TOPAZ HORIZON

June is over and what a whirlwind it was. The kids started school. As I am now a veteran mommy of schoolkids, gone are the days of panic and stress. Okay, I was still stressed and slept maybe 3 hours every night (3 schoolkids means 3 sets of uniforms, books, school supplies, and baon and more loads of laundry!) and that's not good. But at least I'm no longer on the edge of panic and anxiety. I'm a lot relaxed now and that's good.

Vito is now Grade 3

Iñigo is Grade 2.

Piero is Kinder.

But as I watch the not-so-little ones chatter away happily at breakfast and come home noisily in the afternoon, I realize they have their own lives now. Own days, own friends, own music, little worlds I don't belong in anymore, and when once I felt suffocated by their sheer need to be in my space 24/7, now they are creating pockets of their life away from me and their Papa. And that's good. That is always good.

My heart breaks a little each day anyway, knowing they're not really mine, that no matter how tightly I hug them close, I don't possess them. They are their very own and I'm only here to raise them—not for me—but for someone else. That's motherhood for you, and that's okay.




Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while

The feeling that I'm losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it

Summer was super fun for my two younger boys, Iñigo and Piero, because of Ready Steady Go Kids! Every Saturday, we trooped to the 9th Avenue School at BGC, Taguig, for an hour of fun and fitness with other kids.

You know how people call play the real work of kids? Well, this is exactly like that! The kids may seem like they're just throwing and catching balls or jumping up and down or chasing each other. They look like they're just playing but really they're developing eye-hand coordination, learning what their bodies can do and how it moves, building strength and flexibility, learning focus and patience and determination, learning to listen to instructions and pay attention to others—and doing all of that while having fun!

Ready Steady Go is Australia’s largest and most reputable multi-sport and exercise program for preschoolers (aged 2.5-7 years). We have been with RSGK since they launched here in the Philippines 5 years ago. At first, we were skeptical because it was just play. They can play at our playground for free! But at the very first session, when Vito was just 4, we saw that Vito learned motor and social skills fast. We were converted to the Temple of Play!


RSGK offers a high-quality, physio-designed program that teaches children the fundamentals of 10 different sports in a fun, non-competitive, team-based environment. There are 5 sports covered in each term. Each class focuses on a specific gross motor, hand-eye/foot-eye and/or balance activity to complement the sport component. The program has a structure repeated each week so that the kiddos become familiar and comfortable with the routine. It's not drastically different from each class, which is good because kids like familiarity.


So far, my kids learned basketball, golf, and tennis. But not in a competitive way. It was really just taking the basic moves of the sports and then using them to teach kids how to use and develop their muscles and social skills. It's really fascinating to watch the coaches apply sports to instill useful life skills! 


The classes run for 45 minutes. Best to go early so your kids can settle in. We also stay and play with the other kids after the class ends so we spend about an hour to an hour-and-a-half at RSGK. Super fun, mamas!


If your kids have summer vacation now or if they have classes but you want them to improve their motor skills or if you have a preschooler, please enroll them at Ready Steady Go! Super highly recommended! Topaz Mommy-approved! Register here: http://readysteadygokids.com.ph/enroll/

You can also follow their Facebook page to find out more: https://www.facebook.com/ReadySteadyGoKidsPhilippines. I can't say enough good things about RSGK! Please enroll your kids na!

Yo, I came out very quickly from blogger hibernation because someone slid into my DMs to say, "Kawawa ka naman puros lalaki mga anak mo." Girl, bless your heart, pero hindi ako kawawa. I am already so blessed to be a mother of one amazing, gorgeous, smart, healthy son. Na-times three pa! Sinong panalo? Sino???

Sinong pikon also haha

Pero nakakapikon talaga, ha. I was too suffocated with babyhood to have bothered before but, hey, I'm gonna make patol now. Why? Because this is not the first time this has happened! Piero wasn't even born yet and people have plagued me with this! Whenever people find out I have three boys, they get this look on their face, like, "Oh dear. Poor you."

Don't give me that look. Yes, I have a hard time with motherhood not because of the gender of my kids but because I'm a working mom, I have two (sometimes three) jobs, I have no household help, and no family around to help save my sanity. I may look kawawa kasi pagod na pagod ako at may losyang vibes na BUT I don't feel sad for having sons. Are you kidding me? I'm surrounded by three beautiful boys every day!

Three handsome boys all in a row. I mean, the world is always a better place when amazing brothers band together to rule it. Just look at these examples:


The Stark Brothers: Jon, Bran, Robb
Okay, technically Jon is their cousin but he was raised as their brother so don't fight me. And, yes, we will conveniently forget real brother Rikkon who was murdered by Ramsey. But just look at this photo from the first season of Game of Thrones! Who'd have thought they'd all become kings one day?


The Kennedy Brothers: John, Robert, Teddy
Yes, we'll do real life now. Yes, two weren't very good at staying alive and the last one wasn't very good at staying out of trouble but they did change US history and for three sons in one family to do that is pretty darn awesome.


The Hansons: Taylor, Zac and Isaac
Dreamy, can play music, can sing, knows a lot about art history, good looking, are amazing husbands and fathers. Perfect!


The Hemsworth Brothers: Liam, Chris and Luke
All three are successful actors (Westworld fans will recognize eldest bro Luke). They're easy on the eyes, too.


The Jonas Brothers: Nick, Joe, Kevin
Famous all over the world for being a pop sensation and for marrying strong and independent women.

The Sales VIPs
Best boys in this list! I can't even imagine what amazing things they'll do! I bet they'll be legendary. My mommy heart says so!

Mother of men. That's me!

I think having daughters is probably amazing, too. I say "probably" only because it's not my experience. I bet moms of daughters think they're the luckiest mommies, too. I'm super happy really. I seriously don't spend my days pining away for a little girl (sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, hindi talaga haha). Neither do I go around looking at moms of all girls and saying, "Kawawa ka naman." Loko ka. I think having kids of any number and any gender is a gift! So stop it and just congratulate me for being blessed three times over. Mwah!

"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127: 3-5a

All the flowers last Mother's Day reminded me that I have a giveaway for my blog's 13th anniversary! If you follow @topazhorizonblog on Instagram, you'd know I was giving this bottle of Jo Malone Red Roses cologne. I'm moved by all the entries and I can't wait to see your story there.


I also wanted to share that my skincare products since summer of last year have a theme: roses. I sometimes stray from these and try out new beauty goodies (because who can resist?), but I find myself going back to these rose-filled beauty products because my skin looks and feels amazing when I use them.


This is my super favorite: Pure Beauté Facial Wash in Rose. I use this every single day (except for those times I sampled new facial washes sent to me). My face is so fabulous whenever I use this!!! I also use a tiny amount of the Pure Beauté Body Scrub on my face. Yes! It's so gentle on my skin anyway so I don't mind using the exfoliant once every 2 weeks.

The packaging looks so worn out na! That's proof that I really use them! You can buy these from the Simple Mama online store. I love Simple Mama's products. They're clean, pure, fresh, practically homemade. Every product feels like love in a container.

Okay, here's the link to the Pure Beauté page but the Rose Collection is a limited edition. That stresses me out because when my facial wash is running out, I go on panic mode. I don't think I can live without Pure Beauté Facial Wash in Rose! I won't guarantee this but maybe if you ask nicely, Simple Mama will make a batch for you. Tell me so we can order together!


Next favorite: In Her Element Petal Skin Rose Toning Essence. It's beauty water. It sounds unnecessary but it does what it says it will: Its water will beautify you. You know that part in the title that says petal skin? Yes, that will happen. Your skin will feel like rose petals. So soft and velvety smooth. So perfect!

It's P875 and the bottle is small. It feels like a lot of money for what is essentially water but get it!!! You don't need a lot anyway. I just pump the dispenser once and apply the toning essence all over my face. Pat, pat, pat. I don't use a cotton ball because I want ALL the drops on my now smooth and petal-soft face. So worth it!


So now you know my cleanser, exfoliant, and toner. Now check out my moisturizer: The Ordinary Rose Hip Seed Oil. This oil is pressed from the seeds of a rose plant. Oil is great for trapping moisture in skin but rosehip oil is also amazing for its anti-aging benefits. I added it to my skincare routine when I found out that Miranda Kerr, Rose Byrne, Cara Delavigne, Victoria Beckham and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, use it.
It's P900 from Calyxta and though it's a tiny bottle, you only need 2 drops for your entire face. You just warm up the oil in your palms then press, press, press. it's one of the best things I ever got for my skin. It smells like cooking oil, though, but the smell goes away soon enough. I love that the oil is quickly absorbed and so my mug doesn't look like a greasy frying pan.

My last rose-infused product is this super sulit Heritage Store Rose Petals Rosewater Mist. I use it for a ton of things! I got it from Calyxta for just P600 and I'll copy-paste na lang my review below.

So there you have it! My complete skincare products that all happen to have roses as its main ingredient! Have you tried roses in your skincare?

Now remember: I have a giveaway!

Okay, I'll talk about multi-masking with L'Oréal Pure Clay Masks in a bit but let me say this first: I totally forgot it's my blog's 13th anniversary this month! To celebrate, I'm doing a weekly giveaway over at my Instagram. Make sure you follow @topazhorizonblog to get a chance to win beauty products!

Now let's talk about multi-masking. From long-ago queen Cleopatra to today’s beauty vlogger royalty, clay masks have been used to detoxify and pamper skin. How does that work? The negative charge of clay attracts the positive charge of oil and dirt on your skin, sucks the yuckiness out of your pores, and leaves skin clean and balanced.