Sunday Picnic + DIY Star Margarine Fairy Bread!

It has been a school-home, study-play routine for the kids this past few weeks. We have been busy that we didn't get the chance to treat the kids out to have fun and loosen up a bit from the daily school hustle. So to break the monotony, I planned a fun and exciting activity for the kids over the weekend.

All set and excited for tomorrow's activity with the kids! Guess what we're making? ✨🍞💕 #StarFairyBread #StarMargarine #StarSiKidStarSiMommy #SparkItPH #mommybloggersph #weekendactivity #kids #fun #weekendbonding #igersdaily #igersph #instamood #instagood #instadaily #excited

A photo posted by Pearl Paguio (@pearlizshell) on Jan 28, 2017 at 3:56am PST

The History of Being a Productive Mom

According to an article I have read, we are one of the most productive generations that have ever lived. The amount of technology that has been developed over the past couple of decades has been astounding; we are able to live our lives with relative ease and for as little output as there has ever been. Yet, as Moms, we are craving more productivity, more stuff going on and we don’t seem to have figured out how to have gotten there already - even with the added extras that we have in the 21st century. How did people (especially women/mothers) in the last century get on without all that we had? Comparing days gone by with the goings-on of today may just surprise you… 

Hot Momma! Staying in Shape During Pregnancy

We all know by now that when we get pregnant, our bodies quickly get out of shape and it takes a long time to return to our former figure. So if it’s your first, then take heed! 

Bundle Up! Keeping Kids Warm In Winter

Here in the Philippines, we only have two seasons, the wet and the dry season. The dry season which is also called as summer, starts in late November and ends in May. The rainy seasons on the other hand starts in June and lasts till October. Other countries have four seasons namely- Spring,, Summer,
Fall (autumn) and, Winter. At this time, it's already the Winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, it started in December and lasts until February.  While the  Southern Hemisphere will have the Winter Season on June, July and August.

My kids would often ask me if we have snow here in the Philippines. For them, Winter is fun as what they see on TV and photos of their cousins in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Making snowmen, snowball fights and marveling over the beautiful icicles that have dripped from window ledges. But cold weather can also be dangerous, in children and vulnerable people, conditions like hypothermia are a real risk to their health (and it doesn’t have to be half as cold as you might think!) To keep your precious kids safe over the colder months, here are a few things to bear in mind.

Keep Your House Cozy

Keeping your house warm in winter and cool in summer is essential, but especially so when you have babies and kids. Their smaller bodies can’t regulate temperature as well meaning it’s easy for them to overheat (or lose too much heat). Invest in a couple of thermometers for your home to keep an eye on the temperature. An efficient heating system for the winter and air conditioning for the summer is extremely important in the home. Call out a gas engineer for heating and a residential A/C repair for air conditioning if either system isn’t performing as well as it should. On top of this, you can keep your home cozy by having plenty of blankets to wrap up on while you’re watching tv in the evenings, and making sure you’re using duvets with the correct tog rating on your kid's beds. Ideally, you should have two duvets. A lighter one for spring and summer use, and a thicker one for autumn and winter. 

Choose The Right Clothing

When it comes to clothing, it’s important to get it right. You want to keep your kids warm but without them overheating which will only make matters worse. Since kids are up and about more and running around more than adults, they can quickly warm up. For this reason, lots of thinner layers are better than a few very thick ones as you can adjust depending on what they are doing, or if the weather and temperature changes. On cold days a good thermal base layer will really help to keep the cold out, this could be thermal leggings and a long sleeve thermal top or vest. Regular clothes then go on top of this, but avoid fabrics like jeans or heavy cotton as if they get wet they’re not going to dry out easily. A jumper, light jacket and then a winter coat on top will keep them toasty, but the coat can be removed if you’re sat in the car or go inside at any point. Don’t forget thick socks and waterproof footwear, hats, gloves and scarves. 

Fuel Them With Snacks

When it’s cold, your body burns more calories to keep you warm. As soon as your child starts running out of calories, they will start to cool down. Having some snacks on hand when you’re out and about can help to keep them fuelled up and reduce grouchiness in general as well as keep them warm! If you know you’re going to be out of the house and it’s cold outside, you could pack some flasks of soup or hot chocolate which can help to warm them up. You can also buy ‘food flasks’ for things like pasta dishes- perfect if you’re out for the day but finding somewhere serving hot food will be tricky.

Get A Taste Of Baskin-Robbins’ Lucky Scoop

Good news Baskin-Robbins fanatics, in celebration of Chinese New Year, Baskin-Robbins, the world’s most loved ice cream brand, lets you try your luck to enjoy an extra junior scoop of your favorite flavor for free! Simply buy any of the participating Baskin-Robbins’ delicious treats and get a chance to crack open a fortune waffle for your free junior scoop. The Baskin-Robbins treats included in this promo are the Double Value Scoop, Sundae, Banana Royale, Banana Split and Milkshakes. This fun offer is ongoing from January 22, 2017 until February 5, 2017. Visit Baskin-Robbins shops at the Central Square, Bonifacio High Street, Uptown Place Mall, and SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City; Greenbelt 5 and Glorietta 5 in Makati; Fairview Terraces, Trinoma Mall, SM North (Main Building and The Block) in Quezon City; SM Southmall in Las Pinas; Solenad in Sta Rosa, Laguna; SM Dasmariñas in Cavite; and SM Pampanga. For more information, log on to www.baskinrobbins.ph or check out their social media accounts: facebook.com/baskinrobbinsph, Twitter, and Instagram @baskinrobbinsph.

Life Lessons We Need To Know

There are so many valuable life lessons which we teach our kids, but sometimes they may not be the right ones. It’s hard to let them know how great it is to use our imaginations when we are sitting down in front of the television every day; how brilliant it is to meet up with friends when we would rather send a text or place a call; and how to budget money when we ourselves spend it on things that aren’t really necessary. 

There are lifestyle choices and changes that can be made in order to teach your children the things that they need to know. But there is one catch to executing them perfectly and helping them to grow up with these values - they need to be made before your children know any different… 

The elements are our friends

Wastefulness is one of the biggest crimes against nature that our generation commits. Keeping lights switched on in rooms we haven’t been in in over half an hour, staying in the shower for longer than we should because we can’t be bothered to get out and throwing out packets upon packets of food that we have allowed to go off (or simply not checked to see if are alright, instead judging the Use By date). So why don’t we try and curb those actions? Not only that, but how about we use the elements outside to help us? There are solar panels available in a variety of places online, such as Semper Solaris. These can not only be used to power the lights and appliances in your home (any excess energy that you don’t use and is stored in your batteries can then be sold back to the electricity grid at a discounted rate) but can also be used to heat up the hot water for your baths, showers and general day-to-day usage. 

Water of life

As well as using the sun to our benefit, consider how much rainfall there is where you live. It could be worth putting up a water butt to collect water which can be used for a variety of things to stop you using your hose and paying for the privilege. Paddling pools can be filled with it during the warmer months (make sure that it hasn’t had the chance to grow any algae on it; you may want to consider putting in some water conditioner), gardens can be watered with it and you could even put it to good use by cleaning your car. Get the children involved and make a science experiment out of it to keep them interested; a little logbook to note down how much rain has fallen each day could just win them the science fair prize - you never know! Ask them what else you could use the water for, and see how much you will be saving in money on your bills by putting it to good use. The lessons kids can learn from nature are ones that they’ll carry with them forever...

3 Ways To Make Time For Your Kids

As parents, we want to maximize the amount of time we spend with our children and minimize the amount of stress we have in our life. It can often feel like an impossible task when balancing our work, the home and financial pressures of modern life. So how do you make the most of every moment and give your children more quality attention whilst mastering the pitfalls of daily living?

Here are 3 ways to make more time for your kids:

Show Them The Ropes

At some point your children are going to grow up into adults and as silly as it sounds, installing the basic routines an adult needs to function in life is actually one of the most important things you can do. It doesn’t matter what age they are, even toddlers can learn great things from your daily routine.

Preparing your kids to be neat, tidy and organised is a simple way of including them in one of your biggest daily tasks. The housework. Make games out of tidying away. Asking your child to find all the blue toys or show you where the books live, is a really effective way of engaging them in a routine of putting things away. Asking them to help you carry the washing downstairs, even hanging out the washing with mummy can be fun. 

Older children are pretty handy with modern technology and computers. If they can master the latest tablet on the market then chances are they can work out how to switch a washing machine on. Do household chores together and use this time to chat about their lives. How school is going, how their friendships are. Work together.

Make Preparations and Reduce Your Financial Stress

Ensuring your home is running efficiently can reduce financial worry and make you a more relaxed parent to be around. Heating our homes accounts for 70% of our household bills. So looking at energy efficient replacement windows or improving your loft insulation can have a great impact on the quality time you spend with your family

Now You’re Cooking!

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner take up a lot of your day so include your children and make it fun. They don’t have to get involved in the actual cooking. Having a table or workspace set aside in your kitchen can be a great place for older children to do their homework or younger children to get creative whilst you are busy. It’s a brilliant time to chat to them about future plans or teach them songs or even to read. 

Teaching them to cook though is something you can do from an early age. These books from Nutrikids are a fun addition for young kids, to teach them about healthy eating and make the basic task of cooking a fun and educational part of their day.

Children crave attention from you so learn how to mix up your daily tasks and include them in the boring stuff as much as the fun stuff. You’ll probably find that doing the ironing flies past if you make a game of it and pushing a vacuum around is an easy job for little people that want to be just like mom!