moving out

Because there has been alot of problems with posting comments on this blog, I've moved to another home please visit

http://drivingspiderman.wordpress.com

Apparently blogger has been having problems on their comments pagefor some time now. I'm kicking myself for not making enough research before I started. Anyway, hope you visit the new site!

ciao!

Bella's 2two party

Sweet little girl Isabella is the daughter of my friend Ate Dinky (my unofficial event party designer). She is the luckiest little girl I know because her mom is as excited as her when it comes to her birthday parties. I even think her mom already has plans for her future birthdays too!

On her 2nd birthday, last 23 November 2012 we celebrated it at  Zabeel Park. The theme of the party was a "2two party" (See the play of words?) Girls were asked to wear a tutu and boys were to wear bow ties. I secretly wished I had a baby girl to dress up in a tutu, but looking for and seeing the boys wearing bow ties made me a happy mommy too.

Our little family with Tita Doris

i love this table setting

Cake toppers

Ate Dinx and her supportive team did all the decors themselves. I really love the attention to detail they've put into everything. 

a closer look at the beautiful table

Carrot Cake with Walnuts

The Cake was made by Fadge Cake which of course looked and tasted really good!!! Check out their FB page (link) if you are interested to order.

handmade invitations made by Ate Dinx (of course)

At the end of the day, We were tired from all the activities but there was a certain kind of high that I felt leaving the party, the kind that made me want to keep talking about it because there was sooo much love and effort put into everything. Now isn't that the best way to leave a party?



P.S. Now you understand why I'm excited that Ate Dinx is helping me with Aden's party.

Lemon Drizzle Muffin

This is the first muffin recipe I found online that I am truly happy about! The product was very light, fluffy and not too sweet! I even made a non-dessert loving friend like it!

P.S. grating lemon was not my favorite part of the process (I never realized it will be that hard - and then my husband told me that cheese graters like knives also gets dull - palm to face moment)

Ingredients 

Serves: 12

• 220g plain flour 
• 125g caster sugar 
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 3/4 teaspoon bicarb of soda 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 egg 
• 250g natural yoghurt 
• 85g butter or margarine, melted 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 

      Lemon drizzle: 

• 80ml lemon juice 
• 4 tablespoons sugar 
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 

Preparation method Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 20 mins

1. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases. 
2. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. 
3. In another bowl, beat the egg, yoghurt, butter and lemon juice. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Take care not to overmix. 
4. Fill muffin cases 2/3 full. Bake at 200 C / Gas 6 for 20-24 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
5. Cool for 5 minutes; leave muffins in tin. Using a skewer, poke 6-8 holes in each muffin. 
6. In a saucepan, combine the lemon drizzle ingredients. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Spoon over warm muffins. 

 source:  all recipes

Give aways and Decors

I recently (last year) attended a birthday party that the mom of the celebrant really gave such attention to details on the smallest things, mind you all DIY, that I found myself appreciating all of the mom's effort. ( I will get permission from the mom to grab some photos to share on my blog so you can see what I mean but for the meantime...) I remember feeling so much love was put in the party that I actually appreciated the fact that they made us part of that special occasion.

So, for my dear Aden's party I would like to put in, if not the same effort at least a little bit more than what I would put into any party I would host.

The theme I chose was a circus theme.

With my only ally in life, my sister Xyn, we immediately started planning our little party. Even if she is back in the Philippines and pregnant! She immediately sprung into action and found for me the perfect give aways in Divisoria.

65 PHP only! or $1.50

My next course of action was the venue and decor...I was planning something (i didn't know what) but when Ate Dinky (the mom of the super attention to detail DIY party) contacted me and told me to get a move on things, I immediately got a kick on the behind and started moving and not just planning in my head. As you know we have the venue booked already and now to decorate it...

My first go-to was my favorite swedish furniture store, IKEA and found that they too have a wide (ok not wide) range of circus things for kids...(as if the God's were on my side! - DRAMA!)

I found this ...I don't know what to call it...but I got really excited!

and these

paper lanterns of different colors 

of course, I still have to get the approval of my unofficial party planner/event coordinator, ate Dinx (that told me that crepe paper was soooooo passé) haha

They even have a circus tent, that at first i thought it would be too much but then I realized maybe we can add it to the decor of the place and maybe put some stuffed animals inside that are peaking out??? or the gifts???

Circus Tent

What do you think? Will keep you guys updated as we move along...

Cloning mommy

A few hours after this picture was taken, tears replaced these smiles...tears for mommy!! Both boys wanted mommy to be by their side to soothe them to sleep. This led me into thinking, "What if it was possible to clone mommy" What would mommy A and mommy B do? 

Here were my thoughts:

Mommy A would be responsible for:

• preparing the meals, washing the dishes
• doing laundry
• ironing
• cleaning the house
• make up beds
• putting the toys back after their use

and mommy B would:

• wake up and prepare the kids for school
• have breakfast with the kids
• take them to school
• pick them up from school
• play with them 
• nap with them
• be silly with them 
• and sleep with them

If you notice my list one mommy clone does all the chores and one mommy clone spends all the time with the kids, I guess in my subconscious I wouldn't want to delegate to anyone time with my kids even if it was a clone of myself. I would still prefer to do all these things than sacrifice precious moments with my little ones.

The biting incident

During pick up at school today, the teacher asked me to stay behind. My immediate thought was

"Oh no! What did Adrian do today" 

"Was he naughty?"

"Was he bitten by an animal?" (Posh Paws was in school today so the kids had lots of animal visitors)

but as it turned out another student from Racing Camels class bit him on the thigh because they were fighting over some cars and the teacher had to explain to me that they had the situation under control and that Adrian was brought to the infirmary as soon as it happened. I had to sign a form stating that I was informed and understood the incident.

In hindsight, I am relieved that my son was not the one who bit another child. I just hope Adrian doesn't think that when things don't go his way, it's ok to bite.

I'm a "sige lang" mom, or so I'd like to think.

Last weekend, We decided to take the boys out and go to a farm. My Adrian was over the moon seeing and feeding those animals that I just let my hair down and let him do his thing kinda like a #sigelang (it's ok!) mom.

Apparently it's a very popular saying among moms in my country all made famous by an ad campaign for a detergent. You've got to give it to us Filipinos to come up with smart and witty campaign ads.

Here's the full story...

Party Venue booked!

Lately, I've been loosing sleep because of the constant worrying about my second son, Aden's 1st birthday party.

I didn't want to have it in the normal places we Filipinos have parties like Max's, Chowking and Barrio Fiesta because lately I've noticed that because our events are always in the same place, some people tend to compare parties which makes me sad in a way because the main reason we were all there was to celebrate a special occasion and all some people seem to care about was the food. I didn't want to be compared to the others before me and I wanted a place where the kids will enjoy themselves and the food as well. 

My first choice was Pizza Company at the Marina walk but their extensive menu and lack of party combos simply made it too complicated for me to have it there. 

Play area for the kids 

Then by chance I pass by Fat Burger, a burger joint along Jumeirah Beach Road and that was it! I was in love...The place was perfect, they had a play area, which was on the second floor that they can close off exclusively for parties and their menu is very simple...burger, drink and fries, not to mention affordable...After visiting their place 3 times I finally met with the manager today and booked the place!!!!

Dining where you can see the kids playing in the play area

Now time for the fun stuff, decor and detailing...but thats for another day. 

Boston Cream Pie

Baking is not my game AT ALL!!! The most baking that I've done in the past is the box kind...and so when my DH got me a proper sized oven I was excited to see what I can do!

To slowly introduce me into this new hobby,  I started with a box cake.

and so the final product Boston Cream Pie:

I have to give credit to Fabulesslyfrugal.com because from her blog I was able to get tips on how to make the box cake 100x better and how to make this yummy cake.

Of all the things I do for my sons, driving and spending time with them are the ones I enjoy the most. On costume day in school my son Adrian, was dressed up as Spider-man. I posted this picture and captioned it "Driving Spider-man". 

When I was thinking of a blog title, I was looking for something original, funny and easy to remember. Hence, Driving Spider-Man the blog was born.

Hope you enjoy the ride!

Driving Spider-Man