This and That

I know I haven't really been too good about keeping my website up to date lately but it just doesn't seem like we have too much going on worthy enough to talk about. BUT this week we had a couple of interesting things happen so instead of writing a post for every one I thought I'd just smash it together into one post and save myself some time and effort.
First thing, we had a pipe leak which started a couple months ago but got pretty bad lately. It started to get plugged so my laundry would never drain and just little annoying things like that. We deciced that it was time to stop procrastinating and get someone in to fix it. The downer to getting it fixed was that we had to shut our water off for the cement to cure so we filled our bathtub with water storage so we could manually flush the toilets, wash our faces, things like that. So with our bathtub filled we shut the water off and braved the next day. We had to take a picture of the bathtub so that you all can see the great water that we clean ourselves in, the water is seriously untouched, straight from the tab, no dirty kids have yet to touch it!!

Ryan is really good about bringing me home flowers on a regular basis and this time he brought a flower we nicknamed "The Brain" because we thought it resembled what we think a brain looks like. It's a really pretty flower that we've never seen before but think is quite interesting.

I got a new helmet for the motorbike which I love! I really get frustrated when Ryan drives really fast and the dirt, wind and bugs are flying into my eyes and mouth so I finally found a small sized full faced helmet. I have a pretty tiny head so a bonus is that the helmet not only fits me but it somewhat fits on Braydens head as well which he just loves. It is his helmet when he's on the bike and once we drop him off it becomes mine. It's a pretty good trade off although it kind of looks super huge on Brayden!
The last and most important of our weekly events was Ryan's birthday on Sunday. Saturday after work Focus threw him a surprise party with lots of food, cards and cake. That evening I whipped up some Chicken Parmesan which I have to admit was one of the tastiest meals i've ever made ;) Sunday Ryan was asked to speak in church, which of course was great, and after church we had our Bishop and his family over for Sunday dinner. It was a pretty relaxing day but it was really nice to spend the time together with the family before Ryan gets into his Masters/Work crazy schedule.

I'd like to end by putting a shout out to my dad who shares his birthday with Ryan!!

Sydney's First Field Trip

This week Sydney, her classmates, Teacher Summer, Teacher Inah and Ms. Charms were able to go on a little adventure to the local SM (Super Mall). It gave them a chance to get out of the classroom and go to a indoor playground for a while. She was able to drive around in those big plastic cars, slides, have a tea party and of course her favorite thing: play with babies. She loves babies and the one she has (cabbage patch doll from Auntie Kait) has survived a fair amount of abuse in her young existance.

Here are some pictures of Sydney and classmates:

There is nothing a little girl likes more then to play with some domestic mini's like a kitchen, tea sets and shopping carts. Personally I don't see the attraction, I prefer to stay away from those things myself...

The "ber" Months

I guess September officially marks the start of the "ber" months. I know in Canada September means back to school, cooling evenings and even the start of the leaves on trees turning yellow and amber. Here in the Philippines the kids have been back at school since June, the evenings defiantly aren't feeling any cooler to me and the trees are still the same brilliant green they always are. I guess here on Negros Island the sugar cane is getting ready to be harvested and is looking pretty tall in the fields! In Bacolod City it means that only 1 more month until the Masskara Festival starts. The bright flashy masks have made their way onto the displays in the department stores and I can't wait for those huge metal shipping crates from Negros Navigation Shipping tbe placed in the corners of downtown to act as the drunk tank throughout October. But here in the Philippines the one thing that the "ber" months mark is the beginning of Christmas. Who can do Christmas better then a people who celebrate it for 4 months of the year!? Back home I can remember feeling sick when I heard that first Christmas song on the radio in early November... I will have to start working on my gag reflex A.S.A.P. before I hear that first Christmas song any day now. Only yesterday at the department store I saw a display of Christmas tree ornaments although when I mentioned it to Ryan he said they were probably there all year round. Maybe this year will be lucky #3 for us and we'll buy our coveted Filipino Nativity set with the pig on a spit (or "Lechun" as they call it) that we've looked at over these past 2 Christmas' in the Philippines. I have to admit... I am looking forward to those cool December days of high twenties (that's *C for you Americans who still use *F). It will be a refreshing break from the heat of the rest of the year.
Here's a little early Christmas love from us Beatties: