For the love of books, and not wanting to miss the great selection of books at amazing discounts, we made a last minute decision to go to this year’s Big Bad Wolf Book Sale (#BBWManila) at The World Trade Center in Pasay City. Our kids were more than thrilled and jumped for joy, literally, when my husband and I told them to dress up and get ready for Big Bad Wolf. We left at 12:30am, Sunday, and was inside the BBW Manila premises at 1:30am. As a safety precaution from the NCov, all of us were wearing masks, jackets, and pants. It’s a good thing that the BBW team were taking safety measures, too. At the entrance of the building, the security group, checked the body temperature and sprayed the hands (with alcohol) before allowing people to enter the halls.

Ever since I was a kid, I delight in reading. I took pleasure in perusing hand-me-down textbooks from my cousins; reading the Youngblood section of The Inquirer; and would get giddy with the non-school related books that my parents would occasionally buy for us.

I am so glad to be married to a man who loves reading, too! Though, we have different reading styles — he would jump straight to the parts that interests him while I am more likely to savor every page of the book, even taking the time to read the copyright and dedication pages. Lately, I have adopted his method to prioritize on the sections with content that I need to have a grasp on and speed up reading on the many books that I am currently reading.

I remember that when I was in Grade 1, we were told to write and draw about what we want to be when we grow up. While my classmates were drawing and writing about becoming a doctor, a nurse, and a teacher, I wrote about becoming a businesswoman.

Growing up, I helped out in selling food and beauty products. I also worked as a sales associate for an IT company. I also had a stint with some networking organizations but didn’t last long. I have realized that if I were to get into business, it should be about something that I am really passionate about. I didn’t know it at that time. It took me a long time to find out.

After months of being postponed due to storms, the Dengue epidemic, and my husband’s schedule, we finally made it to Avilon Zoo last October 31 and we can say that it was all worth the wait and the long drive. It’s a family field trip, nature walk, up close animal encounters, and a 4-hour hike rolled into one. It’s our greatest family adventure to date! The zoo houses more animals than we expected — a mix of native-born animals and exotic wildlife.

I signed up my son for the Kids Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) Clinic facilitated by Coach Derick Urbano and his daughter, Jersey Urbano at Decathlon Alabang yesterday, November 10. It was a first for my kid to participate in a sports activity, and though it tested his stamina, we could tell that he had a good time. Even our little girl joined in during the briefing and warm-up exercises. My husband and I made the right decision to try this activity out. Both of our kids had fun! Check out the video below to get a glimpse of this amazing OCR training for kids.

We just got home from the 40th Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) and we’re so blessed to have bought the books that we wanted for our children! We got there at almost 12 noon and went straight to the second floor to where the booths that sell children’s books were located. We’re so glad we went there first because there’s no line at the registration area. We were supposed to have printouts of MIBF passes from National Bookstore’s FB page but I have taken it out of my bag by mistake before leaving home. It’s a good thing that the fee is minimal — Php35 regular rate and Php20 for students (my son’s student ID is always on my bag). My toddler got in for free.

The deal with being a stay-at-home mom (SAHMom), the ones who are helper-less (read: yaya-less AND maid-less), is that it gets really exhausting, and sometimes frustrating. I am one and I’m speaking from my very own experience. Seriously, SAHMoms need to have a mandatory weekly time off.

My kids and I were grumpy as if we all got up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. I was getting annoyed easily and my kids were being a bit whiny than usual. Also, the weather was gloomy. I didn’t want our day to be dismal as well. So, I told my son that we will finally make that cheesecake that we’ve been planning to do last time.

My husband came home tonight bearing gifts for our kids! He was able to dropped by at Ogalala World (in Ayala 30th) and found educational toys at amazing deals. He bought a National Geographic Kids Super 3D Puzzles for only Php300 that made our dinosaur enthusiast so happy that he opened  the box and and got started with the Archaeopteryx puzzle at once.

We had a great time watching The Lion King, a remake of one of Disney’s well-loved animated classics last Friday. It was a wonderful family milestone for us not only because (after a long time) we were able to watch at the cinema again but also, it was our youngest daughter’s first time to watch a movie at a theatre.