Are you planning on buying toys for your kids or as gifts to your friend or relatives’ children? Then here are some of the tips that you can consider before purchasing a toy:

1. Age of the child. Each kid in different age level has different developmental needs that is why it is really important that you know the age of the kid who will receive the toy. This will make sure that you will be able to buy a toy that is appropriate for his or her mental and psychomotor skills.

2. Hobbies and interest of the child. The interest of the kid will give you a clue on what toy the kid will love and appreciate. If the kid loves to play pretend, then you can buy a doctor set where he or she can pretend to be a doctor.

3. Safety of the toy. When purchasing toys for your kids, it is also important to check if it passes the safety standards. You can also check the toy association website for any toy recall. It is also good to inspect the toy, especially if it is to be given to babies or toddlers, to make sure that there are no parts that might fall off and may cause choking.

4. Budget and value for money. The price of the toy should also be checked and assess if the price offers a great value for your money. There are a lot of hot items that might be popular for a particular time but not all popular toys can be considered as best buys.

There are a lot of online stores where you can shop for utah toys and with the above tips in mind, you will surely never go wrong when choosing the perfect toy for that special kid in your life.

Our last hurrah for the long weekend was a quick trip to Tagaytay. I actually have work but I just filed for a vacation leave because we wanted to take the kids out before my husband’s trip to Ilocos and my trip to Cambodia the following weeks.

We left around 11:30 AM as we were busy watching the news about the recovery of Sec. Jesse Robredo’s body (Farewell Secretary and may your soul rest in peace). Luckily, there was no heavy traffic and so we reached Tagaytay around 1 PM.

Hubby was craving for Crispy Pata and so we decided to have lunch in LZM. After lunch, we went straight to the horseback riding area near Taal Vista hotel as per request of the kids.

After they are done horseback riding, we went to Cliffhouse and had merienda at Café Breton.

We went home after eating, which was around 5 PM as we all have school and work the next day. There was also no traffic on our way home and we reached the house around 6:30 PM.

Last weekend was one of my busiest and tiring (but fulfilling) weekend:

Saturday morning: My husband and I attended the weekly Saturday feeding of Project PEARLS in Ulingan. It was a special Saturday though as it is Project PEARSL second year anniversary so the kid prepared different presentations for the volunteers. And what made the day even more special was the surprise appearance of our founder, Ate Melissa, who came all the way from San Francisco to be with us. 

 

Photo Credit: Sidney Snoeck

Saturday evening: We hosted the First Annual Project PEARLS Family Day at our house. The party lasted till dawn and it was fun to interact with the volunteers in a different way, than the usual interaction we have every Saturday in Ulingan. 

 Photo Credit: Sidney Snoeck

Sunday: Audrey’s first birthday party. My cousin and I were also busy helping my brother and sister-in-law during the party.

 

Photo Credit: Jojo Francisco

By the end of Sunday, I was so dead tired already that I was not able to do anything for my sideline job. LOL. But that is okay, because it was a weekend spent with my family, good friends and our children from Ulingan.

Because of the torrential monsoon rain enhanced by tropical storm Haikui, streets in Metro Manila became flooded and one of them was our place. This is the first time that we have experienced flooding and so we were really scared as we watched the flood rises.

My husband was up early that Tuesday morning even if we are not going to work. Hubby told me when I woke up around 6 AM that it is starting to flood in our streets. I thought hubby was just joking but I was really surprised when we went down and saw how the water is rising.

By 8 AM, there was ankle-length flooding in our street and around 9 or 10 AM, it was waste deep already that water started to enter our garage and reached up to our foyer.

My cousins and my brother evacuated to our place before lunchtime as water is continuously rising and the water entered their house already. We felt a little secure once we are all together.

We pray almost every hour for the rain to stop so the flood will stop to rise. We have no power and so we have no idea what was going on in other parts of Metro Manila but we know that it is as worse as us.

By Wednesday morning, flood is starting to subside and by lunchtime, the street is already cleared. Power was restored also around 6 or 7 PM so we were able to charge our cell phones.

By Thursday, my husband and I still took a leave from work to clean up the mess that was left by the flood and we don’t want to risk commuting as we heard from the news that majority of the streets in Manila is still unpassable.

It was a very scary experience for us. We lost some material things but still we are thankful that God kept us safe.

Sweet Royals is thankful for the blessings that we have been receiving the past weeks. In the last two weeks that we have actively promoted Sweet Royals in Facebook, we have received 6 bookings for the month of September and October and we are receiving a lot of inquiries already for the month of November and even for 2013.

We did not realize that Sweet Royals can be a full time business for us and we thank our customers who trust us for their parties.

That is why as early as now, we are already looking at holiday cards business that we can send out to our valued clients come Christmas season as one way of thanking them for the trust and confidence that they are giving for Sweet Royals.

We wish that we will continue to get more reservations for Sweet Royals and we are continuously improving our products and designs to give nothing but the best for your child’s party.

So if you want candy/dessert buffet stations for all your parties, contact Sweet Royals now.

The condition at Ulingan was the worse I have seen. There was flooding that the houses are soak in knee-deep flood or mud. We can’t visit the other houses to give out food, as we can’t reach them because the flood was too deep for us.

Instead of having the feeding program in the daycare center, it was held in the chapel outside Ulingan where there is bigger space, which is what we need, as there are around 100 volunteers who came that day. Marie Young was the birthday celebrant who sponsored the feeding and she brought lots of goods and food for the kids and the families in Ulingan.

It was one tiring but fulfilling day for us volunteers. Rain or shine, we will try to be there in Ulingan.

And as the rainy season are here again, please include the families in Ulingan in your prayers. Keep them safe from flood and typhoons.

When we were just boyfriend-girlfriend, watching movies is our favorite pastime. I remember there was even one occasion that we watched two movies in one day. We are updated with the latest movies, as we never miss to watch all the good movies being shown.

Things changed when we had kids. Of course, our kids should always be our priority. Instead of spending time outside, we prefer to go straight home after work to spend time with our kids and we will just download the movies to our archos tablet so we have something to watch before going to sleep.

But of course, married couple should still find time once in a while to go out on dates for their bonding time. And I am thankful for Lucky Chinatown Mall as their last full show is as late as 10 or 11 PM which gives us an opportunity to go to the movies when our kids are already asleep.

Since the Lucky Chinatown Mall opened, we have watched almost all the good movies that went out, the latest one being the Dark Knight Rises. The next movie in line for our movie date is the Bourne Identity and I can’t wait as the lead character there is one of my Hollywood crushes.

This is me wearing my Project Pearls shirt for the very first time.

I got this shirt last month but we were absent for almost the whole month of July that it is only last Saturday that my husband and I were able to wear them. We were so excited, because we are proud Project PEARLS volunteers.

Last Saturday was a very hectic Saturday as we had a medical mission courtesy of the doctors and students of UST. I was initially in charge of crowd control then I helped also in the registration booth.

My friend from work also sponsored the feeding last Saturday for her birthday celebration. It was her first time to go to Ulingan and I am happy that she had a great time with the kids. She even joined the volunteers who went to the Ulingan factory to distribute food for the children working there. She promised that she will come back to Ulingan soon.

Tomorrow will be another busy day in Ulingan. One of the supporters of Project PEARLS will be celebrating her birthday with the kids also and they will be bringing spaghetti, ice cream and more.

I can’t wait for Saturday to come.