All Saints' Day 2012

As part of Filipino tradition, we went to visit the cemetery where my Mom is buried. We bought flowers from the church nearby and prayed the rosary on the way. When we arrived, we set up our big umbrella and picnic mat so we sit, pray, talk to my Mom and eat! 

Sharing some pics on how the kids enjoyed the day. 

Let me end by saying that the souls in Heaven will always be there to serve as our intercessors. I am almost sure that my Mom is among the saints who are already with Our Lord. I feel it since she has always interceded for me and my whole family. And so on this holy feast of all the saints in heaven, we implore their help to assist us in our travails on earth.

Flores de Mayo 2012

It was Luigi's first time to join the Santacruzan...and he sure had a blast!

 

 

Easter Eggs

Easter is always a time for celebration. For this year, we commemorate the resurrection of Christ by coming up with some colorful Easter eggs. I was able to find the time to dye up some eggs for my kids to enjoy. Look at the finished product!

 

 

The kids loved it!

Goodbye Red, Hello Green

Early this month, we bid goodbye to our loyal but storm-battered friend (red) Mica.

And immediately after said HELLO to a new and bigger friend Mica (now colored green).

Taken during the car's binyag :-)

The kids instantly fell in love with him! :-)


Thanks be to God for another blessing like this.

Zoe's a Flowergirl

This was taken during Ria and Michael's wedding last May 22 at Christ the King Parish, Church in the Sky in Taytay.

For the very first time, Zoe walked to the altar on her own. I'm such a proud mama. She's really growing up and becoming more independent now. Sigh .

For Sale

My dad is finally decided on selling his ’96 Toyota Hilux truck. We really love this vehicle since it belonged to the family for so many years. Actually, all the people close to us know that we fondly call this truck as “Rex” since my dad bought this car through his writing projects with Rex Publishing.

Anyway, this truck is still in good working condition, "hindi na-Ondoy", still has original parts and paint. It has several nice accessories attached to it such as a chrome tailgate handle, new sound system, step bars, etc. It’s colored red plus the tires are extra big. It runs on diesel so it’s economical compared to gas-run engines.

Anyone interested? Drop me a line.

Lola A's Birthday

It was my mother-in-law's 79th birthday last April 10 and we all flocked to their house to celebrate the occasion.

Here are some pictures.

(L-R) - Luigi, Lola A, Zoe and Robbie

Luigi with cousin Beni:


Zoe monopolizing the videoke:

Happy Birthday Nay! We love you!

Wii Take Turns.

To maintain peace in the family, we take turns in playing our brand-new Wii.

:-)

He plays mornings...


I play evenings...

As for Zoe and Luigi, meantime, they can watch. Hihihihi. Sorry kids.

No "Me Time"

Howdy? How have you been?

As for me, it’s been a pretty busy, I should say. My US-based guests already flew back last Tuesday and we seem to be back to normal now (if there is such a condition). Our relatives were with us for a whole month and it’s been fun having them, to say the least. I think it’s enjoyable to have them around the house. My uncle loves to talk and tell stories during meal time and it gives us a chance to stop and enjoy some family time and not rush to do the next thing. They also happily gave us a hand in taking care of my kids. Oh, do they adore Zoe and Luigi! And maybe because of our fondness for them, Zoe woke up on Tuesday morning crying because her Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Tita are no longer at home. It’s actually the first time that that happened. We always had relatives stay with us but Zoe doesn’t really look for them when they are gone. Well, good thing is, they will both be back in Manila in three months because one of my cousin’s getting married on May 22.

Anyway, with our relatives gone and just when I thought I could “snatch” some moments for “me” time, like finding the chance to soak on a hot tub at home, there comes a very tedious assignment at work. It’s profit sharing time once again in the office and my table is practically being flooded of loads of lists and proposals…in other words, TONS of WORK. And like any other officer in my company who likes the possibility of variable earnings, I am also wishing and hoping that this bonus will send us a windfall. If that happens, never mind the overtime and effort spent at the office. And I guess the hot tubs can wait. Wish me luck!

Flowers on My Mind

The hopeless romantic in me is getting pretty excited about this upcoming Valentine’s Day. I have been browsing through dozens of pictures of flower arrangements and chocolates for the past few minutes of already. (Well, not that I expect to receive any of those from my husband on V-day. A warm kiss and hug are all I need from him!). Anyway, I particularly drool over those flowers I saw at the Martha Stewart’s shop. She really seems to come up with the loveliest styles, if I may say. Sometimes, I wish I have the same talent as hers. But of course, I don’t.

Speaking of flowers, my thoughts bring me to old memories when I was young and my grandma maintained several window boxes at the front porch in our ancestral house. On one side she had a window box which contained beautiful sunflowers. At the other end, there were blooming white roses. Such lovely flowers! During the summer, we would sometimes help out in watering the flowers. It was a nice and quite an enjoyable chore to do. Plus, what's so great is that we didn’t need to buy flowers outside anymore because we already have it right in your own window box!

Well, you can check out these window boxes planters online and see how these can beautify your home.

Here are some samples:

Let's Visit Tita Vel!

...and what Zoe means by that is that we go to the nearby basketball court in our village.

You see, this place has a makeshift stage (for fiesta celebrations, Christmas parties) and it has a tarpaulin displaying a sort of collage of the different events and people in Kasibulan, as seen here:

We scanned the picture and we found out that a portion of it has the face of my sister (Tita Vel!). Since she's donning a white headband here, I'm assuming that this pic was taken in the 80s or early 90s.

So here's Zoe and Tita Vel (in flashback mode, hahaha):

Ah...yes, so now, you know.

Cute!

I'm posting these pictures to show and journalize that, once upon a time, Luigi was a small little baby (3 mos.) with a head almost just as big at our Winnie the Pooh stuff toy and a cute little smile that could melt any mother's heart.

Back from a short break

Guess what? I'm again back in the office. It's supposed to be a regular working day but my mind is still having a hang-over from the Christmas celebrations...and so I'm blogging to get myself back on track. LOL (what an excuse!).

Anyway, our Christmas was great! We had our usual family get-together on Christmas day with my relatives on my mother's side and my in-laws (SILs, pamangkins and MIL) spending the whole day at our home. Of course, my Tatay and Ninang and Francis were there too. The only person we're missing is my sister who is in Iloilo.

For Christmas lunch, we served chicken mushroom spaghetti, potato-apple salad, lumpiang shanghai, kaldereta. All yummy!!!

Wish it was Christmas day again....(sigh).

Happy Birthday Bro! :-)

Now with a new addition...

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

...now if only I could really be as thin and sexy as the "me" in this drawing. Hmm...

A commute of a lifetime

The other day, we took Zoe with us as we do some important errands for Daddy. We only took the taxi to go to Megamall since our car still cannot be relied on for long trips. Anyway, while in Megamall, we learned that the document that we had to pick up can only be gotten somewhere in Manila. So with some bit of hesitation, we decided to head for Manila with Zoe in tow.

We first took the MRT plying along EDSA. The train was crowded that for a minute, I started to regret that we tagged Zoe along. However, good thing that there was kind-hearted man who let us sit down. The ride was smooth-sailing from then on. We went down at the last station which is Taft Ave.

From there, we took the route going to the old LRT station. Honestly, I'm not so familiar with the old LRT and it's actually been ages since I rode this train. Anyway, I was suprised that the LRT ride was even more pleasant than riding the MRT. Although there were different kinds of people on it, the train is cooler and more spacious in my opinion. We went down at Carriedo station and hailed a pedicab as we got out. The pedicab ride was CRAZY. The man drove against a one way car route so you can just imagine how scared I was for myself and for Zoe. Buti na lang the ride was short. Otherwise, I may have collapsed out of fear. Hahaha. And oh, the streets were just jam-packed. There were vendors everywhere that I think Zoe has never seen that so many vendors ever in her life. But Zoe was so cool about. Nagugulat ako. She neither complained or cried. She was even pointing a the pictures in the pirated DVDs that some tinderos were selling.

Anyway, upon getting what we needed, we started to walk towards the Recto station of the new LRT (2). That walk was definitely an eye-opener for me. I realized that Manila isn't the same lovely Manila that many envisualize it to be. The beauty may still be there but the pollution now is worse than ever plus it now filled with vendors selling different kinds of bad stuff (sex videos, sex toys, pirated DVDs, fake items, etc. etc.). I was so disappointed that the used-to-be center of commercial activity is now filled with X-rated stuff making it a place not suited to bring your kids.

We made it to the LRT 2 station in time before it started to rain. This time, the train was filled with people who came from Divisoria and with young people studying in the different colleges in Manila. By that time, Zoe was utterly tired and slept the whole trip until we got to the Santolan station where we hailed a FX to get home.

It was a "commute of a lifetime" I would say. We rode a taxi, 3 trains, a pedicab plus an FX service shuttle in just one day. Not many 3-year olds have experienced it as Zoe has experienced it.

Now, would I do this again? Hmm...memorable as it seems, I don't think we'll do it again in the near future.

Last November 1...

I took this picture last November 1, All Saints' Day. For a change, we decided to visit my mother's grave during the afternoon up until after the sun had set. Our experience was more serene than usual because the people around seemed quieter and less frenzied. We offered flowers and candles for the soul of my mother and our other loved ones. We prayed the rosary as a family. After that, Zoe wanted to eat so we bought her an ice cream drumstick from a tindero. I remember her saying, "Mommy, masarap ice cream, kasi mahal." Funny. And that's about it. We packed our belongings and went home happy that we were able to spend at least some time to pray to and for my mom and for the other souls in purgatory.

Gearing Up for Halloween

It's Halloween season once again and we've been awfully excited about Zoe's upcoming Trick or Treat Party and Graduation Day at her Kindermusik Our Time (Wiggles and Giggles) Class this Saturday.

Her teacher advised us to bring her in a costume so we went to the mall last weekend and picked out a nice cutesy costume for our little girl which looks something like this:

Yup, she's going to come in dressed in a Little Red Riding Hood outfit. She tried it out and looks so cute in it. I hope to post the party pics here soon!

Welcome Edward Christian!

My cousin Net-net gave birth recently in Illinois to a bouncing baby boy - Edward Christian A. Gagni. Oh, what a cute li'l darling he is!

Congratulations Net and Edward and to the whole Avila & Gagni clan. Kisses to the baby!!!

June 26

The date June 26 has always been a very special day for me and my family. That day is the feast day of St. Josemaria Escriva, "our Father" as we would fondly call him.

June 26 was also my parents' wedding anniversary.

St. Josemaria died on June 26, 1975. My parents, on the other hand, wed on June 26, 1971. For so many years, my family and I would celebrate this day with a mass dedicated to St. Josemaria at the Manila Cathedral. My sister (when she still resided in Manila) and I would often be part of the choir who would sing in the choir during the mass. That alone, was a super great experience for me! That was where I learned how to sing Gregorian Chant (Misa de Angelis) and many, many wonderful liturgical songs. My sister, who finished from the Conservatory of Music in UP, would in some of the years, be the conductor of the choir and my parents and I were so mighty proud of her.

Anyway, St. Josemaria has, more often than not, interceded for my special needs and that of my family. He has always been and will always be part of our family devotions. I am forever grateful to Him. I know that he has helped my mother a lot during her last days on earth and had somehow showed her the way to Heaven. And for us who are still here struggling, he has been a great example on how to live your life for God.

Latest Family Picture

Hi everyone! Just want to post our latest family picture taken in Serendra near the "Specific Gravity" which is the huge boulder which has water falling down from it.

Can you see that our little "Ate Zoe" here is smiling from ear to ear? Could it be because of her new pair of shoes?!