This Rugged JoyFull Home

This, I was asked by my boy one Sunday morning while we were enjoying our breakfast made from left-over food I salvaged from the fridge; yesterday's rice, diced spam, crunchy garlic and ground pork I patiently browned in salted butter and soy sauce and then almost always instinctively, I topped with sunny side eggs. Maybe I can call this our family's yang chow fried rice to be formal about it. I also made sure I prepared a mug of hot Milo beside each  plate. Anyway..."do boys always have to be older than girls, Mom?" I tried my best to not over-react as I cleared my throat and mentally composed a wise response to my son's question. Out of the blue, one random question, but I knew that this question was important to him. Deep inside I felt glad that my boy was able to voice out a question that may cause embarrassment for a  9 year-old like him to ask for fear of being laughed at or judged by a family member. I fully understood that he asked it from the contex...

Not long ago, we re-visited this quaint wooden sculpture shop down the sleepy town of Paete, Laguna to hunt for some old and new artisan pieces that we may find adorable to take home as additional to our growing collection. And as always, there are two requirements that have to fit in our category before buying an item. First, it has to be rustic, and second, it has to be cheap. I know, I know, cheap and pretty can be compromised at times. We drove there excited to behold and appreciate the hundreds of wooden sculptures of different sizes that were passionately created by the local sculptors of Paete.   This wooden piece of art is close to my heart. A barber at work carefully crafted to perfection. It stands about a foot tall. It reminds me of my own father - in - law  love who was a barber himself for many years on a town called Ibaan, a charming town which is about 13km south from Batangas City.  My father - in - love is the only barber I personally know and w...

WARNING: The post that you're about to see if you decide not to walk away after this warning is bombarded with my family photos of over 60 in number. Most of which have not been shared on my conjugal Facebook account with The Hunny.  I have been inspired to snap hundreds of photos of our family spending time together making memories while we can. I confess, I overshare, I am guilty but don't shoot me. (Three  smiley faces- I have to figure out how to create those haha.) On the Philippine Islands our seasons go fleeting. One day it is the dry/summer season and the next day it is the wet/rainy season. Tell me, where have all those summer days gone? But when you' re home-educating your children like us, it doesn't really matter what season of the year it is because learning takes its natural course 365 days a year the fact that we're knit together almost all the time. So, it has been a conscious effort of mine to slow things down, step on the brakes and to just live...