Happy New Year!

May each day of 2013

Bring happiness, good cheer

And sweet surprises…

To you and all your family! 

Happy New Year!

Janine Tugonon

Congratulations Ms. Janine Tugonon!
Miss Universe 2012 First Runner-Up.
I'm proud of you. I'm proud to be Pinoy!

Mother

Last week my Mother got sick, she had a pneumonia. She had to be confined in the hospital for three days. I was so worried and really pity her because she got high fever and a persistent cough.

She is home and recovering now. Soon she will be in pink of health again. By January she will be 86 years old. Would you believe that she haven't had inflicted diseases that comes with old age like arthritis, cardiovascular, diabetes, alzheimer's disease and the like? Still very strong!

Allow me to share with you this poem that I looked up online,  I printed this out, framed and gave to my mother when she was confined in the hospital.

I love you Mother.

iPad Giveaway

Having an iPad is one of my Christmas wish. Bumping in to several blogs this giving season, I encountered this iPad Giveaway, without hesitation I joined in to win this 16GB 4th Generation Apple iPad with Retina Display!

What a splendid giveaway!!!

The Giveaway will run for the whole month of December and is open worldwide. I’ll try my luck here; I really want to have an iPad this Christmas. Fingers crossed…

The Twelve Days of Christmas

It’s Christmas season again, and one of my favorite Christmas carols, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is heard far and wide from shopping malls to TV commercials and radio stations.

Ever wonder what does a song about a partridge in a pear tree, turtle doves, hens, birds, geese and swans have to do with Christmas?

Here is an interesting symbolism I read online:

A Partridge in a Pear Tree - Jesus Christ
Two Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testaments
Three French Hens - The three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity
Four Calling/Collie Birds - Four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Five Golden Rings - First five books of the Old Testament
Six Geese-a-Laying - Six days of creation before God's rest on the seventh day
Seven Swans-a-Swimming - Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
Eight Maids-a-Milking - Eight Beatitudes
Nine Ladies Dancing - Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
Ten Lords-a-Leaping - Ten Commandments
Eleven Pipers Piping - Eleven faithful disciples
Twelve Drummers Drumming -Twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed

Win Firmoo Vouchers worth of $20

One of my wishes since I’ve started this blog and joined a lot of blog giveaways is to hold my own giveaway. That wish has come true. This Christmas season, online chances and Firmoo will give 25 vouchers worth of $20 each for you to use in a purchase of Firmoo glasses.

The giveaway starts today December 7 and will end on December 23. There will be 25 winners! Good luck and Merry Christmas to all of you.

Just follow these super-easy rules.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Staples Meadowlands Palace Auburn Hills

My hubby once said that whenever he has the chance to visit America, he really wanted to visit the Staples Center, Palace of Auburn Hills and New Meadowlands Stadium.

What the heck is that place you might ask?  These are the venues in America which hold live sports, concerts and entertainment events all year round!

Great thing that Ticketamerica.com has tickets for these venues, whenever my hubby has the chance to go to America, he will just click the links below to view available tickets and show schedules.

staples center tickets

palace of auburn hills tickets

met life stadium

Win PayPal Cash @PinoyRecipe.net and PinoyDesserts.net

I am a fan of Pinoy Recipe.net; this is one of my fave foodie sites. I’ve used their recipes and shared it with my sisters in law. Also, I always join their giveaways but always unlucky, ha ha ha! As I’m browsing my Facebook this afternoon, I noticed a post from PinoyRecipe.net.

Yes, another Christmas Giveaways from PinoyRecipe.net and PinoyDesserts.net. This time PayPal Cash of  $50 for 1st Prize, $30 for 2nd Prize and $20 for the 3rd Prize, are up for grab.

Come, let’s join!

Turn off your TV

When I was young I am a TV addict. I watched everything in the tube. But when I got married and got kids I watched TV moderately. My kids as they grow, TV watching is regulated.

Like me, I know you already read a lot of articles about the  the damaging effects of excessive TV watching.

However, I digest it into four, here it goes:

1. TV is bad for our heart. When we sit in front of a TV, we are mostly sitting around, we spend hours being deskbound and it is not helping our heart. So, instead of watching TV, go for a walk. Let the children play.

2. TV is associated to bad eating habits. We love to snacked while watching, who doesn’t love that? And what do we eat? Junk food, unhealthy food! Suggestion: limit your daily TV watching time and stocked up on healthy snacks.

3. TV has a negative impact on learning.  The kids exposed to background TV can’t focus in their study and their reading ability diminishes. Better switch off the TV when the children are studying.

4. There are so many other things to do than watch TV! Read a book, take a bike ride around the neighborhood, take a walk in a nearby park or plaza.

Win a Glutamax Gift Pack @ a WAHM's buggy life

I'm joining again Blog Contests/Giveaways.
Here's one giveaway I just joined in: a fabulousGlutamax Gift Pack sponsored of a WAHM's buggy life.
Hop in if you want to grab this gift pack.

Treating my son’s fatty liver

When my eldest was 9 years old, which was in 2006, he was diagnosed with a fatty liver. If I could still remember my child’s pediatrician  explained,  that fatty liver is a buildup of fat within the liver, the fat causes swelling and scarring; the swelling and scarring can avert the liver to do its functions  such as –clean  the bloodstream of harmful substances and poisons, make bile which contains chemicals to help us digest the food we eat, control blood sugar and cholesterol levels,   and makes the proteins that allow blood to clot normal, also the swelling and scarring will lead to liver failure. 

I was so frightened and cried for my son’s health.

The pediatrician further explained that fatty liver is tied to obesity. My son was obese when he was in grade school. If I still can recall the symptoms that lead us to visit my child’s pediatrician, was that he constantly complains abdominal pain and get exhausted instantly.

My eldest undergo ultrasound to confirm the pediatrician’s suspicion of fatty liver. The ultrasound indeed verified the disease; it showed fats as well as how much fat has built up in his liver. The saddest part is when my child’s pediatrician told us that there is no medication for my son’s disease.  I weep loudly. And she advice us that to control the disease from worsening we have to manage my son’s weight, eat healthy foods and undergo regular exercise.

I take good care of my son. I want him to be healthy. It was two years of diligence and patience for the whole family. but at the end was rewarded.  Before his elementary graduation, back in 2008, he took on another session of ultrasound procedure and this time his pediatrician said he is cured. I was so happy hearing the pediatrician’s words. It was the sweetest words that I heard. 

So how I and hubby take good care of my son?  

1. Change the family’s lifestyle – eat healthy foods, increase fruit and vegetables intake and exercise daily with our kids – walking, jogging around the neighborhood.  Changing lifestyle is really tough but we must do it for our son. The change in lifestyle will help my son to lose weight and all together would also lose fat in his liver.
2. Shun from ALL processed foods.
3. Pass up for junk foods.
4. Never serve our son of fried foods.
5. Avoid intake of fatty foods especially foods having triglycerides such as butter, margarines, mayonnaise, most COMMERCIAL snack foods such as pastries, cakes, doughnut, pies and crackers, jams, jellies, ice cream,  sweetened cereals, sweetened gelatin, fruit juices, sodas, smoothies and sweetened coffee drinks.
6. Every summer we enrolled our son for swimming lessons.

Sem-break: 10 days off

Since my kids got a semestral break (sem-break) at school and enjoying it, I also got a sem-break and enjoyed it too!

My sem-break was a ten days time off from waking up  before 5AM, fixing early morning breakfast, fixing baons, tutoring  my grade school kid, checking my high school kid  lessons, ensuring their needs  like school projects and other activities.

In the past 8 days I snooze longer, no school homework and projects in mind, no worries of baon to pack, nix anxieties if my kids came up late from school…awesome!

What I did in the past 8 days?

1. Did the usual household chores – sweeping, dusting and cleaning the house, laundrying, marketing and cooking our daily meals.
2. Changed house curtains, re-arrange furniture, sorted out and discarded clothing that are disliked, sorted out and discarded kitchen wares and other stuff that are tattered. 
3. Surfed for new recipes that I think my family will like and updated my menu.
4. Did manicure-pedicure in a neighborhood beauty parlor.
5. Watched Skyfall and dine out with my hubby.
6. Did malling with my kids – shop for their stuffs and purchase grocery needs.
7. And surprisingly wrote 3 consecutive posts for my blog, a feat hahaha!

On the first day of xmas your true love gave you a schadenfreude

Skyfall

Last Saturday I waited who will grab the free Skyfall tickets from Market Manila (MM); I was just so depressed when I didn’t see my name among the winners.  Oh my gosh, last few days I think up sitting beside my  hubby, facing James Bond on the huge screen, and eating chicharon, did I mention it on my previous post,  that aside from the free tickets  MM will also give  a bag of Zubu Chicharon to the winners? And I am able to see MM in person! But I didn’t win…hu-hu-hu.

Anyhow, I am still excited…come October 31, on Wednesday I already got a date with hubby to watch Skyfall!

He really knows how depressed I am, plus the fact he is dying to watch it, particularly Skyfall is the 50th James Bond movie. Yes, fifty years ago this month, the first James Bond movie, Dr. No was shown.

That data was of course was courtesy of my hubby. You know, he is a Bond addict, by now he is imagining the car chases, exotic locations and the beautiful body of Bond girl’s he-hehe! Of the actors that portrayed James Bond, I love the original, Sean Connery. My husband loves all these actors that portrayed James Bond - Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

1st Frabelle Foodie Chef

I just saw this poster from Frabelle Foods Facebook page.

Frabelle Foods are calling all Cooks and Food Lovers to show off their talent and creativity by making their own recipe using any Frabelle Foods product.
The prize is a whooping P20, 000 cash, a Culinary Class and be crowned as the 1ST FRABELLE FOODIE CHEF! Wow, fabulous prizes,  isn’t it? I really like to sign up for a culinary class, but there are vital expenses that my family should prioritize.

Here’s the contest mechanics I also grab from their Facebook page. Take a look, you might be interested.

Hmmm…I am really interested of joining. I want to be a foodie chef, he-he-he.  Got to think now what I will cook…

Are you interested as well?

Free 007 Tickets@Market Manila

Market Manila , one of the food blogs I regularly visit, will be giving away SKYFALL tickets (the new 007 movie) to his readers over the next days.

My hubby is a Bond addict, so I will not let pass this opportunity. I got to wait on for Market Man’s instructions.

Hope I grab those tickets for me and my husband.

Free Reviewers (for Grade 5)

Since I tutor my Grade 5 kid and there are times that I really can’t update my blog for various reasons, I decided to post here in my blog and share to you the reviewers that I made for my kid. Maybe this way I can be keeping posted this blog of mine.

First up are these reviewers on my daughter’s 1st Quarter Exams

English 5
Filipino 5
Math 5
Science 5
Sibika 5

You are free to use it. Just click the links.

Maruya

 The other day, I cooked maruya, this is one of my favorite snack. It is just so easy to make.

Here the ingredients I used:
6 Saba, sliced lengthwise
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Oil for frying

And here’s how I cooked my maruya,

1.  I mix all ingredients except saba.
2. I add the sliced bananas. 
3. I heat a pan with oil and place three slices of saba then pour a little batter on it. 
4. I fry each side and waited to become golden brown. 

That’s it!
I dig in my maruya with a cup of coffee. Oh, delicious!

BC Bloggers

Hello to all!
I am Max, a wife and a mother to two gorgeous kids. I am a new member of BC Bloggers; I discovered BC Bloggers while blog hopping. For me, having a blog is a difficult task, that’s why weeks, err months are counted before I can update my blog, hehe. Also exchanging links is tiresome sometimes. Ah, ah…I am not complaining, I am just telling my experience.
So, when I visited Mommy Paula’s blog to know more about BC Bloggers, I was fascinated with this line “I thought of a neat solution that would solve our link exchange problems. Why not create a LINK EXCHANGE network so we don’t have to do the tedious task of hopping through 100 blogs asking or begging for a link exchange?”
Extremely neat idea he, he!
Now I found a key for building links to my blog. How about you? Why don’t you join BC Bloggers? Hop in.

Pepper N Mint: Looking for ONLINE RESELLERS!

Do you want a REAL ONLINE JOB? Are you staying in front of the computer for longer hours & not earning any single cent? Now is your chance to make money online! Be a part of Pepper N Mint ONLINE RESELLING TEAM and earn money the EASY WAY!

Want to join? Fill up this FORM and Pepper N Mint will send you the terms & conditions on being a part of their Reselling Team. Just don't forget to write max as your referrer.

Pepper N Mint perfume is a eau de parfum which means it has a 15% concentration of fragrance of oil that makes the perfume last long compared to eau de toilette perfumes. Oils are  imported from France and the fragrance lasts for about 6 to 8 hours.  Pepper N Mint perfumes has been in the market for about 2 ½ years now and its customers are satisfied with Pepper N Mint.

Feast your eyes with these awesome Pepper N Mint Scents. You can place your order HERE. And put max as your sales person.

ALLTHATSLAP Mac Giveaway

Oh, i love Mac! And the moment i saw this giveaway from ALLTHATSLAP, i didn't hesitate to join the giveaway.
Just look at these fabulous prizes...Mac Lipstick and Eyeshadow!

The giveaway will run until August 1, 2012. If you want to join visit ALLTHATSLAP.