Little jelly bean of a yellow car

That's what my friend called my car last week! A little jelly bean of a car! She's not far off... we've had a lot of yellow around these parts .

Can't you just hear AK giggling when you look at this picture? I had a little monkey jumping on my bed one morning last week.
How fitting that I was trying to take this picture on Thanksgiving and this little turkey wouldn't let me get a good photo of her?
Sorry this picture is sideways, I've uploaded it twice but I can't seem to fix it. Here's some yellow schoolwork to fit in with the theme!

AK had a great time at ballet yesterday. She has one more class for the term next weekend. I asked if she wanted to keep taking it and she responded with a very enthusiastic "YES!". Once I dropped her off, I had a very busy day. I went to Funky Monkey to use a gift certificate and managed to walk out with three (!) new dresses (Merry Christmas to me!), then I did a bit of grocery and Christmas shopping before I hit up a yoga class. I then joined Julie and Jess at the Pink Ladies' craft bazaar. It wasn't what I was expecting but I still came home with a new book (25 cents!) and a Christmas runner for the table. Julie and Jess came by to help me make perogies - we got 6 dozen pumped out in an hour.

I hopped into one of my new dresses and headed out for the Bliss Christmas party. It was great, once again, to socialize with some fellow yogis off the mat. It was nice to connect with some people from the Honduras trip, and I also met a lot of new people too. I don't think you can find a nice group of people than those who do yoga together! Some of us headed to a new restaurant afterwards for drinks and appies. Karoo is a tapas bar that just opened at Camana Bay. They still have some kinks to work out... service was slow and spotty but we had a nice time hanging out.

Today has been low-key mixed with bursts of high energy. I had a few things to get into place to prepare for my busy week ahead of me. The captive conference starts on Tuesday but even over the weekend, I've been working on preparations and last-minute changes. My days are pretty much full and completely scheduled, so I went so far as to lay out all the outfits I need for the next week - day and evening. I don't to spend any time putting anything together! I was running low on energy as I'm feeling a bit under the weather (great time to get sick) but I managed to pull it together and even got the Christmas tree up and decorated. I'm looking forward to showing it to AK tomorrow night.

Happy Football Day to my Canadian readers! I have no idea how the game is going and I'm not sure I care much either... sorry! Okay, I just went to check and it looks like the Bombers need to pull their socks up...

Honduras - White Water Rafting

While I sit here, sniffling and with a sore throat, what better way to feel better than to think back to my time in Honduras?

I don't have many pictures from the white water rafting day but I'll tell the story in words instead. The morning started off with a good breakfast of huevos rancheros, fried eggs served with corn tortillas and a tomato-chili sauce. The meat eaters got a side of sausage and the vegetarians got a side of avocado. All the juices (orange, grapefruit and guava) were freshly squeezed. My favorite was the grapefruit - not too sweet and not too tart, very refreshing.

Karen and I were feeling quite nervous about the rafting at this point. I was nervous as I'd never done it before and Karen was nervous just because :) we met our group for a gentle meditative yoga practice. We did some partner work to help stretch us out and to connect with each other. This practice was exactly what I needed to calm my nerves. I was feeling pretty confident and peaceful until we had the safety briefing. ha! Then I was nervous all over again... the guides do have to go through all the worst-case scenarios, some of which I hadn't even thought of, so it brought back a bit of a sense of worry to me. We walked down to the river and spent some time with our guide practicing commands and maneuvers.

Martin sat in front of me - I watched him and followed his movements. Monkey see, monkey do! I managed quite well without my hearing aids, between the little I could hear from the guide, and the visual cues from those around me.

Sharon and I ready to go!

Karen and I don't look nervous at all, do we?

The girls with our wonderful guide

We went a little ways down the river and pulled off to the side to walk ahead a bit and check out one of the rapids. It was a Class Four rapid that day (Class Five is the highest) and we had the choice to opt out of this particular rapid if we wanted to. I decided to go for it... if I was going to raft, I wanted to do it right! Sharon, Martin and I paddled for our lives and then we sat down low in the raft. We did well! Luckily we were the first boat to go, as the third boat flipped over and its occupants went floating down the river. If I had seen that, I'm not so sure I would have had the courage to go! The photo below is my raft after it went through the rapid.

The rest of the trip was a lot of fun. We had stretches where we paddled like crazy, others where we could just float along and relax. It was really neat to see how the guide would tell us to paddle, and how the raft would respond just as he wanted. These guys know the currents well! We stopped a couple of times to climb boulders, and could jump off of them if you wished (I didn't).

Our guide also stopped at one point and found a plant that you can use as s soap to wash your hands. I'm sure he also shared a lot of other interesting information but as I didn't have my hearing aids in, I was able to just soak in the atmosphere. We got splashed a lot by the water and once I got over the initial shock of the colder temperature of the water, I found it quite refreshing as the water was fresh and not salty. I loved looking at the path of the water, and the boulders that were on either side of the river and in our paths, I loved breathing in the fresh air. It was a cloudy misty day and I loved the feeling of the rain on my face, as we don't have rain like that in Cayman.

I really enjoyed the rafting and quite wish now that I hadn't spent so much time worrying about it! It was a lot of fun and as I love the water, it really suited me.

We had a quick lunch of pasta then headed back to our rooms for a rest. Mid-afternoon, we met for a yoga practice, which I'll describe more in another post as I have enough yoga pictures to justify a post of its own. After the practice, we met for drinks and then had supper together.

AK-isms

Just got word today that my friend Nancy is coming for a visit! In a week and a half!!

I asked AK if she was happy that Nancy was coming.
AK: Yes, I like Nancy!
A few seconds later... AK: I don't know that Nancy.
Me: Well, you did meet her once before, when you were one year old, when you were a little girl.
AK: Oh, when I was a little girl, not like a big girl like I am today!

Looking through AK's schoolwork, there is a worksheet about friends. I asked AK who her friends were, she said "Matthew, Hunter, Molly, I love my friends!". Later I asked her who her best friend was and she pointed to me :)

Went outside to play with bubbles. AK unscrewed the top of the bottle but it had a seal on it.
AK: Mommy, you need to take this off!
Me: Okay (taking it off)
AK: I don't want this wand (referring to the one in the bottle)
Me: Okay (taking it out)
AK: I want this in here (referring to another little dish)
Me: Okay, go ahead and pour it in, just be careful.
AK: (pouring very carefully, and very well!, brings the rest back to me) Okay Mommy, you put this away and we'll use it later. Put the lid back on it.

What a smart kid!

We walked down the pool and AK took her pants and got in the water in her shirt and underwear. There are several steps so there's quite a lot of room for her to move around on her own. For some reason, I have not yet realized that "let's put our feet in the water" = "AK will swim around in her clothing". One of these days, I'll tune in and get her bathing suit on. She spent about ten minutes moving around in the water, singing her Christmas concert song, both in English and Spanish, I think? She said it was, and the tune sounded right, but I have no idea if the words were right or not.

We stopped by Hunter's house to pick something up and AK and Hunter played together for a bit. When I told AK that it was time to say goodbye, Hunter said "I want AK to stay here with me, she is my friend, she is my girl and she needs to stay with me!". AK left without a fuss but commented on the way to the car that "Hunter wanted me to stay here with him!". Do I need to start fighting off the boys already?

I didn't blog yesterday as it was oneofthosedays. Hoo boy. So glad that one is over and today has been much better. Pretty much no whining and crying at all!

I'm starting to think this running thing is for the birds. My knee is totally fine but now my foot is bothering me. Boo. Didn't start until today, and I ran yesterday. Who knows what the problem is!

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends... we had turkey lunches brought in at work today which was a nice treat. Email was blissfully silent as all my American clients were busy eating turkey and watching football. That is the life!

Just pulled out some Christmas decorations and got those up. The tree will happen this weekend. Some cards are underway and I need to get on the picture printing!!! xo

Tuesday Shenanigans

First I'd like to backtrack to some photos of Saturday's morning out... "reading" a book at Books and Books... (she wore her Ukrainian vinok all morning!!! What an accessory queen)

AK wants her picture taken with a Christmas tree every time she sees one now! She especially loved this white one with purple decorations!

AK got silly with some chopsticks this morning... I told her she looked like a walrus!

We headed out to Camana Bay tonight for the Christmas Tree Lighting. On the way there, we had this conversation:
AK: Mommy, I'm going to close my eyes!
Me: Are you going to rest your eyes? That's what Baba does.
AK: Yes, I'm resting my eyes. (a minute later) I miss Baba.
Me: Want to talk to Baba?
AK: Yes! Right now!
So I passed the phone back and she had a nice conversation with Baba! I think Baba did most of the talking and AK did the listening but it was really sweet that she asked for Baba like that.

We had a little picnic at Camana Bay before the concert started. We listened to some carols, bought a cupcake for AK (why bother with cake, all she wants is the icing!), caught a glimpse of Santa from afar, and saw the tree lit up. AK looked in awe at all the decorations, she especially loves the lights. On the way back to the parkade, we stopped so AK could frolic in this neat fountain.


We got home and AK got straight into her PJs. When I tucked her in, I asked what her favorite part of tonight had been. She said "Santa" and so I asked if she'd sit on Santa's knee this year (remember she's been so afraid of him for the past two years that she won't go anywhere near him?). Here's the rest of the conversation:
AK: Yes, I'll sit on Santa's knee.
Me: And you'll tell him that you've been a good girl?
AK: Yes, I will!
Me: And you'll tell him what you want?
AK: Yes, I will!
Me: What will you ask him for?
AK: A treat!
Me: What kind of treat?
AK: A lollipop!
Me: A big one or a little one?
AK: A little one!
Me: What color?
AK: Pink and purple!

Looks like my "Santa" shopping will be pretty easy this year!!!

AK is constantly complimenting me. She likes my shoes, and my necklace, and my hair, and my shirt, and this and that. It is really sweet.

AK asked me to lay down with her "for a little bit" when I tucked her in tonight. I don't normally encourage it but decided to do so tonight. After about 30 seconds, she rolled over, looked at me, and said "You can go away now, Mommy". Ha!

I had a nice yoga session today that stretched everything out after yesterday's long run. I hadn't been for a week so it was nice to get my mind back in the right place too. I noticed I've been a bit impatient and snappy the past few days, it is amazing how much I rely on yoga to keep me on an even keel and in a good place. Gotta do more of it! xo

Time's flying!

AK and I had a really fun weekend together. Friday night, Ben picked her up from school as I volunteered at the church's Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner went really well and the food was delicious. It wasn't your typical Thanksgiving fare, we had rice and beans, jerk chicken alfredo, cayman-style fish, chicken curry, green salad and coleslaw. I got to bring some of the leftovers home and that made a couple of good meals for me.

Saturday morning, AK climbed into bed with me to wake me up, all made up already. She's gotten into the habit of putting her face on before she comes to get me. What a girly girl! We had a fantastic morning of running errands. We went into Kirk's Home to get a measuring cup and came out with $25 worth of Christmas decorations. It's totally worth it though, to see the look of joy on AK's face. She is also enjoying the toy displays that seem to be everywhere. "Mommy, I want this and I want that, and you can get me this for Christmas and...". Yikes! I need to find a toy drive of some sort that we can donate to so that AK can get a sense of how lucky she is. It's never too early to start.

We headed over to Camana Bay and met up with Cindy, Molly and Jake for a bit too. The kids had fun climbing the rocks and jumping off of them, and looking at the Christmas tree that will be lit up tomorrow night! AK did not want to leave Camana Bay as she did not want to go home to nap. I managed to appease her by promising that we could go to the grocery store first. Cindy was amazed that AK wanted to go grocery shopping!

AK and I picked up Ben and Hunter that evening and met Cindy and her kids at my work to watch fireworks. My work has a balcony on the fifth floor that is the perfect location for catching all the excitement without having to battle the crowds. We were treated to an amazing display of fireworks that must have gone on for at least 10 mins. AK covered her ears the whole time as she didn't enjoy the noise at all. She even turned her face away for a while as she'd had enough. She commented afterwards that the fireworks were "beautiful" and that they looked like "'Christmas lights in the sky". She and Hunter also enjoyed seeing Christmas lights on the way home.

Angella came over to babysit that night as the Babbs and I were attending a very important housewarming party at the Huys! You had to dress up as a rock star for the night... I grudgingly pulled together an outfit to emulate Cher, Jess went all out as Gwen Stefani and Ben pulled out a rather convincing Willie Nelson. The party was a lot of fun, us girls danced and sang our hearts out.

Sunday morning came early but thankfully for me, AK was still at Babbs! I got a pass as I drove Angella home so they agreed to keep AK and I could take my time getting up in the morning. I picked up both kids and we headed off to church. Sounds like the kids had a great time in their daycare class. After church, AK and I met Mo, Bryan and baby James for lunch. It was so good to catch up and AK had a few gentle touches for Baby James.

We headed home for well-anticipated and needed naps and rest time... I pulled together a few things for supper as we had a new friend from Honduras over that night. It was a relaxing evening of food, wine and visiting, and AK turned her charm on for our new friend.

And of course AK slept in this morning. Why does she sleep later on Mondays than she does all weekend??? It was nice to not have to rush out the door this morning and we took our time. Chapel was nearly over by the time AK got to school!

I am really excited about what I did after work. I went for a long run, somewhere between 5.2 and 5.5 miles, I'll have to chart it out tomorrow to know for sure. Took about 1:05, but I managed to run 4 mins, walk 1 min the entire way through. I am confident that I can do my part of the relay now, it won't be fast, it won't be pretty but I'll do it! Woohoo!

It is now past my bedtime, time to get a move on and set my head down on the pillow. Hope you all are well... I'll try to get more Honduras stuff up sooner rather than later. xo

Honduras - Hot Springs

Karen and I spent the first afternoon in Honduras at the hot springs. It was beautiful, very natural and not "commercialized" at all. I went to hot springs in Costa Rica and was expecting somewhat the same in Honduras - it wasn't at all, and I'm so glad for that.

From near the top, looking out - almost an infinity pool sort of feeling

Beautiful profile picture of Karen

This was a unique spot in the springs - cold water came from the left and hot water from the right, where Martin is. The hot water was so close to the source that you couldn't comfortably put your hand in it for long. It was also really neat here to feel the cold and hot waters swirling together. If we'd climbed a little bit higher, we would have been able to see where the hot water springs started, and the water is so hot there that it bubbles. Alas, we were too lazy and relaxed at that point!

Large frond

Looking down from the top

My beauty treatment drying!

This Honduran lady mixed up red clay with water and made a mud mask treatment. It was quite orange and washed off quite nicely, leaving my skin feeling very smooth and soft. Bonus! See that plate of fruit off to the right? We got to snack on fresh pineapple, watermelon and I think guava? Amazing.

The pool where we spent most of our time

Looking down

My fellow hot springers - Karen, Sharon and Martin. This was the start of a good friendship - we all ended up in a raft together the next day!

Martin in his beauty treatment, pretending to be Tarzan...

The rest of the group joined us after they were done their zip-lining tour. When we were at the top, we could see a couple of the ziplines above us, and we saw a few people zip by. As I'd already done zip lines in Costa Rica, I didn't feel like I had to do them again, plus I was more interested in relaxing in the hot springs.

The best part of the trip

Obviously the best part was all the great times spent with Karen.

Soaking in the hot springs...

Posing before our last practice

Celebrating our white water rafting survival with champagne!!!

Out for dinner the first night

Getting ready to hit the river!

Deep in discussion during the waterfall hike

I still can't believe Karen's come and gone. Couldn't have asked for a better roommate and travel companion. We've decided that our next trip will involve shopping, pedicures, wine and food... no "adventure" :) we both faced a lot of fears on this trip and we both we're good for a while now! xo

Savasana

This is my favorite picture from the retreat so far... some of us are in a resting pose "savasana". I love how we are in a circle - of friendship, of life, of love. This is where we had three of our yoga practices, on a beautiful open-air platform, with the rainforest right there, and the sound of the Rio Canjegral in the background. One afternoon, it poured rain while we practiced. We were covered, but the sound and feel of the rain in the air was amazing.


Namaste!

I'm home!!!

Exhausted and sore but happy.

I am so excited to share the stories of this weekend with you... but first I need to do some laundry and get some sleep. I will also collect some photos from friends so that I can properly document the stories I'll share.

Until then... take care. xo

Life is good!

In fact, life is GREAT!

AK is full of cute little one-liners these days:

• Mommy, I like your running shoes!
• Milk and water make me healthy!
• But I LIKE whining (when I asked WHY she was whining so much one day)
• Dora soup! With Boots! And Backpack! And Map!

We did a video chat with my brother and his boys, and my parents yesterday. AK was very shy for most of it but did brighten up near the end to show off some ballet moves. She was SO upset when she turned around with "one more thing" to show Grandma and Grandpa, and saw that the call was already disconnected :( We got to hear some great piano-playing from Rylan and Cade, and yellow-belt karate moves from Cade! WOW! Amazing, the things these kids do! Oh, and how could I forget the "Happy Birthday" serenading???

Jenni talked me into arranging a "not a birthday" dinner at the Doghouse tonight. It is always fun to get the kids together to play - why not throw a cake into the mix? I loved having AK on my lap singing Happy Birthday to me.

But the best part of the night was seeing Karen : Yes, Karen who moved away to Calgary this summer. She decided to surprise me and flew down to join me on my (our!) trip to Honduras tomorrow!!! I am SO impressed with the girls who kept it secret from me...! I am so excited about this trip anyway, but to have Karen along just makes it that much better. Shoot. I'm still so surprised. I was crying and Karen was shaking!!

Now for my birthday news - yes, I'm off to Honduras in the morning! I am going on a yoga adventure trip called "Embrace Your Fear". Fitting name considering we are going white water rafting. We'll be flying into La Ceiba and spending our time on the Rio (river) Cangrejal and in the Pico Bonito National Park. The park ranges from humid tropical rainforest to high cloud forests, and is the best place in Honduras to see endangered wildlife and spectacular waterfalls. Our yoga practices will encompass meditation, pranayama, vinyasa, alignment, partner and restorative yoga. Our adventures will be white water rafting, swimming and hiking. Our relaxation will be hammock-time, hot springs, Thai massage and enjoying each other's company.

It promises to be an absolutely amazing weekend. I can't wait for this opportunity to fully spoil myself. I can't wait to tell you all about it when I return. But first I've got to finish packing!!!

Life is great. I am truly blessed. Here's to 34... a wonderful year to come. xo

Lots and lots and lots of news!

Man, we've been busy! And I'm exhausted!

We had Hunter over for a sleepover on Friday. I think I got less sleep that night than I did when AK was a newborn!!! LOL! I was so tired that when I made myself a cup of coffee, I forgot to put a cup under the dispenser. Thank goodness the coffee machine has a reservoir that caught the coffee for me as that would have been some mess! I'm happy we had Hunter over though, it was good for him, and we enjoyed the company! It was very hectic but lots of fun. Hunter went to play with Molly and Jake while I took AK to ballet, and then we all went for a swim after. Cindy and I were saying that it feels like forever since we've been swimming with the kids... the weather was the pits for so long.

As both kids had been up so much during the night, they both went down for a nap like nobody's business. I had an hour and a half of peace... got things tidied up a bit and then parked my butt on the couch to relax. Ahhh... quiet!

One of the reasons why AK was up (rather I got her up) is that she's decided she doesn't need to wear a diaper at night anymore. As she hasn't really grasped the concept of waking up to go pee, I've now been trained rather nicely to bolt out of bed in the middle of the night to put her on the toilet and hope that she's not wet her bed yet. We've had much success since Friday, only one accident which happened early in the evening, so that's great news. But like I said, I feel like I've been trained and not AK... she just doesn't wake to pee so she's not made that connection yet. I think she needs a little time yet but until she does, I guess I'll have broken sleep and a sleepy little girl on the toilet!

Anyway... I left Hunter and AK with Jess and Ben for a swim date while I went for a run! The run was a nice easy one, the first in a week and a half and it was awesome! All the work the physiotherapist has done has worked wonders, and running with a friend really made the time fly. I am so glad I went to get help when the pain first started rather than trying to work through it as we all know how well that works, right?

Sunday morning dawned bright and early (or so I thought) as the clock said 540am when AK crawled into bed with me. Little did I know that the clock had thoughtfully fallen back during the night even though the time doesn't change here. Took me about an hour and a cup of coffee to figure that out, as the clock on my blackberry changed too!

Sunday morning we had to vacate so that the cleaning lady could do her thing without us underfoot. We headed over to the Brickhouse for a nice Sunday breakfast. AK had a great breakfast of fruit and toast. Aunty Connie would be proud of AK's talent with an orange :) I'm pretty sure I learned this from her!

We headed off to church and AK went into her childcare room without a peep. She was pretty excited to put her church dress and her cross necklace on. She knows the routine! AK then went to hang out with the Huys while I went to a baby shower. Kevin and Jenni took AK swimming... I'm thinking she might be waterlogged by now... but it sounds like she and Matthew had a great time playing together. She ate well there, Jenni told me she ate some peppers, which she had never eaten for me before!

AK's definitely pushing back her bedtime lately too... I think she is nearly ready to give up her nap... I'm not sure I'm ready though! I've hit upon a quasi-solution though - I still get her to bed at 8pm but she can "read" books until 830pm. She quite likes that, I think she feels like a big girl!

And of course Murphy's Law would dictate that AK's latest wake-up time all weekend would be yesterday morning when I had somewhere to be at 8am... I ended up waking her around 715am so we could get out the door on time. Even today we didn't have a lot of time to waste before we were on our way out the door.

Yesterday, I taught my first Junior Achievement class... man, those 9th graders are tough nuts to crack! The teacher said I managed them well, and he stepped in when necessary to help me get things back on track or explain the assignments. I was nervous but I think it can only get better from here! Next week is a week off due to the holiday Monday but I will be ready to face these kids again in two weeks' time!

Lots of giggles and stories from AK these days. She has SO much to say and I just can't wrap my head around all that she understands and talks about. It's amazing. She'll stop in the middle of doing something, screw her eyes closed, and spontaneously pray, thanking God for everything. It is cute the things she thanks Him for sometimes! It's really sweet to see it.

Gotta run... work's calling! xo

Bouncy Birthday!

AK and I went to a birthday party last weekend and AK had a bouncing good time!!! Literally... there was a bouncy castle there and AK spent over half of her time in there. She was largely by herself but quite content that way. When the other kids came in, she either joined in with them, or hid in the corner and watched them. Either way, she just wanted to bounce!

Bouncing competition with Isabella, Molly and AK

I love this pic of AK - she looks like she's just levitated right up!

That's some serious air!

Smiles from the corner!

Happy and full of energy!

I even got a short video of the bouncing.

Say "cheese"!

I love all of these school pics!!!

The Five Senses

One of the focuses at daycare lately has been "the five senses". Here's a peek at some of the work that AK has brought home recently!

First we have some lovely faces that show the senses.

AK put together a book showcasing the five senses. I see a creek.

I touch a table. I taste pumpkin pie.

I hear on an ipod. I smell flowers.

Now let AK tell you about the Five Senses in her own words!