Belated Birthday Greetings for My Brother

The month of May is filled with celebrations for my family. My mother and the youngest brother both celebrated their respective birthdays in May. To add to the list, Mummy C recently celebrated her natal day.

We had a special celebration at home for Mark. He is the youngest sibling of three and does the vocals for the band,  Kuerdas. I would usually take the day-off at work just to prepare stuffs at home whenever a member of the family celebrates their respective birthday. However, my brother's celebration was very different as I did not plan something big for him because of my busy work schedule. Everything went impromptu. I only ordered some foods and I cooked the pasta myself. It was just a simple celebration.

I need to mention how naughty my brother was. A month prior to celebrating his birthday, he informed his friends it was his big day. His close friends then made their attendance at home on April 26 believing it really was his birthday. They all laughed at themselves to know that they were tricked by my brother, LOL!

It may come late as it is, but still, I want to wish my brother the best things in life. As he blew the candles on his cake and wished for himself, I too wished that he may find true happiness, peace and contentment as he traverses on his life-long journey. May his wishes come true. May God bless him with good health, serenity and may he continue to actively glorify the Lord according to His precepts.

Belated Happy Birthday, Mark! 

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Birthday Surprise for Mummy from the Philippines With Love

Four days ago, I deliberately connived with My Prince about the surprise I wanted  for her Mum's natal day. My Prince and I had talked about it a few weeks back and we have been pretty excited searching for the best gift for  Mum. Regrettably, my hectic schedule did not permit me to look around for the most wonderful present as there was very limited time spent in front of the PC. My Prince then suggested to keep it simple and that a bouquet of flowers will do. I then asked him to keep his mouth mummed, LOL!

I wanted it to be a surprise.  I did the purchase online because it's the only way to have the flowers sent on her birthday. This is the first time I have done it. I would usually do it by courier and it would take a month or so before she could have her gifts. I could now imagine the look of surprise on Mum's face while receiving the flowers and the birthday card.  It was a little difficult choosing the best looking one as there were too many online sites with equally beautiful offers.

The long search was over when I've found this one which my Prince agreed that Mummy would love:

It was a little expensive. My Prince got a little worried and asked if I could afford it. I answered him in the affirmative. It wasn't actually the question of sending the expensive or cheap item. It's always the thought that counts, NOT the price.

Mummy C certainly deserves nothing but the best on her birthday. She is a great woman and a great Mum to all her 3 kids. She was able to raise them up admirably in her lonesome. I am grateful because if not for her, I won't have the best Mahal in the world. I thank the Lord for this wonderful blessing. She has been so nice to me and I can't wait to meet her real soon.

Happy Birthday, Mummy! 

P.S: 


Upon speaking to the CSR of the online flower shop on the phone just now,  she assured me to have the bouquet of flowers delivered at 2PM of May 22, 2010. I also made a special order to add some touch of white flowers to the actual photo. The CSR sent me a confirmation of my order via email:

Hi Ellaine,

Our courier has confirmed your gift should be delivered by 2pm today. It is now 10.04am in Sydney Thank you for your order.

Kind regards,

Mary Ellen

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Mama Dearie's Birthday Celebration & Some Mother's Day Notes

Prior to celebrating my Mother's birthday on Labor Day, she had earlier mentioned to me how she would like it celebrated. Mind you, she has been mentioning it to me since last year. She said that she would love to have a beach "Hawaiian" theme party and with my brother's band, Kuerdas performing for her and for her invited guests.

As her birthday was fast approaching, I did not have any qualms organizing it because it also turned out that  Kuerdas was contracted to perform at the Bikini Open by the beach, too! Things were at our advantage as we did not have to rent a sound system, have budget worries of the band's PF, etc., etc., All we needed to do was to don our Hawaiian costumes and head for the beach :-)

Indeed, it was a night of fun, reggae party. What made it all the more fun and exciting was when the 10 candidates for the Bikini Open 2010 paraded on center stage in their skimpy swim wears. It made quite a lot of men and women drooling, LOL!

Bikini Open Wannabe Contestants, LOL!

The sumptuous foods that were laid down on the table, 5 courses and the 60 kilos roasted hog and some favorite desserts made us all forget our diet. Sigh!

I wanted the celebration to be something different for my mother. And yes, I am glad it all went as planned.

For more proofs, just visit Photo's of Mom's 50th Birthday Celebration.
===============================================

It almost took me forever hitting the publish button for the above post because of my toxic work schedule. Mother's day is a day before the Automated Elections in the Philippines. This is history in the making and being a huge part of it is something that I should not be boasting, not unless everything turns out well :-)

Despite the negative publicities, we have been working under pressure to ensure that everything will work as planned. So you can just imagine how taxing and draining it is for me.

Yet, I can't let this day pass without having to pay tribute to my mother who is the ultimate source of nagging inspiration, LOL! Kidding aside, though Mama Dearie and I would often discuss and argue over petty and trivial stuffs, I can not discount the fact that she has been the best mother that she can be.

I remember my mother telling me that her entire family (parents, brothers and sisters) were all against their marriage. Prior to my parents' wedding day, her elder sister even persuaded her to go to a far-flung place, promised to support her pregnancy and her schooling with the condition that she doesn't marry my father. But my mother wasn't persuaded. She already had her mind made up.  She was thinking of me in her womb. I would be without a father. If she is to give birth, she wanted me to have a complete family. She fought for their love and married at 18, gave birth at 19.

I will always be grateful to our God for He blessed me with a complete family. My salutation to my Pretty Mama for having to withstand everything despite all the odds. I am very proud to have you for a mother!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

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To my Dearest Cousin Ally: Happy Birthday!

It was recently that I mentioned to a friend, "How time flies!" and here I am like it is with a blink of my eye and it is time to celebrate and wish my dearest cousin Ally, my heartfelt wishes for blue skies and all things nice on her 27th. Birthday.

Ally and I are first cousins. Both our mothers are sisters. She is one cousin whom I am proud of because she has never neglected her mother and siblings. A true daughter and pride of the Filipino nationality.

She's someone who speaks out her mind bluntly and in her own ways have proven how a good daughter she is no matter how much she and her Mom differed in a lot of things.

She is a person who is very talented. Not only can she bring you to wonderland when you hear her melodious voice. She plays the guitar really well and other musical instruments, too.

Here's to you My Cousin Dearie:

May your days be filled with Happiness, Good Health and Peace!

HAVE A BLESSED BIRTHDAY!

P.S.

In case you do not know, Ally is a die-hard blogger too. Hahaha! She manages two Blogs, namely:

1. In The Eyes Of The Beholder
2. I'm Walking On Sunshine

CREDITS: 

Thank you, Windy for doing the beautiful birthday card for the celebrant :-) 

W I N D Y!

First commenter for this post...

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Happy Birthday, Recel!

Today marks the birthday celebration of a wonderful blogpal, Recel, who blogs from My Written xPressions and Rare Ordinary Thoughts. I have been anticipating eagerly for this day as this is a rare occasion in her life where God has manifested once more His loving Grace by bestowing on her another year of life, good health, a beautiful family, faith, and everlasting love.

With the 6-hour outage disrupting my blogging hours, I had to wait for the power to resume at 1 AM. I've immediately requested Windy to do an animated birthday card and he was able to come up with this beautiful image in a matter of 30 minutes.

From me and Windy, we wish you the best of everything that life here on earth may offer, Sis. More than all, may you continue to be a blessing to others as you have been with us.

Have a blessed birthday!

R E C E L

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Happy Birthday, Baby Ewoks!

Today marks the first birthday of our adorable and cute baby, Ewoks.

Nine months ago I officially welcomed Ewoks as the family's baby when I wrote about him HERE.

He looked like this when he was just 3-month old:

And how worried my Pretty Mama was when I wrote about Tears for Fears. She has cried countless times when she thought she lost Baby Ewoks.

Prior to Ewoks' celebration of birth, my mother has huge plans for him. She wants a big party for our baby. But since everyone were busy, it wasn't possible for us to prepare things beforehand.

So we had to make do with whatever was laid on the table. Mama Dearie bought a small cake and invited Ewoks' friends and playmates in the neighborhood ;-). They were Hangal, Tropix, Onyok, Little Chin-Chin, Tsam- Tsam, Pringy, Teddy, Ratty, Jer-Jer, etc

They were all going gaga when I got home from work. All of Ewoks' visitors were present. Of course, I had to be present for the simple celebration, too. My cousin Ally, who went back home to Manila today, missed the celebration though. However, she was able to greet Ewoks via her phone :-)

To you Ewoks, happy birthday and thank you for making our home's atmosphere vibrant and for always plastering a smile on our faces :-)

W I N D Y

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Belated Happy Birthday, Tita!

For two years, my mother's elder sister (Ate in Filipino), has been celebrating her birthday with us. But again, just like my younger brother's birthday, we just decided to dine out.

My Aunt is a teacher by profession. And yes! Just like most teachers, she's a spinster. So on her birthday four days ago, she was basically alone. My mother invited her via SMS to celebrate her birthday with us. Our treat :-)

We certainly had a blast! We feasted on the sumptuous delicacies on the table. And yes! I lost control of myself and completely forgotten my diet. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

We took quite a handful of photos at the restaurant. That was a promise I've made to my Prince before leaving for dinner. And true enough, there were so many shots to show off!

Just like most Ate's, my Aunt took care of her younger sisters especially my mother. My mother was the youngest of eleven siblings. Their mother died when she was just two years old. So her Ate was left with no choice but to look after her.

Pretty Mama with her Ate

My Aunt finished school when she's a little older because there were so many things to attend to in their family. She had to put off school because her father couldn't afford it. Her elder sisters and herself needed to save up enough for school fees before she could enroll. All of them had to help each other so that they could have a degree and get a good job thereafter.

I admire my Aunt for all the sacrifices she's made for her sisters. She's known to be a mother to the youngest sister of all- my own mother. On her birthday, I wish her all the best. She may be blessed with good health, longer life, serenity, and God's loving grace.

Note: When we got home that night, I was so taken aback when it was announced at the WBE Blog that I was the third inductee to the 2010 Class of WBE Blog of Fame...

What a fun night that was!

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Happy 101 on a Friday!

I haven't been doing tags of late but I love to do this one all over again. This is the "Happy 101 Tag" from Pretty Maxi who blogs from Ovah' Coffee.

This task requires me to enumerate the 10 things that makes a simple person like me happy.

Here they are in random order:

1. I am just a simple girl with simple dreams. Seeing my family intact, in good health and safe from harm are only but a few things that give me a feeling of security and contentment.
2. When I think about the "big day" when I get to finally meet my Prince.
3. Daily communication with my guapo "Sayang" without fail!
4. Receiving beautiful presents from My Guapo Prince and Mummy Carol.
5. Blogging as a form of expression has brought me enormous joy.
6. Sincere friendships that has evolved through my blogging journey.
7. I always do my absolute best when I am accomplishing things. So when concerned parties give me a pat on the back by way of recognizing and appreciating my efforts whether it be at home, at work or across my blogs, that gives me more reasons to smile. I just got inducted to the WBE Blog of Fame and it made me truly happy!
8. When I get the chance to have a vacation or just a simple outing with my family... away from all the stress brought about by the toxic schedule at work :-)
9. When the going gets tough and I'm able to hurdle things despite the threats and challenges along the way.
10. When blood pressure hits the normal level.

The list actually goes beyond 10! There are so many reasons to be happy. But people tend to forget to count their blessings and they always dwell on the dark side of life. If we keep on dwelling on the negative aspects of life, happiness and contentment will eventually elude us.

Over and above these things, let us not forget to give back all the glory to God Almighty. He is the author of our lives and we are nothing without Him!

Feel free to do the tag if you feel like doing it.

Happy weekend everyone!

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Happy Birthday, Brother Dear!

It was on Friday, the 15th of January, when my brother celebrated his birthday. Unlike the previous years, there was no celebration at home. I find it too stressful to do all the preparations and later on find myself down and sick.

The birthday boys in the middle wearing black and white shirts

With my two siblings

It actually was a double celebration. Marcuz, a family friend, also celebrated his birthday. They used to celebrate their birthdays together since they were both kids. This year, they celebrated it together again ;-)

We just decided to dine out with family and some friends together with some of KUERDAS' members. Now, quick weight loss is forgotten here for awhile. I completely lost control of myself again! Sigh!

But dining out means no hassle. No stress. More reasons to smile and have fun, ain't yeah?

After dinner, we proceeded to watch Kuerdas gig at the Jamaican Night. It was a night filled with fun and laughter.

Kuerdas on stage

The brother absolutely had a blast on his big day.

Belated Happy Birthday, Brother Dearie! May your birthday be filled with more blessings and may you incessantly recognize God's presence in your life and continuously glorify His name.

M A X I

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The Birthday Cards

Apart from the beautiful birthday presents I received on my natal day, I've also received birthday cards from My Guapo Prince and Mummy Carol.

Mummy Carol wrote:

Ellaine,

Hope you have a lovely birthday with your family and friends.

Lots of love, kisses, and cuddles,

MUMMY

The card from my Prince reads:

For My Girlfriend,

You're thoughtful and kind

and as beautiful as can be,

You make life so blissful

and happy for me.

Supportive and special,

My very best friend,

You're someone on whom

I can always depend...

You listen, you share,

You're warm-hearted as well

and I love you far more

than those few words can tell!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My Prince Scotty wrote a personal message and I quote:

Hi Princess Ko!

Wishing you all the best for your 25th birthday, you're not getting old, hehe! Many more birthdays to come and we will be spending them together.

MAHAL NA MAHAL KITA ALWAYS!

Your Guapo Prince,

Scotty

P O L L Y!

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