Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Royal Engagement Portraits

Ever since I read novels by McNaught, Lindsey, Deveraux and Garwood, I've been "interested" in European royalty. It didn't help that my Lola Ima was so into Princess Di that she has all People Magazine episodes with the late princess as cover. My lola hated Camilla so much that she calls her k_b_yo (I know, bad. But what can I say? She loves Di!).

As you all know, Princess Di's firstborn is getting married this April. I chanced upon People Magazine's feature on the engagement portraits of other royal couples. I think it is part of their preview to the much-awaited wedding this coming April.

 Prince Albert (King George VI) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1923)

 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (1947)

Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones (1960)

 Princess Anne and Mark Phillips (1973)

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (1981) - formal 

 Informal

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson (1986)

Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones (1999) 

 Prince William and Catherine Middleton
All official announcements from the palace now refer to Kate as Catherine.

I love this shot. They look so in love.
~*~
As much as I don't want to admit it, I would like to see how their big day goes :) I guess it's the little girl in me who loves happy endings. And hopefully, this particular royal love story does.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Lucas and Fruits

... are NOT compatible!!! It is really a challenge for me to get him to eat fruits. Before, he will occasionally eat mangoes. But that is it. His regular "fruit" intake comes in the form of fruit juices that he loves. But the sugar content of those can make one cry. And the sucralase content of those low sugar fruit drinks scare me.

A fellow n@wie posted her Magic Kong Pop as a way of making her toddler eat veggies. Read her post here. I read it last year and forgot about it until my chance encounter with a popsicle mold in Robinson's Galleria last February. I bought the popsicle maker and made my first set of popsicles.

My popsicle recipe:
Del Monte Four Seasons Fruit juice as base - it has a pretty strong color and it masked the fruits that I added
mangoes ( 1 slice)
papayas (about a cup)

I just placed them all in a blender and liquified the mixture. I tasted it and added water as I found it too sweet at first. Then I put the mixture in the mold and placed the mold in our freezer.

The next day, I am happy to report that the dear little boy ate it :) It was a little messy but at least he got to eat fruits!

 Ice cream Mommy!

Yum yum 

 Lick it...

Gone!

I hope the novelty of it won't wear off too soon. We'll see as my next batch is waiting in our freezer.

Date Night: Uncle Cheffy's

Thanks to Sheryl and Laurs, I got to try Uncle Cheffy's. The food was so good that on our next date night, I decided to bring JJ in their Burgos Circle branch so he can try Uncle Cheffy's panizza and beef ribs.

No food yet?

Yummy Uncle Cheffy Favorite Panizza
JJ loved the arugula.

 Memphis BBQ US Beef Rib Finger.
This is definitely not for weight watchers. The beef was juicy and tender. Hay, hindi ko na lang iniisip kung ilang calories yan.

We will definitely be back again (budget permitting :) ). Hmm, wonder if those groupon sites will offer Uncle Cheffy's vouchers soon?

 This is how you document things when you are too shy to ask the waiter to take your picture :)

We capped our night with coffee and cheesecake from Coffee Bean

'Til the next date night!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Summer na!

Summer was  made official by our family's first trip to the beach this year with JJ's Safeway family. The destination: Subic Sweetwater Resort in Bataan.

I was the designated driver for our trip to the North. JJ told me that I can easily manage EDSA given that it is an early Saturday morning. He also told me to enjoy the NLEX drive. Hay, I realized that EDSA is divided into lanes that are far smaller than those of SLEX's and C-5's! Haha! I kept on honking my horn kasi feeling ko ginigitgit nila akong lahat. Yun pala, nasa right lane naman sila. Hindi lang talaga ako sanay :) As for NLEX, hubby was right. It was a breeze. Kakatuwa kasi ang luwag luwag. If only ganun ang EDSA...
Anyway, here's our first summer adventure in pictures:
First stop of the day was breakfast. We were all craving for McDo. Good thing the last stopover prior to SCTEX has a McDO in it. I gave up the wheel after breakfast and accompanied Lucas in the backseat.
 When I was about to get in the car, Lucas shouted: "No, Mommy.  Drive Mommy. Mommy turn to drive." Hmm. Ayaw niya ako katabi? But JJ told me na he probably wanted me to drive para his legs will have more room. Kapag si JJ kasi ang nagda-drive, nakasagad yung upuan niya, so less space for Lucas' legs...

 And siempre, my other little boy enjoyed SCTEX (may 180 pa daw yan, hindi ko lang napansin. susmio!). Admittedly, when I started driving, I became more conscious of how JJ drives. Nagiging backseat driver ako talaga. Na nerbyosa :) Siguro it's because I know I can't pull off some of the things that he does when driving.

Lucas and the beach.

 Daddy stayed in the shade...

 Lucas loves playing with sand. Oh, and he buried Thomas in the sand! We just realized it the next morning when Lucas started asking for his little friend. I thought JJ placed Lucas' toys in the car. Minor panic when JJ said no but then I remembered the little boy digging a hole near the car so hanap hanap. We found Thomas buried nga! Poor train! He spent the night there...

 Greens

 The beach. So peaceful.

 Our family

Enjoying their dip
Me and my Mini-me (I can imagine hubby's face when he reads this :) )

 Me: Anak, look at Daddy oh. Smile!
Obviously, he didn't listen to me

Our guapo beach boy

 The BUILDERS!

 Sunset and the men in my life


 Yey! After several minutes and a few reworks, Thomas is ready for Lucas...

 And here's how Lucas showed his gratitude: by stomping on it! Hay... He only enjoyed it for a few minutes. AND the winner of all winner in comments. After stomping on his dad's work:
Lucas: Daddy, more Thomas?
Hahaha! Whaaatttt?????

 The little boy was asleep by 7 PM that night. He was exhausted from all his antics. He woke up pretty early the next day. When JJ woke up, we took a walk down the beach and saw them...

 Nice view

 Family picture?

 It was a pretty sunny day...

 Lucas in action...


 Took this picture before we left the place.

Goodbye Subic Sweetwater. We all had a blast!

Next thing we know, we were packing our things up so we can leave after lunch. Hay, it was short but sweet. I wish we could've stayed longer.

Next stop was Royal Duty Free in SBMA. Of course we had to buy chocolates! (what diet? :) ). But we limited our purchases to items we don't usually see in the supermarkets here in Manila (like Snickers Dark). Though we also bought our favorite Symphony (the blue one!) and a pack of Milky Ways. Hay, makes my mouth water just writing about them here.

Our last stop was Apalit, Pampanga. Popsy's hometown. I spent all my summers there when I was a kid. Yup, I can speak Kapampangan quite fluently (though a little rusty now). My Lola Ima's death anniversary falls every 15th of March. It was nice that we were able to drop by and visit her grave.

Then it was time go home....

Friday, March 11, 2011

Car Wash Anyone?

Meet our car wash staff.

JJ and Lucas!

He soaps the car thoroughly

Dunks his sponge when he needs more soap

And cleans the car again and again and again and...

again...

And his wage? Well, let's say no cash out to him. Just give a decent meal :)


~ * ~
Thank you for helping daddy Lucas :)