A simple life

I found this -- i forgot that i started bloggin in 2004 wow time flew have 3 kids now !

My first try at blogging
This my first post and still a loss of how blogging could help me,... Getting too tied up w/ running my household & rearing two beautiful boys --- who has time to do anything,.. I have a good family life dont get me wrong but truthfully there are moments I wish I could just rewind when it was just me me me,.. Selfish as it may sound -- 15 min showers are a luxury,.. shaving my legs has to be even scheduled,.. my body butter half filled to date (when I used to go thru them by the 4rth week),.. I dont even get to go to the salon anymore --- footspas, hair treatments and nail care are a thing of the past,...So wat happened -- I became a wife first then after 3 years I became a mom,... strange what I am writing here but I guess this is the only time I can look back without verbalizing it to anyone,... I think its just nice to write it down and ponder.. Hey you know, I could flick the girl mags back then pin point what perfume I had in my dresser,...Now I dont even recognize new ones that came out of the market,..Before my make up was Clarins, Lancome and YSL now ---- its L'oreal, Revlon and if I am lucky to travel I get one or two Mac items,..oh well I will just continue my reminiscing of my single days -- its 10:30 need to recharge before my boys wake up..No frills mom,...

A simple life

sydney side for 1 week
Moms surprise was excellently executed and it brought the family together,.. with our own families already, to bring the 4 Figueroa siblings together is next to impossible -- but hopefully by next year its easier with only josef and his fam in sing,..mom turned to me 3x to be sure her eyesight didnt fail her --- she knew it was impossible for me to be here in OZ

-- it breaks my heart for my kids to be away and for my hubby to be just near me like that --i miss them terribly,.. i had to be here to give my mom the kind of happiness money cant buy,.. she sobbed as she saw me -- she already was in awe and shock ed to have the party and to see in the corner of her eye her big pic on the screen when she walked in the hall doors.... but her sobs when she hugged me was priceless,... i wished my kids were there but their messages my mom appreciated still and mega thankful for my mother inlaw mommy letty for taking them in Roxas City,... mom was so good to me and this is only now that I felt like, I was right where I was at even for a few days away from my kids,.. my moms smiles and hugs were a great thing to experience,.. to get her back rubs of vicks, to taste the food she greatly cooks and just to wrap her xmas pressies for her --- i felt my presence was a great gift for me to her and from my dad to me.... if that at all makes sense..



my heart was tugged today though cause pat said kids were crying and fighting heaps -- becoming nuisance because they would ransack the library get on the rails and really make a mess -- i guess its been a while that he had consecutive days with the kids in unfamiliar territory and the rugrats creating havoc in the YAP home in Roxas,.. siguro my kids miss me -- the tyrant mommy who reprimands their antics/kalokohan,.. my boys are getting bigger and i sure am excited to hear those shouts and cries again -- so I can tell myself 'back to my reality once again',... haaay such is life hey,.. my kids drive me nuts at times but they are a part of me, so now i FEEL like zombie walking around,.. its like part of my body isnt complete -- feel crippled without my 4 boys and i feel like i dont exist in full capacity without having to do all that i do in a day,... i miss their hugs and their smiles --their infectious laughter and their wailing cries that makes my day each day interesting,.. life is sweet and am blessed to have them -- so Daddy Pat hang in there will give you a break when i get back ha honey,.. love you -- and love you jacob jerome jorel -- commonly referred to by dad as JAJEJO boys!

dec 4, 2006

surprise trip
what started to be joke with papa is now a reality, he is flyin me in OZ to surprise mom for her 60th and to host the party of course,..
so much excitement held me back bec it was the prospect of flyin solo minus hubby and chidren.. I did scoot over singapore to reset my stay in manila but that was only 5 days, this one is 9 days,.. so i fly 15th arrive sydney 16th hideout at kuyas till the 17th and come out from hiding to surprise mom.... god give me the strength to endure not seeing my kids and that they will be ok with my inlaws, my hubby and my 2 yayas in roxas. they fly out the same morning to roxas the 15th ... so imagine the intense silence baka mag baha dito when they leave me!
as for sydney, so many things run into my head, souvineers for mom, tarp perhaps, the mini book entitled..... lourdes who loves you --- containing our reasons why we love her so much,.. i am doing 50 minis accordions as souvineers for our guests..
am on 35 and counting... i am planning 3 parlor games to keep the golden bunch in stitches,.. i think of wat I will say to mom about her when i make a speech and not croak and choke bec of the tears,..
i think of things i can double up -- meet my friends, hangout, visit and do interviews of scrapbook store owners/celebs, buy my kids lotion in oz and get some literature about setting up a day care,..
i had another flash of wat i would like to do in oz and that is to set up a photo studio, for printing needs, for digital scrapbooking (give work for my scrapbooking friends here) and even traditional if there is a market... to provide an affordable photo studio for ppl to access so they can have pics in mugs, plates, calendars,.. things like that... course i still would like to teach scrapbooking and own an online store,... here is hoping of course !
i told patrick when we turn 40 we are going to be business owners and not employees anymore,.. we will be able to live comfortably by the time we turn 50,.. so with a lot of guts, prayers and sweat we will reach this goal!
i dont want a big house in syd, a 3 bedda townhouse is ok na basta small enough for good upkeep and i can keep track of my 3 rugrats,.. bigger and nicer homes lets say 10 years down the track,.... i have lived in big house, cleaned so many toilets no more -- my house here in manila is ample but i have to have my hands up to say i cant keep it up on my own with my kids around....
joanne yap

December 04, 2006
what happened to Friday
funny how i didnt realise it was friday today and I forgot to teach at my sons school for their scrapbooking project,... sigh -- am i getting old or I was just too bz catching up on my backlog of layouts for scrapbooking that I lost track of time or day for that matter,...haaaay...

Its Nov now by the way -- funny in a few weeks its 2007 already --- for years I wanted to go back to OZ and settle down there with my family but why is that -- that fact is inevitable -- and i dont really feel so 100% of going,... maybe bec i feel that i have set my roots here -- made my own set of friends, and i am doing what I am passionate about,... I know I wont have probs resettling back to Sydney again, but it just getting used to no help, no set routines monthly or weekly, not knowing aisles in the grocery, not having parties Phil. level with great suppliers. Heck I would even miss the yearly family pictorial -- things I have set up the past 6 years and now I am going to be starting from scratch,..
I will miss planning events, parties, activities for my family and friends all because we are going back to where I have always wanted to come back too,...

I know its for the boys future and opportunities, to more money saved for the family, for the opportunity to build our own home (not to mention a kitchen designed for my needs and scraproom of my dreams), for the opportunity to buy 7 seater car on our own, and the fufillment of setting up my own daycare so i can care for my kids and earn at the same time,.. I write this with a lot of question marks in my head but I know GOD is good bec he will give me the strength to leave, to care for my kids and achieve all that I have unconsciously set for my family right this very minute,.. whew.. that wasnt too bad huh? kaya ko ito !

my boy Jorel is one

November 17, 2006
My boy is now one!
Its amazing how time flies and now Jorel is one,... not to mention Kuya Jacob being 3 and Kuya Jerome being one,.. with all my scrapbooking -- having them 3 -- I cant veer away on family layouts bec I feel so lucky to have them.. With Jorel specifically -- he was the easiest baby out of my 3 boys, smiling at 2 months, sleeping mostly all day, never going pass gerber or baby food, he just salivated over table food faster than a speeding bullet,....

I would let him taste with my spoon and he would make a sound or whimper a little to indicate to me, he wants more ! And so it goes, he has grown way so heavy from his under 6lbs birthweight to a whopping 21lbs. His limbs so strong and if catches you off guard, you would get a hard whack in the face (and you will see stars sa lakas no !), not only that when he makes gigil you can bet he took a bite already and the tracks of bite marks clearly visible -- little vampire hahahaah!
So on the day of your party, you were such a trooper just waking up a few minutes before we left the house,.. You may have not smiled much but you were energized to endure the whole days festivities,.. You were not too disturbed with all these new faces fussing over you and I am so happy with that,...
You didnt even get scared with music or the shouting of the kids as the program proper by Bobi progressed !

I am super proud of you son ! You were so brave!