High School Homecoming

Homecomings are generally a joyful event. High school reunions are the most fun since we get in touch with the people who were with us during our "transitional" stage. Most often than not, these set of friends are the ones who stick with us through thick and thin.

I just had one last Saturday, though it was batch 1990 of Stella Maris College, Quezon City who was the host, our batch, 1989, though a few, came to support. In as much as I want to concentrate on the program they prepared, being with my high school friends means more than the program. The small chit chats and the catching up seems endless plus the fooling around of some goofy friends are priceless = endless fun and laughter.

Seems like a day with them isn't enough...oh how I love my batch mates. Hail Stella Maris, Hail Batch 1989!

And hey, can you spot Leon and Maia, they tagged along too since Daddy M was at work ~ a wholesome moment with friends and family =)

My entry to Mommy and Me Monday...yey! I'm back!

PS. Grabbed these photos from my friend's fb pages to which I was tagged as well :) Thanks!

Halloween Costumes

This the time of the year when my kids and I are excited about dressing up for their school's Halloween Party. It's quite a big deal on my part because I didn't experience dressing up when I was young. During my younger years, Halloween wasn't an occasion to celebrate. Halloween parties and dressing up is fairly new in the Philippines, it started maybe 10 years ago or less, when a few rich people in their posh villages initiated the trick or treat thing for children, thus allowing them to dress up. Until some malls and some middle class villages followed suit.

Besides, in the Philippines, the folkloric characters for hallow's eve are a bit morbid, not too child friendly. Unlike the vampires, bats and pumpkins which can be designed to be less fearsome.

As early as the malls in the metro decorated for their windows with Halloween designs, my children were as much as excited.

Leon wants the Iron Man 2 costume while little Maia wants either a fairy costume a.k.a. Tinker Bell or any Disney princess costume.

Though I find these costumes cute, I'm a bit hesitant because technically they do not fit the Halloween theme. So what I'm doing right now is convincing them to wear a costume which may be cute and carries the Halloween motif...

My suggestions are the following:

For Leon: Groot

And for Maia: Mavis of Hotel Transylvania

So far though my suggestions are taken in positively. The next step is for me to produce the costumes and for them to try them out before the actual party.

Wish me and my creativity luck!

Will try to post the outcome anytime soon :)

Mass Offerors

October 4, 2015, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary time as reflected in the Catholic Calendar wasn't totally ordinary for the Ponce Family :-)

Lem on any Sundays, would always ask my opinion on where to hear mass. But yesterday was quite different, he told us that we're hearing mass at the Gateway Mall chapel. I, we didn't oppose whatsoever. In my thoughts, it was a practical idea since we're bound for Cubao anyway, might as well hear mass there.

Normally, we're a bit late or arrives exactly on time, but this time we were 30 minutes ahead. For us, it was a normal Sunday mass. Little do we know that the Lord had a plan for us, He's making it extra special for our family.

While waiting for the mass to begin, the kids were busy chatting with us, asking random questions such as how old Jesus is? Which McDonald's restaurant to eat to make sure we get the Mavis free toy in the Happy Meal? and more...you know how kids are...Then two ladies approach us on our seat, one sat in front of us, while the other one remained standing at the end of the pew. I acknowledged them to be the ladies attending to the mass, maybe part of the Mother Butler Guild of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish of Cubao.

The lady who sat in front of us, in her gentle tone, asked if it is okay for us to be the family offeror for the mass.Lem and I looked at each other, and with our eye contact, as if understanding each other, we, with a bit of hesitation (but feeling awesome) on my part, agreed to her invitation. Hesitant, because, I think we were dressed inappropriately! All of us were ruggedly dressed ~ all were in jeans and tees, Maia, though a little girl, was in demin shorts! Huh! a mother's nightmare it was for me...but on a instant, I ditched being a disgust. It was the Lord's plan for us. At that time, the Lord wasn't particular on how we looked like, He was more in tuned with the state of our spirituality at that exact moment.

Getting myself composed, we listened very carefully to the lady as she gave us the instructions. Leon and Maia will hold the candles, I will bring the Host and Lem the Wine.

And while listening at the Gospel readings and the Homily, which was centered on Marriage and Family (1st Reading: Gen 2:18-24, 2nd Reading: Heb 2:9-11 & Gospel: Mk 10:2-16), it wasn't a coincidence, it was God's plan for us, and in His way blessing and strengthening our family in faith.

From that moment, until we were to do the offering, though I tried hard to concentrate on the mass, I was feeling grateful and awesome that the Lord chose us to be the offerors, we were indeed honored to be!

When it was time to do the offering, the four of us, Lem with the Wine, me with the Hosts, Leon and Maia with the candles, walked proud towards Father Jun, who blessed us upon receiving the offerings. I was nearly on tears while listening to Father bestowing on us the Lord's blessings.

October 4, 2015, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary time wasn't ordinary at all. Yesterday was a Sunday to remember, it was the moment when the Lord came within us and made us stronger as a family.

A blessed Sunday indeed!

***Photo grabbed from Google images

The Story of Our Christmas Tree

My husband and I came from a middle class family here in the Philippines. In our younger years, being middle class was equivalent to being well off nowadays. But as we were growing up, we began experiencing the changes in the economy thus the comfortable life back then started to lead us to live a life that thought us to be thankful with what we have and to refrain for asking for more.

It wasn't so sad though. Although there were some issues in life that took it's mark on me. I am not complaining as well, as we were raised and taught to be contented with what we have.

How did the Christmas tree came up as a challenge to me? As far as I can remember, when we transferred to Manila from Zamboanga City, it was me and my younger sister who decorated for Christmas. My mom would buy ornaments and stuff but it was always us who would put it where it should be. We had our own Christmas tree, I can't remember how we got it but we had a shy 4 or 5 feet high tree. In the beginning, I found it to be big but as we grew, it became smaller, and as the years passed, it began to wear off. And since there were more important things to attend to and spend for, we contented ourselves with what we have.

Time came when me and my sister had our own jobs, we decided to buy a new tree for our family. Yahoo! But it didn't took long when the majority of our family decided to relocate and go back to our hometown. The transfer brought along the tree that we bought. Since majority are transferring and it would only be me and the youngest brother who will be left in Manila, it's just rational that they have the tree.

For me Christmas is important, for the many reasons of it, it is important, from the aesthetic to the true meaning...this was I believe the reason why it left a mark on me.

Since then, I promised myself, once I have a family of my own, I will invest on a tree. Good enough, the man who is now my husband has his own share of Christmas tree "need" that when we were still dating, we already pledged to buy "our" own Christmas tree. Though we weren't able to buy the tree on our first Christmas together, we bought it on our second year, a few months after our son was born.

I clearly remember going to Divisoria, late in the afternoon bringing along our 9 month old son with us just to purchase our tree. And because this was a fulfillment of our dreams, we bought an enormous 8 feet tall Christmas tree at around $82 back in 2007. To this day, whenever we bring it out to prepare it for decoration, we always have this smile on our face. A smile that shows how proud we are of one of our few "treasured properties"

Decorating the tree will always be a work in progress and calls for another story though :) Merry Christmas!

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My Christmas Wishlist

August is about to end and the "Ber" months are gonna come in fast. Once September is in, yuletide is in the air. As Christmas is fast approaching, I am revisiting my wishlist and limiting it to four items...and here's hoping that my husband reads this post ;)

1. Sewing Machine
I like the classic one though. I've been wanting to own one since the time my grandma's sewing machine broke. It would be fun repairing our clothes, thus less expense and hassle going to and from a modiste. Likewise, I'm set to use this for a business that would hopefully start early next year...come to think of it, if this will be for a business, the electronic one will be better, I guess.

2. Sofa set
It's actually a sofa bed. The first time my husband and I saw it, we fell in love with it. We saw it in one of the malls in the metro, it's a product of Mandaue Foam, which incidentally was raffled off by the manufacturer just recently, I didn't win, thus still on my wishlist. The price is relatively expensive for a piece, but then again, it doubles as a bed...hubby and I are looking to have 2 pieces for our living room ;)3. A new mobile phone
hmmm...probably a Samsung Galaxy Note or an iPhone ...
this one's been a dream since I-don't-know-when, especially for the iPhone
Updating my current phone may be nice...
Just keeping this wish handy

and, finally

4. A front lawn garden
We just transferred into a rented house, generally speaking it's still a bit bare, thus, wishlist #2. Aside from the inside part of the house, I would love to have our front lawn adorned by flowers to give a more homey feeling. On our right is a firewall, which I intend to hang or put a flower stand full of orchids. On the front will be roses, different colors. On the left will be santan flowers, different colors, too, which I already have one - orange variant. The orchid will be a reminder of my parents, especially my dad who's good at caring for the flower. Roses will remind me of my dear maternal grandma and the colors of all of the flowers when in bloom will remind me of my mom who's such a jolly person.


And on the small garden patch beside the gate will be poinsettia plants hoping to have them in bloom for next year's yuletide season.

...I hope I've been good enough to deserve at least one from the list ;)

A dream coming true

It's been almost a year since I last posted a blog in this site. Yes, your guess may be right. I've been too busy with both family life and work. Work took it's toll on me that last month, when my boss arrived from a month long vacation, I submitted my resignation letter. Yes I resigned after a 9-year stint as the Head of the Administrative Unit of Haribon Foundation, a non-government environmental organization.

As much as I love what I do with the organization, family should always come first. Since the onset of 2012, I found myself more "called" by my role as a mother, wife, sister and daughter.

January came in with so much hope. Me and my husband had plans for this year, for the two of us and for our dear children. Unfortunately though, by mid of January, we found out the my mother was suffering from breast cancer, the rare one - Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Since then, she was in and out of the hospital, bills shoot up and eventually in June, she joined our Creator. This experience somehow put a break on our plans. Most of our savings went to helping out with the expenses, though there's no regret to this. We had to set aside, rather postpone our planned plans.

Simultaneous to this, my children's nanny told us that she was on the family way and has to leave by March. I accepted the fact easily, I knew it was the right thing to do, regardless if i find a replacement or not. Besides, based on my experience, or was I just lucky back then, it was easy to find a nanny. But maybe this time, luck wasn't on my side, since the time she left, I found no nanny to take care of our children :-(.

These events plus my work gave out enough stress and tension on my personal being. For the first few months of 2012, I tried so hard juggling work, motherhood and family relationships. But then, by doing so, life became chaotic. I wasn't doing work well anymore, our children were forced to come with either me or my husband's workplace, and, I had to squeeze in taking care of my mom (although I have siblings, I can't leave it all up to them, besides, I'm the eldest, they refer to me for major decisions). It made me realize that there is no such thing as multi-tasking. There's one good thing that happened to me though...a granted birthday wish (though months ahead before my birthday in July), I got the desired weight...lost more than 10 pounds!!!

In spite of the above, I was still able to look at the good side of the things happening to me. The experiences made me a more responsible person, not just for myself but most especially for the people I cared for. The demise of our mother thought me to be less vengeful and more loving. Acting on the call of motherhood "set" my priorities, that's why leaving the organization isn't too difficult on me. I firmly believe that when one door closes, another one opens to a brighter future.


Embracing motherhood is more than just a priority, it's a dream coming true...

Weekend with family and friends (Mommy and Me Mondays #19)

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

It great to realize that from just being office mates, we are able to deepen the relationship and become friends, not just us, but also our families - our children too.

Maia flashing her smile

Leon fooling around with a dried fruit
that looks like a poop :)

Sharing with you one weekend spend with family and friends. It was just for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon but we definitely had fun. What made it more enjoyable was seeing our children having the same fun with each other.

playing with children brings back our younger years

Leon trying to fly a kite

The enjoyment of all led us to deciding to do the same activity at least once a month and invite more office mates and their families to join.

Maia wanting to play more with
her new found friends

Over crepes and smoothies (MYM #21, Blue Monday #7)

It's been a while since my last post and I'm back sharing some yellows and blues ;)

We've met with a friend, Vanessa, who was on a visit from the US, t'was a quick meet. We were supposed to have dinner with her but we came in late, in time though for dessert and more chit chat.


I ordered for fresh mango shake, for me that was enough. I'm trying to go on a less sweets and low carbo diet until I reach my desired weight. My husband and I are into running these days and maintaining an ideal weight is necessary for agility.

But then, Leon, our 4-year old carbo-loading son was with us. Aware of his appetite, we allowed him to order what he wanted...mango crepe and strawberry flavored smoothie.

fresh mango crepe

just can't help smiling when the camera's on him,
even when there's food inside

Just as he was about to take in the last piece of the crepe, our friend Anthony's order was being served. Seeing the ice cream and cherry toppings, Leon totally forgot about his crepe and flashed his smile to TIto Ants. The smile that translate into "can I have some please."
Leon, though a good eater, isn't much on sweets, he took only a few servings of the ice cream and a few pieces of cherries.

While we were still chatting with friends, we allowed Leon to play around the decorative light balls near our table, to let go of the energy he just took in.

At the grounds of UP-Ayala Technohub,
playing around with the lighted balls and
the uneven benches

Urinary Tract Infection

Caring for our kids shouldn't be half baked. I learned it the hard way. I may have all sorts of reasons but it doesn't eliminate the fact that our little Maia suffered from Urinary Tract Infection, commonly known as UTI.

While my husband and I attend to our 8 to 5, 5-days-a-week work, our children are left with their nannies. Both nannies are good in caring for our children, making sure all our instructions are noted and done as ordered.

In Maia's case, we were too dependent on using disposable diapers for her wetting. Most often than not, we change the diaper when it's already soaked up with urine or when she pooped. Since Maia can't talk well yet and cannot express what's up with her, we often detect a poop only when it's smelly.

We immediately wash her up, but then, after getting infected and hospitalized for 5 days, and after reading articles about urinary tract infection, it was only then that I fully realized what had happened to our deary.

The culprit, a bacteria Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli. These bacteria normally thrive in bowels and around the anus. Urinating flushes out the bacteria, depending on the quantity though and once it reaches the bladder, urinating cannot stop the spreading already, thus infection occurs.

This unfortunate phenomenon happened to Maia. I dread the day when I rushed her to the emergency room. Together with her nanny, we were trying to keep her conscious. Although her temperature appears normal, she was having chills, her lips and nails were turning dark - bluish black. I had the greatest fear of my life that time. I tried to keep calm and prayed and prayed to God to spare my dear Maia. The previous day though, she had fever and we managed to bring it down by giving her paracetamol and constant sponge bath.

Upon reaching the hospital, the doctor told us that she was about to have high fever. He instructed us to do a sponge bath on Maia and alas, her temperature soared up. The heat didn't come out of her body thus she was having the chills. A while after, the nurse collected blood sample from Maia and told me to collect a urine for another laboratory procedure.

Hours after, the result came out, E. coli accumulation on her urine was way too high. We were expecting for prescription medicine, instead the doctor told us that Maia has to be admitted. Due to the high occurrence of the bacteria, home caring will not be enough to eliminate the bacteria from her. They had to insert dextrose on her and through it the antibiotic.

Good thing, Maia's system is strong that it went well in dispelling the bacteria out of her body. I am very much thankful to the Lord, that aside from the medicine, our strong faith and prayers to God helped a lot in healing our princess.

Since then, we've stopped using disposable diapers during the day, instead, with the help of Maia's nanny, we are training her to use the potty this early and when she's wet, replace her undies immediately. Also, Maia seems to have learned from her experience too. Whenever she pees, talking her to wash and change her undies has been easy.

Lessons learned....sometimes, we have to maintain old traditions and practices versus new technologies, we shouldn't be too dependent on them. In other words, cloth diapers are still better than disposable ones.

S if for Summer (MYM #20; Mommy & Me Monday #18; Blue Monday #6; Ruby Tuesday #17 Watery Wednesday #6; ABC Wednesday Round 8)

S is for SUMMER.

What's the best way to spend Summer? But of course a summer outing with family and friends in the beach!!!

Summer here in the Philippines won't be that complete if we don't go swimming, whe
ther is in a beach or a swimming pool. Getting ourselves tanned under the tropical heat is a must during this season.

That's just what we did last May 23-24, 2011. Haribon Foundation had our summer outing at the Palm Beach Resort in Brgy. Hugom, San Juan, Batangas. It wasn't just a company outing, we encourage our employees to bring along family members so that it'll be grand family get-together - Haribon's 2011 R & R (rest and recreation).

4:30 am of May 23 was our assembly time, we left at exactly 6:00 am. Breakfast was pre-ordered thus, we had it while in the bus on our way to Palm Beach. With a few stop overs to pick-up some more staff along the way and to answer nature's call. We arrived at the resort just on time, 9:00 am to be exact. Palm Beach in San Juan, Batangas is a shy 3-4 hour drive from Quezon City depending on the traffic along South Super Highway. But since it was a Monday, we were against the traffic as traffic normally heads towards Metro Manila and not the other way around.

It was exciting for me and my husband M because it's kinda our first to go summer outing in a beach with our children Leon and Maia. Leon at 4 was already excited about going to the beach. Prior to May 23, he counted the number of sleeps he had to go before the grand summer outing. He became more excited when we bought him a new pair of trunks and pail and shovel set for his sand castle-making and when his godmother bought him and Maia floaters.

Just as when we alighted from the bus that transported us to the resort, Leon became more ecstatic. He can't contain himself and insisted on his Dad to bring him to the shoreline. Once in the sand he took off his footwear and since then until we went home he walked barefooted. Maia on the other hand was reserved when we arrived the place, but once she experienced the water and while afloat her life-saver, it became quite difficult to take her out of it.

Leon. trying out his water gun

From 9 am until a little past 1 pm we stayed in the Cabanas as check in time was only at 1 pm. It was free time for us, meaning we can do whatever we want. Some staff gathered in different Cabanas to chit-chat with one another and to voice out their expectations on our so called "team-building activity" and the rumbled room assignments while others started to enjoy the beach. While we were having our lunch, other members of the organizing committee went to post the room assignments on their respective rooms as well placed our surprise R&R gift on the beds ...a personalized bag tag.

my personalized Haribon 2011 R&R bagtag

At 4 pm, we organized the group for the "team-building activities" we prepared for us to be able to demonstrate working as a team, it turned out to be more fun than expected though. All participated together with the family members that came along. We divided the group into 4 teams - Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. I belong to the Green team, though in some games, I did not participate so as not to be bias because I'm part of the organizing committee. In spite of the competition, we showed camaraderie not only to our team mates but also to our opponents, thus making the whole activity fun.


After the mini team-building activity, most of us, including and specially the children, changed to our swimsuits to have more fun in the beach, we eventually transferred to the infinity pool when dusk came. Most of the ladies stayed at the jacuzzi while some of the men stayed in the pool. The rest started with the "tagayan" (toast or shot) of the lambanog (coconut wine) we brought from Gen. Nakar, Quezon.

Dinner was served from 7 pm until 9 pm, afterwards, the drinking session became full-blast until past midnight (I guess...). Not that I went drunk, I was with the kids, therefore no drinking, it's just that the group stayed in the Cabana in front of the room we were in, thus I heard the laughter and the meaningful conversations until I dozed off to sleep.

We woke up early the next day to have more of the swimming and sun-bathing. Although, no matter how long I stay under the sun, I don't get enough of the sunburn that I want :( At about 11 am we checked out of Palm Beach, had lunch at the Dish Restaurant and Bar in Lipa City then headed back to Quezon City.

Haribon's R&R 2011 was definitely a blast. Making it more meaningful are the acknowledgments we get from most of the staff for a job well done, making this year's summer outing one of the best in Haribon's history.

Summer outing is a great family-bonding activity
be it spent on the beach or any other family getaway.

M & Me

Leon trying to build a castle or is it a volcano???

Maia savoring the moment

and

more family moments
and enjoying the serenity of the resort

siblings


snuggling in bed

My family and I are thankful for this opportunity of a summer outing and bonding moments not just of the Ponce family but of the Haribon family in general.

PS. Another thing to be thankful...although there was a threat of an incoming storm, our R&R was spared from it. Thank God!

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?