Review on Purchased Deal : ACT Dance and Arts Academy

We got two vouchers for ACTS from Cash Cash Pinoy. The deal says "Only 175 for a Dance or Fitness session at ACTS Dance & Arts Academy!

Comments :

I bought this because the deal said that you can use it for classical ballet. When I called act academy to schedule a session for my two girls, they said classical ballet is not included on the deal. If you look at the description at CashCashPinoy, it clearly stated that classical ballet is part of their open class offering. I tried to do a refund on CashCash but they just suggested to give the voucher to a friend. So disappointing.

I need to comment out the post I previously made for this deal. Am just so grateful that after a couple of email exchange with Cash Cash Pinoy, they extended there service a bit by taking time to discuss this deal with ACTS. So thank God that my girls were able to consume the vouchers we bought. Special thanks to my sweetie for accompanying our girls to their ballet session and to my two SILs for coming with them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go with them since there were no available weekend schedules for their pre-ballet class.

Here are some fun pics:)




More pictures from our fb page:)

Cheers!

Baking 101 with my daughters

I almost bake every night. And my girls have already gotten used to seeing me in the kitchen
with what they call "my stuff". My girls, specially missy, usually goes to me and asks me tons
of questions when i do "my stuff". Questions like "what are you baking today mommy?",
or "what is that?" and "what does it do?" (while pointing to an ingredient i've just
added on my mixing bowl) are just some of her common repeating questions.

Now, once missy sees me do "my stuff" she always tells me that she wants to help.
It's fun coz i feel like im starting to breed a future pastry chef here. lol.

Oh well, here are some pictures of me and my girls..on the kitchen..doing "my stuff". :)

mommy pouring milk while missy stir the egg yolks

missy explaining to me what she's doing:)

here's cj as she gets excited to see her sister use "my stuff" :)

cj as she tries stirring the ingredients

Cheers!

My Baby Models :)

One of the activities I did with my girls last weekend was to take pictures of them while they model some of their hand me down dresses from their ate Asia. thank God I don't need to think about buying them new dresses for a little while :)

Here are the edited version of their shots:

ate Missy in a rose garden painting

Cj having fun on her imaginary garden (described by ate Missy when i showed this to her)

And their raw pictures:

You can view more of their shots on our fb page :)



Cheers!

Halloween Costumes=)

This is just my overdue post about our Halloween day.

We bought each of our girls costumes at Bumblebee and Company just a couple of days in time for the Halloween day. We went to Trinoma's Cirque Festival 2010 because it was near our in-laws' place (below are some pictures I took while we were waiting for the mall to open).

But i was very disappointed with how things worked that day. I went on a long queue to have my two girls registered, thinking that only those registered kids are allowed to do trick or treating on selected Trinoma stores. To my surprise, some families were already going from one store to the other for trick or treat while I and still a lot more parents were lining up to get registered=(. After seeing this, I told my husband to do the same while I line up to register. After our registration was done, my girls got tired and so we went home na=(.

Good thing the costumes we bought included a free photo shoot plus one 8x10 print at Blow-up Babies! Regular cost per photo shoot at this studio is P500 for non-members plus additional P900 for every 8x10 print.

Here is the outcome of the photo session..

Missy enjoyed playing with this big dancing ball

CJ embraced and loved riding on this horse^_^

Costumes does look prettier in person and on studio shots huh? Or maybe their photographer just did a fabulous job? Or maybe my girls just look awesome on their outfit? lol ^_^

Cj @ 3rd birthday celebratio at Dad's and Kamayan's

We had a simple celebration of Cj's 3rd birthday at Dad's and Kamayan's at SM Megamall Sunday last week. It was only exclusively for my family and my hubby's family. Some got their foods from Dad's merienda buffet (already priced at P190 per head) and for some who still opted to eat rice, they chose Kamayan's lunch buffet (priced at P360 per head).

Both buffet treat were satisfying. I cannot recall the selection available for Kamayan's lunch buffet, but for the merienda buffet (where I also got my meal), there were:

1. Dimsum (Siopao, Mami, Siomai)
2. Chocolate cake
3. Kakanin
4. Spaghetti
5. Carbonarra
6. Cream Puffs
7. Puto and Dinuguan
8. Pancit Bihon
9. Pancit Palabok
10. Ginataan


After the food trip, hubby's family went ahead while we still stayed at the mall and headed of to Kidz Republic! My two girls enjoyed this playground better that Dave's fun house. They were both very energetic at this point and were so much full of excitement as they went up and down the slide and the trampoline, round and round the hanging rubber trees, running around the hanging bridge etc. They can still recall what they did and where they went. And every time they remember that playground, they would always tell me, 'mommy let's go to the jungle playground!'. lol.

How I wish we could go back this weekend but we are so preoccupied with three events. Hopefully we'll be back there again next weekend. I'll be bringing the camera for sure!

Cj @ 3!

Our youngest daughter's birthday is already coming up but haven't got any plans yet till this day. Even if we're done celebrating CJ's birthday together with her ate Missy last month, I feel guilty that i still haven't done any party preparation until now.

Of course we need to celebrate that day. I'm still thinking about what's the best way to celebrate her third birthday.. if it would be celebrated in our home with our relatives, on a resto, or a park, or a small party at a fastfood chain like Mc Donald's or Jollibee.

Here are my thoughts :

1. If it would be celebrated at home:
- i'd like to create a do-it-yourself cupcake package for everyone's entertainment.
- plan to cook turon and pair it with vanilla ice cream
- plan to make cheese or caramel fondue.. i love both but i need to pick just one hahaha
- i don't want to bake a cake this time, since i already baked at their party.. not sure if this is a good idea though
- daddy will cook , no plans yet what he intends to do

2. If it would be celebrated on a park:
- i would still do what i plan to do/cook at home but will bring this on a park for picnic.--the thought sounds tiring though ;(

3. Iif it would be celebrated on a resto
- it would probably be at dad's and would be a merienda buffet for our relatives and close friends

4. If it would be celebrated on a fastfood chain
- this would be fun, but i need to check my guests and need to book the event soon
- we wont do anything elaborate. will just utilize what they have on the party package and will probably invite relatives and close friends only.

Hmm.. can't decide since i also have lots of thought in my head..lots of events this week and next week..

By the way, am so proud that our Cj is already using the potty to pee and poop! No one taught her that;) Also, she sooo loves singing and dancing!

My Supplier Ratings for Missy and CJ's Rockstar Princess Birthday Party!

It's now time to share our feedback and supplier ratings for our two girls' birthday party held last Saturday. I just now realized na talagang wala atang perfect party. Meron at merong konting glitches at malilimutan..

Venue : 49th floor One San Miguel Ave. Bldg
Comment : Very nice place talaga for a party kse nice ang lighting esp ang view outside the bldg. Yung ibang guests pumunta pa talaga sa labas para mag picture-picture.=) BTW, may big poste tong venue na to bandang stage area, kaya to complement that, we told the caterer to situate the stage on the side across the entrance door. Normally kasi, stage is situated on the left side of the entrance door wall( if ganito setup the big poste will really block the stage). On the party picture, you won't even notice na may poste.
Rating : 5* kahit may mahiwagang poste hehehe
Peso power : Free if your order at their caterer is 15k up kaya ours was free


Caterer : Baby Nathan's Catering (official caterer of OSMA Bldg.)
Comment : Sarap sarap ng foods! All guests din were satisfied sa food kaya thumbs up ako dito. Wala na akong fave kasi lahat talaga masarap :) Kasama sa freebie ng catering ang floral centerpieces kaso hindi na ko nagpalagay ng floral centerpieces kse may balloon centerpiece na kasama yung package na nakuha ko sa Party Boosters. Sayang lang kasi hindi pumayag yung caterer na gumawa ng ilang floral decor sa dessert buffet area instead of those floral centerpiece sa table..
Rating : 4* dahil sa hindi napagbigyang floral decors sa dessert buffet :(
Peso Power : 23,800 (260 per head sa adults and 100 per head sa kids)


Balloon Decorator/Venue Dress-up : Party Boosters c/o Jacque (n@wie)
Comment : The best talaga ang Party Booster sa akin. Always superb ang rating ko every time i see them setup parties na kine-cater namin. Mababait din ang staff ni Jacque and helpful. Tinulungan pa ko ng isang staff sa paglagay ng cupcakes sa tower, at mga brownies at mini cupcake sa dessert buffet :) All guests were raving about the beautiful colors of the balloons and the rosset balloon table centerpieces. Nai-uwi pa namin yung mga pillars at nilalaro pa rin til today ng mga girls ko.hehehe
Rating : 5*
Peso Power : 5,500 (balloon pilars, balloon bursts, table centerpieces, and balloonderitas).


Side Entertainment : Arts n Faces c/o Liby (face painting and hair salon)
Comments : Madali kausap at mabait si Ms. Liby. The best yung mga staff na binigay nya sakin. Ang galing talaga ng pag tatoo nila. Luv luv ko rin yung setup ng hair salon nila with the big mirror na may lights, barbie head model, hair color sprays, hair pins, etc. everyone enjoyed this area talga. Sulit na sulit din every penny ko sa kanila. If we have another party, sila pa rin kukunin ko.hehehe
Rating : 5*
Peso Power : 3,800 (promo rate nila :)


Host/Magician with Side kick and Balloon twisting : Boogie n Friends
Comments : Na-disappoint ako dito sa supplier na to. I was hoping to see kuya Boogie mismo kasi sa mga bnf hosts, siya lang talga ang type namin maghost. I always tell grace (yung nakakausap ko sa contact number nila) na si kuya Boogie ang gusto namin. Even on the email i
sent them, i always tell them na si kuya boogie..umooo naman si grace pero hindi pala si boogie ang ipoprovide. They provided a host na long hair like boogie pero walang quality ang hosting. Pure tagalog, may mga palpak na magic, parang hindi coordinated ang program, mejo
hindi alam magencourage ng kids na sumali sa games..basta i was not satisfied. Quite helpful naman ung side kick sakin pero siyempre yung hosting ang importante sa program..
Rating : 3* for coming early, making the guests laugh on some acts, and for the helpful sidekick

Additional Comment (after seeing the pictures) : I guess hindi lang na-meet ng host na pinadala yung standard na hinahanap ko sa host. If it was Boogie talga, im sure I won't have anything to say kasi we were all the while expecting him. Lagi kse kami nasa birthday parties kaya we know kung ano ang meaning ng isang magaling na host. Lesson learned ko lang is next time choose a host na siya rin ang contact person, hindi yung parang companya ang kinakausap.
Peso Power : 3,000


Photographer : Mediamonsters c/o Lisa
Comments : They came in just in time na magsisimula pa lang yung party. I was happy kasi she came with a backup photographer which i did not expect kasi i know sa package na kinuha ko one photographer lang ang kasama. Tapos happy happy din ako kse may kasamang freebie ang nakuha namin. Hope the pictures turn out great!
Rating : 5* as of the moment kse dko pa nakikita ang output
Peso power : 3,500


Guitar Cake and Cupcakes : My Chocolate Heaven (DIY ko)
Comments : Siyempre satisfied ako kse love your own! hehehe. Sabi ng guests masarap ang cupcakes and mga relative na nakatikim ng cake nasarapan din kaya superb irerate ko.whehehe.
Rating : 5*
Peso power : DIY ko. Pero if costing based from our rates its 5850 + 2k for 75 cupcakes with themed cupcake topper in premium box and
the guitar shaped cake.


Dessert buffet : My Chocolate Heaven (DIY ko ulit)
Comments : Hiniwalay ko to kase lower irerate ko sa sarili ko..I left the dessert treat labels sa house and due to time constraints (kasi nga its our party), i was not able to put the cream cheese frosting on the mini cupcakes. Nice raves pa rin naman ang guests sa taste.. sarap daw lahat esp yung brownies na may mint (that's Creme de Menthe..wala nga kasing label hehehe), Lemon Mini Cupcakes, Cake pops, at Cheesecake Brownies. So happy na rin to hear that :)
Rating : 4* dahil sa kulang na details
Peso power : DIY again. Pero if costing based from our rates its 5,500+ (70pcs mini cupcakes, 40 pcs cake pops, 3doz cheesecake brownies, 3doz creme de mente brownies, 1 customized silver package chocolate fountain setup, assortment of yema, pastillas, and polvorons



AVP : DIY ni mommy and c/o tito dop (bro ko)
Comments : I love the AVP my bro din. Mejo nasayangan lang ako kasi hindi na-isetup ng maayos yung projector. Mejo nagingn bluish yung color (another not perfect thing that day). But thanks to my dad din for bringing the projector (na galing pa ng province).
Rating : 4* dahil hindi perfect yung output color
Peso power : none

Name tag(na naiwan sa bahay with the dessert station labels kaya sayang..),backdrop,welcome tarp,invites,lootbags,game prizes: labor of love ni mommy at daddy
Comments : kinarer since 3 months ago. Labor of love ulit kaya superb rating ko dito!
Rating : 5*
Peso power : 3,500


Sana makatulong ang rating sa ibang mommies=)


Missy’s 4th and CJ’s 3rd Rockstart Princess Birthday Party!

It was a stressful day for us pero worth it effort. :)

Missy and CJ's Baby Gift Registry

So glad that our girls are now registered at Rustan's and Toy Kingdom! Thanks to GT about this idea. Initially I thought gift registries are only for soon-to-be-wed couples, baptisms/dedications, and first birthdays. Well, I was wrong about that:)

For those who were able to get the invite with the discount cards from Rustan's and Toy Kingdom, you may buy gifts from any of their outlets even outside Metro Manila.

The difference:
1. At Rustan's - Guests may choose what they want to buy

2. At Toy Kingdom - We picked our wish list so guests can easily identify what the kids want as present


We know Missy and Cj will be very happy to get of any of those items but of course any gift would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance to our guests:)

For our online invited guests, here's what you'll see on their wish list at Toy Kingdom:

UPC	Product Description	Retail Price
2068380532335	WINFUN 8030 POWER LAPT	999.75
2068380462168	TOMY MEGASKETCHER 65	849.75
2068380236103	WINFUN 11288 MEGA TOUC	1549.75
2068101456858	DISNEY CHARC-BHM DISN	549.75
2068380439870	TARA ROLLING ART DESK	799.75
2068380230903	BARBIE BARBIE HAIR BEA	499.75
2068380439900	TARA SIT N47 PLAY ACTIV	999.75
2068380518537	UNEEDA UNEEDA DOLL TWI	1499.75
2068320290509	PLAYGO-GAMES & HOBBI	1079.75
2068101487708	WD DISNEY PLUSH	649.75
2068320289282	PLAYGO-EDUC TOYS TEA	1499.75
2068380500587	STYLUS SPRAY ART STATI	799.75
2068380548930	BEADOS DISNEY PRINCESS	749.75
2068320290424	PLAYGO-GAMES & HOBBI	849.75
2068380439863	TARA REFLECT N47 DRAW P	799.75
2068380411968	POOH MY FUN CAMERA 9	249.75
2068810148932	DISNEY IMC	449.75
2068101579144	LONDON (DISNEY PRINCES	900
2068380596559	DORA DORA BRASS BAND S	399.75
2068320339789	BOOKS-LIF STATIONERY	299.75

One thing I like about this is that guests can easily pick what gift they can bring at the party. And of course they'll be able to buy that item at a discounted cost because of the discount coupon these stores provide.:)


Cheers!

Part 3: Missy and CJ's Rockstar Princess themed Birthday Party

The final backdrop layout. I so love it!

This is the last series of my post re: our party preparation for our two daughter's coming Rockstar Princess themed party.

It's exactly a month and a day more to go before our girls' big day! Honestly, am sooo excited!

Here's my updated check list..
1. Balance for the side entertainment, host magician , and photographer are already ready (thanks to ninang robe, ninong leo, and ninang lourdes for the extra help este gift:) )

2. The cupcake boxes for the favors are already bought and almost ready. Cupcake na lang and kulang!

3. Missy and Cj's outfits have already been bought last weekend. Shoes to follow this coming weekend. We got it from SM Megamall. Daddy chose the items and his fashion statement.. Simple Pero Rock. The tutus I made are big no no daw sabi ni daddy.. lol :)

4. Backdrop and welcome tarps have already been printed.

5. AVP is already done. Thanks to tito dop for the help (eto na ba ang gift?hehehe)

6. Styro guitars for the table centerpiece are ready for painting

7. Taste test done last week. My favorite was the pork, veg, dessert, and chicken=)


Hmm... So with these, my final to-do's would only be the following:

1. Remind the caterer a week before the party that:
- we need 7 more tables for the dessert bar, cupcake tower, cake, gifts, prizes, lootbags, and registration area
- we need to use their overhead screen projector for the AVP
- remove the free floral table centerpiece (as advised by Party Boosters) and instead add floral decoration on the dessert bar, cupcake tower, and cake tables (is this too much to ask na ba??hahaha)

2. Buy nuts and chips for pica-pica (to be served by service crews)

3. Buy litro pack iced teas for extra drinks since the caterer's package only includes one serving of iced tea. The iced tea will be made and served by the service crews. Cool huh?

4. Buy edible treats as addition to the kid's loot bags

5. Buy stuff for Pabitin game

6.Go to Rustan's, Toy's R Us, Toy Kingdom, and SM Baby Co. to have our kids registered for their wishlist so guests who plan to come won't have a hard time guessing what gift they want to buy.. Thanks in advance na rin!=) . This is done!


A week before..

6. Remind our online buddies about the party. Also, distribute the invitation to those guest without facebook account. Now I see how important it is to have an fb account, lesser expenses on the invite! lol

7. Look for a friend who can lend me her curling iron for my girls. Anyone..??


A day before..

7. Remind the suppliers about the party

8. Bake dessert treats, cupcakes,and cake (so dami ng DIY ni mommy. Buti na lang supportive si daddy sa pagbili ng mga needed ingredients and materials and matyaga si yaya magligpit ng mess.lol)


Oh gosh.. how come it looks like I still need to do a lot!?!?

My 2yr old's First Dental Visit

For a couple of days last week our CJ had trouble eating and drinking milk and was experiencing recurring fever. A few days after that I noticed that her mouth was emitting an unusual foul smell so with that we decided to schedule a visit to a Pedia Dentist.

We were lucky to know Dr. Jay from a couple of network friends at n@wie. Since his clinic (Tooth Fairy Dental Clinic) is just located in Makati City and several moms are raving about how good he is, we decided to give him a try.

When I called him up he requested us to get a panoramic xray of Cj's teeth so that he would be able to identify which tooth should get the immediate help (which one would really need to be extracted). And so we went to Zen Dental Spa Clinic at the Fort for the panoramic xray a day

before we visit Tooth Fairy. Unfortunately, CJ doesn't was to cooperate with the procedure.
Well what do you expect from a 2-year old when she sees and hears this big machine turning around her head:( In the end, we were not able get a good shot of CJ's Panoramic X-ray. I commend Zen's Clinic though because they gladly returned the payment I made for that x-ray request (P800 pa rin yun.)

And so off we went to the dentist the next day with our two girls. The dentist was truly remarkable at his craft. He introduced the different dental equipment to CJ like they were toys. :))

For example, the dentist said that the tool that spurts out water is a water gun..
The tool that slurps the water or liquid inside your mouth is a magic wand because it instantly makes the water from the cup disappear.. Nice huh? While introducing his dental equipments he also lets Cj hold each of it so that she won't get scared of seeing these new tools.

However, even will all these lectures, Cj still got scared.. I guess it would be easier if Cj was much older. Because of Cj's refusing reaction the dentist had no choice but to do his plan b procedure. He called it the lap - to lap procedure wherein Cj would be sitting on my lap and her head would be on the dentist's lap.

The dentist saw her tooth problem after that procedure and advices that her four front teeth be extracted to prevent further infection on her mouth. He requested 5 different blood tests plus a certification from CJ's Pedia doctor before he could give a go signal with the tooth extraction.


The blood test procedure is another long story (they got almost 4cc of blood for this and it was not at all a good experience for us). We already have the results but still need to have it interpreted by the pedia. Hope everything will turn out okay. But I'm still hoping that we could save some of CJ's four front teeth.