Little Witch Princess Fairy

My little witch princess fairy holding my DIY flying walis este twigs. I blistered my hands trying to make this prop realistic but she ditched it because who needs a flying walis when she has fairy wings already. Kalurkey.

Next year, I will let her DIY her own costume. Graduate na ako sa pagiging stage mother. :)

p.s. The initial plan here was to dress her up as Ghoulia Yelps from Monster High. She's crazy over this cartoon show. Good thing she only gets to watch it occasionally in You Tube as I don't really think it's appropriate for her age yet. Gotta find some way to kid-protect my phone. Any suggestions?

Maia Travels: Siquijor - The Preview

We booked our tickets for Dumaguete six months ago during a piso fare promo sale from a local airline. As always, I never bother with itineraries. I guess, I will forever remain a crammer. Also, knowing that earlier that week a 7-magnitude earthquake hit the Bohol which was in the same region where our destination is located, I guess I didn't want to raise expectations so much. As I've been under a lot of stress these past few weeks, I didn't think I still have some room for disappointments. So my strategy was to take things a day at a time. Maia had her mastery tests in school the week prior to our scheduled trip as well so I'm glad I had the excuse not to get her all excited as well. 

I swore off being pessimistic a long time ago, but I couldn't help but fall into the pit of pessimism easily lately. Honestly, up to the last minute, I was half-expecting our flight not to push through. 

But it did. 

And I'm glad it did. Because who wouldn't fall in love with this place? Maia did. Well, we all did the minute we stepped out of the van that fetched us from Siquijor port. 

Took this photo before we left the island. We shall be back. Maybe when the kid is older and able to go snorkeling on her own :)

United Nations Day - Winning Best Costume

It is both amusing and scary at the same time. I am more scared than amused to be honest. I do hope and pray this milestone doesn't give you the impression that you can only win best in costume when you start exposing some skin. (You called me after you were recognized onstage: "Mommy!!! Nanalo ako Best in Costume! Kasi, labas pusod ko eh!")

This was something really unexpected. Not much effort on our part and yet you won! And you were the happiest!

Congratulations, little girl. You rocked that Brazilian costume!

Our daddy had his share of milestone on this day too. It was the first time he came to school with the kid on his own. He played Daddy Paparazzi/Yaya Daddy (yes, I would learn that he was even the one who dressed her up) so well and tailed the kid like he was chained to her. He took great photos of that day and I just have to compliment him for those. Good job, sweetie! (see it ain't that bad at all!)

Princess-themed Class Party At Five

Dearest Maia,

You have been counting down the days since the beginning of October. It always amazes us how you remember the days and the dates. You wake up cheerful in the morning and announce how many days are left till your 5th birthday. One of my favorites was the morning of the 15th when you announced, "three days na lang birthday ko na!!! yes!!!"

You planned your 5th birthday immediately after you celebrated your 4th. You planned your 6th, 7th, 8th till the 10th. Oh, it was really fascinating to hear you make plans. This 5th birthday, I couldn't remember now if it turned out to be the way you planned it. I now have a fuzzy memory of that day but seeing you smile from ear to ear made me feel like it was exactly how you planned it to be.

Ate Inday and I did this handmade MAIA letters 2 days prior to the party.
It was one of the few brilliant ideas that my cramming mind managed to come up with.
Would have been nice if we made a tiara, no? I bought the banner at National Bookstore for P60.

We had fun interacting with your school friends today little girl. We can see how much all of you have grown up in a year. You now had voracious appetites and can now eat independently. Your dad found it amusing too that you all know how to throw your trash properly. That was really nice to see. 

It was an awesome party, little girl. All credit goes to you. You planned it well. And you were the most beautiful Princess party host I've ever met ;)

Your classmates sang happy birthday and greeted you with a loud, "we love you, Maia" and we caught you getting teary-eyed.
You mumbled a gentle THANK YOU and quickly joined your classmates to eat. I guess you didn't want to be caught crying but remember it's okay to show your emotions too sometimes my little girl.

This year is your last year in preschool. I'm bemused every time that realization hits me. I guess, it will always be bittersweet for me and daddy. But we're glad you seem to be growing up just the way we'd hoped it. Stay compassionate. Prayerful. Adventurous. Passionate. I pray you'd learn to speak your mind as well. But you're perfect just the way you are my little girl. Always remember we love you very, very much!

Maia Finds: Cute Pens From CDR-King

Doodling is one of the little miss's favorite pasttimes. In fact, she spends more time doodling than playing. She prefers to use pens rather than pencils. I don't know why. Maybe it's because pens are usually darker while pencils are usually on the grayish side and they tend to fade. Maybe it's because pens assures her that the drawings are not going to disappear. I don't really know why. I guess, she just really likes the way her doodles look when she uses pens.

She isn't high maintenance when it comes to art supplies. As long as it writes, she'll take it. I usually just keep a spare for her. I don't stock up a lot because she tends to use all of them at the same time. Those spares doesn't really serve the purpose because she eventually loses them all at the same time too. So yes, it's good that she doesn't have brand preferences. Easy on my pockets.

Recently, CDR-King has been a favorite hang out for the husband. While he waits for me to finish grocery shopping, he would sneak a few minutes to kill inside a CDR-King store. He always gets excited with the things he finds there. Last Friday, we spent a good few hours of our date day at one of the bigger locations in the metro.

Oh, can you just imagine my delight when I saw boxes and boxes of cute pens lined up on one of their shelves? I immediately grabbed a piece of each design. I wanted to collect all of them for the little miss. Then I realized, they will never ever end up as collections because she will eventually use all of them up. So from about 10 pieces, I trimmed them down to 5. I picked what I think suits the kid's personality.

The next day, I showed it to her and she showered me with "Thank Yous" and lots of hugs and kisses. Yes, that's how appreciative she is. And smitten by the sight of pens. I can very well tell you that she immediately tested all of the pens to see which ones can get her to make the best doodles.

If you are looking for lootbag fillers for your kid's upcoming birthday, this could be one of them. They're cheap, cute and very useful.