Category Archives: i CELEBRATE life

Updating the Memory Box

1 Reply

IMG_1226

I have about a week more to go before dragging myself back to work. I’m enjoying my summer vacation too much I  wonder if I could ever get the strength to wake up early again.

While on this long summer break, my diet seems to be in a bit of a vacation too. Yes, diet just went out the window  this entire break. I’ve been feeling kinda sluggish and thought I was pregnant. We’ve been trying and really praying for another baby…probably in God’s own time it will happen.

Not to feel too depressed about the whole thing, I took out my little girl’s memory box. It was actually the husband who insisted that we create a Memory Box for our five-year old.

When the husband was still trying to pursue me, he showed me an old heavy box full of stuff from his childhood. He even  had his school ID in kindergarten! He had pictures of his 4-year-old self making silly faces, an article from the newspaper with his picture and name on it as a contestant in a Spelling Bee Competition..precious, precious memories to last him a lifetime.

Looking at him with his memory box and smiling from ear-to-ear, I said to my single-ready-to-get-married self that I was going to marry this man with the memory box! Tee! Hee! He had me at ‘memory box’.

Please do’nt stop reading, I know it’s too cheesy and too over-the-top but I will stop getting too melodramatic. Trust me, it’ll get better in the next sentences.

Fast forward today, our little lady has her memory box too. We had actually changed it to a bigger and more sturdy box. We’ve kept her kindergarten class picture, her first school ID (too cute!) her pretty onesies when she was just 3 months old… Ah, so many keepsakes that bring smiles to our faces.

Memories to last us a lifetime.

Do you keep a Memory Box?

DIY Phonics Phone

Leave a reply

phonicsphone

The little lady in the house is learning to read. She reads just about anything she sees, even billboards or food labels. Sometimes she cracks me up the way she tries to read just about anything she sees with letters on. Oh I’m so proud of her. Now that it’s summer vacation, I have some catching up to do on my blog and emails sent by readers.

One such question I got and I’ve been really meaning to post this one is on some reading activities I do with my daughter and my kindergarten students. I do a lot of Phonemic Awareness Activities with my daughter and my students. I have a Literacy Center in my classroom and my kids use this cute little Phonics Phone. I used this in my Pre-K – K class back in Maryland. Phonics Phones help amplify the child’s voice when reading or producing letter sounds helping him or her to focus on the sounds and reading. It’s fun and an effective way when doing Phonemic Awareness activities and practicing to read.

It’s very easy and inexpensive to make.

I went to my local Home Depot store and purchased the blue PVC pipes. I think I paid less than P200.

You will need:

  • 1 inch size PVC pipes cut into 3 1/2 ” or for younger kids I cut the pipes in 3″ long ( The local Home depot store I went to sold these pipes at 1 size only which was quite long. Thus, I was able to make a lot of these).
  • 2 pieces of 1 inch elbow joints (you will need 1 elbow joint on each end) – They were sold at P12.00/elbow joint
  • washi tapes to decorate your phones

phonicsphone2

Just ask assistance from your local Home depot store to cut the pipes in 3 to 3 1/2 inches in length. If you’re not lucky to find assistance, you’ll have to do the cutting yourself using a little saw used for cutting through pipes. This can get your hands dirty though.

Put elbow joints on each end. Makes sure you thoroughly wash the phones with soap and water. You can in fact, make this an activity with your child. I’ve learned many times in school and at home that getting children involved promotes responsibility, confidence and independence. Not to mention, self-discovery promotes cognitive skills for children.

Decorate it with colorful washi tapes. That’s it!

phonics3

Here’s the little lady using her Phonics Phone.

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment or email me at marrylallwrite@yahoo.com

Babies to Toddlers Online Store + Giveaway

Leave a reply

My little girl is growing up so fast. Too fast. She’s five years old and most days she’s like her Dad -the way she walks, talks and thinks. She’s even ambidextrous like Daddy. You should hear her talk about music and stuff my husband likes.

Some days she’s like my mini-me too, always busy making something from paper, candy wrappers and beads. When asked what she’s doing, she will tell you,  “I’m busy making something”.  Most days she finds me working on some orders or beaded wedding cords, or maybe sewing a wedding ring pillow or a necklace. She imitates me all the time. Those little things just warms my heart. Motherhood has definitely brought in so many beautiful surprises in my life.

It wasn’t too long ago when I was pregnant, a soon-to-be mom and very busy shopping for baby stuff. I only wanted the best for her and I was always checking online stores since the products sold locally were either of low quality or too expensive. I realized that there were a lot of products that weren’t even available here in Cebu or in the Philippines for that matter. Six years ago there wasn’t a lot of online retail stores selling hard-to-find items for babies or toddlers.

b2t flyer 2011 ver2b

Whether you’re new to parenthood or a veteran of the diaper-changing club, all parents know that raising a baby is not a simple matter. Fortunately, there’s an endless supply of toys, gadgets, and knick-knacks specifically made to make child-rearing just a bit easier. Question is, where do you find all these handy baby stuff? I’m pretty lucky I found one such place in cyberspace -  BabiestoToddlers.com. It’s a one-stop shop for hard-to-find items for babies and toddlers.

Products of BTT

Babiestotoddlers.com was developed and run by Filipina entrepreneur Teresa Rufino who happen to have two babies of her own. I’ve always admired women entrepreneurs who have a vision and this woman took bold steps to address that need in the market. ( I, on the other hand, am still taking baby steps toward my dream craft store, however, my little online shop gives me an excuse to do more crafts and classes). Teresa, when asked about her online store shares that “BabiestoToddlers.com is a no-nonsense online retail store made for busy parents on the go.”

I do a lot of online shopping myself and I find the site simple and easy to navigate, with all the features of the latest online stores sans the clutter.  There’s a standard landing page, which immediately showcases the company’s latest offerings and promos with colorful pictures. To the right of the page, there’s a toolbar neatly categorizing all the products into different sections. Having trouble teaching your two-year-old how to potty? Check out the bath and potty section? Looking for the latest in baby couture?. Click on the button for clothes and accessories.  They’ve got everything you could want for your baby and then some.

Aside from variety, BabiestoToddlers.com is also about convenience and reliability; featured on the landing page is the promise of free shipping within Metro Manila for purchases over a certain amount. And the site makes use of the nifty Pay Pal system ensuring safe and reliable online transactions. The site also features contact numbers for any customer concerns and a helpful FAQ page for newbies to Internet shopping.

The Giveaway

Great news for all the moms in the Philippines, babiestotoddlers.com has partnered with me and I’ll be giving away not just 1 but 2 products to two lucky readers of marrylallwrite.com:

aque05-500x500

1. Aqueduck Chldren’s Faucet Extender – helps kids reach the faucet’s water flow, making hand washing easy for our kids.

2. Potty Cover – the only oversized potty cover which provides maximum coverage by covering the sides and front of the toilet keeping hazardous bacteria away!

potty

Click HERE to join the Giveaway:

You will be taken to my Facebook Page for the Rafflecopter mechanics. All you have to do is just click the number + 5 Entry and register to babiestotoddlers.com. You will get more chances by clicking the other numbers and just follow the instructions.

Click here now.

Babies to Toddlers Logo

Of Summers and Self-Discovery

Leave a reply

beadworkshop41413

Summer vacation has officially started for me (*happy dance*). School’s over  and I’m back to the things that I love to do: spending time with my five year old and my hubby. Of course, no school means having the luxury of time to work on some orders and do more craft projects and classes. Since I am forever the student, I usually attend classes as well.

Last summer, I enrolled in short courses in basic gumpasting, fondant, Italian bread-making, balloon art, etc. Oh how I enjoyed joining those classes. Oh and summer 2012 also meant checking off two of my bucket / life lists – I joined a sewing class and had my first ever sewing machine.

As an educator, I’ve always believed that learning is life-altering and leads to self-discovery. Thus, in our household, the husband and I and surprisingly the little girl is very much into it. We encourage each other to learn or discover something new we can do. The little girl learns to mop the floor and discovers she can help make the floor clean by doing it. If you’ve read my previous posts, last summer the husband recently had his Aha! Moment too. He left his good-paying corporate job and went to law school. Yes, we are a crazy happy bunch, alright! We are forever the students.

I, too had my clarity moment last 2009-2010 when I worked in the US. Until today, I seek for new things to learn. I guess that’s the reason why I don’t know why everyone’s crazy about this soap opera of a certain “Sir Chief”. I can’t seem to find time sitting in front of the TV watching Sir Chief when my craft supplies or my little girl is calling me to play with her/them. How can I? :) (It’s summer so I guess I will have time to watch and swoon about Sir Chief and the pretty maid).

For moms, teens and all the women out there in Cebu, if you share my passion and want to discover your creativity, please come and join us for Beginner’s Bead Jewelry-Making Class on the 14th of April 2013, from 9:00 A – 5:00 PM.

Create your very own fashion jewelry by learning the fundamentals in stringing, looping, crimping to create your very own necklace, bracelet and earrings. Our Early Bird rate is 1, 599.00 only! When I joined a class a few years back, I paid almost P4,000 so this is really a very small investment compared to the class I joined.  The fee already includes all the materials, tools and lunch.

Please register online here.

For more details and other craft classes this summer, you may visit at Marryl’s Arts and Crafts Facebook page.

The Goal This Summer is To Find That Table

Leave a reply

wateringcan

I find myself drawn to vintage-inspired watering cans and tiny tin buckets lately. Come to think of it, I guess I like Old English Interior Decors. I have posted about my little collection of candle lanterns (7 and counting) which ties that up together with these tin cans (just 4 and still counting).  It just ht me now that I probably do like country-vintage inspired decor and style. But not too over-the-top though. I still gravitate towards clean-minimalist design.

But the reason I scoured the little shops and malls in Cebu looking for these cute buckets and watering cans is not for interior decorating. I needed some containers for my craft supplies. I’m going to try my best not to use those hideous plastic containers I had for years. I wanted something inexpensive but pretty. Now, where can we find an inexpensive, not hideous-looking containers these days in Cebu?  I found these cans in 3 different stores and I knew I had to have them because they called to me, hahaha!

Organizing the tiny craft room is getting crazy in our little house. It’s been over a year since we moved to our own place and we love it here (sans the terrible traffic :) ) We still have not finished organizing our craft/office room. To say that it’s a mess in this tiny room full of books and craft supplies is an understatement.  It’s getting crazy lately, what with the husbands law books piled up on the table among the bead stash and some felt fabrics.

There is a table underneath all those craft supplies and law books. The goal this summer is to find that table.

I’ve categorized this also under the P100 Challenge. The blue watering can is only P70.00 and I am more than amused.