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Showing posts from February, 2010

Pepakura - Weekend Projects

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by Linnor Cutting the parts to their exact sizes was therapeutic, I discovered. It's my favorite part in doing these "pepakura" projects because my fingers were quite big to make the paper heads or the hands perfect. After finishing 4 characters, we all became more adept. Each succeeding project took a shorter time to make and each piece looked better than the last. So imagine hubby and 13 yo Kyle cutting the paper pieces and me taping and pasting the parts together. That's pretty much how our weekend at home was spent. Geeky but cool!

Handmade Bumblebee

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by Linnor Son #2, Kyle's patience, which is usually short (ha!), was tested last night as we cut and glued together the paper pieces for this craft. It may not be as perfect as we wanted it to look (rough edges, imperfect head, missing piece, etc), but it was the best we could do as 1st timers.   This was actually fun and I enjoyed doing it with him. Thanks to a colleague who introduced us to this, we'll have more projects this weekend.

Dear Darla

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by Linnor Have you tried it or even heard of it? For those who haven't, here's the lowdown. First, you put a layer of arugula. Second, you sprinkle some alfalfa sprouts. Then you roll the pizza tightly to secure the greens. And voila! That's Dear Darla. Hold the roll and sink your teeth to taste something new. I guarantee you'll find it quite a novelty. The first time I tried, I immediately liked it. Maybe you would too if you like greens. Of course, before all that, you have to order it from a Yellow Cab pizza outlet nearest you.

Getting By

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by Linnor To get through this extra busy day due to planned and unplanned tasks, I found myself accepting an offer from a colleague... ... and reached for a piece (and then another) of the choco-vron he was holding. Yummm!

Inanimate Nanny

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by Linnor Thank heavens for colleagues who are fond of Legos and other toy figures! Yep, good thing it's a hobby for most IT experts. These could keep Jake preoccupied for hours while I go about my day and while Jerry goes from one meeting to the next. :) "Woosh! Bam-bala-bam... Woo! The pirates have landed! Bsssh!" I'd gladly choose listening to make-believe pirate stories more than hearing a whiney kid who's already bored stiff. Wouldn't you?

Salmon Two Nights in a Row

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by Linnor The restaurants in the malls are full. Some even require advance bookings or reservations. Good business actually for retail establishments and food outlets, with 2 special occasions falling on the same day: Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year. Add to that the fact that it's payday. And you have the perfect mix for a happily chaotic weekend. Hehe. For us, lunch was spent at home, after hearing mass. But come 6 pm, we were part of the crowd jostling for space in one of the restos in the mall. Dinner was at Sizzling Pepper Steak. And compared with La Gondola (last night's venue for dinner), tonight's fare was better in more ways than one. Now we are here having tea at the bar of Gustavian (and enjoying free wifi). Dinner has been 2 hours ago and am still full. I know now where to get my salmon steak fix for P300. And it's definitely not from La Gondola.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

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by Linnor To treat the boys to a dragon/lion dance and fireworks display in celebration of the Chinese new year, we brought them to Waterfront Hotel where we had dinner at La Gondola. Being the restless kid, Jake was walking around engaging everyone to a conversation when I caught this: Jake ( to che f) : Is Ratatouille in your cap? Lol! Jake (to the same chef who's making pizza) : Are you making bread? Jake (seeing the round dough) : Oh! That's not bread. Is that siopao? Lololol! Kung hei fat choi!

Happy Hearts' Day!

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by Linnor Our preschool boy came home last Thursday and excitedly exclaimed: "I have something for you Ma!" and proceeded to hand me a project they made in school. :) It was a paper cut-out shaped into a heart and pasted in 2 layers. As you open the 1st layer, this message is written inside: "I love you Mom and Dad! - Jacob". I looked at it and imagined how much effort he put into it. Then I looked at him, smiled and gave him a hug as I thanked him. It's now ranked high up there together with the love notes handmade by my elder sons when they were Jake's age.  Small reminders of their child-like days when their full focus was on family and they were not preoccupied yet with teenage stuff like friends, school, going out, crushes, etc. My heart ached a bit and longed for those times.  Our elder sons have grown now.  They no longer make paper cut-outs in the shape of hearts.  I sat in reverie until my thoughts were interrupted. "Do you

Early Riser

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by Linnor Out of necessity, I'm usually up by 515am. That is, if I don't wake up ahead of my 2 set alarms. I instinctively barge into the boys' room to literally pull them out of bed and coax them to get ready for school. Then I try to go back to sleep. Recently, I added a new routine to my lethargic mornings to allow for some fitness regimen. Ahem. Hubby bought a "twist and shape" stepper which is, more than anything, for making tv watching more productive. Hehehe. So by 7am, after seeing the boys off, I'd be hooked on Unang Hirit or Umagang Kay Ganda while working the mini machine until it registers 200 calories burned! The happy hormones would power me to go about the rest of the day. However, right after lunch at home, I try to squeeze in about 10mins of downtime (aka nap) or else, I'd look like Jake's favorite cartoon character in this pic. The end. Another senseless blabber just to tie the pic to my post.

Mesa

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by Linnor After the boys' haircut at about 5pm, we were choosing between having snacks or early dinner. Thinking it was a healthier option to eat before 6pm, we decided to have the latter. We checked on the menu display of Gustavian, Cyma, Siam, Hola Espana and Mesa. We even thought of going to Casa Verde. However, upon seeing the crispchon picture at Mesa, we didn't go any further. We had crispchon the first time we ate there and greatly enjoyed it. This time around we tried a different fare altogether and zeroed in on their inihaw sampler, 2-way laing and my seafood pasta. Except for the seafood pasta which wasn't the marinara I was expecting it to be, the inihaw sampler and laing were just delish! To go with the main dish, we had tinapa rice. The food was more than enough for 3 hungry boys. "Ah, we're sooo full", exclaimed our eldest when they were done. Ha! It's only 630pm, I told them. We're in the mall anyway. Go walk it off. :

With Gusto

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by Linnor  For snacks, I normally buy Jake KFC's Wow Steak or Jollibee's spaghetti, batchoy, burger steak or chicken. These food outlets are in the same building where my office is so it was rather convenient. Yesterday, after sleeping for 2 hours right in Jerry's office and perhaps getting tired of the usual fare, Jake wanted something different - tempura and rice. Off we went to Rai Rai Ken (not my favorite of Japanese restos) and gave Jake what he craved. I could only shake my head at the way he ate his rice and battered shrimps and almost drank the tempura sauce. He even wanted to eat a portion of my ramen! Hay... my boy is growing faster than I want him to. He'll be six in a month. :)

No Time

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by Linnor It totally slipped my mind. The time I remembered to check on Jake's preschool notebooks for assignment was past midnight! And guess what? The assignment was for them to bring to school a home-made clock. Instinctively I ran a list of materials in my head that would be needed to make the clock. Paper plate, marker, scissors and bolt and nut. Ever the procrastinator, I decided to sleep instead of do the project. Can you believe it? It was way past midnight after all! So by 530am, I was like a headless chicken running about gathering the things I needed. Thankfully, after completing the clock at 615am, Jake said: "Ma, that's nicer than what other Mamas made." Hehe. What do you think?

Now Showing

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by Linnor After dinner, Jerry took the kids and I to La Marea for dessert. Elder boys had brownie cups while I had a small cup of brewed coffee and half a blueberry muffin. We sat there just enjoying the dessert and each other's company. Jake watched Ice Age 3 while eating the other half of my muffin and Jerry's ice cream. Hehe. And the whole time his eyes were fixed on Sloth. I love relaxed moments like this.

Three's Company

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by Junnie It is peaceful and quiet now. Had it been this time 3 weeks ago, we'd probably hear incessant dogs barking as if not able to eat for days, the roaring sound of airplane every 10 minutes and maybe an animated discussion between my Mom-in-law and Tita Lola discussing things in the dining table. It was always filled with sound and a lot of energy. And from the recollection of my mom when we had an hour's call for the first time in 2 weeks, it was never the same after we left. Meals were quiet now. There were no pitter patter sound of footsteps running around the marbled floor nor the ruckus of flying plastic bricks from the play room to the living room. Yes, we left the Philippines last January 20, arrived in Canada on the same day. Thus, this day became the longest day of our life as a family. Settling down, a week has passed, I could barely recall how our lives would have been different had the lil master of the house wasn't here with us. Now our routi