Happy Mother's Day Mama

What have you got for your mother this year? Your time with her is worth more than enough. If you have the money, give her something she likes. I talk to my mom everyday on Skype. Yep, everyday for the last 5 years. There are days that we skip talking on line but, I made sure that I call her on the phone to inform her where I was. My mom is the most important person in my life and my husband knows that.

A year ago, I treat my brother and his family for a week trip to Manila, Philippines and booked their hotel at Bayview Park Hotel. It was their anniversary and my brother's birthday. Of course, my mom was with them too. They went to the Manila Ocean Park shown in the photo below :-) I never been here you know :-) I was only at the gate when I visited this place.

 
Here is my mom in her usual mood. Charming and serious hehehe.
 

Look at her strides LOL ... she's wearing her red strips and white capri pants. Excited to see what's in Enchanted Kingdom.

I think this is in Museo Pambata. Look at little Nadeen beside her , both of them are tiny :-) .

Here they are on the last day of their Manila vacation at the Mall of Asia. They're just lounging and preparing to have lunch. Ready for their flight back to Cagayan de Oro City.

Here they are ... taking wacky photos LOL.

Even though I am not there with her, she is surrounded with friends and neighbors who treasured her friendship. Most young neighbors in our village calls her Nanay or Lola which means "mother" and "gradma".

Here is another wacky pic with mama and my brother LOL.

This is in Intramurous, Manila a tourist destination in the Philippines. This is the oldest district and historic center of Manila. This place is known as the Walled City and was the seat of the Spanish government during the Spanish colonial period. The walled part was called intramuros, which means "within the walls".

 

Here they are again... the "I was there photo" moment LOL. This vacation is significant because its their first time to travel to Manila together. First time for my brother and the kids. With the wife , countless. With mom? Maybe this is her 4th time.

  

Even if I am not there with her, my friends take time to check my mom from time to time. I was lucky to have friends who are so loving and caring. It was actually my birthday and they surprised me for this. My mom was there to say thank you for the effort.

  

My brother and I are so grateful, lucky and thank God for having you mom. We wish you all the good health and we pray that God bless you more years of good health. I wish for the day that you and I will be together with me here in the US. I love you mom.

A Mother's Caring Touch

Growing up, I remember that my mom always has remedies for aches and pains. She usually applies herbal tunics when my brother and I have stomach bug and muscle pains. Her motherly care and tender touch adds for fast relief I must say. I am a sickly person in fact, every month, intense muscle aches and headaches knocks me down and my mom was always there for me with her herbal regimen just like the swedish bitters.

Whenever I needed fast relief from pain, herbal tunic and massage from my mom eased the pain away. Herbals are better pain reliever because it’s been tested by families for generations. The relaxing scent and the aroma is a therapy for instant relief and I am thankful for this regimen and the caring touch of my mother.

Miraculous Medal Necklace: Perfect Valentines Gift for Moms

My mom is a devoted Catholic and very religious too in fact, she is active in her religious affiliations. As far as I remember, she would wakes up at 3 AM and prays the rosary. It takes determination and a strong-willed person to continue such devotion for so many years right?

My mother is a single-mom and for all these years, she never falters in her faith. My brother and I grew up going to church every Sunday, joined the church choir and became an altar server, and with mom’s continued guidance, we embraced the Catholic religion as well. I thank God every day for my wonderful, loving and kind mother.  She takes good care for us in a holistic approach and she will always be my inspiration. On Valentine's day, my mom would surely love to wear this necklace from joyjewelers for miraculous medals. Her weakness is gold jewelry either pure gold or plated, it doesn't matter. When I found this item, I know this is a perfect gift for her on Valentine's. Happy Valentines Day Mom! We love you so much.

Extraordinary Woman on Mother's Day

She is my strength and I owe everything that I have become to my mother. She is a single mom to my brother and I. I have seen her struggles to make a living. Me, being the youngest was tagged along wherever she goes. She worked as a saleslady as I was growing up. It is the only job that she can have...after all, she only finished up to third grade in elementary. My grandpa who came from a Spanish descent told her that women stays at home to take care of the family so; education is good for men only, the provider of the family. She cried rivers when she was forbidden to go to school. Mama was our first teacher. My brother and I skip nursery and kindergarten, and learning to read and write was easy, thanks to Mama.

She was a saleslady for so many years and when that company bankrupt, gone was her source of income. She was worried but, I never saw her gave up! I never saw her cry and worried. Not until I was in high school. Education is very important to her so; she wanted to enroll us in the best school in the city but, she can no longer afford that. To make ends meet, she accepted doing odd jobs and I go with her and helped her out.

My uncle took my brother away from us and send him to a nice school. Washing the nastiest laundry of other people was heart-breaker. But, we did it every time my tuition is coming. I did good in school so; in college, I was accepted in Xavier University, the most prestigious school in the city and my mother was so happy. It was like a fulfillment of her own dreams.

My cousin got married and have kids so; they asked my mother to helped them out...in return, they will pay for my one semester in college. My mother took the offer and I, once again tagged along with her.

If not for a hard working mother, I will not finish my education. If not for her dreams, I could never aim higher. If not for her, I could have wasted my life feeling sorry of the life we have had.

A single mother who hurdle odd jobs was able to send her two children in Xavier University was truly an extraordinary woman. I have my own struggles at school ... financially ... so did my brother but, we graduated with good grades. Thanks to Mama, the source of our strength, our inspiration, and the pillar of our dreams.

A New Mom

When I was processing my Immigration papers, I did my own research on the Internet. I met Tin-Tin online who is having the same hurdle as I am. We share each others paper preparation and what pertinent documents to be added on the packet. She applied her Visa few weeks ahead of mine and did her embassy interview first so, she became my mentor. The advise such as Be Confident, Know your documents and Purpose of the Interview were her words of wisdom.

We passed everything with determination! We have no immigration lawyer and we did our Immigration documents on our own. At that moment, the immigration interview is most-feared. For the milestones of our lives, that moment is just a normal experience. She arrived the US a month earlier than I was. When I had my flight to the US also, that was her wedding day in Vegas. After almost two years, she is now a MOM. This is a picture of her baby's hand and I am not sure if that is hers or her husband. What an amazing blessing right? I would like to congratulate Tin-Tin for this new chapter of her life- becoming a Mother. I am so glad to know that you have an ANGEL to take care and gives you a deeper meaning of LIFE! Congratulations my friend.

A Gift Of Life For Mothers Day

I considered myself so lucky to have a mother who is very patient and so protective. My brother and I remembered how she took care of us unselfishly. She is a single mom and raised us without the support of my father. Life was really hard but we managed to survive with endurance and faith of God. I was so young when my mother lost her job because of bankruptcy. Since then, we started living in apartments and constantly moving from one place to the other. When I finished my University, I was lucky enough to have a permanent job and it augment our life situation. After two years, I surprised her with the property I bought and she was so happy to live in an uptown environment overlooking our city proper. That was gratifying and the greatest gift I gave to my mother. Mothers Day is fast approaching and I thought to give something more gratifying than material things for my brothers family this time. I heard about Cryo-Cell U-Cord at cryo-cell.com and it is a gift of life that everyone of us should consider giving specially on Mothers Day. This company has been in the business since 1992 and has helped more than 175,000 families worldwide in preserving newborn's umbilical cord blood. What good does Cryo-cell u-cord do then? It can treat more than 70 diseases and that is the greatest investment we can give to a family as a gift. If you are interested, call them at 1-866-524-7516 or visit the Website for more information.

Free $10 Gift Certificate

I am so excited to celebrate Mother's Day next month because I plan to give her a gift that she desire to have. How about you? What will be your mothers day gifts? Just to give you an idea,Photofiddle.com offer a Mother's Day gift certificate giveaway worth $10. Visit the site and you can create an art from any photo and put it on canvas or art print. That will be a great mother's day gift idea, right? If you have twitter, sign up for Photofiddle twitter to know the latest news, other great discounts and new contest promotion. I am sure you are inspired with this great event. You may retweet it and say something about this great idea in your facebook. You may also email and share this good news to your friends and blog about it! To claim your $10 gift certificate now, just email mom@photofiddle.com. Claim it before May 4th. Hurry!

Fiesta Celebration In The Philippines

When I open my MSN IM at 8PM (8AM Philippine Time), I was facing my whole clan on cam. LOL! The kids gets the first spot to talk to me. As if they are saying, NEXT?LOL!

It is our village fiesta in honor of the Divine Mercy (founded by Saint Faustina). It has been instituted by Pope John Paul ll that after Easter, The Feast of The Divine Mercy will be celebrated. I am a Catholic and just happy to note that my village , acknowledge the devotion of the Heart of Jesus as the source of overflowing LOVE and MERCY. I always join the celebration, my way of thanking God for all the blessings he poured on us. Fiesta celebration in the Philippines differ from each barangay (zone ), town or city . As for me, we celebrated twice in a year. We have City Fiesta in honor of Saint Augustine and Divine Mercy in honor of Jesus and remembering the life of Saint Faustina. Fiesta is a time for family gatherings. The host/hostess takes care of all the food preparation. Unless, other family member wanted to share /bring some food. This celebration is also a time for sharing, whoever wants to eat are welcome. Even strangers! This happened during City/Town Fiesta. They usually knocked on the door and their preference really is a take home food. Which the host/hostess willingly gave them anyway.

So proud of my mother because she did all the preparation and she hired my cousin as a Cook. Christian is a born cook. He was laughing when I said, I do my share of cooking here too. They did pretty good with the side dish and LECHON (roasted pig) takes over the center of the table. Typical Filipino main Food for every big occasion. My hubby was amazed to see my extended family jam packed in my bedroom just to talk to me. Delighted to see them all and I felt like I was there with them too. My mother was so happy of course, and that's what matters most to me. She likes to entertain her guests. Her close friends were there too. She was doing a good job and all the credits goes back to her. I stayed at 4AM (wide awake) talking to each one of them. My mom is the last person I talk to and she was so happy , tired but happy for the day's celebration.

HAPPY FIESTA!

My Mother

I just love to write about my mom that is why I keep posting her pictures. This is when they have a Senior Citizen Party, crowning for the queen of 2008...LOL! As if she can see both eyes. She dance and dance hahaha.