Two Nights Off

I've had two nights off from the blogworld. I thought I was already finished with all my online work so, I had a self declared holiday for two nights. So, what I did for my two nights off? Watched two inspirational movies, The Blind Side and Freedom Writers, read a book and slept a bit early.

And then when I checked my email account this morning, I found out that I was supposed to submit a few posts the night before. Opppss... I plainly forgot about my other online work. How could I forget that work that has been given to me a week before?

Even if I've missed those opportunities, but I still didn't regret my 2 nights off. It was a time for me to relax and take a break from my online work. I especially love the movies I watched too. The Blind Side is such a touching movie about a rich family who adopted a homeless kid who later became a famous football player. What makes it a great movie is the fact that it's a true story. It is possible to love someone like your own son even if you don't have the same race or background. The Freedom Writers on the other hand is about a newly graduate Teacher who teaches the most delinquent class in the school who didn't have a 'hope for the future'. Her students are mostly gangsters and considered as the third class citizens who are 'no good' in the eyes of others. But this newbie teacher saw the potential in the them and sought to understand them more and taught them to believe in themselves. And because they did, they were able to graduate high school and had the chance to enter college. As for some students, they are the first and only high school graduates in their family.

Anyways, since my self-declared holiday is over. Let me go back to work and read some PacificHost Review . I'm currently looking for a web host for my newest blog and it seems that Pacific Host has great ratings and reviews.

THankful Thursday - April 29

Wow! I can't believe that it has been more than a month since I've joined this meme. I'm glad to be back,listing out all my thanksgiving to God for this week.

1) I thank God for His constant protection in our family. Last Friday was a such an unusual day as my Hubby had 2 minor accidents in one day and a car accidentally hit our center's parked van. All that happened in a day.. Weird but we know that God's protection is upon us and my Hubby is unharmed. Thank you Lord!

2) I thank God for things are finally starting to get going at the Center. Things have been very slow lately and we're just glad that finally, everything is peaking up.

3) I'm thankful for God's promises are always true.. even there may be some delays ( according us?) but everything will come to pass in His perfect time.

4) I'm thankful for our kids who are a real blessing to us. Our soon to be 6 year old girl has become very responsible and my constant help at home while my 2 and a half year old can communicate and express himself better now.

5) And last but not the least, I'm thankful that our God is ever gracious, loving and true.

A Blessed Thursday to All!

DIY Man

My Hubby is a certified, DIY Man. He has learned a little bit of carpentry, electrical and plumbing work through observation and practice. Having the right tools and equipment also makes a lot of difference as it makes his tasks easier. So power tools like bosch tools or makita tools are very helpful in the house.

I thank God for my DIY man, there's no need to call the electrician, plumber or carpenter when things go wrong in the house. I just need to tap my Hubby's shoulder and ask him to fix it. LOL!

End of April

Wow! It's already the 27th of April now and the month of May is fast approaching. Time really went by so fast. It seemed like it was just yesterday since we moved back here in Thailand. And didn't realized that we've already been here for 4 months. Wow!

Anyways for the month of May. I'm looking forward for my daughter's admission in the local Thai school and her 6th birthday too. Hopefully, we could order our homeschool materials for this month too. As for our li'l guy, we're currently looking for a babysitter for him so I can have time to homeschool my daughter once we have her materials.

Sites and SEO

When I was just a newbie blogger, I was so curious about SEO and was trying so many ways to increase my blogs' traffic, readership, ranking and etc. I would be reading a lot of articles on how to increase traffic and increase blog ranking and I'd be submitting my blogs to different directories and search engines. A higher ranking for my blogs gave a sense of fulfillment and at the same time, it would mean, more business opportunities with my online 'work'.

But then, it's either I passed through that stage of excitement or I just got busy with other things that I stopped and have completely forgotten about all these SEO tools. Now, I hardly check my site meter and my rankings. I only get to check them once my friends alert me that rankings have been updated.

But today, I found SEO scope that has Seo tools for every web master, so I gave it a try searched my sites. I was surprised to see that there was complete information provided about my blog in that site; approximate summary traffic for organic keyword tools, Quantcast & Compete rank, top traffic positions for keywords in Google, SEO Score, Alexa graph and even a snapshot of my blog!

Yummy Sunday - Phat Kra Pao

Phat Kra Pao Gai or Chicken Basil

I'm not sure if I've already featured this photo as a Yummy Sunday entry but one thing for sure is that I miss this dish so much. I have been trying to avoid rice for many weeks now and so, I'm also avoiding this dish (Phat Kra Pao Gai). This is a spicy dish and goes very well with rice. So, even if this is one of my fave Thai food, I would have to set this aside first for the sake of my 'figure'.. LOL!

Have a blessed Sunday!!

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It Worked!

Yes, success! Our little boy has slept a bit earlier this time. After trying out almost every possible way to help him with his sleeping problem, something has worked. Thanks to our friend, Janet who suggested the natural remedy.

So what worked? The running in the stadium at night didn't work. The no afternoon naps didn't work. All the lullaby's have already been sung but didn't work. The change of milk, the hot baths and other things didn't work.

But the warm milk with honey and the lavender essential oil did! Yes! It has been two nights in a row since we gave Lyle a hot bath with a few drops of lavender essential oil and let him drink warm milk with honey from his bottle. Which reminds me to start training him to use the cup because his teeth might get easily spoiled and he might need cosmetic dentist San Diego in the future :D. Anyways, after the bath and the milk with honey, he has slept off after an hour of putting him to sleep. An hour is already short for us since for weeks we've been putting him to sleep for hours.

Wow! I thank God for the solution.. thank God for our boy could rest more and so could we.. :)

The Low Tech Me

I'm very outdated when it comes to the latest mobile technology. Believe me or not, the 'latest' Nokia model I can remember now is Nokia 3210! I'm not kidding! And that was the 'latest' model a thousand eras ago. LOL! I think I've really been left behind by high technology. Of course, I've heard about Iphones, Blackberry, Ipad and Ipods but I barely know the difference.

I asked this very 'stone age' question with my Hubby one time, " What's the difference between an Iphone and an Ipod?" For me, they sound alike and I thought that they're both used as a phone. Silly me!

Anyways, I have to update myself a little bit and take look at all these new gadgets. It'll be too embarrassing if my daughter would know about these things first than I do. Kids are very advanced these days, her classmate in the English summer workshop even brings this camera phone in class. Hi tech kiddos!

Our Li'l Boy's First Day of School

The boy who didn't want to be in his class.. LOL!

The Thai school year hasn't started yet but in the school where we are planning to send our li'l boy, they have trial classes for 2 weeks to prepare them for the actual classes in May.

We were supposed to send Lyle to school on Monday ( the official first day of trial classes) but due to his sleeping problems, he only slept at 2 am. So, we thought of letting him sleep in the morning. Then on that same day, in the late afternoon, lyle had a minor accident which led us to decided again to let him be absent on Tuesday.

And finally, today we woke him up early. He was a bit reluctant to wake up and go to 'school' but after some talks and persuasion he finally agreed.

When we arrived in his school, their classes already started. From outside the classroom, I could already hear 2-3 children crying loudly in a chorus. Hmm.. not a very good welcoming sight for our li'l boy huh. Since it was the first day of school and classes only lasts for 3 hours, I thought of waiting for him outside. The teacher was telling me that it was okay for me to go back home and only come back at 11am. But I was not so sure how our boy would feel about it when I already told him that I'll be waiting for him outside . And not even a few seconds of going inside the room, our boy immediately ran to the playground!

The teacher was telling me again, that it's always like that once they see their Moms. But anyways, I told the teacher that tomorrow I'll try to just leave him behind. But I have to prepare him for scenario that first. So, Lyle was happily playing outside in the playground while some of the kids are still wailing inside the classroom. I took a peek inside the room to see what the other kids are doing. But they were just sitting there too!

Anyways, after an hour, I decided to bring Lyle home since there's no hope for him going back inside the classroom.

Now, I'm not so sure anymore, whether I'll send him to pre school. The only major reason we're sending him there is so that I can homeschool Tricia in the afternoons. He's only 2 and a half years old, so it's not really compulsory for him to learn and be in school. But anyways, we will try to send him again for a few days and see whether he will be able to adjust better. If not, then we will have to find someone to babysit him for about 3 hours while I homeschool my girl.

A Trip to the Stadium

As our desperate measure to put our li'l boy to sleep at night, we went to the stadium to let him run around and get tired. You see, we've been having problems ( for weeks!) putting our boy to sleep at night. So, we tried letting him run around and get tired.. but sad to say, it didn't work.. he still slept at 2 am that night.

But anyways, we had fun at the stadium. Tricia ran the oval so fast! Lyle and I only did 1/4 of it. It was just too long for me and Lyle.. we weren't even running we just walked and marched. But I think Tricia has that athletic ability. I remember she also did the same thing when she was only 4 years old.

Anyways, here's our pictures of that night at the stadium. We plan to go there more often for more fitness and exercise. LOL!

Just now I realized that Tricia looks like she doesn't have legs here..hehehe!

Listening to the Radio Online

I love listening to different Christian music. Christian music brings upliftment, encouragement, and reminds us about God's greatness and goodness. Since the 'passing' away of our CD player, our house has been very quiet except for the noise of the kids. We have a cassette player but most of our cassette tapes are either broken or obsolete. LOL!

I'm so glad I found a site online radio that plays contemporary Christian music 24/7. It's through this site that I'm somehow updated with the latest songs and singers. And I just love it. Turning on the online music is usually one of first things I do once I get downstairs and only then I prepare breakfast and have my devotion.

I'm even amused that even my kids know some of the songs that are being played. Remember I posted about Tricia's favorite song about Love? She heard that song from this online radio. Lyle can also sing a few phrases of some of the songs. It's amusing because I will have to listen closely first and try to guess what song he's really singing because his words are not so clear yet.

In this site, they also feature some excerpt of teachings from different preachers and a bit of the news. They really have DJs who talk, introduce the music and discuss about the weather.

Anyways, I'm really thankful that they were able to come up with this site. The site loads fast and very easy to navigate. I guess they've got a great web site hosting and domain hosting. I wonder where to get business hosting if some people are interested to get one. I'm actually trying to get a web host for one of my blogs. I find it very advantageous to get my own hosting so, that there won't be much limitations on what my site can do.

Tricia's Original Composition

We were on our way to KL by our li'l girl just kept on singing and singing her own songs. So, I thought of documenting part of it for her to see when she grows up. Who knows she'll grow up to be a composer. What I love about her songs, is that they're usually songs that praises and worship God. Luv em'!

Another Blog Approved!

Thank God that my newest blog has already been approved by one of the best paid blogging company. I'm excited! This company has really been very generous in giving bloggers like me a lot of opportunities to earn through blogging.

And since my other site has already been approved and ready to earn, I then need to get its own webhosting . There are really a number of advantages of getting your own webhost. The greatest advantage for me though is that compared to being free hosted, you will be more flexible with your own site when you get your own hosting. There won't be much limitations. There's a site that can help you get the best webhost through reading through the webhosting reviews.

With another blog approved in the company's system, I'm thinking of moving on with my plan of creating a photo blog. But I have some problems starting this blog, I'm not a very good photographer and my camera is not very good. But, maybe I'll have to start anyways and maybe improve along the way. And maybe then, I can have a better camera in the near future.

Ah.. so many plans but so little time. My online life is getting busier while my time to be online is getting lesser. Our little boy hasn't been sleeping well in the night and nighttime is actually my only time to write posts except for weekends when everything is free and easy.

Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, I thank God for another blog approved! And I thank God that for more than 2 years now, our family has received great blessings through my blogs.

Yummy Sunday -Red Ribbon

I miss Red Ribbon Bakeshop. This has been one of my favorite places to hang out while we were in the Philippines. I love their cakes and lasagna while Hubby loves their beef and bangus.

This is what we had during one of the afternoon snacks with my Mom. Their cappucino was nice too.

Ice Breaker Games & Team Building Activities

Have you ever felt that your meeting, class or group needs something to jumpstart? Everyone comes in your meeting or class feeling either so caught up with things, bored or tired. Some may even come very uneasy especially if it's a new class or group of people meeting together. Then, you can start to lighten up the mood by playing icebreaker games.

Ice breaker games has accomplishes two objectives:

1) They lure or break people out from their comfort zone in a very gentle manner and most of all give them an opportunity to have fun!

2) They kick start the fun and once you've done it, it just grows and grows making everyone at ease with each other and thus at the end their are much more free to blurt out the ideas and thoughts.

On the other hand,doing team building activities can also help your group in many ways. Team building activities increase unity, cohesion and trust within a team or group all while providing a energizing, fun and memorable social experience that your group will never forget. Thus it's important to choose the right team building activities for your group. And there's lots of good resources available on the internet for all these.

I'm for Bro. Eddie

Another 24 days to go before the Philippine Elections will take place. Have we made our choice on who to vote for President?

I, for one support Bro. Eddie for Presidency. I can truly attest that this man is a man of wisdom, passion, integrity and most of all righteousness. We have followed his life for many years and have never heard of any stain or blemish in his integrity as a Pastor and leader of the JIL movement. We already have had all sort of presidents in the past. But what has happened to our country right now? Because of our past and current leader's own greed and unrighteousness, our country has taken a downfall. Why? Because all those people whom we have casted our votes in the past don't have that real fear of God and therefore can be easily persuaded by men with evil intent and can even be swayed on their own personal ambitions for the sake of the 90 million Filipino people.

I just hope and pray that we will have a better Philippines. A Philippines that will have that fear of God and only do good.. A Philippines that can really take care of the poor and unprivileged and make their lives better.. A Philippines that can be a haven for all the citizens both rich and poor. A Philippines that would no longer be looked down upon by other countries. A Philippines that will no longer be a laughing stock by being on the top list of the corrupt nation.. A Philippines that once again will rise above the others and contribute so much in the whole world.

Help us, God...

Alvin and the Chipmunks

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Alvin and the Chipmunks. All opinions are 100% mine.

Alvin and the Chipmunks has been one of my favorite cartoons ever since I was young. I could vividly remember watching the every episode every Wednesday afternoon in our local channel. I find them so cute and I love their music so much. Then, the first animated movie came out a few years back and even if I've grown up but I still find them cuter than ever. My li'l girl was able to watch their first movie and she loved them too.

And finally, they made a sequel entitled "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel", and my kids and I truly enjoyed the movie. The good news is that the "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is available on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download NOW!! The double dvd pack includes "The Squeak Along" Bonus Disc, with more music, More Munk Mayhem and all-new singalongs! You can buy it now so, you can always include this great and funny movie in your movie collection.

If you can't have enough of Alvin, Simon and Theodore, you can visit their site and 'munk' yourself or better yet visit http://www.foxfamilyflicks.com to play some games and activities. It'll surely be a lot of fun for you and your kids.

Bicycle Ride

Our li'l girl is excited. We brought back her bicycle from Hubby's hometown yesterday. Today, she was happily cycling and going around the neighborhood. On the other hand, my li'l boy is struggling to reach the pedals of the bicycle we borrowed from our family friend. :)

Here is a photo of my li'l gir taken last year, confidently riding the bicycle without the side wheels.

Games Galore!

Sometimes we need to play games to let our minds rest after some 'serious work' . I remember playing Zuma a few years back. That was how I de stressed after a long day of work. Until, I was hooked with it and tried so hard to finish the game up to the highest level and I did it. After that,I haven't tried playing other computer games.

Anyways, I've just seen a site that called funbrain. It has a wide variety of games from dress up games for kids to word games for grown ups. It's called the funbrain arcade. If you want to play some online games then visit funbrain com .

Watery Wednesday - Beach

This was taken at Samila Beach, Songkhla, Thailand last month. That little boy on the foreground is our 2 year old. Our kids really love the beach!

For more Watery Wednesday entry please click the badge below. Happy Wednesday!

Surfer and Preacher

" I want to be a surfer and a preacher at the same time", that was what my li'l girl declared the other day. Wonder why she suddenly want to be a surfer? She has just watched the movie Barbie and the Mermaid Tale where Barbie is a surfer in the movie. As for being a preacher, she has wanted that for quite some time after she told us that she wants to serve God.

I'm just amused how my li'l girl creatively mixed these two together. I wonder what she wants to be next, a Hawaii Plastic Surgeon maybe?

$25 Visa Giftcard Giveaway

Aisha's Memorabilia is hosting a giveaway! She's giving out a 25$ Visa giftcard to the winner of her giveaway and it's open internationally. Cool huh? You must have a blog so that you'll be qualified to join her contest.

To enter and increase your chances of winning:

~ Become a subscriber of Aisha's Memorabilia (5 entries) ~

~ Follow her blog ~

~ Follow Aisha's Memorabilia in Twitter ~

~ Tweet about the giveaway: Win a $25 Visa giftcard @ Aisha's Memorabilia http://aishasmemorabilia.blogspot.com, ends 5/1/10 ~

~ Tweet daily and leave me a comment in her blog whenever you tweet ~

~ Add Aisha's Memorabilia in your blogroll ~

~Blog about this giveaway. Submit your link in the comment portion so I can visit (5 entries) ~

Why don't you join now! :)

Of Insurance and Medicare

I remember my friend who was an insurance agent was trying to convince me to get a health insurance plan. I told her that I seldom get sick and don't need one. But she was so persistent that I still ended up getting a life insurance from her.

But because I wasn't that convinced yet of the importance of life and health insurance, I never pushed through paying my monthly bills. Now, thinking about it.. I'm regretting why I never continued with it. Those are months of payments laid into waste. I should have known better.

Currently, we have health insurance from our organization. Praise God that indeed with health insurance you can never have second thoughts to go for medical check up or get admitted to the hospital. It would be cool to get medicare supplement plans but I guess for now, we are most thankful and already contented with our basic health insurance.

Mellow Yellow Monday - Bunny Lantern

This cute bunny was one of the lanterns displayed at the Hatyai Lantern Festival early this year. This is a yearly display of beautiful lanterns made from all over Thailand and some parts of Asia.

For more Mellow Yellow Monday Entries, please click the badge below.

Free Wordpress Themes

I have a few of Wordpress blogs and I have always been wondering if there are other free wordpress themes available outside the site. There are nice wordpress themes within the site but then, due to the fact that their themes are quite limited, you would always find a blog or two with the same theme of your choice.

But now, I just found a site that offers free wp themes download and I heard that it's The Best Free Wordpress Themes For Download . I better check it out now and change my wp blogs' template later.

Yummy Sunday - Sweetheart

"Sweetheart". This is the name of my favorite 'bread' when I was still small. So, whenever I go back to the Philippines, I never fail to buy a packet of these from the supermarket and relive my childhood. LOL!

I'm not even sure if this is a bread or a cake but I just love the sugar coating on top and this is just perfect with my coffee. Haayy.. wish I could have at least a slice of this now. :)

Job Vacancy

I've heard that the new international school here in our city is looking for professional teachers. And it's amazing that one of the school is giving priority to Filipino teachers. Yes, it's quite a pleasant change from the different stories we've heard were our countrymen where they are usually at the bottom of the priority list of many schools even if they are professional teachers with years of experience as opposed to other nationailities with not much qualifications. It is quite a sad fact that some school are giving priority to the westerners because of their color.

Anyways, if you know anyone who might be interested with this job, then maybe you can check it out. Ask your friends to submit their resumes and CVs and who knows they might get accepted. If they need resume writing help . Then, they can check out sites that give out free sample resumes or template for resume .

And by the way, there are new rules of the Government to acquire work permit and teacher's license here. If before the only requirement for teachers would be any four year degree course plus TEFL certificate, now they are requiring all teachers to be Education graduates with TEFL certificate.

Teaching Next Week

I'm quite excited yet apprehensive. I'm going to teach the children next week ( for a month!) for our English Summer Workshop. I think I can quite handle the kids but I easily get exhausted after teaching them for an hour or two. I think it's because I really need to exert so much to try to engage the students in every activity and lessons. You see, I'm naturally a quiet and introvert person so, I need to exhaust all my energy to be 'comic', sing and dance all the kiddie songs and 'entertain' them while teaching them English.

Anyways, I'm praying for our classes next week. Not many students have signed up yet and we hope that we will have students. We've just moved to a new building and it seems our advertisements/promotion efforts hasn't taken any effect yet.

If you're currently staying in Hatyai, please do help us in promoting this Kids English Summer Workshop next week. !st Batch starts on the 5th of April and the second batch starts on the 19th of April.