11 Years & still counting...

A day after my birthday is our wedding anniversary...this year is our 11th year as husband and wife...despite our differences, our little misunderstandings...we have manage to keep our vows and our love intact...we are classmate in college (actually we are 'cheat-mate"), we belong to the same 'barkada', we are opposite, me being so talkative and friendly, him being the quite type...but we hit-it-out when we started talking (or just me talking and he just listens...hehehe) and dating...we just bring out the best in each other.....we were together for 6 years before we decide to get married...seventeen years after, we are still so much in-love with each other and enjoying every minute that we are together...and I will be looking forward to every morning of my life with him beside me...

An Anniversary Prayer for my 'babes'...

Dear Lord, I thank you for giving us another year of life together.
I thank you for the love which has grown and for the bonds which have become closer. I thank you for the happiness we have known together;
for all the experiences of sunshine and of shadow through which we have come to today.
i ask for forgiveness
for any disloyalty on my part;
for times i was difficult to live with;
for any selfishness and inconsiderateness;

for any lack of sympathy and understanding;
for ungentleness, ill-temper and hasty judgments;
for taking my spouse's feelings for granted
and for anything which may have spoiled our relationship with each other.
Keep us, Lord, close to each other,
united in love for you, for each other and for the family that you have given to us.
Protect us from all dangers, bless our endeavors and keep always in our family the spirit of Love, Peace and Happiness.
Amen

If you're going to live to be 100,
I want to live 100 plus 1 day...
so I will never live a day without you...

Happy Anniversary babes...iloveyousomuch...

Another Year Older

My birthday is on the 25th and Michelle's on the 31st, but we both decided to celebrate it in advance since we have a VERY busy schedule...we're busy moms...I have my hands full of things to do at home since I don't have any house help and Michelle's just given birth to her 4th child (which makes her the moms of all busy people)...and our two other 'ka-dates'...Rose and Wen have busy schedules too...(Rose had just been under the knife for a gallbladder stone removal and Wen is juggling her hands in taking care of her business, her kids and accompanying her mom for her visa application)... whew!!!...so we all decided to have a quick "merienda-chikahan" yesterday, October 17 at TGIF at Sta. Lucia Mall...

Me, Rose and Michelle posing before
feasting at the sumptuous food
at TGIF... and waiting for our
dear friend Wen...late si Ms. Pretty

'Katuwa" yung server namin,
it's sad I wasn't able to get his
name, but he made every effort
to prepare an ice cream birthday
cake for us!

Candle blowing...of course we made our wishes
before blowing our candles... I wished for more
money, more kids ata wish ni Michelle...joke...
another year older... I just hope this year
will be more fruitful, more happiness,
and
more dreams coming true...

orange, green & veggies

Saturday, October 5, after filling our tummies with Auntie Myrna's special Chinese Lumpia & Uncle Orlan's Igado we went to Trinoma Mall which is just a stones throw away from the Tan's residence. My kids special request is for us to go malling in Trinoma since it's one of the newest mall around. I am in awe to see balloons in green & orange floating inside Landmark and a post painted with colorful veggies, a great photo-op I taught...
feast your eyes to these wonderful pics

MY NEIGEL...

Last September 25 is the 10th birthday of my son Neigel...grabe he's so big he can easily pass as a 13 or 14 year old! And he is getting taller and bigger everyday...we had 3 celebrations for his birthday, the 1st one (September 22, Saturday) is an advance dinner treat of Angkong Joe at A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante in Hypermart, Pasig...
then on September 23, Sunday after attending Sunday Mass, D'YAPS (as we like to call ourselves- me, nelson & the two kids) went to Galleria for lunch, as Neigel requested that we eat at Yoshinoya (one of his many favorite resto) and to buy his birthday gift (transformer figure - barricade),

the 3rd celebration is
on the actual date of his
birthday, we had a simple get together at our house...he requested that I make my famous pasta in white sauce (which is my own concoction-naks yabang), cheese sticks, garlic bread, Angkong Joe ordered Savory Chicken, Tita Raquel ordered barbeque, Bet bought ice cream...Neigel got to blow 2 cakes, 1 from Ama Linda & Angkong Joe, and the other one from Syobe...
He's so happy with all the presents he got that night...
short pants from Tito Laurence & Tita Jing,
short pants also from Lolo Andoy & Grams,
4-D Jet figure from Tita Raquel,
Dickies Jacket from Angkong & Ama,
Snorkling Set from Don Kulog, Uncle Paking & Pops...

this is Syobe's Birthday Cake for her Anya

Birthday Cake from Angkong & Ama



Neigel with his 'Handa'



Father & Son at Yoshinoya


The birthday boy with Ankong, Ama,
Tito Laurence, Tita Jing, Papa Nelson,
Mama Ruby, & Syobe

Prayer

He who prays little will pray less,
but he who prays much will pray more.

- Charles Spurgeon

My Babies

These are my babies...
they are the joy in my life, look at them now...
so grown up,
Neigel is going to be 10 this month (his bday is on the 25th), he now wears size 6 shoes in mens and size 8 1/2 in womens (he has been using my fila & k-swiss for months now), in a few more months he and ama Linda will have the same height (he has already towered over grandma Cora), he also starts wearing Nelson's jerseys & basketball shorts!!!...
Nadine, my baby, is already a young lady (actually a "kikay" lady), she now chooses her own clothes to wear, what bag to bring when we go malling, she has more collections of bags, make-ups, lip glosses, hair accessories, jewelries than me!!! And she has upgraded her choice in books, before she loves reading short stories but now she started reading short novels (she just can't seem to get enough of Junie B. Jones!!!).


I can still remember the cute & chubby little kids that used to snuggled in bed with us, time sure flies...I'm proud to say that I'm one lucky mom, I was there to witness all the "first" in their life...the first word spoken, the first step taken, the first day of school, the first graduation, the first game won and the first game lost...and I will be waiting for the first heartbreak and the first big success...

the line to God is never busy...

before i was a mom,
i made and ate hot meals,
i had unstained clothing,

i had quite conversations on the phone.
before i was a mom,
i slept as late as i wanted and never worried about
how late i got into bed,
i brushed my hair and my teeth every day.
before i was a mom,
i cleaned my house each day,
i never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.
before i was a mom,
i didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous,
i never thought about immunizations
before i was a mom,
i had never been puked on, pooped on, spit on,
chewed on, peed on, or pinched by tiny fingers.
before i was a mom,
i had complete control of
my thoughts,
my body,
and my mind.
before i was a mom,
i never held down a screaming child
so that doctors could do tests or give shots.
i never looked into teary eyes and cried.
i never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
i never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
before i was a mom,
i never held a sleeping baby just because
i didn't want to put it down.
i never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when i couldn't stop the hurt.
i never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
i never knew that i could love someone so much.
i never knew i would love being a mom.
before i was a mom,
i didn't know the feeling of having
my heart outside my body.
i didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
i didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important.
before i was a mom,
i had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
i had never known
the warmth
the joy
the love
the heartache
the wonderfulness
or the satisfaction
of being a mom.
i didn't know i was capable of feeling so much-
before i was a MOM.