then and now

10 months

22 months

Happy Halloween! Although we didn't take him trick-or-treating, our little monkey certainly enjoyed handing out candy last night! That is, until he figured out what he was giving out. Then he wanted to keep it for himself. HAHAHA!

We had fun decorating pumpkins with this really cool pumpkin decorating set. The little kids who came to the house were really enthralled by them. The cat is my favorite, of course.

Yesterday we had him dressed in his pumpkin sweatsuit too, complete with stem and everything. So cute!

Hope you had a spooky Halloween too!

“so nice!” – luigi

lucas to grammy over the phone - discussing last nights halloween festivities: “everyone kept asking me where mario was!”

baby mine.

gavin west -  month nine
++++
still no teeth.
the two of us have officially kicked andrey and  lucas out of our family bed.
we snuggle. we laugh. we don’t sleep.  
says, “mamamamamammmmmma”
sucks on his thumb for fun.
has new fall boots for his yummy baby feets.
is wearing all of my favorite lucas-baby clothes
(kurt shirt & bob dylan tee & this lucky fave)
was born in my bedroom.

Culto das Crianças

Realizamos no Dia 24 de outubro o Culto das Crianças, o qual teve um bom numero de participantes. Neste Culto as crianças tiveram uma participação efetiva, com músicas e coreografias, bem como com as leituras do dia. A mensagem com o tema "Jesus, tenha pena de mim", mostrou para as crianças quem é este Jesus que nós conhecemos e o quanto ele cuida de nós, crianças e adultos em meio as tantas dificuldades que se apresentam em nossa vida.

Foi muito gratificante, poder ver a alegria com que as crianças participaram do culto, e a emoção dos pais, ao verem a demonstração de fé de nossas crianças. Ao realizarmos este tipo de atividade, se torna claro o texto onde Jesus diz que "quem não receber o reino de Deus como estas crianças jamais entrará nele."

Agradeço também em nome da congregação às professoras da escola Bílica: Viviane, Fernanda, Rúbian, Silvane e Marceli, por todo o empenho e dedicação com que prepararam o ambiente de culto, e que ensairam as crianças. MUITO OBRIGADO!

Pr. Maiquel Hellwig

Dragão

Ilustração feita para o concurso do papodeartista

“and it will be good for me” – kim taylor

“…days like this
you look up at the big sky above you.
…and days like this
you think about the ones who love you…”
++++
tonight’s gratefuls:

+marilyn’s honey bee mix
+the pins on luc’s sunday vest
+my brother’s glasses
+andrey’s new green striped tie & my mustard yellow sunday shoes
+a real conversation with lucas over milk and mr. sketch markers
+amy olsen’s powerful testimony shared in a simple sunday lesson
+new friends & caramel apples wrapped in ribbon & lace
+a couch full of ruby stella pillows
+converse & leaves flickr photo
+thinking about christmas gifts
+gavi’s peace pants
+cath’s visit to the ocean & dad’s casper hot dog
+shanna murray’s autumn desktop calendar
+mario tips from jade @ two in the morning via text  

you?
love, lin

the great imitator

So, it's been a while. And it's certainly not because I don't have things to post about. I also don't like the "I don't have any time" excuse, because I believe you make time for what you want to make time for. Nonetheless, work has been really stressful for me the past couple of weeks, and by the time I put Lucas to bed, tidy up a bit, check my email and do some grading or planning, I'm exhausted. I fell asleep on the couch Thursday night with my computer on my lap at 9:00. I'm also about 2 weeks behind on my blog reading, in case you're wondering where my comments are. I feel totally disconnected.

Lucas continues to increase his spoken vocabulary daily. I've pretty much stopped keeping track, because it's gotten to be too hard to do! I think he's at about 80 words. His speech therapist says she'd expect sentences pretty soon, because he has all the necessary parts down: nouns, verbs, polite words, greetings, pronouns, and directional words. I still marvel every day at his progress.

Last Wednesday, he had his 9-month post-activation mapping appointment and speech evaluation. His map was tweaked a little bit, and speech was not surprisingly really pleased with his progress! Nate and I left CHOP commenting about what a good day it was for a change. We don't go back until the beginning of January for his ANNUAL evaluation. Wow. It's almost been a year.

So, I decided that a funny Lucas video would do for today. Master Lucas has become the great imitator, especially of his daddy. It is now time for us to start to censor what we do and say around him. Enjoy the following video of Lucas imitating his daddy blowing his nose. I promise you, that's not exactly what it sounds like. Lucas thinks so though.

My schedule is updated, so click on the link (under labels) on the right hand side. Let's enjoy some Yoga together! Classes for everybody ;)

Happy Halloween!

What a gorgeous fall we are having! Whew!

I can hardly believe it.

Lot's of new stuff going on Yoga wise for me...

I'm still reeling from that fabulous Yoga Pilates Conference I attended earlier in the month. I attended workshops with countless Teachers of all different styles and backgrounds. Some I had practiced with before, and for others it was my very first time with them. Rodney Yee, Sadie Nardini, Maria Garre, Jason Crandell, Margot McKinnon and Martin Kirk are just some of the fabulous Teachers I was able to learn from during those four days. I spent 12 hours a day there and loved every second of it. Can't wait til next year!

First off, the brand spankin' new Mt.Pleasant Community Centre has finally taken shape, and will be opening November 9th! I'll miss the old place, but the new centre promises to be spectacular!

The new Mt.Pleasant is located at #1 Kingsway @7th. (Main and Broadway basically) So it's very easy to get to. Transit everywhere etc.

Just got word that The Roundhouse 'may' be closed from the end of January until March for the Olympics. It is not a done deal yet, and they may still keep some programs running on a drop-in basis. I'll keep ya posted!

I might be looking to rent another Yaletown location when the time comes. (it's still a ways off) Or may just move classes to various students workout rooms/gyms/aerobics rooms in their buildings/condo's etc.

Sooooo....if you wanted Yoga in your building, just contact me and we'll make it happen! This seemed to work out well a couple of years ago during the strike.

So, beautiful ones... That's it for now! Still not great with blogging (as I am sure you can tell!) hahaha..But heck, I am trying!

Hope to see you soon at Yoga. Let's do it up!

*Oh...just one more thing. Take note: Time change (as well as new location) for Mt.Pleasant's Wednesday evening Prenatal Yoga class. The class will be a 6:30pm start beginning Nov 16th.

Blackzan - pag. 5

El calibre del Photoshop me sigue cambiando el color, este problema lo tengo desde que compre el nuevo monitor... no se como arreglarlo.
Después de modificarlo un rato, los colores están mas o menos como se ven en el photoshop.

Para leerla toda: Pagina 1, pagina 2, pagina 3, pagina 4


Agradecimientos!

Al eximio dibujante de historietas de aventuras Carlos Pedrazzini por aportar ideas sobre como manejar las sombras o simplemente los espacios negros.

A Clarita por las correcciones del amor.

Y a todos ustedes que con vuestros mensajes y sugerencias me dan ganas de seguir dibujándola!

a good : strong : loving boy

we have no pictures of andrey as a little boy.
ok – one. we have one picture and he’s about six or so years old.
we were however given this sweet gift:  our boys look exactly like him.
i  often stop myself in our everyday life and catch a glimpse of my dear husband as a little boy while i watch lucas play or gavin napping.
++++
lucas took off into the corn maze last week. he just wanted to ruuuuuun. fast. and as i chased after him, i was overwhelmed with love for andrey’s mother. something about the corn stalks and the crisp cold air and lukey’s corduroy jacket took me somewhere i’ve never been before.  i imagined her watching her boy run through ukrainian fields. i imagined that she wished the same sweet wishes for him – that i wish for my boys. i imagined also – the tinge of fear we probably shared that these boys of ours might just run too fast and we may just lose them to the adventure of the fields if we couldn’t keep up.  
++++
i’ve never met andrey’s mother – lucas and gavi’s babushka. she’s been on my mind lately. especially this month for some reason. i’d been meaning to ask andrey if there was any significance to me associating this autumn season with his mother – until this morning. when i woke up to tell him happy birthday.

this was her growing season.

on october eighteenth, twenty-nine years ago, she first held her baby boy. i wanted to call her today. really bad. i just needed to know what time of the day he was born. something i think a person should know about themselves. i wanted to know how she labored. what kind of blankets he was wrapped up in? if his hair was dark like gavin’s was. was he a good nursling? did he cry? and then i just wanted a minute to tell her how much i love him. how i will try really hard to take better care of her boy. i’ll remember to love him good.

i wanted to let her know – what a good, strong, loving man her boy has become.

Esboço

CONGRESSO DE CRIANÇAS

Ocorreu no dia 04 de outubro, o encontro de crianças do DIGRA, realizado no Seminário Concórdia com uma excelente participação de crianças de nossa congregação e do distrito de uma forma geral. Foi um dia perfeito com bastante sol e uma excelente organização, e as crianças aproveitaram muito e com certeza tiveram a sua fé fortalecida, pois lá tiveram a oportunidade de aprender um pouco mais sobre a oração.

CONGRESSO SÓ DE CRIANÇAS??????

Quem disse que congresso de crianças é só para as crianças pequenas??? As nossas crianças grandes da São Lucas também passaram belos momentos no campus do Seminário Concórdia, um belo churrasco foi preparado, muita conversa, piadas e rodinha de violão.... e sem contar que nossas crianças adultas também aproveitaram o espaço para a pratica de esportes...

Sem duvidas que foi um belo domingo... que Deus nos permita passarmos mais momentos assim, como irmãos, unidos em Cristo Jesus.

Pr. Maiquel Hellwig

one sweet little hot potato

gavin west has a fever. and i’m thinking/hoping it’s because he’s teething and not because we weren’t prepared for how cold it was going to be at the pumpkin patch on saturday. he was sluggish and crabby and attached to my hip all day today. sweet boy.

this was my free minute. to read some blogs, finish some projects, pay some bills – but mostly i just want to go snuggle up in my bed with my baby boy. he’ll keep me warm on this oh-so-chilly october night while i nurse him & love him & sing him get well soon lullabies.

++++
on the nightstand:
hylands teething tablets
infant tylenol
an adiri bottle full of water
people magazine
my journal and favorite pen

on the t.v:
rachel zoe season finale

in my bed:
one sweet little hot potato       goodnight loves, lin

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We all have so much to be thankful for, thats for sure.

New classes and new locations coming soon!

To see my current schedule scroll to the bottom of the page.

riding in the car

Riding in the car has always been a challenging environment for Lucas to keep his processor on (and for all young CI kids). And, although he has his moments, he generally has been leaving it alone, yay! Even on the way to and from toddler group (20 minutes each way), he doesn't touch it. I hope it's a new trend.

I noticed today in the car that he was falling asleep, and I really wanted him to wait until we got home. So I decided to try and verbally engage him, which usually isn't possible, and I didn't think would work anyway, because of the noise of the car, etc. Surprise, surprise.

I sang "if you're happy and you know it," and he perked up to clap his hands, stomp his feet, and shout hurray. Then I sang "the wheels on the bus" and he did some of the motions too. For the last part of the trip, until we got home, I asked him to do different things, like "say hi to mommy," and "point to the trees."

Needless to say, we made it home without him falling asleep, and I just realized that my baby can understand me in the car. Talk about exciting! It's no longer wasted time. That is, if he continues to leave his ear on. :)

sharing his story

My school district runs an extensive United Way campaign each year. I always sit and admire the strength of the presenter to share how this organization has impacted their life.

This year, I got to be that presenter.

Lucas has received services from 2 local agencies that are funded by the United Way. I've traveled to each of our district's building's faculty meetings to share Lucas's story and talk about how the early intervention services he has received have impacted his outcome immensely.

At the first meeting I attended, I couldn't hold it together. I cried almost the whole time. I don't know if that will ever change, although I've held it together much better at the other meetings so far. Lucas came along, and everyone got to see him in person. He was so great, and really helped my little presentation. Yesterday was my own building's faculty meeting, but Lucas was sleeping, so he couldn't come. Instead, I made the following video to share. I think it made just as much of an impact, if not more. It's a slightly different version from the one that I showed, for privacy sake. Enjoy!!!

i am made of sunshine & love

  
my sister phatnat {green thumb extraordinaire} gifted me this little spider plant. the fourth generation of many lady plants before her. over a year ago. it was just a little sprout at first and i stuck it in a tiny red anthro dish until it started growing some roots. just like she said. then i shopped for the perfect pot for my girl. this ceramic glazed beauty. and while this little plant’s mother & grandmothers before her are cascading over their potted edges -  my girl… is stuck.

i feed her sunshine. water her with love and well… laugh everytime i see her four skinny lady leaves. i am no good at growing things. except humans. i grow healthy humans. 

the other day lucas spotted a  greenhouse kit at the hardware store. we followed the directions exactly and i was so worried that my bad plant karma would rub off onto him. i really really wanted his seeds to sprout – so i didn’t touch them. just told him what to do and watched his sort-of chubby hands carefully work.

each morning i spy on him while he checks in on them. over by the kitchen window. he lifts the lid, checks to see if  they have water  and says “good morning little cucumbers!” then tucks them back in for their daily sunbaths. he even so lovingly tells them “sorry little guys” when one of the sprouts gets squished by the lid. 

i am learning from him - and caught myself saying, “hello there, girl” to my silly stunted planted this morning.

++++

exciting news

I'm so excited to announce that we will be spending July 2010 in Los Angeles at the John Tracy Clinic!

Here's a little bit of background about the clinic from their website: "After Spencer and Louise Tracy's infant son was diagnosed with profound hearing loss in 1925, Louise Treadwell Tracy devoted her time and energy to studying how deaf children could be taught to communicate with the hearing and speaking world. She patiently guided her son, John, into an understanding of language and lip-reading. With her encouragement, he learned to speak. In 1942, Mrs. Tracy responded to a desperate call for help from twelve other mothers of young deaf children by founding John Tracy Clinic."

Every summer they offer 3, free 3-week international summer sessions. We are attending summer session 3, July 11-30. Lucas will attend a spoken language preschool designed to identify his strengths and needs. Nate & I will participate in an education program to learn about hearing loss, auditory-verbal techniques, emotional support for families and educational services for Lucas. Specialists will provide audiology, counseling and consultation services. Amazing, huh?

This program is seriously a dream come true. I have heard nothing but awesome stories. Over the summer, I intently read about experiences from Miss Kat, Mari, Tayten and Logan.

We will get to meet Nolan and his family there this summer too! Yay!

If you can't tell yet, I'm excited. Really excited.

night and day

Wednesday at toddler group, it was like I had an entirely different child with me. He played with toys for more than 30 seconds each, he sat for circle time, and he even participated in the craft pretty well. Some of the mommies talked to me, and i even ran into a classmate from high school, who was there with her daughter. It was really fun, and I'm glad we went. We will definitely continue to go.

I think there were a couple of factors that affected his behavior. First, he took a much longer nap this week, so he wasn't running on empty. I also think the room wasn't quite as brand new and exciting, so he just played with what he wanted to, as opposed to every.single.toy.

Next week's task: teaching him not to let the older girls push him around and take toys out of his hands. If he keeps that up, he's in a lot of trouble. :)

No more Friday baby & Me Yoga at the Roundhouse for the time being.

Happy Fall! (for yoga schedule please scroll down)

First off, the Friday Baby & Me Yoga class is no more for the time being, but Thursday is still going on and is loads of fun :)

Secondly, I am thrilled to be soon starting up another Prenatal Yoga class very soon at 6th Avenue and Granville. I love the location, and the place is just amazing. Really stunning, and all round super cool. It's a Detox lounge called Splurge Bodyworks Detox Lounge. More details to come, and dates and times TBA. I am really excited!

I am off to the glorious Convention Centre under the sails for the Yoga Pilates Conference, and it promises to be incredible. www.theyogaconference.com

All Yoga/Pilates lovers in town should check it out. I'll let you know how it goes. I have signed up for countless workshops the next 4 days.

I am not much of a blogger. (A huge Facebooker haha..) but not the biggest blogger as you can tell. It is mainly out of not really knowing the in's and out's of blogging.

I have decided to give it a whirl very soon though! Learning to blog is next on my agenda.

Have a beautiful weekend! And maybe I'll see you at the Yoga Convention (Oct 2-5) here in Vancouver.

Take Care & Bye for now,

Grupo de Trabalhos Manuais

Mais uma atividade que vem sendo desenvolvida em nossa congregação, é o grupo de trabalhos manuais e pintura em tecido. Este, esta sendo coordenado por algumas servas de nosso departamento, Dona Hildegard, Ivone e Vilma, que estão colocando a disposição da comunidade em geral os seus dons.

Este belo grupo se reúne todas as quintas feiras, às 14 horas no salão de nossa congregação, e o momento se inicia com um devocional dirigido pelo pastor.

Venha fazer parte deste grupo você também, e passar bons momentos de aprendizado e discontração.

Pr. Maiquel Hellwig

baby mine

gavin west - my little ukranian boy at eight months old:   spunky.