EMPOWERED MOM

Last Saturday, we went off as early as 4 in the morning to move our stuff to our new apartment, and our parent’s belongings to the new place where they shall be temporarily staying while waiting for the great move in “the house up there”. It was quite a taxing move, but it’s all worth it.

At our apartment, there are quite a few changes that we shall apply. Like putting up of the curtains as the place would look dull without them. The wooden flooring need to be shined with wax every now and then. I need to find a really nice rug to match the decor, as well as provide a better sitting area. We shall still be using the throw pillows instead of huge couches. Kind of similar to a Japanese sitting area. I would also place my “Butsudan” there so it kind of works through the decorating scheme.. As for the kitchen, my sister and I decided to place velcro on screen sheets to detach them whenever we shall cook in the kitchen area.

So far so good. But the water has not been restored yet so we wait final moving until there’s water already…

Although you want to plan an extravagant birthday party for your child, your budget may dictate otherwise. You do not need to drain your bank account for your child to have a successful birthday party and have fun with his friends. Before planning a birthday party, set a dollar amount for your budget. As you think of ideas, estimate the cost so you can stay within your budget. You may need to choose less expensive options, but your child can still have a fun party to celebrate his special day without breaking the bank.

Before planning your child’s birthday party, think of your guest list and the child’s age. A bowling party is fun for children over six, but younger children will not has as much fun as this type of party. If you have a large family or your child wants to invite a lot of friends, you will need to think of an affordable party idea for a large number of people. If your guest list is small, however, you can choose a party idea that is more expensive per person and still remain within your budget.

1. Animals Birthday Party

Kids love animals, and since the theme is so broad, it will be easy to find decorations and activities for the party. Kids can make animal masks or hats as part of the party fun and these can be used as favors for the guests to take home. Getting a cake from a bakery is expensive, so you can make your own. One of the easiest cakes to make for an animal theme is a paw print. Simply make a double-layer round cake and frost it with a solid color. Set four cupcakes around the circle cake to make the paw print. This cute cake is great even for a beginning cake maker.

2. LEGO Birthday Party

Kids love LEGOs, so a LEGO party is a lot of fun. To make the cake, make a cake in a 9×13 pan. When cool, place the cake on a covered board or cookie sheet. Place six or eight large marshmallows on top of the cake to make a LEGO brick. Ice the cake with a solid color of your choice to make a block. For decorations, use solid primary colored plates, crepe paper, napkins and table clothes. Help your child create his name using LEGOs and LEGO minifigures for decoration. For fun at the party, have the children build with LEGOs. Older children will enjoy contests for the most creative creation.

3. Princess Birthday Party

Little girls love pretending to be a princess, so this party theme is a popular one. You can make it a general princess theme rather than using licensed princess decorations to stay within budget. Buy solid pink plates and decorations to set the mood. Buy or make crowns for the guests to decorate as part of the fun. Your guests can enjoy the royal treatment by getting manicures or a make over with help from adults. For an inexpensive cake, make a rectangular cake and use a store-bought crown for decoration. You can also print a solid crown image and cut it out to make a stencil to decorate the cake.

4. Sleepover Birthday Party

Sleepovers are inexpensive party ideas for older children. Often, the children will play with your existing toys and new gifts, so there isn’t a need to plan many games. Plan a movie and popcorn for the children to enjoy before bedtime. Just be sure to stock up on drinks and snack food that are easy for the kids to have. Plan a special breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes or doughnuts for the kids to enjoy the next day.

5. Playground Birthday Party

If your child has a summer birthday, having a party at the park is a lot of fun for younger children. Most parks let you use the pavilion for free or for a small fee. You will need to provide tablecloths and disposable plates, but decorations will be minimal. You will not need to plan a lot of games because the children will have fun playing on the park equipment. Cupcakes are a good choice because they are quicker for the children to eat and get back to playing.

James usually assists with the printer ink over at Cartridge Save but can also be found working with Brother toner. He also blogs and writes content.

It might be the last thing on your mind when planning a long weekend away, but those huge, built up laundry piles aren’t going to wash themselves when you get back. If a weekend away in the great outdoors is on the cards for you soon, then you’ll want to know your washing machine can handle what’s going to be thrown at it.

Don’t worry if your washer isn’t quite up to the task – there are plenty of models out there that can take care of outdoor wear and tackle tough stains. One programme to look out for is the dedicated sportswear option. This cycle is specially designed to take extra care of breathable fabrics, while giving you a deep, thorough clean. You’ll find this programme on many of LG’s premium washing machines, such as the F1479FDS.

In fact, the F1479FDS was born to tackle mammoth weekend washing piles. Take its huge 9kg drum for example. A drum of this size can hold 45 T-shirts worth of laundry at any one time. Now, we know you won’t just be washing T-shirts, but that should give you a good idea of how much you’ll be able to pack into this one.

Another one of LG’s great innovations is their TrueSteam™ system. If your family comes back home with a load of dried-on mud and grass stains, there’s nothing better than the power of steam to shift them. As steam particles are smaller than water droplets, they can penetrate deeper into your fabrics and give you a more thorough clean.

Look out for LG’s 6 Motion™ technology too. Models with this feature use six unique drum rotation combinations which are tailored to different fabrics. The intensive scrubbing motion is particularly effective at banishing those stains out of your weekend washing.

Yesterday, we have finally visited the Dinosaur exhibits at Limketkai Center. Lili and River had already bought their tickets from school since Thursday last week, but was only able to use them yesterday. Sweet and I had to buy another two tickets for ourselves, so all in all, it cost us P 1400 to have that experience with dinosaurs..

But hey, they are not really living dinosaurs. You and I know that for a fact. They are actually robotics technology that allows for the giant creatures to move.. Life size dinosaurs that were just merely imagined, now seen during the exhibit.

They  also make a sound so real, children who are less interested in them and who are  younger get scared. But since Lili and River like dinosaurs, they were really amazed and thrilled to see the display. It is also an educational journey as children get to read important facts and information, not just about the dinosaurs, but in the environment they live in during their time, as well as the environment we live in now, as well as inputs on climate change.

Although the setting is inside the mall, the organizers have made the forest theme seem  real by the many greens you can see inside the exhibit area.. It was quite dark  and cold too, so definitely, it was forest like. But then, they could have added a brook or a stream and the sound of water—- uhm.. maybe at their next venue, lol..

Of all the dinosaurs there, this buddy seems to be the most popular.. The T-Rex is my little brother’s favorite… Not bad for the price of P 350 per head—

Tomorrow, my father and I will be going to “that house far away” to check on things there. The “house up there” is not yet feasible for transfer because there is no water and electricity yet, so we shall transfer first to “that house far away” instead of the “house up there”.  But eventually, the “house up there” will be the final destination, as “that house far away” shall be rented out. Hahaha, this crazy coding for the two houses really makes me feel like a first grader like our kids here. When they were younger, they used to call our two houses in Balulang as the “yellow house” and the “orange house”. Quite understandably, they were so fascinated with colors, and I guess now, they are quite particular with distance, or maybe just a more vivid description of the new houses’ location.

It feels weird moving away from the city again. I have gotten accustomed to just a few minutes travel time and we are already home. I have loved the fact that I need not worry about not buying groceries in bulk as anytime, we can just go to Save More and it will just take a few minutes to do so.. Now we have to go back to the old residence to fetch the Latex mattress that we were able to salvage. It was not submerged as it merely floated while the water went up and  it came down floating still when the water subsided during that fateful Sendong incident.  If only we have also saved the memory foam mattress in the other room, but it was burried in mud, so we just had to throw it away. Quite sad, but hey, a new place needs a new mattress, so we will be shopping for some too.  Hopefully the budget will allow for the right number needed. In case it won’t, well, the temporary mats we bought are quite comfortable, so there’s really nothing to rush about buying mattresses.

Anyway, I have this great feeling that everything will work out well in the new place. I am just reluctant because of the distance. But we’ll be fine. I am positive of that… No new mattress is not a hindrance. After all, we are still lucky we get to have a new unused place to live in. Quite decent actually. The only problem is both new locations are quite far from the city..