Our Church Wedding at St. Benedict Parish, Ayala Westgrove Heights, Philippines

Earlier today, we had our church wedding at St. Benedict Parish, Ayala Westgrove. It was a mass wedding organized by Father Conrad and his staff. We were 5 pairs so it’s a small size for a mass wedding. We didn’t pay for anything, except for the P750 donation asked by Father Conrad. He asked for this so that we could say to ourselves that we donated something to our church. That’s a really good thought. 🙂
Lucky for us, we were the earliest pair. That’s why we were able to take photos of our family small and nuclear family. Mom and my sis-in-law came early, too, but my mom and brothers weren’t able to arrive early. So we took pictures with them after the ceremony.
Here are some of our before-the ceremony wedding photos 🙂

Here are some of our after-ceremony wedding photos. Thank you, Our Lady of the Rosary 🙂

By the way, thank you, Ms. Malou, of Flowerpots for our flowers! 🙂
As we went out of the church, the restored combi van was there again! Well, to be honest, I was expecting that because when we had Kuya’s first communion the other day, it was there. So we took the opportunity to have our photos taken with the really cool van, and it looked like it was our wedding car 🙂 Thank you, Brother! 🙂

After the mass, we headed to Café Arabelle for a simple lunch. Before the wedding, we were choosing between Classic Savory, Via Mare, and Café Arabelle. I personally love Café Arabelle because this was the place where we celebrated our anniversary last July, but I was vying for Via Mare because there’s a TV there. We visited Classic Savory first and asked if they could reserve a table for us for the 20th of October, but they turned us down, stating that this day is a Saturday and there are lots of people eating there on weekends. So—no, not Classic Savory. Next, we went to Via Mare. The manager was kind enough to entertain us, and he said that he could reserve the middle table for us on the 20th, but only for 15 minutes….During that time, it was okay for me because I really like to try that place and I like the TV so I could play the AVP that I prepared. When hubby and I looked at their group meals, it looked expensive for our group. Well, the price was reasonable, but hubby was hesitant about the serving. He’s not quite sure if the total amount will be enough for the rest of the group. I cannot sleep that night so I kept on browsing the net for classy but affordable restaurants in Solenad. Then I stumbled upon a review on Café Arabelle’s Squad Meal. And that’s it! I said I’d like to visit it tomorrow to reserve the table with TV. Unfortunately, I had to go to work the next day so I asked hubby to call for a table reservation for the 20th. Voila! They said yes to our request! Thank you, Lord, for that reservation.
The day of our lunch wedding came, and I was amazed by Café Arabelle’s service. I was also really satisfied with their Squad Meal, which is composed of Vegetable Kare-Kare, Lechon Kawali, and Filipino-style Fried Chicken. This meal includes rice and iced tea, which is good for 4 persons. My whole family enjoyed their meal, and they even allowed us to bring in Ninong Darwin’s pinindot without any corkage fee! Thank you, Café Arabelle, for making our wedding truly special! 🙂

A super thank you to Father Conrad, Father Herald, Ate Irene, Ate Ne, our whole family, and of course, to our Almighty Father for making this church wedding possible and very memorable! 🙂

Kuya’s First Communion :)

Earlier today, we spent the morning at St. Benedict Parish, Ayala Westgrove for my Number Two’s First Holy Communion.

Number One and Three weren’t able to join us because they cannot skip school 🙁
We were there early. So we had time to take some photos at the entrance before lining up for the entrance of the students to the church.

Kuya was the one assigned for the First Reading. He did good. 🙂
Then the ceremony went as scheduled. Here are some of the photos for the whole mass.

Then they took a picture with Father Conrad. 

Then he posed with his friends. 
We had a picture with his souvenir and certificate.
When we went outside, there was a combi van, which was owned by one of the brothers. He allowed the kids and parents to take pictures with his van. A really generous act!

After the picture-taking, we went to McDo for lunch. Kuya requested for this, though Number Four wanted to eat at BonChon. Of course, it’s Kuya’s day so we followed his request.

Celebrating this day with my hubby and two babies. How I wish the other two were there. Oh well, we’ll be celebrating together this Saturday anyway. So, no worries! 🙂
Thank you, Lord, for Kuya’s First Holy Communion! 🙂 Please bless him all the way.

My Mumuso Stash :)

Today, we bought BB cream and KISS red lipstick from Mumuso in Solenad 3, Nuvali.

I need these two for Saturday as I don’t have my NuSkin tinted moisturizer and I want a red lipstick for our special day.

When I opened the KISS red glossy lipstick, I found it so cute due to the heart-shaped form of the lipstick. It’s super adorable! When I tried it, I feel satisfied with its effect on my lips. I moisturizes my lips, and it gives a super red color that’s so long-lasting! I wiped it with tissue after testing it, but it won’t be removed. I just waited for it to lighten until the evening. I think it lasted for 7 hours!

The BB cream is okay too, but of course it’s not comparable to NuSkin tinted moisturizer. With NuSkin, a little amount covers my face and neck. With this Mumuso BB cream, I needed to get 8 times from the container to fully cover my face. You get what you pay for 🙂 But I know the Mumuso BB cream will do its job for Saturday 🙂

   

Another episode of Tonsillitis

This week I needed to be absent from work on Tuesday to care for two of my bubuts. Number Three started having fever since Sunday night. As expected, he was absent on Monday. Then came Tuesday…still having fever. So I decided not to go to work to take care of him. When I was waking Number Four up, I realized he’s having fever also. It was the start of his examination week, but I opted not to send him to school because he said he can’t go to school. I don’t want to force him because this may result to low scores in the test. Thus, I’m left with two patients at home.

The day was full of wiping both of them with wet cloth to lower the temperature of their bodies. I gave them Tempra. I even crushed oregano and added it to Ceelin Plus to help with their cough. I also tried crushed garlic as natural antibacterial remedy. I also asked them to gargle with warm water and salt.

I know that it’s the onset of tonsillitis when they had on-and-off fever on the second day. True enough when I checked their tonsils, they were inflamed. Good thing, an angel was sent by God.

Thank you, Lord, for sending help 🙂

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By the way, I’d like to promote Village Vet 🙂 If you have a pet and you live near the Sta. Rosa-Silang area, and you’d like to go for a consultation, book now!

CAVITE-LAGUNA EXPRESSWAY (CALAEX) CONSTRUCTION

Traffic has been bad in our area every morning and late afternoon after work. Why? This is because of the construction of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway or CALAEx. 
Good thing, Learning Links Academy is very close to our home, and we’re affected by this heavy traffic only when we go out on Friday nights to spend some time in Solenad, Nuvali or to visit Vista Mall Sta. Rosa. But for parents who bring their child to Caritas Don Bosco, DLSU Laguna Campus, Xavier Nuvali, and Miriam College Nuvali, it’s usually a not-so-nice experience every morning especially when they didn’t leave their houses early. 
What we do on weekdays when we need to buy something for our kids is to wait for rush-hour traffic to dissipate and we go to Shopwise at Laguna Central Mall. Shopwise closes at 11PM so it’s a go-to place for last-minute shopping during late nights. When it’s still early, we usually go to Marketplace at Westborough Town Center because it’s closer to our place and it closes at 9PM.
Above are some pictures taken last October 6, 2018, and you can see there some developments already for CALAEx. There are more cemented roads, wherein grasses were grown before, and the pillars for the expected elevated expressway just across Laguna Technopark Inc. (LTI) are now positioned.
If you’ll take a closer look at the advisory about CALAEx, you’ll see the following benefits stated there:
1. Decongest traffic at Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, and Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road
2. Reduce travel time from Cavite and Laguna going to Metro Manila
3. Serve as connector between CAVITEX and SLEX
Those are pretty cool benefits, right? They will be experienced by July 2020, which is the expected date of completion of CALAEx, though there is news that the CALAEx Laguna Blvd.-Mamplasan section will open by December 2018. That’s so exciting! I pray that they’ll really deliver by that date. I’ll be posting more updates on CALAEx in the coming months. 🙂
   
  

I’m in love with Mommy!

“I’m in love with Mommy!”

These were bunso’s words late last year. Yes, this happened in 2017. 
I just saw this draft, and I realized I haven’t finished this post yet.
I’ll try my best to recall this moment.
It happened when we were inside our car. My husband was teasing number two about being so quiet as we were traveling. He said, “Baka may pinagdadaanan.” Then he added, “Baka inlove.” We knew that time that he has a crush in Sophie, his gr3 classmate. Then number two answered, “I’m not in love.” Bunso quickly responded with “You’re not in love? You’re not in love with Mommy? Me, I’m in love with Mommy!”
Hearing bunso’s words are music to my ears. I’m enjoying this stage as much as I can because I know this stage will not last forever. I know that there will come a time when he will be saying he’s in love with a girl who’s not me. I’m aware it’s still a long way to go before that happens. Thus, I would like to savor each and every moment my kids, especially the boys, are saying sweet things to me.
Thank you, Lord, for my babies! 🙂

Teachers’ Day 2017

             I was given a surprise by my Grade 11 students earlier today. Yesterday was the celebration of World Teachers’ Day, and I didn’t go to school because I’d like to take a day off from teaching. I know that there will be no celebration of this event in the high school department.
             I was helping my firstborn prepare for the teachers’ day in elementary department, and I felt sad because I know and I can feel that this day will not be a big deal in our campus. So I spent my day at home. I watched “To the Bone”  in Netflix. I also called up Pisay to follow up on my firstborn’s exam permit. Good thing, I had time to call them because the exam date is near and we don’t have a permit yet. 
             Going back to what happened today, I was teary-eyed as I read their heart-felt letter. I didn’t expect this sweet gesture from these students. They even gave a “Best Teacher” award, which was supposed to be a pasalubong from Lloydy when he came back from US. 
             Thank you so much, Syb, Xzia, Lloydy, Jonah, Mary, and Gio!!!!!! You made my day special, and I felt there is more to teaching and that I should stay on this field. But I love the idea of homeschooling my boys more…. Lord, please support my decision to homeschool next year. 

The Bubuts’ Swim

Today was the second day of cancellation of classes due to Typhoons Lannie and Maring. It was sunny as compared to yesterday’s weather. The continuous rain yesterday caused the heavy floods in Manila and other cities where flood usually results from non-stop rain.
Since it was sunny around lunchtime on this Wednesday, I decided to ask the Bubuts if they’d like to go for a swim. Of course they said yes! So to the pool we go. I told them that they’d swim for an hour only because we have to eat lunch right after that. I baked lasagna, by the way, but some parts burned because we didn’t have a foil to cover it and I baked it for 40 minutes. 
Teacher Matu and Mateo dropped by while we were in the pool. We chatted for a while, and then they said goodbye because they need to go to Paseo Sta. Rosa to pay thru LBC.
The bubuts had a great time even if it’s just for an hour. Then we had lunch, and I prayed for the victims of the two typhoons. I guess I felt a little guilty for enjoying the day with the bubuts while some people are having a hard time dealing with the challenging weather. Thank you, Lord, for this day, and please help all the people who were experiencing heavy rains, strong winds, and disturbing levels of floods.