The New Scooter HOG

One of Ryan's most anticipated joys of returning to the Philippines was buying a new bike. He sold his old one when we left last year back to Canada to have Madison and as soon as we made the decision to come back I could see that faraway look in his eyes as he daydreamed of weaving in and out of the busy traffic breaking all road laws. It's almost as he see's himself as the motorbike version of Knight Rider and his bike is Knight Industries Two Thousand aka. KITT. Hmmm, should I be worried? Next he'll be buying a helicopter and calling himself Stringfellow Hawke.
The kids were just as excited as Ryan was and could not wait to hop on have daddy take for a ride around the block. Thankfully Ryan bought a kids helmet even though they aren't being worn in the following picture the helmet has been worn from that point on so grandparents don't worry, we're being responsible parents.

New Year = New House

So after some A LOT of thought, discussion and compromise we decided to move back to the Philippines. Thankfully one of the biggest factors in us returning to Bacolod was that another adventurous family moved with us to join us. How great is that!?
So after the flight of death (seriously even with amazing well behaved children it still nearly killed me) we arrived to the warm familiar air of Bacolod, Philippines. As I mentioned all 3 kids were so well behaved on the trip and it only took a couple days until all of them were on a normal night/day routine and sleeping like angels. We settled really quickly into our new house which is a subdivision we were in before so the area is familiar and we have friends close by. The house is so great. Ryan picked it out when he was here in November so all credit needs to go 'the man.' Lot's of room so when people come to visit us (hint hint) they'll have their own space, the yard is a good size and the Jarman family (the family that joined us) is only a block away which has a path cut right through the empty lot separating us. Also another bonus is that we finally got some tint put on our vehicle so I can drive around like a maniac and no one will know it's that crazy white lady! YAY for me.

Now here we are right back into the swing of things. Ryan is constantly climbing up tree's chopping down coconuts for us to snack on, the kids are incredibly happy to be able to play outside everyday chasing stray cats and finding squished frogs all over the roads (so gross I know, but it's true). We are back into our 'home' ward (our location in the city determines the building and time in which we meet for church and we call that placement our 'ward') here in Bacolod and they are sure keeping us busy with the youth which we love!
It's amazing how quickly it felt like we never left, it surprised me at how quickly our house felt like home and the comfort I immediately felt in being back. Not that I don't love my home in Canada, but for now I'm totally OK with Bacolod being my home and I welcome it and the challenges it is going to bring us. I guess it's that calm reassurance that I know we are where we need to be for the moment, the knowledge it will be amazing and extremely difficult but knowing I'm ready for it.

So 2010.... let's see what is in store for the Beattie Gang!

New Beginnings

Wow, okay! So after wiping my old site clean multiple times and still not getting rid of the malware warnings I decided to just start up a blogger site and slowly learn how to manipulate the code to get the site how I like it. With that said it will be a slow process and the look of the site will be changing often while I test the waters.

SO here we are! February 2010 in the Philippines with our 3 super sweaty children just heading into the heat of summer. Thankfully we are only a block from the pool so those refreshing jumps into the pool will be frequent and easy especially with all 3 of those kids really enjoy a good swim.

We've really been busy and up to so much and slowly as I find some free time I'll be constantly updating the 'going on's' of our life so far this year starting with our return to Bacolod, Philippines. So I hope you are ready for the emotional up and downs and hilarious events that form my life.

What Happens When the Grandparents Teach the Kids New Tricks?

I have always tried to slow Brayden's climbing down. When he was a baby and would try to climb up onto the couch I would life him up. This worked for quite a while and kept him out of some trouble. He has always been a cautious one, watching Sydney do it first and when she succeeds without hurting herself he'll go and give it a shot. Well what happens when the Grandparents come over and start teaching your kids new tricks??? They become addicted to climbing trees! Not only tree's but now they've discovered a whole new world out there, climbing the fence, trying to get higher and higher.... so fun for them, not so much fun for the paranoid mother!

Too Loved?

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of Sydney and Sophie. Sophie is a 4 month old puppy that Sydney would not put down the whole week that we spent in Utah. She would carry her wherever Sydney went. Sydney even cried that first night when I told her that Sophie couldn't come to bed with her. Sydney even tried to give Sophie a bath in the fountain outside leaving little Sophie soaking wet and looking like a rat and when the little dog had enough and tried to run away... Sydney just ran after her until she caught up and wrapped Sophie back up into her loving arms. Even when poor Sophie Sydney had the flu she wouldn't let go of cute little Sophie. What a sport that little puppy was to put up with our Sydney... is there such a thing as being loved too much??

First Day of Kindergarten

Of course I had to take a picture of Brayden on the doorstep of his very first day of Kindergarten at Miss Pati's school! Here he is all ready to go:

Old Toys = New Toys

I love how every time we make it home to Canada the kids get to rediscover all they're old toys and they become new again. Hopefully I'll never have to buy a new toy for them ever again! They really enjoy the car set that they play with over at Nana's and seem to never bore from driving it up and down, up and down, up and down their pathway in the yard. Even Maddy enjoyed herself watching them driving around! Thankfully the weather has been fabulous since we got home and the kids have been able to run around outside everyday playing with all these "new" toys!

Waterton National Park

We thought that we would celebrate our first weekend back in Canada by driving 1 1/2 hours south to Waterton National Park. It was a perfect day, hot and no wind (which is very rare for Waterton!). We stopped of at the Prince of Whales hotel to take a look at the amazing view of Waterton Lake and the town site letting the kids run off a bit of energy the collected during the drive! One thing we did notice was a huge group of Filipino's in some sort of tour up there snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow! Filipino's and they're pictures (shaking my head side to side with a little bit of an eye roll). I feel like I can say that because I consider myself part Filipino and have been going a little camera crazy myself ;)

After our brief stop off we made our way into the tiny town of Waterton and took a look at the 'show and shine' they had going on and even the kids had a good time checking out all the "hot wheels."

We then had a great lunch with a stop over at the lake to through the token rocks into the water and dip our toes in to see exactly how cold the water was.... oh SOOOO cold!!! I nearly pee'ed myself and went into shock when I felt how cold the lake was!
We also took the rollar coaster road to Red Rock Canyon where we played a bit in the water and on the rocks before heading back into the car and driving home for dinner. And although we didn't get a look at any bears we did get to watch this beauty licking all the salt off the cars in the parking lot at Red Rock!

It was such a great day and I got my first sunburn of the summer season... including out months in the Philippines!

Goodbye to Teachers

Well we had to say goodbye to the kids teachers as we were getting ready to leave back to Canada. I know that both Brayden and Sydney just love going to school here in Bacolod and will be really sad to leave. They started this school year in June and so it has only been a couple of months but already they have really learned a lot and gotten to know they're classmates...
Good-bye for now!

Our Pest Pet Spider..... warning Spider post

Alright, I know that a lot of people tend to be frightened of spiders so I just want to warn you before proceeding that there are pictures of a spider in this post.... so if you don't want to see it then don't scroll down:

Keep Going

Almost There...

Alright,
For those of you who have been following us on our journeys then you are aware that so far we have had a golden retriever named Kula and our turtle which we named Sophie. Well we have a new friend who lives on our property. Not in our house and not so welcomed but he's there, lurking in the shadows... (well not so much lurking, more just hanging out in open view, I was going for dramatic) waiting to go for a ride.

So this guy likes to hang out on our/in our car and go for rides with us. On multiple occasions we have shooed him away while at a restaurant or the mall BUT the very next day, BAM he's there... waiting to go for another ride.

Our Pest Pet Spider..... warning Spider post

Alright, I know that a lot of people tend to be frightened of spiders so I just want to warn you before proceeding that there are pictures of a spider in this post.... so if you don't want to see it then don't scroll down:

Keep Going

Almost There...

Alright,
For those of you who have been following us on our journeys then you are aware that so far we have had a golden retriever named Kula and our turtle which we named Sophie. Well we have a new friend who lives on our property. Not in our house and not so welcomed but he's there, lurking in the shadows... (well not so much lurking, more just hanging out in open view, I was going for dramatic) waiting to go for a ride.

So this guy likes to hang out on our/in our car and go for rides with us. On multiple occasions we have shooed him away while at a restaurant or the mall BUT the very next day, BAM he's there... waiting to go for another ride.

My Girls

Madison has always been compared to Brayden and Sydney when people are trying to decided who she looks like. She has some moments where she resembles Sydney but they are rare. One thing they do have in common is that they both love to drive!

Some Filipino Humour

I'm sure all you Filipino readers have seen this before but everyone can use a laugh now and then and this never fails to make me laugh... it's just "inhuman!"

August Long Weekend in Boracay

Last weekend we were able to take a couple days and get out of Bacolod for a getaway. Unfortunately there was a tropical storm going through the northern part of the Philippines so we had to brave Lethbridge style winds and heavy rains that were on and off again. A couple of times we would look out to the sea and all you could see was this dark grey wall coming for us and we knew it was time to start running for the hotel! Thankfully we stayed central on the beach and so we never had too far to sprint before spotting the hotel on the beach, unfortunately there were a few times we got completely soaked. Thankfully when you're a kid and you're playing in the water rain doesn't bother you so much since you're all wet anyway. Madison was the most surprising as she seemed to enjoy the wind and rain sprinkles kicking her legs and squealing in delight when we would out to the beach.

One thing I have never seen before is underground construction on a beach before! These guys could dig a trench in the soft sand, lay the pipe and cover it up in no time!

We had some friends of ours join us on our trip. We were able to show them some different styles of food, like Mexican, which they weren't too sure about but bravely tried whatever we suggested. Thankfully the huge Mango shakes made up for the unique taste of Taco's. Mmmm, mango shakes.