Mama Miah!

My daughter has a lot of books she has outgrown and some of them are for "barter" (trade) online. She's so fond of the idea of trading. She has already selected some books that she wanted to trade and this is just one of them. Before we let go of her books, I decided to make a read along book video of it as a remembrance. :)

The first book that I've posted on YouTube is entitled Ballerina Bear by Glitter Teddies. Design and illustration by Peter Tovey Studio. Here it is, I hope kids would like it... :)

By the way, this is my first time to make and edit a video and it's quite hard! Haha! I am still new to the software I am using which is Wondershare Filmora but I am enjoying everything that I've learned while trying to experiment and figure out something to add to my video. I am still thinking of what's the next book I am going to read but most probably I'd pick the shortest story. ;)  So, stay tuned for my next Read Along Book Video (#MamaMiahReads). I hope you will subscribe to my YouTube Channel and comment if you have any suggestions or reactions to my videos so I could do better next time. Thanks! :)

Meanwhile, you might want to check out these Top 10 Best Seller Books for Kids to Read during Quarantine.

Practice makes perfect! Here's a Printable Worksheet that can help your kids practice their handwriting especially if your child already shows interest in writing.  This worksheet has a guide that will help your child write the letters in a proper way. Check out our A to Z Handwriting Worksheets which you can easily download and print at home for as many as you want. :)

▪ Writing or Tracing guide per letter

▪ Tracing Uppercase Letter and Lowercase Letters (Traceable Letters)

▪ Combination of Uppercase and Lowercase (Traceable Word Samples from A-Z)

▪ With sample images for each letter (Alphabet Phonics)

provided as a single PDF file that you can print at home.

This is a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY and NO physical item will be shipped.
This digital download is in PDF file in standard US letter size (8.5 x 11).

Our country and others as well are fighting against the Coronavirus which affected thousands of people worldwide. All of us are vulnerable during this pandemic that's why we should always wash our hands, clean and disinfect our houses or buildings, and when going out be sure to wear masks and other protective gear and practice social distancing to protect yourself thus slowing the spread of Coronavirus.

Aside from doing the protective measures to keep ourselves safe, it is also important to keep ourselves healthy as possible by boosting our immune system and live a healthy lifestyle. Our global health situation has affected us critically and required us all to make our well-being a top priority. We are more than happy to have Watsons as our trusted and reliable health retailer.

Here are a few Immunity Tips for your family:

Be active – Take time to exercise every day, from hardcore to a simple exercise or yoga can definitely help improve your mood and helps strengthen your immune system to fight diseases. Make sure to allot time for exercise even for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour at least 4 times a week. Go for exercises you can do with a group like dance or cardio workouts so you can involve the whole family.


Eat right – A big factor that can spell the change in strengthening your family’s immunity is watching what you eat. A lot of people nowadays go for take outs and processed foods which is not good for our body and can weaken our immune system. We have to strengthen our body and eat foods rich in good quality protein, vitamins and minerals like vegetables such as carrots and broccoli, to flavorful spices like garlic and ginger. Additionally, you can also finish your meals with a warm cup of comfort courtesy of Nutrabliss by Watsons Tea. 

Get quality sleep – Getting a good night's sleep is crucial for moms and most especially to first time moms who are sleep-deprived even on lockdown or quarantine because some are still working at home while doing household chores and keeping the sanity of their household. It's still best to get adequate sleep every night to give your body rest and to manage stress levels. Manage the household’s schedule and make room for most of your activities in the morning, so the family can sleep soundly come nighttime.

Take vitamins regularly – With our situation now, some natural sources of vitamins may be hard to come by. With trips to the grocery stores becoming more challenging, know that you can also count on taking vitamins to strengthen your family’s immunity. We all know Vitamin C is critical for family members all ages. Pro tip? Stock up on your supply with Watsons Generics Ascorbic Acid.
But Vitamin C isn’t the only vitamin that can keep you healthy, Conzace Soft Gel—rich in Zinc, Vit. A, C, and E—helps boost immunity and promote healthy hair and skin. Myra E 400IU, on the other hand, is also rich with Vitamin E to help fight cell damage. For the kids, let’s help support their growth not just in height but in strength with Growee Syrupor Cherifer PGM with Zinc capsules.

Top up with supplements - Vitamin and mineral supplements can also play an important role. Like vitamins, supplements are a great way to give your health an extra boost. You can easily rely on taking supplements to help provide the nutrients you need on top of maintaining a healthy diet. Given that going back outdoors could mean exposure to environmental factors that may cause damage to our skin and body, make sure you keep that healthy glow from within with supplements like MET Tathione, NU Essence Collagen, and Organique Acai Juice. You can also keep your defenses up with supplements that harness the power of natural ingredients such as MX3 capsules and Watsons Generics Malunggay + Mangosteen.

Your must-haves at hand – Preparedness is key to protection, so make sure you have your healthessentials to help your home stay ready for anytime sickness may strike. From easy relief in yourmedicine cabinet, Ascof Forte Syrup, Strepsils, healthy choices in your pantry, Prosource Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, to the items you need to stay clean like Biogenic Ethyl Alcohol, know that you can count on these items available at Watsons.

Although changes don't happen overnight especially for those who have a sedentary lifestyle for a while,  the sooner you start doing  these healthy habits and recommendations, the sooner your immune system will respond. :)

Keeping a strong immune system is your best defense against disease and to decrease the exposure of viruses especially the coronavirus. Good thing Watsons is here to continue providing your family's health essentials in any of its stores nationwide. You can also order online at watsons.com.ph or call on select branches to have your orders delivered. For contact details of branches near you, you can check out this list: https://bit.ly/2z7coJP.

When you shop, use your Watsons Card to earn points and Get a chance to Win a UV Care DeluxeGerm Terminator, Super Power UV Vacuum or Smart Robot UV Vacuum with a minimum purchase of Php500 on select health items. Promo runs until June 24, 2020.

For more updates, you can also follow Watsons on Facebook and Instagram at @watsonsph. Stay safe and healthy! :)

We have a few Blue Butterfly Pea plants (also known as Blue Ternate or Clitoria Ternatea) in our front yard and every day it blooms. We have a lot of flowers daily, so we make use of it by making blue ternate tea or juice.

The first thing that I did is to wash the Blue Ternate flowers before boiling them for around 5-10 minutes or if the water turns dark blue. After boiling them, you can now sift and press the flowers to have their extracts.

In another pot or casserole, put 7 cups of water and sprinkle the jelly powder mix and sugar while stirring constantly. Heat until near boil with continuous stirring to dissolve the powder completely. Slowly add the blue ternate flower extract and stir well. Let it boil before turning off the flame. 

Let the jelly mixture set for a while before putting it in a molder or any container. After that, you can put it in the refrigerator and let it set. Once it is fully set, you can cut it into cubes or any shape you want.

To the milk mixture, I just mixed the all-purpose cream, condensed milk, and kremdensada in a large bowl and added the blue ternate jelly in it. Below is a photo of the blue ternate jelly mixture, once you're done, you can put it in the refrigerator and let it chill for a while before eating.

If you're interested in Blue Butterfly Pea, you might want to check my old blog post about Growing Clitoria Ternatea and its Benefits. :)

Aloe Pepe is a hybrid between Aloe descoingsii and Aloe haworthioides (a.k.a Aloe descoingsii x haworthioides).

Our city has already imposed the Enhanced Community Quarantine and it might end until the end of this month or it might probably prolong depending on the status of the situation. I pray it will not last that long, my daughter is already bored doing the same things almost every day, not that I am complaining. I bet she is not the only kid who is bored nowadays and even adults get bored too. So what are the things that we do so we don't get bored during the Enhanced Community Quarantine?

Well, I do not usually let my daughter play mobile games unless it is the weekend and it is just for a short time. But, ever since the quarantine has started, I let her borrow my phone and play Pokémon. I set some rules before she can play and for how long she can play because I do not want to strain her eyes from glaring on the phone for a long time. Aside from playing mobile games, I also encourage her to play other offline games and activities like doing skipping rope, play my childhood game jackstone, Lego, drawing, painting, coloring, and recently, we started teaching her how to play Scrabble which she finds really interesting to play with. She also just started learning Origami and had fun making different things out of papers. A few Origami she had made are heart, elephant, boat and a unicorn.

She loves to read books and recently she found my ebooks folder in our laptop and I caught her reading The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. She already watched the movie and likes it. She also loves reading Geronimo Stilton and Thea Stilton books.

I made some questionnaires for her to answer, just a recap on their lesson last school year. Her least favorite subject is Math, so I focus more on that subject. :)

We love watching movies and my daughter loves watching animated movies and series. I let her watch my favorite childhood movies like “The Land Before Time”, Disney and Pixar movies old and new, animated TV Series like Avatar The Last Airbender and Cased Closed (Detective Conan), and recently we are watching Japanese Animated films from Studio Ghibli; My Neighbor Totoro and The Secret World of Arriety. Other Japanese movies by Hayao Miyazaki that I have and are going to watch in the next days are Howl's Moving Castle, Mary and the Witch's Flower, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo.

Well, those were just some of the things that keep my kid busy. As for me, I really wanted to do gardening and finish my cross-stitch project this summer but unfortunately, we were not in our home as of the moment. Therefore, what I mostly do whenever I feel bored is watch movies with my daughter, color and do origami with her. Apart from that, I also watch Korean TV Series (My Love from Another Star), which I have forgotten for a long time and have not finished if not for the quarantine (LOL). Other koreanovela that are on my list are Playful Kiss, Love in the Moonlight and My Shy Boss.

I also try to be productive and create images using Canva for my social media accounts, trying to post and share informative posts on my pages and of course some positivity too to lighten our mood… I also did a few blog posts, which I hope, will generate $ soon. LOL. I am still a noob in Affiliate Marketing, even though I have these accounts for years already yet I still have not generated any income. Well, I will still try to learn more about it and hopefully, I will be able to learn how this thing works. ;)

There is also one thing that I have in mind that I really wanted to do during this quarantine time, Yoga. I recently downloaded an app but still have not started doing it. LOL! I hope I would be able to start doing Yoga one of these days… Hehehe…

Hmmm… So far, we are doing well during this pandemic, we get to bond more with our families online and offline while doing our share by staying at home. Thanks to social media platforms like Facebook, we get to update and talk to our families abroad. 

I pray that this Covid19 pandemic will be over soon and we can get back to our normal lives. For now, let us do something productive and most importantly, let us do our part and STAY AT HOME if you have nothing important to do outside. May God bless us all...

We all have this mindset that we have to start doing something new based on the calendar. But, you don't have to wait for New Year or new month to start something new or continue to start again you're unfinished tasks/work...

I know sometimes we get too lazy to do the things that we wanted or we have to do. I am GUILTY of that too... ;) I sometimes set a date on the calendar like the first day of the month to start a little project or a DIY that I have been wanting to do but when that day's been over and I still haven't started anything, I tend to wait for another 1st day of the month again and the cycle goes on... LOL!

I wanted to be motivated this year and this is a reminder for myself to do what I can do now and don't wait for tomorrow, next week, or next month to start it. I have been wanting to do this cross-stitch pattern that I have bought years ago (2 or 3 years ago, I think). It's the Lord's Prayer and I really forgot about it because of this calendar mindset. Now that I remember it, I decided to go out and buy some of the threads that I needed and started doing my little project. I just hope that I get motivated each day to spend some time to do it. Oh... Wish me luck... :)

 For those who like The Lord's Prayer Cross-stitch Design, you can buy it here:

Actually, I have a lot of things in mind that I wanted to do but I have to start one at a time. ;) How about you guys, what is it that you wanted to start doing this year? I hope you won't wait for months or years to start doing it... ;)