Notepad Corner

Being the only girl in the family, I am always pampered by my boys (my husband and two sons).  I am the queen of their hearts and the only girl date they had during Valentine’s Day, lol.  I am very appreciative of whatever they give, for little things mean a lot to me.  Frankly, I do not expect much of what I will receive, what matters to me is their love and presence during celebration of occasions.  My first born, JM surprised me with three red roses very early in the morning yesterday.  He usually comes home at around 8 a.m. because of his night shift schedule in his job. While giving me the flowers he hugged me tight and greeted me saying “I love you Mommy”.  Oh my! I am really very touched, I am so happy! three red roses from JM  Because it’s a weekday, my husband went to work for his Monday meetings at the office.  At 12 noon, he went home carrying a card and a cake.  Another surprise for the day!  The valentine card he gave me is one of my treasured gifts.  The message

To bear a child is the most precious heavenly gift a woman can receive.  Incomparable and unparalled  sense of happiness overwhelms the heart of a mother.  To love, to care, to see them grow and to cherish every moment with our kids are immeasurable deeds of a parent. This writing is warmly dedicated to a boy who’s turning 3 years old this February 14.  Meet Austin Nathaniel Serrano, born February 14, 2008, the only son of Carlos Serrano and my friend Christine Pham, who’s diagnosed with Advanced Stage of Bilateral Retinoblastoma Stage D - R eye with vitreous seeding and stage E - L eye with a detached retina on  August 25, 2009. Austin Yes, Austin is fighting and struggling for his life from this cancer disease.  He cannot see a thing anymore at the moment.  Being a mother, my heart seem to torn apart the moment I learned about Austin’s condition.  I cannot help myself crying while reading my friend’s journal in Austin’s website.  This bumpy journey that their family goes

Have you tried Aromatherapy? I am very interested of trying it in our home but I am skeptic too for it might do harm instead of benefitting from it.   I’ve been inquiring my friends’ responses and experiences who are into it and with the help of reading and researching about its pros and cons, I found out the following facts: Essential oils, the pure essence of a plant, have been found to provide both psychological and physical benefits when used correctly and safely.  There are quite a few products on the market that contain unnatural ingredients including fragrance oils and claim to be aromatherapeutic. It's important to look at the ingredient label when seeking true aromatherapy products.

Do you know that we can save on groceries and still eat well?  A complete supermarket is a haven for culinary ideas, however I cannot spend luxuriously for I must follow a budget.  Over many years of strolling through mall supermarkets, I’ve learned a few tricks that help me find the right ingredients, cook our family favorites and still control expenses. Tapa and tocino are always requested to be included in our menu at home, due to steep prices of meat, what I do is I ask the butcher to cut meat thinly so a kilo goes a long way, dividing it into 3 or 4 servings and pack it separately for easy and orderly stacking in the freezer. I opt to buy fruits and vegetables in season, then planning my menu around it.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are cheaper when they’re in season.   If fresh produce is not in season, prices skyrocket, so If it’s not in season, I buy canned or dried.   Fresh mushrooms, for example are delicious used in soups and pasta dishes, but dried shiitake mushrooms ar

Being a family of collectors, here is a continuation to my previous article about My Son’s Collection.   In this writing I will reveal my collections and my husband’s passion for collecting stuffs. complete set of Harry Potter Series Lord of the Rings, Dan Brown's, Robin Cook's, John Grisham's, etc. over 200 Star Wars books  some of Yahmir's book collection I am a book-lover.  I am fond of reading fiction, non-fiction, thriller, suspense, fantasy and other topics that catch my interest.  These books that I am buying and reading does not just stay in the bookshelves after I am done reading, for my husband and my sons are reading it too.  Seldom that I buy new or firsthand books, usually I buy them on book-sale or second hand book outlets,  except for the Harry Potter Series, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings and Dan Brown’s collection.   I also have this craze in collecting gadgets, from pagers to pda and cell phones.  At the moment, I am saving t

A woman with a very strong faith in God, strong willed, a mother who has unwavering love for her children, full of patience, optimistic, industrious, and a homebody are the qualities that best describes my Mom. My Mom Five years ago, she was diagnosed with a herniated disc in the lumbar 4 and 5 of her spinal column.  The reason why she’s suffering severe lower back pain and can hardly walk at times.  This is the biggest blow that came into our life.  The surgical operation plus the titanium screws needed to reconstruct her lower spine was so expensive, and we need to accumulate the cash needed in the soonest possible time.  Thankfully, due to the concerted effort of our family, my siblings and my mom’s sisters, nieces and nephews, we were able to pull in together the hard cash needed for the procedure she needed to undergo.  Money has not been the only problem at that time, because she’s already old and having a low body resistance is what frightened me so much.  Despite of everyth