Thirteen

I'm now officially a mom to a teen!

To my daughter...

Happiest 13th Birthday!

We're thankful that you turned to be more than what we prayed for. 

You blossomed into an amazing, smart, funny, kind, loving and pretty young woman.

We pray that you will always embrace the beauty that lies within you.

You're blessed with a brilliant mind and a grateful heart. Use them for good. 

You're now in a phase of choices and changes. We trust that you will do the right thing.

May it be fun to give you wonderful memories.

May the challenges be enough to keep you strong 

... and just enough to appreciate the sweetness of life. 

Make the Best of your Teen years!

Pizza Hut Hand Stretched Pizza

Pizza Hut #StretchPa more!

We love pizza! It's part of our family celebrations, weekend merienda or during those just-because-we-love-to-eat-pizza days. Since my daughter wants pizza for her 11th birthday merienda treat, I ordered online via www.pizzahut.com.ph.

Their Hot Deals - 2 Family Pizzas for Php 499 (no delivery charge) is definitely worth trying.

Since 2 boxes are not enough for all of us, I got 2 sets of Pizza Hut's Hand Stretched Pizza.

happy birthday girl :)

She choose Hawaiian Supreme with Toasted Parmesan glaze  and Cheesy Pepperoni with Toasted Cheddar glaze.  Plus 2 Pan Pizzas - Supreme and 3 Cheese.

That's a total of four boxes to celebrate her birthday merienda treat!

Hawaiian Supreme with Toasted Parmesan glaze

Cheesy Pepperoni with Toasted Cheddar glaze

Online ordering is just easy. I even paid thru credit card without any hassle. Best thing is, we receive our pizzas just in time... that's "On-Time Guaranteed!"

We enjoyed this latest crust innovation. It has thinner crust than the stuffed pizzas. It's good to eat everything and not throw away the crust.

It has a chewy yet slight crisp texture. I also love the sharp taste of cheese.

Definitely a must-try!

You can mix and match the pizza flavors and glazes:

Choose your Flavor: Supreme, Hawaiian Supreme, 3-Cheese, Cheesy Pepperoni, or Cheeseburger
Glaze: Toasted Cheddar, Toasted Parmesan, Garlic Parmesan Butter, Honey Crunch

Pizza Hut New Hand Stretched Pizza
For pizza delivery, call 911-11-11 or order online via www.pizzahut.com.ph.

Who's on K-Zone Magazine February issue?

thanks for the greets Kzone Magazine!

I've checked out the latest issue of K-Zone Philippines. It's great to see my son's photo on its calendar page. Cool! He's the only non-celebrity on that list.

My son is 9 already. He's big for his age, but he'll always be our "bunso."

Thank you K-Zone Philippines for the birthday greetings! It made my son's day complete.

Kzone Magazine February 2015 cover

So, who else is celebrating their birthday's this month?

There's Harry Styles (February 1st), Taylor Lautner (February 11th), Ed Sheeran (February 17th), Megan Young (27th)...

If you're also celebrating your birthday this month, let me greet you a Happy Birthday!

Chili's SM Megamall: Great Birthday Dinner Celebration

Celebrated my dearest daughter's 10th birthday at Chili's SM Megamall.

Chili's, an American casual dining place, had been around for a decade, but for us, it's the first! We decided to try Chili's SM Megamall after my tita gave mama a Chili's treat at their Greenbelt 5 branch.

not in photo: my hubby, papa, sister & pamangkin, yaya's 

We want their Bottomless Tostada Chips!

These crispy and tasty tostada chips are unlimited! We had about 3 refills, and even took home the last one. Also, ordered Skillet Queso, a cheese dip to go with it.

Crispy tostada chips, Php 350. Skillet Queso, Php 275

Cheese Poppers

Mini cheese poppers with green onions and cilantro rolled and lightly fried to golden brown. Served with zesty ranch dipping sauce.

We got this for Free! Mama had her guest experience survey receipt that serves as coupon for free Cheese Poppers.

My sister really enjoyed this appetizer.

We got this for Free! :)

Fire Grilled Chicken Bacon and Ranch Quesadilla

Toasted tortilla filled with fajita-marinated chicken, bacon, Ranch dressing, and mixed cheese. Served with sour cream,  pico de gallo and salsa-ranch dressing.

Take note, my son will order this on our next visit.

Fire Grilled Chicken Bacon and Ranch Quesadilla Php 435

Old Timer Burger

This is their famous mouth-watering burger with mustard, shredded lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. Served with fries and your choice of whole wheat or sesame seed bun.

Chili's sold this for only Php 175 during their Annual Big Mouth Burger Day last April  23. If you missed this trat, take note to grab this annual treat!

medium-well Old Timer Burger Php 340

Big Mouth Burger Bites

These are four mini burgers with layers of crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, onions and ranch dressing. Served with onion rings and fries. You can choose to have it well done, medium or medium-well.

My favorite! Really juicy and flavorful beef patty. Also, love the crispy onion rings which are fried to a golden brown.

Big Mouth Burger Bites Php 435... more onion rings please :)

Kid Honey BBQ Wings

Small-sized BBQ wings, just perfect for little kids. Served with bottomless drinks. My kids munch on these while watching cartoon show on their TV.

all smiles... big enough for a kiddie meal :) Php 195

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Fire-grilled chicken with Habanero glaze. Served with sauteed bell pepper. My sister opt for plain rice and fries, instead of their cilantro rice and steamed fresh veggies.

flavorful Sweet & Spicy Chicken, Php 310

Grilled Pork Chops

Truly grilled to perfection. We opt for plain rice and fries, instead of their cilantro rice and steamed fresh veggies.

Grilled Pork Chops Php 450

My Take:

Great and reasonably-priced food, generous servings, fast and efficient service and accommodating staff (special mention to Ruel for handling us), made our first Chili's experience a wonderful one!  We're fully stuffed and satisfied.

Definitely recommended!

Chili's is now officially part of our family's favorite restaurant!
Looking forward to our next Chili's Philippines experience. I know that there's a lot more to try and taste.

It's a good place for dining or hanging out with friends and families.
Child-friendly? Yes! They provide kids with activity pads and crayons.

Thank you for making my daughter's birthday dinner celebration a happy and fulfilling one.

Thank you Chili's Philippines! :)

in "tulala-mode" while the staff were singing a birthday song :)

The manager gave us 2 kiddie meal vouchers (gave the other one to my sis)!

yey! we have all these :)

Other branches: Greenbelt 5, Greenhills, Tomas Morato, Rockwell, and Alabang Town Center.

Chili's Grill and Bar Restaurant
2nd level, Mega Atrium,
SM Megamall
http://www.chilisphilippines.com/

Ben 10 7th Birthday Party

Remembering my son's 7th Ben 10 theme birthday party last year. Nothing is too late to post.

The Party Preps

DIY Ben 10 theme invitation



Party Game Prizes

Items bought from Toy Kingdom warehouse sale , Landmark and Toys R' Us sale.





Cars, Spiderman and Barbie Magazines




The loot bag

Inside the lootbag: Box puzzles, flashlights, character notebooks, pencils with topper, rubber wristband and toys.



Inside the lootbag: Nips, Pillows, Choco Boom, Ben 10 cookies and Chupa chups lollipops




Additional Fun Ranch lootbag



Personalized round fan souvenirs and lootbags 




Party Outfit



Shirt: Spin and Snoopy | Shoes: Hush Puppies | Pants: Napoleon


Up next: Party Celebration at Fun Ranch

Grateful at 34

Today, I turn 34.

Source: hdwallpaperstop

Thank you Lord for this day, for the gift of another year.
Thank you for the goodness and love that surrounds me.
Thank you for the years of blessings, happiness, and success that gave me time to celebrate.
Thank you for the challenges, trials and strength that made me rise above negativity, and drove me to come closer to you.

Thank you for letting me experience Your goodness everyday.
Thank you for the gift of laughter, of family and friends that remind me of Your loving presence.
Thank you for listening to my heart and holding my future in Your hand.

Continue to enlighten me, broaden my understanding and faith
so I can stand still on the journey you have prepared for me.

Thank you to everyone who remembered me today - my family, relatives, friends and online friends
All your messages, greetings and good wishes remind me of how much I am appreciated and loved.

"All that I am, all that I have
I lay them down before You, oh Lord
... All of my heart, all of my praise
My heart and my hands are lifted to You
Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I've been through, use it for Your glory
Lord I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer You my life."

Nick Jr. Birthday Buzz for Brent

thank you Nick Jr. 

It's Brent's 7th birthday. We're glad that he got featured in Nickelodeon Birthday Buzz for the month of February.

Brent's classmates were the first ones who told me that they saw Brent at Nickelodeon. They were ecstatic and delighted upon seeing him on T.V.

Thank you Nickelodeon for the buzzin' birthday greetings!

Watch the video here:

You can also have your kids be greeted on their birthday.

Be one of their lucky pics and get the chance to see their greetings on air and online at http://www.nick-asia.com. To join, just send your kid's photo, name, age, address, email and birth date to nickster@nick-asia.com

You can also snail mail to:
3rd floor, Silver City Mall
Frontera Drive, Julia Vargas St. Pasig City

This is open to kids up to 14 years old, residing in the Philippines. Take note to submit your entry at least 4 weeks before the birthday month.

Happy Birthday to everyone celebrating their February birthdays. :)

Turning 6, a School Birthday Celebration

My youngest turned 6!

We had a simple celebration at school on his exact birth date which falls on a Friday.

This time, he wanted an Angry Birds cake. I ordered cakes and mini cakes from Iko's Bakeshop. Their cake is good enough, delicious and moist with the right sweetness. I prefer it since it's very affordable. The place is near their school and we can easily pick it up.

cake and cupcakes

I just created DIY cupcake toppers with Angry Birds characters and a couple of his favorite Ben 10 alien characters. Everyone got excited upon seeing the cake and mini cupcakes as soon as we entered their classroom. Mini cupcakes would always be a good choice for kids for they can easily eat it up.

For simple celebrations, I remain to be a certified Iko's client.
8" choco moist cake + 32 mini cupcakes = P 1,075 (very affordable)

Iko's Breads and Cakes
C.Raymundo Ave., Pasig City

+ Food

We ordered food from Jollibee, but served Refresh juice drinks instead. Jollibee One Mercedes Plaza branch, delivers on time. There were paper bags (which I requested) so the kids can bring home their leftovers. There are no plastic food containers (except for the gravy containers) and plastic bags since these are already banned in Pasig City.

+ Loots

loots

My son's party loots contain chocolates, candies and Angry bird items (an eraser, sticker and a slap bracelet). I just placed personalized stickers on top of the microwavable plastic container. Kids really have simple joys and they appreciate all these!

+ Gifts

This simple celebration made my son really happy! He's thankful for the gifts he got from his classmates and from his family members as well.

gifts from classmates

Ben 10 alien Wildmutt

more Ben 10 alien gifts! :)

We thank God for this day and another precious year for my son!

My Daughter's Star-Ballerina Party

My daughter Skylah celebrated her 7th birthday with a Ballerina "Party of the Stars" theme. It's a party theme that she had wanted and wished for.Yes, she's really passionate about ballet that she even performed a ballet number during her party.

Preparations started as early as January this year. A party planner, my sister's friend, handled everything - from the food, party activities, party decors and all the party details. I'm really grateful to my sister and bro-in-law for giving their "inaanak" a wonderful party! We're really appreciative because we got very generous sponsors too!

Here are some preparations we did before the party.

Party invitation

The invitation says, "Join Skylah as she dances into another year of happiness!"


Save the date stickers



Birthday Messages note cards

Adult party guests wrote their birthday wishes and messages for my daughter in these note cards. Then I use these to raffle off 7 prizes for adults!



Raffle Prizes

Skylah picked the names of the 7 lucky adult guests and they get to receive these items.



Game Prizes

We have bought lots of game prizes for everyone to make sure that all kids get something. Most of these toys are from last year's Toy Kingdom and Toy's R Us sale; a few came from Divisoria.

Balloon Burst prizes
Those who get the letters of Skylah's name and the number 7 won these major prizes, while the rest got the minor prizes.





Party souvenirs

We had personalized mirrors, keychains and fans as party souvenirs.

personalized mirror


personalized keychain


personalized foldable fan


Lootbag contents

We bought all these items from Divisoria, except for the colorful eggs.





Yes, these eggs made it inside the party lootbags!



 Party name tags



Party Lootbag

I prefer using this non-woven eco-bag than the usual plastic party bags. I made use of the personalized keychain as a Thank You tag.



So there! I already received the official photos from the photographer. I'll be sharing more of my daughter's party celebration pictures in the next couple of days.

Post-Birthday Celebration

After my son's simple birthday celebration at school, we had a post-celebration over the weekend. It's a family affair. The kids had a great time playing Wii games. They also enjoyed playtime at the playground.

Weeks before his birthday, he requested for spaghetti, shanghai, siomai and coke! That's what our family prepared and we just bought ice cream and ordered pizza and mojos from Shakey's. And these are all enough to make his birthday complete.

family

at the playground

thank you for the gifts