We welcomed the first day of the 5th month of the year by staying indoors. When my siblings and I were kids, my late lola always welcomed the first day of May with great revelry. She always looked forward to May because of Flores De Mayo and Her 'Hello May' ritual was usually accompanied by a piping hot pot of arroz caldo or 'palutaw' (which is just like Ginataang Halo-halo). Oh the nostalgia that May brings. I would've wanted to replicate lola's ritual but I fondly remember too how May smelled of flowers and dew and cool air then. It was never like the May that I've been experiencing for the past years that I've been living in Manila and now here in Cavite.
Of late, the summer heat has been almost unbearable that every time we're out and exposed for more than 10 minutes under the scorching sun and Maia would become lethargic, I would shake her just to keep her conscious. (insert Tibs' stiffled laugh) YES, I have heat stroke paranoia. And yes, in my part of the world, the paranoia never goes away.
So anyway because we couldn't stay out for long unless we're dipping in a pool of water, we instead welcomed the first day of May indoors. Well, to be honest, I was secretly wishing we would do just that because the past few days had kept me extremely busy with work and other activities totally unrelated to family life. I missed my two-some, cool-some duo.I miss storytime with Maia. I miss cuddletime with Tibs. I miss playing referee to their fights. I miss cooking for them. I just missed my family a lot. So yesterday, we ditched previous plans the last minute and decided to just get lazy and do family time some justice. We did all the things I missed. Told/exchanged stories, cuddled, tickled, ate tacos and quesadillas, did some crafts (this is fast becoming a favorite bonding activity too in our household)!
Here are some photos I posted at instagram to summarize our day:
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| Fluffy Bunnies book. One of Maia's favorites since she was a toddler. This was a gift from Lola Joyce. |
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| Quesadilla/Soft Tacos Galore! (my cheese dip ingredients on the left, quesadilla in the making on the right) |
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| Maia busy at work |
We did a choo-choo train from paper tubes and egg trays. Maia did that one so fast, I got pressured of thinking what to do next. Good thing I kept a Pinterest board of Arts and Crafts activities so I was able to come up with another paper tube (which was the material that I had on hand yesterday) activity instantly. Maia enjoyed the paper tube flower stamping more and I reckon it's probably because she loves painting pictures. At first I thought that making the patterns was difficult but I turned out to be easier than I'd imagined. I made a separate post of these two paper tube craft activities in case you would want to make your own version. Please click here for the Egg Carton + Paper Tube Train and here for the Paper Tube Flower stamps.
May 1st came and went. It drizzled slightly during the late afternoon just about the same time when Maia decided to drag all of her stuffed friends outside to show them the stars. It's a good thing the sky cleared up as soon as she got herself and her stuffed friends seated comfortably so I could claim proudly how we had a tantrum-free day yesterday. That was a first!
Happy mother's day, sis!
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