Dylan's 2011 Christmas Party

This year, the Little Sofie Learning and Development Center held their Christmas Party at Shakey's Espana.  It's quite a bittersweet moment for us because we remember Teacher Dory and her presence from last year's Christmas party which was also held in the same venue.

Anyway, the party was filled with gifts, prizes and activities which the kids loved.  There were prizes for the parents who did such an amazing job with their Christmas parol.  There were also appreciation prizes for all parents for their support of their kids and of the school.  The kids also had their exchange gift as well as gift giving from their teachers.  There was also a "Bring Me" game which Dylan participated in but was not fortunate enough to win in hahaha  Parents also participated in the games which were a lot of fun.

 Pictures with his teachers:
Teachers Kaye and She

Teachers Karen, Kaye, She, Cath and Ma'am Sheila

Dylan with Teachers and Classmates


Dylan and Rhian
Dylan also participated in their song and dance number:



Finally, it was eating time! Pizza, Spaghetti, mojos and chicken


Teacher Dory's special kids (Shiela May)
 A special dance number by Captain Shakey's to end the celebration!

Dana's 2011 Christmas Presentation

Every Christmas season, kids usually become part of their school's Christmas presentation.  Dana is no different but for a while there, we really didn't think she will be able to participate in it this time because we had some financial difficulties and couldn't yet buy the costume needed for the program.

At the last minute, we were able to find the resources and the three of us, Patrick, Dana and I, went to
Quiapo at the store where we bought Dylan's Germany costume and were able to buy the last piece of Santa Claus costume for Dana.  It was also perfect timing since it was the last piece we got a hefty discount which really helped us out :)  After completing that errand we went home so we can see how it looked on Dana when paired off with the black socks/stockings and hat :)

Come Monday afternoon, Dana was ready to go to school with her costume.  Dana, Dylan, Den and I went to school at 330PM as was their call time.  They were performing a dance number to the tune of Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You".

What the school did this time was made the college and HS students perform first to ensure that the parents will stick it out until the end hehehe so even though we came to school so early, the kids only performed around 630PM.  I still have to edit the video but I'll update as soon as it's up.

Here are some of the pictures after the show.  Dylan fell asleep even before the program started but he woke up just in time to watch his Ate Dana perform.

While waiting for the doors to open

Hiding from the camera

The Stage

Waiting to start

Sleeping in the theater

Photo Op

Dana (far right) with her classmates

Dana (far right) with her classmates



How to make a Christmas Parol

Let's face it, I'm not really talented with arts and crafts nor do I have any interest in making them.  But sometimes, for the sake of your children you have to do things that you just gotta do hehehe  One of these things include making a Christmas Parol for Dylan's project in school.  It's supposed to be a bonding moment type of project, which I adamantly opposed during a PTA meeting because I knew Dylan wouldn't be participating in it (really!), but I was overruled hehehe  So, I was wracking my brains figuring out how to make one and even resorted to searching through youtube for instructional videos on how to make it.

The first step is finding the materials before you can even begin.  For this project, we were told to use native materials like coconut and corn husks and not recyclable materials (which we used last year).  I really had no idea how to begin so I asked my aunt for suggestions.  She told me to head over to Quiapo's Quinta Market and maybe I'll find inspiration there.  It just so happened that I had a lot of work to finish so I asked Den and Erghie to just buy the materials which they think may be suitable and we'll go from there.  When they got back, they were able to buy a Christmas parol frame (let's be honest, I can never make that one by myself hehehe) and some native materials.  It took us a week to really think about how to put the materials together LOL

Step 1:  We covered the inner frame with some red ribbon so it won't stand out.  Obviously, Dylan is more interested in playing with the ribbons rather than looping them around the frame :)



Step 2:  We used a glue gun to stick the "abaca" (I'm not really sure what the material is but it looked native) onto the "triangle" portions of the frame.  Dylan tried his hand with the glue gun.  At first, he was skeptical when he learned that it was a glue "gun".  He said, Mama don't kill me with that gun LOL




Untrimmed frame

Trimmed Frame
Step 3:  We put in a green native material to contrast with the brown, right in the middle of the frame just to keep things simple.  Then lined the edges with glittery red ribbon.  At first, we even ran out of the ribbon so we had to continue the next day.  We also ran out of glue sticks which meant another delay.

Step 4:  We glued some shells on strings and attached them to the bottom of the frame so that they'll swing.  We didn't know how to make the usual fringes in the regular Filipino Christmas parol so we "innovated" hehehe  We also wrapped some gold ribbon around the "points" of the star to conceal the points of the frame.



Almost finished product
Step 5:  The kids then proceeded to stick the sea shells onto the outline of the center of the star.  They each took turns and we finished in no time :)  The parol is now hanging from the middle of our living room hahaha Dylan has also gone territorial on it and keeps calling it His Star :)


Finished product


Of Toys and Willy Wonka (Part 2)

So the previous post mentioned that we went to the Richwell Warehouse sale where we bought a lot of stuff.  Well, we had to go back the next day because the shoes we bought for Dana were a tad small so we wanted to exchange them for a pair that fit better.

When we got there, this time we brought the kids with us so that we're sure the shoes will really fit right, the shoes we bought yesterday were sold out! LOL  We had to find another pair for the same price!  It was okay because now, there were new stocks as well and we were able to buy a newer pair than the one we originally bought. ;)  This time, I was also astounded at the way the mommies were behaving.  I have never seen a "human feeding frenzy" before and this was the place where I saw it first hand.

To explain, the sales clerks would bring in these huge boxes filled with new stocks of shoes.  They'd dump these into the boxes in the shoes section of the warehouse.  Mommies will immediately dive in (literally!) and come up with mismatched pairs of shoes and then sort them out later when they've determined that these shoes are not the ones they want LOL It's really fun and fascinating to watch LOL I probably would do the same since these pairs were going for P100 and that's really cheap, mind you! :)

Once we got the pair of shoes for Dana, Patrick and I decided to bring Dana and Dylan to the Willy Wonka Imaginarium at the Shangri-la Plaza Mall. Knowing how much they love Willy Wonka from the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we thought this was a good way to end the day.  With a P100 purchase of any Willy Wonka candy from the Candy Corner store in the exhibit, you earn a Golden Ticket which serves as your key to entering the magical place.  The kids got crazy with all the candy, like Nerds, Laffy Taffy and the Pixy Stix :)  Once we got our tickets, we went in :)


A Giant Bug

The Magical Door

The Giant Tree 

Giant Mushrooms


Giant Ant and the Ant Bully
They were both amazed and excited and the couldn't stop talking about what went on when they went inside.  It was worth the trip! :)

Of Toys and Willy Wonka (Part 1)

Like most working couples, you can only schedule a trip for toy hunting, bargains and sales when you have received part of all of your Christmas bonus and your salary and hope to God that there are sales scheduled when you do.  We were fortunate enough that during the weekend that we got some windfall of sorts, there were great bargains that we took part in.

On Saturday, December 3, Patrick and I headed to the Toy Warehouse Sale in Sct. Torillo, Quezon City.  It is actually the warehouse for the Mattel brand of toys and they're selling off their excess inventory at prices up to 80% off!  So, it's really a great deal considering you're getting branded toys for less than what you would pay in the malls :)  I didn't really know what to expect since this was the first time I was headed there so I was keeping an open mind.

The place wasn't really huge, around 1000 square meters but it's air conditioned so it's pretty comfortable.  There were toys for infants, toys for the big kids, some baby stuff like sterilizers and bottles, some MyScene and Ollie shoes for the bigger kids, Barbie, Hot Wheels and Pokemon shoes for the smaller kids, bikes Disney toys (both stock and new arrivals) and a whole lot more.

We were able to pick out great finds during our first day and Patrick went ga-ga over the Lightning McQueen series of die cast toys and was able to purchase 4 of them - Lightning McQueen, Franco Bernoulli, Holly Shiftwell and Mater!  I went crazy over the shoes that were selling for P100/pair!! and some school shoes, they were selling for 3 for P100!! I was stupefied to say the least! LOL  We really had to stop at some point when we reached our quota for the kids' Christmas gifts hahahaha

We then went to the Mall of Asia to see if we can check out great finds at the Mega Shoes and Bags sale at the SMX Convention hall.  OMG! That's all I can say hahaha

I was already super excited even before we entered but when I got in woohoo! Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!! It was like an Imelda Marcos moment hahaha If I had that feeling, make that a hundred times more for Patrick who was crazier for shoes than I.

It wasn't difficult to go around even though it was jam-packed with crowds.  The shoes were sorted according to brand and then by size so you can immediately go to your favorite brands and see what models they have that are available in your size.  It saves on having to ask the sales clerks repeatedly for your size.  The sad thing is if you've got an average shoe size, there's a high possibility that the style that you want may be out of stock especially if you haven't gotten there at the earliest opportunity.  But since there were so many shoe styles to look at, I'm sure there will be at least one pair that you'll end up with.  Here, Patrick and I were able to buy much needed shoes for ourselves.  When you have kids, you usually have to sacrifice your own wants to provide for your kids first.  So, this opportunity was heaven sent.  I got a pair of Keds (my fave!) and Patrick was able to buy his Asics rubber shoes.  :)

At the same venue, just next door was the Toy Kingdom Christmas sale.  We couldn't resist so we took a peek.  Fortunately (for us) the lines were too long which served as a deterrent for us to purchase any more stuff LOL

We ended our day with dinner at Mexicali :>)  We purposely went home late so we can sneak the gifts in and store them where the kids can't find them hehehe





Tasting "The Real Thing"

We're always happy when there are holidays when Patrick also has no work.  This time, because there's no work on November 30, we scheduled a day of pampering for us girls so Dana, Den and I went out and got our haircuts :)  Patrick also got his and Dylan felt kinda left out because he's the only one who didn't get a hair cut because his hair was still short LOL

Here's a picture of Dana with her hair all straightened out because of blowdrying :)  I really like it when she has her hair this short :)



After the salon and the barber shop, we were scouting around for a place to have dinner at.  Patrick suggested that we try out "The Real Thing Diner" along Tomas Morato in Quezon City.  It's a restaurant with most of their food products made with Coca-Cola :) There are also a lot of Coca-Cola memorabilia displayed on the walls and on stands :)

Check out these mugs and collectibles:




Check out their cool ambience!



There's Den sporting her new hairdo!


We ordered the Onion Rings Tower P149

Dana ordered the Carbonara P179

Cheesy Backyard Burger P189

Coca-Cola Salpicao P199

Cheesy Backyard Burger (to show the cheese)
Over-all, we enjoyed the food.  I especially like the Coca-cola salpicao and am actually wondering about the recipe :)  The service was fast and efficient and our server was pleasant and enthusiastic :)

17th Anniversary spent with Chevrolet haha

I've always been a simple person.  So when Patrick tells me that we're just going to the Mall of Asia for our 17th Anniversary, that's fine by me.  Any excuse to get out of the house will do hahaha As long as the kids are with us and we're happy to be together then all is fine with life :)

So that Sunday, Patrick said he had to go to MOA to check out the Chevrolet exhibit there.  So, off we went.

Lots of opportunities for picture taking with the kids.  For instance, here they are with "Bumblebee"











Here they are with the Chevrolet Spark :)

Bumblebee's mags are cool! 

Check out these cool Chevrolet furniture hehehehe