It is probably worth mentioning that as they do their activities at home, they do take out as much paper, crafts, and toys as they probably need to be busy all day. It is probably safe to say that it is a give and take. As a mom, I get the comfort of having to do away with some activities though at the same time, I have to work out on some new tasks. But I guess what I enjoy most is just having my two bubbling kids around home having fun.

If we are to plan for a similar trip again, I would definitely suggest that we go for a car rental if we could not to bring our car. Advantage Car Rental site is a good place to start the search. They do have presence in several countries so if you’re going to different international destinations, you shouldn’t miss having a browse through their services. They have a wide range of vehicles to choose from and it is so quick and easy to get a rate quotation. They are also offering some specials and discounts such as offer up to 50% discount on Luxury and Convertible car rental.

Hmmm, wouldn’t that be interesting? A family holiday on a luxury car! Well, there’s no harm in dreaming.

I can’t really tell what’s on her mind. So I think I’ll just ask the question to myself, as a parent. If my two girls (nope, they’re not yet on Wimbledon tennis age) are playing on some game against each other, will I have a favorite? Definitely, I would stand proud and could only be happy for my children. Honestly, I think I will have no favorite. I’ll probably be cheering for anyone who scores a point… and at the same time hurting for anyone who loses a point.

I guess a tougher question is, how should I feel at the end of the match? For sure, one will be joyous over the triumph while the other would feel sorry for the loss. I’d say it’s really a difficult situation for a mom to be in. And though I’m ok to see them in a healthy competition, I hope I won’t be put in such a situation to see them in a match where so much is at stake. I’m a mom.

 The Flame of Friendship

And now it’s your turn to flame yourself! Meet new friends. Discover friendship. Make bonds. Copy this post starting from the PICTURE ABOVE to the end and add your blog on the list below.

Let’s start FLAMING!

Thanking Christine for this and now passing this friendship flame to April and Joy.

**********

Community Blogger Award

The community award originated with Cellobella at the Sultana blog, who said, “I wanted the award to say - this is a person who reaches out and makes my blogger community a better one.” I think that is so kind and I’m thrilled to be in the position to pass it along as well as be included in the blogroll. Cellobella asks that nominees of this award e-mail her at (cellobella at gmail dot com) so that she can add your nominees to her blogroll.

Thank you, Jean! I would like to pass this award to you and to my blogger friends who take time to reach out and makes my blogger community a better one: Christine, Rachel and Ritchiela.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who were part of these 100 posts!

With the various modes of communication available today, the task of getting updated information on these topics is probably not too hard. I myself get my daily dose of news through the television and the internet. In the web, you’ll find various types of sources such as online editorials and blogs. I learned about Glenn Beck who utilizes the available media formats extensively (talk about radio, television, internet and so on). It is not surprising that he has a wide audience reach as he even does tours such as the one he’s doing on 17 July in Dallas.

Fish dish for dinner is in the schedule. For the main entry, I usually cooked it with soup or sauce for my kids. I had my Freshwater Basa fillet defrosted and ready for cooking, but I’m not yet decided what to do with it. After checking what’s in the refrigerator to go with the fish I saw the meat crab intended for RD’s sushi, so I thought of cooking a very easy to eat seafood casserole. Easy to eat because I won’t be including crabs, shrimps and muscles that needs to be unshelled, instead I will use ingredients like the one below which I know my kids would love.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Onion (chopped)
• ¼ kilo fish fillet
• 5-10 pcs fish balls or squid balls
• 5 sticks of crab meat
• Carrots (sliced)
• Celery (sliced)
• 1 Fish or chicken stock cubes (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Green capsicum (sliced)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• ¼ cup milk

Fry the fish balls separately. Chop into bite size then set aside.
In another pan, sauté garlic until brown. Add onions, when cooked stir in the fish and sauté until meat is firm. Add in the fish balls, crab meat, carrots and celery. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Stir carefully. Thicken soup with dissolved cornstarch then add milk. Add in capsicum. Do not overcook. Serve.

View my other recipes here

That made me think about having a similar thing happening to me. In the past years, I have taken on a full-time career as a SAHM (Stay at Home Mom). With 3-year old CN now also starting to go to pre-school, I have started to look at opportunities to re-join the workforce. I was thinking that it may actually be a perfect time considering the economic crunch the whole world is somehow going through. But then again, the thought of going through the experience of missing the times I spend with my kids is somehow limiting. The intensity (compared to how my husband experienced it recently) should be high as we’re talking about missing something that has been going on for years. If only there is a way for me to make the move in phases and maybe make the adjustment easier.

An obvious answer may be to find a way to do work from home. There’s a lot of schemes and opportunities out there and I’m hoping to find something that would suit me well at some point. In the meantime, I find getting some money from blog to be a simple but a good way to ‘warm up’. SocialSpark is a mom-friendly site which presents the potential for moms to be fullime WAHMs (Work at Home Mom’s) and at the same time, enjoy being simply a fulltime mom.

I can recall a person desperately looking for his eyeglasses only to figure out at the end (after hours of searching) that he is already wearing them. I experienced something similar when I was trying to look something which will fit this week’s Litratong Pinoy photo theme ‘Tatak Pinoy’. Being in Sydney doesn’t make this theme easy. So armed with my camera, I tried to look around… and around… and eventually figured out that I had one filter attached to my lens which matches what I need. It’s a lens filter bearing the mark PHILIPPINES. I’ve seen filters made in other countries. But I am glad in having this particular filter… and made me realize that the photos I take with it are made ‘through’ something made in the Philippines. And yes, they do fit being posted at ‘Litratong Pinoy’!

Naalaala ko ang isang tao na desperadong naghahanap ng kanyang salamin at sa huli ay nalaman nya (pagkatapos ng ilang oras ng paghahanap) na hindi naman pala ito nawawala. Nagkaroon ako ng hawig na karanasan habang naghahanap ng bagay na babagay sa tema ng Litratong Pinoy ngayong linggo ‘Tatak Pinoy’. Dahil ako’y nasa Sydney, hindi ito naging madali. Dala ang aking kamera, ako’y nagpaikot-ikot… ikot-ikot… bago ko napagisipan na ako ay mayroong ‘filter’ na nakakabit sa aking lente na syang tutugma sa aking kailangan. Ito’y isang ‘filter’ na may markang PHILIPPINES. Nakakita na ako ng mga ‘filter’ na gawa sa ibang bansa. Ngunit ako ay masaya at mayroon akong ganitong ‘filter’… nabatid ko na ang mga larawang kuha ko sa pamamagitan nito ay tunay na gawa sa ‘pamamagitan’ ng bagay na gawa sa Pilipinas. At oo, ito’y akmang-akma na mailagay sa ‘Litratong Pinoy’!

We’re a month into winter. It’s a great time to go to the beach! Well, it’s not really to take a dip into the freezing water. I think it’s just a great time to go there and enjoy ‘the beach’. We had an impromptu trip to Bondi Beach. That beach is so popular that during summer, it would definitely be crowded. In fact, it is so popular that despite the cold weather, we still found a few people jumping into the cold!

Here’s an unfamiliar shot of Bondi Beach… just the beach.

An impromptu trip to the beach calls for an impromptu picnic. Here’s one of many seagulls who tried to join and get a share of some potato chips.

~ Start Copy Here ~

Instructions:

1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences after the tag chain.
5. Spread this tag to as many people as you can.

Book Tag Chain: 1) Only The Good Stuff, What Simply Works 2) Reflexes 3. Your site here

~End Copy Here~

Book: The Power of Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

“This doesn’t just happen. It must be taught. And although we can do much to teach our children about living purely in the ways of the Lord and model this to the best of our ability, the real teacher is he Holy Spirit.” 

Tagging : A Blessed Life and A Great Pleasure

The Rules:

• Determine your birthday month and get a word that rhymes with it or you can affix to it. Caps lock your birth month (ex: MAYday! JUNE dune, APRILicious, JULYvely, AUGUST pocus, parched MARCH…). Be unique.*
• Your birth month plus the word affixed or rhymed shall become the tag’s title in your case.*
• Get your birthday and add the digits involved. Example, if your birthday falls on the 25th of July, add 2 and 5 you get 7.*
• Whatever is the sum, write a list of the MATERIAL gifts you wish to receive, the number of which shall correspond to the sum of your birthday. For example, applying the case above (in rule number 3), you will write seven (7) things you wish to receive.*
• After your wish list, put your name and birthday in the Bloggers’ Birthday Directory, with a link to your blog/s. Note: when you add your birthday, please place it in a way that the dates appear chronological (January, February… 1, 2, 3)*
• Pass this tag meme by tagging as many people as you want.

June_in_Tune

My Wish List

1. PR (Permanent Resisdent) for me

2. PR (Page Rank) for my blog

Directory:February 20 - Caryl February 23 - Jammy March 7 - Mari March 29 - Rachel April 08 - Sheen May 3 - Vannie May 8 - joanjoyce May 27 – Zang Caesar June 11 - RoseLLe September 28 - Nina September 30 - Mckhoii October 22 - MommyBa December 18 - JoshuaOngYS December 19 - Alpha December 20 - Suzanne  YOUR BIRTHDAY HERE

I am tagging Christine.

It’s been a while since we last ate a sugar apple, or what is commonly known in the Philippines as ‘atis’. In fact it may have been years! Anyway, we saw this fruit in the grocery labeled as ‘mangosteen’. It does not look like as it is labeled. But it sure does look like an atis. It’s just that it is a bit oversized. We are used to see fist-sized sugar apples. This one is amazingly sized like a fist… inside a boxing glove!

After taking this ‘mangosteen’ home, we waited a few days for it to be fully ripe. And so the day came for us to take a taste. It is definitely sugar apple! Yes, A for Atis! It was nice and sweet. But with its size, we ended up laughing as we could not even finish it up in one sitting.

Kids are known to have a relatively shorter attention span compared to adults. I guess that statement comes to life when kids are engaged into their own activities. Be it playing, making crafts, painting or other sorts, they tend to start with exceptionally high energy and spirits. After a few minutes you’ll likely see them jumping into the next round of to-do’s. That means you’ll probably end up with a floor that has a good mixture of toys, pencils, and paper. Something worse may be a case of a carpet treated with watercolor, a dab of marker which was left with cap off, or even massaged with a tub of playdough.

Now there are a few choices to make things easier. The easiest is to keep all the toys and crafts away. Alright, that won’t work. Next option: follow kids around and pick up anything that moves from their hand to the floor. That would probably work. However, that doesn’t seem to be a very good option considering the huge amount of physical energy required to do it. How about hiring cleaners? Well, here in Sydney, it’s probable but not feasible (at least for us). The cost is probably unimaginable especially if we’re talking about regular (e.g. daily, weekly) cleaning.

With all the options, I guess the ‘clean after kids’ will be the most reasonable solution. ‘So what tools do I need?’ A vacuum cleaner is probably the most versatile tool. We do have one but I am looking for something more efficient. I used to have a cordless vac and I can still recall how easy it is to just pick it up and clean away! I found the Accucharge vacs to be pretty interesting especially as it has earned Energy Star approval. That means there is less pressure to keep the vac away to save energy.

Kids are kids… and it’s just a joy for a parent to see them do what they’ve got to do. Besides, you can still keep things spick-and-span with the right tools at hand.

As I’ve earlier mentioned, the entire family is involved in this learning process. In the first photo is CN trying to imitate her elder sister RD in doing splits on the sands of Bondi Beach, Sydney. ‘Gaya-gaya’ as how we would normally call tots who learn by imitating practically everybody. The second photo was taken after RD found the footprints of a seagull and tried to put hers right beside it. It’s not that she learned how to follow a seagull… she learned how to set-up a nice photo scene for my photo entry here at LP! So don’t forget that we as parents can also learn a lot from our kids.

May mga bagay sa buhay na matututunan mo lamang sa labas ng paaralan. Dahil sa ilang kadahilanan, ang mga bagay na ito ay mahirap lagyan ng bilang! Kung iisipin natin, maging ang mga batang nasa edad ng pagaaral ay naglalaan lamang ng bahagi ng kanilang araw sa paaralan (hmmm…nagbibilang!). Tayong mga magulang at iba pang miyembro ng pamily ay may malaking oportunidad upang magkaroon ng impluwensya sa pagkatuto ng mga bata. Ang pagkatuto ay maaaring mangyari habang tinuturuan natin sila ng hayagan tungkol sa mga bagay na magagamit nila sa buhay gaya ng pagtawid sa kalsada, paghuhugas ng pinggan, atbp. Ang isa pang mahalagang aspeto ay ang mga bagay nan natututunan nila ng di-hayagan… mga bagay na sa madalas, nag-bubuo ng karakter. Kasama na rito ang pamamaraan sa pagsasalita, ang reaksyon sa problema, atbp. Ito ang ating mga yapak, at ang mga bata ay nagmamatyag at maaaring sumunod sa mga yapak na ito.

Gaya ng aking unang nabanggit, ang buong pamily ay kasali sa proseso ng pagkatuto. Sa unang larawan si CN ay nagsusubog gayahin ang kanyang nakakatandang kapatid na si RD sa pag-gawa ng ’splits’ sa mga buhangin ng Bondi Beach, Sydney. ‘Gaya-gaya’ kung paano natin kadalasan tawagin ang mga bata na natututo sa pamamagitan ng pag-gaya sa halos lahat. Ang ikalawang larawan ay kinuha matapos makita ni RD ang mga yapak ng isang ’seagull’ and nagsubok na gumawa ng kanya sa tabi nito. Hindi sya natuto kung paano sumunod sa segull… sya ay natuto kung paano gumawa ng eksenang panlarawan para sa aking lahok dito sa LP! Kaya hwag ninyong kalilimutan na tayo rin bilang magulang ay may matututunan mula sa ating mga anak.

Could you remember when you were a kid and got hurt either by tripping on something and hitting the floor?  Or maybe your finger got caught in the door, drawer, or cabinet.  And after the dreaded event happens, your parents (or siblings, and maybe even grandparents, auntie, uncle, cousins, etc.) come to the rescue to provide relief to your aching finger.  And even after they put ice on the swollen finger they continue to make you feel better by saying ’shall we spank the door?’,  ’shall we spank the floor?’  It may sound funny but maybe in one way or another, as a kid, it may make one feel better. It is interesting how creative parents can be just to make their children feel better!

CN got her finger caught in the screen door today. It was her first experience getting hurt in such manner. She was getting into the house after a quick play outside and bang! it just happened. So I rushed immediately to her, carried her, put ice on the poor finger and that’s it. I didn’t really offer to spank the door. Though I did feel like doing it… just to make CN feel better.

~Begin Copy~

Rules :

1. Start Copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy”.

Master List :

A. Asia : 1. Moms… Check Nyo (Philippines) 2. Aeirin’s Collections (Philippines) 3. Jenny and Belle(Philippines) 4. Hailey’s Beats and Bits (Philippines) 5. Appleofmyeyes(Saudi Arabia) 6. Deranged Insanity (Philippines) 7. PROJECT HEAVY TRAFFIC (Singapore) 8. Rooms of My Heart (Indonesia) 9. Blessings and Beyond (Philippines) 10. lancerlord (Singapore) 11. allinkorea (Korea) 12. kimchiland (Korea) 13. korean food (Korea) 14. idealpinkrose (Korea) 15. Pinay Mommy Online (Philippines) 16. Momhood Moments (Philippines) 17. Business Mars (Philippines) 18. A Great Pleasure (Malaysia) 19. your turn

B. Australia : 1. Reflexes (Australia) 2. Collect and Connect (Australia) 3. your turn

C. Afrika : 1. your turn

E. South Amerika : 1. your turn

F. Europe : 1. My Imaginary Travels (Netherlands) 2. Juliana’s Site (Netherlands) 3. Picturing of Life (Netherlands) 4. SuperMae (Portugal) 5. The Callalily Space (The Netherlands) 6. your turn

G. Antarctica : 1. your turn

Flinders Street Railway Station isn’t your ordinary train station. Built in 1854, this is the oldest city station in Australia! Caught on the photo is a huge crowd who just went out of the station and ready to cross the street… indeed a testimony to the fact that this is very busy with an average of 110,000 people passing through the station every day!

Another famous Melbourne landmark just diagonally across the Flinders Street Station is the St Paul’s Cathedral. This cathedral was consecrated in 1891 and underwent a few more exterior work before coming to the great architecture that we enjoy today.

Melbourne City skyline at night. We went up to Rialto Observation Deck to get a 360 degree view of Melbourne. With that I can say that ‘I’ve seen every bit of Melbourne’.

This Giant Sky Wheel is another feast to the eyes at night with all its colorful lights. Well none of us were really into riding this huge ferris wheel except for our 3-year old CN. For obvious reasons, we couldn’t let her take the ride alone so we all ended up on the Carousel ride just adjacent to it.