Basketball for me and Hockey for the boys is OVER for the Season!!!

Well, it's that time of year when the big sports season has come to an end. Of course I have mixed feelings about this. I have more time to do cleaning and organizing! Yay! The boys will have more time for the odd swimming and golfing lesson. Kolby will join Lacrosse and Kade's soccer league starts tomorrow. Real is going to play softball again this year; he took a few years off, but I think he really missed the competitiveness, and he is a really good player.

I am going to continue with YOGA, my lifetime commitment to inner peace, calmness, and most importantly, injury recovery and prevention. YOGA has changed my life. I go to the most amazing class twice a week with the most amazing teacher. My biggest challenge is practicing on my own at home. My mind and body shows when I miss a class, and I never ever miss a class if I can help it, because I get cranky, tired, sore, and lazy. I deal with difficult work situations in a more compassionate and patient manner. I find myself breathing more. Most people don't breathe enough. It is such a simple practice, yet so hard to remember when faced with stress. However, through daily practice, breathing exercises comes easy and second nature.

What does that mean, 'second nature'? My kids often question what some of the 'figure of speeches' sayings mean and most times, I am not sure. Like, 'kill two birds with one stone' - why would you want to kill any bird, especially with stones??//?!! Anyways, back to the topic of schedules - I want to have more time to scrapbook, exercise at the gym, read, and be with family and friends.

Here are some pics of the winter months of Holiday celebrations and sports events.

Christmas 2011

Christmas came and went by so FAST!! Each year it seems like we have less and less time to do the traditional things we usually do. I tried the schedule thing, and the list thing but nothing seems to slow down the time. I just wish I did more of 'nothing' with my kids. By 'Nothing' I mean hanging out at home with the curtains closed, phones turned off, and doors locked from family and friends, just to spend some quiet time with the boys. Now is the time, to spend as much time with them as possible. On the flip side, I wouldn't have minded to have some quiet time to myself in my house too, of which I didn't get either. Which is probably why I am at home right now feeling sick. The bug caught up to me when the holidays were over.

However, it is great to spend time with my large family doing the traditional gatherings like, Family Bingo, Kid's Santa party, Cookie Exchange, Lip Sync competition, Glitter Party, and Family dinners. I didn't take a lot of pictures this year and I regret that because I am a scrapbooker.

Stand up and Walk!!!

Brain Power!!
Building a healthy brain isn't a new concept. It's been around for many many years. So why does it take us (westerners) so long for us to follow wisdom. I attended a workshop today that was about building a healthy brain. In my counselling training and experience, I have studied brain development and the different theories around growth. I have also learned how trauma can affect the brain, heart and body. Todays workshop not only made connections to how my students' brain learns and grows, it made connections to myself, my kids,  and my husband. There were many concepts I learned today, but the one thing I will always remember is that
   M o V e M e N t                             M o V e M e N t                      M o V e M e N t
is the most important thing about learning. Kids need to move throughout the day in order to learn and engage. They need to get outside in the fresh air, away from tv, internet and games, in order to stimulate their neurons to create more dendrites. So when I lectured my kids about how tv will make their brains soft, I was lying, because it already is soft ( I learned that today too). However, the message is still important - that too much tv will make you 'Stupid!' I am guilty of watching tv for hours at a time on some nights, especially on thursdays with Grey's and Private Practice. But I also try to model good 'down time' by reading quietly for long periods of time too. I came home today and taught both my kids, 6yrs and 11yrs, about brain growth and brain wellness. To my surprise, they were very interested in their brain growth. My eldest immediately went to the internet to look up images of healthy and unhealthy brains. After showing them some physical exercises on how to stimulate their brains, they said they already felt different, that they could feel the right side of their brain communicating to their left side - kids are so cute. They were very enthused to learn more exercises on how to grow more dendrites . . . WOW! We also talked about good brain food like fish (they were very proud because they eat a lot of fish), avocado, nuts, kale, blueberries, and water . So . . . get up and start moving, start a regular exercise program, kick your kids outside, open the windows and breathe, and eat brain food daily. I am happy that our family are doing a lot of these things already, but we have so much more to change in our lives to build and re-build healthy brains.
I am now going to get up and MOVE!!!

SUMMER of Camping and Travelling

Well, it has been a LONG TIME since my last blog. Even if I am the only one to view my blog, I will try my best to update as much as I can.

SUMMER was great for the Jones Family. We camped a lot in our trailer at LakeElse in Terrace BC. We went on our ANNUAL FAMILY Water Lily Bay Gathering - being with the whole family is so much fun. Every year at the same resort we have been gathering for over 35yrs. The kids do a lot of fishing, swimming, and boating. The adults do a lot of eating, participating in theme days, sitting around the fire til late in the night, and more eating. Most of our family live in the same town and we lead very busy lives but we always make the effort to visit for birthdays, anniversaries, and celebrations.

WE also went on our first HOT trip with the family. We wanted to take the boys to DISNEYLAND and ourselves to MEXICO. So we went on our first Cruise through the Mexican Riviera with the boys and then a week in Disneyland. OMG . . . it was so much FUN!! There were moments when I would take in the heat and scenery and think, 'why didn't we do this sooner!' Obviously, we were missing out. The boys were able to experience places they've only seen on tv. Kolby understood where we were on the map and was able to put things into perspective. He really enjoyed himself. Kade really came out of his shell and braved through a lot of activities he normally would have been conscious about. They both had a great expreience. We were able to do everything as a family - Rock climbing, mini-golf, swimming on the beach, surfing, all disney rides, driving in a convertible, taking in shows, Angels game and so much more. . .

I will always remember this trip. We plan on going on more before the boys get too old. We just need to start saving money now. Actually, we need to pay for this one first, then start saving for the next one.