I so love this song.. it makes me feel I’m home..

Natatandaan mo pa ba
Nang tayong dal’wa ang unang nagkita?
Panahon ng kamusmusan
Sa piling ng mga bulaklak at halaman
Doon tayong nagsimulang
Mangarap at tumula

Natatandaan mo pa ba
Inukit kong puso sa punong mangga
At ang inalay kong gumamela
Magkahawak-kamay sa dalampasigan
Malayang tulad ng mga ibon
Ang gunita ng ating kahapon

It’s nice travelling down memory lane.. and this song is the perfect company

Care to share your senti song?

Kipling was founded in 1987, inspired by the author of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling. A collection of bags that not only provides high quality back packs but bags that suits every lifestyle. Here are some Kipling Collections that you may be familiar with:

Palmbeach and Siras

 Creativity L Sweet Stuff purse and Freedom Sweet Stuff pen case

Now this Vakentine’s, the biggest bag brand in Belgium will give us all a Belgian treat!

Enjoy a Belgian Valentine as Kipling gives away a box of premium, limited edition Belgian chocolates for a minimum single-receipt purchase of Kipling bags, luggage and accessories worth P4,000 from now until February 14, 2012.  Simply present the original receipt at the store where the purchase was made to avail of the free chocolates.

Experience a Belgian Valentine by visiting any of the following Kipling stores: SM Mall of Asia, SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Bacolod, SM Iloilo, SM Davao, SM Cebu, Robinsons Place Ermita, Rustan’s Alabang Town Center, Rustan’s Shangri-La, Rustan’s Gateway, Landmark Makati and TriNoma.

This is a guest post that is really helpful for single parents who wants to date again or is dating and wants the child/ children to be involved with the new partner. 

Starting a new relationship as a single parent can sometimes feel a little awkward, and unless you have very close friends in the same situation, it can be hard to find people to look to for advice and support. It is important to remember that the reason you will have wanted to start a new relationship in the first place is to improve the quality of your personal life. It is your happiness that is the most important factor when starting a new relationship.

Although it can be tough on the kids and you may feel unsure whether they are ready to accept a new person into their family life, remember that your happiness will have an overall effect on how you interact with your children and the happiness you will feel from a comfortable and supportive relationship will have a great positive effects on your children too, whether they realise this or not.

Getting the balance right between what you want and what your children want is important. The key to successfully introducing your partner to your children with minimum disruption is to plan ahead to get the timings right. Make sure you are certain someone is going to stick around before you introduce them to your children otherwise the task of explaining why they haven’t come back could be next on your list.

Educating your children a little about relationships can help them to understand what’s going on. For example, if you were part of a culture of arranged marriages such as Muslim marriages, and your arranged marriage didn’t work, your children may find it hard to understand why you want to meet new people without the help of others. Telling your children why you like someone too can help them to feel friendly towards your new partner when you finally do meet. If you met your new partner on a site like http://www.eharmony.co.uk you will be able to show your children a photograph of him or her, and a list of the things that they like doing. This will help your children find something in common with your new partner too.

Arrange a moment out with all of you – even if it’s a short trip in the car to the grocery store together or you and your new partner pick your child up from their school together – this will show your children that you trust your partner and can spend time with them and your child together with no favouritism, it will also show your children that your new partner likes to get involved with day to day family life too. This is a much better way to introduce the children to your partner for the first time instead of them coming straight round to your home where the children may feel territorial or that your partner is intruding.

Patience is the key, and the right partner will be patience with you and your children as they slowly become part of your new, happier life.

yes I am! because with Grendha I am stylish without sacrificing the comfort.

I first had a taste of Grendha when my sister won a contest.. she got a Grendha Jelly Collection in red and we’re in love. It’s the most versatile foot wear we ever had.. and yes we’re lucky that our shoe size are almost the same

The Grendha Jelly looks great in almost everything.. I wore it with jeans, with shorts and even with leggings. I think I can even wear it with a dress (but haven’t tried yet.. not when this tummy’s bulging more than my boobsies).

Last year, Grendha was one of the sponsor who generously supported the mommy eyeball I organized. One of the mommy who won gave her prize to my sister instead (this mommy blogger is more of an Ipanema girl than a Grendha woman hehe).. and last week sister’s Grendha arrived together with mine weeeeeh and for sisters who share shoes, that’s double the love!

This is the Grendha that I received..that’s Grendha Turmalina AD in brown gold, my favorite color! A perfect match for shorts or pants. I love the bow details which make it more feminine looking

My sister got this:

That’s Grendha Vicenza Ad (a square pointed ballerina that is emphasizing the natural woof and bow) in green gold. Read about how much she love her new Grendha pair HERE… yes she is super duper in love with pair.. and I am too!

Want to be a Grendha Woman too? Check out Grendha Women’s Line 2012 on their Facebook Page or visit their website: www.grendhaphils.com

Grendha shoes it is exclusively distributed by ELRO Corporation, and Grendha Vicenza Ad is available in Bambu and leading department stores and boutiques nationwide. 

It maybe too late for my 8 year old son, but I still have some time left for my other kids.. so my mission in life now is to provide them the best memories I can.. what’s with the sudden rush?

I witnessed Progress Pre- School Gold as it unveils Breakthrough Advancements in Learning and Development and one thing I learned from Dr. Maricar Ocampo is Intelligence is not just IQ but also memory. There are different types of memory, sensory, short term and long term memory. It is the first 8 years of life where memories are transformed into long term memory.. so mommies, if you have kids 8 years below, start making happy long term memories with them *wink

“Memory is not just about remembering information but more importantly applying information properly. Your memory affects your ability to easily retrieve and apply stored information, such as in problem solving- and the ability to solve problems is often a factor in defining intelligence,” added Dr. Ocampo.

I also learned from Dr. Sabrina Tan the “triad of success” when it comes to child development: child’s cognitive, social and emotional skills. ” All three skills are independent, interact and factors each other’s success. A child who develops each of these aspects well, has more chances of succeeding in school, in social environments, in different endeavors,” Dr. Tan explained.

That afternoon, I feel like a student learning new things about parenting.. and I was just lucky to be hearing and learning this things from the expert. As parents, we shouldn’t stop learning about parenting and child developments. As Ruffa Gutierrez puts it: ” I have big dreams for my daughters. I want them to achieve more than what I have. I believe that how they learn today will define their future success. That is why I make sure I am always up-to-date in the latest trends in learning and child development, so I can apply to them. The last thing I want is for my kids to lag behind their peers.”

Dr. Maricar de Ocampo and Dr. Sabrina Tan with celebrity mom Ruffa Gutierrez and host Patricia Hizon. Together with guests from media, we watched the 3D unveiling of the all new Progress Pre-school Gold.

Progress Pre-School Gold’s GOLD Biofactors System was formulated based on the latest scientific research, supporting 4 development areas of child: Mental and Visual, Growth, Immunity, and Digestion.

I also had the chance to ask Ruff Gutierrez how she managed her daughters and prevents siblings rivalry, she mentioned about being fair to her daughters and giving them same items to prevent jealousy. We also had the chance to have a photo opps with her (just when I decided not to bring my DSLR argh!)

Sipping a glass of wine, watching the fire dancing in the night..

Isn’t that what all couples wish when they think of purchasing houses with a fireplaces. Over the years, fireplace has been the center of family bonding. This is the part of the house where the family spend hours being together. Some play games, some enjoys cooking and some just love the idea of sitting in front of the fireplace doing nothing.

Fireplace is a structure that is designed to give and provide heat. The fire is inside a firebox or a fire pit and the smoke exist through the chimneys which is the exhaust system. There are different types of fireplace, the masonry type which is made of bricks and stone and the fabricated type.

Most fireplaces either need flues or chimneys, for gas or wood fires anyway, but you’d probably struggle to find these on modern houses. With many new houses now using central heating, very rarely would you find built in fireplaces and chimneys. If you aspire to a quiet night of relaxation, sipping wine in front of a crackling fire, but your house lacks one, you might want to try looking into flueless gas fires. These are actually electric fires with a realistic flame. Again there are a wide variety of styles and price ranges to choose from and very much everything is up to your personal choice and budget!

There’s still something magical about the crackling warmth of a fire giving you that feeling of security just makes you want to snuggle up and sleep!

photo source

The air is filled with so much excitement.. you can almost feel the festivity that is about to begin.

That is exactly how I felt when we entered the gate of PAREF Woodrose at Ayala Alabang Village. We were invited to join and watch Woodrose Family Day SY 2011-2012 as well as take a look around the school. The school ground where filled with students in different but color coordinated costumes. There were those wearing red, green, blue and yellow. Later we learned, it’s like the houses of Hogwarts, 4 houses/ teams competes during family day. A student as they enroll were assigned a color, yup, just like Hogwarts, but sorting is done randomly. Of course sisters goes on the same color. Here are some of the photos I took during their cheer dancing competition:

Mommy bloggers who covered the PAREF Woodrose Family Day.. Miss Janette Toral and yes my fellow ranchers*

Oh, I said SISTERS a while ago.. well because PAREF Woodrose is an exclusive school for girls. After the cheer dancing competition, we went ahead to to their flea market area and got to see some of the items that parents donated for the said activity. There were clothes, household items, books, toys and a lot more.

PAREF Woodrose, I learned, is the first school established by PAREF,  a non-stock, non-profit organizations of parents. The school is centered on Christian education based on Catholic faith. Here’s a short overview of PAREF Woodrose presented to us:

PAREF Woodrose has a mentoring system where in each students were assigned a mentor. Mrs Sharon Fernandez (a mom of 8 kids  with 2 daughters in Woodrose) said that to them, parents, to chat with the mentor is a benefit. Mentors act like a friend to the students.

Karina Jalandoni, a Gold team member and third year student shared that even though PAREF Woodrose is an all girls school they had the chance to meet and interact with opposite sex through varsity and socio-civic activities.

Ms. Delia S. Udani, PAREF Woodrose Executive Director (photo courtesy of Miss Janette Toral)

Ms. Delia S. Udani, PAREF Woodrose Executive Director shared with us that the their Family Day started in 1983. She also mentioned that in mentoring system, a staff usually mentors 13 students (based on the number of students they have and the number of mentors).

If you think PAREF Woodrose is the school for your kids, here’s PAREF Woodrose Admission Procedure:

1. Submission of all required documents

• Accomplished Parents’ Information Sheet
• NSO Certified Parents’ Marriage Contract *
• NSO Certified Student’s Birth Certificate *
• Original and photocopy of Student’s Baptismal Certificate
• Report Card
• 2 x 2 pictures (2 copies)
• Recommendation form accomplished by the Guidance and Testing Office of the previous school
• Recommendation form accomplished by the Class Adviser and Registrar of the previous school

* For foreign documents, Original and Photocopy of the Marriage Contract of the Parents / Original and Photocopy of the Student’s Birth Certificate. Original Documents will be returned to the Parents.

2. Parental Attendance at the Orientation for Parents

3. Interviews and Testing

• Parents are interviewed by a PAREF representative
• Student takes an assessment test
• Student is interviewed by the Level Coordinator

4. It is following this procedure that a Letter of Notice is prepared and mailed to the parents

To know more about Activities in PAREF Woodrose, click here and learn how they train their students. For PAREF Woodrose Curriculum overview, please visit this link.

From what we have seen, from the cheer dancing competition to the short discussion we had, I can say that PAREF Woodrose is a very tight community. You can see from the students how close they are and the parents knows each other well. Aside from that, the students that was with us from the discussion were very smart and answers all our question with confidence.

More details about PAREF Woodrose:

*Ranchers is a group of mommies who loves lunching out while ranting about our every day lives. We usually spend Saturday afternnoon eating and chatting while the kids play in the playhouse.

Last January 20, 2012, The 3rd Umami Culinary Challenge was held at SMX convention Center. On ordinary days, I wouldn’t brave MOA, but that day, I have meetings on the area and will be checking out mens wide shoes too and of course I was really curious to take a peak of what’s happening on the culinary challenge.

As a media guest, I was given an activity card where I had the chance to explore around and see what’s happening here and there. My first stop was the Bento competition where more than 20 bentos were displayed. We were asked to choose our favorite bento and here’s mine:

Next destination is the sponsors side, where we need to have the card signed up by sponsors. Sponsors for the event includes: Elba, Whirlpool/Fujidenso, PR Gaz, Meat and Livestock Australia, Masflex and Appetite Magazine.

Then, we were asked to watch a  short film about Umami and the msg myth.. After the short film, we then proceed to a station where were asked to list down the Umami ingredients present on the photo shown to us:

I didn’t stayed until the end of the challenge, but friend from Umami emailed me the list of the winners and some other highlights of the event:

The highlight of the whole day event is the Awarding Ceremony hosted by Ms. Suzi Entrata-Abrera. Ajinomoto Executives opened the program with a special recognition to Philippine Culinary Icon, Ms. Nora Daza, for her significant contributions in the Food Industry. Mr. Taro Fujie, President of AJINOMOTO PHILIPPINES CORPORATION, gave his welcome remarks to congratulate all participants. Wild cheers and applause met Ms. Sarah Geronimo’s memorable performance as the Popstar delivers inspiration and motivation to all guests and participants.

Miriam College bagged the Umami Bowl Award for garnering the highest average score in major competition categories including the Umami Feature Writing Contest: Dr. Ikeda Award. The school brought home an Elba Kitchen Showcase on top of other prizes courtesy of AJINOMOTO PHILIPPINES CORPORATION. Mr. John Paul Ventura of Jose Rizal University was awarded the Umami Master title after delighting the judges with his umami masterpiece which he named “Pan-Seared Salmon w/ Veggie Rolls and Micro Green Salad in Spicy Coconut Sauce”.

Other big winners are Lyceum of the Philippines Manila as it topped the Umami Bento and Mystery Umami Ingredient categories. Centro Escolar University got the first place in the Amazing AJI-GINISA Race and the Umami Buzz Jeopardy Challenge. Trinity University of Asia came out first in the Prep, Shake and TakTakTak competition, De La Salle Araneta University won the Plate-My-Dish competition and Appetite Magazine’s Capture Umami Challenge (Food Photography Contest) while College of the Holy Spirit received the special award “Media’s Choice for Best Plated Umami Bento”. The top three (3) culinary schools that competed for the 5-Ingredient-Umami-Healthy Dish competition are: Global City Innovative College, American Hospitality Academy and MOST Institute Culinary School.

I was invited to take a look at the Grand Baby Fair preview yesterday… which feels like just a while ago.. Baby Company Grand Baby Fair opens today until Sunday, that’s January 27-29, 2012. Yesterday it was open to employees and some costumers who can’t wait for Friday Some stores are still setting up but most are already rolling and selling!

That’s the registration area at the entrance with a very festive mood.. beside the registration area is the shopping cart station.

First stop is at Ai-NON, because you know, Ai-NON is a friend of ours s please guys check them out on Facebook and like  Ai-NON Facebook page

Ainon Baby is a trusted brand of safe , BPA Free, LEAD Free & durable baby products.. so if you’re expecting or have a newborn, stop by at Ai-NON and see what’s store for you and your baby.

After some chitchat with Agnes (Ai-NON), I walked around and take a look on what Grand Baby Fair has to offer this year. It’s more spacious this year than last year. And there are benches now unlike last year.. the stage area is more lively too.

The play area, courtesy of Gymboree is also bigger..

New exhibitors such as Cast & Frame caught my attention.. if you’re into this.. go give it a try

My favorite baby products were also there and I bought some from them

Here’s a scoop from Smart Steps Facebook page (go like!): Get 3pc set Original Baby Looney Tunes Feeding Bottles OR  Original Baby Looney Tunes Character Hood Feeding Bottles OR Original Baby Looney Tunes Bottle Keeperfor FREE in every P500 worth of purchase at the Baby Company Grand Baby Fair at Megatrade Hall! Supplies Limited! So hurry!

Mommy Matters was there and I was planning to buy a breastfeeding blouse since some of the blouses were 50% off, some were 30% off.. but I forgot to go back on their stall when I got busy taking picture around.. I’ll have to go back again and get the blouses that I want

Another exhibitor that caught my attention, my time and yeah my wallet too is Sprint Asia.. what caught my attention is their Nail Polish on display.. ORLY! But they got me to stay on their booth and give their cosmetics products a try:

That’s the products that she used on me.. Wet n Wild is exclusively distributed on Watsons.. I bought two Orly Nail Polish and 2 different eyeshadow palettes from Wet n Wild and a bronzer.. I’ll be experimenting a sun kissed make up soon!

Baby Company Grand Baby Fair is much like shopping haven to expectant moms and to moms with kid 0-3 years old. It’s your one stop shop to all your baby caring needs.. and not just in terms of baby clothing, diapers, vitamins and baby furniture and other baby essentials, exhibitor like Medela offers help in terms of breastfeeding, booth with Parenting magazines and books from Summit is also available. There’s also a booth for those who are considering cord banking as well as a special breastfeeding station. And of course they have a line up of talks about parenting, caring for your baby and other topics moms will be interested. The stage will be used for this activities and celebrity moms will be there too to share their experiences, there would be experts that will surely be of great help to all moms who will attend the fair.

After almost 2 hours of non stop walking and a bit shopping, this concludes my day:

Necessities for the kids.. I also bought two sets of pillows, each set contains 2.. from 900+ I got it for 450+ each set My total purchase 2000+ PhP excluding the beauty products that I bought from Sprint Asia.. and so I got my own swag bag!

Take a look on what’s inside.. that’s 2000 worth of items! yay!!!

You can get a free swag bag too! single receipt of 2000 PhP entitles you to one swag bag.. items that was paid inside (such as Sprint Asia products, Ceelin) are not included on the swag bag promo.. aside from the swag bag, Mom Card members gets a free cell phone holder.. wow! that’s a lot of freebies in one day!

Grand Baby Fair officially starts today, err, later today I mean. See you later at Baby Company Grand Baby Fair.

Responsibility is one of the most important values that parents must instill in their children. It is also one of the hardest to teach. After all, the concept of responsibility is often an elusive one for toddlers and young kids, and our desire to raise them in a nurturing and caring atmosphere often precludes the trait from being adequately taught until the child is grown. How can this be corrected? How can responsible values be appropriately taught, even at a young age?

As a mom with children of my own, I have asked myself these questions numerous times over the past couple years. While I haven’t in this span found a perfect solution to my queries, I’ve still been able to devise methods and approaches that, hopefully, will ultimately serve to make my kids more responsible people in the long-run. Here’s what I’ve been trying to do:

Instill Healthy Eating Habits

We go to the grocery store for a variety of reasons: we need eggs, we want to stock up on organic makeup, or perhaps the bathroom has run out of toilet paper. And, when our kids are still young, we will likely bring them along each and every time. I think this makes for a great opportunity to teach both responsibility and healthy eating habits. I’ve devised a system: I tell my kids they can buy four food items of their choosing. These products need to hit certain nutritional requirements for fiber, calcium, and vegetable content, but otherwise they are free to make their own decisions. While my kids will always select one unhealthy food among the four, the requirement have made them more aware, discerning, and hopefully responsible. They have even found healthy foods that they enjoy.

Give them Jobs

Some parents give their kids chores and expect them to be done without any sort of compensation. Other parents won’t assign chores, but will instead try to teach responsibility by handing out a regular allowance. While you should certainly stick with whatever approach works best for your family, I’ve found that a combination of chores and compensation (i.e. an allowance that is paid after chores are complete) is a great way to teach responsibility. If my kids don’t feel like doing chores, that’s ok – they just won’t get paid. Conversely, if they want to buy a new toy, they might need to do more chores in order to gain the appropriate finances.

Let Them Fail

We certainly never want our kids to fail, and there are areas in which we will work hard to insure that they don’t. But there are other times where a failure has consequences only as a learning experience for a child. Sports and extracurricular activities are a case in point. If your kid doesn’t show up to practice or doesn’t prepare appropriate for the dance recital, there are real (although not harmful) repercussions, and there will often be an outside authority figure who gets angry at them. As a parent, I’ve decided to let my children fail – and, in the process, learn from their mistakes – when such situations are in play.

These are just a few ways that you can endeavor to teach responsibility to your child. None of these approaches are particularly difficult, but since the trait is a particularly challenging one to master – even for adults – its’ always good to make a concerted and consistent effort in following these techniques through.

This article is a guest post.