Refreshing Reward

pina colada

I got sick around Valentine's. I had this terrible headache, I felt dizzy and nauseous at the same time. It turned out to be common colds again but worse this time around.

I had been salivating for my usual drink of pina colada which happens to be my favorite drink ever (hands down!) but my throat was acting up. I knew I was on the verge of having tonsillitis and drinking something cold and sweet would definitely exacerbate my already aching tonsils :(

Tired from sleeping and being sick, I turned all this negativity into something productive and did some early spring cleaning.

finally organized this little space

properly filed impt docs

no more overflowing mails and papers from school :)

I only did a few areas but these were the areas I have been avoiding for the longest time (storage closet, filing cabinet, kids' room, closet, mails/papers). It was so time consuming to sort through clothes, mails, paperwork it took me more than 11 hours on the first day. I was also doing laundry at the same time since I took down the curtains and changed the bed sheets. I was running around like crazy and wanted to do one hundred things all at the same time. I did manage to get things in order but since I started late (1pm) by the time I finished at 11:30pm, I was ready to die. I knew I pushed myself too much but nothing a good night's sleep won't cure. I honestly couldn't wait to wake up the next day as I made a list of things I wasn't able to finish.

The next day I started a little bit earlier and finished around 9pm. I was still feeling sick and tired but decided to reward myself with a pina colada.

With my favorite drink in hand, feet up..best day ever right? :D

My Busy, Yummy Week

heart shaped pancake for my little girl

I had a busy but fruitful week. I finally brought back some order in the house, made a list of the things I have to do but still have yet to accomplish those things on my list. I just want the house to be super clean in time for Leila's 5th birthday.

Revamping our menu gave me more time for other things rather than spending so many hours laboring in the kitchen. It wasn't intentional but in our quest to budget, I have steered away from meals with so many ingredients. I just want our meals to be simple and appealing to the kids as well.

So here goes our food all week long.

Saturday breakfast

sausages and eggs

cheese omelet

hotdogs and omelet

roasted gourmet veggies

slow cooked leg quarters then deep fried

cheap frozen veggies cooked in butter

Leila's after school lunch consists of mini pizza and bananas dipped in strawberry yogurt

grilled marinated porkloin

marinated in two sauces (honey garlic and hickory)

roasted peppers

with pho soup and Lance's cheese omelet

porkloin with arctic gardens frozen veggies cooked in mushroom soup

Lance's snack bag

chicken pork adobo

chopsuey

cheese spring roll

I love these simple, easy to prepare meals. They're as good, probably even better than those meals I prepare for hours. I can't wait to do grocery shopping this weekend. Since I don't plan my menus, I literally wait for that light bulb moment in my head, so far it's working to our tummies' advantage :D

Shopping vs. Chores

paid $8.42 ($5.79 TAX)

Guess who has been MIA? Yep, me the extreme couponer in the making :D Nothing new, still chasing good deals here and there, getting bigger and more exciting hauls every week with my coupon buddy.

clearance finds

One thing I have learned though is never do shopping and laundry on the same day. I slacked on some chores particularly laundry since it was Mother's day over the weekend. Huge mistake on my part, I got swamped yesterday plus I went on a printing frenzy so by the time I went to bed, I was dead tired. What's worse is I'm not even done with the laundry, I have 3 more loads to do today. So am I shopping today or what? :D

Change of Color

Our washroom had a little makeover a few weeks ago. We finally changed the shower curtain, found one that we liked especially the material and that has a decent price. It was dark brown in color. Our old one was color blue including the bath mats. We thought of changing the bath mats to brown as well to match everything but held on to the blue ones for a couple of days before finally deciding to purchase brown ones.

Our small space looked gorgeous afterwards, clean and tidy (special thanks to me) and love the new color. I can't wait to change the shower curtain again and try another color. Green or yellow perhaps? Such a cute space to decorate without any heavy furniture lifting or dusting involved :D

Routines and Much More

While the kids have settled into their own routines, I found myself doing the same things on a regular basis as well. Before, I had no schedule at all. I would do the chores whenever I feel like doing them. I used to do the laundry 2-3x a week and I would iron at least once a month. I am quite lazy when it comes to ironing compared to my love for washing the clothes. Now, I do the laundry once a week and it's scheduled on a Friday instead of Saturday so I can spend more time with the kids during the weekends. The ironing is now also on a weekly basis and I can get it done faster when the kids are in school. The other chores are also accomplished when the kids are not home.

Settling in my own routines gives me a whole lot of time for the kids and myself too. I blog, watch TV shows and movies online during my free time. I now sleep way earlier than I used to and I guess that has given me more energy during the day. It makes me more determined to finish my daily tasks no matter how simple they are.

Included in my weekly schedule these days is giving my daughter her regular manicure and pedicure every weekend. She loves having pretty nails and now that she goes to school, they have to be perfect. Last week's color was red, it's blue and purple for this week, mine is pink and what's yours?  Let's all have a colorful week ahead everyone :D

Old Place, New Look

new look

fell in love with the whole flower arrangement and the wooden vase

Weeks after our summer vacation, we gave our living room a new look. It took a lot of cleaning and quite a bit of hard work to achieve a new look. It was addicting, we want new this and that and yeah, it takes a whole lot of self control and reality check to make us stop. It was just about time to get rid of the old stuff that were mostly given to us when we first got here and our house really needed a major cleanup so might as well redecorate a bit.

same vase, flowers arranged by hubby

We just wanted to create more space, minimize clutter and start the kids to sleep in their room. All were achieved thank goodness! We're still getting used to the new look, new sleeping arrangements and maintaining the cleanliness. The last part proves to be the hardest when you have two kids and lots of toys.

centerpiece

looove our carpet!

used to be all white

Between my hubby and I, he is more involved and  has the eye for decorating and coordinating. All I wanted was something red. A red couch won't be relaxing according to my hubby. A red accent chair for the bedroom could be negotiable though :D

Post Vacation Viral Illness and Separation Anxiety

ready for school!

While our summer vacation was a blast, days after we came back I got sick. I don't usually get sick or even if I do get a cold, it's over in a day or two. What I had though lingered for more than a week, what's worse is that I have kids to attend to plus my hubby of course.

empty living room, so much space and clutter free

Before I was fully recovered, my son also got sick he had to miss school for a couple of days due to on and off fever which the doctor diagnosed as something viral. In between recuperating myself, taking care of my son and my youngest child's first day in Pre-K, we also managed to rearrange the whole house. It was a grueling process but the end result is priceless.

afternoon nap in their own room yeyyy!

The kids, for the first time are now sleeping in their bedroom/playroom. This I guess was the best outcome of our home makeover/end of summer cleaning. We finally got rid of all the stuff we needed to get rid a long time ago. Toys were sorted out even the furnitures and everything or should I say mostly are in place. Finally the house was de littered!

finally!

And yes, the icing on the cake is that the kids no longer sleep on mom and dad's bed. We now can sleep comfortably in our queen size bed. We actually thought of buying a king size one to accommodate the four of us fortunately and surprisingly, the kids agreed to sleep in their room. There's still a bit of resistance but hopefully in due time, they'll get used to it. I do miss them though. I just couldn't wait to see them the next day. Mornings are just sweeter except that I now have to wake up early to prepare them for school. Curling up with mom will just have to be reserved during weekend mornings :D

Busy Thursday

I have postponed the laundry for days now and was planning to delay it until Friday but seeing the two baskets already full and with the bedsheets all over the floor, I just had to do it today! I finished folding around dinner time, there were so many interruptions throughout the day making it impossible for me to finish early. I had to prepare our food, I had to pick up Lance, feed the kids, attend to their other demands and so on and so forth. I also cleaned our washroom which is like an extension of the kids' playroom. Lei has a bunch of her toys scattered there which I washed and sorted out and limited into just one basket. I finally convinced her to let Mommy throw away her potty to give more space in our tiny washroom. I lit up a scented candle the whole day to take away the smell of the cleansers I used and hopefully I get to change the shower curtain this week. So tomorrow, I have an option to be lazy or follow it up with more cleaning inside the house. Option #1 seems a better idea but I'd love to have a spotless house. Yes, a mess free home, only in my dreams though :D

Hot and Lazy

Thankful for the sunny weekend, a swimming and BBQ party last Saturday and car spring cleaning on a Sunday. While I was excited on the first, I couldn't say the same thing for the second. I wasn't an eager helper but I did vacuum, it was the least I could do. Hubby said I should help since I'm using the car now, what about the household chores? How come I end up doing all of them? An endless discussion would probably start had I launched my litany so rather than argue and debate, I vacuumed and did my share of cleaning. It was such a hot day I would've preferred to lie down, read a book or sip a cold drink the whole day :D

Back to Busy Mode

vegetable salad with embutido (Filipino style meatloaf)

After my chores marathon yesterday morning until the early afternoon, I was dying to lie down, power nap and switch on to lazy mode again. But by the time I finished the chores, it was hubby's turn to wake up (he worked the night shift) so I had a late lunch ready, washed the dishes afterwards and prepared vegetable salad for dinner.

There's a bunch of things to do really and I can only nap or take a quick rest if I alienate myself from these chores which I'm getting good at. I only do things that are on top of my priority list and I'm happy to say that I only do things that I want to accomplish that particular day. I am hard working but not to the point of overdoing it. For this simple reason: I am my own boss :D

Productive At Last!

kids' cabinet

I had the most fruitful weekend ever. I was able to do some spring cleaning, took away all the small clothes and organized the clothes inside the cabinets, washed the jackets and hid all the winter stuff. Now I have a trash bag full of donations and a box of big clothes reserved for future use.

shared closet with hubby

I was also able to review the driver's handbook, took me awhile but I got hooked reading, read it several times over, took the online tests and finally had the courage to go down to the licensing office to take the test which I passed!!! I am so happy with my little achievement this morning, not to mention relieved as well. I didn't mind flunking it but it was a huge bonus passing it anyway.

I was so close to failing the test, halfway the exam I already had four mistakes, only one more to go and I'm done. I then took my time answering each question really analyzing them, no wonder my hubby said I took so long. Anyway, I couldn't concentrate much with all the noise inside the office including my children's voices plus two men were talking right beside the computer where I was taking the test.

I guess I'm just lucky and the online tests were a huge help. I'm just in heaven right now, I can almost ignore the fact that my gums are still swollen from last Friday's wisdom teeth extraction. I really don't mind having good days like these :D

R&R (Lazy Mode)

grilled milk fish stuffed with onions and tomatoes

Finally cooked the milk fish and pompano during Lent. No meat during this time, or at least we avoided it as much as we could. Missing (again) the fresh seafood back home and Mom's fish with turmeric!

baked pompano

Missing a lot of things and family (of course) but life has to go on, it's just a matter of doing things that bring simple joys. Be it a road trip, visiting friends, a stroll in the park or watching a movie with the whole family, whatever it is, as long as it takes my mind off all the worries.

last night's cheesy baked pasta

Ironing clothes is one effective way. Kept me busy for half of the day and seeing my basket of folded clothes empty is more than enough to bring a huge smile on my face. Since Lance is on Easter break, I can also afford to be lazy, taking power naps and having a much needed R&R.

We also had pasta last night because nobody wants to do the grocery :D

Cleaner and Cozier

After a night of hard work, as if that wasn't enough, we rearranged and cleaned the whole living room the next day. It looked nice afterwards but the rest of the house was a huge mess. I still have to clean the bedrooms, dining room and kitchen before I could say that our house is clean enough. Since we had to go somewhere, the cleaning was limited to the living room only.

When I got home in the evening, the coziness of the living room inspired me to continue cleaning. It was really late when I finished the bedroom, hoping tomorrow I'd still be in the mood to do some more cleaning and rearranging.