Headbands! When the kids came home from school we had a little photo shoot with their new headbands. So far these had been the fastest projects. I used the thicker yarns all by Red Heart. A simpler motif design too. 

Our Missoni-inspired (colors) headband. All in Larksfoot stitch. I have been getting my tutorials of different patterns via The Art of Crochet by Teresa. You can check her out! 
As you can see we have officially designated our laundry area wall as the backdrop of our crochet photoshoots hehehe... 
I made a similar headband, style and colors, for a friend in Florida...

So where do I begin? It had just been so crazy lately I have neglected both blogs! But now I'm here, yet again. ahihihi... Taking a little time off from new hobby. Months ago, I took on doing crochet with the inspiration of my photographer friend, Marmi. And now I seem to be working non-stop. Of course it is a non-profit thing for me. Allow me to share some of my projects for my little kids.
The headband. This had become very popular among my friends I believe I have made about 10 of them already, even shipped a couple to Manila for my niece. I love the headbands!!! So many possibilities! You can check out projects by Kristy Throndson here. 

The market bag. The girls wanted their bags to be of same exact color. We found the perfect pattern. It was so perfect we even copied the color combination... mommies, find everything here. 

I am still here. Had just been very very quiet the past month. Life offline demanded my undivided attention. 

It had been a frenzied month. School is still very new for my 2nd grader, new lessons, more complicated. 

It just got most complicated.

One Monday afternoon as I picked my 2nd grader up from school a close mom friend could only utter two words: Chicken Pox!

Several classmates have called in absent that Monday as they have suddenly been diagnosed with the disease over the weekend. Instinct was to take a peek inside my daughter's shirt.

 Well kiddo, looks like we're calling in sick for the next 14 days...

Unluckily, little girl has not been spared. But luckily, she has had her vaccine. Lesions are minimal. No fever or the slightest discomfort. Itchiness lasted less than day after I put on the calamine lotion. So glad it's pink, it helped cheered little girl up. And so drastic rearrangements had to be done around the household. Helpers, my 5-year-old and hubby take the master bedroom (but only after every sheet has been changed and every nook sprayed). While sick little girl and I took over the helpers' bedroom. Yep favorite pillows, blankets, toys and books were immediately transferred to its home for the next 2 weeks. I didnt want to risk the health of the helpers so I did everything from taking the meals up and down. Washing her etc etc. Except when I really needed to go out and work...

Work had been booked months before and I never want to back down from any commitment as they were also banking on the success of their event on my photography services. I am lucky to have very understanding and sensible children, as young as they are. 

Of course there is my 5-year-old. She may have been very sensible about the whole situation but yet I felt I have neglected her a bit the past week. Finally as the weekend came about I took her on a date. A buffet dinner date. We liked to call it our fancy shmancy hotel date. Ahihihihi...

I badly needed some drink after. She got her iced tea (we indulge her sometimes) and enjoyed our moment together immensely. We were just hugging and smooching the whole time.

 In the middle of it all hubby also needed to go on a weeklong business trip. 

Yet another assignment for me so you can imagine the frenzy in the whole household. Much as we want to do it all perfectly sometimes something just have to give. A mother can only stretch herself so much. We try hard to be there for our children 100%. But it is not always a bad thing if we come short of any expectation. Balance. When balance is impossible. Sometimes we also need the help of our children. Help them understand what has to be. Give your best.... But remember it is alright to have little compromises. Much as I would want to be with my children always as a stay at home mom, reality dictates I need to earn a living whenever I can...as long as nothing utterly major is compromised. 

Towards the 2nd week, I gave my little girl a shampoo and some pampering, salon style. She loved it! with the water bucket, big towels and a chair she felt like a princess. And princess-y is her curly locks after!!!

I am aware of some parents who are wary about vaccines. Well we are not. We make sure our children get their vaccines. As evidenced by the past weeks, a vaccine ( in this case the Varicella Vaccination) is not a guarantee one is 100% immune from the disease but it helps in preventing the deadly complications. My daughter's lesions were minimal. Itchiness was minimal. She did not have fever or dizziness or the irritability that results from all symptoms. In my opinion, the vaccine was worth sparing my child all that. 

Yes I am still afraid for my 5-year-old. She has not have had chicken pox yet. We have yet to see the coming days. We may have seen the rashes on my elder daughter the instant they appeared but it only meant she had been able to spread the virus already 48 hours prior. And who knows who she had been in contact with. 

Parents, we should consult a physician once we suspect our child has the symptoms. There is an incubation period ( the time our child has come in contact with an infected person and the time chicken pox is evident in our child) of 14 to 16 days. And before we send them back to school, having a physician giving them the clear signal would be best... for the good our own children and that of other people. 

For more information please visit : Center for Disease Control and Prevention

For some, 2012 school year has begun 4 days ago. In our household, it will all start on Wednesday (with Tuesday being a holiday). Believe it or we did our shopping for school supplies only yesterday. No, we didn't procrastinate. It's always been that way for us. We'd rather wait till the 'back to school' shopping frenzy subsides...and the 'back to school' sale kicks off. Ahihihi... 

20minutes tops. We did all. From the pencil to the covers. Don't get us wrong, by all means shop early if you want to or if time dictates. It's just us. Ahihii... besides we dont really buy everything on the list. We check off what we have from last school year that is still in good condition. For example that big big school bag. The scissors, name stickers...(we cut them from the old notebooks). I mean hey, names don't change. And we never put our addresses on the stickers anyway. For safety reasons. Believe me, in the event your kid's notebook gets lost outside the school, the mall or playground perhaps, you really wouldn't want the chances of a total stranger finding it, with your complete address on it! It's just a notebook and notes. We can always plea bargain with the school, ahihihi. So... off to school for the kiddos next week!!! 

Will surely miss the noise and wonderful mess at home during the days...

Our fave shopping bag for the school supplies. Everything fitted into the two bags. For P65 a piece, these bags surely goes a long way. I love see-thru shopping bags. 

Yes, today will be dedicated to covering all them books and notebooks. 

Thankfully, the kids' uniforms still fit. Apparently, the uniforms were a tad big for them last year. And yey! Little Miss Kindergarten 2 gets big sis' pair of black shoes this year. She's quite happy about that. 

Good luck everyone and enjoy the 2012 school year!!!

If you're in the Philippines and have a pre-schooler, I'm pretty sure you're as anxious as any parent about our adaption of the K12 educational system... Here's to all of us!!! It's going to be a great year for students and parents!!!

Hello mommies! Allow me to greet you a belated Happy Mother's Day. I sincerely hope you had a wonderful Sunday. 

Great timing for this year as we were able to book at the Shangri-la's Mactan Resorts & Spa for 2 days of pure relaxation. 

Some afternoon snacks and tv time...

Even the mermaids came along...

We pretty much let them gave them extra freedom (to some extent of course)

The 5-year-old's

The 8-year-old's

As you can see our days are very hot. Wide brimmed hats and a pair of sunglasses are important.

Don't forget the sunblock.

Happy Mother's Day to you lovely ladies!

Oh yeah! Summer is far from over in this side of the world. Have you been taking your liquids my friends? Luckily my kids have no problem in that area. Then there's the beach. It's a whole different ballgame this year. Advisories here and there about not staying too much under the unusually hot sun. Playtime on the sand will just have to be cut down. I know I know so we live in the tropics we should be used to it by now. Besides, being with Asian skin has its advantage when we talk about sun exposure. However, I still take heed to them advisories. Afterall, they are for the good of our children. This family loves the beach. But what to do with today's weather? 

I figured them cute hats and caps just wouldn't cut it this year for the kids. I had to resist them beautiful colors and prints. We bought the wide brimmed hats! Gotta protect them little shoulders and arms. It may not be the greatest answer to the heat but it helps in preventing sunburns.

Yes, I gotta admit, golden brown shades of little kids running around in neon colored outfits this color has gotta to be the coolest. But then again...Im pretty sure we're doing havoc to those delicate young skin of theirs. Regardless. And so we have better tolerance to the sun rays. In terms of diseases. But I'm thinking the future. It would be such a pity to glow on the sunkissed skin of my children if in 20 or 30 years from now they would be suffering from dry and prematurely wrinkled skin. 

Yes, it would be just as sad if they are not allowed to enjoy the sun. My take is, we just gotta to do projection. We stack up on them sunblocks. It doesn't need to be the expensive ones. Monitor the time the kids have been under the sun (protected or not). Hydrate. Use umbrellas or wide brimmed hats. 

Don't forget the lotion after taking that "after-the-beach/pool" shower. Moisturize. Help nature protect the young delicate skin.

The wide-brimmed hat not only protects the face and the shoulders but also our kids' crowning glory, their hair. 

So, no sense banning the beach or pool this summer (or any day of the year for that matter). Just protect the skin and hair.

Have fun everyone! Be safe.

 SUMMER!!!

You know what that means in this side of the world... vacations, beaches, pools and flipflops. Well, this summer in particular, the weather is urging us to include 1 more on that checklist. A wide brim hat. Although in my experience it sometimes just wouldn't cut it, you need a big umbrella.

We are fortunate that in the city we live in, the beach resorts are just approximately 30-45 minutes away.

Yesterday, hubby took a day off from work and promised the kids he'd take the whole household to a whole day of fun at the beach! And off to our 2nd resort for the week!

The beach is a haven indeed. But mommies we need to consider the weather these days. It's been scorching hot all over the country. In Cebu, we would be lucky if we get a little bit of rain in 2 weeks. Staying indoors is always the best option. Going to the mall randomly would be at the bottom of the list as it would mean unforeseen expenses. Ahihihihi...just sayin'.

Keeping cool at the beach is a breeze alright. If Mr. Sun doesn't get to you first! What to do? Hydrate! Cover up a bit and hydrate! We brought our big umbrellas (luckily we get some of those freebies the companies give away during December). Stacked on those sunblock (I'm careful of my kids' delicate skin and hair). I take advantage of the heat and would sometimes put a light coat of conditioner on their hair. Believe me they will thank you when they grow up. hahahaha!

No sense nipping their joys in swimming though. I let my kids be. Run wherever they want. Dive and swim as they please. But I'm quite strict in implementing my rules. They gotta come out from the sun once in awhile. Drink lots of liquids, rest in between and retouch on SPF's especially the most exposed parts (no matter how tedious this task maybe...).

Let them have their fun. We just gotta remember to do the basics. Lucky for us the resort had some trees for shade and the kids didnt mind playing there. Hydrate! Take some rest. Don't forget the lotion after sun exposure. We use an ordinary kid's lotion. Although sometimes I'd like to splurge on the more expensive ones. 

Have fun everyone!!!