LOVE and Letting GO

When you think of your past love,

you may view it as a failure.

But when you find a new love, you view the past as a teacher.

In the game of love, it doesn't really matter who won or who lost.

What is important is you know when to hold on and when to let go!

You know you really love someone

when you want him or her to be happy,

even if his or her happiness means that you're not part of it.

Everything happens for the best.

If the person you love doesn't love you back,

don't be afraid to love someone else again,

for you'll never know unless you give it a try.

You'll never love a person you love unless you risk for love.

Love strives in hurting.
If you don't get hurt, you don't learn how to love.

Love doesn't hurt all the time,

though the hurting is still there to test you and to help you grow.

Don't find love, let love find you.

That's why it's called falling in love because you don't force yourself to fall.

You just fall. You cannot finish a book without closing its chapters.

If you want to go on, then you have to leave the past as you turn the pages.

Love is not destroyed by a single failure or won by a single caress.

It is a lifetime venture in which we are always learning, discovering and growing.

The greatest irony of love is letting go

when you need to hold on and holding on when you need to let go.

We lose someone we love only

when we are destined to find someone else

who can love us even more than we can love ourselves.

On falling out of love, take some time to heal and

then get back on the horse.

But don't ever make the same mistake of riding the same one

that threw you the first time.

To love is to risk rejections;

to live is to risk dying, to hope is to risk failure.

But risk mustbe taken because

the greatest hazard in life is risking nothing!

To reach for another is to risk involvement,

to expose your feelings is to expose your true self;

to love is to risk not to be loved in return.

How to define love: fall but do not stumble,

be constant but not too persistent,

share and never be unfair,

understand and try not to demand,

hurt but never keep the pain.

Love is like a knife.

It can stab the heart or

it can carve wonderful images into the soul

that always last for a lifetime.

Love is supposed to be the most wonderful feeling.

It should inspire you and give you joy and strength.

But sometimes the things that give you joy can also hurt you in the end.

Loving people means giving them the freedom

that they choose to be and where they choose to be.

For all the heartaches and the tears,

for gloomy days and fruitless years,

you should give thanks, for you know,

that these were the things which helped you grow.

Loving someone means giving him

the freedom to find his way,

whether it leads towards you or away from you.

Love is a painful risk to take

but the risk must be taken no matter how scary or painful, f

or only then you'll experience the fullness of humanity and that is love.

Only love can hurt your heart,

fill you with desire and tear you apart. Only love can make you cry

and only love knows why.

If you're not ready to cry,

if you're not ready to take the risk,

if you're not ready to feel the pain,

then you're not ready to fall in love.

There was a time in our lives

when we became afraid to fall in love

because every time we do,

we get hurt, then I figured that's why it's called falling in love.

When you decide to love, allow it to grow.

When you promise to love, refuse to let it die!

Source: from email

Bedtime Tips and Rituals for Babies

Does uttering the phrase "bedtime" send your toddler into squeals of hysterical protest? Do you sink onto your sheets in grateful exhaustion each night, only to hear the plaintive call of "Mommy" as your child creeps through your bedroom door? Then you are in desperate need of these terrific tips, designed to end every mom's epic struggle for a good night's rest.

Below are helpful tips to be considered:

1. Keep bedtime and the ritual that surrounds it consistent to establish a familiar routine,
security, predictability, and an end to negotiations.
2. Build active play and exercise into your child's day to ensure that by bedtime he's ready to
sleep.
3. Have a calm period after dinner, whether that means reading before bed, cuddling, telling
stories, or taking a bath. Make the half an hour before bed a transition time that quiets down
your child and prepares him for bed.
4. Give your child plenty of notice as bedtime approaches, so he can begin the transition and end
at his pace whatever activity in which he's involved.
5. Set a timer for starting the bedtime routine if you find yourself engaged in power struggles.
6. Give your child some control over his bedtime routine - allow him some choices, like between
two books or pairs of pajamas.
7. Make a chart with pictures of everything that needs to be done before bed. This way your
child can start working on these himself, from putting on pajamas to brushing his teeth, to
picking up toys on his bedroom floor.
8. As a treat for your child in the winter, warm pajamas in the dryer for a few minutes to make
them cozy, but make sure buttons and other metal parts don't get too hot.
9. Set a time for lights out, and stick as close to it as possible.
10. If you work, resist the urge to allow your child to stay up later to spend time with him. This
will only make him cranky if he has to get up early for school or day care. Even on a weekend,
this will throw off his schedule.
11. Move bedtime earlier if your child has difficulty getting up for day care or school in the
morning.
12. Tell your child when a special occasion is coming that allows or requires him to stay up later
than usual, and let him know when bedtime will return to normal again.
13. Do not offer a later bedtime as a reward for good behavior or an earlier bedtime as
punishment for bad behavior, to ensure that your child does not begin to associate sleep with
punishment. Keep the message clear that sleep is a way to let your child's body energize itself
for the next day.
14. If your child habitually gets out of bed after having been tucked in for the night:
15. Make sure he has water nearby if he is thirsty, and a night-light or low-watt light on if he's
concerned about the dark.
16. Immediately lead your child back to bed, quietly remind him it is bedtime and tell him you
will check back in awhile.
17. Minimize contact and conversation. Repeat the process as many times as necessary without
making a production of it.
18. If your child wants you in the room with him, compromise by offering to stay in the hallway
until he falls asleep.
19. Reward him with stars, stickers, and extra stories at night for not getting out of bed.
Communicate the message that you refuse to waver on bedtime, and that pleas and
entreaties will not buy more stories, television, play time, or grown-up attention.

Stacy DeBroff is the best-selling parenting author of The Mom Book Goes to School: Insider Tips to Ensure Your Child Thrives in Elementary and Middle School, and founder of www.MomCentral.com.

Blueberry Pancake

These Blueberry Pancakes will brighten-up even the darkest mornings.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 05 minutes
Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blueberries
Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with wire whisk. In a small bowl, with an electric mixer, combine eggs, milk and oil. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Hand mix only until large lumps are gone. Gently fold-in blueberries.
Heat griddle or frying pan. Grease pan lightly. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form each pancake in pan. Bake until bubbles appear and edges are brown. Flip pancakes and cook for a minute or so longer.
Makes about 16 4-inch pancakes.

Source: www.about.com

Foods to Keep You Slim

Yes, believe it or not, there are many foodstuffs and dishes that can actually help you lose weight. Here are a few:
FRESH VEGGIES AND FRUITS. You can eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruits for only a few calories–as opposed to a hamburger, a serving of which can already give you your daily caloric requirement.
SOUPS AND FRESH FRUIT JUICES. Sometimes, some people misconstrue thirst for hunger pangs. Being hydrated is as important in dieting as lower caloric intake. Eating soup for one before every meal can give you that full felling as it has lots of liquid-thus, making you eat less. Fresh fruit juices on the other hand - aside from giving you a full feeling - provide fiber as well.
EAT WHOLE WHEAT, EAT BEANS. Fiber is good and can make you fell full. This is also true in bread - despite its reputation for being crab rich. Whole wheat bread provides one the fiber needed for being full and for digestion. Beans also provide the same service with the added benefit of being a very good protein source.
GOT MILK? DRINK IT? Believe it or not, recent studies indicate that the calcium in milk may actually help inhibit the storage of fat in the body! Indeed, this was observed in people who are already eating a well-balanced and low-fat diet. The calcium also seems to target the midsection. Thus, making a person less fat in that area.

Source: www.lutongbahay.com

Special Cassava Cake Recipe

Carbohydrates may come cheap but they are the chief source of energy. They provide most of the energy in the diet and supply an appreciable amount of protein. About 50-57% of our calories should come from carbohydrates, to supply us with energy to keep us alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic. Root crops that have high starch content include cassava. Cassava has the biggest amount of starch (34% ). Cassava is commonly served as suman or boiled, topped with sugar and grated coconut. It can also be served into a special treat during parties yet economical. Cassava cake is delicious and provides significant amounts of carbohydrates to supply the energy needs of the active child, growing teener, busy housewife and working father. Below is the recipe for special cassava cake:
Ingredients:
5 cups cassava, grated
2 cups sugar
1 cup powdered whole milk
2 eggs, beaten
5 cups coconut milk
Toppings:
Cheese, grated
Condensed milk
Procedure:
Mix thoroughly the first four ingredients.
Add coconut milk and mix well.
Pour into a greased baking pan.
Bake in moderate heat for about 45 minutes or until the top is almost dry.
Remove from oven.
Pour condensed milk evenly on top of cassava cake then sprinkle with cheese.
Bake again until golden brown ot until cheese and milk melt.
Source: May-June 2004 issue Health and Home

My First Vehicular Accident

Every seconds of our life really counts, because we never know what will happen to us anytime. I never expect this to happen in my life, it’s really my first time ever. It happened last July 27, 2008 at 7:28 in the morning. We were on our way home from Bankerohan; we were riding a motorcycle with my husband and daughter when a taxi cab suddenly had a U-turn which made us bumped into it. We felt into the road. As if I was out of the world for a second since I don’t know what happened next, what was my position when I felt down, all I remembered was when I was helped by my husband to stand up, my lips was bleeding my left knee was bleeding also, my child was crying and she had contusion on her head, my husband had a bruise on his right arm. Thanks be to God those were the only injuries that we had. We were brought to Davao Medical Hospital for check up and treatment. Though my injury was a little bit small but it was so painful even up to this time because it was on the knee. I was advice by the doctor to rest for 1 week. I really suffered the pain, I can’t walked properly even I took up already medicines and antibiotics. I was only healed by boiled guava leaves as cleansing. I can really testify the effectiveness of a guava leaves for cuts and wounds as cleansing because for about 2-3 days of using it, my wounds was healed.
Up to this time I cannot imagine myself having a vehicular accident. There are “what if” questions at the back of my mind and it makes me tremble whenever I remember the incident.