A Woman of Inspiration

In my blog I don't really get into my personal life to much. I tend to keep it light and positive and not get into the trials and tribulations. Mostly because our trials are our own and because we are so blessed that even when the rough comes our way I have so much in my life to be thankful for.

Well lately I have been really worrying about family in Canada. I have a nephew named Parker Seely (click on his name and here to read a little about his journey). He's been through so much in his two years I can't imagine what it's been like for his family. He and my Madison are only 1 week apart in age. Just a little over a year ago Parker had a heart transplant. Thankfully his body responded and didn't reject the heart but for the past 4 weeks (and for days/weeks in between his transplant and this year) he has been living at the Alberta Children's Hospital waiting for some type of diagnosis. During those four weeks his electrolyte levels have been low and somewhat stabilized, his magnesium levels were dramatically low and now his white cell count is at zero (I think, if not zero then super low). They have no idea how to treat him because they have no idea what is wrong with him. Just yesterday they did some tests in his intestine and his bone marrow so hopefully this will be able to give the doctors some insight into the problems. So from across the world here we are praying and worrying about Parker and waiting for the little news Jessica finds out as time goes by.

Jessica. She is the toughest most inspiring person I know. I can't even say I've watched her go through this because I really haven't. I've just been too far away. I don't think I could handle this situation with the strength and courage that she has shown. Her family has been separated while waiting for Parker's birth which had to take place in Edmonton, while they waited in Edmonton for months for a heart and now for the past 4 weeks while she and Parker have been in Calgary and her husband and boys have been in Lethbridge. How they make it work is beyond me. You do what you have to do I guess but to do it with such strength and positive attitude is Jessica. To watch your boy and not know what is wrong, to not get any answers from the doctors and to be away from the rest of your family is my biggest fear. Jessica reminds me of what a mother's love for her child is. She reminds me of the sacrifice a woman is willing to make for her family. She reminds me of the faith a mother has in the face of adversity and trail and that even when faced with these things faith can grow. She humbles me and makes me so thankful that I have her example in my life. It reminds me of my many blessings and that my trials are my own, designed for me. I see what I think are little miracles with this boy and it increases my faith. So although I have no idea why Parker, why Jessica and Jim, I know that everything will be ok in the end and I know that she is one of the few women I know that is strong enough to go through this and have her marriage strengthened, her testimony stronger, her children more united and just as warm as before.

I have an amazing family. I have amazing in-laws. I love them all. I am so blessed for all their examples but Jessica is one in a million.

So being across the world with nothing to offer but prayers I'm asking you at this time to offer your prayers for my nephew and for his doctors that they will be able to figure out what is going on so they can treat him and Parker and his family can be a family again. This is all I can do for them right now, ask for your prayers.

The Real World

We took off last weekend for a trip to Cebu City. No fancy white sand beaches, just sun and sitting pool side with good food and a little shopping. Things have been intense for Ryan at work and with the anticipation of Canada lurking around every corner the kids and I have been unusually antsy. It has been a long year. We got back from Canada 11 months ago and the kids and I have spent 4 out of those 11 months alone without the Jarman family which we had gotten used to having just across the street for play time, companionship and venting. I'd say that we are all (Ryan included) are getting a little stir crazy and super eager for the next 14 days to be behind us as we board our first flight homeward bound to Canada. It's not that we don't love Bacolod, because it has been a great home to us the last 5 years ... we just miss our families and friends in Canada so much and nothing puts that into perspective then being on your own. Especially when life is going on for everyone else and you feel like you're missing it or when troubles come along and you are too far away to offer your help and support. It's a sucky feeling.
So after a much needed rejuvenating change of scenery for 4 days, here we are ... back in the real world.

The last week had brought some great successes and the next weeks successes to look forward to:
Madison is potty trained ... fully. Yay for me and pull-up's only at bed time.
The rain has stopped briefly and we had some great hot sun while on our getaway.
We've been to a few great movies as we get ready to say goodbye to $2.00 movie tickets.
I have extra motivation and ambition to get things all packed up. Only 14 more days. That means things can go into the suitcases that I can give up for 14 days.
I won't have to do much grocery shopping as we eat out the last of our cupboards.
We get to blow off the rest of our fireworks and firecrackers!! We've been saving them for July 1st, even if we aren't in Canada we'll celebrate Canada Day in style.

Sadly my kids are just as excited as I am to go home and therefore have turned into these horrible monsters I can no longer control. I can't really blame them for their excitment and 14 days, although a short amount of time, is still such a long ways away for such young minds. I am really going to have to be on my "A" game these last weeks to keep them entertained and busy. Hopefully the sun stays out so we can utilize the pool.
If anyone has idea's to keep my kids from being the death of me please share! I'm almost out of idea's and have crafted myself out. It's only fun for them to pretend to nap for so long before they catch on that it's really not a game ...

Poop, The Highlight Of My Day

The middle of last week I decided to go ahead and start helping Madison figure out this potty business. I thought that if I put her in underwear for a few days she would figure out that pee feeling and realize how uncomfortable it is to hang out in soggy underwear. I had a stash of her favourite candies on hand and thought that if I could get her to pee on the potty and reward her I might be able to see some sort of progress out of it. I mopped up a lot of pee that first day and it was clear she could've cared less about the candy.
What surprised me was the next day. I sat her on the potty, her choice from the big or pink potty, and when she sat on it she would push out some pee. We had a party and we all celebrated and she ate up that candy and loved every second of it. That was the turning point. Since then we've made it 5 days inclusive of public outings (the longest being 3 hours of church and during that 3 hours 2 times in the public toilet) with only one accident in her underwear. The problem is that she won't poop! She waits until her nap when I put her diaper on her and poops. After her nap she gets back into her underwear and it back on the potty again. Also, I have to ask her if she needs to use the potty, she doesn't come to me and ask to use it. She does however say "NO" when she doesn't have to pee and runs to the potty after I ask if she does need to use it. I'm hoping the going on her own will come on it's own.
One funny thing is she thinks that farts are poops. The first time she was sitting on the big toilet and trying to push out her pee and she forces out this huge fart which was so loud vibrating the toilet bowl. Her eyes got so huge and she says in a deep voice "BIG poop" and jumps off to take a look in the toilet. Her face when she saw the toilet was empty was so funny, she was so shocked to see nothing in there her brain trying to figure it all out.

Tonight after dinner we were playing a family game of cards and as we were finishing up Ryan asked Maddy to go to the toilet and off she runs ripping off her underwear and sits on her little potty. After a quick pee she decides she wants to sit on the big potty so I go with her and help her up. She sits down and kind of makes her pee face. Her brows furrow a bit and she gets all serious and still and pushes a little bit. This time she starts farting and she's getting all excited. Because they were little farts, more like toots, she's excitedly saying "baby poops" and I'm answering "ya, ya, ya" as i'm brushing my teeth and settling down for the night. I finally go and take a peek in the toilet to decide whether to get her off and into her pajama's or let her keep tooting happily and I find out she's actually pooping. FINALLY!
Who knows if it was a lucky chance or if it's a turning point but I'm going to take it and enjoy the success of changing one less poopy diaper. So cheers to the little successes of parenthood!!!

The Number 28

What does the number 28 mean to you?

For me it's 4 weeks. 28 is less then 30 which mean's less then one month. Most importantly 28 is the number of days we have until we board our flights to Canada for the last time.

28 is the number of days I have left in the Philippines ...

This number is brought to you by Meg

OINK

On our way from church yesterday the kids and I took a trycicad ... a bicycles with a sidecar. The kids love it and it's really a special treat for them. Me on the other hand find it rather annoying. It's a super bumpy ride and my butt is sore by the end of it. Every single jeepney that drives by slows down and yells at us some type of hilarious to them statement (like "hey Joe" or "you like that white boy?") while our kids copy them and yell "HEY JOE!" to all the people staring at us. Between the yelling, the staring and bumps my brain was exploding in my skull. Even Madison was getting into it and waving and saying HI to all her fans.
We successfully made it to the gates of our subdivision when we started to hear this crazy noise. I could have sworn it was a pig. All at the same time Brayden, Sydney and I looked towards the noise and saw this massive pig! I quickly paid our bike driver and we went over to the pig and took a few pictures. The kids just loved it! Later that afternoon Ryan and I had to run out quickly to the church and brought Madison with us. When she spotted the main gate she remember there was a pig there and started snorting away. Sadly the beast was gone. He was pretty amazing.

Meatless Bacon!?

To go along with some of the interesting things we find at the grocery I thought I would share something not gross, or shocking but more simply along the lines of not finding it in Canada.
Firstly I'd like everyone to know that Ryan seems to have this love for bacon that I don't understand. He could eat it everyday. I'm not talking about 4 pieces of bacon along with your breakfast but a whole package of bacon as a side to any dish. Usually it's rice, egg and bacon with spiced vinegar (sinamak and native to Bacolod, SUPER YUM) and soy sauce but he could eat it for dessert. So last week I was in the grocery store and found this snack Baconette Strips; a meatless bacon. I took a snap of it and meant to show it to Ryan but completely forgot about it. Yesterday afternoon Ryan and I quickly picked up a few things at the grocery store and walked down the snack aisle. He stops for a moment and says "hey! Look at this" while pointing to the Baconette Strips! I pull out my phone and show him the picture I took with the intention of sharing my find with him and he decides to throw them in the shopping cart.
This afternoon after church he rips open his bag of Baconette Strips and tries them. They look just like little pieces of bacon, baby bacons. He takes a few and doesn't really comment either way and puts the bag back on the counter and continues on with what he was doing. A few minutes later he goes back to the bag and admits "surprisingly they make me want more."
I don't think it's something I would ever buy again but it wasn't a failure like I was expecting either.

Who Can Refuse Those Eyes

You know puppy dog eyes. Those cute big eyes that look up at you at the pet store and say "Love me, please take me home" and they are hard to refuse. Or your kids ... sometimes they just give you this look and it's all in their eyes. They've done something wrong but they look up at you with their eyes while their face is sort of looking down, their forehead creased slightly. It's the secret weapon.
Well I saw those eyes today in the grocery store fish display ... this fish was looking up at me with his sad puppy dog eyes saying "Please don't eat me, I really don't taste that good."
So we listened and kept on walking:

One other thing that I wanted to share with you all is the love for Spam over here. It's a delicacy. Honestly I don't understand the craze but they even have fake spam... fake spam. What's spam? Fake meat. So what's fake spam? Fake, fake meat. YUM!

Maddy's New Trick

So Madison is going through the terrible two's right now. I have to admit that she's seems to be less stubborn and strong willed then Sydney which is a relief (knock on wood). She definitely has her moments though and we seem to have those day where I wish bedtime was immediately following nap time but we're making it out alive. Thankfully she seems to respond well to logical consequence and when told she needs to make a choice, for example give mom back her phone or go sit time out, she mostly chooses the better choice. Lately when I start to tell her she's making a bad choice she pulls one of these:

She gets this goofy half grin on her face and she shuts her eyes. Remember when you were really young and when you closed your eyes and couldn't see someone you thought they couldn't see you either (I hope i'm not the only one who thought that)? I'm pretty sure that's what she's doing. She's ignoring me and trying to disappear on me! She's 2 years old and already giving me the silent treatment. Is this foreshadowing? If so ... help me ... please.

Electrical Chaos

I took this snap Saturday evening on our date night because Ryan said "Isn't that a perfect picture with the sunset shinning off all the wires and onto the street."
I had to agree. It was really pretty. It also perfectly captures the chaos of the electrical wires that line every street in Bacolod City. Just a few days before this it was raining lightly and Sydney and I were on our way from shopping driving down the main road. To understand what I mean by main road it would be Mayor Magrath Dr in Lethbridge, Mcload Tr in Calgary or since it's also the highway the I-15 in the States (but 2 lanes each way that they make into 4 lanes each way). All of a sudden right in front of me a wire falls from the street and hits my car as I drive under it. I clench my fists and wait for some sort of electric shock to go through our vehicle, something, but nothing. Life went on as if I hadn't just hit astray electrical wire in the rain with my metal car. No big deal, right?
We've also seen transformers explode in the rain at night as we're driving down the road and watched everything go black as a result. We are definitely spoiled in Canada with wiring ... or lack of! Just one of the small things you should appreciate that you probably don't even think about.

My House Infestation

We have termites in our house. Well, thankfully it's not our house but the house we rent. They've been there for a little while now, maybe 5 months. At first we notice a dirt line along the floor board and I would scrape it to find lots of little termites. I would go and spray the crap out of the floor boards and scrub them down and we wouldn't see it again for a few weeks. One night I went to find something under the bathroom sink in the kids room. I never really go under that sink, it just has some light bulbs, bug killer refills, things I don't use often. So I go and I'm trying to be quiet because Brayden is sleeping right outside the bathroom door and I pull out what I'm looking for and it's moving, literally moving. I FREAK out. I throw the box and take some deep breathes trying not to scream. I slowly go and look into the cupboard and find the termite dirt all along the back of the cupboard and ALL the cardboard boxes from the lightbulbs, my leg wax strips, the medicine, all eaten. It was so disgusting. I sprayed the crap out of there and spent the next hour and a half cleaning all the dead termites out of the cupboard, salvaging all the lightbulb and other things from their skeleton boxes and trying to get myself to stop itching.
We told the land lord about it who mentioned it to the home owner. We ended up discussing it with the home owner when they were in town from the States on a visit a month later. At the time since I hadn't seen any evidence of the termites in a while we decided it wasn't really that big of a deal and left it at that.
This week I started to go through everything deciding what needed to be packed, trashed or given away and I knelt on the base of the cupboard and my knee sunk in. There was no more wood there, just the paint! The termites ate all the wood from that chunk of the cupboard. Good thing pretty much the entire house is made of cement! I just kind of brushed it off as it happened when I had cleaned the cupboard out before because I looked around and cleared everything out of there and didn't see anything termite.
I moved from the cupboard under the sink to the closet. I started with the top of the closet because we never use it and new I could pack whatever was in there or throw it away and it wouldn't be missed in the next 5 weeks before we move home. Well I opened it up and reached up (it's higher then what I can see) and tried to pull down the Uno cards I could see lingering barely over the edge. Yup, the box started moving!!! This time there were no sleeping kids so I called for reinforcement! "RYAN"

This is what we found:

It's like an actual termite house in my closet. Too disgusting. All I keep saying to myself is: 35 more days, 35 more days, 35 more days. In 35 more days we'll be out of here and they can treat the house, tear it down, I don't care... because I'm Canada bound and I'm not coming back!

Got Fish?

Today's find at the grocery store:

Only In Disney Movies

You know when the princess in the Disney cartoon, like Belle, Snow White or Cinderella, starts to sing while she's out in the wilderness and all the forest animals start singing along and landing on the princess. These types of things only happen in Disney movies. So much so that Dreamworks makes fun of it in Shrek when Princess Fiona starts singing with the little bird until it explodes and she cooks it's eggs for breakfast.
Well yesterday the kids are playing outside and some random 'brown worker guy' comes by and gives Sydney a bird with a leash. Here are my kids, outside, with some random bird with a piece of string tied to it's leg. They are holding it, petting it, loving it to death. I'm not too sure what to think. A little shocked and a little annoyed. Why would this guy give kids a bird like that!? Seriously. What are we going to do with it. We've had a dog ... we've had a cat ... we've had a turtle. Do you notice the common factor? HAD. We don't do pets. Especially not birds. So we take some cute pictures and tell the kids to get rid of it. Not mafia style "get rid of it" but more go ditch it by a tree get rid of it. So that's what they did. They cut the string off it's foot and made it a nest on the side of the road by the tall grass and we forgot about it.
Please, in the future, don't give my kids random animals because they will not be allowed to keep it and feed it.

I Have Fun Days Too

Even though Ryan is the fun parent as discussed here, and again here... I would like everyone to know that I do have my fun moment too:

When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go

I think that one of the most disgusting things I see ALL the time in the Philippines is men peeing. They pee anywhere, anytime. Side of the buildings, side of the road, into a bush, onto a flower ... whatever. I think I would be more shocked if I went out and didn't see some random guy relieving himself at some point. I guess the bonus of this is that when you're potty training you don't feel any guilt whatsoever when your kid says he has to pee and you let him, no matter where you are.
Just a little bit ago we were on our way into SM Bacolod (one of the local malls) and all the kids were with us. In the front entrance of the mall is a taxi line so we are walking past, taxi, taxi, taxi, little girl with her pants down peeing! Seriously, right in front of the door. Nothing could hide the horror on my face, or Sydney's. Sydney even had to make sure to point it out quite loudly that I'm 99% confident this child's mom could hear Sydney's absolute confusion and my disgust. In the very least you would have thought the mother would take her child (at least 8 years) to the parking lot so she could have hid in between cars, not in the front entrance for everyone to witness.
Ryan and I saw this painting and this is probably not legit to post this as it's someone else's art but this picture at least gives me the impression that Filipino's are at least aware that they pee everywhere at anytime:

Who Eats Who?

So I love this picture. I think i'm going to start a new series in my blog about the cool things I see in the local grocery stores. I think that for my Filipino readers these are just every day scenes but for people who have yet had the privilege of grocery shopping in the Philippines I thought you'd enjoy it. This particular picture was shot 1 1/2 weeks ago when my dad was here visiting us at SM mall in Bacolod. They usually have a pretty fish display on the corner but this one was by far my favourites so far.

The one picture I'm sad I never got was the mouse sitting on the spaghetti noodles at a Gaisano City grocery store. By the time I pulled my phone out of my purse to snap the shot he'd run off onto the other side of the aisle. Hopefully next time I'll be faster on my feet and not so shocked.

Big Spiders Never Get Old

Especially spider pictures with my 2 year old sitting inches away... granted there is a screen protecting her, but seriously; she's fearless!

Tumba Patis

Tumba Patis is an Ilonggo street game. All you need are your slippers (flip flops) and a can or bottle. There is the one person who is 'it' and they stand facing all the other players with the can close by. Balancing on the can or bottle is one shoe. As a player you want to throw your shoe at the can knocking the balancing shoe off. If you throw your shoe and miss the miss the bottle you have to run and try to retrieve your shoe before the 'it' person can tag you. Once tagged you replace the 'it' person. IF you are able to knock the shoe off the bottle with your throw then everyone can run and grab their shoes. The 'it' person must quickly replace the shoe onto the bottle before the thrower can grab his/her own shoe. If the 'it' person can replace the shoe in time then they get to go enter the game and the thrower will then become the 'it' person.
Does this make sense? It doesn't so much to me but I'm more a hands on learner. I had to play the game before I could understand what was going on.

Tuesday afternoon we had the missionaries over and a family for a Spiritual message provided by the Elders, some food and some games. One of these games we played was Tumba Patis. The Elders hung out on the road doing what they do, talking and sharing the good word some people walking by and the rest of us chucked our shoes around screaming and running around like crazy people. Even though Brayden and Madison had no idea what was going on they were running around throwing their shoes like they were in the know unwilling to be left behind. Shoes were flying, people were charging and I felt like I was dodging football players while I tried to capture a few of their genuine smiles. I think that although tumba patis is meant to be a fun high energy game, it can be pretty full contact if played with the right people.

It was fun and of course even though I hardly played I was sweaty and gross and all these pretty Filipina's that were running back and forth giving it there all were completely dry. How does that happen!?

WOW! Negros

Of course when you go on holiday the time comes when you have to return home. Bummer. Tuesday morning we packed up and took the boat back to Negros Island. We followed the Eastern coastline north before turning inward towards Bacolod. I love Negros Island! I think it is the most beautiful place. It's so re-energizing driving through it and reminding myself of how breath taking the earth is. Negros Island has it all! We pretty much covered most of the island on our trip. Our way from Bacolod to Siquijor is red and the route we took home is blue. The red is faster by about 45 minutes but the blue is way more breath taking! Also being able to take two different roads breaks the drives up a bit so they aren't so boring. SO, Negros Island. Here is a glimpse into the island we've spent the last 4 1/2 years on and all pictures I took on our way home from Siquijor.

Amazing rice terraces:

Spectacular views from the mountain tops:

Lost white sand beaches lurking along the coastline:

People using their livestocks with the vibrant greens int he background:

And of course piling as much as they can on their vehicles whether it be supplies or people:

I think one of the best parts of getting out of the city and into the mountains is the lack of people. Bacolod is about the size of Lethbridge but with 300% more people. It's so heavily populated there is always traffic, long lines at the grocery or when you just want to roll down the window and take a quick picture there is usually a head that pops up in the way. I love being away where it's quiet and peaceful, where I can quickly snap photo's like these without trying to dodge the crowds:

I love Canada. I really truly think it's the most beautiful place I've been with the clear oceans, Rocky Mountains, Shushwaps and golden fields. After being in the Philippines when we go home I'm in awe of Canada. BUT if I'm not going to be in Canada, being on Negros Island is a close second.