Easter Egg Hunting at Island Cove Hotel and Leisure Park and How It Helped My Shy Kid Bloom

Today we continue another 'tradition' we started last year - Easter Egg Hunting at Island Cove!

I've started reading about easter egg hunts even before my little girl turned one. At that time though, we thought K was too young to take part in one. Last year (2012), K was almost three when Holy Week kicked in, and we decided it was a good time to try the Easter egg hunting activity for her. 

the gaily-decorated stage last year

Good Friday and Sacrifices

Holy Week in the Philippines I believe, is becoming less and less 'holy'. Well, if you'd consider being preoccupied with thoughts of the beach, road trips, and chillin' a spiritual experience - then maybe I'm mistaken.

I personally am not religious at all. So is my family. I grew up not having gone on a visita iglesia, we didn't do novenas either. But I do remember staying home during Holy Week, being 'deprived' of fastfood, TV, gadgets, and spending some time praying.

Pre-Summer School Study Time with My Darling K

The school year is just around the corner - and we also plan to send my little K to summer school (overload na ba?) to prep her for what comes ahead. We did it last year, and she had loads of fun and learning, and we're pretty sure she'd enjoy it as much this year.

To rehash her skills and knowledge, I decided to give her 20-minute study sessions twice a week. We study the alphabet, phonics, do a little writing, painting, and other exercises. We had our first pre-summer session a week ago (we didn't have one this week since I had to attend to my father who was hospitalized), and our topic for the day was the Letter N and the number 1.

To complete the 'in-classroom' experience, I lined up some of her favorite stuffed toys to serve as her 'classmates', and her enthusiasm for our activity showed when she got her uniform (from when she went to daycare) to wear during our session.

I found that this kind of set-up was more enticing for K. Compared to the kind of arrangement we had before, where I was just mom giving her school work, K quite enjoyed the idea that she was going into an 'actual class' with classmates, a teacher, and in uniform. :)

She always forgets the letter N when we study the alphabet, so this was the first letter I decided to work on with her. I had her color, trace, and write the letter. And when I describe how N looks like, I say it like this standing line, slide down, climb up! and somehow, mas tumatatak sa memory nya. Pretty cool. I guess it's because that description gives the letter the element of fun, especially since she loves slides. Hehe.

I also taught her about the number 1, what it looks like, and what it means. She's got a good grasp of the concept of numbers so that wasn't too hard to explain to her. I also had her write her name on the 'worksheets' so she'd get used to doing that.

Summer classes start on April 15, and will be held four times a week. I still have two weeks for my one-on-one study sessions with K, and I plan to focus on other letters she's having a hard time with.

But of course, we also plan to enjoy the summer before she actually attends regular school, so I'm also plotting play scheds as well as swimming trips on our calendar. :)

Just another day in a WAHMmy's life. <3

Gourmet's Cafe - A Relaxing Pit Stop En Route to Tagaytay

Tagaytay City is one of the most frequented out of town destinations, mostly because of its great weather, beautiful views, and it's an easy one to one and a half hour drive from Manila. 

Unfortunately though, since it's summer season, getting to Tagaytay means facing horrendous traffic as well as mile-long queues at restaurants (unless you leave super early) in the area, as in bonggang-bongga, especially if you head there on the weekend. And last weekend (March 17), that's exactly what we were afraid we'd encounter, being a summer, after-payday weekend and all - the chances of getting good seats at Bag of Beans (where my mom wanted to go) looked grim.

Little Kulit and her ballet friends

For the past Saturdays since February, an hour of Saturday is dedicated to leotards, tights, and ballet shoes. We make it a point that we get to take her to each and every one, because we can easily gauge how her session went by the expression on her face the minute she's out the door.

So far, she's always had a happy face after, and was even more excited for the next session. Parents aren't usually allowed inside when the class is on-going, but there was a couple of times that I got to observe along with moms of other kids whose kids were on their first day. (In short, nakisingit ako.Hehe.)

Losing and gaining - the life of a stay-at-home mom

This is not a post about dieting or weight loss my dear readers (but I just might do one about that too, soon.)
If you've read my previous entry about the not-so-good news I got at the start of the week, then this is about that - and a lot about being a stay-at-home mom too.

Since a good portion of my local work is still a pretty gray area right now, I decided to make good use of the time the situation freed up. Honestly, I thought of sulking for a week or so, look and feel depressed - but that's just a complete waste of time. And I'm the kind of person who hates doing nothing. :)

The early bird and school hunting...

My not-so-little girl signing her preschooler's 'promise form'.
She actually just wrote her name. :)  

My darling K is turning four this coming May, and believe it or not, we have been school hunting for her even before she turned three.

See, this is what happened...

Summer last year, we were thinking about sending our little girl to school already. At that time though she was still a couple of months shy of three years old, so we held off on enrolling her.

We did sign her up though for summer classes at a small school, and surprisingly, she had loads of fun and learned a lot during the 8 weeks she was there. Hubby and I thought of doing a 'trial run', and sent our darling  to a barangay day care center in a nearby subdivision. The 'trial run' didn't go so well though, perhaps because she just wasn't ready for the classroom environment yet, or that particular center wasn't the right place for her.

Not so good news on a Monday morning...and I'm still smiling.

If there's one thing I learned about working from home in the past three years, it's that the old adage of "The only thing permanent is change" holds 100% true most especially in the world of online employment.

Unlike having a job in a regular office, working freelance means not having any 'security of tenure'. Despite and in spite of agreements and so-called contracts, you really never know when your boss' need for you will expire. It can be any given day really.

Oh the cruel cycle of making blogs... :)

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When I was in grade school, about 8 years old, people loved asking kids like me what we want to be when we grow up. Common answers included becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, a President, and all those 'powerful' professions.

My answer? I wanted to be a writer.

Somehow, I just didn't see myself becoming any of the above (except for becoming a lawyer, which I later on fancied, thanks to John Grisham. Hehe.). But, the bookworm in me spoke loudly of this desire to work with words.

This girl is on fire...

Hello blogging world...again! :)

First post up suuuper sooon!