So Wednesday, he comes home from school and tells me that he gave his two free tickets to his friend Jason who had also won a pair of hockey tickets.  Matthew knew that there were 3 in Jason’s family.  He gave them his pair of tickets and asked if he could be the fourth person and go with them.  He created a win-win situation, they didn’t have to buy an extra ticket and he got to go with them too.  How could I say no.  He deserved to go, needless to say, they all had a great time.  So proud of him, being able to arrange a winning situation.

Look how wide the slides are.

Across the river in Gatineau, there are the winter slides in Jacque Cartier park. There was a family slide where a group of people slide down together on their bums.  It was tons of fun.  We linked arms and slid down together.

Everyone waiting patiently in line

There was also an obstacle course set up by the army.  Of course the kids had to take part in that.  They had such a blast, they had to do push ups before they began and all of them did 20 without any problems.  This is right up their alley.

Andrew doing push ups!

Matthew on the obstacles course

Natalie on the obstacles course

After that we took the snow bus back downtown, laced up and skated along the Rideau canal.  We skated the 6km from downtown all the way to Dow’s lake.  The kids complained all the way but they had an incentive.  A “beaver’s tail” at the end of the skate.  I think they did really awesome and the “beaver tails” taste so yummy after all that exercise!!

We all made it to the 6km mark on our skates.

One nice thing about taking the bus was the ability to just hope on another bus and head home.  We didn’t have to go back downtown to get the vehicle.  This weekend we will be heading out to Winterlude again as we missed the ice sculptures at Confederation park and the photo gallery on Dow’s lake.  Might as well take advantage of all these great opportunities to enjoy the city.

I did a google search and found numerous articles but really enjoyed this one, it explain simply what it was, the health hype and whether I should reduce gluten in my diet. Here is the article from www.womenshealthmag.com.

Is Gluten Bad for You?

Before you hop on the bandwagon, read this

By Karen Ansel, R.D.

Chelsea Clinton’s wedding got a lot of press play for the gorgeous locale, the esteemed guests, and her beautiful dress. But what also took the cake in terms of media coverage was, well, the cake. The gluten-free cake.

Just 10 years ago, barely anyone knew what the word gluten meant, let alone gave any thought to avoiding it. But now gluten-free diet menus are all the rage, and high-profile stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Weisz, and Victoria Beckham have been linked to the gluten-free lifestyle, which is said to contribute to increased energy, thinner thighs, and reduced belly bloat.

What It Is, Exactly
Gluten is a protein found in the grains wheat, barley, and rye. Most of us unknowingly love it, because gluten gives our favorite foods that special touch: It makes pizza dough stretchy, gives bread its spongy texture, and is used to thicken sauces and soups.

Gluten-free eating has a basis in science, and it does help a genuine health problem. To people with a chronic digestive disorder called celiac disease, gluten is truly evil: Their bodies regard even a tiny crumb of it as a malicious invader and mount an immune response, says Alessio Fasano, M.D., medical director of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research in Baltimore. Problem is, this immune reaction ends up damaging the small intestine, which causes both great gastrointestinal distress and nutritional deficiencies. If untreated, these responses can then lead to intestinal cancers as well as complications such as infertility and osteoporosis.

Experts once thought celiac disease was a rare disorder, believed to affect one in every 10,000 people. But an Archives of Internal Medicine study in 2003 suggests that celiac disease is far more prevalent than anyone had suspected, affecting one in 133 Americans. With increased testing and awareness, more people realized why they felt sick after eating a piece of bread, and food companies discovered a new market.

Now another problem is emerging, and experts are referring to it as nonceliac gluten sensitivity. Gluten sensitivity can lead to similar celiac symptoms such as stomach cramps, diarrhea, and bloating. But unlike celiac, sensitivity doesn’t damage the intestine. For years, health professionals didn’t believe nonceliac gluten sensitivity existed, but experts are beginning to acknowledge that it may affect as many as 20 million Americans, says Fasano.

The Health Hype
Thanks to the increase in diagnosed celiac and gluten sensitivity cases, and the corresponding uptick in foods marketed to sufferers, “gluten-free diets have emerged from obscurity, and now the pendulum has swung completely in the other direction,” says Fasano. And with this popularity push, people have latched on to avoiding gluten as a cure-all for many conditions aside from celiac, including migraines, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. While some have found relief, that doesn’t mean a gluten free diet will work in all cases.

And then there’s the idea that a gluten-free existence is the ticket to speedy weight loss. But, says Mark DeMeo, M.D., director of gastroenterology and nutrition at the Adult Celiac Disease Program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, “there’s nothing magical about a gluten-free diet that’s going to help you lose weight.” What’s really at work: Gluten-free dining can seriously limit the number of foods you can eat. With fewer choices, you’re a lot less likely to overeat, says Shelley Case, R.D., author of Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide and a medical advisory board member for the Celiac Disease Foundation.

But it can backfire too, because gluten-free doesn’t mean fat-free or calorie-free.

“Without gluten to bind food together, food manufacturers often use more fat and sugar to make the product more palatable,” says Case. Consider pretzels: A serving of regular pretzels has about 110 calories and just one gram of fat. Swap them for gluten-free pretzels and you could get 140 caloriesand six grams of fat.

Should You Go Gluten-Free?
If you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, the answer is easy: Yes, you have to. But if you just want to give the diet a spin, know this: It’s a giant pain in the butt. Giving up gluten may sound as basic as cutting out bread or eating less pasta, but this isn’t just another version of the low-carb craze. Because gluten makes foods thick and tasty, it is added to everything from salad dressing to soy sauce to seasonings.

Besides the hassle, you can end up with serious nutritional deficiencies. “Gluten-free doesn’t necessarily equal healthy, especially when people yank vitamin-enriched and wholegrain foods from their diets and replace them with gluten free brownies,” says Case. In fact, research suggests that those who forgo gluten may be more likely to miss out on important nutrients such as iron, B vitamins, and fiber.

This is where careful meal planning comes in, which may explain why some people feel so good when they go G-free: They’re eating real food instead of ultraprocessed packaged fare. “If you skip the gluten-free goodies and focus on fruits, vegetables, lean protein, dairy, and gluten free grains like amaranth and quinoa, this can be a very healthy way of eating,” says Marlisa Brown, R.D., author of Gluten-Free, Hassle Free. “But you can’t just wing it.”

Seven Signs of Gluten Sensitivity
More than 2.5 million people may have celiac disease, yet only an estimated 150,000 have been diagnosed. That’s because people can be asymptomatic for years, and the symptoms of celiac disease can also overlap with other medical problems, so it often confuses both patients and doctors alike. That said, if you think you might have a problem, don’t ax gluten from your diet before being screened by a specialist. If you go off gluten entirely before having a test done, your results may come back negative even if you have the disease.

Celiac disease has hundreds of recognized symptoms, according to the Celiac Sprue Association, a nonprofit for those with the disease. Here are some common problems:

> Chronic diarrhea or constipation
> Abdominal pain and bloating
> Unexplained weight loss
> Anemia
> Fatigue
> Infertility

Our year started with the whole family moving back to Ottawa.  Kyle went along ahead of the family to get back to work while I stayed behind in Winnipeg to finish the packing and getting rid of all our other possessions like the van and excess toys.  You’d think when we live with family, we didn’t have much stuff, think again….

For an adventurous journey, we decided to take the train to Ottawa.  We left Thursday night and arrived in Ottawa, Saturday afternoon with a short layover in Toronto, enough time for us walk to the CN tower. Unfortunately it was so cloudy we could barely even see the top.  We will have to make that trip again when the weather is better.  The kids had a blast on the train and they want to travel that way again.  Perhaps we will take daddy next year.

Right now we are living on the main floor of a great triplex close to shopping, library, church, school and the gym.  Since we had decided not to purchase a vehicle, this location is perfect.  We walk to most places or bus and bike.  Kyle has a work vehicle so I sometimes get the luxury of using it for grocery shopping, otherwise I use my “granny cart”!

The kids all share a room so they have to make sure it gets cleaned up everyday otherwise it could get a little out of control.  Because of this they are limited to what they can have so it keeps the clutter down most days.  We have been in Ottawa for almost a year now and the living arrangement is working out really well. No need to shovel the snow or cut the grass, unless we want to. The kids are fine with the arrangement. We have a little guest room so if one of them needs to get away from the others, there is somewhere to go.

After being in this neighbourhood for a few weeks, I realized that there weren’t too many kids around us.  There are many little girls who are Natalie’s age but not too many older children.  I still have friends here in Ottawa but without a vehicle, it was a little bit of a challenge to visit or for the kids to socialize.  So we made the decision to send them back to school so they can make their own friends..  They are doing really well socially and academically .  After being home schooled, going back to school,  they were ahead of the class but that is fine, it gives them the confidence to learn more.  There is only 1 or 2 classes per grade and the school has less than 300 kids.  It is great as the kids all play with kids from other grades, a lot of interaction between all the kids. They all play soccer everyday at recess and Matthew was in the Track & Field and Soccer school teams.   Last week the kids made Graham Cracker cookies houses at school.

The kids are also in Mandarin classes, once a week on Saturday mornings.  The will all speak certain sentences to me in Mandarin while I am working on speaking to them more in Mandarin.

In September I started taking French classes, everyday for 3 hours in the morning.  It is tons of fun, we have a variety of people from different countries.  There is so much laughter and we are always talking about food!  Even the class across the hall comments about how much fun we seem to be having, they always have to close their door! The boys also help me with my reading.  It makes them feel good, with them helping me versus the other way around.

With the Y gym being so close, we decided to get  an all inclusive membership, which means that all the activities are included with our membership.  So the kids take swimming lessons twice a week, the boys also do water polo and floor hockey plus Kyle and Matthew take Tae Kwon Do on Sunday afternoons. Kyle takes does a Yoga class and I attended a Pilates class for the first time and really enjoy it.  I am going to continue it next year. This keeps us all very busy and fit.  We walk there for our activities so there is a little bit of a warm up before the activities.

Spring and Summer here in Ottawa was busy.  It started with Holly and Shirley’s visit, Kyle’s sister and mum.  They came for Matthew’s 10^th birthday.  It was so much fun.  I cooked and Grandma cleaned.  I think that is a perfect trade off.  She stayed for 3 weeks and we were sad to see her go.  Before she left though, Natalie decided to ask grandma if she could come for her birthday, so not to disappoint her granddaughter, Shirley came to Ottawa again in July only for a short visit though.  We all love it when she visits.  Especially this summer as she refinished our dining table.  Looks awesome.

My parents also made a visit to Ottawa this spring.  They came for Andrew’s 1^st holy communion.  It was a great ceremony.  The following week, Andrew became an alter server along side his big brother.  They alter serve every week, Natalie said she can’t wait to join them.  While they were here, Kyle and I also celebrated out 15th wedding anniversary. Canada Day was fun too, going to Parliament Hill with my cousin Denise from New York. We even saw Prince Willam & Princess Kate.

This summer we also managed to do a lot of biking, Natalie has no problems on the 2 wheels, she ended up using Andrew’s old bike that we brought with us from Winnipeg.  We thought that Andrew could still use it, but that wasn’t the case.  How they grow over the winter.  We made a few trips to Britannia beach on our bike, biked to school a few times.  That didn’t work for too long as the school is too close for all that,  Walking is better.  This summer, the kids also played soccer with the “home school” league. They had such a blast.

We also made a few short trips this summer. …

A day trip to Montreal for Erica and Alex’s wedding,

A weekend at a “Peaks” reunion at a friends cottage close to Kingston, ON,

A weekend at Mt Tremblant in Quebec,

And a weekend in Syracuse, NY where Aunty D came to join us.

It has been a great and exciting year.  Kyle has learned lots and is enjoying his job with JAZZ solar, he does the design and installation of the solar panels.  This year he also got his NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) certification.  One of a handful in Canada.  He is very busy and I am also doing sales for the company on a part time basis.

Well I hope this blog finds you all well and healthy,  from our home to your….

Wishing you many blessings this Christmas Season and throughout the New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Our Christmas Tree this year, with the nativity scene

]]> http://ameliayap.com/mummy-thoughts/2011/12/christmas-2011/feed/ 1 http://ameliayap.com/mummy-thoughts/2011/11/halloween-use-your-creativity/ http://ameliayap.com/mummy-thoughts/2011/11/halloween-use-your-creativity/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:54:39 +0000 http://ameliayap.com/mummy-thoughts/?p=1904 A few weeks earlier, I went into St Vincent de Paul, a second hand store and noticed that they had quite a bit of halloween costumes.  I figured that it was a good time to bring the kids in to find a costume.  When I took them to the store, Natalie and Andrew found something on the rack.  Matthew said that he couldn’t find anything.  I told him to use his creativity and find something as I didn’t want to spend too much on a costume.  A few minutes later, he comes along with a cowboy hat and says that he is going to be a cowboy.  We find him a nice red shirt and a costume has been found.

The weather was great and they didn’t have to use too much padding and they had tons of fun.  Here are some of the images of their evening.  BTW for those of you who remember Robert Munch, the “Paper Bag Princess” lives upstairs.

Forget the sofa bed with the crappy mattress… http://www.resourcefurniture.com/
Remember if you are in smaller living quarters, you’ll pay less taxes and lower heating and cooling cost!

I am determined to do a variety of outdoor exercises.  I am incorporating my triathlon training with my social life, rode about 20km in total today to meet some friends for lunch. One of which I hadn’t seen for over 17 years, since we graduated from Engineering.  That was fun, we all don’t look much different for so long ago.

While I was downtown, I went into MEC to drop off my used batteries (they recycle them), I met a guy Pavel Kadlick from the Czech Republic.  He is riding his bike across Canada and camping along the way.  I chatted with him a while and heard a few stories.  Everyone’s life is an adventure.

When Matthew said that he wanted to pursue another instrument, I told him that he could when he learns to read music better and also implying that he should not give up piano.  She pointed out that if our kids ask to learn something, we should let them do it.  When it comes to practicing, they would enjoy it more as it is something that they wanted to do.  What was I thinking…

Another thing that she mentioned is that kids are smart, they can do it all.  Funny I keep telling the kids that they can do anything they want and somehow, I forgot about that.  Perhaps Matthew had wanted to learn to play the violin along with his piano, I neglected to ask him.  Thanks for the reminder Kiat.  Will have to check with Matthew.

As adults, we sometimes forget what is possible, many years ago, when I first thought about home schooling, I thought that I couldn’t do it as I wouldn’t be able to teach them the other languages.  Let the teachers teach them.  Now that I am home schooling them, they are learning more than a couple of languages, they are learning 4.   It is pretty amazing…  If I can’t do it, someone else can and that is what I have done.  They have tutors for the other languages and it is coming along well.

Do not under-estimate the kids, as I have done with Matthew, they can do it all!

Here are the pools in Winnipeg that have the FREE swim and the times.  (Winter 2010)

Bonivital Pool (1215 Archibald St) Thursday 3pm – 4pm

Elmwood Kildonans (909 Concordia Ave) Thursday 8:30am – 10am

Margaret Grant ( 685 Dalhousie Dr) Friday 8:10am – 9:25am

Seven Oaks (444 Adsum Dr) Wednesday 2:30pm – 3:30pm

St James Civic Center (2055 Ness Ave) Friday 7:30pm – 9:30pm

FREE teen night (9-19 years)

Cindy Recreation Complex (999 Sargent) Saturday 7pm – 9:45pm

Loonie/Toonie swim

If individuals or a smaller group of people are going, instead of paying the single admission fees of $5.42 or $3.73 or $2.39 for an adult, youth or child.  You would pay $2 for an adult and $1 for a child.  Here are the details.

Elmwood Kildonans (909 Concordia Ave) Tuesday 3pm – 4:30pm

Margaret Grant ( 685 Dalhousie Dr) Monday 7:30pm-8:30pm, Tuesday 3pm-4pm, Wednesday 7:30pm-8:30pm

Pam Am (25 Poseidon Bay) Tuesday 2-3:30pm

Seven Oaks (444 Adsum Dr) Sunday 4pm – 6pm

St James Assiniboia Centennial (644 Parkdale St) Wednesday 1pm – 3:30pm

St James Civic Center (2055 Ness Ave) Monday 1pm-4pm

Sheerbrook (381 Sherbrook St) Sunday 1pm-4pm, Monday 3:30pm-5pm, Wednesday 7pm-8pm, Thursday 3:30pm-5pm, Saturday 2pm-3:30pm

Transcona Centennial (1101 Wabasha St) Wednesday 3pm-4:30pm, Friday 6pm-7:30pm, Friday Teen swim 7:30-9pm ($1.50)

To find more information online, go to Winnipeg.ca.leisureonline