First-Time Mom

I am wearing multiple hats since Enhanced Community Quarantine began. From being a mother, a teacher of two kids, a worker, a blogger, a vlogger, and at the same time as a wife. As much as I want to post all of our daily activities here, my energy and time cannot accommodate them all. But fortunately, I was able to set aside a little time over the weekend for video editing of all our fine motor skills.

To those who do not know yet, fine motor skills are very important for young children. It involves the use of small muscles in the hands like holding toys, feeding themselves, buttoning and zipping clothes, lacing, etc. Thus, they are prerequisite skills before the child can learn to write.

I am excited to share with you some of our fine motor skills we've done in the past few weeks. Just click and watch the video below. If you haven't yet subscribed to our channel, please click this link and smash the subscribe button. Your single click means a lot to me.

How's your Holy Week? For me, it's a blessing to have celebrated Holy Week while on Community Enhanced Quarantine. My family and I had ample time to rest and reflect as we commemorate the death and resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ. As self-sacrifice, I decided not to browse even a second to all my social media accounts since my employer shortened my work hours from Holy Monday till Wednesday. It feels so great to have dedicated my time just for myself, family and most of all to God. Despite our early work break, I still followed my schedule faithfully. In place of my free work schedule, I watched the free retreat online initiated by Bro. Bo Sanchez, our online inspirational figure. There were plenty of inspiring talks that deeply touched my heart and soul.

However, while watching the retreat online, I was also a hands-on mommy to these kiddos. Starting Holy Thursday, we already created some arts and crafts for the easter. They had to follow their own schedule, too, to make their days productive. I don't want to resort most of their time to gadgets and TV. I wanted to share with you the activities we indulged in last week.

1. Bunny Mask

The ECQ limits our mobility and we can hardly find art materials right now since only grocery stores are open. We are so lucky that the walking-distance convenience store outside our subdivision was selling construction papers, folders, colors, and other art materials. So we were able to make these masks out of construction paper. You may get the free bunny mask template here.

2. Easter Egg Pop-Up Card

Of all the arts and crafts we made, this is the most beautiful one. You may follow the instructions here.

3. Bunny Basket

This is easy to make too. Good to know there is a downloadable template that you can print. Just follow the instructions and in minutes you can already set up a bunny basket. My kids love it so much. Get the free template here.

4. Easter Basket

I discussed the importance of Easter to them. It's not only about games and activities but what values they learned from staying at home during Holy Week and Enhance Quarantine. Some of the values I taught was about patience, love, joy, and hope.

5. Bunny Paper Plate

Our bunny paper plate doesn't look really good because we were short of materials such as googly eyes and construction paper. But my kids still love it too.

6. Egg Sensory Play

I also included easter outdoor activity which is easter egg sensory play. Our eggs are dirty so I ask them to wash them using sponge and bubbles. It took them hours playing this sensory play.

7. Indoor Egg Hunting

The most exciting one was egg hunting. I provided them clues where they can find the eggs. I just put candies inside the eggs as rewards.

It was indeed a productive Holy Week for all of us. How about you? How did you celebrate Easter?

You may watch our activities on our Youtube Channel.

Day 19 - Davao City Community Quarantine
April 7 - Enhance Community Quarantine Will Take Effect

Not much has changed on our daily schedule since my husband and I work at home except, of course, during weekends where we go to church every Sunday and attend Feast, a weekly prayer gathering of the Light of Jesus family. This routine was completely stopped since the lockdown in our city took effect a couple of weeks ago.

While the lockdown doesn't really impact our daily schedule, I cannot avoid being anxious about what is happening in our world today because of the coronavirus. Aside from that, the media has become scarier than the virus by bombarding us scary information that escalates our fears, worries, and anxieties. That's why I chose not to start my day watching the news and browsing social media where posts are overflowing with so much negativity. My mental health is what matters most to me at this time of crisis. This is why I wanted to share with you my daily activities on how to reduce my anxiety.

I have followed the schedule above for five days streak already and I love the benefits it provides to me. For example, I didn't do deep breathing before but by doing it already I felt like I could breathe well. I have also strengthened my relationship with God and known Him better by reading daily devotionals. It eases my burdens, cleared my mind from any anxiousness, knowing that He is the provider and protector of all. Additionally, one of the benefits of the schedule that gives to me, believe it or not, the time I spent in social media was reduced which gives me more time in homeschooling and tending to my kids.

Let's use this lockdown period as an opportunity to nourish our relationship with our family, improve our physical and mental health, enhance our skill, and most of all strengthen our faith in God.

I hope you find this post helpful. I love to hear comments from you on how you use your time during the lockdown period?

Hi Guys! How's your life after the enhance community quarantine? I am sure you got bored already. It's day 13 of lockdown here in Davao City. All the people of Davao City are required to stay at home as possible. Staying at home is no longer new to us and we are used to it since my husband and I are working online from home. We are so blessed for having this kind of job, however, we are saddened for other people who are working outside and all of a sudden they lose their job after this outbreak. I believed this coronavirus will soon pass. Let's just hope and pray.

How are your kids, by the way? In Chesska's case, their classes were suspended two weeks ago right after there were cases of coronavirus already in Metro Manila. Their school canceled already their 4th Periodical Exam. (One week na lang kulang para makag-exam na sana sila ) COVID wins the race 😁. This virus is super fast to spread but let's stay healthy to avoid infection.

We have no idea when this lockdown would last but let's take this opportunity to help us grow as a parent, friend, wife or husband, and as a believer of Christ. This corona virus humbles the world, reminding us to slow down, become healthy, reflect and strengthen our relationship with our loved ones. In my case, I use this ample time reading daily devotionals, enhancing my skills in video editing, eating healthy, and homeschooling my children, making sure they are still learning while at home. That's why I wanted to share this schedule with you which I came across from YouTube channel (I already forgot what the name of the channel but I believed it's helpful) however, I modified it a bit suitable for my 8-year old.

After implementing this schedule, I noticed that my child became disciplined already and her time was spent productively.

I have also sensory play ideas where you can use when children's boredom strikes. I bet, your children will love these. I hope you find this post helpful. Feel free to comment below.

Since we are on lockdown mode due to COVID, kids get bored easily, resort to gadgets and play the whole day, or sneak watching non-sense YouTube shows without our knowing. Since all classes got suspended weeks ago, I reviewed all the sensory plays and lesson plans I bought 2 years ago when I homeschooled Chesska. Then I thought of using them during their idle time. They find it enjoyable.

Here are the sensory play we created for the past two weeks.

1. Gelatin Sensory Play
2. Bubble Foam Sensory Play
3. Easter Egg Sensory Play
4. Sea Animals Sensory Play
5. Ice Dinosaur Sensory Play
6. Corn Sensory Play
7. Frog Cycle Sensory Play
8. Ice Stamping Sensory Play

Watch the full video below.

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My older daughter, Chesska, 8, was homeschooled when she was 3 years old. I haven't had a hard time teaching her numbers. Psalm was a little bit challenging since her span of attention was short. That's why most of her activities are sensory plays. I learned that children learn using their senses. So easter egg sensory bin is a nice activity for her.

First I put rice in a bin. Yes, it's a messy activity but remember children love messy! I added eggs with numbers with corresponding dots on them (idea here). I had her count the dots written on the egg and introduced the number corresponding to it.

She loved scooping the rice, pouring and fillings eggs with rice. For listening activity, I asked her to shake the eggs filled with rice. She was having fun listening to it.

After cleaning up the mess, I asked her again to match the dots to its corresponding numbers. It cannot be learned in just one session. Do it over and over until your kids master the skills. Yes, it will take patience and strategies in teaching kids her age.

It took her almost an hour playing with the easter egg sensory bin. No screaming, crying, whining in the house for the first time. And I save my voice.

Bubble Foam Sensory Play Now on our YouTube Channel. Don't Forget to Subscribe!

Do your kids love bubbles? Does mine too. Over a week ago, I incorporated bubble sensory play in teaching letter B. Psalm got excited seeing the bubbles in different colors. It's indeed stimulating to her senses.

Here are the simple things you need to prepare.

1. 1 cup of water
2. 1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid
3. Food Color
4. Blender
5. Mix all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until you get a foamy solution.

I put some toys that begin with letter B. I had her explore the bubbles and asked her where letter B is. I also discussed things that begin with letter B.

I also asked her what colors the bubbles are. Sensory play is a great way of keeping your kids busy instead of letting her watch YouTube videos for hours.

Please watch our YouTube video. My video editing skill is now improved (hehe).

I will be forever grateful if you subscribe to our YouTube Channel here. Your single click means a lot to me.

I can't believe I was able to post four times this month and I admired my productivity, knowing how hectic my schedule is. I know blogging is not as lucrative as vlogging nowadays but I love documenting memories. I love to read old posts, reminiscing how my journey was like as a mother. and even as a wife. Aside from that, this blog is my training ground for writing. I am not a good writer though but this a way to hone my writing skills.

Speaking of our Valentine's date, we went to Amiya Resort for dinner. We love this place because aside from it's relatively near where we live, the ambiance is peaceful and soothing. On an occasion like this, many couples are flocking to restaurants to eat and some have to wait before they can reserve seats. And I hate that!

Good to know that by the time we arrived, a few people were around so we were able to get a big table. However, it was raining heavily so we haven't round the swimming pool. So we just stayed in their restaurant and listened to the songs of the band performing at that time.

We dined here for the third time already and I can assure you that their foods are affordable and at the same time yummy. Here's what we ordered:

Marinated beef with broccoli for 285 pesos, good for four people. In fairness, the beef was so tender. I love it!

Imbao soup for 190, good for 4-5 people.

Lagoon Chicken with French Fries for 280. I can say that it's not so delicious. I should have ordered buttered chicken for my kids.

I am happy to know that there's already an Ice Giant in the restaurant. Ice Giant is known for selling delicious ice creams. We ordered a chocolate ice-cream for 180 pesos. My kids can barely consume it because it's plenty.

As far as the service, ambiance and foods are concerned, I would highly recommend Amiya restaurant. They also have a function hall for weddings, birthdays, or any corporate events.

Amiya resort and residences is developed by the Kisan Lu Lands and Development Inc. You may contact them through their Facebook page or you may call them through this number 09321949719.

Though I am no longer in the teaching world, I still love teaching. Yes, I do, especially teaching my own kid. Also, my younger daughter is already at the right age to learn Alphabet. Aside from that, I am quite alarmed how she spent most of her time on YouTube as I am so busy with my work as a digital marketer. So busy! Di na pwde maging presidente 😁😂😅.

Despite the busyness, I really find time to teach her the skills she needs in school later on. Since I have already an idea about homeschooling (since Chesska was homeschooled), I don't find it hard to teach. The secret weapon here is just make learning fun, engaging and hands-on.

So yesterday, I prepared gelatin and incorporated letter A. I love sensory play in teaching kids because it involves motor skills. It also helps soothe their minds especially kids who are fussy.

Psalm was so happy upon seeing the gelatin because she loves squishy things.

I first introduced letter A and later on discussed things that begin with letter A such as apple, ant, astronaut, airplane, and alligator.

I asked her what are the things she saw in the gelatin. I let her explore the gelatin with her small hands.

She later got some of her toys such as a spoon to scoop, knife to slice, and transfer the slice gelatin to small containers. She was having fun while playing the gelatin. She played for more than two hours crushing, slicing and scooping the gelatin.

I also prepared more activities to reinforce the concept learned. On this activity, I had her name each picture and put the clothespin on the picture that begins with the letter A. Motor skills have been incorporated as well.