The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is Near

I can not believe it! 3 days more and the first "ber" month starts. It's "spending" time again for our family. Not that we are big fans of spending it's just that September to March is literally the spending time for our family because September is the month of our Anniversary, October is for Halloween, November is for Mia's birthday, December is Christmas season and it extends 'til January, February is the love month and March is for our birthdays and Mother's day. Whew!

And just as I've mentioned the Christmas season, last Tuesday, we went to Costco as guests of the Resmas. Costco is a happy place mainly because of the Christmas ornaments and all other Christmas related stuff that are already in the shelves! Mia and I had the time of our lives playing with the miniature carousels as we sang together with the toys singing carols. It is a happy place as well because 10kg of Thai rice is only £8.89! When I usually get 5kg for that price! The other items I got are just bonuses but the rice is the main star for me.

This is also the time for bazaars, exhibit booths, trade shows displays and I'm sure that logo floor mats would be everywhere. I especially like the logo floor mats when they are focused with spotlights. I bet that in no time the Centre in Milton Keynes will be packed. Last year, we witnessed how an exhibit booth truss was assembled and disassembled. It was fun watching the cleverness of the whole plan of displaying their items. Some sold out while some would probably have to be recycled this year. Those of you who fancies to have a go with a Christmas booth, get ideas and quotes here. If Selfridges in London can open a yuletide shop as early as August, why can't you? :)

Mine

Name Game

The origin of our daughter's first name is Latin and it means "mine". Jose was the one who chose Mia mainly because of its meaning. What can be more possessive than that right? :D It only took me a shower to make an affirmative decision. Besides my first name which is Mary begins with M so that would make an easy explanation... But I get to choose her second name. This was the tricky part.

There are so many people in both of our families that we want our daughter to be named after but the "twin towers" of my clan stood out from our list. I wanted Daniela because Mia Daniela rhymes doesn't it? But one of my cousins, Danielle Marie, was already named after Lolo Daddy; his name is Danilo by the way. That honor I thought should be matched so I chose my Lola Mommy's. Her name is Benita. I just made a little twist to Betina and it sounded perfect to me. It's original yet with a history. Most Betinas are spelled with double N but my Lola's has one so I decided to just keep it simple. I am not much of an elongating names fan anyway so B-e-t-i-n-a it is. Then I checked through the same baby book of names that Jose used to find Mia that Betina is a pet name derived from Elizabeth which means, "God is perfection and my oath".

My Lolo's Bonita Benitas

So what's your child or children's name story? Please share it with us at Mommy Moments.

Read Her Smile

Six or seven years ago, Jose had a business trip in India. He got me Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist and of course, pashminas. Those things, I honestly don't know where to find. But while I was putting our books in order, I found this:

Gathering Dust

For some time in our lives, we ask people to do Tarot Readings. The first (and probably the last) paid readings Jose and I have experienced were done in Quiapo before we went here in UK. We had our readings through different old ladies but the funny thing was, both of them told us things that matched as if they knew us since we were born. Some were really personal like how our spending and saving styles are so we were warned to make changes. The lady who read tarot for me said that my husband loves me so much and it is I who needed to be checked... (whatever that means). She said that there would be a "friend" of mine who would come and shake our very strong bond. Oooh! Creepy! And some readings are yet to happen. Like both of them said that Jose and I would have three to four children and we would have twins! Well, three to four is the ideal number of kids that we really like to have. But knowing how tough times are, we'll see...

But the happiness that my daughter is having with her Ate Alex and Sammie doesn't need any hunches or guesses... Just look how she is whenever they are together. :)

Pirate Ship at The Centre, MK

Mia / Sammie

Alex / At ELC

After Sunday Mass

BFFs

Beautiful Ballerinas! :)

They LIKE sand!

Pretty in Swimsuits!

Time for Ice cream :)

I'm So Touched!

With all very good Filipino friends and activities coming our way, who would not feel touched? I remember just months ago, I shared my longing to speak to another person in Filipino (well, aside from Jose) non-stop. Now, if not for the Escaños, we would not have known an entire community or even communities of Filipinos existing in Milton Keynes. Truly the idiom, "when it rains, it pours" applies to all blessings we have received and have yet to receive. We are definitely touched by angels - Ate Cech and Kuya Rob.

After three years in this country, this is our first ever Filipino Barrio Fiesta experience:

Barrio Fiesta in MK

With Ate Cech and Kuya Rob / With Ate Belle

Mia, Alex and Sammie with Bubbles

Have you done this ever? I'm jealous! :D

As I've mentioned through my new blog, still under blogspot, entitled Twinkie Was Called, here we are during our first CLP (Christian Life Program) of CFC (Couples For Christ) led by Kuya Rob and Ate Cech.

CFC's CLP at the Escaño Residence

And here we are on our second and we were invited to stay for barbecue! Also a first "barbie" for us here...

With Kuya Jerry of Singles For Christ

Alex, Mia, Sammie and Dia

And if you might think that Mia's new found friends through CFC are all girls, look now:

With Kuya Ditus, Paolo and Gabriel

The Golosinos with the Resmas (Ate Cheri, Gabriel, Paolo and Kuya Ditus)

It is also worth to mention that they gave us awesome Filipino treats like tuyo and salted eggs! They also brought lechon baboy! Sarsa ni Mang Tomas never tasted sooo good. My belly was sooo touched! :D

Just to segue, have you ever heard of a remote access software? Well I have. And the idea is amazing! Imagine, if you need something from your computer, all you need to do is to ask someone at home to turn the computer on and with I'm inTouch software loaded to your pc, any internet device like Blackberry, iPhone or your business computer, could get access readily! I remember the days when we still need to go home from school just to save a data from the pc that we thought we have actually saved! That's very irritating and time and money consuming! But I guess, with I'm inTouch, that's just a thing of the past from now on.

So, have you been touched or have been in touch lately? :)

Twinkie Calls' Special Day

In time for Twinkie Calls' first blog anniversary, it's just fitting to share with you one of the many blessings our family has been graced with last July - Cheche and Denden (and their families); my friends known through blogging, said YES to visit us in MK!

Cheche, Tantan, Baby Cayden and Tita Dhalie arrived just in time for lunch but they had to go home half past 10 in the evening. (Next time sleepover na! :D) Wala kami masabi kay Tantan with how he captured Mia's heart, super bait! Akalain mo, pumayag si Mia ipagpalit ang Daddy at Mommy niya! But I guess it was more of knowing that she could be with Baby Cayden - ang poging baby na hindi marunong umiyak! I love him to bits. Ang bango-bango niya!!! Tita Dhalie is one doting Mom and definitely a Lola Ganda. Her kwentos, I like very much. Na-miss ko sobra ang Mama ko because of her. And of course Cheche is a sight to behold. Kutis artista talaga! Hindi mo pati akalain na nanganak. Grabe!

Denden and Gerald followed at around four in the afternoon pero bumawi naman because they stayed until 3 am. :) This couple is such a cool force. Lalo si G! Winner sa kwentos. He's so funny but still full of sense. I'm really glad that amidst their busy lipat-bahay schedule, and even if Denden just recovered from a very bad flu, they still made it. Denden is very pretty rin, especially when she smiles which is almost all the time. Super aliw kami ni Jose sa kanyang accent kapag English at pag Filipino naman, walang ka-twang twang; genuine na genuine kahit aling language. We hope Mia will be like her na fluent din sa Filipino.

Enough talk from me, here are some photos taken during that day:

Jose/Me, Cayden, Tita Dhalie, Cheche, Mia and Tantan

The Relenas Family / Me with Baby G (for Guwapo)

Gerald and Denden Tayas, Tita Dhalie and Me / Merienda Time

Beautiful People / Baby G and Lola G

Siksikan sa aming munting "garden". They are the first and last guests to sit on those deadly old chairs. (Kakatapon lang namin last week. Finally!)

No, it was not Mia's birthday!

Remember the pink plush Mia was holding here? Cheche and Tantan gave Mia the coolest Peppa Pig lootbag! She got Peppa Pig Nintendo DS Game, a Mummy Pig Play-doh and a Peppa Pig Beanie Baby! We also got some of Cayden's Christening keepsakes. Super nice ng charms and the Ellies are sure hits for Mia. May Elephant family na siya ngayon with twins! :) We got our first flower pot ever from Denden and Gerald. Promise, we really appreciate it as in almost everyday yan dinidiligan at pinupunasan ni Jose! A month has passed but the flowers still look the same; very easy to take care. The lances and laces treats are also a first for Mia. Haha! Sarap! And Mia also got a Disney Princess Ariel blowing bubbles na I play with secretly. :D Hay! 'Di na dapat nag-abala at wala namang may birthday! Hehehe! Just the same, thank you very much for the thoughtful and sweet gesture.

Just Sinful Desserts

May gifts na kami, may dala pa silang dessert! Mia would never get tired eating Krispy Kreme. Kaya naman hulog agad loob ni Mia kay Tantan e! Hehe! At ang sapin-sapin... Wow! Ka-swerte namin na mabiyayaan ng isang napakalaking sapin-sapin made by Denden's Mom. Nyay naglalway na naman ako. :D

Cheche and Denden, maraming salamat sa pagpapaunlak ninyo sa aming invitation. Kahit nagsiksikan tayo, I hope you somehow felt the same happiness and "bitin" feeling that Jose, Mia and I had. I'm sure this is just the beginning of many other get togethers. God is really good as He has given us the chance to meet people like you two.

~o~

Words are not enough to describe how happy and fulfilled my blogging life has been. I've met great friends, read, laugh and cried all by myself with their posts. Blogging made my life as a mother easier mainly because most of the bloggers in my blogrolls are mommies too. Even if my Mama is far from me, my ways are checked nonetheless; self-checked. Parang quality assurance verification ba?

Honestly, I didn't know that today is THE day. I just know that August is when I first made a blog entry as seen through my blog archive. Coincidentally, it fell on a 21st and 21 is my favorite number. Only Jose knows why. It's also Ninoy Aquino Day and I am wearing yellow. Wala lang, 'di ko sinadya ha. :) From now on, I would always remember that August 21 is my blog's day. And as I've said before this blog was my 4th year anniversary gift for Jose as he was the one who urged me to give blogging a chance... Ayan humahaba na masyado ang entry na ito. :D

A huge THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU who welcomed Twinkie Calls. Will you hang around for another year? Please do. Cheers! :)

The Rain Did Go Away

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Rain, rain, go away!

Come again another day;

Little Mia wants to play!

Little Alex wants to play!

Little Sammie wants to play!

And so are their parents. :)

Call it good luck but I call it trusting in God... First weekend of July, we were supposed to go to London on a Sunday but the weather report showed greater promise on a Saturday. Friday afternoon, it was raining SO HARD. Jose was having second, third, even fourth thoughts whether to go or not. I asked him to have faith...

Look how our day went...

Green Park:

Alex, Kuya Rob, Sammie and Ate Cech / The Golosinos

Natural History Museum:

Science Museum:

Buckingham Palace:

London Eye and Big Ben:

Tower Bridge and Tower of London:

Happy Kids and Happy Ate Belle

This one's for my little niece TJ, short for Temple Jeanina:

We're going home!

Back to Milton Keynes:

As soon as we got home, the rain poured again. What miracle!

How about you? Did you get what you prayed for? Share it with us at Mommy Moments. Oh it feels good to be back!

Btw, I just recently bought Mia's rain gear for school, click this if you'd like to see how they look. :D