Michi Photostory

I can’t remember if we have children’s books when we’re young except for the Bible stories books. My mom used to read me stories every night and this is one thing I missed when she left. Now that I have a son, I always buy books for him though I admit that we don’t read books every day. But I’m trying my best to read at least one book a day.

I don’t have Ebook for kids yet but fortunately, I got two samples of Brainy Connections Ebook, Codley and the Sea Cave Adventure, and Lexi Flairheart and the Forbidden door.

Codley and Pokie decided to explore a mysterious cave where they met a new friend and experienced a dangerous and strong current.

I love this book because it talks about friendship. My son who loves fish and other sea creatures will definitely enjoy this.

Lexi Flairheart and the Forbidden Door; 

Lexi is a five-year-old kid who loves to bring a backpack wherever she goes. She is like the other kids who are curious and want to learn new things. She hates closed doors and she always wants to see what’s on the other side. She even opened the forbidden door and discovered new things.

This book is good for those kids who are curious and innovative.

About the Author

Lisl Fair has a Masters Degree in Speech-Language Therapy and Audiology. She left private practice to spend more time with her four children and took up a career in writing from home.

She is the author of numerous magazine articles dealing with a variety of parenting subjects and is involved in the development of educational children's books.

She is involved in Brain-Based Learning and Development and helps parents and children discover how they are unique on a part-time basis.

Both eBooks are available on amazon.com for $2.99 each. 

We all know that it so easy to buy roast chicken because you can find roast chicken store everywhere but nothing beats homemade roast chicken. Roast chicken is one easy recipe that you can do at home and I always do this during my lazy moments because all I need to do is preheat the oven, season the chicken put it in the oven and leave it there for more or less 1 hour.

I only use salt, pepper, lemon juice or calamansi juice and garlic (I put this inside the chicken). Then I put some soy sauce (color) and olive oil before I put it inside the oven. Sometimes I put herbs like thyme and rosemary. 

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born, she never existed before. The woman existed but the mother never. A mother is something absolutely new“ – Rajneesh

No one says that motherhood is a sweet journey and you never know how hard it is unless you become a mother. I hope there is a Motherhood 101 lesson in school so I would be prepared but there isn’t any lesson but every day is a chance for me to learn how to raise my son, how to be a good mother, and how to enjoy being a full-time mom.

Being a mother is not easy because there are always challenges, trials, and mistakes along the way. There are times that I feel that I’m not doing the right thing and I’m such a failure mom but I know that it is all part of life. Despite all of these hardships and challenges, I can definitely say that I’m grateful because God gave me the opportunity to become a mom and I will not trade this for anything because there are a lot of sweet moments, happy memories, and joys of motherhood.

My unexpected joys of motherhood

1. I’m happy that I chose to be a stay at home mom because I have more time with my son and I can capture those first-time moments. Witnessing his first smile, crawl, steps, etc. are priceless memories.
2. I enjoy taking photos of his developments, milestones, and crazy moments.
3. The first time my son called me “mommy”
4. Hugs and kisses from my son are enough to melt my heart even when I’m mad.
5. I have a companion when my husband is not around.
6. I know I will have separation anxiety if my son wants to have his own bedroom.
7. Our everyday activity and bonding.
8. I find blogging inspiration from him.

Motherhood is a lifetime journey and process. I learn and discover some things that I did not know that I have. I never thought that I could love someone unconditionally. Honestly, I’m not fond of kids’ maybe that is why I don’t want to be a teacher because I have very little patience but when I had my son, everything change. He changed me.

Here is the recipe and procedure if you want to try.

1. In a bowl, mix together ½ cup of softened butter and ½ cup sugar.
2. Add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla.
3. Blend in 1 cup flour and 1 tsp of baking powder.
4. Spoon the mixture into paper-lined muffin cups
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until sides of cupcakes are lightly browned. 

When I was young, I never thought that preparing meals are stressful but now that I’m a mom, I realized that thinking what to cook every day is a challenge so I always have weekly menu but still I’m having a hard time thinking what to cook for the whole week.

Every day I only cook one meal because there are only three people in the house so how much more if you have big family, you have to cook meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Whew! 

We only eat light breakfast, our usual breakfast are sandwiches, cereals and oatmeal but for weekend, we eat rice meals so I have to cook the usual breakfast meal like hotdog, bacon, omelette, spam, or any dish with SI-LOG (SInangag (fried rice) itLOG (egg). For snacks, it varies, sometimes I bake cupcake, cook pasta or sweet treats like banana-q which is good for 2 to 3 days.

Writing weekly menu may be hard but you can also save on this because you will only buy what you need for the whole week so no wasted ingredients and because of this I defrost our fridge every week, day before our market day.

I usually use scratch pad to write my weekly menu but now I’m going to use this, I hope this will inspire me to write our menu. I bought this 2 years ago at Baby Couture (P50) and this is the only time I’m gonna use it. Hehe!

How about you, how do you plan your meal?

They immediately gave us the menu and while checking the menu, one staff came and gave us some plain soup and glass water. We ordered Hainanese chicken delight P120 and pork chop P120. After a few minutes, the staff came back and gave me my receipt, I asked if I need to pay immediately and she said yes. I gave her the money and she went back again for my change.

After a few minutes, customers started to pour in and the staff gave them the menu, plain soup, and a glass of water. But one thing I noticed, was the staff did not get their order, the customers went to the counter, ordered, and paid their bill. Nahiya ko bigla, feeling ko paspecial ako, but kudos to the staff for the extra effort. She could inform me that I have to go to the counter but she still gets my order and went back twice to our table.

Fast forward to our order, we did not have any regret and it is indeed “a delightful experience in every bite.” (I read this line in their restaurant). P120 is worth it (rice all you can), rice pa lang masarap na. #panira ng diet

Hubby: 1 cup  + 6 scoops of rice

Me: 1 cup + 2 scoops of rice

If my son has no tantrums, we will order and eat more. Price is really affordable.

My husband has been paying our monthly amortization at Pag-ibig office (Shaw) for the last several months and finally, he asked if there’s another way to pay our monthly dues and the Pag-ibig staff informed him where we could pay our dues.

We could pay our monthly amortization at SM Payment Center; we just need to print the monthly billing statement from their site. Here is the step by step guide on “How to print housing loan billing statement (HLMBS) through Pag-ibig Fund Website”


How to Get your Pag-ibig Housing Loan Billing Statement

1. Go to www.pagibigfund.gov.ph

2. Click E-Service/Member’s E-Service

3. Click Housing Loan Payment Verifications

4. Type Surname, Name, Housing Loan Account Number and the code appearing in the box.

5. Click “View Billing Statement” (To disable the pop-up blocker on the upper left side of the screen click “Temporary allow pop-up)”

6. View, Download, or Print Billing Statement

Note: The housing loan monthly billing statement is available for viewing or verification a week before the due date.

We receive the monthly text and email from Pag-ibig regarding our due so even without the statement, we can pay in SM Payment Center. Super late magdeliver ng bill statement sa amin, good thing there are other options to get the Housing Loan Billing Statement. 

Where to Pay your Housing Loan, Installment, or Amortization?

How to Check your Pag-ibig Payment History 

1. Go to www.pagibigfund.gov.ph
6. View, Download, or Print Payment History

Note: You can only view the last 12 payments made. If you want the full payment history, you can go to Pag-ibig office and they can print it for you. We've done this last year when we planned to apply for Pag-ibig Repricing. 

Update January 2020

For the very first time, we did not receive any bill from Pag-ibig, no email, no SMS, and when I check online, there is no new bill that I can download. So we just paid our Monthly Amortization using the old bill. My husband called Pag-ibig regarding our concern and we were advised na bayad na daw kasi kami kaya wala bill.

Last December, we went to Pag-ibig, nagbayad kami para less principal so ang nangyari, binawas daw doon yung January bill namin. Waah! Less principal nga so hindi ko gets bakit naging advance payment. So paano kaya yung bayad namin ng January, magiging for February. Hay! Anyway, we were advised to call Pag-ibig if 5 days before the due date, wala pa rin daw bill.

Update February 2020

We received our bill for February, ang total due namin is P19.01 so naging advance payment din yung binayaran namin last January. Nagkulang lang ng konti since ginaya lang namin yung total due nung December bill.

Update August 2020

Before the start of the community quarantine, we paid our March bill and when we received our April Bill, they charged us March and April due plus late interest so hindi nagreflect bayad namin nung March. So we emailed Pag-ibig regarding this concern and they advised us to disregard it and wait for a new bill.  Ilang buwan ang nakalipas pero walang new bill and kahit mag-email kami, wala din nangyayari. When we received a text that we need to pay our due at tapos na daw ang Bayanihan Act. Hindi naman sinabi kung magkano due namin, so I just multiply kung ano ang amount sa March bill x 4 (April to July) and paid at SM Payment Center using the April Bill (changed amount lang). Just this week, we received our August bill and the amount due is P0.00. I don't know why. May error ba sa system nila? I will wait for next month's bill and I hope maayos na.

Update September 2020

We received our September Bill and we were surprised because there is a "Grace Period on your Loan Payments (Accrued Interest PHPXX.XX)" Waah! Alam namin na hindi kami nakapagbayad because we don't have a billing statement, nung April pa kami nanghihingi ng updated bill sabi nila wait daw. Then April 15, we saw their announcement on their Facebook Page.

"We're putting ALL LOAN PAYMENT dues ON HOLD while the Enhance Community Quarantine is in effect, which means all borrowers can settle their accounts once the quarantine ends. 

This is in accordance with the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act"

No dues
No penalties
No application required

Now you have one less thing to worry about.


So we patiently waited for our bill online and wala update since April. When we received the text last July na kelangan na namin magbayad dahil tapos na ang Bayanihan. We paid the April to July monthly amortization kahit wala sila binigay na amount due namin. Then last August, we received a bill pero no amount due, P0.00 so akala namin okay na. Nakakagulat dahil ang laki ng accrued interest na babayaran namin + the September due and no explanation kung ano computation nila, we emailed Pag-ibig pero no reply.

Since no update na naman sa email about Accrued Interest, my husband went to Pag-ibig Office and the staff explained to him about the Accrued Interest so ending, he paid the Accrued Interest + Monthly Amortization so hopefully back to normal na ang bill namin. In short, no penalty nor interest, parang yung interest is for the housing loan na hindi daw nila siningil nung may Bayanihan Act. Hindi siya interest dun sa 3 months na hindi namin nabayaran during community quarantine. Lesson learned, pumunta na lang sa Pag-ibig Office para may sagot agad at wala din nangyayari pag nag-email ka. 

Note: No more bills since we finished our loan already. :)

Hope this helps!

First few days: “Wonderful”

Next Few Days: “”Nice”

Then: “Checked”

After few days, I saw a note “Ethan, next time please color the picture nicely”. Oh my, I don’t know what is happening, so after class, I will trace the activity so he can color it again and ok naman result. I always remind him to color the picture nicely and don’t go beyond the line. The following day, teacher’s remark is “Keep up the good work”

So feeling ko ok na, then this is the result of my Mother’s Day card, black heart, and red bear but since I’m his mother, I love this card. He gave me this card with a smile. =)