No we didn't go to the beach nor went out of the country... we just, well, spent the whole weekend together.  For me, going through the traffic and pressures of the work week means a lot of time away from the kids.  Having to spend the whole time on Saturday and Sunday with them means a lot to me as I get to invest little seeds of love with them.

The photo above was Amanda's hangover from the wedding of my good friends Jed and Mel during Saturday.  Under a normal weekend, we usually have either a photo coverage or a photobooth, both of which require me to spend time away from them.  However, it was good that we were able to bring them in our event to meet old friends and serve them through our photobooth (www.peeknclick.com)

The following we were able to finally serve the Caliuag Kids through Amanda's yearly giving back program coinciding her birthday.  It was surprising that the Kids for Christ who were serving before are now Youth for Christ.  Can't believe it's already five years since we started this activity.  And every year, we kept on reminding Amanda to always count her blessings and learn to share with others who need our help.

It was fun seeing Amanda already participating in the activities.  She even learned and taught a new song from Ate Lezley about family.

We also wanted to honor the Ates who took the time to serve and help prepare the activities.  We have a new set of kids in this batch and just realized that it's been five years since we started Amanda's Giving Back project.

After the tiring but fulfilling activity we went home.  I thought Ate was super tired, but when we parked, she saw her friend in the playground and got to have bonding time with her a bit.

I thought our day was over and we're ready to relax that night, when suddenly we heard a loud noise... followed by a loud cry.

Our little angel Cassandra fell on the floor while sleeping.  We applied ice compress immediately to prevent swelling on her forehead.  It was the longest cry ever, but fortunately it subsided and she's ok now.  Thank God!

It was a very long weekend, but it's all worth spending the time not just with the kids but with other people that our family wanted to help out.

At the back of my mind, spending quality time is ok, but it should also be accompanied by quantity time. Me and the rookie mom were discussing after Cassandra was ok that the same incident happened to Amanda when she was small.  Unfortunately, it was with her yaya and we were not at home when that happened.  We can't imagine the horror that she felt during that time.  Plus the fact that almost everyday, we both leave going to the office by 7am and go home by 9pm.  It was a lesson learned the hard way which help us decide that one of us should stay at home first.  The primary concern was financial and career.  But after three years, God never failed to provide for us and comfort rookie mom whenever she feels she's not doing well.  But I want to honor her for being a very amazing woman to juggle the mommy duties and the entrepreneur tasks everyday and for simply being the most beautiful mom for our family.

#latepost
Love more. 

They said that God surprises you when He wants to teach you something.  As this year's theme for CFC is to love more, there were numerous times already that I needed to go back to this teaching and really love more.

One of these is knowing if we're going to push through with Amanda's Giving Back project which we do every year on her birth month.  And true enough, God tested our character if we would be willing to love more.

Time, budget... and a lot of worries.

These were the things that brought our family to have doubts in doing Amanda's Giving Back birthday activity.  Cali and I were touched by God that there's no other greater assurance in this world except to hold on to His words.  And so we decided to cast all those worries and sponsor one of the kids' weekend.

So finally we're able to do it again this year on Champee's 4th birthday.  We were able to have a simple fun-filled activity with the Caliwag kids on May 3 with the help of our loving kuyas and ates from Singles for Christ.

Some things we learned during the activity:

1. Playtime.  Since she's a big baby now, she joined the activities already and learn how to play with the bigger boys and girls.
2. Gratitude. Before we left, the kids and the ates and kuyas said thank you.  But we replied, thank you instead of You're welcome.  Why? Not because we're Filipinos :) (do you notice how many of us respond thank you with a thank you also?) but because I believed they gave me more than what we've given them. They gave us the opportunity to serve and to learn life's simple pleasures.
3. Osmosis. That despite of all the challenges for the family, we chose to push through with it so that our babies could absorb the rationale behind helping others and loving more. We do hope that when they grow up, they'll always remember to share and love.

April 27, 2014 - Caliwag, Pasig

Irregardless of age, financial status or gender, everyone can share something for those who don't have enough.

As a rookie dad, I wanted Amanda to learn the value of living not just for herself but to have the genuine concern of loving others.  I believe that it's one of the ways to live life to the full.  And hopefully starting her young even if it seems that she doesn't understand is a way to expose her that not all kids experience the same blessings as what she has and that it's perfectly ok to aim to have more than enough blessings so that she can share them to others.

So starting on her first birthday, even though she's just barely walking, we coordinated with our SFC brothers and sisters serving in Caliwag to celebrate a simple birthday with our kids there. The same went on last year and on Champee's third birthday this year, it was pretty amazing since she's able to participate in some of the activities already.

Three things I've observed: 

1. Kids are highly engaged on music - There's lot of dancing and singing at the start and end of the program.  Pretty much the same with all of any of our community activities as we use song and dance as a prayer.  Thinking about it, when you put melody on words, it's easier absorbed by our subconscious and easier to infuse on our habits as well therefore transforming lives easier.  Consequently, aside from actions... if you're having a hard time teaching your kids about anything, try to make a simple tune out of the instructions you want them to follow.  For example if you want kids to cleanup after playing, maybe you could say "Clean up, clean up... " to the tune of "Bahay Kubo?"
   
2. Kids need special nourishment on both the body and spirit.  The kids' regular activities consist of the opening and closing dancing/singing prayer, games which helps them interact with each other and encourages cooperation for the seniors and story telling plus arts and crafts for the juniors to hone their basic skills.  It was a complete package to feed their spirit and intellect.  The second portion was the feeding program.  And this is where Amanda and other sponsors in the past greatly contributes into nourishing these kids physically through providing them food.  What's different about this year was that Amanda is now old enough to participate in the food distribution and was assigned as our juice girl :)  In her own little way, she's able to actively participate in nourishing tummies of other kids.
3. We could do more.  I know the committed brothers and sisters serving the kids could have spent their time resting on a Sunday afternoon.  But they offer their time, talents and treasures to make a difference in these kids' lives every week to teach songs, games and introduce God in their lives hoping that when they grow up, they'll grow up as loving and responsible adults.  Having this once a year Champee birthday helped them just for this week, but i do hope that we could also raise funds for them to make their venue accommodate more children and encourage more volunteers to keep this activity going,

I would like to honor the brothers and sisters who helped us with Champee's birthday at Caliwag:  Jhoan, Vince, Julius, Dave, Fidel, Sarah, Zaldy, Bojo, Tita Dorie, Tonton, and Jack hoping that someday, Champee will also get the same passion for serving underprivileged kids