This is how my family sleeps:

Bela has her own bed which is just beside our bed but she prefers to sleep beside us. Since Cobi is still direct feeding for me, he also has to stay in our bed.

I sometimes work at night until the wee hours of the morning so my husband and my two kids are already pass asleep when I am down with my work. And since they all sleep this way, I always end up having no place in our bed to sleep on.

Maybe we should buy a bigger bed. What we have now is just a queen size bed and when you have a husband and two kids who like to tumble around while sleeping, a queen size bed is really not enough. Or better yet, maybe it is about time that we let Bela stay in her own room.

Last Sunday was Father’s Day and to treat all the fathers in our family, we again had our Sunday dinner at our place.

I contacted my cousins so they can bring in something as their share for the dinner so my aunt doesn’t have to cook. I bought chicken from Chicken Bonchon in Lucky Chinatown, my aunt brought grilled chicken, my cousin brought chicken and liempo from ChicBoy, my other aunt brought ice cream for dessert and my cousin brought Cheesy Brazo de Mercedes (which was a hit to everybody).

So our dining room was full again as we share the simple meal that we have prepared for the wonderful dads in our family – my dad, my husband, my brother, my Tito June and my cousin Pipit.

It was again another fun Sunday for all of us. To all of you guys, Happy Father's Day again. We love you all very much!!

One of the reasons why I enjoy my Saturdays in Ulingan aside from the time that I get to spend with our children there is the company of good friends.

I have been joining the Saturday feeding program of Project PEARLS in Ulingan for almost three months now and I have come to know a lot of wonderful people who are Project Pearls’ dedicated volunteers.

Last Saturday after our Outreach mission, we had an impromptu trip to Binondo and Escolta for some photo op, food tripping and shopping with Ethyl, Rita and Maosi. We had early lunch first in Ersao along Abad Santos then hubby took us to Escolta for a photo walk. Then we went to Binondo and did some shopping in Eng Bee Tin.

It was a short but fun filled morning. We all went home with a full stomach, lots of stories and plenty of Binondo loots. Thanks for the company guys and hope we can do this more often.

I have been missing my favorite restaurant, Casa Roces lately. With its cozy and relax atmosphere, its friendly staff, its beautiful interior like some of its antique stuff and antler lamps and of course their to-die for food. We used to be so addicted with Casa Roces that a week will not pass without a visit to this restaurant.

But ever since the Lucky Chinatown Mall opened, we have been going to this mall to eat instead of our usual trip in Casa Roces. One of the things that I like about this newly opened mall aside from shopping is the vast choices that we have for restaurants and our favorites:

Uncle Cheffy’s

and Kogi Bulgogi.

UCC has already opened as well Red Crab, Itallianis, Bonchon and we are waiting for the opening of Cibo.

I am really glad that there is a lifestyle mall just a few minutes drive from our place, which makes Lucky Chinatown Mall the current mall favorite of our family.

Last Saturday, we went to Tagaytay for a short break with my officemates. We stayed at Taal Vista Hotel as they are currently having a promo for SM Advantage cardholders where we got the room accommodation at discounted rate, which even comes with, buffet breakfast.

We arrived in Tagaytay a little past 12 noon and we went straight to LZM restaurant to meet with friends for lunch. After lunch we head to the hotel to check in and to rest and freshen up for a bit. Of course the kids went straight to the pool after checking in while my friends went out to go to Sonya’s Garden and Gourmets’ Restaurant.

After swimming, we all prepared for dinner and we tried Manos, the Greek resto that our friend recommended and thento Cafe Breton for dessert.

The next day, we started early and went to have breakfast first, then a little pictorial before going to the site beside the hotel where we usually go horseback riding.

Then we went back to the hotel to rest before going out for lunch. The kids fell asleep so we left them while we go out to have lunch in Bawais, a Vietnamese restaurant that was recommended again by a friend and the food was A-awesome.

After lunch, we checked out and the day is still not over as we went to Nuvali and Paseo de Sta Rosa for some window-shopping and to let the kids enjoy the fish feeding in Nuvali. Our last stop was at the gas station along the highway to eat snack before finally heading back to Manila.

Bela was the happiest again but she was asking me why we only have to stay for one night in the hotel. I told her that we couldn’t afford to live in a hotel forever. LOL. Or maybe I can submit an applebees job application and apply to every job that I can apply to so we can afford to live the life of the royalties. LOL.

Meet our little explorer:

He will be turning 2 years old in just a few days. He is indeed our little explorer as he is so curious that he loves to check out anything that he sees at home. He loves to touch the blade of the electric fan, the power outlets, and he even won’t stop bothering his elder sister’s pet bird. LOL.

This reminds us that we really should start baby proofing our home by installing kids switchplate covers, bumper guards, wall fence and more.

Just recently he had an accident when he bumped his head on the corner of the sofa. He had a contusion that my husband and I can’t even look at him. But I guess that it is part of growing up.

As what my parents always tells us, we don’t have to be over protective. We should let our kids enjoy and have fun as this is how they will learn.

Last Friday, I received a very important email. It is from Karen, one of the volunteers of Project PEARLS for their Scholarship committee and it is to inform me of the scholar that they have chosen to match for us.

Meet Jenny Rose D. Caparida. 

Jenny Rose is currently an incoming preschool student and will be attending in the PEARLS Learning Center in Ulingan. Jenny Rose was born on January 30, 2007. Her father works in the charcoal factory while her mother is a housewife.

I was so happy to finally meet Jenny. I have been waiting for this email as two of my friends who sponsored a kid also already received an email from Karen so all the more I got excited in knowing who will be the kid that we will be assigned to us. I was teary eyed when I saw her picture and I am glad that we will be able to help, in our own little way, in giving Jenny the gift of education.

Volunteer. Advocate. Share. Visit www.projectpearls.org to know more.