Rayala Dialogues: My Little Strength

Being with my daughter every single day gives us so many reasons to talk just about anything. One day, I got curious and we had this conversation ―

Me: Are you gonna get sad when I die?
Pia: Why will you die?
Me: Uhm, if I get sick?
Pia: I got sick, 'Nay but I don't die.
Me: Ok. So you're not going to cry if I'm dead na?
Pia: No.
Me: (feeling a bit hurt) Ayyy. Why?
Pia: Because I will just pray. Tatay lang will cry. And I will listen to your friends and pray with them.
Me: (got teary eyed) I love you, 'nak.
Pia: Nay? Are you crying?
Me: No, I have colds.
Pia: Ok, good night Nay. I'm so sleepy, I have eyebags.

Sigh. Children have the most genuine and strongest thoughts. ♡

My RevLite Laser Experience

There are days when I don't feel like putting anything on my face but baby powder. However, my skin isn't like a baby's anymore that it needs to be covered up with BB cream, pressed powder (or when the occasion calls for it, foundation), tint for the cheeks and lips, eyebrow pencil and light mascara. Also, I have this adult acne marks, which fortunately weren't there during my adolescent years. My skin type is the usual "combination": oily on the t-zone and dry on the cheeks. This type is not so easy to manage since I can't use facial creams too much as it could block my pores and would eventually lead to humongous pimples. I still have to use moisturizer, though since we're not getting any younger (early prevention is better than cure).

Oh, petty problems of a girl. I know, I know. So I'm lucky to have been chosen to try the new RevLite Laser by Aesthetic Institute of the Philippines two months back. Royal thanks to Mommy Practicality and our friend from Spectrumed who made it all possible. Anyway ― the whole procedure was done around 12-15 minutes only. Would you believe? And after those exciting minutes, I instantly saw a matte-looking, fresh-feeling face that was not-so-fabulous earlier. 

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"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week, in 2014."

We went to my cousin's place for a chitchat and short pseudo-blog mentoring on Friday. Streets in their village are named after kinds of horses, I suppose. I saw Stallion St. and then Pony! It thrilled me to show it to Pia since she super loves My Little Pony and actually learned to spell p-o-n-y without me teaching her. We were walking on our way to C's house when she recognized the street sign! At the first photo I took of her, she was hugging the post. It was too blurry and I didn't like how the rest of the picture looked. So I asked her to pose again (and another) for me. Well... that's what I got from my silly girl! ;)

10 Commandments to Consistently Get Along with an Abstract-Sequential Child

I got Pia's Developmental Assessment Checklist and her narrative report last week. Her head teacher, TS, said that my little popstar's love for music has clearly manifested this past 2nd trimester. He said that she can identify pitch and tone well; enjoyed the dance rehearsals for their school's Christmas presentation and showed interest in performing Math activities. On top of it all, she got a lot of WMs or well-mastered scores in the Social-Affective category of her progress report. I'm very honest about my child's tendency to be a spoiled brat, so to be told that she now has learned to reach out and mingle with her classmates is a big deal for me. 

Maruya ― Filipino Style Banana Fritters

My daughter is an active preschooler, who doesn't solely depend on milk anymore. So as her parent, it is my big responsibility to feed her right. By right I mean, nutritious and delicious. Our children's food has to have the nutrients their growing body needs. But sometimes we tend to overdo it. We forget that it must be something their taste buds can tolerate and what their tummy can actually take. So to help you prepare for a healthy and yummy alternative to MSG-filled chips and preservatives-laden cookies, I have here the recipe of maruya or the Filipino style banana fritters, which I tried cooking today.

I plated it in two ways as what you can see in the photo above. The left plate has a dollop of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter and sprinkled with a bit of powdered sugar. That's for me! Since my girl doesn't like the ginger-y taste of the cookie butter, I prepared her her own plate, which was sprinkled with lots of powdered sugar (you can reduce it for your kid, if you like) and drizzled with Nesquik chocolate syrup.

Barbie: The Mommy

Pia now drinks fresh milk; two times a day, once in the morning and another at night before bedtime. Before that though, she used to take formula milk. When she turned 3, from her pricey brand, I switched her to Nido 3+. So yes, I love the brand. I can proudly say that. Anyway, this is Nido's new campaign for its 3+ category featuring Barbie Almalbis and Sharon Cuneta singing the refreshed version of the commercial jingle, "You're My Number One". I like Barbie's musicality ever since... ever since her Torpe days in 1998. Yup, aside from BSB and Moffatts, I listened to someone like her. It's thrilling to now see her as a doting mom, she makes motherhood ultra cool. As for Ms. Sharon, well... there's so much air, so much air in her voice! And it's vibrating, as always. Hahaha. But hey, she has four awesome children. I think she's a megamom. But sorry, not sorry — Barbie nailed this song and video. Do you agree? Please say you do. Oh well, let's sing along. ♡

*nope, this is not a sponsored post.

Beef Sinigang

I'm seriously loving this weather! I wore my colorful sweatshirt today and cooked one of my favorite broth dishes for dinner. I discovered that beef tastes so good in sinigang. I read a Facebook friend's status that she tried Sentro 1771's Corned Beef Sinigang and she loved it. I got curious that I tried cooking it, not corned though. And grabe, yummers as in. That "special something" in beef (that some actually hate) complements the tartness of the sinigang. I am sharing you this tried and tested recipe, as I believed I've cooked this for more than 5 times already. Never fails, my daughter loves it, not as much as I do though. She doesn't eat the veggies she's not ready to eat yet, like the radish, eggplant and okra. She eats string beans, kangkong and gabi (taro). We all have our own way of cooking this Pinoy favorite and this is how I cooked mine. You may want to try this recipe and I hope you'll like it if you would.

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"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week, in 2014."

She got sick last week, Tuesday until Thursday morning. It's Baguio-weather here in Metro Manila ― loving it, actually! But when we, who are not used to this kind of breeze and chill, get sick, it can be really frustrating. Her nose was runny in the afternoon and clogged at night. She was active in the morning and lethargic in the evening. She missed a lot of activities in school but I can't let her do anything here at home to at least compensate with what she missed. So she settled to what her cartoons and small toys can offer. I think she watched too much TV and movies that when she got well, she super duper tested my patience. Oh well, we're now back to regular programming ― she in school and me in my domestic queen duties ― it's very routinary and dull but this is how we roll, in the meantime. 

Do you want to build a snowman?

I haven't seen a post on Facebook, Twitter or blogs that said something against the movie Frozen. It's that good! No, it is superbly amazing! To be honest, at first, I didn't like the "texture" of the movie. It's kinda dark and dreary and cold. But hey, it's supposed to be like that 'cause it is frozen. Right? What I like most about it though are the story and music. The music, the songs ― it were all awesome! Actually, one LSS-worthy song from the movie is Princess Ana's Do You Want to Build a Snowman. So much so that there were approximately more than 50 videos (covers and lyrics) of it on YouTube! One video stood out with over 500k plus hits. Watch this incredible cover by AJ Rafael, Jadyn, Justin and Marilu Bustamante. Btw, they are Filipinos.

AJ Rafael is an American musician of Filipino descent and Internet celebrity. Originating from Moreno Valley, California, United States he is best known for his original songs such as "When We Say" and "We Could Happen". (source: Wikipedia) You can subscribe to his channel here.

My Silly Girl's Friends

I bought my little achiever some new pre-owned books for getting good grades in her 2nd trimester assessment checklist (more on that on a separate post) and we read it just before we hit the snooze box. She talks a lot lately. Well, uhm... since she learned how to talk, she maximizes her gift of gab every chance she gets. She's the heiress of my being a gabfest guru, after all. Hehe. Watch how she gamely introduces her friends to us while she picks her nose and being silly by the last few frames. I'm lucky to be this girl's momma, really. 
Sorry for the poor quality of the video but I still hope you'd enjoy watching. ♡

More home videos in my YouTube channel: click here to subscribe! 

Blissful blogging, is there such a thing?

Yes, there is. Allow me to tell you a story.

Last week, in the middle of the night, my 44th AML sent me a private message on Facebook, asking for advice. Wow. I don't think I'm in any authority to do so but it flattered me. It has something to do with blogging. She asked me what motivates me to blog, what do I do when I don't feel like blogging, something about bashers, when I think that my posts are better left in the drafts folder or when I just feel like giving up. I felt heavy. You see, I kinda felt some of her 'questions' a little over the past month. But... she made it light when she said that she feels at home when she reads this blog, that this humble palace is not, as how she puts it, "pa high profile". OK, you might say I'm making up stories. Email me for the screen cap. Hehe. So what did I tell her?

First, I'm not a high-profile social lass so there's no need to make my posts sound as if my lifestyle's about glitz, glamour and ootds. I am a kickass stay-at-home army wife and mom who never lets her husband leave home hungry and horny. Haha! And then I asked Ghezzi if I can publish our conversation here so to at least impart the blogging tips, which are basically 'answers' to her questions, with you. My answers were short, straight to the point but sweet. For this blog, I thought of adding more yadada to support it.

My Dancing Angel

I'm so glad that Pia's school has this yearly presentation of sorts for Christmas. It is not an ordinary classroom dance-and-sing presentation, fyi. They usually hold it in convention centers or theaters where there's a really big stage. Parents are invited and must dress appropriately (of course, unless you intend to embarrass your kids). I wore a Forever 21 dress (not that I feel 21 but it looks really pretty, you know) not realizing it was kinda short when I'm seated. Anyway, this school year's Christmas concert was my girl's first because she had bad skin infection two years ago. The concert theme was Christmas Around the World. The girls from their class, along with the other girls from the morning sesh, performed a very sweet interpretative dance in the tune of O Come All Ye Faithful. When their head teacher gave us instructions for the costume, I asked you, my dear readers, through my Facebook page on where's the best place to buy one. I  mentally scheduled a trip to Divisoria since I really didn't want to buy the common dresses seen in department stores. However, a little like three days after the post, it must have reached the heavens. Somebody messaged me that she would like to sponsor Pia's angel costume. Hallelujah!

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"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week in 2014."

I'm enjoying this project more than I thought I would. I'm always on the 'look-out' for post-worthy moments of my ever growing taller silly girl that I can capture with my trusty point-and-shoot camera. That's the choco banana muffin I baked last week. It's really moist and delicious. Pia, on the other hand, thought otherwise; she just ate the top part where there are melted chocolate chips. Messy hair, sweaty forehead, starving struggling student. One of the best things a stay-at-home mom enjoys is seeing their kids and talking to them after a day (or few hours) in school. ♡

One Word, One Year: 2014

The past year, though I jokingly said was random, was actually full of blessings. I felt that we were happier and more comfortable compared to 2012 (i.e., I quit my job, Sophia had pneumonia, I underwent a major medical operation, the little girl had skin bacterial infection, R and I were fighting one day after another, etcetera, etcetera). Our road to 2013 was more peaceful. Of course, there were a few bumps, detours and sometimes stop-overs but I guess we have learned to deal with it gracefully. I have learned to choose my battles; in marriage and motherhood. That's what matters most, right? Challenges become problems because of how we see it. Problems become tragedies when we lose faith.

For 2014, I choose FAITH to be my one word - for this blog and my life.

I hope to have more faith in myself as a woman, wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend and yes, blogger. I hope to have more faith in my writing, cooking and baking skills; that I may use these to live my dreams. I hope to have more faith in my husband despite the physical distance. I hope to have more faith in my daughter's ability to be the best that she can be. I hope to have more faith in my mothering skills; that I can raise a child of God. I hope to have a strong faith that one day my siblings and I, along with our children and spouses, will treat our mom to a grandiose vacation. I hope to have faith in my friends despite our busy schedules. I hope to have faith in this blog; that it will reach a thousand or more women to live a faithful life. When tragedies and failures happen, we sometimes forget that there is God who actually did not want to let us see it that way. Therefore, I hope to have more faith in Him; in Him who will give the desires of my heart, in His time.

If there will be days when I tend to be faithless, I'd be happy to be shaken from that dreariness. Tweet or message me! That's my word, what's yours? 

*photo source: forcoloredgurls.com

Planned and Spontaneous Holidays

I can't believe that despite this mean cough, colds and aching joints, I am here blogging away my thoughts again... or should I say, kwento. OK, I think I promised you this early today. So, how did my small humble family celebrate the past holidays? We celebrated Christmas Eve at my husband's camp. It's the usual chilly, kinda malamok evening of food, booze and videoke. I baked mussels. I made buko pandan. I sang a few songs; mostly the new ones on the list, to the military kids' delight. I sang Titanium... twice! Haha. Sophia flamboyantly sang Roar. For our family's finale, my little popstar sang Lenka's The Show. Around 1amish, we called it a night.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

I will write a new year post and formally welcome you here for 2014 when I am done collecting myself from the monstrous frenzy of the past holidays. Also, my husband's back to work today. My friend's right, I will never get used to the routine of him leaving on his last day of vacation. I always get sick once he left the house, never fails. I'm typing this down with painful joints (despite a full body massage last night), feverish body and clogged nose. But what the heck, I miss the blog. I miss the little interaction with you, royalties. Really. ♡

Today, I am copying a feature from one of my blogging idols. I emailed her about this 'cause I have so much respect in her that I felt the need to do it before putting it live. So yes, this is Bleubird's 52 Weeks: “a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.” In my case, I do not own a badass DSLR, I am not a professional photographer and I only have a daughter. But I'd give this a shot. As a reader, I like how I saw her children's beautiful transition from what they have been from week 1 to week 52. This is mommy journal-ing to the highest levelz. 

From this post onward, LB will be called Pia. That's what family and friends call her; might as well have her called here the same. After all, you queens are my cyber pals. 

Anywaaaaaaay ―

"My daughter's photos, once a week, every week, in 2014."