Here's what we've been up to.
The Ayala Triangle park Christmas music and light show is every night starting at 6PM. Last weekend we walked over to the show after dinner two nights in a row. Bella said "Wow" Addie sat mesmerized and decided the lights that "look like they are on air" are her favorite. It's hard not to get excited for Christmas when we get to see the holiday through our little girl's eyes. It's almost like being a child again at Christmas.
The other afternoon we were playing and Addie suddenly said "Mom, you forgot to take our Christmas pictures by our tree!". I explained that we took some in the other room and we were all done with our Christmas photo shoot. She wouldn't take no for an answer so I told her to make up the background and pose her and her sister. By golly, if those two monkeys didn't sit there sweet and pretty and both say "cheeeeeeese" in unison like perfect little angels. Getting them to sit next to each other for my photos was a challenge. Bella will do anything for her big sister so I'm not surprised she stood here with Addie for so long. She insisted on the balls decorating the ground. These are Addie's Christmas photos.
We've been having playdates with our neighbors and their two kids. The youngest is only 3 months and he is the most precious little thing I have ever seen. He's so calm and happy. He loves sitting in the Bumbo seat while his sister, Addie, and Bella all run around and play. Addie and Bella are in love with the little guy. Me too really!
I treated the girls to some Chritmas Krispy Kreme doughnuts Saturday morning. They have those cute snowman doughnuts with the candy scarfs right now and I couldn't resist. We've had doughnuts at our house twice ever, so this was a special treat. Bella was literally running in circles in the living room after her doughnut. By 8AM the sugar crash was in full force and the girls needed some real sustenance. Second breakfast for my little hobbits was scrambled eggs!
I had the pleasure of joining a friend of mine to a morning of shopping for her Presents for Pinoys project she and her husband raised money for this year. Sarah is the most amazingly ambitious and enthusiastic woman I've ever met. She really is the type of person who breaths life into situations. The children who will receive the Christmas presents are very very poor. They sometimes receive food and clothing donations during the holidays but for the most part these children don't get fun presents or any presents for that matter at Christmas. Sarah's plan was to buy fun gifts for the kids so we put our minds to forgetting about practicality when shopping. We hit Divisoria (a outdoor/indoor stall type market) close to Chinatown in Manila. My helper and driver both were worried about me going because theft can be high in this market and close to the holidays people are vicious. As two white blonde women, Sarah and I stood out. There is no way to blend! The place was teeming with people by 9AM. 
I thought Greenhills was crazy. Divisoria was nuts. I took a shot of one of the streets that had stalls on it. Different buildings sell different type of goods. We traveled all around the streets from building to building. There is an entire building for fabric by the yard. The goods sold here are almost all Chinese and dirt cheap. We were thrilled with what we could find for about $10 USD per child. It was raining during our trip and by the time I got home at noon my feet were black with the dirt and grim of the streets. It was a wonderfully rewarding feeling knowing all our bargaining bought some amazing stuff for children who will be thoroughly surprised and grateful for the presents.Sarah and her helper Norma. Norma was such a huge help with our negotiations with the stall owners.
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