Day 247: Worship Night

Last night's experience during BCBP's Worship Night was something that truly renewed and strengthened my spiritual and prayer life. Understanding more about scripture and receiving God's word was an amazing experience.

Day 246: Pride and Joy

One of the gazillion things I love about being a mom is watching my children absorb the things they encounter everyday like sponges. Their learning potential is truly at its peak right now that they're in preschool and primary ages. 

Ever since starting formal school almost 3 years ago, Jarred Andrei, my firstborn, has developed in leaps and bounds from the very first time he held a pencil in his hand and attempted to write. Sure, he was an excellent verbal communicator but he was weak in reading and writing then. 

My little man has grown a lot since then and has achieved far greater than I have ever imagined he would. It was a mother's pride that nearly made me shed tears when I got up on stage to pin his ribbons during the 1st Quarter Recognition Day today. He was 2nd Honors in both the Chinese and English Departments. I was overwhelmed with joy as I saw that sparkle in his eye. It certainly made me think that all those hours labored over exam reviewers were well worth it.

Day 245: Boogie Night

Hubby and I are ballroom dancing freaks. Back in hubby's ex-company, we usually had our annual fix of dancing during the VisMin Christmas Party in Cebu. Oh my, we could go on dancing all night then. We didn't realize how much we missed dancing until the opportunity arose tonight during the 80th birthday celebration of our BCBP bro, Pediong Lumbres. 

Our three children were a sight to see - they were clapping and cheering us on. The eldest, Jarred, had that twinkle of pride in his eye as he watched Mom and Dad take the dance floor ("...Son, remind Dad and I to teach you the tricks of the trade when you get older, ok?).

Day 244: Lanzones Season

You will know once the "-ber" months have arrived when you suddenly see a proliferation of fruit vendors selling lanzones (lansium domesticum). These fruits are ovoid orbs covered in light yellow leathery skin and the sweet flesh are divided into 5-6 segments or wedges. 

I remember childhood days in San Jose, Batangas enjoying these fleshy goodies as Lola Rosing would usually harvest them from her own trees during season. 


It's funny that my own kids enjoy eating lanzones and would usually ask to stop by the sidewalk fruit vendor to buy some. Even the littlest one, CeeJae loves the succulent and sweet flesh of lanzones.

Day 243: Culinary Prize

Guess what was delivered to my doorstep today? The cookbook from Unilever Foodsolutions which I won at an online contest finally arrived! A few weeks ago, I "liked" a fan page on FB and learned a lot more about cooking. At the time, there was an online contest regarding "Your Adobo Story". I decided to submit my entry on Adobong Pusit and a week later, I received a message announcing that I won a copy of "Around the World in 80 Plates". Thanks to my good friend, Caren for hooking me up to So Pinoy Dishes in Facebook. It has truly inspired me to keep on exploring and discovering the culinary artist in me. 

Day 242: The CeeJae Strut

Our little princess loves music so much...whether it's singing or dancing, she seems to always get into the groove whenever she hears music.

Here's CeeJae showing off her cool dance moves...

Day 241: BCBP-Butuan's 14th Anniversary

Despite a hectic week, the Lord has blessed hubby and I with the time and opportunity to help out with the preparations for the 14th anniversary of our BCBP community in Butuan. It was an out-of-town celebration and details on food, the mass and program had to be planned and laid out well.

All in all, everyone had their spirits renewed with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, their tummies filled with scrumptious food and their bodies and minds juggled a bit during the fun games.

It was a wonderful event for brothers and sisters in the community to bond with each other and their families. We look forward to many more of these in the future.

Day 240: A Taste of Heaven

The boxes of Oreo cookies and Pancake batter mix have been sitting on the pantry shelf for a couple of weeks now since I first planned to make a sweet surprise for the family. Knowing how my son, Jarred loves Oreo cookies, it took great effort on his part to resist popping open the box and devouring the goodies all at once. He and his siblings kept on asking when I'll finally make the "goodies". Well, after a tiring week of school activities, I finally had the time to make good my promise to the little ones and my big one. 

This recipe has done its rounds over Facebook for sometime and I was curious to find out if it was really as good as people have been commenting about it...

OREO SURPRISE

1 box Oreo cookies (2 packets)

1 pack instant pancake mix

1/4 cup water or milk

1 1/2 cups canola oil (for deep frying)

Preheat pan then add oil for frying. Prepare pancake batter according to package instructions. For creamier batter, use milk instead of water. Dip each cookie in the batter and when fully coated, drop each one slowly onto the hot oil. Flip when lightly browned on one side and brown the other side. Lift from hot oil right away to prevent burning. Cool for a while. Enjoy while warm.

So, was it a taste of heaven? Well, hubby and I enjoyed it. The first bite was the best one...with the soft dough breaking to let the sweet richness of the melted Oreo explode inside the mouth. One or two morsels would be enough as it was too rich to enjoy too much of. Well, for the kids, I guess having their Oreos and pancakes separately was still a much better idea for them.

Day 239: Celebrating BFCS' 22 years

By the end of a very long and tiring week, everyone was ready to take things slower. Today marked the awarding ceremonies of the SportsFest and Literary-Musical events held earlier in the week. By noon, parents and teachers also had an opportunity to bond over the Luncheon Fellowship. In the end, all kids went home winners, their hearts full of pride and joy.

Day 238: Treasure-Trove of Talent

Every year during the school's Foundation Week celebration, the most awaited event has always been the "Lit-Mus" or Literary Musical Competition. This year was no exception. Everyone was revved up for the different categories. Hours before showtime, students, parents and teachers were scrambling about to prepare for the contest - make-up, costumes and props had their last minute touch-ups.

Right before curtain call, there was a bevy of amazing costumes, animated characters and attractive props. The different groups had to compete in three categories namely, Readers' Theater, Speech Choir and Song Interpretation.

Here is the SUN Team (which my son is a part of) with their Readers' Theater performance that earned them first place...

...and their poignant interpretation of the Newsboys' "Amazing Love" which garnered 2nd place...