Bela has been attending drum lessons at Academy of Rock for more than a year now. Her drum set is placed in her room which is just across our room. Now that Zaak has arrived, we know that we have to do something so Zaak will not be bothered if Bela would want to play with her drums.

We are working on a limited budget but thankfully we discovered a cheaper way to sound proof Bela’s room and that is with the use of egg crate foam. That is why hubby plans to buy egg crate foam this coming weekend so he can start to sound proof Bela’s room.

Bela and hubby is really excited with this project because finally they can continue their jamming sessions without disturbing our precious little one.

One of my wish list for our home is an organizer to keep everything in order. I don’t really get to spend time cleaning and organizing and I highly rely on our house help to do that which is not an effective method as everything turns to be total chaos after a while.

That is why I got really excited when I saw this ovis for kitchen cabinet organizer online. This is one way to keep things in order in our kitchen.

I will definitely show this to hubby and I am sure he will like it too.

Now that we are done with one of the biggest expenses we have for 2012 which is our daughter’s 7th birthday party, we can finally start with our house renovation project that we postponed for a year now.

Hubby is excited as he has a lot of projects lined up for the house. He wants to repaint the whole interior and exterior of the house plus he also wants to have the flooring done.

We would have wanted to use granite or marble for the flooring but we are working on a tight budget but thankfully there is a better alternative and that is polished concrete.

With polished concrete, we will be able to achieve the look of granite, marble or terrazzo flooring without breaking our bank account. Aside from the price, another advantage of polished concrete is it is very easy to maintain and is environment friendly too.

Polished concrete can also be stained to achieve different colors and different styles and designs can also be incorporated to imitate the look of traditional floorings. Hubby is really excited with my discovery and he has already contacted Forrest Concrete, one of the best contractors in the market for polished concrete, so he can have a meeting with them and discuss the projects that he is planning for our home sweet home.

When you invite guests into your home, you want them to feel as welcome as possible. Having a messy bathroom is a sure way to make your guests feel uncomfortable. Before anyone comes to visit, do a few simple things to straighten up your bathroom so that it is clean and inviting. Clean the tub and the sinks, put out fresh towels, put the bathroom scale away and use a scented candle to clear the air of any unwanted odors.

If you have porcelain sinks, scrub them thoroughly until they are as clean as they were when first installed. Get rid of any unsightly stains in the tub, and give the toilet a good cleaning. Do not forget to wipe any smudges off of the mirror. If you are all out of clean sheets or towels, do some laundry before your guests arrive so that you have enough linens for them. Make sure that you tell your guests which towels they should use to avoid any confusion. Whether you have a bathroom digital scale or a bathroom analog scale, you should put it away before your guests arrive so that it is not in the way. 

Whether your guests are just visiting for an afternoon or are staying with you for several weeks, it is important to make them feel welcome in your home. By taking the time to clean your bathroom, you can ensure that your visitors do not feel awkward when they are using it. With the right touches, you can make sure that your guests leave with nothing but good memories.

Just look at hubby’s new project:

He has been planning to have this picture printed on canvass so he can have it framed and make it as a decoration for our home but it was only a few weeks ago that he was able to find the time (and the budget), to have it done.

This is one of our favorite pictures of our family. It was taken during Cobi’s 1st birthday party by our photographer friend, Kathy of K Snaps Productions. It is so simple, but yet this picture is so full of emotions that is why we love it.

Hubby edited the pictures to highlight us and he had it printed at InfoStation in 168. Then he had it framed in one of the stores just outside his office. Once it was done, he excitedly brought it home so he can immediately hang it on our wall.

Thanks to durable nail and the help of some wiring duct, this framed family portrait of us is now one of the best highlights in our home.

There are still quite a few things that needs to be checked in our house:

• The heater in our bathroom is not working. We are not sure if we are just missing something or it is already broken. My aunt will try to send his electrician on Sunday to check on it and we really wanted this done soon as we have to heat water for the kids every time they take a bath which they love more now since they love playing in the bath tub. (Almost everyday they take a bath in the bathtub and I think they consume half steel drum of water everyday. I know that is bad but I am just letting them enjoy it for now as we just moved in so they are still excited to try out new things in our house).
• The light bulb in the living room needs to be replaced too
• The window in the kitchen
• The door of the commercial space that we are renting out

I am sure hubby has more on his list. But I am glad we are a little settled now and all the things that we need often have already been unpacked and has been placed in their proper places already.

So a few more weekend left and we can start relaxing and enjoy our new home.

Next week will be the move to our new home. Hubby and I are both excited because this is finally it, a house that we can call our own.

Nothing much needs to be done except for a little cleaning here and there but there are some additions and improvements that hubby wants to install. He has been checking the site of Gadget Shack and he is looking at purchasing their wireless doorbell. This wireless doorbell is so nice since it has six individual channels, which we can program to different push button, door contact sensor and even to motion detectors. It even has a wide range that can reach up to 450 ft.

Another item that he wants to purchase is a wireless driveway alarm. Since our room is at the third floor and the garage is at the ground floor, hubby thinks that we need the security feature of a driveway alarm so we will be notified of any human or vehicle motion.

This is already not included in our budget but prices in Gadget Shack are not bad since they don't have sales tax and they even offer free shipping.

So in just a few more days, we will finally be spending our first night in our dream home.

My husband and I are both working five days in a week. We both work in the IT field and things can get really busy at work so we always look forward to going home and getting a good nights rest after a long day at work.

And so now that we will be moving to our dream home in the next couple of weeks, we are already starting to plan for the furniture that we will purchase for our dream house.

At the top of our list is luxury bedding. They say that getting 8 hours of straight sleep is very important for good health and my husband and I believe that we can accomplish that if we can fully relax and have a comfortable rest in our luxury bed. That is why we are really investing on our mattresses, fine linens, pillows, bed sheets, comforters and the like. And we know where to get nothing but the best when it comes to luxury bedding needs but Versai.

Versai has a whole range of linens, bed sheets, comforters, pillows and many more that is made from high quality material like Egyptian cotton yarns, 100% rganic mattresses from Australia, Grade 1 Siberian comforters, and even cocoon silk throws.

Imagining myself lying down in bed with these luxurious items relaxes me already. So I really can't wait to start shopping for the luxurious items for our bedroom from Versai.

Now that we will be living in a house with four floors, it is essential that we install a good quality doorbell so we will know if we have visitors or if there is someone outside the house who needs the gate to be open for them.

My dad and my husband checked the house last weekend and the doorbell is one of the things in their list that needs to be replaced. We live in a neighborhood where there are a lot of kids and so you can expect that these naughty kids will constantly play with our doorbell so we really need something that is durable and that will last.

My sister also works for a call center company and her schedule is a bit off as she goes to work late in the evening and will arrive home early in the morning so it is very important that the sound of the door bell can reach up to the fourth floor so anyone of us can open the door for her whatever time of day it is.

That is why I have been looking for a store where I can get good quality wireless door bell and that is how I discovered WirelessDoorbellStore.com.

WirelessDoorbellStore.com sells all kinds of wireless doorbell and the model that I am looking has a wireless range of up to 450 feet so the sound can definitely reach even up to the roof deck. The added feature that I like about this high-tech doorbell is that we can assign each melodies for different locations so we will know which push buttons has been pressed. It is also very flexible as we can order additional push buttons and receivers. They even have a model that comes with an Intercom that will give our doorbell more functionality.

We have more than two weeks to fix everything before our move at the end of the month and we all feel very excited.

My husband is very much excited to move to our new home but he has no choice but to give in to my belief that we should finish the ghost month first, as per the Chinese's Calendar of Feng Shui, so he has to wait until August 29 before we can start moving our things.

So while waiting, he and my dad always visits the house and the last time they were there, they checked and took note of the things that need to be repaired like the replacement of some of the light bulbs, termite treatments to some of the rooms and their priority project is to get a concrete floor grinder to polish the concrete flooring at the roof deck.

So hubby quickly checked the net and discovered Innovatech. Innovatech is a company that provides concrete polishing tools and carpet removal products for any house or establishments. The product that hubby is particularly interested is their I-shine which is the best concrete polisher in the world. It is very easy to use and it will definitely make our floor sparkle fast which is what my hubby wants.

My husband and my dad still has three weeks to do whatever repairs and works they need to do and I am sure they will be able to finish all their projects especially the floor polishing with the help of products from Innovatech before our move on August 29.

Hubby and I are still in heaven because we sill can't believe that in just a few days, we will be moving in to our dream house that we recently purchased. We actually did not plan for it because the seller, who happens to be hubby's officemate, just happened to mention to hubby in passing that they are selling their house because they are migrating to the US soon. Hubby decided to drive by one day as the house is just near our place and we both look at each other when we saw the house and we both said at the same time, "Let's buy it?"

It was love at first sight. We both fell in love with it that soon enough, hubby arranged for us to visit and checkout the house and all the more we fell in love with it. Hubby immediately negotiated the price and when they both agreed, hubby gave earnest money to secure the deal.

So hubby applied for a housing loan so we can finally purchase our dream house. It was a long process with the bank but we are thankful that the seller was patient and is true to their word as they waited for us until it was only last June that they were able to get the full payment from the back.

It was a journey of six months for us to purchase the house and in just a few days, we will be moving in to the house that we can call our own.

The house has a European theme before with a lot of Stanley furniture so we are thinking if we will go with the same theme or adapt a new look altogether by buying new furniture like the Lexington furniture for our bedroom that I am so loving:

Or this Lea furniture for our children's bedroom.

Thankfully, we don't have to go and visit different stores to get this cute furniture as everything can be seen and bought online via Great Priced Furniture online site. As the name of the site implies, they offer the best price in the market, which is what we are looking for as we are working on a tight budget for the furniture. They even offer free shipping and no sales tax on most items so that will be a big savings for us.

I really can't wait to spend or first night as a family in our new house.

If we did not purchase the property of hubby's colleague here in Manila, hubby is so keen in pursuing his plan of constructing a swimming pool at our house in Bulacan. According to hubby, it will serve two purposes. One is that it will be our weekend home and with a swimming pool, for sure we will always love to go to our house and spend our weekend there. Second is that we can even rent the house and the pool for extra income.

I was actually not in favor with his plan as I know how difficult and expensive it is to maintain a swimming pool. We need to replace the pool cartridge filters, the sanitizer and the clarifier often to keep the pool's water clean and germ free. But hubby did some research already and if we can rent out the place at least once or twice a month, we can get the money that we will spend for pool maintenance like above ground pool filters and we may even earn some extra money.

But the purchase of pool filter replacement cartridge will be put on hold for the meantime as we will delay the construction of the swimming pool as we will start paying already for the monthly amortization of the property that we just bought. But I know in God's perfect time, hubby's dream for our house in Bulacan will soon turn into a reality.

Finally our housing loan will be release this week. The good news is that the house officially belongs to us, as we will be able to pay the balance that we owe the seller. The bad news though is that this means that we will start with our first monthly amortization for this loan next month.

This reminded me that I have to look for check ordering services, as hubby and I need to submit post dated checks to our bank for our monthly amortization and we ran out of checks already.

Thankfully I can always rely on ExtraValueChecks.com to get discount checks.

Extra Value Checks is a site where you can order customized designer checks both for personal and business use. They have a whole range of designs to choose from for the check or they can even customize a new one for us if we can't find a design that we like from their designs database. What is good with Extra Value Checks is that their checks are of high quality that it will surely work with my local bank. It is even cheaper even when getting for re-orders and is even cheaper compared to getting it straight to our local bank.

This check is all we need and we can finally say that we now have our Dream Home.

I was watching the news before going to bed and I heard the statistics of fire incident here in the metro in the last couple of months and the numbers is a bit alarming considering it is almost the rainy season.

This made hubby and I think since we have a lot of important documents just kept in a box, which can be easily damaged by fire. We know for a fact that it is a big hassle to get original copies of these documents so we thought that we better start using industrial cabinets like the one that we use in the office, so we will feel secure that all our important documents are safe from any danger like fire.

And I was able to find a site, which sells metal cabinets, Durham Manufacturing. They sell all kinds of products from industrial storage, to workstations and workbenches, shelving and racks and even metal storage cabinets. I learned that Durham Manufacturing has been in this business since 1922, which goes to show how reliable they are, as they will not last this long in this business if their clients don't trust them.

I already requested for a catalog so I can let hubby choose which metal cabinet will suit our needs.

We are still here in the US and we will be staying here for another week before we go back to Manila. When we get back, we will surely be busy as we are scheduled to move to our new house anytime starting first week of June to first week of July.

The house that we bought is fairly new as it is only 5 years old and so we don't need to do any major repair and renovations. According to hubby, all we need are fluorescent lighting fixtures to set the mood and theme for our house. That is why I have been doing my research already and I am thankful to have discovered Echolightingdesign as they offer discount lighting fixtures that is perfect for the limited budget that we have to accessorize and liven up the mood of our new house. They have more than 40,000 choices to choose from so I am sure we will find the perfect lighting fixture for our home. Hubby and I believe that we don't need expensive furniture and appliances for our new home as the right lighting fixture is enough to bring the right mood and ambiance for our house.

Hubby checked the site and he already have a short list of the pendant lighting, Ceiling lighting, and outdoor lighting that he likes for our house. He was even able to find discount ceiling fans for our maid's room and the living room area as ceiling fans is a must as we know how humid the weather can be in our part of the world.

Everyday, hubby and I kept talking about our plans for our new home. Even our daughter is so excited too. In just a few days, we will be setting foot and spending our first night in our new home so we all can't wait.

Happy New Year every one. I am really excited for 2011 as according to my zodiac sign, my dreams will start to materialize this year. And I think it is true because by mid of 2011, we will be moving to our new house. This is a big leap that my husband and are taking for our family. We are only in the planning stage of getting a new house for our family but then an opportunity knocks when hubby found out that his colleague is selling their house. We checked out the house and we really fell in love with it and we both agree that it is the house that we are dreaming for our family and so we decided to get a loan and purchase the house.

All of us are excited for the move but then it suddenly hit me that even though it is a very exciting event for our family, this will also be stressful as we have to move a lot of our stuff. But we know that moving can’t be all that stressful. Here are some of the tips that I think can help us make our move easier:

1. Start early. This is the second time that we will be moving already and on our first move, I learned that moving is very time consuming. We won’t be moving until mid of 2011 but we can start packing at least one or 1.5 months in advance so we won’t run out of time that we will just end up stacking and throwing everything in one box which will make our stuff very disorganize.
2. Make a Checklist and Inventory. It is very important to make an inventory and list of all our stuff so that we will know if we loose anything during the move or not. It will also be very helpful to make a To-do list so we will not forget anything that needs to be taken care of for the move.
3. Hire Professionals. Getting a professional help will definitely be a big help. I checked the site of moving quotes and they have a list in their network of reputable local movers that can help us with our move. They will even send a representative to help us organize our stuff before the move, giving suggestions on how to pack our stuff to keep it safe and secure during the move.

We still have a few months before we move and I better start organizing our things now so that it will be a less stressful move for us and we can just concentrate in anticipating our move to our dream house.

2011 is just a few days away and we are so lucky to have received a good news to welcome the new year. We have a sort of vacation house and since we are so busy, we rarely get a chance to spend our weekends there as what we originally planned. And so I feel that we have a property that we are not being able to put to good use.

But hubby told the good news to me this morning and a colleague will be renting our place for three months as they need a place to stay while they sort out their problems with their house and so it will be extra income for us so we can finally buy patio furniture for our vacation house.

At least if we have outdoor furniture, we can start entertaining guests there and it will even encourage us to spend our weekends there more often so that the property will not be put to waste.

I got so excited that I started browsing the site of patiofurniturebuy. They have a wide range of products from patio lounge sets, tables, dining sets and even wrought iron patio furniture.

This is really a good way to welcome the new year, a new business for us, so we can find the budget to finance the purchase of furniture for our vacation house.

If you have kids in the house, I bet you will be as paranoid as me in keeping the house clean and bacteria free to keep your kids away from sickness. I remember in one of the episodes of my favorite TV series House MD, they have a patient who has been very, very sick and they later found out that the sickness was due to algae found in the patient’s bathroom.

That is why when I found out that the house we are buying has a bath tub, I quickly made some research on how to maintain it so that it will be bacteria free and I discovered that natural hot tub treatment is the best way to go as it does not contain harsh chemicals that is bad to our health and the environment too and naturalhottub.com offers these kind of treatment for natural hot tub.

All their products do not use bad hot tub chemicals but instead only uses natural enzymes that are 100% bio-based. Their products are also very easy to use and it only needs to be applied once a week to keep bathtubs and the water clean and germ free.

I am sure our kids will love to have a bath tub and for sure they will always use it for their everyday bath that is why I really wanted to make sure that it is 100% germ and bacteria free to safeguard the health of our kids.

I can’t wait to move in to a bigger house. Our house is so crowded right now:

- one part of our house is where our Christmas tree stands where we dumped all the gifts that we will distribute to our friends and relatives
- then there is one part for Cobi and Bela’s toys
- one part where I have boxes full of stuff that I ordered online

I was even telling hubby the other day that I wanted to disassemble and pack our Christmas tree already as it is occupying a lot of room. even if the holidays is not yet finish My OC-ness is kicking that if only I don’t have tons of work to finish, I would have put out our green cleaning supplies and I will really start to de-clutter and clean our house. Even in our room, there is not much space to move on.

I really hope that things will work as planned so we can finally move in to our new home by mid of next year. I really can’t wait!!

We got home today and we saw the big mess in our house because of all the clutter and hubby and I look at each other and thought that we really need a big house. So we are really happy when we found our dream house that is on sale. We already dreamed of us living there: there are six rooms plus the two big rooms at the ground floor so hubby can definitely have his own room for his toy collection and all his bowling trophies, the kids can each have their own room and there is even a spare room to be their play room and my parents can live with us too.

We got the news that our loan has been approved but the appraised value of the property was way too low than what we expected so we requested for a re-assessment. We are also even thinking to try other banks like Banco De Oro and PS bank as we heard that BPI really gives low appraised value of property.

Hopefully by next week we will have the answer so we can finally proceed in purchasing our dream house.