Unlimited Japanese Food from Red Kimono and Red Mobile

Another FB contest won. But it wasn't through voting this time. It was more like a raffle courtesy of Red Mobile's Fan Page. I've won unlimited Japanese food (worth 3500) from Red Kimono. I tagged along 4 companions (hubby, my aunt and 2 cousins together with my Marchelle) and went all the way to The Fort Strip for my prize.

Their food was great. We were able to try almost everything in their menu (from appetizer to desert). Too bad, my camera ran out of battery so I wasn't able to take much pictures.

"I want this, this and this!"

Masheng enjoying Red Kimono's chocolate balls.

Thanks Red Mobile abd Red Kimono for the sumptous lunch!

Prizes from The Picture Company's "Love Love Love" Contest

Super Late Post.

February pa 'tong contest na 'to sa Facebook. It was for valentine so "LOVE" ang theme of course. Those who participatd were asked to send in photos of their children between 0- 10 years of age sharing moments together.

Here's our entry:

As usual, voting na naman ang labanan. The competition was tough. Imagine, there were 144 entries and only the 1st five with highest votes got the following prizes:

1st Prize: (1) FREE membership GC plus (4) 8x10 Portraits
2nd Prize: (1) FREE membership GC plus (3) 8x10 Portraits
And 3 consolation prize winners of (2) 8x10 Portraits each

I've always been a fan of TPC. But I was never given a chance to register as a member since it was way too expensive for me (the membership card costs around 2500 or 3000k ata). That's why I was really happy that we made it to the 2nd place.

We had a total of 322 likes with 174 comments (comments were not counted though but we really appreciated those who took time to leave heartwarming words for my kids).

So yun, we got the free membership that I've been longing for (that's good for a year) and three 8 x 10 portraits (each costs around 800-900 pesos) as our prize. We claimed them from TPC MOA branch.

The staff were really professional yet nice. They gave us time to warm up first and asked us to choose from their wide array of children's costumes. It was really hard to choose since everything was really cute. I was once again tempted to choose those pink "kikay" ones for my little girl but then I finally decided to go for the black ballerina outfit for her instead (para maiba naman, lagi na lang syang pink and girly sa mga photoshoots).

"What should I wear?", Masheng having a hard time choosing from their wardrobe of costumes.

There were also lots of cute costumes for baby boys. We initially wanted to try the angel wings on Baby King but then it required him to lie on his tummy (which wasn't easy yet for him that time). We also tried different wigs and headresses on him but he got annoyed with those. So he ended up just half naked on his photo. He was still very adorable though.

"Do I look cute with this wig on?"

The session was so much fun! The photographer who did the shoot was so good and patient with kids.

Masheng enjoying the shoot.

We also had a family portrait. Too bad, Joms and I were not able to prepare. If we had known that we would get included in the pictorial, we would have had prepared and worn matching outfits. Our family shot was still really nice though. My kids portraits are just so beautiful. We plan of framing everything and hanging those on our new home's wall.

Thanks again TPC for the wonderful experience. And once again, thanks for all those who supported and voted for our kids during the contest.

Second Batch of Winnings at Mom Center

Yey, we got 4 out of 5 categories for the months of March and April (pregnant moms, baby, family and newborn). Here are our winning pictures:

Pregnant Moms

Newborn

Family

Baby

My Baby King also won at their Facebook monthly contest. He got the most number of "likes". I was so happy of course, this was his very first online contest. Thanks dear friends for your unending support for my babies :)

Here are our prizes:

I would also like to congratulate my sister for winning 3 categories.

Thanks again Mom Center!

(Click here to view our first winnings at MC.)

Sweet Memories With Yoshinoya

I joined Yoshinoya's contest at Facebook last month. Here's my winning entry:

"If I win, I will invite my hubby Jomark Villestas to YOSHINOYA PHILIPPINES (YCPI) and order their best selling Gyudons! That would be a very nice treat for such a hardworking husband and dad like him."

We won 2 bowls of their yummy Beef Gyudon with drinks as a prize.

We were supposed to take a sweet photo but since wala kaming kasamang kukuha, eh, wala kaming magandang pic (nakakahiya kasing magpa picture sa crew, libre na nga, eh, hehehe). So ayun, 'di na kami sumali dun sa next contest pa sana.

But we were of course still thankful, syempre anything na libre, masarap! Kahit nga si Masheng na mahirap pakainin, eh na enjoy ang food nila.

She also had a taste of their Mandarin Orange ice cream. I've tried it as well, ang sarap!

Baby King was with us also, but of course, he couldn't eat yet, nanakam lang, takaw kasi!

Thanks Yoshinoya for such a delicious treat!

Marchelle's 16th Magazine Appearance

Katuwa naman, sunod sunod! Suki na kami ng Baby Mag!

The picture was taken at Eco Park. Obviously, masayang masaya ang water baby! Giniginaw na 'yan pero smile pa din :)

Click here to view her 15th Magazine Appearance.

Marchelle's 15th Magazine Appearance

Moms Today naman ulit. One of my fave mags kasi may prizes!

This picture was taken in Subic (2008). It was her very first beach experience that's why she looks happy and excited on the pic, (unang tapak nya sa beach sand).

Her outfit was a very cheap terno bought from a tyange. Actually short talaga yung nasa ulo nya. Since it was still too big for her then, ginawa ko na lang bonnet, hehehe...

Click here for her 14th Magazine Appearance.

Marchelle's 14th Magazine Appearance

It's her second time on Smart Parenting's Kiddie Greets...

Katuwa naman, last year, less than lang ata silang na - feature, ngayon mas marami na!

Click here for Masheng's 13th Magazine Appearance.

Our Fit N' Right Prizes

Guess who's behind the boxes... ^^

We got 2 boxes of Fit N' Right fruit snacks! Thank you so much Fit N' Right and Yehey! We'll absolutely be fit n' fab this sumer.

It was so nice to finally meet my fellow online mommies Esvi and Mia! Hope to see you again soon!

Fit N' Right Beauties ^^

Marchelle's 3rd Birthday (Barbie Summer Themed Party)

Since we didn't have a big budget for Masheng's 3rd birthday, we planned to just have a small celebration at home.

Actually, her first 2 birthdays were also held at home. Although, we spent more on those compared to this one. On her first 2 birthdays, we were able to invite more friends, while we were not able to do so this year. We just had a very intimate party with our relatives and some neighbors.

But of course, despite the budget constraints, we still wanted our little girl to have fun on her special day. So we thought of having a swimming party for her (Ooops, we don't have a big pool, we just used her infatable pools).

Being a water baby she is, we were certain that she would enjoy such a party. It was also very timely since the summer heat is already here. So from there, I thought of making her birthday celebration a Barbie-summer-themed party.

The tarp and the invitaion was made by me again of course (both were rushed and were finished just days before the celebration). This is something that I won't get tired of doing. And it's something that I'm really proud of. I may not have much money to give her the grandest parties but somehow, by doing such small things, I could say that everything's made and prepared out of love.

Just like what I did on her first two birthday tarps, I included her 24th month - 35th month pictures.

We've used all three. So it was like a display of her monthly pictures from birth to her latest month. I hope I won't fail doing so each year until she reaches 18. On her debut, I want all her tarps of 18 years be there :)

Here's the Barbie-summer-themed invite...

.... and her Barbie-summer-themed cake with the Barbie loots:

Cake was from my mom (thanks Ma!) and her treats were sponsored by Milkita candies ^^

The kids had so much fun! For her birthday photos, click here.

Click the link to view her 2nd birthday tarp and invite: http://almark71498.multiply.com/journal/item/127/Whats_for_Mashengs_Second_Birthday

Things That I've Discovered About Masheng During the Expo Kid Fair

It was a day of fun and learning not just for Masheng but for me as well. Through it, I got to discover more about my little girl's skills. It was very timely since weve been thinking of the best workshop or activity for her this summer. At least now, we have an idea of which among those she would really enjoy.

Here are the things that I've discovered about Masheng during the fair:

- She really loves being on the spotlight. Pagkakita pa lang nya ng stage, gusto na nyang umakyat kahit na may ongoing segment at maraming taong nanonood. When I finally allowed her to go up there, ayun, nagpo pose na at nagpa picture nang nagpa picture.

- She really loves the arts. That's why she enjoyed some of the art activities in the fair like jar painting (at Summit Media's stand), mask designing (at Kids Ahoy's booth), coloring etc... She even asked me to buy her art stuff. Muntik na akong bumili, buti na lang at naisip ko na mas mura pa rin at mas maraming choices sa National Bookstore.

- She enjoys active learning. She likes activities which would make her move. She loves dancing, jumping, running etc. Basta lahat ng activities na may kasamang laro, game sya. Kaya enjoy na enjoy sya sa activities ng Music and Me.

- Given na yung sobrang kalikutan nya. That's why I know that she would enjoy learning at kiddie gyms. Pero mas na convince ako when I saw her play at Little Gym's booth. She loves jumping, climbing, tumbling etc. Lahat na ata ng kalikutan, nagawa na nya. She doesn't mind getting hurt. Sana lang may mas mura pang playschools sa Gymboree and little Gym (suggestions please!).

- She's not so much into music instruments. She plays with them out of curiosity at first pero madali syang magsawa. Yung drumset nga sa isa sa mga booths, eh, halos dinedma nya. I'm happy with this discovery since Joms is planning to buy her one. Buti na lang at hindi pa sya nakakabili, kung nagkataon pala eh masasayang lang.

- She doesn't like sitting down for so long even when with a group of kids. She easily gets bored with activities which would require her to stay in one place for several minutes (like listening to stories, watching puppet shows etc). This means, she really isn't ready for a big school yet. We've been thinking of enrolling her next school year pa naman but since ganun nga, we better just wait until next year. She's just turning 3 anyway.

- Takot sya sa Hermit Crab. Sayang, gusto ko pa naman sana syang bilhan para may bago syang pet. ^^

It was indeed a day full of surprises! Kaya kahit sobrang layo ng Rockwell at medyo nahirapan kami mag comute eh, ok lang. Kung may next time pa, we'll definitely join again. Special thanks to Kids Ahoy since I've learned this event through them. 'Till next time!

For more pictures, click here.