My little kid used to have a slit on his pajama, just right for me to view his tutut :-) then my husband fixed it just the other night so I won't always make fool out of it. It's not that I don't like fixing those kinds of stuff but I think I'm not that good into it. Good thing he knows it.. :-)

Then the next day, as my little boy woke up.. he kept on teasing me that his pants are already fixed. Then I ask him, how come it's Tatay who fixed it.. why not me? He just smiled and I turn back on him. After a few minutes I heard him saying to his sister. "It's because.. Nanay is still young!" hahaha

Actually I find it funny but later realized, what does "young" means? doesn't know everything? hmmm maybe I should start to learn those things now so I won't no longer be tagged as young, and so the word "young" be replaced as "expert".

Just the other day, I was touched when I read the following excerpt from the book "You can make your life beautiful" :

Tracy is already a young woman.
But her head is bent downward, drool flows through one side of her mouth, and her face is berof any expression. She can’t speak. Or move by herself. Every once in a while, someone has to shift the
position of her head, her arms, her legs—or else they become painfully sore. (Doctors painkillers.)
And the hand I hold is small for her age and contorted. Her limbs are terribly thin, twisted
abnormally short, and have to be strapped in a special wheelchair. She doesn’t eat the way you and I do.
She’s fed through a tube attached straight thrabdomen. Some would call her a vegetable. I wouldn’t.
Because her name is Tracy!
And there’s one thing she does well, despite all these. Tracy smiles.

This serves as an eye opener to me since I realized that I hardly smile for the last two days.. So today, I decided to start the day with a smile. It's a usual thing for me and my Matthew to argue about finishing his breakfast before leaving to school because his first period starts at 7:00am. I smiled more when he said, mother, what's the matter? why are you smiling? feels good huh and feels so light as I do the scheduled household chore for the day.

As I fetch my kids from school at 12nn, Matthew noticed it again and commented, "hey, it's nice to see you smiling..." (seems like it's so unusual to see me smile hehe) then while walking they both shared the news that their report card was already given. Honestly can't help but feel nervous although still managed to wear a smile while saying "Good!". It was really unexpected that he passed all his grades, in fact his average got higher than the last grading period. Though his Math grade drastically changed, his other subjects show significant change also. In my previous post, I have mentioned that I'm worrying so much that he might failed in Math. God was really good, and I'm so thankful.

When I was young and this what me and my husband were teaching our kids now, that "Smile, and the world will smile to you!" Call it just a coincidence but today I got so many reasons to be happy. And I guess it started when I chose to make my life beautiful. Smile!



Wear a smile often, and see the difference!

A former officemate chatted me today asking how I was after more than three months of being out of the corporate world, and as the conversation goes.. he then teased me that this coming Christmas I would miss two things terribly..I would miss receiving Christmas gifts and financial bonus from the company. Truly this is one the most awaited part of the year for most of us back then because it's the part of the year wherein the employees are being rewarded for the exemplary performance during the year. So I guess, this was the fulfillment of having a job and also a time to be happy.

This Christmas, I still have a bonus! just.. not the usual material thing. Nothing can compare to the happiness whenever I saw my kids being happy with me all the time. And whenever I joked that I will work again, they would beg not to and promise they would always be good. And oh, I get this bonus all year round!

My point of view right now is "Being happy especially during Christmas is not about having lots of material things but more of the happiness that makes me feel so fulfilled."

Do you ever feel like you' re in a traffic jam? ... where everything’s a standstill and every road to your destination seems blocked? This is what I'm feeling for the last two days, find my life too difficult because of my son Matthew. Were always engaged in discussions about finishing his school duties on time and finding it hard to accept his reasons for not following my instructions that often results in me yelling at him most of the time, and spanking sometimes. Little did I know, my problem is not being solved but just aggravating the situation. Making me feel guilty after a great confrontation with him, and feeling so stressed and wanting to give up.. and yet it's like, nothing for him..

Today I started my day feeling as light as possible, and managed half of the day already not getting mad or even yell. I prayed to God to give me more strength and the will to survive. I'm holding on to God as the one who makes a road through the wilderness and one who makes way where it seems impossible. Just have to trust and be committed to connect with Him daily.

"God's expertise.. is the impossible."

In these days, we are often challenged to have a good ability of managing our financial aspect. This makes it difficult especially for those who are Stay-at-home moms. Of course we need to make sure proper balancing for us to avoid that health and wealth be compromised as we are into the verge of budgeting.

Since I resigned, I've been into constant search for ways on where to invest my retirement pay... and it started with attending a seminar about investing in the stock market which led me to the discovery of this great and wonderful money saving tip. This was discussed first since they are offering a long term investment program that requires to save money to increase the investment on a monthly basis.

Here's how the system goes, the salary will be divided into five envelopes namely :

1st envelope : Tithe
Tithing teaches us to be generous because it is an act of gratitude and faith. We do give thanks for the blessings and have faith that we will be provided for. My goal is to allot 10% of the earnings for I personally believe in the power of tithing!

2nd envelope : Expense Fund
This is what we spend for our daily needs including the monthly bills. Just the right discipline and you will learn how to live a simple life. Simplicity is the key..

3rd envelope : Support Fund
Fund used to support our extended families on their untimely needs.

4th envelope : Emergency Fund
This fund teaches how to be prepared for anything that requires spending money.
5th envelope : Retirement
The real savings according to Financial experts. There are several ways to prepare for the future, and one of them is investing in the stock market.

"Saving is not just for now but for the future."

 TrulyRichClub.com - Do You Want to Gain Financial Wealth and Spiritual Abundance at the Same Time?

"High Expectations can move you into danger"

Today's the 17th birthday of my niece Agnes, so I (and my kids) thought to give her something. Since we have many cookies given by a friend, we decided to give her one. Then my eldest suggested to create a note along with the cookie.

Then after doing all this stuff, the three went to their house which is around 2 blocks from ours. About 2 1/2 hours that passed, Jom came rushing to get some clothes. Their aunt is inviting to join them at church and eat out later. I even joked at him, oh why are you leaving me here alone? don't you want me to be here anymore.. then he said, "no Mom it won't take long, will be back in a short while, just can't resist Aunt's invitation". That was just a joke but honestly I felt a little sad when he left. It's not that I don't want them to be with them, but I'll miss them. I'll be left alone here at home.

At 6pm, my other Sister-in-law came asking me to join them, but I alreary started cooking our viand for the night and still up washing the clothes. Alas, but this is the consequences of poor time management during the entire day. Today's not that good for my kids, I'm so short tempered due to stress.

But then again, as I stay here alone now, I realized that sometimes it's nice to be away from each other for a while to feel missed. For sure they would miss me too! Can't wait to be with them, the house is so lonely without them.

I was shocked when I heard the news today about the passing of my favorite child star (now an actress), Princess Sarah-Camille Pratts's husband. He was so young at the age of 31 to die of cancer and I felt so sad especially for their 3years old son. Not only were their ages but also their relationship was too young. But I believe that God has reason for allowing this to happen.

This strucked me to remind me at most to take care of myself well. When I was about to resign from work, a lot of people are kept on telling me that staying at home could make me look 10 years older than my age and I also knew lots of women who really became that one too. But now that I experienced to be S-A-H-M, my new point of view is that, how you look is a choice. If you want to look good at your age then you must act, still be responsible on keeping yourself healthy. As much as possible, make eveyday an enjoying day and you must like what your doing to be happy. I think that's the key, be happy. Whenever I encounter problems in life, aside from asking God to be by my side, I used the internet technology to search for the best technique on how to deal with it. And I now drink lots and lots of water everyday, for I believe in the healing power of water.

Even if you're not a stay at home type, if the attitude and outlook in life is not good, it can happen to look 10 years older than the age. So start now, make a choice!

I want to share again the article that says, I need to STOP, LOOK and LISTEN! (just as I do)

STOP when I'm about to explode already, count from 1 to 10 if necessary or just go for a while to do some inhale and exhale to relax myself and most of all Pray before I face my kids again. This is really hard but yet effective.

LOOK for God in every situation especially on dealing with kids, imagine God loving You at the moment of testing and look for God's presence in every irritating circumstances. This one's very soothing..

LISTEN to God's instructions by asking self "Whats the wise thing to do?" Evaluate the root cause and think, think, think. One phrase that struck me is that Children don't listen to anger, they listen to action! By the way, I have just downloaded the e-book Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr Kevin Leman as suggested. Will keep you posted on my learnings there.

Truly, the big learning here is, IMPATIENCE comes from lack of trust in God's Love... Thank God for bringing me back to my own self and able to change for the better.