A Cake for Mais' 2xth Bday

I decorated a cake for the first time today.
The birthday celebrator requested me to bake a chocolate cake for her with a “happy birthday” written on it.
I’ve been mastering my chocolate cake but never have I tried to put decorations on it other than its frosting.
It was a pleasure to bake for her, but I was hesitant with the decoration part since I don’t know how to make an icing.
Nonetheless, how could I say NO if it would be my only gift for her knowing that she was the one who bought most of the ingredients?
So I asked my mom via SMS on how to make an icing, but her instructions was unclear.
I had no choice but to regard it as an experiment.
Since I only had a few hours to finish it, I only used candy decors.
And for added fun, I bought a magic candle ( A special candle which automatically relights after the flame is blown out. The flame will only be completely extinguished after the candle is put in water).
I was amused with my simple work and was very glad that Mais liked it.

She was very much amazed with the magic candle that she even kept it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAIS!

NINOY'S LETTER TO DAUGHTER BALLSY (1973)

This letter made my eyes misty.
Thanks to Febz for sharing this to me.

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August 18, 1973
FortBonifacio
Makati, Rizal

Ms. Maria Elena C. Aquino
25 Times St. Quezon City

My dearest Ballsy,
I write you this letter with tears in
my eyes and as if steel fingers are crushing my heart because I wanted
so much to be with you as you celebrate your legal emancipation. Now
that you have come of age, my love, a voice tells me that I am no
longer young and suddenly, I feel old.
An old poet gave this advice very long ago “when you are sad, remember
the roses will bloom in December.” I want to send you bouquet of
roses, big red roses from my dreamland garden. Unfortunately for the
present, my roses are not in bloom, in fact they have dropped all
their petals and only the thorns are left to keep me company. I do
think it is fitting to send you a thicket of thorns on this memorable
day!
I am very proud of you because you have inherited all the best traits
of your mother. You are sensible, responsible, even-tempered and
sincere with the least pretenses and affection which vehemently detest
in a woman. I am sure like your mother, you will possess that rare
brand of silent courage and that combination of fidelity and fortitude
that will be the life vest of your man in the tragic moments of his
life.
During my lonely hours of solitary
confinement in FortMagsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija last March and April
with nothing else to do but pray and daydream, with only my fond
memories to keep me company, I planned a weekend barrio fiesta for you
in Tarlac for your 18th birthday. I fooled myself into believing that
my ordeal would end with the fiscal year. I planned to invite all your
classmates and friends and their families for the weekends.
The schedule called for an early
departure by bus from Manila and the first stop will be Concepcion,
where lunch will be served by the pool. And after lunch, you were to
visit the SantaRitaElementary School to distribute cookies and ice
cream to the children of that public school where you were first
enrolled.
I guess sheer nostalgia prompted me to include Santa Rita. We were
only three then: Mommie, you and I. Those were the days of happy
memories little responsibilities, tremendous freedom, a great future
ahead and capped by a fulfillment of love.. You are the first fruit of
our union, the first proof of our love and the first seal of our
affections.
From Concepcion we were to proceed to
Luisita for the barrio fiesta. I intended to invite a friend who could
roast an entire cow succulently. Swimming, pelota, dancing and eating
would have been the order of the day.
Sunday morning was reserved for a trip around the Hacienda and the
mill and maybe golf for some of the parents and later a picnic-lunch
on Uncle Tony’s Island. Return to Manila after lunch. I am afraid this
will have to remain as one of the many dreams I had in Laur.
Our future has suddenly become
uncertain and our fate unknown. I am even now beginning to doubt
whether I’ll ever be able to return to you and the family. Hence, I
would like to ask you these special favors.
Love your mother, whose love for you,
you will never be able to match. She is not the greatest mother in the
world, she is your sincerest friend.
Take care of your younger sisters and
brother and lavish them with the love and care I would like to
continue giving them but am unable to do so.
Help Noy-noy along and pray hard that
he will grow to be a real, responsible man who in later years will
protect you all.
You are the model for your three
younger sisters. Your responsibility is therefore great.
Please endeavor to live up to our highest expectations. Be more
tolerant to Pinky, more accessible to Viel, our little
genius-princess, and more charitable to Krissy, our baby doll, and
make up for my neglect.
Finally, forgive me, my love, for not
having been an ideal, good and thoughtful father to you all as I
pursued public office. I had hopes and high resolve of making up, but
I am afraid my destiny will not oblige.
I seal this letter with a drop of tear and a prayer in my heart, that
somehow, somewhere we shall meet again and I will finally be able to
make up for all my lapses, in the kingdom where justice reigns supreme
and love is eternal.

I love you,
Dad

The Little Door Man

Last night, Jurein and I arrived home from work at about 11:30 PM.
When I opened the gate to let Jurein (on a motorcycle) get in, I heard the doorknob clicked and slowly opened.
My aunt might still be awake, I thought.
It was so dark that we could hardly see.
After our eyes had adjusted to the darkness, we were very surprised to see our son by the door.
And when we entered to see who else was awake, we saw my aunt and uncle sound asleep.
Maybe he was awakened by our noise, or maybe he really was still awake.
Goodness!
The last time we knew, he could lock the knob.
We didn’t know he could already turn the knob and open the door successfully.
Good thing, though, is that we had placed a wooden barrier by the door when he was still learning to walk so that he couldn’t get out.
What we worry now is that he is getting taller and he’ll very soon be able to climb over it one day with nobody around to notice.
Oh, how time flies so fast!

Lear's Lavatory

When I’m at work, there’s never a day that I’d miss going to the lavatory with ten cubicles.
I haven’t heard of an employee who works for 9.6 hours without using it.
If there’s someone out there, you should be in the Guinness Book of World Records.

What amazes me is the unexplainable situation wherein I am always led to the cubicle that I’ve first used on that day.
The only exemptions would be if someone’s using it or there’s no supply of tissue.
I don’t know but my feet just drag me to that specific cube.

Is there something weird going on with me?
Or am I just used to utilizing only one at home?

Zyle plays Letter Sorter at 1 yr. 8 mos.

We shopped for another toy in Toy Kingdom two weeks ago to stimulate Zyle’s mental ability.
A wooden board with molded numbers from 1-10 and another with molded letters from A-Z caught our interest.
I don’t know what they are so I named them the Number Sorter and the Letter Sorter as they’re like the Shape Sorter.
The difference is that the letters or numbers are to be fit on a board.
The Number Sorter was half the price of the Letter Sorter (P300+).
Inasmuch as we wanted to buy both, we needed to choose only one due to budget constraint; hence, we picked the Letter Sorter as it was obviously more challenging.
Plus, it will also have further uses after the sorting course.

The letters were colored red, green, blue, and yellow. Colored paper were used on the letters.
Unfortunately, there were no colors on the molds of the board so I painted them (days after we bought it) according to the color of the letters to aid in his learning process.
I apologize for underestimating Zyle’s brain power because I thought it would take weeks for him to perfect it when in fact it only took him less than a week.

A brainy baby he really is, but not so gifted with verbal skills, though.


The letters have started to lose their color because Zyle not only loves to play with it but also loves to munch on them, too.