Wordless Wednesday

*Shirts he chose on his own

The Sweetest Thing

As I was working yesterday, Evan was on the other corner of the room playing by the Christmas tree. Yes, the Christmas tree is already up. FYI, we Filipinos have the longest Christmas celebration ever. We start celebrating it as soon as the Ber months (September, October…etc) start. But that’s not what this post is all about…. Going back to my story, Evan suddenly came up to me with his hands behind his back. Smiling, he reached out his hands to me revealing the 3 red poinsettia flowers from the tree and said “I love you, Mommy!”

It was very cute and sweet! In response, I hugged him tightly for a little while. I was so touched, I took a break from work to play with him.

CNN Hero of 2009

One of the nominees for the CNN Hero of the Year is a Filipino, Efren Penaflorida. To learn more about his heroic deed, below is an article from Inquirer.net.

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Online votes urged for Filipino as CNN Hero of Year
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 04:24:00 10/25/2009 Filed Under: Internet, Heroism, Media, People



MANILA, Philippines – Efren Peñaflorida may be the farthest thing from a traditional politician, but he needs your vote.

The Department of Tourism has rallied behind Peñaflorida who is one of the 10 finalists in this year’s CNN Hero of the Year search for his work with street children.

Secretary Ace Durano urged Filipinos to vote for Peñaflorida in the CNN contest, which recognizes ordinary citizens who make an impact on their communities.

Voters have until November 18 to log on to the web link http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html.

Peñaflorida is one of four nominees in the “Championing Children” category of the heroes search.

“The time to celebrate Philippine heroism is long overdue. This is our chance to share with the world the Filipino’s sense of selflessness, and to honor the little acts of kindness that we, his kababayan [compatriots], can very well take inspiration from,” Durano said.

Peñaflorida was nominated for his Kariton Klasrum (Pushcart Classroom).

The project, now on its 12th year, brings education to where the street children are and giving them a chance to learn to read and write, keeping them away from gangs.

The project, which is maintained by volunteers from Dynamic Teen Company, has taught over 1,000 street children as well as child laborers from the slums.

“People like Efren remind us that our country is blessed not only with natural resources, but with true wonders such as individuals who dedicate their lives to heroic work,” Durano said.

CNN Heroes is a search for “people driven to exceptional achievement in service to others.”

This year’s search has six categories, namely, Championing Children, Community Crusader, Defending the Planet, Medical Marvel, Protecting the Powerless, and Young Marvel.

A blue ribbon panel selected the individuals for the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009. The hero who will get the most online votes will be named “CNN Hero of the Year”, and will be recognized during the “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” to be aired next month.

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Let's support Efren to become the CNN Hero of the Year. Cast your vote now:

Vote for Efren Penaflorida

Kids Say the Darndest Things

While watching a movie, I asked Evan, “Do you want to be an actor so that mommy and daddy can watch you on TV?”

His reply was very simple...

“But Mommy, I don’t fit in the T.V. We will have to break it.”

There's A Rainbow After The Rain

It has almost been a week since Typhoon Ondoy left, but we have not fully recovered yet. There still are several areas covered with mud or flood water. As they say in the news, it will fully subside after 3 months. Unbelievable, I know.

It is traumatic that we are not even over the pain Ondoy brought us, yet another typhoon with catastrophic effect came... and it looks like stormy days aren’t over yet.

I guess the only good thing that came out of this is that we realized that there still are a lot of heroes in the Philippines. People went out of their way to donate cash, goods or their time to help out Ondoy victims. Some of these people were also affected by the typhoon in one way or another. But found a place in their hearts to reach out to other people.



I just hope that when we start rebuilding, we keep in mind the things we learned from this tragedy. As a mom, I really just hope that our kids will have a better world to live in.

Typhoon Ondoy

Last Saturday, September 26th, Manila was hit by typhoon Ondoy, international code name Ketsana. Without thinking that it’s going to be one of nature’s most furious beatings, we just went on to our usual Saturday routine. Around lunch time, our house was already surrounded by flood water. After a couple of hours, flood water already came rushing inside our house. I felt scared, thinking about Evan. It is going to be hardest for him if flood water would go higher than it already was. I was panicking, helping hubby to save a few items here and there while Evan stayed on the bed. After a couple of more hours, electricity was cut off. We decided to stay with my hubby’s aunt so we can spend the night dry and a little more comfy. Fortunately the following day, flood water already started to subside. That’s when we started cleaning the house, which is not yet done until now.

Here are photos taken outside of our house:



We’re thankful that all of us along with our extended family members and relatives are well after the storm. But there are other families that experienced the most beating; families whose houses got submerged with flood water and those who have no more houses to go back to. Our prayers are with them.

If you would like to help, here is a list of websites/ foundations that accept donations for Typhoon Ondoy’s victims:

Ako Mismo
ABS-CBN Foundation
Kapuso Foundation

Tired Mom

I did not know that being a stay at home or work from home mom can be very challenging. I was a full time career woman for how many years turned career mom turned work from home mom. The transition was not at all easy. It was a big adjustment. When I was still single I did not even know how to fry an egg sunny side up. My close friends and family are now surprised to learn that I can cook! I went a looooong way. But I’m no Martha Stewart. I guess the difficulty starts there. =)

Doing all the chores over and over is just too tiring. I cannot picture how other moms manage doing it without losing their sanity. Imagine this, in the morning, you have to prepare breakfast. Then you have to clean up all the mess you made in preparing whatever. Come lunch time, you have to prepare food again and then clean up after. Dinner time, it’s the same routine! And the story does not stop there. There are many other chores that are just endless. Take laundry for example. After you finish doing the laundry, you have to fold the clothes neatly or iron them and put away in the closet. The following week, you’ll find yourself loading heaps of laundry in your washing machine all over again. It is a vicious cycle!

Now, bring your kiddo in the picture. I guess other moms have more to say about having mischievous kids. In that area, I can not say anything except that Evan likes jumping up and down our bed that no matter how many timeout he gets, he can endure just to be able to jump up and down again.

No, I am not complaining, I’m simply painting the picture that probably not a lot of people take notice of. Moms are human too. They get tired, frustrated, disappointed and crazy. They can sometimes be lazy too. But at the end of the day, a simple kiss, a smile and a warm hug washes the stress away. These simple gestures mean a lot to a tired mom. It shows love, affection and appreciation of her efforts. Don’t let her go beyond stressed, show some love and gratitude.

Hey! Today I kissed my mom and said thank you.

More Than Meets The Eye

Today is a non-working holiday so I decided to take the day off too. We went to the mall and the boys - my hubby and kiddo - were both happy to find out that Toys R Us is on sale.

Evan wanted to buy these toys:

But we told him he can only get one. So he chose Optimus Prime over Bumble Bee.

He's too excited, he didn't hand it over to the cashier for barcode scanning. The staff had to get another box. He didn't have it wrapped in a bag either. He just held on the box the whole time we were in the mall.

He's happy about his choice. Tonight, Optimus Prime got to sleep on his bed side.

Do Re Mi

I found this video from my friend's blog and was really amazed so I'm re-posting it here. It's really, really cool. I hope you enjoy it too!

Evan

My husband and I decided to give our son his name, Evan, for the following reasons:

Evangeline is the name of my hubby's aunt who helped him go to school.

Evan is another form of John, which is my dad's nickname.

Evan means "God is good." ...and God is indeed good for giving us our little Evan.

Relishing Motherhood

I posted this on my old blog more than a year ago. I think it's just fitting for it to be my first post here on my Mommy Diaries.

Relishing Motherhood

I do not have adequate words to express how happy I am as a mom. This is probably one aspect of my life I do not have complaints about. I was first afraid that I might not be cut for the role but now I just try to relish each moment. Seeing my little angel achieve milestones makes me so proud – the first time he crawled, his first step, first word, first time he called me mommy, and a whole lot of firsts. It is touching to see his big smile each day and how he seems to be glad to see me, his loving hugs and kisses, his eyes that sparkle with joy and love, and to hear his cute little voice saying, “I love you, mommy”. Priceless!