Darla Turns Three!

Last year, Darla's birthday fell on a Maundy Thursday and she didn't have any party. This year, we made up for that and threw her a Jollibee party last April 7 at the Antipolo Capitol branch. Like probably every kid I know, Darla loves Jollibee, so we knew that this is one party she'll truly enjoy.

 

 

I woud have settled for the Jollitown theme they offered, but if you know me, you would have guessed that I didn't stop at that. I had to have my own theme. Since Darla is fond of crayons and identifying the colors, we decided to have a crayon-themed party. The theme was incorporated in the cake, the party giveaways, game prizes, table centerpieces and the candy buffet. Click here for more details on the Crayon Party.

 

I wanted a special highlight for the party so I thought of having a candy buffet. Initially, I thought of getting a supplier for this one but I ended up with a DIY candy buffet. Luckily, one of Darla's godmother let me borrow her candy jars, so the cost for the entire set-up was minimized.

 

We had a small party with around 60 guests, composed of close family and friends as well as Dana and Darla's friends from school. At the end of the day, no matter how big or small a party is, the important thing is that everybody enjoyed. As always, I am thankful for everyone who attended the party. Having people dedicate their time to go to our parties makes all the effort really worth it.

 

The Dana and Darla Show episode 1

Eksena kaninang umaga sa kwarto nina Dana at Darla...

 Darla was getting dressed for school while Dana was reading one of her storybooks.

Dana: Snow White... and the... Seven Dwarfs! Mommy, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!
Darla: No, ate!!! No Snow! No Snow!
Dana: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! That's what it says!
Darla: No! No Snow! No Snow! Mommy... si Ate!
Me: I think Darla doesn't want you to read.
Dana: Maybe, I should just go outside to read.
(So, she stepped out of the room and, in a very loud voice, she reads....)
Dana: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS!!!
Darla: NO!!! Mommy, SI ATE!!!

 Tsk! Isang malakas mang-asar at isang madaling maasar.

The One

Too often people think of me as a "difficult" person. I think the words people usually use to describe me are suplada, masungit, mataray and matapang. My mom often scolded me and would always say, "hindi ka maliligawan niyan". On the other hand, I thought, if a man would try to win my heart and see beyond that tough facade, then he would be "the one".

A few weeks before our college graduation, I found that man... the brave one, the one destined to be my partner for life.

Fourteen years ago, I found him and five years later, we got married. It has been both blissful and challenging 9 years. But I am thankful for every day that he is beside me.

So, to my husband, the father of my children, my partner, my best friend... thank you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making me a wife and a mother. Thank you for your patience and thank you for supporting my dreams. I may not always show it but I love you so much. You have given me more happiness than I could imagine. I know it's not always easy to love me, but somehow, you always manage to. I will be forever thankful for having you as my partner in life.

Late Post 1: United Nations Day

A few days after the Linggo ng Wika, Dana and Darla's school celebrated another event, the United Nations Day. The kids were required to wear the national costumes of the countries they represent and they have to bring the countries' flags as well.

Darla was too small for the ready-to-wear costumes at the mall. Luckily, my cousin gave us a Chinese costume that her daughter wore when she was still a toddler. It fits Darla perfectly, so, even though she doesn't look like a Chinese girl, she dressed up as one.

From her costume, you would probably assume that Dana is representing Hawaii. Wrong! She is Ms. French Polynesia! Why French Polynesia? Well, because their flag is easier to make. The national costume for French Polynesia is very similar to Hawaii though.

Aside from the parade, each of the classes had dance numbers. It was fun seeing my girls perform on stage, most especially Darla, as her confidence grows with every school activity that comes.

Back from Hiatus / Multiply No More

I haven't been blogging for months. So many things happened at work that prevented me from writing. Anyway, I am back and I will be blogging as often as I could.

We finished another schoolyear and Dana and Darla is about to start a new one in a few weeks. Until then, I shall write about their various school activities that I was not able to write about for more than 6 months.

I used to write my blogs through Multiply. When I discovered Multiply, I decided it was a better networking site than Friendster. So, I transferred all my stuff there. The interface was much easier, photo sharing is a breeze and what I love about it the most is that your site is more customizable than other blogging and networking sites.

Last December, Multiply announced that its networking function will cease operations and will function as a marketplace instead. It advised all personal users to transfer their entries to blogger.com and other blogging sites. The move was quite disappointing for someone like me who's an active member. Imagine, it's where I share my daughters' monthly developmental milestones. Sadly, we had no choice.

Then, just last week, Multiply made another announcement, that it will close altogether, including the marketplace function on May 6, 2013. It was not able to sustain its current format mainly because the buyers at the marketplace used to be all Multiply account owners. Since they closed the personal multiply sites, people stopped shopping from Multiply sellers. One by one, the sellers transferred to Facebook because the buyers are there.

Anyway, like Friendster, Multiply will now soon be a thing of the past. Now I can't help but wonder whether blogsites like this one would suffer the same fate. I hope not.