Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. We put cookies out for Santa...

AK insisting "I'm not tired, Mommy"

We headed off to church with the Huys and the Yacyshyns. AK didn't nap in the afternoon so, surprise, she conked out in the car on the way to church. She got about 20 mins of shut-eye before the Huys piled into my little clown car and woke her up. AK and Matthew were FABULOUS in church... but I must say it took a lot of energy to keep them occupied during a 2-hour service! We headed back to the Huys after church for some snacks and visiting. It was a great night. AK and Matthew each got to open one gift from Karen and they got their Christmas PJs on. We didn't leave until 10pm and then Babbs asked us to stop by, so we visited with them for a bit. They sure spoiled both of us - that was a huge surprise for me!!!

Seeing we didn't get home until 11pm, it was easy peasy to transfer AK from the car to the bed. Santa waited a few minutes to make sure AK was fully asleep before getting down to work!!!

Santa finished up just before midnight and was in dreamland shortly after.

Sorry for the absolute storm of posts tonight, I finally had AK in bed at a decent time tonight and some time to myself! Tomorrow I'll start up again with Christmas morning! xo

Christmas Eve boating

Everybody, at one point in their lives, needs to spend one Christmas Eve on the water. I kid you not. It's amazing.

AK and I packed up our boating stuff and headed out with the Huys and the Forsyths (including Grandma and Grandpa). At Rum Point, we met up with the Brosnihans, Yacyshyns and Babbs. Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day and we all enjoyed being out on the water and on the beach.

Don't think the view could get much better from where I stood...

Pure joy, is she not?

Diva!

Drinking a (virgin) daquiri!

We had lunch at Rum Point and headed back to Britannia. All the kids jumped into the pool and we all hung out for another couple of hours. Forget about napping that day! xo

Making cookies for Santa!

Last Friday, AK and I actually stayed in. Can you imagine - two social butterflies in on a Friday night? We needed a quiet night, plus we had something important to do... bake cookies for Santa!

AK was a very good helper. Doesn't she look like a deer caught in the headlights here?

Carefully cutting out the shapes

Showing her joy at making cookies! Or perhaps she's eating the sprinkles...

Carefully decorating

More decorating

Christmas videos

Please see our JibJab card here :)

Video from Santa #1 here

Video from Santa #2 here

Lights Delight!

After supper today, AK and I met up with Jenni and her family at the Bodden house in South Sound to look at the Christmas lights!

Posing with the big guy himself

Christmas scene

My favorite tree!

Check it out in all its glory!

This was a time-out for Matthew. AK joined him and they said "cheese". Some time-out!

AK and I also headed out to the Crighton house in Prospect to check out the lights there too. AK was particularly taken with the train set there. We were out looking at lights for over an hour and a half!

A few other stories:

• AK and I were singing carols in the car the other day, I think "Mary's Boy Child" which starts off "Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day". AK paused and said "but Mommy, Jesus is grown up now!".
• AK is very much enjoying her Advent calendar. Every day she looks for the right number and we open it up. It's a paper calendar that just opens up to a picture behind the door, no candy, but that's better for her teeth anyway!
• Nancy gave AK a beautiful Christmas book and AK especially loves the Nutcracker story. We read "The 12 days of Christmas" tonight though.
  
• Poor AK is confused as Santa already came to Daddy's house on the weekend... she can't understand why she can't open her gifts at my house yet. I have to remind her several times a day that Santa hasn't come to Mommy's house yet.

1.5 more days of work... can't wait for a few days off... I've got some running around to do at lunch tomorrow (making the last payment on my car - it will be great to have that paid off! and dropping off some goodies with some favorite people). Oh, and I have to mail my Christmas cards. Sorry... they'll be VERY late this year. I've found it so hard to make it to the post office this week so far.

Time for me to hit the hay... visions of sugarplums tonight, perhaps? xo

Santa Success!

WE GOT PICTURES!!!

And yes, I mean the royal "we". As in, I'm in the pictures too!!!




AK was pretty shy about seeing Santa but at least she wasn't bawling and trying to run away while we were standing in line. I asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap, talk to him, give him a high five... got nothing but vehement head shakes NO to all my questions. Then Jess was smart enough to mention that Santa had candy canes... THEN she was willing to go up to Santa, but only if she was attached to me.

I'll take it! She posed nicely for the pictures and even said "Merry Christmas" to Santa when we were done! On our way out of Camana Bay, we even got snowed on... can you believe it... that definitely put me in the Christmas mood.

It is well with my soul... Christmas is coming, I have my little girl with me, what more could I want? Love and happiness to everyone tonight xo

Checkup thumbsup!

AK and I visited with Dr. MacIntyre today.

Dr. Mac and AK really enjoy visiting with each other. AK giggles and smiles and listens to Dr. Mac very well. She thinks it's pretty funny that Dr. Mac seems to tickle her as she pokes and prods. AK is now 29lbs and exactly 3 feet tall. Dr. Mac suggested a couple more creams to try as AK still gets the odd dry spot or itchy rash.

Dr. Mac was taken enough with AK that she offered her a mini Christmas cracker on the way out! I don't think she does that with every kid... they were hidden way back in her desk drawer. AK and I brought it home and she put it under the tree.

This kid has a sharp eye. She noticed my new Christmas dish towels hanging on the oven rack and asked "why do you have new towels, Mommy?" and when I told her that I'd just gotten them on the weekend, she wanted to know "why now, Mommy?".

She noticed the presents under the tree (although that's not really too observant on her part, that's just part of Christmas) and wanted to start opening them now. She seemed to understand when I told her that Santa hadn't come to Mommy's house yet.

And I must sign off on that note as I have one big gift to start assembling... must not wait until Christmas Eve to do so! xo

A Tale of Two Birthdays

A few weeks back, AK had the honor of attending not one, but two, birthday parties for her classmates one day!

Cupcake!

The birthday boy Lachlan

Giggling on the couch with Marley

Party #2 - Chloe, AK and Zinzie

Fighting over the dolphin

What a busy day that was. Thankfully there was booze at both parties for me :P

Peace on Earth

Now that the conference is over, and Nancy has come and gone, it's finally time to really get into the Christmas spirit. Here's what's been going on...

1. AK's Christmas concert - I know I posted a video but I will find some time to post pictures as well. I still smile when I think of all the love and joy in the church that night. AK is blessed to attend Wee Care.

2. USA Risk Christmas party - we took a water taxi to Kaibo and had a wonderful dinner on the beach in the light of the full moon. Secret Santa gifts were thoughtful and funny, as always. Seeing we were at Kaibo, with just four other people on the beach with us, we let our hair down and danced up a storm. There were lots of drinks consumed that night... and I'm sure more than one sore head the next day! The night was also a beautiful one, the water was calm and it felt great to be on the boat with the wind running through my hair, and all I had to do was look up to see the beautiful full moon in the clear sky.

3. Parade of Lights - Camana Bay holds an event every year where boats are decorated with lights and then they parade by... this is the first time I've made it for the event and it was a lot of fun. There were a LOT of people at Camana Bay, and we managed to find a quieter spot at the very end of the dock to enjoy the Parade and the fireworks! Nancy took loads of photos so I will share some of the best ones. The best part of the night, for me, was watching the fireworks, seeing the palm trees illuminated by them, and the full moon in the midst of it all. What a beautiful night to be out.

4. Festival of Christmas Praise - First Baptist's choir held a Christmas concert celebrating "Emmanuel... God with us!". WOW. I knew what to expect as I had attended this concert last year, but they blew me away again. This choir is talented, and 2.5 hours flew by.

5. Christmas cards are arriving in the mail! Guess I'd better get mine out! Ha. They may reach you in time for Ukrainian Christmas. It was fun to go and get the cards made up yesterday, and to print other photos to send to family members.

6. Grocery shopping for charity... this has been such a humbling experience. Jenni and I went for lunch the other day and we were talking about the different Christmas things we wanted to do with the kiddies. One of us mentioned wanting to do a charity gift buy for a child in need, and it so happened that we could pop into the Discovery Center at Camana Bay to check out the charity drives. We both left with a bag to fill with groceries, and two wishes for gifts. We both struggled while we were at the Discovery Center, with the realization that so many children (and adults too) are in need at this time of the year, and year-round. Thankfully Jenni confessed that she was feeling emotional so I was able to confess I was near tears... I did my grocery shopping last night, using the list of recommended foods, and found the whole experience very profound and emotional. I worry sometimes about making ends meet for myself, but I am happy to let some of my extravagances go right now in order to serve someone else. This isn't saying much as I have such a small car, but right now my trunk is packed full of groceries to be dropped off at the Discovery Center. I filled the bag I was given, and bought three more to hold all the groceries. AK and I will go shopping on Friday after school for the two gifts for the girls... I picked a 4-month old baby and a 2.5-year old girl for us to buy for. I have ideas in mind, and I know AK may be too young to really understand but I hope she enjoys the experience as well.

7. Other Christmas activities - Jenni is doing a 12 days of Christmas with her family leading up to the big day. Unfortunately, I don't have AK for all those 12 days but I have taken Jenni's lead and am planning some fun things for next week. We will go see the Christmas lights, see a movie at Camana Bay, maybe make some cookies, go to church with the Huys on Christmas Eve... we have all sorts of great stuff on the list :) I am so grateful that I did the bulk of gift shopping earlier this year, and that within my group of friends, we did a draw for the kids' gifts, so that has really simplified things, giving us time to really enjoy the meaning of the season.

My plan is to buy all my ingredients for baking on Saturday and spend Sunday in the kitchen. Wish me luck! xo

Christmas concert - VIDEO!

Check out AK singing with her classmates...

Poor muffin was so tired, it was overwhelming for her. Don't worry, she got lots of cuddles from a teacher afterwards.

Hunter's class sang Gospel Bells, and they did really well too! I am in awe of all the preparations that the teachers did with the children, and how hard they've all worked to get ready for the concert. AK is so blessed to attend such a school with such a warm, loving atmosphere.

Pictures will come another day, I took some but they are not very good, Nancy's are better and I just have to transfer them over to my computer first so I can use them. xo

Honduras - Waterfall hike

Time for some more Honduras stories!

Sunday was our waterfall hike day. It turned out to be not at all what I was expecting. But you know what? That's okay. It ended up being a really incredible day in a lot of ways.

The first obstacle started out with the river... beautiful, fresh, hydrating water... it had rained so much the day/night before that the river was about 20 cms higher than anticipated and was rushing quite quickly as well... instead of walking across a knee-high river as anticipated, we had to swim like hell to get to the other side. That was scary, and I don't think I've ever swam harder in my life before. There was a boulder in the river that was a guideline - if you drifted past that boulder, you would be thrown a rope to ensure you didn't get swept away. All I could think about was "I am NOT going past that rock".

Once we crossed the river, we did a wonderfully calming meditative practice. I didn't have my hearing aids, they were in a dry bag somewhere, having made the trip across the river with a guide rather than with me!, but I was still able to hear enough of what Danielle and Chantelle were saying and I found my heart rate slowing quickly and my sense of peace returning. We set out on the hike, and the first 20 mins were blissful for me... we were to walk in silence and just take in the sounds of the forest and ourselves... so wonderful. Gone was the pressure of having to make conversation with those around me, the pressure of trying to take in all that was around me while devoting energy to listening... I think we all caught ourselves once in a while, about to say something before realizing that we were not supposed to be talking! At one point, everyone ahead of me started stamping their feet, so I did the same, having no idea why... I figured there must have been some kind of ant or something that was biting everyone. I was right... but of course no one could tell me that!


Here we stopped at the first little waterfall. Many people went into the water and swam. I was fine to just hang out and enjoy the scenery. If this looks impressive, just wait... the real deal was pretty awesome!


Unfortunately I made the mistake of looking downwards at this point, and this is where I have my first thought of "what on earth am I doing here?" The boulder I was standing on was quite slippery from the waterfall mist and had my feet slipped... well, I don't want to think about that. Beautiful, but do we ever have to respect nature.


I asked our (75 year old!!) guide what made the rock red... he responded that that was its natural color! I expected it to be a moss or fungus.

Looks like serious climbing hey? I'm the one in the green shirt. Let me tell you, this was tame compared to what came next...

200 year tree. Strength...

Now we're getting closer to the real deal! This is where it started to get a bit scarier again... the mist from the waterfall made the rocks slippery, and it was nothing but rock at this point. I had so many good people helping me find my foot- and hand-holds... so much was given to me without me asking or any reciprocation necessary... truly humbling for me. I reached into reserves of mental and physical power that I didn't know I had... accepted help when I needed it... came out feeling stronger than I ever have in my life.


And THIS is what we went through all that to see. Isn't it amazing? At this point, I got some good footholds, leaned back against a boulder, and just took it all in. The feel of the spray against my face, the boulder on my back, the rocks under my feet... I opened up to the love and hope in my heart and the peace in my mind.


The rest of the hike took maybe another hour or so, and we stopped for lunch on the way. We had cheese and vegetable sandwiches, plantain chips and watermelon. The guides were seriously amazing - they carried everything we had for lunch with them. They did this despite having to stop and help us on difficult rocks, giving us a hand up or a leg to stand on if necessary. I remember one particularly difficult boulder where I must have had one guide pulling me and the other two pushing me up and Danielle looking down at me telling me to "breathe, Paula!".

The true essence of this group of people really came out on this hike. I think we all came together in a perfect system of giving and receiving help. Let me tell you, I was certainly on the receiving end! Seeing how some of us started the weekend as strangers, we came out with a bond that only Honduras can give!

A gold medal weekend!

Well, AK and I have had a fantastic weekend!

AK's last ballet class for the term was yesterday. At the end of the class, during which she pranced around beautifully, she was presented with a medal! Yay for Annabelle!

And today I got a medal of my own - my team finished the marathon relay in 4:31:46. Unfortunately I contributed 1:24:24 of that, but what can I say... I finished!

The USA Risk guy's team came in at 4:12. Well done for them!!! I was hoping to beat them but alas it was not meant to be!

Somehow I managed to pinky swear that I'd sign up and train properly for the half marathon next year. Better start training next week!

Life has been so busy lately, not much time to update, but we are doing so well and having so much fun. We have company arriving today for a week - my friend Nancy - I am so excited to see her! Her plane is a bit delayed, which actually really works in my favor as I think AK will have a proper nap before we head off to the airport to pick her up.

We have some exciting stuff coming up this week, AK's first Christmas concert this week, my Christmas part on Friday, and of course, lots of fun stuff in between!!! xo