Can't wait for Christmas!

Christmas is only less than 60 days and we're actually getting excited already. Why not? Two of my siblings together with their families will be coming from overseas to spend their holidays here. It only means that we'll have a grand family reunion and hope God will permit that to happen.

We'll be planning on doing some fun activities and tour and we're praying we'll all have the best of health in those days. Actually, my mom is also trying to prepare all the rooms that my sisters and family will use. Mom is busy repairing some of the beds, buying stuff for the house and figuring out some more ways to make the rooms more spacious for we intend of letting them stay at the house when they arrive to spare them from staying at the hotel. It will also make us bond well since we'll be staying in 2 houses so we're all close to each other.

Mom bought a new electric fan and will have the other broken one repaired. I accidentally browsed reidsupply.com and it reminds me that mom still needs some supplies for the repair of the roof. I know she'll ask me to help her on that one so she can buy some stuff that our helper can use.

I also saw the Christmas decors in the storage room just this afternoon and probably around middle of November or earlier than that, we can already decorate.

What about you? Are you excited for Christmas to arrive soon?

Blessed at 81

Nothing is more wonderful in this life when you see your mom celebrates her 81st birthday. My mom feel so blessed to have reached her age. Each day is a blessing and new beginning for her and we are always thankful for that.

Mom is quite healthy eventhough she has hypertension, which is I reckon is normal in old age. She's just taking her daily med for her high blood pressure and thankfully it's been controlled. Though she also has some stones in her gallbladder she's not feeling any pain for a long time now. We're praying that those stones will normally go away or melt with the grace of God. She's not keen o having it removed for she fear the surgery might weaken her.

She's enjoying her seniors years right now, going shopping or window shopping esp. this month since it's her birthday. She LOVES all kinds of fruits and veggies that's why I guess she's healthy and look young for her age.

I'm praying and wishing for my mom's good health and may she continue to be blessed by God. A very generous, handy woman (as we call her too), giving even to others, caring and loving to all of us.

Happy birthday mom!!! Praying for more candles to blow!

Mom celebrated her 81st birthday on October 18th.

Five Places to Look for Home Design Inspiration

Designing your own home can be fantastic. You’re free to decide on everything – from the colours of the walls to the tiniest details imaginable. For a creative person, this is the ideal way to design a home. The do-it-yourself route provides a blank canvas – just waiting for ideas. Sometimes, however, the depth of inspiration needed can be overwhelming. You find yourself at a loss, with absolutely no idea where to start. Well, there are some wonderful places where you can find inspiration for your home.

Have a look, and see if any of these five places do it for you.

Take a Drive:

One of the best ways to get an idea of what you want in your new home is to go for a drive somewhere. Have a look on the map, and find some nice countryside nearby. It’s best to escape the city if possible, as the countryside will generally provide you with a broader range of houses to look at. Take a camera with you, and take some quick snaps of any houses you like. This way you can go back to them later. You can even mix and match qualities of the different houses you liked.

Look at Some Blogs:

There are blogs for everything nowadays, and this includes designing your own home. Have a thorough search – don’t just stick to the first few result on Google. Do your research into blogs, and you may find some that surprise you. Many people have themed their blogs around home design, and will provide you with ideas, as well as some handy tips they have learned along the way. Don’t shy away from looking online for inspiration, maybe an example like Coral Homes is what you’re looking for.

Catalogues:

You may be hoping to steer clear of the traditional home design catalogues, but keep in mind that they are there to inspire you. You may flick through without the slightest intention of purchasing anything, but find something in the way that the rooms are built, or the colour of the walls. Yes, the internet provides a much larger range of material, but don’t forget about the catalogues. Your perfect house will be inspired by a combination of different sources.

Friends and Family:

Next time you’re visiting family and friends, pay close attention to the design of their homes. Chances are that there are aspects of the house you didn’t pick up before. And only now, when you are looking for inspiration to design your own home, will they really stand out.

Television:

There are some wonderful shows on television that can inspire your home design – think Escape to the Country. But it’s not necessarily a matter of watching more television, just paying closer attention when you do. Use it as a way of researching different homes. You will see several different styles, modern, Victorian and so on. Don’t overthink it when trying to find sources of inspiration for your home. The chances are that the material is all there, and you have yet to notice it. Pay closer attention the homes that you visit and see in magazines and catalogues. For more information about designing your own home visit Coral Homes Australia.

Videoke Singing

From time-to-time, I get to see my young niece singing while she was playing with her dolls and my little pony toys. I am positive that it gives her much joy when she sings while she plays and it only shows that she is enjoying her play time. There are also some time when she opens their DVD to sing the videoke and it was funny because she keeps on singing the same song all the time that I had to tell her to pick another song. lol.

Every Christmas or New Year, we see to it that we have a videoke machine so we can sing while we wait for the new year to come or just to have fun during Christmas time. It never fails to give us joy when we get to sing as a family.

I can still remember one New Year's eve when all of my nieces and nephews got so rowdy in a funny way because they are singing a rock song. I was laughing heavily and non-stop while taking a video of them.

New Year's Eve videoke night

This year, we're still planning to rent a videoke machine maybe on New Year celebration for I know my family loves to sing.

We Got our Flu Shot (Influenza Vaccine)

This year we availed again the discounted flu vaccine shots offered by Mercury Drug Store, the leading drug store in the country. Since the flu season is here again, it's better safe to be safe than to get sick especially the kids and my mom.

So one morning, we rushed to the nearby Mercury where they are having this offer and we're amazed at how many people lined up to get their as well. We only paid  Php 495/each kids/adult while my mom paid P396 because she's a senior citizen already.

Some doctors are charging P800-1,000 per shot so we clearly got a good discount. It was in May last year when we had our flu shot and thankfully, no one got sick the whole year. This flu vaccine is a good protection for us from Influenza.

Side effects of flu vaccine:
~mild ache on the injected area for 1-2 days (bearable ache) - parang nangangalay lang
~swelling, soreness or redness of the area. Just give a hot compress on this.
~doctors say the there is really minimal side effects.

Flu is a respiratory viral infection that can affect our respiratory organ (lungs) that can be spread from one person to another. Symptoms can include high fever, body aches and respiratory problem.  

Look, my niece is afraid eventhough she experienced getting this last year. To appease her she kept holding on to her mom with face covered hehe.

Did you get your flu vaccine this year? If not, try to get one every year!

The Importance of Family Dinner

Nothing beats a family that eats together at home for dinner. It may seem impossible to do on some homes especially when they have busy work schedules or when they simply don't like to be around together, which is so sad to hear. I reckon no matter how busy you are, every family should have a family dinner night as much as possible.

Eating together at your dinning table can be a good time for all of you to talk about family matters, work or school matters. Families can bond together sharing stories either good or bad and asking each of one how their day went and if they have some concerns over something.

While having dinner, avoid distractions like using your phone (calls, texting or playing), reading etc. Have real conversations with your family. Converse, laugh together and savor the foods that are served. In our family, it's always a must to eat together all the time except for instances where one family member can't make it on time.

Dinners can be spent more joyfully when every member of your family is present. Nothing is more delightful when home cooked meals are served on the table for you can veer away from eating greasy take-home meals.

Aside from nutritious and savory dishes that we can prepare at home, family dinners will be more comfortable when you have comfy chairs. Thanks to cushions where we can use them on our chairs and it's good to note that in Medieval days they are already using these cushions. We can also be thankful to Charles Darwin for inventing chairs with wheels, now, I don't have a hard time using my pc chair as well.



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Anyway, I just hope your family are eating dinner together just like what we are doing in our family. Family dinners are one of the many ways to nurture your family's connection, keep the love and respect alive in your home.

Christmas Countdown

Wow it's October now!! I'm actually getting more and more excited for Christmas this year!

Why not?

Aside from being the the most wonderful time of the year, 2 of my sibling together with their families are coming home for their Holiday vacation. Isn't that wonderful? This year would be a grand reunion for our family and I am praying that the mighty God gives us all good health so that we can celebrate or family reunion this year.

As you can see I already installed a Christmas countdown clock on my sidebar. I usually do that every year since I started this blog. It makes me and my readers more excited for the coming holidays. I'm pretty sure that Filipinos are always excited and prepared for Christmas because almost all shops are already selling Christmas decors and stuff.

Soon, I'll be writing my Christmas shopping list for I intend of buying my gifts early this year. Actually, I'm planning to shop for some gifts this month to avoid the rush.

What about you, are you excited for Christmas already?