FATHERHOOD ADVENTURES

More Blogging is Happening in Happy Parenting Journey

2011-04-10T05:09:00.001+08:00

As part of the plan to consolidate our blogging efforts, Parenting Journey is now Happy Parenting Journey by Papa Sez and Mama Sez.

To inform visitors, readers and followers of Fatherhood Adventures about the said intention, a notice below the banner of this blog is now in place to redirect traffic to more up-to-date contents about parenting and related issues written by Mama Sez and me.

Similar notices will be created in our other blogs once contents about happiness and travel start to pour in at Happy Parenting Journey.

So please check out our most recent posts by clicking on the above photo.

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Caring for that One Little Candle

2011-02-22T16:03:00.000+08:00

Dear Mama Sez,

The day started not as well as it could have and after reflecting on what happened, I would like to let you know how important your light is to our family.

I like the metaphor of you being the light for two reasons: (1) it is a Filipino concept that the mother is the light of a home or "ang ina ang ilaw ng tahanan" and (2) just like a candle melting away to bring light so others might see, you have sacrificed so much to take care of your family to the extent of losing yourself in the process.

While it is true that parenthood entails self-sacrifice for the sake of the children, it is also our duty as parents to take care of ourselves to be able to provide for them their needs- not only in terms of material needs, but more importantly emotional support that can only be provided when we're available for them to touch and to talk to.

This is in line with the P/PC balance we discussed during our coaching sessions, which also coincided with what I just read a couple of hours ago about a dying person reminding his wife that it's okay to take care of herself. I say, it's imperative that you start with yourself before me and our children. It's the same logic as in the instructions given when we ride an airplane. Before take off, we're told that in cases of emergency, we're to put the oxygen mask (and life vest) on ourselves first before doing it for the child. Because the child is less capable of helping an adult. And even as adults, we cannot extend help or serve others if we ourselves need rescuing. Indeed, one is able to give if he/she has something to offer.

Candle light by Alesa Dam

As for being a little candle, we would like you to light our home the longest time possible. So please don't burnout on us. We need you to be here with us so please burn sustainably. By taking care of yourself, you are taking care of us in the long term. Better yet, by taking care of each other, we're taking care of our family sustainably... because remember, we need to last for as long as it takes to accomplish our individual and family missions.

So yes we're little candles. But since we are the most important little candles to our children, let us give light all the way to the finish line when our missions are completed- that would be the right time our children would see our last flickers, and then our dying light would no longer be of much consequence as by then we would have successfully passed on the torch to the next generation.

Loving you,
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Wanting and Doing

2011-02-17T17:00:00.001+08:00

I know, I know, it's been ages since the last post and I've been terrible at keeping track of time. There's just so many things that I WANT DONE, and time is the one thing that we cannot keep, stop or extend, so I had to prioritize.

Actually, a decision has already been made a few months ago to consolidate our online writing efforts and most of you have been personally informed about that decision and to expect an invitation to move to Parenting Journey and follow us in Hubpages (as Mama Sez and Papa Sez) and Island Travel. The plan was to delete Daily Happiness Tips, WannaBeHappyNow, Daily Laughs, Happy Quotes Happy Images and Fatherhood Adventures. Late last year, our analysis points to the need to also focus on our strengths as professionals and so Insect Experts was launched.

But I am failing in some parts of the execution of that decision. It's really difficult to just delete what we've created (especially those that have also gathered some momentum and following). I am particularly attached to this blog as it was my very first attempt at online writing, so there's sentimental issues involved (naks!).

In this busy new year, Plan B has been cooked up to execute the decision to consolidate and focus. As it involves investments in time and money, it's been relegated to the back burner again.

Now, I should not promise when it's gonna happen but it must happen or we'll be constantly spread thinly without much success.

Therefore, my friends just hang on and bear with me for a little while longer. For the meantime, more blogging is happening in these sites:

By the way, you might have noticed the change in template of this blog. It's part of the baby steps towards consolidation and focus of our blogging efforts.

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Developing Patience Now :)

2010-12-24T18:03:00.002+08:00

As someone working to develop patience, here's my holiday wish to all of you in a form of a text message.

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Mama Sez Sustained Our Blogs and Hubs

2010-10-22T22:46:00.004+08:00

The last post in this blog declared an end to a quarter full of challenges to our family and posed a question as the new quarter began- "Will it be a quarter for writing and blogging?"

As I reviewed the past three months, I still can answer the above question in the affirmative mostly because of Mama Sez's writing and blogging that contributed majority of our combined efforts. Here's a rundown of her output in the past 110 days or so, starting with the latest:

Hubs for the Holiday Season
Gifts that Tickle Your Senses
Buy Christmas Decorations Online
Gift Ideas for Men: Buy Mens Leather Belts Online
Buy Halloween Costumes for Toddlers, Kids, Teenagers and Adults Online

Hubs in response to requests for information on infant care
Dos and Don’ts in Introducing Solid Food to your Baby
How to Successfully Switch Infant Formula Milk

A Hub in response to the alarming increase in Dengue Fever cases
Practical and Effective Ways to Treat Thrombocytopenia and to Prevent Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever

A tribute to her sister's 21st Birthday
Free Apprenticeship to Motherhood

As for me, I only published two articles in Hubpages: Top 5 Reasons Why Eating Insects is Better for Us and Globe WiMAX, Smart Bro, PLDT myDSL: Broadband Service Comparison. The latter received fairly good traffic as many people are looking for reliable internet service providers in the Philippines.

In Parenting Journey, of the 11 postings, eight were written by Mama Sez:

About the candidacy of my father-in-law for Barangay Chairmanship
Campaign Jingle with Lyrics
Barangay and SK Elections 2010

About the joys and challenges of caring for four kids
Moments
Every Child is a Blessing
LEVEL UP in Parentingville

About how proud she is with her kids' achievements
It's a Gold Medal for Leon!
Fashion- Don't You Wanna See Those Clothes on Me

About spreading information on a practical remedy for Dengue
Sharing Information about Dengue Herbal Medication

As for me, the three blogs were about my disappointment with PLDT's customer service or lack thereof, a tribute to the late Dr. Eliseo P. Cadapan, and fun dance exercise videos that Mama Sez and I occasionally use to fulfill the minimum requirements for health benefits.

In Island Travel, there were only five postings:

About living again in a typhoon-prone area
Typhoon Basyang Reminded Us about the Downside of Living in Laguna
Road Trips during the Typhoon Season in the Philippines

About a long-postponed trip to the far north
We're off to Central and Northern Luzon
Insect Adobo and Exotic Foods in Northern and Central Luzon

About the Banamos Festival
It's Banamos Festival here in Los Banos

Posted in our other blogsites are:
DAILY HAPPINESS TIP - Look Beyond the Dark Clouds
DAILY HAPPINESS TIP - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
DAILY HAPPINESS TIP - Put a Smile on a Sad Face
Happy Quote of the Day
Happy Image of the Day

I hope the writing and blogging continues this last quarter of the year. Our ten-year-old daughter seems to be interested in writing some articles and book reviews this semestral break.

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A Challenging Quarter Ends

2010-07-01T13:54:00.004+08:00

I can't believe that the second quarter of 2010 is gone. The first quarter ended in a frenzy as the family embarked on our island travel adventure with an early good start. However, plans got off-tracked when we encountered a bump in the road, literally and figuratively speaking, on the first day of the second quarter.

Not a good start and as Mama Sez pointed out, we better listen and open our eyes as there's an important message in this incident that we cannot afford to ignore.

The month of April went by with us dealing with the consequences of the accident as well as trying to keep the kids and ourselves occupied with summer activities that did not involve long travel. Indeed the kids got to spend more time with the relatives in Laguna and got to do summer stuff as well. Blogging activities slowed down to almost a complete halt but we managed to published these:

UPLB Museum of Natural History and IRRI Rice World

Papa’s 73rd Birthday Celebration, a belated post on an event that happened before we left Davao City.

DAILY HAPPINESS TIP #68- Keep Your Word, which reflects my exasperation in our dealings with parties involved in the accident.

Happy Quotes Happy Images and Daily Laughs continued to post as scheduled. But it was zero posting in Parenting Journey and Hubpages.com. Our circumstances really did not allow us to sit down and do any writing.

The month of May found us walking our talks about keeping one's word as we went on with the awarding of prizes to the winners of our promos/contests despite the interruption of our travel plans. In the final days into the 2010 National Elections, I decided to go public with my preferences for certain candidates for the national posts primarily on the issue of trust, and exhorting readers to go out and exercise their right and duty to vote.

The decision to stay in Los Banos, Laguna was also finalized in May brought about by developments that opened up as we interacted more with relatives and friends in the area. So blog posts In Island Travel became more about what's happening in Los Banos as the month of June arrived:

The First Rain

Top Five Signs that the Rainy Season is Here in Los Banos, Laguna

An Extended Vacation

These were later followed by features on the Romualdez Museum as we start to write about our summer travel, and a post about southern bias of certain travelers.

The month of June, of course, saw articles/blogs about school (School has Began, School Bag Designs and Style Trends, Is a Trolley Bag Really Necessary for School? and Fear of Failure), Father's Day (Fatherhood is a Blessing), and change as President Noynoy Aquino takes the country's top leadership position (Inertia and Change in a New Philippines and Taking Small Steps towards Change).

The second quarter was challenging not only because of the disruption to our original plan and the stretch it demanded of our impatient selves, but more so because of the decisions that had to be made and immediately implemented. Change always brings discomfort as new situations had to be dealt with, particularly the unexpected ones. But we look at the second quarter as a necessary phase, a transition to better quarters that we can look forward to down the road.

Today, a new quarter begins. Will it be a quarter for writing and blogging? We'll soon find out.

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Papa’s 73rd Birthday Celebration

2010-04-17T11:09:00.002+08:00

These photos were taken on 20 March 2010 in our residence in Davao City. My father’s 73rd birthday was on 21 March 2010, the same day we kicked off our island travel. Because we were traveling separately, we celebrated his birthday a day earlier.

The best part was an unexpected visitor came by that day. We received a call from my father’s old house informing us about Uncle Lope from Houston, Texas waiting at the gates. It was a pleasant phone conversation reintroducing ourselves and to make arrangements to see each other, especially my father that day. It’s been many years since we saw each other and I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t remember the last time.

My father did not recognize him at first when he casually came up to his chair in a barbershop to start a conversation. My father was indeed very happy to see him and readily agreed to go with him while the rest of us went to buy pasalubong and do our last-minute preparations for the road trip the next day.

Kinilaw (raw fish in vinegar), lechon manok (roast chicken) and fish with vegetable soup were the main entrees for dinner, which was made more interesting by a power interruption about halfway through it. The candlelight birthday party was capped with chocolate cake for dessert and non-alcoholic sparkling wine for the toast.

As we’ve been occupied by our island travel adventure since then, stories like these were relegated to our ‘to-do later’ list. One good thing about being grounded in Laguna these days because of a vehicular accident in Quezon early this month is that we can now revisit this list and attempt to resume writing. It’s also time to email Uncle Lope and remind him about our blogs…better late than never.

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We're Taking a Break with a 60-day Island Travel Adventure

2010-03-16T09:00:00.095+08:00

In less than five days, our whole family will be off to a 60-day Island Travel Adventure--a road trip to see the whole Philippines!

Therefore, to put things in order, I would just like to point out that most of our blogging and updates during this 60-day period will be posted in our travel blog-- Island Travel. However, you can see/follow our latest tweets in the box labeled "Island Travel Tweets" at the sidebar, together with the Island Travel contest banner that you can click on to bring you to our travel blog.

As much as we'd like to regularly update you here at Fatherhood Adventures, we have to be more realistic in our commitments. So please bear with us. And instead, let's just enjoy the Island Travel Adventure together. Some of these limited blogging time/efforts during this summer break will also go to our other blogs, namely: Parenting Journey, Daily Happiness Tips, Daily Laughs and Happy Quotes Happy Images. Mama Sez and Papa Sez on Hubpages would also slow down a bit.

Here's to FUN in the SUN this summer...CHEERS!

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Weekly Highlights 4

2010-03-14T18:21:00.006+08:00

Even though we only have a few days to go to prepare for our Island Travel Adventure, we still continued with our blogging activities, perhaps knowing that some of our blogs might have a reduction in posting frequency when we're on the road for 60 days.

Three of the four posts in Island Travel were about our activities in Davao City: Friends Swarm to Davao City, Fruits In Time for Araw ng Dabaw and Crab Buffet Treat. Expect to be reading more about Davao City this week as the city celebrates its 73rd Charter Anniversary, popularly known as Araw ng Dabaw. The fourth post is a travel resource for travelers to Surigao del Norte where contact information of tourism-related local government offices were posted.

Two of the three posts in Parenting Journey were about our seven-year-old son. Mama Sez blogged about how proud we were about his excellent Show and Tell performance that his own teacher (Mr. Michael) confirmed under the comment section. I voiced my concern about the kids' interest on Manny Villar and the impact of his advertising/propaganda blitz on the Filipino children and parents alike. The final post during the week that was is the fourth article on the series on discipline methods, where Mama Sez discussed prevention and tolerance.

As for Fatherhood Adventures, the past week's posts have all been on contests: A Contest Post for a Friend and the contest's major sponsors; and YouSayToo's campaign to support relief efforts in Haiti.

For Hubpages, Mama Sez published about what's hot this summer in fashion trends for swimwear.

The Happiness Blogs posted the following:

Find an Alone Time (Daily Happiness Tips)
Bad Trees (funny cartoon)
Brother-in-Law (funny joke)
Gossip (funny picture)
Hilarious Pictures at the Right Moment (funny video)
Happy Images of the Day

Happy Quotes of the Day

"If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the universe, consider it well, and you will see that it is true." -Wallace Wattles

"Those who thank God much are the truly wealthy. So our inner happiness depends not on what we experience but on the degree of our gratitude to God, whatever the experience." -Albert Schweitzer

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We're In This Together

2010-03-12T08:00:00.007+08:00

ATTENTION BLOGGERS!

Here's your chance to contribute to a humanitarian cause and get all benefits at the same time.

First...
SUPPORT RELIEF EFFORTS IN HAITI and EARN A CHANCE TO WIN CASH PRIZES by PARTICIPATING IN THE YOUSAYTOO SOCIAL BOOKMARKING CHALLENGE FROM MARCH 8 – MARCH 22

While helping Haiti, you also have a chance to win prizes!

How? You just need to tweet, buzz or share YouSayToo's post about this contest. When you’ve specified the URL of the bookmarked page, you will be assigned a number on the Awards page. These numbers will be used by a random numbers machine to select the winners from each bookmarking service: one Twitter winner, one FaceBook winner, one Yahoo Buzz winner.

What is the prize?

$100 Twitter winner
$100 Facebook winner
$100 Yahoo Buzz winner

Prizes will be sent via PayPal.

Second...
Unite to donate $30,000.

You can also support the effort by adding your blogs at YouSayToo. All AdSense revenue including YouSayToo’s share generated by your added blogs will be donated to Haiti. Plus for every blog you add to support Haiti, YouSayToo will donate $1.

Every single dollar is important for the people of Haiti.

C'mon join the campaign because when you come to think of it, we're all in this together.

YouSayToo is an ad revenue sharing program that also supports charities around the world.

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Major Sponsors of Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary Contest

2010-03-11T09:20:00.000+08:00

Below are the four MAJOR sponsors of Kaye and Pehpot's Blogversary contest:

I Am Buraot
A blog about politics, the environment, religion, philanthropy, and everything else that is life. Author is known for his generosity in sponsoring contests. The home of the famous EntreDropper.

Anak Ni Kulapo
Yet another blog of Buraot. If you want to die laughing, then go visit Anak Ni Kulapo. His life in the US and hilarious stuff about his home country are only two of the must-sees in this blog.

Seiko's Diary
The blog title says it all. This is Seiko's journal about being a mom to her five gorgeous kiddos, her take on life in general, and random musings of a woman who loves life.

Mom Conversations
A new blog about everything concerning mothers: pregnancy, health and fitness and babies are the current categories, under which are detailed articles containing tips and valuable information for moms everywhere.

Please drop by these blogs if you have the time and see why they are worthy of a special mention. :)

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A Contest Post for a Friend

2010-03-11T09:10:00.001+08:00

Being relatively new to online activities, I got help from a friend at YouSayToo in deciding to go with Adgitize for advertising. She has joined this contest and I am supporting her win. So for my readers/visitors who are bloggers, please help me support her by going to her site and join the contest through her referral. It's quite easy to join, just look at this post and the next one...most of it are given as codes to copy and paste.

Thanks for your support.

Level 1 Sponsors:

I Am Buraot : Anak Ni Kulapo : Seiko's Diary : Mom Conversations

Level 2 Sponsors:

Brisbane Australia : The Latest Buzz : 113Tidbits - Social Feeds And Daring Commentary : Thoughts And Obsessions : Just About Anything : Blog Appetite : Home Buddies
Level 3 Sponsors:

His Unfailing Love : My Memories and Crystals : Bacolod and Beyond Journey

Azumi : Fab Momma : Mara's Personal Bubble : Mara's Appetite : The Pinay Blogger @ Home : Diva Fabulosa : Best vacation Places : Momma Wannabee : Advising Writers :United World Poets : A Mom's Life and Loves : Travelin' With Marie : Happy Thoughts : Stalking Mind : Living Life To The Fullest : Online Mommy's Corner : Her And History : Careless Whisper : In My Psyche : My Quality Day : Just Throw Money : My Journey To Life : Cotton Candy Buzz : The Mommy Journey : Super Gulaman : Pen, Paper and Pan : Niko's Blog : Lover's Mushroom : Yena's World : Girls Rule! : Trendy And Heartily Yours : Husband of A Blogger : Glitter Page : Here Comes The Bride : Heart Random : Novice On Blogging (Noob) : At Home Here : Sexy Blogging : My Camerasexy : Dishes By Pehpot : Wonder Wifey : Coffee, Anyone? : Clarisse After Dark : Jena Isle's Random Thoughts : Where The Moon Shines : Crossroads.. Where Ideas Meet : Simple Pero Rock : it's not always about me... : Pinay Mommy Online : How I Earn Money Online :
A Woman Remembers : Beng's Entertainment Spree : My Thoughts, My Heart, My Turf : Yashiro : The Blogger Hub : Embrace Life

Red, this one is for you. Cheers!

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Weekly Highlights 3

2010-03-07T21:00:00.006+08:00

This week marked the start of the hectic month of March. Hectic in that Mama Sez and I had to take care of lots of stuff before our Island Travel Adventure.

These are elaborated in the first post of our travel blog and another post that announced a revision of our kick off schedule. Calls to Surigao del Norte is a post about my coordination activities for the first two days of the 60-day road trip. A shoutbox to facilitate interaction with visitors/readers was also added this week in the travel blog.

An achievement this week that I am proud of is the release of a promotional video in youtube that also announces a contest to share the video and get a chance to win MDPlus Golden Shield with SPF50. Check out the said video below:

Related to Island Travel is a launch of Pinay Beauty Care featuring MDPlus Products. Highlighted first is MDPlus Golden Shield with SPF50.

Mama Sez posted a popular article on how to prepare healthy school lunches. The third article for the discipline methods series was published on Friday as scheduled. This time the topic is on time-out and reverse time-out.

I posted a timely note about bucket filling and bucket dipping. Before adjusting the countdown widget placed in Parenting Journey, I offered an explanation for the changes.

Mama Sez published two articles at HubPages:

For the Happiness blogs, here's a list of postings:

Happy Quotes:

"Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"I hope life treats you kind; And I hope you have all you've dreamed of; And I wish to you, joy and happiness; But above all this, I wish you love." -Dolly Parton (I Will Always Love You)

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Island Travel's Blog It Contest

2010-03-06T11:31:00.002+08:00

Hey Bloggers! Wanna earn easy money doing what you do best?...Blog It!

In Island Travel, you'll have a chance to win $5 in a raffle and/or $5 for having the best blog promoting any of their kick off contests.

Easy, isn't it?

Just click on this link or the icon above and grab an icon code promoting one of the three kick off promo contests. Embed it in your blog post and write anything to attract your readers to join the contests. The full explanation is found in the site you link to so you don't have to worry about explaining details to your readers.

You can have more chances to win! How? Blog the three contests separately. If you more than one blog, you may post announcements about these contests separately in these blogs and earn additional raffle entries. When you're done, just email the link to islandtravelphilippines[at]gmail.com so your entries can be validated.

So blog right away. Join the other contests as well! The more you join, the better your chances of winning!

Sample blog posts promoting Guess Where We Are Challenge and Blog It Contest were provided by Island Travel. So now you know how easy it is!

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Weekly Highlights 2

2010-02-28T08:00:00.009+08:00

The week just breezed through and another month is almost over. So I will also report on our statistics for the month of February in a separate post.

In Parenting Journey, Rica Emmanuele posted her first book report online- Island of the Blue Dolphins: A Review. She has written a couple of book reports for school but we thought it would encourage her to read and write more if she finds her work online. Indeed, she was very excited and plans to submit to us another report for posting online this coming week.

Mama Sez also followed through with her commitment to post the second article for the series on discipline methods with Discipline Methods: Merits and Demerits last Friday. She also recounted certain challenges, that are at the same time blessings, of parenting in Looking on the Bright Side of Life and Hair Cut at Mama Sez's Hair Salon. A short blog on Countdown Adjustment was posted to explain the change we had to make on the countdown widget.

In Fatherhood Adventures, after the Review of Our Popular Pages and Weekly Highlights 1, there were only two posts: on promoting the Island Travel Guess Where We Are Contest and celebrating Mama Sez's latest feat at HubPages.

At HubPages, Mama Sez has published four hubs:

In trying to come up with details of our plans for Island Travel: Our Summer Family Vacation, we posted our decision to proceed with the road trip but Lolo will have to fly to Manila, a wish to visit Sohoton Cove in Siargao, Surigao del Norte, and a desire to have at least one camping out during our sixty-day travel.

For the happiness blogs, here are last week's:

HAPPY IMAGES:

HAPPY QUOTES:

"Love, you know, seeks to make happy rather than to be happy." -Ralph Connor

"Only when it is a duty to love, only then is love eternally and happily secured against despair." -Kierkegaard

"Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness." -Bertrand Russell

DAILY LAUGHS:

Half Price (funny picture)
Outsourced (funny cartoon)
Blessed Day (funny video)
The Cruise (funny joke)
Photos Taken at the Right Angle (funny video)

DAILY HAPPINESS TIPS:

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Mama Sez Scored a 91 at HubPages

2010-02-24T18:48:00.002+08:00

At last, after a few weeks of trying, Mama Sez broke the 90 mark today in her hubber score! This figure is between 0 and 100 and represents the overall quality of activities of a writer/member, most especially the hubs (=articles) published at HubPages. Being in the 90s is especially significant as some of her hubs may now be featured at the front page of HubPages. This would mean extra exposure of her work, and consequently a chance to improve traffic to her hubs even more.

Actually, she has tasted 90 a few weeks back but only for a few hours as the hubber score really fluctuates. Today is different as the fluctuation is well within 90 and 91, convincingly not a fluke.

We think these five of her most recently published hubs prop her score up with their popularity within the community and outside as seen in the incoming traffic and comments posted:

So true to Happiness Tip # 61 Celebrate Small Successes, let us congratulate her and you bet we would have a nice dinner and lively nightly gratitude ritual tonight.

Hurray to Mama Sez!!! Excellent work!

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Island Travel Kick Off Promo

2010-02-23T10:32:00.001+08:00

Island Travel is giving away cash!!!

One of the easiest way to get easy money is to join the GUESS WHERE WE ARE CHALLENGE, one of the three contests of this Island Travel Kick Off Promo.

All you need to do is follow Island Travel on Twitter, Facebook or Google Friend Connect, or subscribe via email. Then, watch out for posts that challenge the readers/followers to guess where the island travelers are starting March 23 when the road trip begins from Davao City.

Based on the photo(s) and other clues posted, guess their location on that post and write it as a comment of that particular post. You may give as many guesses as you want as long as you post them in separate days. The winning guess will be announced immediately after verification.

For more details, visit Island Travel or click on the icon above.

C'mon and join the fun and win cash at the same time!!!

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Weekly Highlights 1

2010-02-21T18:12:00.013+08:00

Starting today and every week thereafter, Fatherhood Adventures would round out the week that was by providing highlights of activities of Papa Sez and Mama Sez in the blogosphere. This is not just a summary that could be valuable for followers/ readers of our sites, but also a good overview for those who just happen to pass by to check out our sites. For us, it would mean a commitment to regularly review our efforts and to be able to make informed decisions regarding our work.

For now, the Weekly Highlights would just be a rundown of our blog posts, but may also include announcements and highlights of significant posts in terms of milestones, launches or personal favorites. In terms of feedback, popular articles for the month will also be identified and we may also highlight comments, reviews, ratings or other forms of feedback received from readers like you. All in all this would "force" us to stay on our toes and get data necessary for informed decision-making.

In this first Weekly Highlights, I am going to cover two weeks, instead of just the recent week. The review of our first sets of HubPages articles and Mama Sez's easy to follow recipes would be the endpoint of the period that would not be covered by this new system.

LAUNCHING OF ISLAND TRAVEL

A significant event for us during this period under review is the launch of our new travel blog-- Island Travel: A Summer Family Vacation. Three blog posts introduced the idea behind this new adventure:

The Countdown Begins is where Mama Sez announced our intention to travel and to blog about it, which also signaled the start of the countdown.
Happiness is an Island Travel Adventure relates our travel plans to my happiness project.
Our Summer Family Vacation: An Island Travel Adventure explains that key factors that had been preventing us from embarking on such an activity are converging to make this adventure happen this time around.

The new travel blog site itself contains pages that explains the project, including Welcome, Why We're Doing It, Travel Plan, Travel Map, Travel Calendar and About Us.

To increase our reach, we also launched three contests in the Island Travel Kick Off Promo. We hope you'd join the contests to win easy money by guessing where we are, blogging about the contests, or blogging about the photos we'll be posting at the site.

I also posted a blog about a promo to win a Boracay vacation package.

Beyond this launch of a new travel blog, other concerns kept us busy as well.

MILESTONES IN PARENTING JOURNEY

PARENTING JOURNEY made great strides in the past two weeks. The first good news is topping the Mommies Faves Blogs as the No. 1 Top Blog for January. We hope you'd continue to support Parenting Journey this month and beyond. You can show support by clicking on the icon "Congrats! #1 Top Blog" at the right column, which would lead you to a landing page and another click to "Enter the Mommies Faves Blogs" to see the ranking.

Next is the launching of a series of articles on discipline every Friday. The first one is on Discipline and Parenting Style, followed by Discipline Methods: Communication and Role Modeling *Papa Sez's fave*. Watch out for the third one on Friday or better yet subscribe via email or RSS, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook by using the buttons at the lower right corner.

Semi-Vegetarian Detox Diet Plan: Healthy Parents for a Happy Family is our most popular post for February in Parenting Journey. It outlines do's and don'ts of natural body cleansing detox diet.

The other two postings are about the mixed emotions we have about our baby girl's developmental milestones, and a camping activity that I attended with my two school age kids.

WEDDINGS & GRADUATION in HUBPAGES

Three new hubs were published by Mama Sez at HubPages:

Wedding Traditions from Around the World that introduced notable wedding customs and traditions in selected places.
Weddings: Interesting Facts and Trivia from Around the World talks about the origins of wearing the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand, of wedding cakes, of the bridal showers, and many more facts and trivia. *Papa Sez's fave* is the video on ring placement
Great Graduation Gift Ideas provides some suggestions on what to give graduates as graduation season nears.

HAPPINESS MILESTONES

Our regularly updated blogs had broken through Google's Page Rank in just two to three months:

Daily Happiness Tips has PR 2.
Daily Laughs has PR 1.
Happy Quotes Happy Images has PR 1.

Here are the most recent happiness tips posted during the period:

For our daily dose of laughter, here are the most recent posts:

Sweet Vengeance (funny video)
Deaf Genie (funny joke) *Mama Sez's fave*
The Optimist (funny picture)
Dying Nun (funny joke) *most rated at yousaytoo.com*
Attitude Change (funny joke)
Romantic Outdoor Date (funny video)
Viagra (funny joke)
Croak (funny cartoon)
Plants Gone Bad (funny video)
Old Rooster (funny joke) *Papa Sez's fave*

Happy Images in the past two weeks:

*Papa Sez's fave*

*most rated at yousaytoo.com*

Happy Quotes in the past two weeks:

"We've got to convince our egos and our minds that if we want to live happy lives, love is more important than anything else!" -Ken Keyes

"Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved." -George Sand *Papa Sez's fave*

"There are three kinds of love, - unselfish, mutual, and selfish. The unselfish love is of the highest kind. The lover only minds the welfare of the beloved and does not care for his own sufferings. In mutual love the lover not only wants the happiness of his beloved but has an eye towards his own happiness also. It is middling. The selfish love is the lowest. It only looks towards its own happiness, no matter whether the beloved suffers weal or woe." -Sri Ramakrishna

"We love to the degree we're happy. While we are unhappy and attending to our fears, we are not loving. The self is always crying out for acceptance. When we deny it that acceptance, things get hairy. Our attention gets sucked into a void inside ourselves, leaving nothing left to give to another." -Jennifer Hautman

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Review of Our Popular Pages

2010-02-20T23:00:00.009+08:00

Although I signed up on blogger in May 2009, it was only in October that actual writing started and momentum gained in November. Mama Sez joined the blogging world towards November as well. So the oldest blogs Fatherhood Adventures and Parenting Journey are about four months old, whereas those pertaining to happiness topics are two to three months old. We've been writing at HubPages also for about three months now.

As we review our output to gain insights on what worked and what might be abandoned to streamline our blogging efforts, I compiled some interesting data on the popular articles in our blogs. I am going to share here what I found out. I distinguished between the most popular pages (=top content) from the most landed (=entry) pages. The latter are what attract/drive visitors to the blog site.

In Fatherhood Adventures, the most popular contents from the start until today are:

The top landing pages are:

For Parenting Journey, the most popular contents are:

Whereas the top landing pages are more or less the same:

The Happiness blogs have done well in terms of Google Page Rank even though they are at least a month younger than the first two blogs.

DAILY HAPPINESS TIPS with Page Rank 1 has the following top contents and top landing pages, which are mostly older posts. The most popular happiness tips are:

These happiness tips got the most landings:

DAILY LAUGHS has Page Rank 2. The top or most popular pages are older posts, namely:

whereas the most landings happened among these younger posts:

HAPPY QUOTES HAPPY IMAGES is Page Rank 1 and has the following popular pages:

As for the entry page, here are those that have the highest landings:

For HubPages, the Valentine's Day hubs proved to be the most popular:

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Our Summer Family Vacation: An Island Travel Adventure

2010-02-12T15:55:00.015+08:00

Yes, you read it right...it's ISLAND TRAVEL for the whole family this summer. We are not talking here about a couple of weeks of island hopping, it's a splurge as we're looking at two months of touring the whole Philippines from south to north and back. It's a splurge and a big deal for us considering our history and natural tendencies, which I wrote about in a hub Happiness is an Island Travel Adventure. Mama Sez also wrote about it as she announced the big plan and started the countdown.

We had it in our minds for a long time already. We kept mum about it to guard us against our tendency to be impatient. So the right time just came. It's a GO as the factors that were holding us back changed:

Work. We have no commitment except for our online writing and marketing. Thankfully, this can be done almost anywhere and so we're reaping this huge benefit from our decision to do what we love.
Kids. Our youngest kids are now more ready (and hardy) for an adventure like this. The older ones can take time off from school but we decided to wait for classes to end anyway.
Money. Not that we won the lottery but our attitude about money changed as we gave ourselves time to think about what it is that we really want in life. We think of it as an investment with so much profit before, during and long-after the activity not only for us, but most especially for the kids. This is explain fully in this hub.
Attitude. Not only did our attitude about money changed, but more importantly our attitude about life is now more focused on flow, pleasure and meaning that are components of true and lasting happiness. Words like positivity, optimism, gratitude, health, laughter and the phrase "buying experience, not stuff" that all relates to happiness are in our minds in recent months as reflected in what we write in these websites:

The final trigger was when an airline advertised a two-day sale that prompted us to book a flight in March 24 for eight people. As we contact relatives and friends to coordinate about the trip, some new factors had to be considered such as the cost of renting a van in Luzon. Renting a van for an out-of-town road trip over a weekend could cost 15,000 pesos (~$320) depending on distance, and we're of course not just thinking of one weekend trip. So my father-in-law made a suggestion to ship our family car to Manila so we can use it in Luzon. Since we have done this before (we bought the car from Batangas in Luzon and shipped it to Davao), I had a pretty good idea on how much it would cost.

As I consider that it would cost more than 20,000 pesos (~$425) to put the car on a ferry to Manila, I said to myself "Why not take a road trip and spend that money in a leisurely drive to Luzon?" The kids would surely enjoy it and the experience unparalleled. When I mentioned it to Mama Sez, she was amenable to the idea as it was really what we wanted- to drive from Davao to Manila with the kids.

The next question is how about the plane tickets we bought. From what I read, heard and understood before buying the ticket, they can be rebooked, transferred or put in a travel fund that can be used within 90 days from canceling. But boy was I wrong. It turned out that the particular promo seats we got are only rebookable for a fee and are actually non-transferable and definitely cannot be placed in a travel fund if canceled.

I probably would have been enraged! and took it on the ticketing clerk and then be resentful of my mistake (or the unclear fine prints of the document in their website) have I not learned to control my response to an unexpected negative stimulus and to look on the bright side of what happens to me. I have proven to myself that I have some progress in this as I somehow able take it in stride. Not that I was not bothered about the likelihood of losing 8,500 pesos (~$180) because of a rush decision (because of a sale!). But I am looking at the bright side that the "sale" triggered actions from me to facilitate this long awaited trip.

For now, we haven't made up our minds on how we are going to Laguna to A) fly in and ship the car or B) to hit the road and rebook (there's a penalty charge of about $15 each ticket to rebook, most likely to a non-promo seat, which is double the ticket price we purchased; and we don't really need to travel again in the months after this vacation) or C) hit the road and just forget about the tickets and learn from the costly mistake.

Hmmm what do you think? I'll give you updates as the date gets nearer. For now, your suggestions would be much appreciated.

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Our Initial HubPages Experience

2010-02-06T19:59:00.173+08:00

About three months ago, I joined HubPages and had a great start with a nomination for the weekly HubNugget, a recognition given to new members for excellence in writing. Indeed, I was proclaimed a HubNugget that week with much help (=votes) from you my readers and friends. However, this initial push was not enough to churn out more hubs (=articles). As we're relatively new to blogging and internet marketing, there were just so many things to explore and learn that writing was placed in the back burner and my study of the finer details of blogging and marketing was prioritized instead. As a result, I only posted four articles up to now or about one article per three weeks (see Papa Sez's hubs). These are as follows (click on the photo to read article):

Thanksgiving Every Day

The Science Behind Daily Gratitude Ritual

Books on Happiness: Gift Ideas and Wish List

What Both Men and Women Want on Valentine's Day

Mama Sez has a better track record in HubPages. She joined a couple of weeks after me and wrote 18 hubs in two months or more than two posts per week. Pretty good isn't it? Her range of topics is also wider than mine, having published hubs on parenting, weight loss, holiday tips, gift ideas, relationship tips, recipes, and even one on a celebrity. Here they are and you can judge for yourself (click on the photo to read hub):

Proper Nutrition and Kids' Immune System

Childbirth Preparation Tips

Gift Ideas for Girls

Gift Ideas for Little Boys

Gift Ideas for Kids at $10 Budget

Gift Ideas for Kids at $20 Budget

Gift Ideas for Babies and Toddlers

How to Have a Stress-free Christmas Celebration

Modified Pollo Iberico (Roast Spanish Chicken)

Cute Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Young Sweethearts

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Him

Feng Shui Tips for Love and Marriage

Buy Her a Valentine’s Day Gift Online: What Women Appreciate

Buy Spectacular Insect Brooches Online

Home-made Facial and Body Scrub Concoctions and How to Make Them

How to Lose Weight the Fast and Natural Way

Taylor Swift: Music, Movies and Mansion

Chicken Curry and Fried Rice Recipes

Mama Sez is also enjoying the HubPages community and participates in many fora and activities. She's accumulating many followers and I wouldn't be surprised if she'll be one of the mainstays in HubPages. Besides being an outlet for her creative energy and talent, she's also earning on the side. So if you are interested in writing and making money online, check out HubPages and feel the warmth of the community.

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Mama Sez's Easy-to-Follow Recipes

2010-02-05T20:52:00.039+08:00

Can you guess what could possibly be one of my wife's greatest frustrations? For those who know her and her cooking prowess, you might be surprised to know that something related to her cooking had been a source of disappointment for her. No, not that she sucks at it. On the contrary, she is well recognized by relatives, friends and acquaintances for her superb culinary skills and many scrumptious dishes. In fact, she has become an inspiration to our school-age kids who, not surprisingly, put "chef" as one of their dream professions.

Well, the answer has to do with my "timid" appetite. You see, I easily get satiated and my "It's dizzying to see so much food on the table" line gets to her nerves. So, can you imagine her frustration when she enthusiastically prepares a splendid meal and her husband is first to opt out and worse blurt out that insensitive line upon seeing those delectable dishes on the table?

Fortunately, I haven't used that line in recent years and we came to an understanding on how I can show my appreciation to her efforts. In fact, I am starting to be a food buff myself. Thanks to her, I could be quite discriminating at times and now have certain preferences; whereas I used to just eat almost anything...and not even able to tell if the food is already on the brink of being spoiled!

Now you see how couples affect each others' preferences. And I am delighted to have been influenced and have come to appreciate my wife's culinary talent and passion for food. She's been sharing her recipes in Parenting Journey and in HubPages. Below is a rundown of what she has posted so far.

Cheesy Beef Caldereta

Sweet and Sour Tilapia
(Escabeche)

Chicken Curry

Veggie Fried Rice

Special Embotido (Filipino-style Meatloaf)

Carbonara (only pasta in photo)

Ampalaya and Tomato Salad

Radish and Tomato Salad

Modified Pollo Iberico
(Roast Spanish Chicken)

Be sure to bookmark this new page on RECIPES at Parenting Journey as we will be updating the list as new recipes are posted. Happy cooking!

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Our Articles on Buying Valentine's Day Gifts Online

2010-01-25T03:44:00.002+08:00

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. This year my wife and I had so much more anticipation and discussion about this day than in the past years because of our recent interest on online marketing. As online shopping continues to grow and gains more acceptance to consumers, many more opportunities open up to bloggers/ writers like us.

Below is a list of articles we already published early this month that relates to Valentine's Day and buying gifts online. You might want to check them out by clicking on the title to get you to the article at HubPages, and then get some gift ideas or even buy gifts through our affiliate (Amazon) links. We would love that (*wink* *wink*)

photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluestonestudios/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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Better to Light Just One Little Candle than Complain about Darkness

2010-01-24T12:05:00.002+08:00

During an interlude in church service earlier today, the melody of One Little Candle popularly sang by Perry Como (1952), with the first line "It is better to light just one little candle than to stumble in the dark", was played by the pianist. It reminded me of an adage that I used to write on ticklers of applicants to our academic organization back in my college years. My version is "It is better to light just one little candle than complain about darkness."

As I sing the lyrics softly along with the melody, my wife gave me a knowing smile as she, too, remembers. Let me share the meaningful song with you and you can sing along (the lyrics are included below the video).

ONE LITTLE CANDLE
(George Mysels / J. Maloy Roach)

Perry Como - 1952

It's better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark
Better far that you light just one little candle
All you need's a tiny spark

If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free
The wonderful dawn on the new day we'll see
And if everyone lit just one little candle
What a bright world this would be

(Let's all light one little candle
Why stumble on in the dark)

When the day is dark and dreary
And your way is hard to find
Don't let your heart be weary
Just keep this thought in mind

(It is better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark
Better far to light just one little candle
All you need's a tiny spark)

If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free
The wonderful dawn of the new day we'll see
And if everyone lit just one little candle
What a bright world this would be

What a bright world this would be

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Today, I am Thankful For...

2010-01-18T00:17:00.002+08:00

It was a lovely Sunday indeed. We did our usual Sunday activities of going to church in the morning, playing with our kids, taking a nap and preparing for the coming week.

Dart Set (Santa’s Gift to My Son)

The morning was generally overcast with the sun playing peek-a-boo. Thus staying outdoors was pleasant so the decision was to play darts, which was the preference of my seven-year old son, over memory game or scrabble that my nine-year old daughter favored.

After a bit of resistance, the latter enthusiastically played the game that went like this. With three darts, the older kids and I took turns hitting the board. The person next in line would add up the score of the current player and retrieve the darts so s/he can take his/her turn. After a while, it became clear that they both need lots of practice as the darts would not even hit or stick to the board. It was my daughter’s first time to play, but it was my son’s second after he opened the gift early this month (we had to pace the opening of gifts to allow them to appreciate each item…during the holidays, it’s easy for kids to ignore some of the toys and pay attention to only one or two).

What he learned in our first play session was already gone. After a few rounds, I asked him to throw small stones instead. His first objective was to throw it as far as he could to an adjacent vacant lot. This he enjoyed as he tried every other way/style, including switching between right and left hand (he seemed to have not truly decided yet…or maybe he’s ambidextrous).

Just like me, athleticism is not his card. So the objective was for him to experience physical activities to enjoy and perhaps develop accuracy, rather than strength. So after much freestyle stone-throwing, the next stage was for him to hit a wooden pole about four meters away and not stop until he’s able to do so. He reported to have hit it when I arrived from grocery (see below), whereas my daughter, who continued with dart throwing, saw some improvements in her game and was most proud of her hitting the bulls-eye once.

So I am thankful for the chance to play with my kids.

Neighborhood Grocer

The weekly grocery shopping had to be carried out today as my wife and I were in the flow yesterday writing articles (and did some administrative tweaking) for Hubpages.com and WannaBeHappyNow.com (Daily Happiness Tips, Daily Laughs and Happy Quotes Happy Images). During the holidays, we happen to drop by a neighborhood store to do an emergency purchase of milk and diapers. We found out that it has expanded to include fresh produce, and the prices are at par or, in certain daily items, even below those of the big grocery store in the mall where we normally shop.

Not only did we save time and fuel, as it’s only a kilometer away, we also made some savings on our daily items like milk and certain vegetables. So we made it back home on time for lunch and I am thankful for these.

Talk on Appreciation

Okay, okay it was more of a lecture than a mere talk. I took issue with my daughter when she kept on playing with her Nintendo DS instead of meeting us when we arrived home from the store. It also stemmed from her call (through the cell phone of one of our helpers) when we were out, just to inform us that she wants to stop playing darts. The issue was not just the use (and cost) of another person’s phone (and money) for a non-emergency concern, but knowing her, she only wanted clearance and justification for her laziness to continue practicing a new skill (playing darts) outside the house and preferring instead to play Nintendo on a sofa in the living room. More importantly, the call was made mere five minutes after we left, which means only five minutes of extra practice.

As a consequence, the rules on using their Nintendos, particularly when to and the duration of use, were tightened.

At lunch, my wife and I pointed out that every home (=parents) have unique parenting styles and priorities. The rules were loosened a bit over the holidays when we had two other families living with us. Back then, there were lots of time for playing Nintendo/ computer games and watching video/television programs with their cousins; much goodies were available to munch almost anytime (after all it’s the holidays); and there were plenty of activities/interactions and more than the usual going out and family trips.

As we readjust to our normal routine, we had to remind our kids of the basic rules of the house. There was a need to point out that it was conscious effort on the part of their parents to spend time with them (playing and eating together, and having conversations). Because as much as it was easy for kids to spend so much time on Nintendo, computer games and television, it is also rather easy for parents to lose oneself in their respective job, be engrossed with computer, television or hobbies, and be unmindful of the opportunities lost to interact with their children.

These reminders made an impact on my daughter that she cried, whereas my son asked if being too strict can make a “hole” in one’s heart. We found out that it was a way for one of his teachers to explain about a heart condition that would not allow her to be too bothered or upset about her students’ rowdy behavior. We had to answer that anything too much, like too strict, is not good; and that everyone needs to be respectful, mindful and considerate to others.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have these conversations with my kids.

Long Afternoon Nap

The afternoon was cooler because of the rain that poured (and continued into the night). My usual after lunch (and newspaper scanning) nap extended well into the late afternoon. Midway to that long nap, my wife got envious that she decided to turn off the laptop and join me. I guess my body compensated for the inadequate sleep last night as I worked on online marketing, and I also have the weather to thank for that good afternoon sleep.

Bucket Filling

A commitment I made when I gave my daughter my book “How Full is Your Bucket” was to read it with her. This was necessary as the book is intended for grown-up reading and she’s only in the fourth grade. I will write about how this became hers in the next few days.

The topic about positive interaction forced me to pay attention and calm down as she read a few pages from the book. You see, I was quite anxious to immediately start to write as I was already behind with what I intended to do in the afternoon due to my extended nap. But my daughter, who’s been waiting for me to wake up as we earlier resolved during lunch that school assignments had to be done in the afternoon to avoid last-minute cramming in the evening, was holding me to my commitments. When I am unable to focus on what I want to do, I get distressed and it’ll show in the conversation.

But since the book was about the benefits of positive interactions, I cannot be anything but positive. As she read and I explain to her those portions she cannot understand, I was reminded of the things I ought to be doing to create a positive environment for my kids. And I am thankful for that…

Gratitude Ritual

Our toddler and baby were asleep early in the evening so the older kids had all our attention at dinner and in the ensuing nightly gratitude ritual. The lively conversation during dinner continued in the gratitude ritual that we restarted just a few days ago. I was again reminded of the heightened activities, positive interactions and all-around positive energy in the house during the holiday visit of our relatives that we unconsciously forego of the ritual. There was just little chance for it to happen at that time as we were on separate tables, usually grouped according to age (and gender in the case of the kids) as a matter of course during meals. Conversations also extended after dinner and separate groups had different topics of interest. All these happened almost every night for more than two weeks.

As I see the happy faces of my family around the table while talking about the food, the activities and other things that we are grateful for today, I was additionally pleased that we were doing it again. Lengthy topics include my daughter’s darkened skin because of a pool party with friends, how she should not worry about and just accept her natural color because it cannot be changed…while asking her to recite the serenity prayer*… but she has to take care of her skin better than her parents did with theirs; my son’s idea of putting a green substance over the skin, which can be removed, to protect the skin when swimming; about where each got his/her skin color, nose, ears, eyes, etc.; about their great grandparents…and finding out that one is still alive…my wife’s grandma “Lola Sexy”…who we may get to see again in the summer if she has not gone back to the United States by then; and so on…

I am so thankful that the family has gone back to our normal routine and we are getting comfortable with it again.

*Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to do the things that I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. -Reinhold Niebuhr

DAILY THANK YOU

You may also want to write your daily thanks and share them to spread the positive energy. It's like gratitude banking; who knows, you might need to be reminded of these blessings at some point in your life. So make deposits starting now by writing and sharing them at DAILY THANK YOU.

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