POP by Retail Lab & SURCO

Saw this on my newsfeed tonight: "Watch out for the opening of Pop by Retail Lab on August 1!💕 @ilovesurco's latest collection will also be released on the same day! Located at the Ground floor, Powerplant Mall, across Starbucks. See you there!!!" #POPbyRetailLab #ShopRetailLab #Surco 

#wearsurco #ilovesurco

I really love this brand not only because I know the wonderful lady behind it, but because I've also been a client for almost half a decade now!

SURCO has been with me from my single years..and through important milestones in my life like my engagement, wedding, pregnancy, breastfeeding and beyond... :)

wow!! 

Sharing with you some pictures of me in different SURCO pieces, both retail & made to order couture..

This is a lovely breastfeeding dress specially made to order. Isn't it sweet that Z gets her mini version too?!

In a made to order dress for my SIL's wedding. I was very ready to pop at that time.

And of course, my most favorite is my wedding gown, especially made by SURCO. Do check out their Wisteria Bridesmaids line too! :)

Book Stash and Chink +

Looky what I found! I've been cleaning our room (bit by bit) and saw these, again!! 

I've been reading Chinkee & Nove Tan's Happy Wife Happy Life book and am thoroughly enjoying all their practical advise. Their message is not just directed to wives or married couples..even single people will learn lots from it too. Well personally, I hope I was able to read this before saying I do! Would've saved me/us lots of questions :)

 

Really happy I found the rest of my stash. See, the DIY Money Kit needs to be unboxed too! Is this a sign? Yes! A sign to clean up more (who knows what else I'll find) and read more (oh the things we can learn). And the best is to always think positive despite the odds in life :)

P.S. Got these autographed books & money kit at a homeschool conference I attended last year. Looking forward to this year's event :)

Simple Pre-writing Activity for Toddlers

Our homeschool is pretty simple... sometimes we're done in 15 minutes 😊 Hey, I only have 1 student! 

But today she wanted to do more tracing sheets so I gladly obliged 👍🏻 

While we mainly use Letter of the Week/LOTW printables (which I printed and laminated to be used with our dry-erase markers) and some photocopied sheets (where legally permissible from books we purchased), I also felt it's important for her to be able to use actual books and practice pre-writing by tracing with other mediums like crayons and pencil. Glad I found something relatively inexpensive (pero parang mahal pa rin since it's just in black & white hahaha) in National Bookstore. So here we are using it some parts of the week: Readiness in Writing for Preschool -- Nursery level🖌 It's PHP 220.00 and already K to 12 Curriculum Compliant.

Simple activities like this make me appreciate homeschooling. Sometimes we think that something is so easy the kids can easily do it on their own but more often, we are reminded that (1) they are too young for an activity, so we don't push it until they are developmentally ready; (2) they still need a helping hand and someone to encourage them when needed. 

When we started with tracing I used to get frustrated that she didn't want to do it on her own or sometimes would even instruct me to be the one to do it instead!  I thought cuter printables or more crayons & markers would do it but, no..she'd just flit to another part of the room and play with another toy. This baffled me because she enjoys doodling and making stories out of it. However, when we introduced a little structure (i.e., tracing along the broken lines) she just didn't want to do it. 

I changed my approach by (1) not expecting her to do it by herself & (2) not expecting a perfect job if ever she does it on her own. We also added the singing part (to the tune of Leapfrog's Letter Factory) which she absolutely got onboard for! Oh, and this could very well reinforce color recognition for the littles. Really was a stark difference  and I felt she was happier doing the work. Me too! :)

So this is what flexibility (and adaptability) in homeschooling means. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us both in this journey that we may be productive, successful, happy and always have the love for learning. 

Love Love: Wipe-clean books & Dry-erase markers

Just a few weeks ago, we started our homeschooling activities for our 2.5 year old toddler. We have free-play & read alouds and of course some activities to help build her pre-writing skills too! 

But I noticed that she wasn't too confident nor comfortable yet with holding any writing material be it pen, pencil or crayon. We don't want to rush into it, given her age, so we just let it slide for the meantime. 

Good thing I remembered to update our pediatrician about it and she assured that we really shouldn't worry. She also advised that at this stage, it's better to just pique her curiosity and familiarity is good enough. She also reminded us to let her use the jumbo version of crayons and pencils. (And bigger things to trace too) And that should she wish to trace or doodle, to just let her..even if she's just grasping at the pen and not really holding it properly. At least she gets some pre-writing practice and it will self-correct (or at least we can intervene) in the future; this is of course, owing to the fact that she's not even preschool age and have not mastered hand muscle control yet.

So I've printed & laminated some tracing sheets which I downloaded from Letter of the Week (by Confessions of a Homeschooler). Sometimes she would want to trace on the broken lines, most days she just wants to doodle on the apple. And that's okay! :)

I'm really proud of her that at least, now she tries her hand in this activity instead of shunning it altogether & say, "Mommy, ikaw na lang mag-trace." Hehe..

I was really very happy with our DIY sorta tracing sheets but couldn't resist when I saw this very nice Usborne Wipe-Clean book on capital letters! It's cute, fun and in not so many pages, tells a story through quirky artwork how these monsters also want to learn their letters - straight, curvy or zigzag!

Just perfect to always grab before heading out together with our dry-erase markers! :)

Throwback: Sunday Fun Day at Nuvali (Treveia, Wakepark, Solenad)

Oh how I miss you guys! Just last year we were all so inseparable, but now (as the song goes) you're so many miles awaaaaayyy!!!

Sharing a video of a fun day we've had at Treveia in Nuvali. Simple joys...the good stuff of life. 

Hope to see you soon! :)

Video: Alternergy 54MW - Windmills of Pilillia, Rizal

From the seas and mountains of the Quezon province, we made a side-trip to the Windmills of Pilillia, Rizal. It reminded me so much of the Transformers, the first time I saw them. I don't know why but seeing them really makes me feel so proud that such progress is happening to this side of the country.

The traffic (both vehicles and people) was really massive during the time we came to visit - a Holy Week weekend but I feel it's worth it to see so we can learn more about the benefits to our society. If anything, the kids had a blast with their giant 'electric fans'.

I'm not sure to what extent they plan to develop the place. So far there was a small cafeteria, visitors' information center, a good number of Portalet cubicles and some street vendors for finger food and little knick-knack souvenirs.

I must say the view is amazing. If you watch thru the end of my video, you'll see a nice image of the sunset over (is it?) Laguna de Bay...I'm not too sure. 

Some reminders:

• As of our last visit, entrance and parking were both FREE
• If you are allergic to dust, make sure to bring a mask / bandanna / hanky or anything to cover your nose with. Dirt road + windmills = not a good combination for your allergy
• If you have a baby carrier, don't leave it in the car like we did..
• There are small/low hills in the vicinity. Make sure your senior citizen companions are cared for because it might be too steep for them already