A lovely bunch of coconuts

(Thank you to Joanna for the honor of being the first guest-blogger on Yogafrogspeaks. My posts will focus on the ongoing adventure that is our family)

      I live with 3 of the strangest, comical and most creative people you will ever meet, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There are so many little things they do that make me laugh, or swell my heart with joy and pride. It’s not the big gestures of love that get me (although they do), it’s the little moments of pure psychedelic pandemonium that happen out of the blue that impact me the most.

An example:

      We were driving home the other day from meeting my newborn niece, Kaden decides we need to have a family game show in the car. He takes on the role of host, asks the questions and says “the first person to say ‘slap’, gets to answer”, he begins with simple math questions and moves to general movie knowledge. Joanna and I find ourselves screaming “SLAP” at the top of our lungs as we compete to win the game, we constantly accuse each other of cheating and force Kaden to make the judgment as to who looses and wins the point. How impassioned we become about this game is a little frightening…. SLAP…… Brody, not to be outdone by the older people, starts interjecting with stories about when he was a baby...

Some exposition:

      Brody has decided that when he was a baby, he went on many adventures and did many things that the rest of us were apparently oblivious to. Some of the things Brody has done when he was a baby include: going to Toronto, living in California, riding with Terry Fox who is really Santa Claus and landing on the roof of our house and his leg turning into a deer… the adventures go on and on.

Back to our story:

      Quickly, our car-trivia game turns into “Question: When did Brody….(insert question) SLAP… Answer: When he was a baby(the answer, every time)….” By the time we pulled into the driveway my stomach hurt from laughing so hard and everyone had smiles from ear to ear. Those are the moments that connect me with my family, those are the moments you can’t plan for, but they are the ones I live for. That night as I checked on the kids before I went to bed, I sat on the edge of Brody’s bed and cried for a good five minutes. I see so much of myself in his love of fantasy and storytelling, I want to hold onto those elusive moments forever but I know I can’t and I just have to savor them as they come.

A lovely bunch of coconuts indeed,
Bryn

Just be Courteous

     This morning I set out for my run, the conditions were perfect, both kids are in school and the weather is beautiful today!  The sun is shining, it's going to be a warm day and I was able to wear shorts and a tank and got a good dose of Vitamin D.  Yay!  Where I go running there are lots of other people there too, other runners, walkers and strollers and some faces I see regularly.  There are also lots of people that walk their dogs there, I don't blame them it's a great place but it's not a dog park.   Deer Lake Park is a small lake in the middle of an urban setting but it's not safe for swimming.  It attracts a lot of wildlife observers and bird watchers and you can rent canoes or bring your own and enjoy a paddle on the lake.  Anyway back to my run, I enjoy running the trails in and around Deer Lake and love running up the 300 stairs that begin just south of the lookout tower and go all the way up to Oakland & Royal Oak but what really pisses me off is how many dog owners don't clean up after their dog!  It's diffucilt to enjoy my run because I have to keep my eyes on the ground for fear of stepping in dog shit.  Can't you just be courteous and do the right thing?  I realize that there are wild animals that live there too that probably drop a load or 2 on the trails but you can tell the wild animal poo from dog shit.  I mean you are there to walk your dog, it's not like you're caught off guard, you should come prepared and have bags with you and it's not like your dog can shit without you noticing, you have to stop and wait for them -or you're supposed to (btw dogs are supposed to be on a leash at all times but if we can make a deal on the shit I'll let the leash thing slide)!  At the very least get a stick and move it off the trail!  As I stated earlier it's not a dog park and I don't want to run through your dog's litter box, please and thank you, if you could just be courteous and pick up after your dog.  I'm not a dog owner so I'm not going to pretend to be understanding, it's your responsibility and the parks are for EVERYONE, not just you and your dog shit disposal!

Tomorrow my son's school (about 1200 elementary school students) will be heading down to Deer Lake for their annual Terry Fox Run I bet most of them will trample in dog shit.  What would Terry Fox say?

Disclaimer: I have nothing against dogs and no dogs were hurt in the process of this post.  I understand that not all dog owners are irresponsible and you know who you are because you always choose to do the right thing for the greater good of parks and humanity.  Peace Out.

Guest Blogger

I have invited a guest blogger to write on my blog.  So stay tuned to find out more about who it is and what they'll be blogging about. 
I know I can't wait :)

The Most Fab & Elite Book Club

     There are 4 of us in The Most Fab & Elite Book Club.  It's not that we're elitists but we like things the way we like them and in order to do that we decided to keep our club small and the rules loose and relaxed.  We started our little book club maybe 2.5-3 years ago as a way to get together with friends and stay connected and the books were a good reason to do it.  We are very relaxed about the rules as I said above and if one of us doesn't finish reading their book we're ok with it.  At meetings we sometimes don't even discuss the books!  Which means it's probably a good idea that we don't have other people in our book club because they'd quickly get frustrated and I'm guessing want to kick us out of our own club.  So why do we have a book club?  Well, it's been 2 years since our last meeting (I know: shocking!).  I thought it was about time we got together.  I got the ball rolling, sent messages to everyone via facebook and we set up a meeting for tonight, we're going out for dinner to The Cactus Club.  We all got busy going in our own direction with our lives and families, life just has a way of working out that way.  The original intention of the book club was as an outlet for us to get together and hangout, it was more important to meet then it was to discuss the books so that why we were so relaxed on the rules, we didn't want any pressure.  I am so grateful to have these ladies in my life and can't wait to hang with them whether these books get discussed or not. 

Sunday Beans

     Today seems to have turned into a kitchen day.  You know, one of those days you spend cooking and whipping up some elaborate dishes.  Well I don't know how elaborate my cooking is today but as soon as I came downstairs I started cooking.  Maybe it all started last night right before bed because I had to soak my beans.  I soaked one cup of chickpeas and 2 cups of black beans with the intent to make hummus and black bean soup.  Bryn's brother and his wife just had a baby last week and I promised that I would stop by on my way home from work on Tues to drop some food off for them, ya I'm that nice.  So more then half of the soup will go to their house and I doubt there will be enough hummus left to take by Tues.  I hope they like beans because I'm planning to make a batch of baked beans tomorrow too.
     I'm really excited about the hummus because I haven't had any in a long time.  I bought these delicious wheat free, gluten free crackers made from rice and seeds and I think they'll taste great with the hummus. They're called Mary's Gone Crackers herb flavour.  I was never a fan of hummus until I started making it myself, I think my hummus is the best if I do say so myself.  Here's my version...

Joanna's Hummus
I really love the lemony flavour and always get rave reviews from family and friends.  This recipe halves perfectly when you only need a small portion.

4C canned (drained) or cooked drained chickpeas
2 lemons, zested and juiced
4 tbsp tahini
1/4 -1/2 C olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 tsp cumin
salt & fr gr pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in the food processor, just use 1/4 C olive oil at first you can add more as your mixing it, and give it a whiz until desired consistency adding more oil if needed.

Playdough Saves the Day

     Today Kaden had a Pro-D day (professional development for the teachers) and Brody was supposed to go to school but had a runny nose and I kept him home.  I was looking forward to having time with Kaden on our own but on days like these you gotta roll with it.  We were also planning on an afternoon playdate with a group of kids that Kaden knows from school, at the beach.  It turned out to be a rainy day and Brody was sick so the beach was out.  We were snuggled in for the day and at about 10am I made a batch of playdough.  The boys were very excited to help out and took turns putting the ingredients into the pot.  It took about 5mins to make and they both agreed the playdough should be green.  After it was all kneaded and ready for them I cut it in half and handed them each their green treasure.  They were both surprised at how warm it was and cooled it by gently blowing on it.  They played with it for 2 hours until they got hungry for lunch, ate their lunch and then went back to playing with the playdough for the rest of the day.  It was a very successful Friday in spite of all the obstacles and detours from our plans.

Playdough Recipe

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pot. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a clump.  Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Playdough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

Halfway There!

Today marks my halfway point with the blog challenge!  OK so I missed 2 days and if I hadn't, yesterday would have been my 15th post but I can make up my own rules along the way if I want to.  I'm still here and I'm still posting.  So here's to the next 2 weeks and all my upcoming thoughts!

Easy Week for Kaden

This week is an unusual week for me and the kids.  Wednesday and Thursday are early dismissal for Kaden, he gets out at 1:30pm because of parent-teacher interviews and Friday is a pro-d day.  Brody still has pre-school which will be interesting and fun to have Kaden for a few hours all on my own without him being sick!  Not sure what we'll do yet, I guess it depends on the weather.

Blog Fail

I guess it's fair to say that I have failed my challenge of writing in my blog everyday for 30 days.  I just skipped like 2 days!  I have been busy focusing on work things and to be honest I ran out of things to write about.  I never expected that typing out my resume would take so long and making flyers for my teen yoga class had quite the learning curve.  It was a busy weekend too, I was at a Pilates workshop on sunday.  It was really great and very informative, the teacher was absolutely wonderful.  I think the best thing about the workshop was that I realized that I don't want to take the mat certification course to become a Pilates instructor!  Yay!  Saved a bundle of money there.  Maybe at another time.

Thoughts on Life

     I personally feel that sometimes we give the word need too much power.  We need people in our lives to learn and grow, we are all equal and we learn from and teach each other all the time.  In my opinion, we need to have a deep connection and unconditional love with ourselves before we can really connect with and love another human...it would be nice if we could be whole or fulfilled or just at peace with who we are and who we are not, so we can have nurturing relationships that are fulfilling and balanced.  Without inner peace, relationships can become needy or dysfunctional or just plain drama.  This is one of the many reasons I love yoga as it aids the inner journey toward the soul and fosters the feelings of peace and happiness.

Namaste

Dusted off the Runners

     After about a 3 week hiatus today is my first day back to running.  That's right 3 weeks!  I can't believe I allowed that much time to pass.  I think when we returned from our last holiday of the summer from Kelowna I was just feeling a little depressed about transitioning into our school routine, then I started the master cleanse and decided not to exercise while fasting, then one day lead into the next and here I am 3 weeks later!  It felt great to run today but man, I hope that I'm able to keep it up because I don't want to have to start up again, today was a difficult run.  I did it!  I really enjoy running around Deer Lake it's so peaceful and I always look forward to running up the 300 stairs from the trails back up to Oakland and Royal Oak.  One other thing I was looking forward to was using my ipod, I love my new ipod nano that Bryn bought for me when I lost old one.  Did I mention that he's the nicest guy I know?  Well there's one of the reasons right there.  When I lost my ipod I realized how much I enjoy having music and how important it is for my running experience because without it I feel like I'm dragging my heels and I lose a big percent of my motivation, also I strategically create my playlists for my running just like I do for my yoga classes.  Music for the warm up, the middle part and then up beat motivating ones for 3/4 of the way through that help push me to get to the end, then the wind down songs for the end of the run.  I'm so happy to have finally gotten back into the groove and can't wait until my next run.

My Playlist:
Birthday -The Sugarcubes
She Bangs the Drums -The Stone Roses
What I Got -Sublime cover by 311
Rock That Body -BEPs
Do You Wanna Dance -The Ramones
Rivers of Babylon -Sublime
Rainbow -G.Love feat. Jack Johnson
Times Like These (acoustic) -Foo Fighters
All For You -Sister hazel
Runaround -Blues Traveler
Middle of Nowhere -Hot Hot Heat
Badfish/Boss DJ -Jack Johnson
Wondering Where the Lions Are -Donavon Frankenreiter
Walk Away -Ben harper

Unofficially, Official

     I have been playing with my food for the last few weeks and trying to figure out a new healthier lifestyle.  I did the master cleanse earlier this month and afterward I decided I couldn't go back to the same diet I was eating.  So after easing out of the cleanse into solid foods again I started experimenting and researching.  So far I have been eating very close to what is called a "yeast-free diet" which basically means no wheat, no caffeine and no sugar, even hidden sugars.  So what am I left with?  There are lots of other options out there and I am loving my food again.  I have to admit that my head is spinning a little with all the research I have been doing and all the recipes and experiments I have tried in the last few weeks.  Do I go vegetarian, vegan or become a raw-foodist or follow an Atkins style diet, like my husband?  Well I believe that today I have started to make some decisions on my future eating habits so I feel confident to announce that I am now a vegetartian who cannot give up cheese but plans to eat 50-75% raw food.  So I guess that technically makes me a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, I enjoy having a fun label for myself and I'm going to try and use it in a sentence.  :)
     I invite you to follow me along my journey into this new phase of nourishment because I'm sure it will give me lots of interesting things to write about.

Smallest's First Day

Today was Brody's first day of pre-school, he was really excited.  But I don't think he was as excited as I was.  This year he has a friend in his class which is wonderful and he doesn't have to latch onto Kaden and his friends.  He's creating a little bond that is all his own.  He had a good day, as far as I can tell because all I did was drop him off and pick him up uneventfully.  So what did I get up to while my little monkey was in school?  I will never tell but I will say this, I did enjoy myself.

Should we say Yes?

     Our older son, Kaden, has repeatedly asked us if he can get a pet.  We have been able to avoid getting a pet so far.  He's now 7 and I have no doubt that he would love having a pet but and there's always a but there, I don't love the idea of my son getting a pet.  I am not an avid animal lover and I don't want to clean up after one.  Luckily my husband and possibly younger son is allergic to dogs and cats so that's obvious we can't get those.  We did try a fish tank for a while but that didn't work out the way we'd hoped, you can't really bond with a fish.  Kaden is a clever boy and he's now asking for a hamster, I did a little research and what I've read has lead me to thinking guinea pigs make a better pet for kids then hamsters.  He is really excited and I do believe that he deserves to have his very own pet, I think he'd be great with a pet, I do want to get him a pet but and here's the but...I don't want a pet, I don't want an animal living in our home, I don't want to clean up after it, I don't want to smell the cage.  If he wasn't asking we wouldn't be considering it.  So we're faced with a dilemma and we'll have to do the research to see how much work is involved....we'll see.

The Mall Crowd

    Today I had to run some errands and that usually means going to the mall.  The mall is a good place to start when I need something because it's the best chance I have of finding what I'm looking for and added bonus it's close enough to walk.  The down side of going to the mall is the "mall crowd".  I'm not talking about how busy the mall is because it doesn't matter if the mall is busy or quiet these people always find me.  When I go to the mall during a weekday morning or afternoon I have my youngest son with me and he's now big enough to walk there and back so no stroller.  And because I have a child with me and we hold hands I have to navigate around the mall and in the stores with him, for the most part, attached to me.  How do the mall people fit into this well you know the ones I'm talking about, they are usually adults and they don't watch where they are going, they rush out of stores without looking and bump into passers by in the mall.  Or they veer off their path right in front of you and cut you off...or they do a combination, like veering to one side but not looking where they're going and I honestly can't move quick enough to get out of their way because I have a small child attached to me, so I stop and wait as they pass by in their blind oblivion.  There have been occasions where we have been bumped into but usually they notice at the last moment and have a bit of shock on their face but I bet if they had been paying attention to where they were going they would've seen it coming too.

DeBeck's Trail

Or "Shwa" Girl goes for a Mountain Hike.

This summer we took the kids camping and our first camping trip was to Alice Lake campgrounds in Squamish, BC.  We had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back next year, the campground facilities were well maintained and the hiking trails were wonderful with lots of varying levels of difficulty.  Here is my experience attempting to hike DeBeck's Trail one evening after dinner.

This is what's written in the brochure:
    "The DeBeck's Hill Trail is approximately 3 km round trip. This is a fairly strenuous hike as it climbs 274 metres from the trailhead. The trail access is from the parking lot at the south beach area. Walk past the yellow gate and there is a small sign at the beginning of the trail. Go to the right and follow the old logging road up the hill. This road will take you to the high point above and outside of Alice Lake Park.
    As you hike up the hill you will come across an old steam donkey once used for yarding logs. At the top of DeBeck's Hill you will find a spectacular view of the ice-capped Tantalus Range to the west and Mount Garibaldi to the east. The Squamish River also winds its way down the valley floor."

I was stoked, I wanted to see that Tantalus Range and take lots of pictures to show everyone.  We had just finished dinner and everything was cleaned up so I told Bryn I was going for a walk and headed out.  It was a lovely 10 min walk on the trail that wraps around Alice Lake then I found the start of the DeBeck's trail and began my ascent up the old logging road toward the Tantalus Range.  As I'm making my way up I'm taking notice of all the wonderful scenery around me, the trees and rock walls...I'm also noticing all the old logs and stumps that look strangely like wild animals lurking in the shadows.  Lions, tigers & bears...oh my!  I'm telling myself to put that out of my head, don't be silly. 
"Did you just hear that?" my conscious asks
"Yes, it was the trees creaking in the wind."
"Are you sure, it sounded like rustling I think it's a bear!" my conscience is starting to spook me now!
"No, no, I'm sure it was the wind.  Look up at the trees, they're swaying in the wind.  SEE!  It's just the trees."
     So I start trying to think realistically and rationally here.  What's the worst that could happen?  But unfortunately paranoia had already set in.  Every noise I hear is a bear wanting to eat me for their dinner, after all I must taste delicious because I've already eaten mine!  I fight the inner voices and continue my way up the logging road.  Then I realize I didn't tell Bryn where I was going and thought if something was to happen to me he would have no idea where I was and I would have no way of contacting him either.  I knew that his phone was off or the battery had died (because we were camping after all).  Maybe I should call someone else, just in case, to let them know where I am but who do you call?  How would that conversation go without sounding paranoid.  So I have a fake conversation in my head just to see how it sounds and make sure I don't sound nuts.  I decided not to make the phone call.  Right, Sandi?  My fake conversation in my head was so convincing that I kept making my way up the hill because fake Sandi was now telling me how ridiculous I'm being.
"What, you're not going up to the top because of fake animal sounds?" asks fake Sandi
"But Sandi it's so scary, I see shadows and they look like lurking bears!" is my weak reply.
"That's ridiculous, what are you going to do?  Go back down to the bottom without seeing your view or get your butt up to the top!" fake Sandi says in her stern Mom voice.
     See even fake Sandi thinks I'm being ridiculous.  So I keep going and it just gets scarier as I go and at the next corner I tell myself that if there's nothing around that corner but more road I'm turning around!  So I do that for 3 more corners then decided I had enough as the trees swaying was starting to make a bigger and louder noises.  I start my decent back down the logging road and quickly pick up the pace.  I pretty much run my way down to the bottom because I'm still completely spooked.  Then I turn my next corner and BAM!  I nearly have a heart attack as I run into a man and his bike!  I had spooked myself so much that I jumped and screamed a little when I ran into that guy.  He was very apologetic and said he didn't mean to frighten me (oh, damn, was it that obvious).  Then he asked if I had seen a cougar?  What, you got to be kidding me, now I have to worry about cougars too?

For the rest of the camping trip I regretted not making it all the way to the top and didn't get my pictures!  I vow that next year when we go camping there, I will make it to the top of DeBeck's trail...even if it kills me.

What's for dinner?

     Today is Saturday which means I have lots of time to focus on making a healthful dinner.  In light of my new changes in eating habits I am going to attempt to make one of my family's favourite meals but with an alternative healthy spin.  The meal is Spaghetti with Meatballs and the recipe I'm using is titled Spaghetti with No-Meat Balls, I'm also subbing the spaghetti with brown rice pasta.  The "meatballs" are primarily made of mushrooms and tofu.  This will be interesting and we'll see if Brody will quite his job of "eating stuff" today.  The recipe looks delicious and has received wonderful reviews and some reviewers claiming to be meat eaters said it was delicious and didn't even miss the meat.  It would be nice if I could get a second meal out of the recipe too, for those night we're in a rush to get to karate.  I'll try the recipe and if it's a success then I will gladly post it and add any changes I made to personalize it...and if it's a flop then the recipe is not worthy of my blog and I'll never speak of it again.

Wish me luck...

So here we are hours later and dinner is over...huge success!!!  The meal was delicious and the best part was how my kids gobbled up the no-meat balls, one after another.  They didn't even notice that the spaghetti wasn't regular wheat pasta and that there was no meat in the meal.  I didn't miss those things either.  I will definitely be adding the recipe (click the link to go directly to Yummy Eats)

Hi, I'm new...

     I think it's fair to say that I have no idea what I'm doing.  This is my first blog and I know that I'm not much of a writer.  I'm hoping that in time I will get better and improve, my goal is to be somewhat entertaining.  About 3 months ago my husband challenged me to start a blog and part of that challenge was to write one post every day for 30 days.  Today is my third post, yay me!  In this blog I will write about things that interest and entertain me, which for the most part, but not limited to, is my family.  Some other favourite topics will include food and nutrition, yoga and related topics and also running.
     I've been practicing yoga for 14 years and teaching teen yoga classes for 8 years.  Before I started practicing yoga I studied Western Herbal Medicine with an interest in Holistic Nutrition.  I really enjoy cooking and baking.  I love many different cultures of cuisine and am always looking for healthy and delicious recipes, right now I am experimenting with a yeast-free diet with a focus towards raw foods.  I'm not saying I'm committing to cutting any one specific food group out of my diet but if there is one that should be cut out it's SUGAR.  I'll do my best but can't make any promises.  I have been running on and off for almost 20 years...well, mostly off -I admit it.  Since I found yoga I haven't really needed to run so it took a back shelf to my yoga practice but in the last couple years running has made a come back in my life and I've been truly enjoying it, especially while we've been on vacation this past summer.  So that's pretty much me in a nut shell and the just of what you'll be reading about...see you tomorrow.

Almost there.

     Our Son, Kaden, goes to the biggest elementary school in BC and because of this it takes the school a week to figure out all the class placements.  Once all the numbers are in they are better able to divide the kids up.  I'm sure this is very stressful for the teachers too as they don't know what grades they'll be teaching either.

     Today, the second day into the family groupings, I found out that Kaden may be placed in another split class, this year grades 2/3.  He is in Grade 2 this year and last year was in a 1/2 split and did very well.  I'm not sure how I feel about it but will see how the cards fall.  The teacher of the 2/3 split is a male teacher and I think it's great for Kaden to have the experience of that, he believes that men can't be teachers even though his father is a high school teacher.  We find out tomorrow what their final placement will be!  I think I'm more excited about it then Kaden -all he cares is if his friend will be in the class with him.

Today is the day of change

Today my oldest son starts his first day of Grade 2 and it happens he has lost his first tooth!  With him out of the house I am able to focus on other things like myself!  I am attempting to change my diet.  I'm not exactly sure what the end result will be but I am cutting out sugar and yeast forming foods.  Low-carb, no sugary type things.  High fiber and whole grains (other then whole wheat) and lots of raw foods.  It shouldn't be a stretch since my husband is already eating low carb and no sugar for over 10 years and I'm confident I'll be able to do.  We have always had a relatively healthy diet but in the last year we turned to a lot of convenience foods and processed foods.  So with the start of the new school year I am making a change in my family's diet and vow to a healthier life.