Treasure Jar

Road trips are enjoyable. Whenever we have the chance to go on one, we savor the experience like it is our first road trip.

How to prepare for a road trip with children in tow?

• bring plenty of food that won’t spill nor make the tummies feel queasy
• bring lots of water in containers where one can easily drink from with minimum or no spillage
• dress appropriately
• check your vehicle and make sure you won’t be needing roadside assistance plans in a remote area where buildings/homes are few and far in between
• make sure all mobile phones are charged and/or bring chargers that you can use while in transit

I am sure there are a lot more tips that make sense when traveling with children. But one thing for sure, road trips are memorable experiences 🙂

FYI: photo was retouched to enhance the colors, difficult to take road photos at dusk when in mobile with a small camera 🙂

Tags: road trip

Last Friday, I wished for a new guitar. Not for me but for the youngest child who is bent on learning how to play the guitar. She has her eye on a certain brand. I’m sure when the daughter is adept enough to play she would be asking for gretsch guitars.

When we were still homeschooling, she learned to play a recorder all by herself but somehow this skill was forgotten due to the rigors of regular schooling. I hope she can re-learn when they have flute lessons in 4th grade.

Music is the language of the soul, so they say. My children grew up hearing music and learning songs that children their age probably don’t know. Here is one of my youngest daughter’s favorite song: That’s All I Want From You

Tags: children and music, gift of music, guitar, songs

Do you believe in magic, witches and wishing on a rainbow? Do you want to see magical creatures? You can do all these and more at The Wonka Imaginarium, Atrium, EDSA Shangri-la Plaza from December 1 till December 4 which is made possible by our favorite candy store, Candy Corner.

The Wonka Imaginarium is inspired by Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you haven’t read the book nor seen the movie, I suggest you do that 😉

When you look up and see these train, ice cream and peppermint candies ceiling festive decorations, you are near The Wonka Imaginarium.

When you see this fountain, you are there.

Purchase at least PhP100 worth of candies like Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Runts and Gobstopper plus so much more at the Wonka Imaginarium store or at Candy Corner’s Shangri-la Plaza store to get a Golden Ticket.

Be amazed at larger than life 3D art installations when you enter the Wonka doors:

A big pot of candies! Yey!

Grasshoppper!

Ladybug

Giant Mushrooms!

Details on The Wonka Imaginarium display.

Enter this magical door while the Talking Tree and a pink Laffy Taffy in person  assist you and your friends:

Don’t panic! This is going to be fun, I promise!

Wow, it is a different world in here!

You’ll get to meet a beautiful witch when you pass through that cosmic world and…

it is a surprise happy ending and you’ll get to know what happens next when you go see The Wonka Imaginarium with your children.

Tags: 3D art installations, Candy Corner, Candy Corner EDSA Shangri-la Plaza, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Gubstoppers, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, The Golden Ticket, The Wonka Imaginarium, The Wonka Imaginarium EDSA Shangri-la Plaza, The Wonka Imaginarium Golden Ticket, Willy Wonka

During last year’s Christmas Day lunch with the in-laws, I raffled out some goodies. This year, I’m planning to do this again so I am starting to put together a lot of things to fill up a bag for the raffle:

• lanyards with different colors
• baller bracelets of different colors
• skin care products
• shirts
• accessories like bracelets, steel necklace and fancy earrings
• knick-knacks like fans, folders, green bags
• caps
• water bottles
• children’s bags

I hope no one gets a sad face this year. Sad face = sorry no more gift left.

Tags: Christmas Raffle, Frugal Christmas

My two younger kids and I are joining 2011 Mommy Milkshake, yey! Lookit!  We’re in the first photo! We joined last year’s 2010 Mommy Milkshake Run.

We already got a confirmation email on how we can register.

Mommy Milkshake is a yearly run/walk/crawl/hop/skip event where pregnant, breastfeeding, and beautiful moms (this is where I belong since I’m neither pregnant nor breastfeeding, haha!) and their children (and husbands too) join to have fun.

Pregnant moms however, need to wear the official shirt for the run and not their cutesy maternity clothes. All participants have pink singlets and race bibs.

We’re excited already to join 2011 Mommy Milkshake.

Tags: 2011 Mommy Milkshake, 2011 Mommy Milkshake Fun Run, fun run, Fun Run for Breastfeeding Moms, Mommy Milkshake, Mommy Milkshake Fun Run, Mommy Milkshake Run

I don’t know if the “Buy HGH” doctor’s order is acceptable to some people. There are some things that are quite difficult to accept regarding one’s age.

If there is a real fountain of youth, then perhaps people will be at each other’s neck to be able to get to it first.

Aging is inevitable.

Being a teacher dealing with young children (and several tweens), I have to feel young, have a know-how with what’s in and what’s hot. Sometimes it irritates me when people acknowledge me and say “opo” or call me “tita” or worse, “mommy” -> duh, hindi kita anak no?! LOL.

Ho do we age gracefully? Here are a few tips on aging gracefully:

• Have a positive outlook in life.
• Surround yourself with loved ones who will not just support you but will accept you and all your little flaws.
• Be physically fit.
• Eat healthy food.
• Be mentally alert by constantly learning new things and re-learning other skills you may have forgotten along the way.
• Take charge of your life by planning ahead.

There are times when I feel young and vibrant and full of new dreams to conquer. There are also times when I feel old and tired.But when I look at my family, I know there’s so much to live for and I want to live longer while I age gracefull, all for them.

Don’t you want to do that too?

Tags: aging, aging gracefully, healthy food, physically fit, planning ahead, positive outlook, taking charge of your life