I am so missing my early Saturday in Ulingan: 

 Photo Credit: Rita Dela Cruz

Almost every Saturday, my husband and I wakes up early so we can make it on time for the Saturday feeding organized by Project pearls in Ulingan. But since June 30, we were not able to join because of family responsibilities that we have to attend to. I was supposed to go to Ulingan yesterday but hubby is working overtime and no one will be left with the kids so I have no choice but to stay at home.

I miss my co-volunteers whom I consider now as one of my closest friends and most especially I miss the kids. I specially miss Resty as he has been my buddy in Ulingan. Last time I saw him was during Cobi’s birthday and I promised him that I will see him the following Saturday but it has been 3 weeks and I haven’t set foot in Ulingan again.

Next week, we will be attending a birthday party and baptism and so we will miss the Saturday feeding again. ☹ But for sure I will be there on the 28th as my friend from work will be celebrating her birthday with the kids and she will be sponsoring the feeding for that day. Can’t wait for the 28th to come so I can spend time again with my kids in Ulingan.

Last June 29 was the 87th birthday of my grand mother. It is a weekday so instead of celebrating it on her actual birthday, we had a party on July 1 instead so my aunt and her family from Rizal can join us.

We just had potluck and each family was asked to bring something to share for lunch. I brought chicken from Chicken Bon-Chon, my sister brought California maki and sushi, my cousin brought ice cream cake, my brother brought lechon, my three aunts brought pansit, estofado and lumpia and my cousin Tessa baked cookies.

We also rented a videoke machine and so the oldies really had fun partying as they sing and dance to their favorite songs (which makes me think how many wine bottles they consumed as they really party hard. LOL).

My relatives stayed until dinner and so it was a great bonding moment with the whole clan, which made the birthday celebrant really happy.

To our dear Nanay Puti, Happy, happy birthday!! We love you very much!!

Ok, I realized that it is already July and I still have a lot of things in my To-do list for Bela’s birthday. I put the party preparations on hold as I wanted to concentrate on Cobi’s 2nd birthday party which happened last June but as soon as I realized that it is already July, I started to panic for a bit.

Good thing I have a cousin and a sister who is very much involve in the party planning preparations too for their niece and thanks to technology, we were able to have a group chat via Viber.

Well I have to decide on a lot of things like the décor for the stage, the balloon decors, the souvenirs, etc. I feel overwhelmed with all the decisions that I have to make that sometimes I need a sounding board to calm me down.

I am happy with the result of the meeting. Finally, things are getting clearer for the party preparations and we are 90% decided on the whole concept of the party. I have spoken with suppliers already and I am thankful because they are giving me friendly rates that fit my budget.

I will just have to sit with hubby and run down all our options before I finalize all the details with my supplier.

And now I am excited. LOL

It has been a month since my Bela started in Grade 1. I am the usual paranoid and worried mom because I know that grade school will be a big adjustment for my daughter. Imagine from having only 2 teachers in Pre-school, she will now have 8 teachers for all her subjects including her homeroom teacher.

Bela is still very playful and so I worry that she might have a hard time adjusting, as I know that it is already serious matter in grade 1. I got a bit worried actually on Bela’s 2nd week in school (the first week when she met all her subject teachers) as she came home sad because according to her, she got a lot of warnings from teacher because of her playfulness.

I don’t want to pressure my daughter but I tried to remind her everyday that she really has to behave and listen to teacher. Little by little she adjusted. On her 2nd week, she told me that she only got 2 warnings, from her everyday warnings the 1st week. Then on the next week, she said that she no longer got a warning from teacher. She is also doing well in her subjects as I can see that her test results are all ok.

I guess I should have listened to my husband from the start. He told me that I should not worry too much and just trust my daughter because he knows that Bela is a smart girl and soon, she will get use to the routines in Grade 1.

Well you know how mommies are. If I can only follow my daughter every where she goes, even going to the extent of installing gps vehicle tracking device, I would do that if only to ensure her safety.

I guess all mommies are like that. We worry on even the smallest things because we don’t want our kids to get hurt. I pray that Bela will continue to adjust in her new setup in school. I want her to learn but I would still want her to enjoy in the process.

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.