Mambukal

The Jarman family have been lucky enough to get some family out to visit them already! On Sunday after church we tagged along as they took Bobbi's sister and her family up into the mountains to Mambukal. It's a mountain resort found at the base of a volcano here on Negros Island. It has a couple of sulphur hot springs, one is so hot you can't touch it or go in and the other is so relaxing and nice. There is also a couple of normal temperature pools, a climbing wall, a tram, hikes to waterfalls, some foods, butterfly gardens and of course places for the resort goers to stay.
The first thing that I was able to do was go on the tram over the river. Ryan and Lance have already been there and done that with some of the gang at Focus so Bobbi and I decided to test it out together. We hung upside down and with the blood flowing like crazy to our heads we zipped down the line to meet everyone waiting for us on the other side.

After the zip line the boys went up to the waterfalls and us girls took the kids to the pool to cool down for little bit. Madison and Scarlett had cute matching swim suits, I just couldn't resist these cute little girls!

The boys also were able to go swimming but in the fresh water! They hiked up to the 4th of 7 waterfalls. The hike is up the mountain in the hot humid heat and it takes about an hour to get up there. Once they made it up to the 4th set of falls they saw a bunch of the mountain kids cliff jumping into the river. Ryan had a blast taking pictures of the kids while they were jumping and then showing them the shots so they could see what they looked like! Apparently one of the guys had these sweet ninja moves and Ryan got some great shots of these kids playing around. I can imagine them smiling and laughing with those dark brown faces and great big white teeth filled smiles as they were looking at themselves on the camera. Of course the guys did some moves of their own to refresh themselves after the hot, sweaty walk up the mountain. Unfortunately by the time the guys made it back the hike was closed since it was getting close to sunset so us girls didn't get to go. Bummer, BUT next time for sure!

One of the things that Mambukal is famous for are the huge bats that live up in the tree's. We have a lot of bats that fly around our neighborhood at night as they eat those bugs at dusk, sometimes swooping just above your head but we don't have anything like the bats up at Mambukal! They really are the biggest bats I've ever seen, even in the zoo.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Well, I can't believe it but it's true. Our baby girl is now 1 years old. Wow, it went so quickly. It's been quite the busy for her. She arrived March 3, 2009 and quickly settled into being the youngest of 3 which meant rough hugs and kisses from Brayden and Sydney. When she was two months old we took her across the world to the Philippines with us where we all learned that she can with stand heat, loves the sea breeze and does not like strangers! Just before 6 months we headed back to Canada where we spent the next 4 months with our families before moving back to Bacolod. She's already shown us she has a lot of spunk, loves her little family unit and always saves her best smiles for Brayden and Sydney.
Since Maddy isn't a huge fan of crowds of people pinching her cheeks and thighs we had a nice quiet evening at home with just a few people to share cake with us. Even though Maddy didn't quite know what was going on Brayden and Sydney were so thrilled to have a party (especially since this means it's only 1 more month until Sydney gets her cake) that they made up for Madison's lack of excitement.
So happy birthday to our Maddy.

Kissing the Frog = Prince Charming

"I have to do what!?"

Garden Update

Can you tell i've never had my own garden before!? I'm so eager to share what little progress we've made this last week. I'm just so excited about our soon to be veggies I can't help but document the growth.
So week #1
We have radishes started! It's true... loads of radishes starting to grow. I have to admit that according to the package they only take 21 days so they seem to be right on schedule. It is such a great feeling though to see them growing, to know that we did something right and soil is decent enough to grow me some foods.

Cucumbers have also started to sprout. Yummy greek salad! Maybe i'm getting a little ahead of myself jumping up and down about some sprouts BUT I love cucumbers. Cucumbers in vinegar, salads, with a tiny dash of salt. Hmmm, now I'm thinking about fried zucchini. Well, that's something for the list of seeds to bring back next home visit!

And everyones favorite vegetable: Broccoli. Our Broccoli's have started to sprout also. Okay, maybe they are weeds since I have no idea what broccoli sprouts look like but I'm optimistic that one day I will be munching on this new growth with a bit of lemon pepper seasoning with a lechon manok (rotisserie chicken), mashed potato's and gravy!
With all this new found motivation tonight we chopped up the potato's we were letting seed a bit and Ryan planted those while Bobbi and I planted chives, oregano, basil and parsley. We did some major weeding and checked on the tomato's Ryan planted last week in a pot. They are also starting to sprout but defiantly not picture worthy yet... that will come next week! We only have 2 rows left, 1 for our tomato's when they are ready to transplant and 1 for our peanuts (which take 3 months until harvest). Tomorrow I am going to buy some raw peanuts at the store and this week we'll be able to sow them! I'm so excited to grow peanuts... who does that!?

Remember the Awkward Years? *sigh*

I think everyone goes through those years... those years where you start to realize that boys are cute and they really don't have cooties but you have no idea how to talk to them? Those years when maybe you aren't looking your best. For me those years were called Jr. High... the pre-braces, acne, and bad hair days. I even think that my own parents understood those awkward years and spared me by not taking many pictures of me during those times and for that I am more grateful then they will ever know.

This weekend we helped out at a Youth Activity for our church that included youth from 12-18 years of age. Each group had to put on a skit about a previously selected Book of Mormon Story based on the theme "Who is Your Hero." The skits were great and Brayden and Sydney were sitting front row enjoying themselves. Brayden somehow got his hands on some props and spent the rest of the night being Nephi. After the skits there was a dance and THIS is where it all came back to me. The. Awkward. Years. Girls standing on one side of the gym while the boys stand at the other no one brave enough to ask someone to dance. I felt awkward just watching them. Finally Ryan just started grabbing people and forcing them to dance with each other during the sweet (slow) songs. It ended up being a great time and the next day at church the youth in our ward said they had a great time. Hopefully they all got to dance with their crush to the longest slow song or the very last dance. OH how I would never wish to go back to Jr. High!

At the end of the night, after having convulsions thinking of myself in the youths position I think I did pretty good! I got to dance with my stud reminding me that all that practicing I had (or didn't have) in Jr. High was worth it!

Our First Garden

Ryan and I decided that we should try our hands at gardening since we're in a climate that can grow all year round. Luckily we have an empty lot right beside our house which is owned by the same family that owns our house. They gave us permission to plant and grow us some veggies. The ground was hard and covered with growth but we were told that they have used it to grow tomato's before and the soil is very good. We hired a guy to come clear and plough the land for us. Wow, did I ever feel so bad for that guy. It was so hot and sunny everyday he was out there and he stop every 5 minutes for a smoke break and to burn all the growth he cleared while the kids would watch his every move so curious about what exactly this guy was up to. He defiantly earned every peso he was paid!

Yesterday after dinner we went there as a family and started to sow our seeds putting the kids to work raking, planting and watering. Sydney couldn't be talked out of gardening in her princess shoes, Brayden was excited to go barefoot and Maddy just sat under the tree on a blanket watching the rest of us trying to eat my packets of seeds. So far we have planted yellow onions, red onions, lettuce, red radishes, broccoli and cucumbers. Tonight we'll get some potato's in the ground and we are thinking about trying to grow some peanuts. Our landlord mentioned they are really easy, low maintenance and they do really really well in this climate. Ryan also started some tomato's that we'll transfer once they are a decent size. When we woke up this morning the kids were so excited to go and water the garden and see if anything has started to grow yet. Hopefully they won't loose their interest before the radishes start to sprout!

Hair Rebonding

So living in a humid climate can really suck when you have a slight curl which causes frizz when worn straight and not enough curl to get a good bounce when left alone. I have tried many different types of hair products, gels, shampoo's, conditioners and I just couldn't get my hair to stay straight. Every time I went outside the moisture would frizz it up all nice and ugly. I decided that I would try hair rebonding. It's a chemical treatment that you apply to your hair that permanently changes the natural hair structure into something straight, shiny and sleek. A friend of mine referred me to her sister who used to work for a Philippine wide salon chain until she became a mom. Now she does the rebonding on her own time and she came to my home so I didn't have to find a sitter. The whole procedure took 6 hours! Could you imagine sitting in a salon chair for 6 hours, awful. First she applied the cream that changes the hair's structure, we rinsed it out after a while and she spent so much time ironing my hair to make sure every strand was perfectly straight. Then Shirley put in a cellophane treatment to treat my hair and give it some protection followed by a hair spa treatment.
So off she left me reminding me not to get my hair wet for a couple of days and to not put anything in my hair that would leave a kink (hair elastic or band) for 2 weeks. Well today was the true test.... shower day. I finally was able to get my hair wet and see if all that time was worth the effort! I got out of the shower, towel dried my hair, brushed it and let it dry.... to..... PERFECTION!

If any of you are here in the Bacolod and want someone who knows what they are doing for less then the salon fee let me know and I can let you know how to get in contact with Shirley. Like I said, she came to my home so I could watch my kids and have something to do while she worked her magic :D Thanks Shirley!

Happy Valentine's Day

This year for Valentines Day we kept it pretty simple. Ryan had bought these beautiful calla lillies and had them wrapped in blue because they were our wedding flower and blue was our colour. We went to church, ate some great BLT's for lunch and then went on a motorbike drive into the Island while the kids stayed home and played with some good friends of ours, the Regodos Family.
It was a hot day and since I know in the city it is now illegal to wear shorts and slippers (what they call flip flops) while on a motorbike I thought I'd ask Ryan if he thought it would be okay for me to wear whatever I'd like in the country. So off we go in our shorts and T-Shirts in the heat of the day to enjoy our scenic drive. Usually it's beautiful and green all over the place here but right now we are dealing with el nino (a HUGE drought) so all the rice fields were dried up and brown and the sugar cane also was looking a bit dry and not so green. Ryan mentioned that the Island directly north of us has small towns on it that are almost in a state of emergency because the wells are drying up and it's not even summer yet. The rains won't come now until the end of June/July. SO, maybe it's time to start buying up your sacs of rice now because if it's like this all over the Philippines or in other rice exporting countries there is going to be a big shortage this year and the prices are going to jump up. Apparently they are rising here already and I've been hearing people talking about how expensive it is.

Once we got to the top of the mountain things started to become vibrant again and we enjoyed the view and all the waves we received. I think one thing I love is watching the faces of the people as we drive by, the absolute shock, open mouth and big eyes and then when realization hits them that yes, there are in fact 2 young white people on that motorbike, a HUGE open grin appears on their face and a hand shoots up to wave and greet us. It's contagious and you can't help but return that huge grin with one of your own, especially when it's from a little child. We stopped at one point for some water and the view and then got back on for the trip home. There was one point when we were at the top of the mountain and the sun went behind the clouds that I really was wishing I had brought some pants. It was so cold I'm sure my nose was pink. OH! One thing we can't forget about was the crazy monkeys we saw just chained up on the side of the road at the side of the mountain. Two of them just hanging out.

Year of the Tiger

February 14, 2010 was the first day of in the year of the Tiger. Here in Bacolod there was a weekend celebration to bring in the New Year which included parades, fireworks, street dancing and of course a New Years Eve program. At the Lagoon, a city park with a huge Talapia pond, they had each of the 12 Chinese animals which represent a year all lit up with an explanation of personal characteristics a person would have born in that year. For example, I was born in 1980 putting me in the year of the monkey so I obviously am lively, likeable and witty. If you are curious about your Chinese animal sign you can always go here. You just have to find your year adn it will let you know your animal and from there you can read about your characteristics you have based on that animal. Not only are there 12 different animals that go in rotation but they alternate the different elements, for eg. earth or metal, to narrow down your personality. Have a look and see how well you match with your animal!

Being interested in how exactly they determine when the new year will occur (it has a different date every year) I ended up doing a bit of research. The Chinese New Year occurs on the second Full Moon of the Winter Solstice. Winter Solstice (according to Wikipedia) is when the earth's axial tilt it at it's furthest point from the sun and commonly known as midwinter. Well for midwinter it's feeling pretty warm and i'm defiantly not shovelling snow off my sidewalk.
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Why We Love Punta Bulata

On our Island we have a nice white beach resort that we repeatedly go to named Punta Bulata. It's only 3 1/2 hours drive south along the coast line which is really a beautiful drive filled with ocean views at times, sugarcane, rice fields, mango trees, banana trees, so many beautiful shades of green (am I making you jealous yet?). So when we needed to get out of town for a beach trip and we only had the weekend Punta Bulata it was. The staff is always so friendly and great with the kids, it's not busy at all and so we usually have the pool and beach to ourselves and they have this most yummy mushroom garlic chicken with rice dish that is making my mouth water now just thinking of it. The resort is a little out of the way so once you are there you don't really have much to do but relax and enjoy the sun.

So what do you do when there is nothing to do!? WELL, lots. The kids spent almost every waking moment in their swimsuits splashing around in the swimming pool or playing in the sandy beach. We were able to run after some baby crabs and catch them which Brayden would put into his sand bucket and watch it try to crawl out of his sand castle. You take strolls at night looking for and catching fireflies while looking at how bright the stars are up in the sky. You almost scream out loud when a massive bat dives at you from a tall coconut tree and you mistake it for a coconut about to land on your head, or you just lay around and take a catnap using the sun as your blanket to stay toasty warm.

In the mornings when the tide was out we would go for walks in the shallow water and look to find treasures. Usually all we would find would be sea urchins and star fish but for some reason things like that just never get old. Ryan went out snorkelling and got attacked by tiny jelly fish that left him stinging and one HUGE jelly that got him started home. Unfortunately during this snorkelling excursion our car keys were damaged and we were stuck at Punta Bulata an extra day. Poor Ryan had to squish into a hot bus to get home and get our second set of keys and drive back on his motorbike the next day to unlock our car so we could get home. Needless to say he more then enjoyed cruising at top speeds on his bike making the 3 1/2 hour trip in 2 hours! It was a nice trip and the sunburns were totally worth every second!

Sinulog Festival

On January 17, 2010 we thought that we would drive south on our Island a couple hours to Kabankalan for "A wild street party in La Carlota, Negros, in which dancers are daubed in black in honour of the island's Negrito people and a feast is held to honour Santo Nino (the child Jesus)." - The Lonely Planet WOW! Did the people there see our white faces as an excuse to smear their charcoal & oil mixture all over our faces, even poor Maddy was a target. By the end of the afternoon we all loaded into the hot car for the drive home after being physically harassed for hours by mobs of fans. We were so black the car seats were stained, the clothes were stained and Brayden was absolutely thrilled to be covered in dirt.

The festival consisted of people running up to you and smearing you with black paint, street dancing done by groups in beautifully coloured costumes and people trying to get your kids to buy a balloon, candy or toy. It was such a hot day too and we were still fresh off the plane and not ready for that kind of assault from the sun so we decided to head home soon after we went into the HOT HOT open field where the dance competition was going to be held. Plus Maddy was having a meltdown trying to deal with all the people in her personal space. Maybe now that we've been here a little bit now and summer is starting to show it's head I'll be able to last longer at our next festival adventure!

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.