Paddington Bear is Now at GAP!

photo from amazon

Do you know Paddington Bear?

I had a Paddington Bear with a red raincoat growing up. I got him as a gift one Christmas and immediately fell in love. I later on received another one with the blue jacket and kept both of them until i got married and had to give them away.

I have never really read the story of Paddington Bear but i love his
jacket and how classic he is. A few Saturdays ago, the SoMoms were invited to a story telling by Project Mom authors, Amanda Griffin-Jacob and Bianca Araneta-Elizalde, to launch the Paddington Bear collection at GAP Philippines.

I did a bit of research on Paddington Bear's history and here are tidbits of what i found:

• He first appeared on October 13, 1958
• The story book was written by Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum
• The fictional character is an immigrant bear from Peru (that explains the suitcase he always lugs around)
• Discovered in Paddington Station (hence, his name) in London by the Brown family who adopted him later on
• Paddington Bear is always polite and addresses people as "Mr", "Mrs", and "Miss"
• He has an endless capacity for getting into trouble but is known to "try so hard to get things right"

True to the iconic character, the pieces for this collection is so chic and classy!  From the basic red and blue colors to the classic duffle coat, every piece stayed true to the Paddington style.

I love love love that blue duffle coat on the upper left picture. I wish they have it in my size!

Amanda and Bianca reading an excerpt from the Paddington Bear storybook

Michelle, Cai, me & Tin

Time to visit GAP stores now!  Check out the Paddington collection for your little ones. You can see a list of the store locations here - http://international.gapinc.com/gap/ph/en/store-locator

Happy shopping, everyone!

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Quick Guide on How to Raise a Happy, Successful, and Cooperative Child

I got this a long long time ago from Pam's blog and saw i would like to share this with you.  

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What's Your Bedtime Routine?

My husband, Dennis, and i are very active in our church.  We host 2 bible studies every other week at home and attend prayer meetings every Wednesday.  There are some nights when the 2 bible studies will happen on the same week which will leave us only 4 out of 7 nights with the kids minus ad hoc dinner with friends and 1 date night.

Every day when i get home from work, my kids will always ask me 'Mom, do you and papa have bible study tonight?'  This is usually followed by sad "awwww's" when we say Yes or happy "yaaaay's" when we say No.  This made me rethink the impression we are building on our  kids about time with God. I realized that as much as we are modeling good Christian habits to them, "Bible Studies" have now become the enemy that is taking their parents' time away from them.

At the start of this year, Dens and i decided that the best way for them to appreciate Bible Studies is to have one themselves. And since we firmly believe that we should  never depend on others to build good values on our children, we decided to host our 3rd Bible Study at home.  This time, with our children.

My Son turned 6 just a couple of  months ago and my daughter is only 3. I wondered how we can make Bible Studies fun and interesting for them. So we started with this simple format:

Opening Prayer 

(we rotate on who will do the opening prayer)

Glad & Sad Time

(talking about things that made you happy and sad today)

Bible Story 

(Dens is always the one telling the story but Troy has recently taken on the responsibility on some nights)

Closing Prayer

(we sit around and each person gets to pray)

The kids loved it so much that we have now made our supposedly weekly bible studies into an almost nightly ritual. We do Bible studies with them every night before going to bed. Sometimes we do 'Guessing Game' instead of Glad & Sad where we guess each person's favorites. I found it to also be a fun way of getting to know our children more (and vice versa).  We have now even incorporated film showing where we watch a 5 to 10-minute video of the Bible story that we learned that night. I usually just search for the cartoon on YouTube and we'd watch it together before praying.  Having this bedtime routine has been very rewarding for our family. When i get home these days, my  kids have changed their question to 'Can we have Bible study tonight?'  

Consciously striking a good balance of our time between church and the kids has effectively given them a fun concept of learning the Bible.  I may sometimes need to rearrange our schedule to avoid having too  many church events in a week.  And i know that's all right. After all, our children's spiritual growth is our ministry too.

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The Making of My #MYOH2014

Are you hooked on Havaianas?

Through the years, I have had a few pairs of Havaianas - a pair i bought years ago just to see what the fuss is all about, another pair from the US, and a pair given to my daughter as a gift.  The truth is, I was never really hooked. I still thought it was too pricey for a pair of rubber flip flops.

Then came the invite to check out this year's Make Your Own Havaianas (#MYOH2014). There has always been so much excitement around this event year after year so i decided to see what the rave is all about.

The theme, of course, was Brazillian.  Upon entering the venue, you can already feel a fun vibe in the air. There were four color wheels with rubber soles, straps and pins that you can play around to mix and match.

After i checked the order forms, we immediately stationed ourselves near the assembly area where the colorful rubber soles and straps await.

Photo from @havaianasphils

Rubber soles

Straps

There were so much pretty food plus fun entertainment

Football exhibition

Brazillian ribbons

Party party!

 

Then the assemblers danced in and began working on our orders.

My pair was done in about 5 minutes!

There was an overflowing sense of excitement when I got my first MYOH pair. I know it's probably psychological but it felt oh-so-comfortable and just so pretty on my feet!

For P900+ a pair, it did not seem too expensive anymore. I wanted to go back and customize my old pairs with pins too. After just a little over 2 hours of Brazillian-loving at the #MYOH2014 event, i was officially hooked.

Make Your Own Havaianas will be open to the public from May 8 - May 11, 2014. Visit the Glorietta Activity Center to check out your style options - entrance is free! Go and get yourself hooked!

#MYOH2014

Photo courtesy of @applesanddumplings

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Pylones is French Like the Eiffel Tower

Last week, the SoMoms were invited to visit the Pylones store in Glorietta. Each time i walk past the branch in Powerplant, i am immediately drawn and are often tempted to go inside and check out their products. I often think of Pylones as a colorful wasteland. But truth is, their items are not only cute, they're also very useful!

Here are some facts about Pylones that i learned during our recent visit:

• First things first - Pylones is pronounced as "Pee-loans"
• It is a French word meaning 'A steel tower supporting high-tension wires' or 'A large structure or group of structures marking an entrance or approach' ...and yes, the Eiffel Tower is a Pylone!
• Pylones started in Paris in 1985 and opened their first store in 1988
• The first Pylones product was the animal latex bracelet

• The barrels used for display in the stores are actually containers of the latex (raw materials) used.  

• Pylones was started by a French couple and is still 100% owned by the founding family to this day.
• All products are designed in France and manufactured in both France and China. The Pylones Group is very involved in the production process in both locations.

 

• The China factory has obtained BSCI and ISO 9001 certifications in 2013. They are very conscious of maintaining high standards and ensuring all materials used are safe and non-toxic

 

 

Pylones Philippines has a back-to-school promo for all your little (and not-so-little) kids out there! They have assembled a variety of happy packs containing everything from pens to fashionable tumblers suited for to fit your child's personality. Buying the happy packs will give you savings of up to P700. How cool is that?

Nerdy Pack: For that whiz-kid that is oh-so-techy! The pack comes with a cool laptop sleeve, a mouse, mouse pad, and a stylus pen. 

Girly Girl Pack: This is for perfect for my little girl who loves all things pink and pretty! The pack comes with a bee pen with post-it petals, cute hair clips, notebooks and pens with cases.

Artsy Pack: Calling all budding artists out there. This pack is for you! It contains fashionable pens, small magnetic scissors, crafty punchers, and a graphic A5 pouch to put all your art stuff in.

Boyscout Pack: Now my son isn't exactly a 'boyscout' type but he is sporty and loves the outdoors. So i got this for him. It comes with an eye-catching thermos, an umbrella with a Pylones character on the handle and an LED flashlight. Great for my little boy who loves adventures!

So what are you waiting for? Get a happy pack for each of your kid now and get them excited to go back to school!

SM AURA

Upper Ground Floor, 

SM Aura, BGC

Tel +63 2 808 5329

Mobile +63 905 809 5454

POWER PLANT MALL

R2, Power Plant Mall,

Makati City

Tel +63 2 846 8023

Mobile +63 917 849 4139

GLORIETTA 5

Ground Floor,

Glorietta 5, Makati City

Tel +63 2 846 1611

Mobile +63 917 538 1903

Facebook: facebook.com/PylonesPH

Instagram: @pylonesph

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