day at the park.

making faces.

photos from last week.

styling angel's hair for prom expo

all smiles for winning big at a slot machine. fyi, that's 4 didgits before the cents. hubby's amazing at taking pic.

can't wait for summer to use her new swim suit.

sophie meeting her aunt ailyn form canada. p.s. new backpack and it's empty but wore it anyway.

helping kuya matthew blow candles on his cake.

wrapping present + new swim suit.

i love wrapping gifts and i always stock up on wrapping paper for last minute gifts. but for some reason i only had brown paper. like ??!? tsk tsk too boring for a 7 year old. so i took out my star puncher and glue. and had sophie decorate the package. i had so much fun doing this!! it's so simple that i can't believe i never thought of it before. i am always going to do this with sophie!! kept sophie busy while i cook dinner and it gives the gift a personal touch. and oh yeah paul frank swim suit for 6 bucks! at tjmaxx.

like mother like daughter.

when sophie saw the hydrant, she immediately started posing. and demanded "picture me, picture me". she's so funny. what's with the hydrant?

kingdom heart conference.

yesterday i attended the kingdom heart conference and was lucky enough to hear Lysa TerKeurst speak. i came there with no expectation at all. just an open heart and open mind. i am so glad i did! her testimony is crazy. my challenges are nothing compared to the trials that she's faced. it's actually embarrassing that i consider them challenges. the message she delivered was so much that when j asked me what i learned. i didn't even know what to say. my actual answer was: "i learned so much but i just just can't tell you" which really bothers me!!!!!!! i hate it when i can't share something amazing. well it's still processing in my head. today at church i was asked to share my testimony about yesterday's conference and hopefully i will be able to do it properly. it's such an opportunity to spread god's message.
i am also loving my new leather bracelet that i got at the conference! it says "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control"

bloggers day of silence.

http://www.forjapanwithlove.com/

sophie's earrings.

yes, today i had sophie's ears pierced!! aaaaaw. she's a little lady. so proud of her, she didn't even cry one bit. she loves looking at her new earrings in the mirror. at first we were a little hesitant to have it done at the mall. but i just have a feeling it's never going to get done. so a last minute decision while daddy's at work was perfect! this is definitely going on my awkward and awesome list.

word of the day: him.

sophie and i went to see my dad yesterday and what a perfect day to learn some new words. on our way to papa, i heard sophie say the word "him". at first i thought she said something else. until i asked her "what are you going to do when you see papa?" (my dad just arrived from the philippines on monday) and she answered in her cutest little voice "i'm gonna bless him, and kiss him and hug him". and then later on she said "i want him here." gosh she's talking sentences now. sometimes i can't even believe she's actually talking. she's growing up so fast. yikes!

staycation.

last weekend, daddy-oh was staying at the maritime hotel in the city for work. on saturday, sophie and i went to visit him and boy was it an adventure!
we were planning on leaving the house bright and early at 8:00am. it's either i slept through my alarm or it wasn't set up properly. we ended up leaving at 9:30am.
we drove all the way to my sis and mom's apt in sunnyside to park the car and take the train. after a quick hello we headed for the 7 train. and of course 7 train wasn't running. had to take the Q32 bus. and of course we got on the wrong bus. luckily, the driver was so nice and he let us off at the subway stop to take the E train. and of course there's no E train so we took the R train instead and the only transfer we can make is at times square!! my biggest fear! sophie is 3 and she doesn't use a stroller anymore. that was the longest transfer i've ever done in my life. so many people!!! and everyone's so fast! we were like dumb and dumber holding up traffic. (scooter scene)
finally got to 14th st. and on our way to the hotel, right in front of us, we witnessed a car accident involving 3 yellow cabs - nothing major but still just weird. so happy to see jay! he had a big breakfast waiting for us.

 

after a lot of goofing around, we went to the highline park.

and check out the amazing view!

then went to chelsea market for some gelato and made a wish on the well.

we passed by the apple store and the line was so long like two blocks! had turkish food for lunch. and yes we took a cab home.

 

i had a blast!! tiring but oh so worth it. just wish i was able to take more photos. it's like impossible for me to let go of sophie's hand. love our pictures at the hotel. i think it is perfect for this week's mamma in focus.

pray for japan.

i was shocked to hear about what happened in japan. today i'm devastated. my heart is crushed and i feel small and useless. and stupid for having a good weekend, missing church and having time to blog. i've been staring at the computer for a while now and i'm at a loss for words. i don't know anyone in japan but i can't help imagining losing a loved one or suddenly being homeless. i know it's like million miles a way and it all feels like a bad dream. like i'm screaming "make it stop" but i'm on mute. and tomorrow when i wake up it will not be over. i can't stop watching or reading the news. my heart goes out to japan and will be in my prayers.


"god is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." psalm 46:1-2

- text redcross 90999 to donate $10
- google person finder: 2011 japan earthquake
- and if you haven't seen enough already. here's another video.
- interesting article: japan earthquake shifte coastline maximum of 8 ft
- articles on how you can help: cnn, yahoo
- satellite images of japan disaster

photo challenge: peaceful.

i love this picture. this was taken when sophie was 15 months old. sitting by the front door with max on a crisp sunny day waiting for daddy to come home from work.
i came across danielle's my paper heart blog today and every week she has a photo challenge and this week's photo theme is "peaceful" and i immediately thought of this pic. i'm glad i came across danielle's blog just in time.

ribbon pearl necklace tutorial.

if you liked my previous refashion post, you will love making this necklace!
1. will you will need a broken pearl strand and ribbon made out of fabric. but the possibilities are endless, you can use any kind of chain or even beads! and for the ribbon you can make it yourself in any size.

2. secure both ends of the pearl strand using small beads. i couldn't find any beads (i know! so not me) so i used grommet eyes instead.

3. sew the strand using the grommet eye onto the back of the ribbon.

that's all there is to it! so easy right? enjoy! now it's time to make one for mommy!

1 dress = a fab skirt + ribbon pearl necklace.

for some reason i can not let go of this dress because this is the dress sophie wore after her dedication. plus it's so pretty and girly. this is size 3-6 so definitely not going to fit her even if i tried to. it also has a small stain so i can't give it away either. so i guess that leaves me no choice but to... refashion!!!! this is such an easy diy. i love making sophie's clothes last longer.  

the other day i turned the bottom half of the dress into a skirt with an elastic waist. no tutorial on that because it's like a no brainer. i did try putting the bow back on but that didn't work out just because the material is so slippery. being me i hang on to all the scrap fabrics. today sophie broke the pendant on one of her faux pearl necklaces. ding! i just got inspired to make a bow necklace. tutorial coming up!

momma in focus.

casey from one day at a time had this great idea for a link up where moms are encouraged to take more photos with their kids. read more about it here. i have tons of pictures of sophie but not a lot with me. i'm the "photographer" in the fam so i'm always left out of the pic. and like casey, i don't have a lot of photos with my mom because our house burnt down when i was like 10. all our photos were lost in the fire.

lego madness.

do you remember playing with legos!?? o.m.g. whoever thought of that is genius. over the weekend, we bought sophie the ages 4+ legos (yes the smallest ones) set with the horsie and the girl. in pink! i know she's 3 already! time goes by so fast! anyway since then, i've built we've built 2 cottages (one with 2 floors), a ny loft, a sailboat house, a tree house and a picnic scene. which means i've had my d.n.d. sign on my face the last few days. i'm also happy to say that i am now a registered lego vip. yey yah! i mean sophie is. on that note, sorry for the photo overload.