Truly Rich and Blessed

Truly Rich Reviews: Leapfrog Mobile Medical Kit, Sing & Play Farm and Roll & Go Rocking Horse

by

I am still amazed at how God blesses our family in so many ways, including through this little ol’ blog of mine. I recently shared about how grateful I am for all my blog partners, especially those featured for the month of July. One of them,  (under Ban Kee Toys), gave us several LeapFrog products for review, through the kind help of Absolutely Mommy.

Thank you, LeapFrog Philippines! Thank you, Ban Kee Toys!

Thank you, LeapFrog Philippines! Thank you, Ban Kee Toys!

Here is my review of three of the LeapFrog products given to us, all of which are ideal for toddlers like Anne:

TRULY RICH

LeapFrog Mobile Medical Kit

Of all the three “for baby” LeapFrog toys we got, this is probably the most played with so far. The LeapFrog Mobile Medical Kit comes with four check-up tools, i.e. a stethoscope, an otoscope (for checking the ears!), a thermometer and a syringe. All the tools fit into the ambulance, so it’s easy for kids to bring the kit everywhere, “in case of emergencies”! 🙂

TRM-Leapfrog Medical Kit small

The Kit is recommended for kids ages 2 years up, but our 1.3 year old also enjoys playing with it, and so does her Ate/Big Sister, as you can see in these photos!

TRM-Leapfrog-2 TRM-Leapfrog-1

When you press the siren on the ambulance, you can hear fun phrases that can help teach your little ones about health and hygiene, plus the ever popular nursery rhyme, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” — this is especially a hit with Anne! Every time she hears it, she starts touching her head and toes (we’re still working on the other body parts! 🙂 )

Rysse, who just turned 5, super enjoys playing with the Kit, too, especially since she was recently given a Doc McStuffins costume! As with many blessings that have come our family’s way, God really has perfect timing!

The thing I like most about the LeapFrog Mobile Medical Kit? You don’t have to turn it “on” to have fun — the ambulance and tools themselves already provide lots of opportunity for pretend play! 🙂

LeapFrog Sing & Play Farm

TRM-Leapfrog Farm

The LeapFrog Sing & Play Farm is recommended for children ages 6 to 36 months — but that didn’t stop ALL three kids (ages 7 going on 8, 5 and 1+) from playing with it the first time we got it! 🙂

The Farm has 5 interactive play areas and features 13 different farm animals. Children can turn keys, flip switches and do other activities that can help improve their fine motor skills.

When the Farm is switched on, it has over 50 audio responses, which can help you teach your child animal names and sounds, colors, rhythm, melodies and more. Of course, the classic animal-themed nursery rhymes like “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider” provide an opportunity for sing-and-dance and finger play fun for your kid as well! 🙂

leapfrog-the girls

Our girls love playing with each other! :)

Again, like the Mobile Medical Kit, what I like about the LeapFrog Sing & Play Farm is that kids can play with it even when it is switched off. 🙂

LeapFrog Roll & Go Rocking Horse

TRM-Leapfrog-Horse

Like the Sing & Play Farm, the LeapFrog Roll & Go Rocking Horse is recommended for children ages 6 to 36 months. When it’s switched on, your child can press the saddle to make it light up and to hear different sounds and phrases.

If you hit the horse lightly, it will rock and “sing” songs, among other things. You can also push the horse to make it roll, and encourage your child to chase after it. This would be perfect especially if your little one has just started crawling — great gross motor skills practice!

However, since Anne is already a fast runner walker, she isn’t so interested in playing with the Rocking Horse, so I just might keep it in storage for if and when we have another baby! (Or, maybe I should just do a giveaway here on the blog! 😉 What do you think? I’ve thrown away the box though! Oops!)

So there you have it, folks! Stay tuned for my next LeapFrog review — coming soon this August!

To see more LeapFrog products that are available here in the Philippines, check out the , where they usually run promos and post about special offers too! You can also visit ToyTown.ph to browse LeapFrog products and purchase them online! 🙂

Have your kids ever used the LeapFrog products mentioned in this review? Or do you have other LeapFrog products to recommend? Come share in the comments!

********

Disclaimer: I received these products from LeapFrog Philippines for review. All thoughts and opinions are honestly and solely mine. 🙂

Truly Rich Recommendations {Events}: World Education Exhibition 2013

by

For those of you who are not familiar with my background, here’s a bit of trivia: for the greater part of my education, I did not go to school here in the Philippines. From Kinder up to secondary school (that’s what we call high school in the British system of education), I studied in Brunei. Yup, I’m a third culture kid in that sense.

St. George's School Brunei logo. :) I went to secondary school here. Had my share of good and bad times! More bad than good though. But that's for another post! :)

St. George’s School Brunei logo. 🙂 I went to secondary school here. Had my share of good and bad times! More bad than good though. But that’s for another post! :)

Some people may say that I missed out a lot by not being educated here, but I believe that God allows things to happen in our lives for a greater purpose. In His very perfect way, He let me study abroad so that I could learn to love my country more, and to love others, too — no matter what nationality, color, race nor language they speak. In a way, going to school in Brunei prepared me for my life as a missionary.

Of course, studying abroad and then coming back here for my university studies was challenging. I had to make a lot of adjustments. Thank God for His sufficient grace, and for the people He used to help me during difficult times! 😉

If you are thinking about studying abroad (and who doesn’t these days, right?), you’re in luck! The World Education Exhibition 2013 is coming up, and it’s a PERFECT event for those who want to know more about studying overseas, especially in countries like Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada and USA. Schools in these countries have many important requirements, including the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) results of applicants. The latter is made up of four parts ­— Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing — and determines the applicant’s level of English proficiency.

wee2013 poster

The World Education Exhibition 2013 is organized by IDP Philippines, a student placement firm that administers IELTS examinations, and guides students who want to study abroad through counseling sessions and knowledge-based programs where they match students with the right courses and institutions. In other words, IDP Philippines can help make your dream of studying abroad come true.

Admission to the Exhibition is free, and participants can attend free seminars and avail of free consultations. School representatives will be available for inquiries.

Again, here are the details of the World Education Exhibition 2013:

CEBU

Date: November 15, 2013
Time: 12nn – 5pm
Venue: Marriott Hotel

MANILA

Date: November 16-17, 2013
Time: 12nn – 5pm
Venue: Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati

To register, just go to http://www.philippines.idp.com/WEE2013 or call loc. 116. For more details, click here.

 

 

*Note: This is a sponsored post.

 

Truly Rich Recommendations {Events}: Ready to Be Rich Family Finances Workshop

by

Some of you may know that one of the reasons this blog is called “Truly Rich Mom” is because I was inspired by Kuya/Bro. Bo Sanchez’s book, 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich. Prior to choosing this name, I had blogs of different names both on WordPress and Blogger. Around the same time I was thinking of a blog name, my husband and I were able to attend .

We have since struggled tried to abide by all the principles and strategies that we learned from those seminars, plus Kuya/Bro. Bo’s books and teachings. We are not 100% financially free yet (meaning we still have debts to pay and are still building up our emergency and retirement funds, savings, and investments), but we hope to get there soon, by God’s grace! 😉

If — like me and my husband — you want to increase your financial literacy, learn how to budget for your family and plan financially for the future, among other things, you’ll definitely want to attend the latest workshop by Manila Workshops and Fitz Villafuerte of Ready To Be Rich, entitled READY TO BE RICH: FAMILY FINANCES.

Family Finances

The WORKSHOP:

Ready To Be Rich: Family Finances – This innovative workshop involves hands-on and interactive activities on how attendees can properly manage and balance a family budget, plan for their kids’ education or their parents’ retirement while ensuring that they still have money left to invest for them to achieve their financial goals.

Some of the topics that will be discussed include the zero-based budget system for households, money lessons for kids, personal finance strategies for married couples, sandwich generation survival tips and many others.

Who can attend the Ready To Be Rich: Family Finances workshop?

While anyone can join the workshop, it is designed for

  • Couples who are finding it hard to budget their income to sustain the needs of their family
  • Breadwinners who are taking care of their parents, or involved in elder care at home
  • Single parents who are finding it hard to achieve work-life balance
  • People who have relatives who depend on them financially
  • Newlyweds who would like to know how to become financially independent from their parents.

 (Do you see yourself in any of the descriptions listed above? I do! 😉 )

This workshop will be held on November 9, 2013 (Saturday) from 10am to 4pm. The venue will be at Studio SnR, 3/F Millenium Plaza Building, Meralco Avenue, Ortigas CBD, Pasig City.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR TRULY RICH MOM READERS! 🙂

Thanks to the awesome team behind this event, we have a special treat for you, my dear readers! 🙂 When you register for the Ready To Be Rich: Family Finances Workshop, just enter the referral code: TrulyRichMom to get P200 off your registration fee! There’s also an Early Bird Rate if you register before November 2 and a special couple rate of P3000. 🙂

To register for the Ready To Be Rich: Family Finances Workshop, just click here. My husband and I might be speaking at a retreat for parents of high school students at a certain school so we might not be able to attend this — still trying to work out our schedule though! 😉

P.S. Don’t forget to type in the special referral code — TrulyRichMom — to get P200 off your registration fee! 🙂 Just click here to register.

 

Truly Rich Recommendations: Helpful Resources for Employers of “Kasambahays” (in connection with the Kasambahay Law)

by

Please forgive me for the term “kasambahays” in this post’s title. I know it’s not proper Filipino. 🙂

Anyway, just in case you’re not Filipino and don’t know what kasambahay means, it’s the term used to refer to household helpers (loosely translated by yours truly).

Many Filipinos hire people to help out with household chores, or to help take care of their kids, etc. Our family is no different (though I wish we could be!) – currently, we have two kasambahays who arrived two weeks ago, to help us out. One of them will be trained to take care of Baby Anne when the time comes for me to report to the office (though it depends on the outcomes of their medical examinations and x-rays, which we are saving up money for! Anne’s needs come first!).

Anyway, because the Kasambahay Law is now in effect, many people have varied reactions to it, and may still be in the dark as to what they need to do.

Screen shot 2013-06-15 at 11.48.48 AM

Screen shot from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/06/04/13/infographic-kasambahay-law

So I thought I’d round up some useful articles/posts, all of which were written by fellow mom bloggers, in the hope that they may be of help to employers or those who wish to employ a kasambahay. 🙂

On MommyGinger.com: Kasambahay Law: Now Implemented — Contains a helpful infographic and links to other resources

On TheLearningMom.org: Are you ready to give these Kasambahay Law-mandated benefits to your household help? — Contains the list of benefits plus a FREE download of a Sample Certificate of Employment and a Sample Employment Contract

On TheLearningMom.org: Why do you need to have a pay slip for your kasambahay? — Contains a free download of Sample Pay Slips for Your Kasambahay 

On The Nanay Notebook: SSS, HDMF, Philhealth, and the Kasambahay Law — Explains in detail how employers can apply for and pay for each kasambahay benefit

On The Nanay Notebook: The SSS Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report : Contains detailed steps on how to register, pay, and report your kasambahay’s SSS contributions, as an SSS employer

On The Nanay Notebook: The Philhealth Household Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report : Contains detailed steps on how to register, pay, and report your kasambahay’s Philhealth contributions, as a Philhealth Household employer

If you find this round-up helpful, please do share this post, or leave a comment. 🙂 I always like hearing from my blog readers! 🙂 

Truly Rich Recommendations {Events}: You Are Your Child’s First and Best Teacher: A Parenting Seminar

by

Y’all know that I’m an advocate of homeschooling, right? When people ask me how long we’ve been homeschooling, I like to answer, “Since birth.” This usually gets a surprised reaction, so then I explain that I believe all parents homeschool their kids even when they’re still itty-bitty babies. After all, who taught our kids to nurse, walk, talk and so on, right?

Which is why I believe that parents are their children’s first and best teachers, just like my dear friend and fellow homeschooling momma Mariel of The Learning Basket. I’m so happy, too, that Mariel and her partner Sanne have made spreading the word about this belief part of their advocacy at The Learning Basket, especially through seminars for parents.

This March 23, Mariel will be speaking at the Medela House about the exact same topic: You Are Your Child’s First and Best Teacher. I’m encouraging all of you to go listen to her — you’ll surely pick up some great tips! Below are the details:

You Are Your Child_s First and Best Teacher March 23

About the talk:

“You Are Your Child’s First and Best Teacher” is for parents of children ages 0 to 3. It’s perfect for first time parents who may not yet be confident in their parenting skills and who want to connect with other parents.  It aims to help parents support their children’s development by exploring the mindset of being the first and best teacher, discussing the basics of child development, and providing examples and ideas of appropriate activities for each developmental level. It would be a good venue to share experiences and connect with other parents.

Sponsors:

Wonderworld will be holding a special raffle for the participants.

Mama Chows will be providing free snacks.

Medela Moms is the venue sponsor.

About the speaker:

Mariel Uyquiengco, is a mother of two “littles”, a Kindermusik educator, children’s books lover, and an advocate of the idea that parents are their children’s first and best teacher.

 “I started The Learning Basket in 2011 to document the magical moments I’ve been having at home with my kids as we homeschool preschool. Encouraged by the response and inquiries from readers, I opened an online bookshop in 2012 together with my longtime friend Sanne Unson. I started giving free parent-education seminars too, to further my cause.

The Learning Basket is more than a blog. Through the books and toys available at the  and by partnering with local establishments in parenting events, I bring my message of intentional and involved parenting.”

How to register:

Registration is P250 but will be waived if parents buy a minimum of P500 worth of books or toys from The Learning Basket’s booth during the event, to encourage participants  to add to their children’s library/educational materials. 🙂 (Note: From personal experience, shopping at is totally addictive, so please be warned! 😉 Teehee!)

To register, please fill in the form here. I’m not sure if I can make it, but I really want to go! Hope you guys can go too! 🙂

Subscribe to my posts

Recognitions


PHILIPPINE HOMESCHOOL CONFERENCE 2017 SPONSORS

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF