Lucas’ 3rd Birthday

Since November 2013, I’ve been thinking about Lucas’ 3rd birthday celebration.  I know that I don’t have enough budget for a huge party so we decided that he’ll celebrate his birthday with 9 of his classmates in school and 2 teachers.  Since it is going to be an intimate party, I thought I’d put effort into it.  Besides, I’ll only need to prepare for 12 people plus 3 more friends in school.  So first, I thought of a theme.  I was browsing through Pinterest and saw a Little Red Car theme (of course I had to include a Volkswagen Beetle).  I searched for several ideas and here’s my version of the theme.

Here’s the invitation:

As a teacher, I understand how hard it is to let the children bring home their left over party food.  So I decided that each child will have a lunch bag where I’ll put everything in:  food, dessert, drink and utensils.  At the same time it’ll serve as a party favor.  I asked a very good friend of mine to make the lunch bags.  I just told her the shape and design I wanted.  The bags were amazing and well-crafted.  Blue striped lining for the boys and red striped lining for the girls.  I just placed tags of their names to personalize each lunch bag.

For the food, I thought that the toddlers wouldn’t eat much.  So I asked my friend, who’s a caterer to pack 6 pieces of chicken fingers for each food container (blue for boys and red for girls) labeled as “Pit Stop.”  I also packed doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts for dessert as “Spare Tire”.  I labeled apple juice boxes as “Fuel.”

Lastly, I made mini tool boxes out of a small Zip Lock bag where I placed the fork, table napkin and straw.As for Lucas’ cake, I asked my caterer friend to make a simple 8″ inch round vanilla fondant cake with little red cars.  I got the idea from Pinterest.  I totally loved the cake and it tasted so good too!For some final touches, I made a simple Happy Birthday banner for picture taking purposes 🙂 .

I also designed two shirts for Lucas.  One shirt, he wore on our “Pre-Birthday” shoot and the other shirt he wore on his birthday.  The designs were heat pressed by our Ninang (thanks so much!).

Birthday Shirt

Pre-birthday shoot shirt

Lucas’ birthday was just simple and intimate but he really enjoyed it.  I don’t do a lot of DIY projects, but I had fun planning and preparing for this small party.  It was worth it, the moment I saw the smile on my son’s face.  Thanks so much to my hubby for supporting me on this.  Thank you Golde for making the lunch bags for me.  They’re adorable.  I would never imagine myself doing the same thing.  Haha!  Thanks you Bebot of Ivy-Chris Bakeshop and Catering for the yummy food and beautiful cake.  Thank you to Lucas’ teachers, Teachers Lee Anne and Miriam, for making Lucas’ first ever school birthday celebration memorable.

I Am A Hero

wLast week, our country was again visited by a typhoon named “Maring.”  Here’s a link about the details of this typhoon.  This also enhanced the Habagat (southwest monsoon).

Then again, a lot of Filipino communities, in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are greatly affected due to flooding.  A lot of families needed to evacuate to higher grounds because the water level kept on rising.

Our school already planned out an event for the Father and Child Activity for this year, which was the “Minute to Win It.”  However, the owners of the school Teachers Michelle and Leah decided to just use the funds for this activity to buy goods for the affected families especially in Marikina City.  So instead of the original activity, last Saturday, August 24, we had the Father and Child Repacking Activity.

our poster

All of us agreed that this activity will be even more meaningful for the father and the child (also the moms, siblings, grandparents, caregivers who came to support us).

First, the father and child need to color a card that will be placed in their package after.

Tatay Brio and Lucas coloring the card

My boys 🙂

It was then followed by a short assembly at the Multipurpose Hall.  Here Teacher Michelle gave a quick background about typhoon “Maring” and showed pictures of flooded areas and other damages that it brought.  She also told the children that they could be heroes themselves by helping in repacking relief goods for the flood victims.

Dadda Mike and Anton during the assembly.

Then, Teacher Mel explained what items should be in their relief bags.

Two ISYC former students helping out: Bella and Enzo

We’re very thankful for all the other families who shared some donations and for the alumni who helped us as well.

I’m not really sure how many bags we’re able to produce after repacking, but I know it is more than 500 bags.  Then we have more boxes left that were brought to Ateneo de Manila.

Here are more random photos taken during the event:

Elysse and Daddy Bryan in action

Sabine and Dada Kim

a little help will go a long way – from Inn and Ysai (Creative Hands)

just a few of the donations received the day before the event (August 23)

our badge

At the end of the day, it was really really tiring.  But it felt good to know that in our little ways we could make a difference a be a hero to others.

Family of the Day

For this month of August, ISYC’s theme is all about Family.  Every year, the toddlers have this “Family of the Day” activity where each family should sign up for a date where the whole family could share any of the favorite things or talk about our interests, etc.  One option is to volunteer for a home visit and another one is to bring the kids to either parents’ place of business or work.  We can’t do either of that unless I’d give them a tour around ISYC :).  So Brio and I decided that we share our passion for VW classic cars plus give the kids something that is useful from Creative Hands.  I made each of Lucas’ classmates a personalized bag tag with a pink VW classic beetle for the girls and a blue VW classic beetle for the boys.

Then we brought the kids to the parking lot to show Lucas’ black VW car and took group photos of them.

We’re not so sure if we made it interesting for this cuties, so I ordered assorted VW beetle sugar cookies from a friend who will open her bakeshop soon here in Marikina City (Capriserrie).  I think the kids enjoyed eating thecookies as much as I did. 🙂

 

Oh one more thing! We needed to submit a collage on a 1/8 illustration board so it could be displayed in Lucas’ classroom.  I thought of making a digital collage then have it printed on tarp…but I stopped myself.  I told myself that I should make an effort for this.  This is Lucas’ first year in school, I have to work on this — meaning I should do pasting and cutting.  I do not have a scrap booking skill so I really don’t know how I’d put together the photos.  I didn’t know what stuff to stick to make it look nice.  But I’m proud that I was able to come up with a simple collage.  I’m proud because this is the best thing that I can do. hahaha!

It really was a great experience for me and Brio and of course Lucas.  We actually saw in his eyes that he liked it that we were there.

Though it was just for one day, I think it is good to make use of such opportunities because it could really boost your child’s confidence and it’ll make him feel important. 🙂

Photo Credits: Ronald Briones

Cupcake Love

I have always been a fan of cupcakes.  Not so much of chocolate cupcakes though.  Previously, I wrote about Felize’s Baked Specialties.  I love their oatmeal cookies and carrot cupcake.  Now I have a new favorite from Felize’s, the cupcake that we used for ISYC’s Mother and Child Activity Cupcake Decorating Station.  I asked Teacher Pia what’s the name of the cupcake because I loved it.  It wasn’t so sweet but still very yummy. That’s what I’m always looking for in a cupcake.  It’s not chocolate nor vanilla but really good.

Lucas and I didn’t put too much frosting but still it was very good.  According to Teacher Pia she just experimented on the recipe.  So I told her that we’ll call it Teacher Pia’s Secret Recipe Cupcake.  🙂  I really love it and definitely will order from her. 🙂  So if you want to try this secret recipe cupcake, you may contact Felize’s.

Operation Healthy Cooking

Guess what?  I cooked again.  Well they are still very similar to what I’ve been cooking so far.  I just changed some of the ingredients I used.

The other night I tried cooking Grilled Cream Dory Fillet with Veggies on the Side.

grilled cream dory fillet with veggies

I basically just marinated my fish with calamansi juice, salt and pepper and olive oil.  Then I grilled it on a grill pan.  Then I poured the remaining marinade on my carrots and Baguio beans before I added them to the grill pan.  I made sure that my veggies are still crunchy.  Then we ate it with Basmati rice.  Lucas liked the fish.  After he tasted it he said, “Sarap yan.”  Whew!  If he could eat my cooking, oh he’ll definitely live. Hahaha!

The next thing I cooked was my usual pasta in tuna, chicken sausage in olive oil with garlic.  But this time I used vegeroni (vegetable-based macaroni pasta).  Well, my son didn’t eat the pasta, he just liked the chicken sausage.  But my mom loved the pasta though and that’s a good thing. 🙂

Vegeroni Pasta with Tuna and Chicken Sausage in olive oil and garlic

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

The Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Book by Bill Martin Jr. And Eric Carle was my son Lucas’ first ever favorite book. The book was read to him for the first time when he was still a year and 2 months old when he attended the playgroup summer class at ISYC. He was really paying so much attention when Teacher Nikki was reading (or I should say singing) the book to this group of one year old kids. Lucas liked the book very much that he didn’t want it to end. He cried when Teacher said “The End.” After that incident, I immediately bought him a board book copy, similar to what his Teacher read to them. He was really happy. He still couldn’t express himself verbally back then but he obviously loves it because he browses through it all the time.

Now he’s attending Toddlers class in ISYC, he met the same book as they learned about colors. Also they recreated the book through various artwork activities. Well, Lucas hates glue or paint or anything that would “mess” up his hands. But I’m so proud of what he’s created that’s why I’m sharing each and every page of what he did. By the way, the Yellow Duck is my favorite 🐤 it was supposed to be a paper tearing, crumpling and sticking activity..well that’s exactly what he did 🐥.

The Little Schoolboy

It is official! Our little Lucas started going to school last Monday, June 17. I just couldn’t believe that he’s now a school boy attending one of the Toddler Classes at ISYC (integrated School for Young Children), where I’m also teaching.

I chose the mid-morning (11am to 1pm) schedule because I didn’t want to pressure him yet in waking up early just to ride with me in going to school. Another reason was that I wanted to have a “stress free” morning as I prepare before going to work (I’m sure the mothers out there know what I mean)☺. So we decided to let him ride the school service with Ate Cindy in coming to school. He was hesitant to ride the service at first. But he easily got comfortable the following day (he even talks about everything that he see on the way to school).

When he finally arrived ISYC last Monday, he went to my classroom first and said Hi. I brought him to his classroom to meet his teachers (Teachers Lee Anne and Miriam). It wasn’t at all difficult. He placed his backpack in a cubby and went straight to the Manipulatives Area of the classroom. Letting him attend the Summer Fun class last May was really helpful. He immediately felt at home. Ate Cindy and I left him inside the classroom on his own and surprisingly he didn’t mind.

Their class schedule for 2 weeks will just be from 11am to 12noon. Lucas is still adjusting but I’m sure he’s enjoying school. It took a while to sink in to me that Lucas is already going to school. It just means that he is not a baby anymore. I’m looking forward to a great school year for him. I just hope that he won’t give his teachers a hard time…which is a little bit impossible 😉.

Quick Easy Pasta Snack: Pasta with Sausage

Yesterday I asked my 2-year old son what he wants for snack. Here’s how our conversation went:

Nanay: Lucas what do you want to eat?

He paused for a second, he seems to be really thinking about it…

Lucas: Sotage! (That means sausage)

Though I heard him right I had to ask again…

Nanay: What?

Lucas: Pasta!

Huh? My mom and I laughed so hard. She suggested I make a simple pasta dish with chicken sausage. So there. That’s why I came up with this recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Garlic
1 can of chicken sausage
Salt
Pasta noodles (I used the one with malunggay)

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta as instructed in the package.
2. Sautee the sausage and garlic in olive oil.
3. Add a little bit of salt.
4. Toss in the cooked pasta noodles.

You may add parmesan cheese if you have, I just don’t have it yesterday.

The question is, did my son eat the pasta? Of course not! He just ate the sausage. Haha! But I’m glad I cooked enough for my mom too and she liked it ☺.

A Not So Good Summer Ending

Summer is almost over and it’s heart breaking to see your child not being able to enjoy what’s left of it. Lucas caught a bug and it’s stopping him to go outdoors and have some fun. It started last Saturday when we noticed him sneezing. He felt a lot better the night of that. We went to the mall the next day, Sunday and there wasn’t any sign of getting sick. Monday he was alright until Tuesday came he got the colds back again and started coughing. I brought him to his pedia, unfortunately she was out of town. I just had him checked by the reliever who’s also a pedia. She gave Lucas meds that aren’t new to us. I noticed that despite what he’s taking, he’s not getting any better. His cough worsen and his voice became hoarse. He had a slight fever and had a hard time breathing because of clogged airway. What’s good about him, he never showed any weakness except when he’s sleepy. He still very active and dances around. However, he wasn’t able to attend the last week of his Summer Fun class.

Yesterday I had to take him to the ER at Marikina Valley Medical Center for a blood test because there were rashes on his chest and tummy and fluctuating fever. I used his health card, Medicard, that I got him through ISYC. I told myself before that I hope I’ll never get to use this card, especially Lucas’, but then yesterday, I had to. So far the nurses and the resident doctor were very accommodating. When it’s time for the medical technician to prick Lucas’ finger, she didn’t have a hard time. Lucas was so brave and didn’t cry at all 😉 (just like Nanay 😉). We we’re told that we can wait for the results for about an hour but we just decided to take him home so he could have his siesta. When he woke up, we picked ip the results (and thank God it is not dengue) and brought him to his pedia. It was viral infection (a bad one) and allergies. So he was given an antihistamine and he was required to nebulize (our quickest hope for him to recover).

Nebulizing was easy for Lucas the last time he needed it. But now, he started to resist it. He cries and it’s heart breaking. I kept on telling him that it’ll make him better. I just feel so bad every time I need to hold him tight so he can’t remove the mask and watch him in tears. I jus really hate it when he gets sick.

I’m praying that he won’t get any worse so he can go back to his normal activities and at least enjoy the remaining days of summer.

Human Heart Nature Antipolo: An Addition to My Favorite Places

I just found out that a Human Heart Nature branch just opened in Antipolo, inside the grounds of Wensha Spa and Cafe Lupe Antipolo. I just visited the branch yesterday at around 530 pm (they’re open until 7pm) and I immediately fell in love with it. The people were very accommodating even the guard outside. The branch is not as big as Commonwealth’s of course but the ambiance is similar. The cashier is located right at the entrance and one needs to go down to the main part where to shop. It has a brewing station and kids’ corner (with toys and books) as well. It’s a place where I could enjoy my retail therapy of organic products that I’ve been using for almost 4 years. Whenever I purcase HHN products, I usually do it online. But now that there’s a nice branch near Marikina, I can say that I’d rather pay this branch a visit than ordering online. It’s also an excuse for me to go out and enjoy the Antipolo View from time to time. For my next visit, I’ll also bring along Lucas for him to enjoy the kids’ corner while I shop 🙂