that I got of the ever makulit and malikot boys. I know these are terrible photos but these are the best from the bunch. What else do you expect when you have 2 energizer bunnies?

South N@wie Playdate 2013

One of my goals this year is to join at least 4 playdates. That would mean we should be having playdates at least once a quarter. I am giving myself a pat on the back because for the first half of 2013, we’ve joined 3 already. 🙂 The first is with my circle of mommy blogger friends. I haven’t blog about that because I can’t choose which pictures to post among the hundreds of beautiful portraits that my suking photographer, Dom of Studio 2916 took. The most recent was a pizza playdate with Rachel and Coco at our house.  This post is all about the fun fun playdate that we had with our friends from N@W. I was not able to take a lot of pictures because I was having  too much fun catching up and too busy reminding Aki not to roll in the sandbox. Tribeca really is the best place for playdates.  Thank you so much, Tricia!

The highlight of the playdate was the painting activity that Krissy facilitated.

That’s Red and Maia. When Aki and Red had a playdate for the first time, they ignored each other. They were still in diapers and just starting to walk. Now, they like chasing each other.

And this is Jared, my friend Leslie’s boy. Is it just me or do these two boys really look like they are brothers?

Here is Aki’s final artwork. He mixed blue and yellow to make green.

Thanks, Tita Krissy.

Here is everyone minus Red, Kate and Luis. So nice to see new faces. Hope to see them again in our next playdates.

Manila Zoo Revisited

For sure, our Manila Zoo is no strong contender for the best zoo in the world award. But for only 20 bucks (or is 40?), I don’t think I should be complaining.

Anyhoo, on our second visit, we discovered areas that we did not get to check out before. Here are the new animals that we saw

It felt weird to see a carabao inside the zoo. Maybe because I am used to seeing them everyday in Bayog.

Check out the third photo. I was not able to get the name of the long-tailed bird. I think it is unfair that male birds are more colorful than their female counterparts.I love the owl! I tried to have a staring contest with it. He won. We have seen other owls in the past but none as wide awake as this one. Aki  asked, “Hali Pato, ito?” (Is this from Harry Potter?)

Within Manila Zoo is a mini-zoo named Kinder Zoo. It is privately run so animals here are in a better condition. Entrance fee is PhP100. You can pay extra if you want to try the activities inside like, wall climbing, swimming, zip line etc. Thank you, Erl, for our discounted tickets!

Aki: Crocs? Booooooring..

He seemed to like the giant snake better. Franco, who was not with us, after seeing this picture warned me though to stay close and observe the snake next time. He said he saw a video where a harmless looking snake suddenly tightened and almost killed the model who was holding it.

This zoo trip was more memorable because of our playdate buddies Faye and Maia

Dora and Diego. We have had several playdates with Maia but this is only the 2nd time where it is just the two of them. Check out our baking playdate last year here and here. Faye, pizza playdate naman?

Playdate at the Fun Farm at Santa Elena

When we went to the Fun Farm last August, we went with friends. We were with the families of Faye of Chronicles of Maia, Rachel of Mommy Mama Rat and Erlaine of Glamma Momma. I think the reason why our pictures turned out so well is because we genuinely had great time at the Fun Farm. Going there is a such a relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of city living. How I wish there is a nearby farm here in Paranaque.

Some of the things that we did

Carabao Caritela ride. As you can see in the pictures, only the mommies enjoyed this part of the trip. Hehe. This is one of the first things we did together. The kids were still warming up to the place and to each other.

Horseback riding

Fishing. I so looked forward to this because Aki has not tried fishing before. All the little fishies were returned to the pond by the way.

Potluck lunch. We had peanut butter sandwishes, fresh fruits, barbeque and Spanish sardines pasta. I finally got to use the colorful plates, utensils, bowls and cups from Ikea. My tita got them on sale, 1 pound or 60 pesos for a pack of six items (bowls, plates and cups).

Boat ride in the mini pond.

Animal feeding. We fed the fish, ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs.

Indoor playground and sandbox.

Rope Crossing.

This is one of my absolute favorite shots of the day. I want to have a girl!