Mulberry Goodness

Mulberry fruits turn from green to red then dark purple when ripe. They're rather too small to eat. Mulberry leaves though are not only good for silkworm food but are also very good tea when dried. I use mulberry tea when I have indigestion, food poisoning, gastritis, and other stomach troubles.  It's the only medicine I took when I was pregnant and breastfeeding. It also did improve my sleeping as I used to have insomnia. Researchers also found out that it's a very good antioxidant. It can lower bad cholesterol and blood sugar so it's good for diabetes, too. It can also strengthen the teeth. Thanks to mulberry tea! 

For those who want to know how the tea looks like, here it is. But please read my previous post for the instructions how it is prepared. Why turn to drugs if there's natural medicine?

More Ruby Tuesday goodies here.

Worthwhile Summer Activities for Kids

It's summer time again and certainly kids love to unwind from their pressing time at school. They need to have a break from getting up very early, doing their homework and projects, reviewing for exams and quizzes, performing leadership roles and extra-curricular activities among other things.  So what activities do we plan or allow them to do during the 2-month school break on summer?

As usual, pools and beaches are the places most kids love to go to beat the summer heat.

Taking them to our university retreats at 5-star hotels is such a great treat every summer.

Going to the zoo is not only relaxing but also educational.

 

Eating without hurrying for school is a good family, relatives and friends' bonding time.

 

Of course, allowing them some playtime. All work without play makes kids unhealthy.

Going places and bonding with family to have shared experiences

Traveling makes them well-informed and flexible.

Exploring nature to preserve it and culture to respect others

"Reading maketh a full man". -Francis Bacon. We assign them books to read or topic to research on the Internet and we ask them what they have read about or let them write a summary or reaction about it. So they develop both reading and researching as well as writing skills.

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 Developing their talents is one worthwhile activity they do on summer.

Learning and practicing how to play musical instruments not only develop their musical talents but their character as well. They need discipline and perseverance to be able to learn a new piece their piano or violin teacher assigns them. Studies have shown that music can enhance the learning capabilities of kids. With piano and violin lessons, they get to practice managing their time as well. For example, we don't allow them to play computer games unless they finish an hour of piano, violin and guitar practice each day. Here's a sample video. I just arrived on this day for their Voice and Violin Recital. I took this video right after their recital and I found out that they're no longer practicing their previous pieces I like. It is shown here especially on Minuet by Bach and Pambansang Awit played by my daughter with mistakes as she didn't also read her piece. (Huli ka! "Pagod na po kc ako at gabi na-10:30 na po", she replied but such a lame excuse for me, LOL.) When the dad saw it, he became stricter with their practice schedule. "Practice makes perfect", indeed.

We also let our kids help with household chores. They have their own schedule of dish-washing, house cleaning, cooking, throwing the garbage, etc. We want them to be prepared for a responsible and balanced adult life so summer is the best time for us to teach them do all these as we can closely monitor them.

Check out more posts on Mommy Moments at Mommy Journey hosted by Chris.

5 Simple Ways to Combat Radiation at Home and at Workplace

 

Cheery Monday, everyone! It's good to start the week right at work and at home. Staying healthy is one of our major concerns in life particularly for moms like us, whether working or staying at home especially bloggers who stay long with computers.  Computers and TVs emit radiation that can damage our eyesight and can cause cancer and other diseases. Here are some few simple tips to reduce it as we can't totally eliminate it:

1. To prevent yourselves from computer (and other appliances such as TV) radiation at home or at workplace, position your computer on the right place. Its back is known to be emitting most of the radiation so position its back to the wall or away from the passage area.

 2. Cactus has been found to absorb radiation. So place potted cactus close to your computer. It's also good to see green in your room to reduce eye strain and to add beauty to your workplace. Other plants can also absorb radiation (and other pollutants) but the spines of cactus have been found to be more effective in doing this job. It is said that plants also filter negative energy.

 3. Have sufficient light where you work to eliminate radiation. Having a desk lamp close to your computer is a good idea.Turn the lights on as well when you watch TV or videos at night-time.

 4. Eat tons of vitamins A,C,E loaded fruits and vegetables such as pineapple, mango, banana, guava, orange, broccoli, cucumber, watermelon, etc. as they are good antioxidants to get rid of the toxins caused by radiation as well as other pollutants from our environment.

 5. Exercise regularly to sweat out the toxic wastes in your body and also to help your liver and kidneys get rid of them. Brisk walking (or jogging for me, not leisure walk) is a common but effective form of exercise. The doctor says, at least thirty minutes a day for busy people like me isn't bad.

Staying fit will make us more productive at home and at work. The more productive we are, the more fulfilled and happier we will be. Cheers for the week, fellas:)

More posts with yellows here.

Kids' Learning Adventures

TGIF! And fellow mummies, here we are again with this week's interesting topic - field trips. 
Learning is not gained from the four-cornered room alone. One of the most effective ways of learning is by exploration. That is, learning-by-doing or in the form of field trips where kids get to see or experience the real thing. We're lucky that our kids' school organizes field trips every year. I remember that last year, they went to Manila's most visited sites for field trippers such as Museo Pambata, Enchanted Kingdom, Manila Planetarium, Malabon Zoo, etc., but I didn't have the chance to be on vacation that time so I don't have their pictures with those trips with me. I'd rather post some of their field trip photos taken last December, 2009 at Subic Bay, Olongapo City and Clark, Pampanga when it was timed that I was at home.  I also included here some photos of a few of our family trips as they achieve the same objective as school-arranged trips - learning and, of course, enjoying and relaxing.

Here's my daughter at Ocean Adventure. I posted some of the wonderful aquarium creatures I took photos of before. You may want to check it out here.

My son enjoys the dolphin show here. He said, although the dolphin show he saw at Safari World in Bangkok is more sophisticated, he loves the environment of these dolphins here being their own niche, not cultured. Hmmm, at least, at his young age, he knows about the endangered lives of these species.

 They did not only enjoy the numerous exciting rides at Felicidades (did I spell it right?) in Clark but also the very educational tour at Nayong Pilipino. On the photo is the replica of the historical Barasaoin Church. They also had a tour around the interesting houses of the past presidents and heroes such as Emilio Aguinaldo, Jose Rizal and a lot more.

 And they were also able to see one of our aborigines, the Aetas, at Nayong Pilipino so that they don't read them only in books.

I couldn't show all the interesting photos of their trip such as the show at the Eco Theater which includes tips on how to survive in the jungle such as cooking rice and egg using bamboos and making fire even without a match or a lighter by using just bamboos. They also integrated concern for the environment campaign in all their shows which I liked the most in this field trip. That made it truly educational for me as they learned that they could not go on enjoying the wonderful creatures and places they have seen if they don't take care of Mother Earth.

Check out this video showing the Sea Lion Show which incorporates Save the Environment campaigns.

Here are some photos of our family field trips where they have gained much knowledge from.

Seeing the real Petronas Twin Towers (Guess who's older?:)

 Feeding the doves

 and the giraffes

Riding a cable car

Experiencing the snow

Going to the ruined palace in Ayudhya

Getting inside a royal or king's palace

More Mommy Moments posts on kids' field trips here.

Simply Delightful

The actual flower is the plant's highest fulfilment, and are not
here exclusively for herbaria, county floras and plant
geography: they are here first of all for DELIGHT.
-   John Ruskin (http://www.gardendigest.com/flowers.htm)

Look at this hornet kissing the flower, sipping its nectar.

Looks like a lovely bridal bouquet at macro.

Looks like a bottlebrush, too.

The buds soon to bloom

It's a shrub.

Anyone knows its name? Is it another family of bottlebrush?

This is the most common weeping bottlebrush flower from a tree, not a shrub. 

For more Ruby Tuesday and Outdoor Wednesday goodies, click the badges below:

Therapeutic Touch of Nature

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy

is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet,

alone with the heavens, nature and God

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be
that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. 
I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
                                                                                           -Anne Frank

Would you like to walk on this flower-covered path?

To sit on a bench or on the green grass under the lush trees on a bright Sunday morning

With the gentle breeze blowing these tiny yellow flowers into the still water

From these lovely narra trees blooming filling the air with heavenly scent

It feels so good and relieving to behold the beauty of nature!

Check out more Scenic Sunday posts here and Mellow Yellow Monday here.