Blaise the Break Dancer

Busy as a Milk Man:)

We have been so crazy busy since last weekend and the arrival of the RWCC team here! It's wonderful to see their smiling familair faces and to visit with them. They also brought us a huge hockey bag full of gifts - very sweet. Zaak is with the group in Tikal right now and Blaise and were going to go too, but he has another cold so I decided we'd stay home and rest. I'm trying to figure out why he always seems to be sick with something! Is it the climate here, is it the food, or is it just the fact that he's a toddler and susceptible to every germ he encounters? I'm reading on the net to see if perhaps the unpasteurized goats milk is making him get cold more but so far I'm only finding 1.) Don't drink it because of the chances of diseases and 2.) That kids have less allergies and are healthier in general. Slightly opposing views huh. So maybe I'll start boiling his milk - I don't know.
Any wisdom or knowledge in this area is most welcome. P.S. We leave for Canada in only 8 days from tomorrow! Yippee!

This Is Us

It was our 6 year wedding anniversary Sunday. We went out for a wonderful meal - a delicious feast of steak, chicken, potatoes, corn, and fresh bread all brought out to us on this little grill. Dessert was a decadent piece of kahlua cake and a perfect cup of coffee. We strolled around the beautiful grounds a bit after eating too, admiring the giant goldfish and birds of paradise flowers. The best part of the meal though was sharing it with Zaak. I can't believe how I love him more and more as time goes by. I'm so glad I married such a thoughtful, handsome, fun, kind and generous man. I look forward to many more adventures as we go through life together. I am and always will be, completely enamored with Zaak Che Robichaud.

No Peudo Creerlo! (I Can't Believe It)

I finally decided to start drving again today. Since my wallet (with my license in it) was stolen in March I haven't been driving anywhere except around town here in Tactic. If I needed to go to Coban (the nearest big centre) I would get Zaak or my friend Ruth to drive. Zaak was going to be gone all day so I asked my neighbor Priscila if she wanted to go to Coban with me. I'd never been stopped by the police before with Zaak or Ruth driving, so I figured what are the chances? Plus I can always play the "no hablo espanol" card. So we're happily toodling along to Coban when we see there's a police checkstop ahead. No problem, they usually just pull over trucks with cargo. Much to my chagrin, one of the policemen signals US to pull over. I could not believe it. The first time I have driven since having my license stolen in March, and I get pulled over. So he asked for the car registration and my license. Priscilla explained that I had my license stolen, and I explained how I was going back to Canada to visit and get a new license there. I handed him my passport with what I hoped was my most winning smile. He studied my passport and the registration for a few minutes behind the car, while Priscila and I tried to stifle our nervous giggles. Finally he returned my documents and wished us a happy trip. Phewf! I am very thankful that he didn't hassle me or give me a fine. And I'm looking forward to having my new license soon.

Insomniac

Ironic that my last post was about a lullabye, as I'm having difficulty getting to sleep lately. I don't know what it is! I've always been a bit of a sensitive sleeper (Zaak will heartliy agree with that) - I like the room really dark, no music playing, not too many blankets, and cool air. But the thing is I am totally exhausted from getting up at night with Blaise who has a cold. So I go to bed early, read, journal, relax and then turn out my lamp to sleep. And I lay there, still awake when Zaak comes to bed an hour later! It's very frustrating. I wonder what I am doing or not doing? Zaak keeps teasing me about having a guilty conscience about something but I can't think of anything. I don't have any caffeine during the day and I don't eat too late. The only thing I can think of is that I could be excercising more, but how do you find the energy to excercise when your dead tired from not sleeping? So if you have any good advice for me about getting to sleep there folks, bring it on. My last resort is to try some of the Melatonin pills that a team left here.

All Bound for Morningtown

I finally tracked down the lyrics to the childrens song "Morningtown Ride." (I only knew it as "Morningtown") When the twins and I were little we sang this for some kind of talent show at the Hazelton SDA School. I remember my Mom being irked because our friend Tina, who sang all by herself, was louder than the 3 of us were. Funny. I want to get Zaak to figure out the chords for me and learn how to play it for Blaise and all my babies to come:) It really is a sweet lullabye.

Morningtown Ride
Words and Music by Malvina Reynolds Performed by The Seekers (1966)

Train whistle blowin', makes a sleepy noise
Underneath their blankets go all the girls and boys
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Driver at the engine, Fireman rings the bell
Sandman swings the lantern to say that all is well
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Maybe it is raining where our train will ride
All the little trave'lers are warm and snug in-side
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Somewhere there is sunshine, somewhere there is day
Somewhere there is Morningtown, many miles a-way
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Rain Rain and More Rain

So if you think we live in a hot tropical paradise - think again! The area we live in is called "The Land of Eternal Spring" for good reason! SInce May we have had rain almost every day or night. It feels like we live in Vancouver! Or what I imagine Vancouver life to be like, since people always complain about the rain. We have this neat program on our computer that shows the temperatures for almost anywhere in the world and here were the temp's one day last week:
Edmonton - 33 degrees
Montreal - 27
Smithers - 26
Squamish - 25
Cap-Pele - 21
Tactic - 18
So if you come to visit us - bring your rain slicker and a nice cozy sweater!

An Afternoon Photo-Shoot

I don't seem to take as many photos of Blaise as I used to, not sure why. So today after getting back from lunch with Rita, Blaise was already up from his nap (and thankfully content with finding Jonny here and not me); I grabbed the camera. I got some great shots of him but a lot of them are of him trying to get the camera from me:) He is so much fun these days! He can give me "cinco" (high five) and is getting braver about walking on his own. We're going to go and run some errands here after Blaise finishes his snack (of whole-wheat crackers, peanut butter and grated apple).

International Man of Mischief:)

Odds and Ends

I saw a lady biking through town the other day with her baby, asleep, in the basket on the front of the bike! I love how little things can still amaze me after living here almost a year now. Blaise tried pizza and kiwis for the first time this week and loves them both; last night he ate an entire kiwi for his dessert. Zaak is in Antigua for two nights with the team from Stony Plain so Blaise and I are holding down the fort. I've been trying to watch movie trailers tonight but they are taking forever to load! I think I'll just go to bed:)

Happy 1st Birthday Blaise!

Yesterday was Blaise's birthday, and he had a good time I think:) We had a qiuet morning just the two of us, then in the afternoon when he got up from his nap he opened his presents from our Canadian freinds and family. He is quite tickled with his new toys, especially the toy phone from Kurt and the toy hammer that goes with the Bob the Builder book from Ken and Luana. I'm hapy about the new clothes he got because he really needs bigger clothes! (Thanks Dean and Saison, Carl and Mish, Paul and Tash, and James and Amy). At 4 pm Blaise's party got underway and wow we had a lot of guests! We think over 60 people showed up, which is pretty good since we invited about that:) Blaise still has a whack of gifts to open from all our friends here, because we were too tired last night and wanted to get Blaise and ourselves to bed. So our baby boy is no longer a baby - he's a toddler. Hard to believe! We're so thankful for this year we've enjoyed seeing Blaise grow - what a joy he is to our lives!

Cry Cry Smile

Tonight at church I was sitting in the same row as a Mom who went to the front for prayer after the sermon. She left her daughter, who had been peacefully slumbering against her Mama most of the service, on her chair. As she left the little girl stirred and opened her sleepy big eyes, which I thought nothing of as I glanced over at her. A couple of minutes later I looked over again and the little girl (she must have been 3 or 4) was crushing her shirt into her crying little face! So I edged over to her and patted her arm, telling her that her Mom would be back soon. She kept her face hidden in her shirt and the crying didn't cease. So I put my arm around her and then stroked her hair - didn't help. Finally I took her onto my lap and her crying turned into sobbing. I also gave her one Blaise's whole wheat crackers and she kept it clutched in her hand, not eating it. So I tell her again that her Mom is going to come back; the sobbing only crescendos. I carry her close to where her Mom is and she seems to fall back asleep in my arms so I just stand and hold her. At the end of the service her Mom sees me and is surprised that I am carrying her daughter. I tell her she was sad and crying, so she thanks me and I give the little girl to her Mom. I look down at my shirt, wet with tears and snot, and smile.

A Gardeners Gold-Mine

My lovely neighbor Priscilla (pronounced "Pree-see-la" en espanol) took me yesterday to a wonderful little store here in Tactic. It was sort of a pharmacy but also had SEEDS! Boxes and boxes crammed with flower and herb seeds! Since we moved here I have been wanting to grow some sweet peas and they had some. I also bought sunflowers, poppies and hollyhocks - all some of my favorites, as well as some herbs and lettuce. I'm so excited to plant them all and see them grow. It's a bit of a crime to not be growing things here when the climate is mild enough to grow plants year-round. So I'll keep you updated on how my garden grows:) I sometimes wonder what my passions in life are besides my relationships with God, family and friends. Then I get into growing things and I can hardly sleep I'm so excited:) There's just something about working with dirt and seeing things grow, it's good for the soul I think.

Scrub a dub dub...

Three little hoodlums in the tub! I see so much of Blaise in each of our faces! He's got Alanna's nose, April's mischievous grin (and teeth) and my chin.

Canada Day

This is Blaise's first Canada Day outside of the womb. Too bad we couldn't celebrate with fireworks and the like, although he probably would have been afraid of them. (He started crying when he was near a rooster that crowed the other day). So I tried to think of something to do today to celebrate but it's hard when everyone around us doesn't give a rip. Not that I blame them, I certainly wasn't interested in Guatemala Day (if there is one) when I lived in Canada. Last year we watched fireworks from our balcony in Spruce Grove with Brian, Karel, Meena and Angie - that was fun. I'd love to hear about everyone else's festivities today...

My Husband - FilmMaker Extraordinaire

I am so proud of Zaak! His bike trip documentary has been accepted into the Montreal International Film Festival! I've known for awhile now that he's incredibly talented and now the rest of the world will too. What a dream come true. So in two months we will be headed for Canada's best city, to celebrate the world premiere of Zaak's film with my sister and our friends there. I can hardly wait! I've started excercising in earnest now so that I can wear something fabulous to the premiere:) April will help me out with that I'm sure. All the hours of playing with, feeding, and changing Blaise so Zaak could work on the film have paid off. He couldn't have done it without me - I take full credit for the big help that I was:)

Mmmm - food!

We were ravenous after our strenuous hike so stopped for supper on our way home. I ordered what I thought was going to be just soup with tamales, but ended up getting this huge chunk of turkey meat in the deal! Blaise is looking rather enviously at it but all he would have done is slung it across the restaurant, so I didn't share it with him. My calves are wicked sore today, two days after the hike but the excercise was good for me. Zaak's mom brought me a skipping rope (on my request) so I want to start doing some cardio with that. I love walking and hiking but the highway is not a very enjoyable place to walk and taking Blaise in his stroller up the mountain and back is a bit more of a challenge than I'm up to. So I'll skip:)

Pit Stop for a Bum Change:)

How badly do you need a bathroom?

These two outhouses were what we encountered on our trek to the highest waterfalls in Central America this past weekend. Pretty funny, especially the one with the view:) None of us used them but I looked in the one with walls and decided I could wait. Funny how the conditions of the facilties determines if you can wait or not:) Also we saw lots of little lizards on the hike and I had visions of them crawling on me - not cool.

Fathers Day Breakie

I think Blaise is looking more and more like Zaak all the time.