Happy Birthday, Jesus!
For most Filipinos, especially Christians, Christmas is a very special celebration. We celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. People tend to go to church and attend the Holy Mass.
My family and I seldom go to attend the Holy Mass, but we go to church on a not-so-crowded day in order to pray. We actually prefer talking to Him directly through our prayers. We are all so thankful for all the blessings we have received, including the trials that we faced. Because of the negative things that has occured, my family and I became stronger. We were able to prove that together, we can go through anything.
And just like any other birthday celebration, we also prepared some special food on our table for "Noche Buena". My mama and papa cooked them. I'm not into cooking, but I love to eat. I'm so lucky to have both parents who are really good at cooking. <3
Basically, I spent my Christmas eve with my lovely Mama
@arashikawaii and Papa 
@jhunalvarado... together with our fourth member, ARASHI (our dog). We ate the food prepared on the table and drank some wine. I don't really drink much, but I love red wine and flavoured beer... and ohh, I only drink at home with family. I actually haven't tried drinking out with friends... (not the partygoer type of person..xD)My Christmas Mission
As metioned in my mom
These gifts are actually categorized. One bag is for the older girls, another is for older boys and the last one are for the kids. The food and goodies inside are the same except for the special gift. For the older girls, we placed a colorful hair clip. As for the older boys, we gave them toy robots. And lastly, we put some bubble maker with toy whistle for the younger children.
This genuine smile makes my heart melt. No matter how simple the gift you gave them, they show their appreciation for it. It makes me really happy to make other people, especially children, happy. These kids on the picture above were the first group of kids I gave gifts years ago. They were much younger that time, and it makes me happy to know that they appreciate my effort on bringing them smile.
Actually, on my birthday last year, these kids unexpectedly gave me a small gift. They just wrapped it with paper and masking tape. Inside, there was a small pouch of potato chip, a candy and a chocolate. I actually teared up when I received it. I mean, who would expect that these kids would be so thoughtful? I hope it's a domino effect. I hope that someday, they'll also be generous to people around them when they grow up!
They're a bit busy playing with their robots... hihihi... It's so cute! Their "thank you(s)" are more than enough to make me smile. Seeing them appreciate and enjoy the stuff we gave them made us feel fulfilled and happy. These group of boys are really close to my papa. My papa used to be a policeman and has a good reputation, so a lot of these boys look up to him. <3
More and more kids are coming! My mom was distributing the gifts. It's not every day that we are given a chance to make children happy. However, taking up this mission for the past few years, made me bring joy to the children in my neighborhood.
Some of the older kids 3 to 4 years ago are now high school students. They don't fall in line in our house on Christmas anymore, but the smile on their faces when they see the new generation of kids in our place is still there. They're now old enough to bring joy to smaller children by creating fun games and play musical instruments for the children to sing along.
I don't have a perfect relationship in the neighborhood (since I barely go out... I don't know everyone's name lol), but the kids know me. I am their "ATE" (older sister) and being called that is already a blessing for me.
I'll end this post with this quote:
IMAGE SOURCE
Thank you so much for dropping by!
Love lots,
@tegoshei