Holiday Selfies

Christmas and New Year celebration at home is one the busiest times for all of us. Aside from the busy preparation of food for Noche Buena and Medya Noche (Medianoche), my parents are also particularly busy with their sari-sari store.

Together with Bella, her Tita Den Den and Tito Dodong, we attended the Midnight Mass. It has been a family practice to wear the same color of shirt or dress every Christmas and New Year’s Eve. This time we went for Royal Blue or any shade of Blue for Christmas then Red for the New Year.

Another exciting part of the celebration is the photo op with our friends and the rest of the family. The most excited among all of us is our Kuya Macky who are into taking endless selfies. He was so enthusiastic about taking selfies for him to post in his Facebook Account. I actually labeled his shots as holiday selfies.

We also deemed it necessary to take photos for the occasion to send it to our family members who could not spent the holidays with us. Even if we are physically apart, in that way, we can share with them the joy of the season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all!

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A Christmas Away from the Family

Christmas is one of the most anticipated celebrations in every Filipino family. As a family, we usually gather as one to celebrate this joyous season. One of the most unforgettable Christmases we had was during the year 2010. It was such a happy time with the family wherein every one of us made an effort to really come together as one. It was also our first Christmas celebration with Yoshi, our newest nephew that time.

That was our Christmas celebration four years ago. This coming Christmas we wished to celebrate as happier at it was before but I have a little apprehension about it because our eldest brother will not be with us. Macky’s father is working overseas and with his contract, I believe it is impossible for him to go home. This Christmas is going to be his third Christmas away from the family but despite the distance, we will try to do everything to make each other feel special this coming Christmas season.

What about you, how do you plan to celebrate this Christmas season?

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A Vacation Well- Spent

Macky had a week’s break from school. Aside from his usual computer and basketball activities, he gets to spend a great time with his Uncles who are visiting from Manila. They would go to the beach all by themselves or sometimes just watch movies on DVD at home.

His uncles did not get to visit a lot of tourist spots in the city since their time and so their resources were limited although they had dinner in an eat-all-you-can buffet  restaurant and also visited the City’s People’s Park.

Macky was so excited to do things with his uncles especially when he came home from school. Now that they are back in Manila, they cherish every memory they had through the photos taken during his Uncles' vacation.

It may be just a short time, but the break from school was definitely as vacation well-spent for our Kuya Macky.

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Family Dinner at Buffet Palace on His 13th Birthday

Since I have convinced Macky to have a family dinner instead of having a pool party on this 13th birthday, everyone in the house prepared early for dinner that night. We are supposed to go downtown using Bren's car but since he will go out late from work, we just decided to take the taxi instead to be able to arrived in the restaurant in time for dinner.

I first thought of having a dinner in the nearest mall which is the SM City but changed my mind when I learned that Victoria Plaza will be having a midnight sale. I am very excited with the thought of shopping with the rest of the family after dinner so I told everyone that we will have our eat-all-you-can dinner at Buffet Palace inside Victoria Plaza compound.

We arrived at Buffet Palace just in time for dinner. The restaurant offers a complete selection of main courses from soup, fish, vegetable, chicken, beef and pork dishes. Also included in the menu table are the ingredients for fish kinilaw which Papa enjoyed so much. Aside from the wide selection of mini-cakes for dessert, there were mango float, macaroni salad and the complete ingredients for halo-halo and many others which I failed to remember. Sorry, I am not a sweet tooth eh :(

With the kind of food to choose from, everyone of us really had a great time at our family dinner at Buffet Palace. Kuya Macky had a second trip to the buffet table for additional viands and a third round of mango float plus a bowl of halo-halo for dessert not to mention a plate full of pork chicharon. LOL.

The little girl is becoming a photography aficionado who loves taking pictures of people and things and of course demanded that I take her photo with Kuya Macky too. She actually consumed a handful of pancit guisado, a bowl of soup, few slices of  soy chicken and fried pork chop and a cute bowl of halo-halo Tito Dong made for her :) And mind you, she is free of charge since she is just two years old.

And while Papa is paying the bill and just before I finish eating, Macky asked for the camera and took photo of himself inside the men's restroom. LOL

As planned, we immediately headed to Victoria Plaza to do the midnight shopping after the dinner. I bought Bella few pairs of dresses and nothing for myself, as always. Macky got himself a new polo shirt to be used in their Christmas Party, a new cellular phone as a birthday gift, a Bench hair gel and cologne.

It was a tiring night but it was very fun and fulfilling because it seldom happens that the whole family eat out in the restaurant. Thanks to my brother for the budget and for always keeping Macky's birthday and happiness in mind. 

Happy 13th birthday Kuya Macky! I hope you'll feel blessed now and for always! We love you very much.

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Home for Father's Day

Macky was so happy being reunited with his father after more than a year. My brother is here for a month long vacation from his work abroad. We celebrated his homecoming by preparing the food he requested to eat upon his arrival. We really wanted to have a grand celebration but our budget won't allow us so we just settle for a simple blowout for him. :-) He requested to have sinigang, sinuglaw (sinugbang baboy at kinilaw na isda) and grilled fish which my father willingly prepared.

His vacation is also in time for the Father's Day celebration although we do not have a plan on what to do to observe father's day but it is still a happy day thinking that Macky will be able to see and greet his father  personally on this special occasion. 

 

Happy Father's Day to you Papa Rollie, Daddy Nonoy, Papang Cycy and Tatay Bren. Thank you very much to all of you for taking care of our family. May the Lord continue to bless you and give you more strength to endure life's challenges. We love you all! :-)

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads all over the world! :-)

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Back to Basics: Practical Ways to Bond with Family

A boat needs its sail to safely traverse to the open sea. Though the wind and waves can move the boat, the sail will be the one to give the boat support and direction. If the boat loses its sail, it will eventually lose balance, turn upside down, and slowly sink to nothingness.

We are the boats while our families are the sails. Without their love and guidance, we can easily end up like a wrecked boat at the bottom of the water. And it can be a possibility, especially if we lose the time to communicate because of a busy schedule or proximity issues. 

In case you’re one of them, here are practical ways to maximize the quality time with your family even if it’s just on a weekend. 

• Organize backyard parties with family and close relatives. Let’s face it, gathering the whole family and close relatives for a day of lunch at home is quite a task. But if you’re really determined to embark on a new kin tradition, start the ball rolling by hosting a couple of lunch or dinner meal starring your signature lasagna or chicken roll.

• Hold movie nights. It’s time to turn your living room into a mini theater. Though you don’t have to be equipped with the latest entertainment gadgets to enjoy this. A simple DVD player, decent TV set, and family’s choice of flick will be enough to have a great time. 

• Schedule monthly out-of-town tours. It may sound expensive but encouraging each member of the family to take part in saving for your trip expenses will be pleasurable to participate in. If in case monthly contributions fall a bit short, strolling in the mall isn’t a bad idea after all.      

•  Learn a new dish and cook it for your family. Show your family you love them by preparing different dishes that will surely take them to a satisfying cultural feast. Introduce them to flavorful cuisines that range from Mexican burritos to Singaporean Laksa.    

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Christmas Memory: At The Christmas Tree

I know Macky misses his parents this Christmas and I am pretty sure that his parents missed him too. Our family has a lot of good memories during Christmas although we always celebrate every Christmas with simplicity. We believe that Christmas is perfect as long as all family members are together and in good health. 

We still consider Christmas for the family  this year to be a blessed one even if we are not complete. We have a lot of good reasons to celebrate and to be happy thinking what happened to some of our friends  and countrymen in Cagayan de Oro.

One good thing that Macky likes about Christmas is the Christmas Tree. Whenever we go somewhere and sees a beautiful Christmas Tree, we would pause for a while and get a shot of it  or sometimes  even took pictures with it. 

Mommy and Daddy @ our simple Christmas Tree

With Papa Rollie celebrating Christmas last 2010...

with Yoshi @ Samulco - Puan

We pray that every Filipino especially those who are affected by Typhoon Sendong will still have a Merry Christmas this year. Everything happens for a reason even if sometimes we can't understand it. Let's just be firm with our faith and trust that the Lord has bigger and better plans for all of us. 

Macky is sending his love to his Papa Rollie this Christmas. Take good care of yourself Papa and we love you and praying for your safety always.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Thank you Sis Krizza for the First Comment...

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