Manila Bay Sunset Cruise

40th are milestone birthdays for most people. It's like a coming of age party for people having a middle life crisis. You all know that I've stopped counting my age when I reached 28, so I never really celebrated my 40th. Hahaha! But I have always enjoyed helping other people celebrate their 40th, though.

A month ago, a friend celebrated her 40th birthday. I first met her a decade ago as our kids (my youngest son, and her eldest daughter) were pre-school classmates. We were kidding each other that pretty soon, we can both be the parents chaperoning as our kids' class host their first soiree together.. Eeeep! Let's not go into that yet.

Weekend Footnotes: A Birthday + Chinese New Year 2018

This long weekend was a very busy one for my family.

We celebrated Valentine's, C's birthday + Chinese New Year. In between all that, J also was invited to 2 birthday parties, so the weekend was in full swing.

14Feb: Valentine's

It was a good Valentine's Day for me because I got the Cuyana bag that I have been eyeing for some time. In the early years of our relationship, C used to give me dozens of Ecuadorian roses. Ang mahal! Tapos in a few days, malalanta na and I have to throw them away. When we got married, and I was comfortable enough with him, I finally told him I would appreciate receiving something that I can keep for years.

More than 2 decades together. He gets me.

I'm not so much into flowers. But yes to practical gifts.

Holidays 2017

This is a very delayed post, but I still want to do it because I want to remind myself, again and again, of how lucky I am to have wonderful people to call family.

My husband and kids are indeed God's greatest blessing to me. They pretty much are the reason for the smile on my face, the spring in my step, twinkle in my eye... you get it!!!

Happiest 17th!

My oldest turns 17 today.

I see her walking in my steps in more ways than one as the years go by. This makes me pray that I am intentional and purposeful in the way I lead my life.

That my walk speaks louder than my talk.

This caused me to self-reflect: Have I placed my life under God's control? Do my actions reflect this?

Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. {Deuteronomy 6:7}

 My IG greeting to her goes:  

"Happy 17th to our family's big-sister, style-arbiter, silly laughter-source, spotify playlist-curator, good-natured realist and resident drama-"kween". Today we celebrate you and all the times you make us laugh out loud, thankful to God that we get to keep going - together. Parenting can sometimes be complicated, grateful that you ALWAYS make it seem so simple"

Reminiscing About DIY Birthday Parties + The Little Whisk

Now that all my kids are teenagers, no one gets excited for birthday parties anymore.

I would ask them if they want me to throw them one, and sadly, they now all decline my offer.

I remember when they were all much younger, I would make intimate DIY birthday parties that would allow me to express my creativity. I would DIY galore!

The most fun I've had was when I hosted a crafternoon birthday party for B.

I had a craft table set-up. The girls all had their own craft kits bundled up in a cute feline princess box. I printed out the instructions for each craft and laid out some samples to inspire and guide them.

Some of the crafts they did that afternoon:

Ang cute di ba? And to think, most of the materials were just upcycled 

from ordinary household materials

You can read all about the crafternoon  party here: http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2012/03/a-crafternoon-party.html

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Another memorable one was when I threw a SPArty for J. All pof her friends were treated to an hour of foot soak and cleaning, foot massage and pedicure, too!

She just loved the experience of gathering all her good friends in one place 
and having lots of girly fun with them. 

We did a lot of DIY for this party also. We baked our own cupcakes. I designed the birthday banner and had it printed out. It's still with us up to this day. We take it out every year during B's birthday and hang it in our dining room. For me, it just makes the  banner more special because it has celebrated so many birthdays with us already.

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But even if they have outgrown DIY birthday parties, they still request for me to bake something to give to their friends.

Carrot cupcakes are a fave, it's one of the most requested flavors by all three kids. They asked me to make it so many times already.

A Thomas the Train themed cupcake for when R was still in pre-school

Cookies of all kinds and flavors are also another favorite

Just last year, B requested for matcha cookies

There was also a year when J requested me to make cookie cups

http://thephenomenalmama.blogspot.com/2013/10/phenomenal-tip-diy-cookie-cups.html

That's it! I'm done reminiscing. Hahaha!

Last year, J requested for flamingo sugar cookies as birthday treats for her friends.

Decorating sugar cookies is not my area of expertise, and so I had to call in my friend, Maggie of The Little Whisk to help me out.

Maggie is a work-at-home mom of two boys. She started doing decorated sugar cookies as a hobby. When she was planning for her eldest son’s birthday five years ago, she was looking for cookie and cakepop suppliers for her Dr. Seuss theme but she couldn't find a supplier. That’s when she got interested in baking and decorating treats like cakepops and cookies. 

It started as a hobby and she would bake and design for friends and family. Until pretty soon, people she didn't even know would order from her. She is the best sugar cookie supplier out there. She's very easy to talk to, and you can really rest easy knowing that she always exceeds her clients' expectations.

My daughter was very happy with the The Little Whisk cookies she ordered from her. Just have a look at them.

The Little Whisk is a home-based supplier of decorated sugar cookies, cakepops and cupcakes for any event. It aims to make any event and every celebrant feel extra special through our treats. Our goal is to make events more special and to put a smile to anyone who receives and tastes the treats.

 The Little Whisk specializes in decorated sugar cookies. They create customize inspired and intricately-designed cookies depending on the customer’s preferences. The customers can either show a peg or tell the theme of the event and we will send over some sketch or design pegs.

Here are some of her works:

And I'm saving two of my most favorites for last...

Ang gaganda di ba? For more photos of Maggie's cookies, visit The Little Whisk on IG and FB.

To know more about The Little Whisk: 

Facebook | Instagram 

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Happy 12th, My Li'l Man!

Happy 12th birthday to my fave son!

I feel guilty that as my kids grow older, I'm no longer as eager to document their days like I was when they were younger. I remember I would have albums upon albums filled with their photos, but that was when I was still shooting with film. Later on, when digital photography overtook film, I would be busy on photoshop making photo journals.

Happy 13th to My B Girl!

Happy Birthday my sweet and strong B!

They say parents can determine their child’s personality within the first month of life. As a mother of three, I have found this to be true. I remember when B was a month old, as soon as the sun went down, her mood seemed to shift as well. She would cry incessantly for upto an hour, and no amount of cuddling, rocking, feeding, playing could distract her high-pitched cries. The doctor said that she developed colic and it would soon go away on its own. But for months on end, I was stressed from her screaming.

Happy Birthday To Me! {2015}

I celebrated another birthday last week... Seems like the older I get, the more simple and uneventful I want my birthday to be. What I really look forward to is reading the birthday cards that my kids make for me. They know I prefer handmade cards over store-bought ones... because I make sure to remind them a few days before my birthday. Hahaha!

My li'l man keeps his card simple, and his message meaningful.

He writes, "Thank you for always doing your best just so you can please and make us happy even if you get tired. Thank you also for always giving us your best and loving us... I hope you will live long enough so we can have more fun memories together!"

What My Daughter Wore.... From My Closet.

Just a few weekends ago, my 15-year-old daughter goes in my walk-in closet and emerges a few minutes later with one of my clothes.  She holds up my chambray button-down and asks, " Can I borrow this today?" She borrows it often enough that I haven't had the chance to wear it anymore.

My daughter loves clothes, and I've written about her love for it and some of her (misplaced) body image issues here.  She gets to indulge her sartorial choices on weekends; and this is when she shifts through her closet, and occasionally mine, as she chooses what to wear.

She went clothes-shopping for this dress without me, but I am so thrilled that she asked for my opinion via text before actually deciding on purchasing this one. 

Weekend Footnotes: A Wedding at Mango Farm

It's been such a long time since someone has gotten married in the family. So when we learned that our younger cousin is getting married, everyone looked forward to a reason for the extended family to get-together.

There's always something specially intoxicating about a romantic and enchanting garden wedding. Notwithstanding the summer heat, I think almost everyone present at the Mango Farm reception will agree that the lovely and ethereal set-up did wonders to the heart.

There was a lot of crying, emotional speeches from both sides, drinking and dancing. The brother of the groom shifted to being a party DJ, and went over to the booth "played his set."  But of course, we left the dancing to the younger set, because it was way past our curfew already. teehee!

Enjoy the sweetest details captured by my camera that day.

 Notice the 4 cute and standout messages we all commissioned my J to doodle for us. She really has an artisitic bent which I think she should enhance some more.

Christmas 2014

Merriest CHRISTmas to you all!  So how was your celebration like?

My in-laws usually take a trip out of the country during the holidays. We usually go with them since my husband's business allows us to go out of the country only during the long Christmas break.  But for this year we decided to not go with my in-laws to HK.

Everytime that we are home to celebrate the holidays, I prepare the food for Christmas Eve dinner, just like this one right here. Holiday cooking always gets me excited! I woke up extra early to prepare our holiday cookies... to make sure there's something sweet to munch on the entire day while we are busy in the kitchen and for when we are opening our presents.

One by one, my kids started joining me in the kitchen for our whole morning bake fest!  With songs in the background while we were baking, it seemed like there was a party going on in our kitchen!

These Lemon Meltaways literally melt in the mouth!
These are the kids' favorite!  They are really shortbread cookies, but I've altered the recipe to use cornstarch to take the place of part the flour to make them melt in the mouth.

Of Birthdays & Encouragement

Birthdays are one occasion where I find myself sidetracking a lot of questions... after all, who really expects a woman to answer, "how old are you?" Because seriously, do you really need to know???

I was feeling nostalgic as I started writing this post that I went back to my archives to re-read my birthday posts of years past. So funny that the single theme seemed to be how I skirt around the issue as far as age is concerned.

I think my 2010 blogpost was a funny and honest commentary on my superficial insecurities about growing and looking old. I actually caught myself smiling a few times as I was re-reading it. Nakakatawa lang siya talaga eh!  2011 was just ordinary, and was actually a wishlist of what I wanted for my birthday. The year 2012 showed that I have slowly come to terms with inching closer to being 40 -or not! Hahaha! Although it would seem that by the time 2013 came around, I was subconsciously trying to skip the event altogether. No post about it. Maybe I didn't want to greet myself "Happy 40th!" Doesn't it seem self-contradictory? Happy 40th? Tee-hee!

But this year, there's no denying it... 41! It says right there in my son's touching birthday card for me.

The Lli'l Man's birthday card is out of character.  He is so kulit! And usually complains if he needs to study for more than 30 minutes without a break. He appreciates my help din pala!

Makes me feel so appreciated to know that all my effort have not gone unnoticed.  Sometimes, it feels so good to have your efforts validated, di ba? "I feel so proud to have you as my Mom!" is simply an awww-moment for me. After all, how many moms get that from their 10 year old son?

B says, "Thank you for believing in me to get the things that I can never imagine getting.... the most important is that you taught us to sacrifice, something you practice everyday."

While my teen can't seem to thank me enough for helping her with her IG photos.:) But she also goes serious, "Thank you .... to make sure that we achieve the best with our abilities."

I've noticed that in all of their letters, they thanked me for encouraging them to be their best. They actually thanked me! That surprised me because most of the time when I am pushing them to do their best, a "yes, Mom" doesn't come immediately. They rationalize and reason out, and say that it can't be done, they cannot do it, it's so hard.  I always just share with them {Philippians 4:13}

And if that still doesn't work, I may or may not have used the obedience card to end the rationalization on why something cannot be done.

I've always believed that as a mom, I am their number one cheerleader, I am that someone who motivates them to reach further and higher. I give them that much needed push when they need it, most especially when it's very tempting to just settle. . Sometimes I feel like my encouragement falls on deaf ears, but their letters above show me that they do take note of it; that they appreciate it; and have in fact done what they initially thought was impossible because of it.

I do not take credit, of course. For when I encourage them, most of the time, I reference to the Bible. For nothing can blanket us with complete confidence as the word of God. Sharing with you some more of the bible verses I use to encourage my kids when they feel like something is too difficult to get done:

One of my kids is anxious by nature, and worries a lot about many phantom concerns.
This verse calms the anxious spirit as God "has given His angels orders about you, to guard you wherever you go." 

 

 

Those are just some of the verses, there are a lot more coming from their Dad.  Our kids do believe what we tell them.  They become it. This gives C and I a big realization that we should choose our words wisely.  Not easy to do when we are frustrated, but makes us try harder to be purposeful with what comes out of our mouths.

Again, same as I did for my past birthday posts, I leave you with my favorite verse {Jeremiah 29:11}

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