Bela has been enrolled in the Bert Lozada Swimming Class since February. Bela loves the water. During bath time, it’s really difficult to take her out of her tub. That’s why after she finish her class at Gymboree, we decided to enroll her to the My Baby & Me class of Bert Lozada.

She is under the Starfish class. This is a pre-swimming class with the parent in the water. We thought that we really made a right choice in enrolling her because Bela just so love the class. She loves participating the different activities (games, songs, and structured activities), which helped her build her water confidence.

Below are just some of the pictures that I took (sensya na hindi ako sanay sa cam ng hubby ko):

More pictures here: Swimming Class at ACE Water Spa

chocolate & caramel coated apple

(Photo grabbed from anton's blog)

Oh I just love these apples. I was first able to taste it in LA, at Disneyland. And I have been craving for it ever since.

Good thing, meron ng Sanfo Treats dito sa atin ngayon.

I’m a big Elliott fan.

I’m not really an American Idol addict. But after watching Elliott performed in AI Season 5, I got hooked and addicted to it. And he just released his first self-titled album.

Kaya promote ko lang, for the love of Elliott.

Almost six months na lang before Bela’s second birthday. And syempre nasa party planning mode na naman ako plus of course the excited lolos and lolas and titas who really did a big part and helped me during Bela’s first birthday.

I initially want Dora as the theme for Bela’s 2nd birthday since favorite nya talaga si Dora. But one of the lola mentioned that she already envisioned what Bela will be wearing for Bela’s 2nd birthday party (ganon sila ka excited). Napanood daw nya kse sa TV, yung isang girl naka grass skirt and tube top and yun daw gusto nila isuot ni Bela. So biglang naging Luau ang theme ng 2nd birhday party ni Bela.

So we started scouting for a venue na may pool because we wanted to have a swimming party after the program. I’m that close to giving up in finding a venue within Manila and QC na may pool. Lahat kse ng napag inquiran ko, may in house caterer na di ko afford ang rate nila per head for the food plus I have to pay 150-200 pesos per haed sa mga mag swimming. Or may nakita nga ako na venue, pero sobrang expensive ng rent sa venue because I have to rent both the function area and the pool.

Then noong February, I enrolled Bela sa Bert Lozada Swimming class. I checked their website and nakita ko dun yung list ng venues where they held their swimming class and isa isa ko yung tinawagan to inquire.

I was able to chance upon one venue within Manila area. Ok yung rate, and ok din yung amenities. The following week, Howell and I visited the place to check on it. And I immediately love it. Simple lang sya pero the function room is just ok for my number of guest, ok din yung pool and ok din yung rate nila. So nag pa pencil book na kami.

Last Monday, we visited the venue again para ipa check sa mga lola for approval. And ok naman sa kanila so I paid the downpayment na. Ayan, one down na. Pero secret muna kung saan yung venue.

I’m now deciding if I should hire a magician or host na lang for the program. I want the program kse to be short lang so the kids can have more time swimming.

More party updates soon….

Last May 24, I was trying to post a message to my Blog. Then I was surprise to find out that, I can’t publish my message because my blog has been tagged by the blogger spam robots as a spam blog. I have to send them a message to unblock my blog so they can review it if it is really a legitimate blog and not a spam.

Finally, after 6 days, I received the email that I have been waiting for from Blogger:

From: Blogger Help To: "clod0327@yahoo.com {U 494098312650 B 9387633}" Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 6:52:48 AMSubject: Re: [#150359745] Blogger Beta non-spam review and verification request: http://howellabie.blogspot.com/

Hello,Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so thatit will no longer appear as potential spam. If you sign out of Blogger andsign back in again, you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for yourpatience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.Sincerely,The Blogger Team

~~~~
So My blog is back….