Welcome readers and participants to the 26th flight of  the WBFC.  This week is about spreading the love through Google Friend Connect.  A round of applause please to our generous sponsors Chika Bits and Dens Online, i hope i’d be one of the lucky two to win the $5. Also, hats off to the brains (and beauty of course) behind this friendly neighborhood, Momma Rubz, to whom we owe this opportunity to boost our page traffic.

This week’s task is easy peasy as ever, participants just need to complete the following
1. Make a blog post with the WBFC Badge to welcome all participants. with links to our lovely sponsors.
2. Submit blog post to the linky tool in Mommy Rubz page. Note, should be blog post and not the homepage URL.
3. Visit other participating blogs and leave a comment at fellow participants’ welcome post that you have followed them thru Google Friend Connect.
4. Again, follow all participants thru Google Friend Connect!!
5. leave a comment at Momma Rubz page if task is finished.

So what are you waiting for, hop on and enjoy the ride.

Okay, i admit one of my frustration as a kid is not being able to attend a ballet class. I remember how i used to love dancing so much that i have been very active in activities involving music and dance during my grade school days, but it was a hard time for my family then and paying for classes such as this will be a luxury.  And im not sure what happened in between, that i lost it come high school days.

Fast forward, now that the same interest is being shown by my little girl i promised myself id support her all the way till she needs me to.  We decided to enroll her this time in The Ballet Centre (since Kinder Dance, which ive shared here before, is far from what she really wants) because they are the best ballet school and  been known to be very prestigious in this craft.   Just after 5 weeks of dance session, she’s able to perform moves that shows the makings of a Swan Lake, and her confidence and grace have never been so high considering her tender age.

Which brings me to this topic of extra curricular activities and how it can be beneficial to our kids.  Obviously for my little one, we chose ballet because she loves to dance- but among our list of classes to send her to are piano, swimming and other sport (like tennis perhaps) classes.

1.  Developmental classes such as these can be a fun and creative outlet for our kids, and for school children, a change from the daily academic pressures.

2.  It can play a big role in children’s physical and intellectual development.

3.  Its an opportunity for your child to interact socially with other kids.  Like here in Dubai for example, most kids are confined in the apartments and playing outdoors is not like what we’ve been accustomed back home

4.  Gives children confidence and expose them to different situations and areas which gives them tools to select hobbies and passions.

5.  Physical activities gets kids started on the path to good health.

So here’s my beauty diet which id like to share to you all:

1.  Start the morning with whipping up some nice and yummy beauty boosting breakfast such as apples and berries, oats, tomatoes (which you can make as an omelette), smoothies and the list could go one so be creative.

2.  Kick start your day with at least 2 glasses of water (room temperature) to wash out toxins in your body accumulated from the previous day.

3.  Think only of happy things, remember what Roald Dahl once said that “ A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly.  You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and a stick out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely”.

2. One of our SS players generally leaves a critical comment on our memes. Which is fine. All’s fair. Do you let meme authors know when you hate their memes? no, the fact that i answered it means im fine with it, if not i’ll just keep quiet and let it pass. After all, i didn’t come up with one myself

3. What TV show would you like to be on?  Friends

4. What was the last video game you played? Sims 3

5. Have you ever been in a musical? If yes, do tell. Pambatang Papuri concert during my sunday school days

6. Do you follow your own style or everyone else’s? a little bit of both

7. What’s the last store you bought from? Zara

8. In retrospect, have you ever let a person use you a lot? i guess so, we live in a user friendly world

9. What are you doing two days from now? hoping to watch a tagalog movie with my mom and sis

10. Did you ever believe there were monsters in your closet? jejeje, embarassingly yeah when i was a kid

11. When you graduated high school, did you let random people sign your yearbook or just close friends?  just close friends

12. Would you consider adopting a child that had a mental illness? its a big responsibility so I’ll have to think about it a million times

13. Does thinking about death scare you? sometimes, only because i’ll be leaving behind my kids

14. If you died, do you believe that you go to Heaven or Hell and where would your spirit go?  I believe in Heaven because i have Jesus as my Lord and Savior

15. Who did you last write a snail mail letter to and why?  never wrote one ever

16. Do you care what people say or think about you?  a lot

17. Have you ever been threatened?  a couple of times

18. Which side of your family do you get most of your qualities from? my mom’s side, they say im a chip of the old block

19. What was the last thing with alcohol that you drank? Pimms

20. Have you ever kept a relationship a secret?  never, i never liked to be in hiding

Party Host/Clown- check

Balloons- check

I have already sent out the save-the-dates and finishing up the invites, so hopefully i’d get to distribute them before the end of the coming week.  So that will be a check by then.  I have worked my way around the theme which is Disney Cars and so far, everything is perfect just as i conceptualized.  Although, there are times that i wish i could send out Baseball Invitations, which would look really cute- but i guess i’ll have to reserve that idea for Iggy’s second birthday perhaps.

Im hoping to finalize the caterer and cake supplier this week, so wish me luck.

Popsy will be in charge of drinks, so that’s one headache off my list.

Before i forget, and note to self, must decide on party favors and whether to push through with these favor boxes that ive seen online.

And of course, before the first birthday celebration- wel’ll have to beat the drums first for his 11 months milestone on Monday, so that’s another birthday cake baking for me.  Whew, time flies like a jet plane these days.

Well, kidding aside, here are the five items that i was telling you about which are designed to make moms’ lives a little bit easier.

Baby Giraffe- the third arm as i call it — the one that holds the bottle in baby’s mouth while the other two round up an older tot or the wheels, whichever is applicable.

Image taken from babygiraffe.us

Sip n Spoon Set- allows you to eat your cereal and then drink the leftover milk right through the handle.  So, goodbye messy counter.

Image taken from perpetualkid.com

Aqueduck Faucet Extender- brings the water to lil hands with a simple attachment to virtually any bathroom sink.

Image taken from Amazon

Lace-Amatic-  makes shoe lace tying a snap to free up mom’s hands.

Image taken from Amazon

Cover Me Strap- This cover me can also be used for more than just a nursing cover. Use it to create a sun shade for the stroller, a bib for a toddler, or a lovey leash.

Image taken from diapers.com

Pretty cool huh!

I found this great site recently that sells everything i want to get for the kids. From baby toys of all sorts, including the well loved and classic wooden toys which is mainly what i want to get for Iggy birthday, to room decors, because I am perpertually on the lookout for accessories to adorn the kids’ nursery/bedroom.  Growing up, ive been a big fan of wooden toys and i remember most of my cooking set are made of either wood or clay which makes playing seems more fun because its close to the real thing. I want my kids to experience just that, however, most of the toys sold these days are made of plastic.  So imagine my excitement when i came across this cool site.

Here’s a few of my choice, that the little rascal will surely enjoy.

The Footballer Skittlers which is a great introduction to the sport, because daddy envisions a future Azkal in his son.

We all know that toy blocks are a great way to t build strength in our child’s fingers and hands, and improve their eye-hand coordination. They also help educate children in different shapes, so this Castle Natural Wood Building Blocks will make learning and development a bit more fun and challenging.

I wish there was a bigger version of this Small Noah’s Ark Play Building, but just the same i think this is a great visual aid when we get to that part of the Bible story which we are slowly reading to the kids.

You may ask, how in the world would a one year old tot play this Character Chess set, well if you must know- because its so cute (plus he would play with it eventually), its a great display on the kids’ bookshelf.

Well apart from the wooden toys, my eyes are also set on the gorgeous wooden letters which has a wide array of selection on the site.  These will be perfect on the bedside wall of both kids, or even yet on the door.  There’s fairtytale, animals, adventure, wall art, characters like Thomas and his friends, and so much more designs to choose from.  I wouldn’t mind getting duplicates of these, as ive got loads of places to hang them.

These are just a few on the  long wish list, and hopefully some of the guests would be able to read this post.  I guess, Id have to lead the way here so Id be sure they’ll stumble upon the hints. If you know what I mean.

Oh by the way, just so you know Baby Republic is a very reputable company that sells children/baby toys, children’s room decorations and furnishings, children’s games, children’s learning products and accessories.  All of their products are guaranteed to be high quality and unique.  A totally awesome choice for a kiddie birthday gift, wink

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body”
~Elizabeth Stone

I couldn’t ask God for anything more.

So the next time I hear of changes again going on in the business, all i need to do is to count my blessings and I’d be able to keep the positive energy within.

I have been planning and preparing for his Birthday bash for nearly a month now as i want it to be spot on and mostly DIY.  His birthday will be in November (2 months from now) but like what I did with Thea’s first birthday, everything had a personal touch- from the invites, decorations, desserts and even party favors. I won’t divulge yet into details as I want to share it when its all done. To date, ive finalized the designs for the save the date, invites, and gift tags, so all i need to do is print them out and add finishing touches. I have also closed the deal with the party host and entertainer so that’s one big bulk off my list. The main thing i need to finalize this month though is the caterer, however, Im still shopping around for a good one so wish me luck.

So here i am, while darly is busy installing the new wilson cell booster canada he purchased online, i am busy browsing sites after sites in the internet, lurking for more ideas that i could find useful for the party we will be throwing.  I promise to keep everyone updated as soon as I get them all organized.