Tips for a first-time skier

It's so hard for me to learn this sport. Maybe I'm not young anymore and my reflexes are too slow. I will try again to finish the lesson and practice so that I will enjoy it more. It just happened that I fell a lot of times that I only got scared to falling all over again that I didn't master my first skiing. Anyway, here are some tips for those who are interested in learning the sport:

1. Position yourself in a forward manner, where the legs are too close or touching the upper ski boots. But don't stoop too much, this position or standing in erect makes you fall.

2. When walking uphill, walk like a duck. The feet in V position, lift the legs and the ski, then walk the way ducks do.

3. When skiing or walking downhill, you tend to move faster and the way to slow down is to put your feet in A position or opposite the V. The way to do it is to bring your heels outwards. Using the poles will put you to a stop.

4. Turning to the left or right is the same way in #3. The only difference is you put one heel outwards to go to your desired direction.

5. The way to get up from falling down is to use the poles in unlocking your ski boots from the ski and stand up normally. You have to remove the ski first so that you can get up easier.

6. This last tip is what I always miss - always look to the direction where you are going and not on the ski so that your position will not make you fall down.

Finally, before and after skiing, do some stretching first to prepare your body and reduce pains.

Happy skiing (and falling) :)

Swimming at Super 8 Barrie

Our spring break included another day doing snowtubing at Snow Valley but it rained the next day so we just stayed at the hotel and enjoyed its amenities. Look at my children enjoying the pool.

Our First Ski Adventure

Winter is almost over but we made it our most memorable one when we hit the road leading to Barrie's Ski Snow Valley. It was a thrilling (and mostly painful) experience. We looked forward to this March Break ski trip and we were not disappointed especially the kids who enjoyed the most. We left Etobicoke a little past 7:00 and arrived there around 8:17 am. We immediately proceeded to the ticket booths as more cars started to arrived. The first lessons started at 9:30 am but since we are first-timers we needed to have time to familiarize ourselves with the gears that we are going to use. Before paying for the tickets, we filled up forms for the rental of the equipment - ski, boots, helmet and poles. The crew assisted and taught us how to wear the boots and helmet. The boots are really heavy, it felt like walking with a bowling ball on your feet and walking on the moon. Only Lito, Miggy and I were given the gears because Kyle and Lex sizes were only available at the Kid's Village. Holding our 3 kids and the gears, we reluctantly proceeded to the waiting area. You can just imagine how we looked like as first timers gliding in the snow on the way to Kids Village. After paying for the Kids Ski and Play package for my preschoolers, I left them in the care of their instructors who will be with them one on one.

It took us 30 minutes (and 2 falls) to reach the waiting area. The instructor said we already missed the 9:30 class and advised us to wait for the 11:00 class. In between those, we had some picture-taking and tested our ski in the beginners area. The lessons had not even started but our bodies are already aching from the falls hahaha. We met our companions Randy, Gina and their kids already set up for the class. Lito then decided to just stay and wait for the kids who were about to finish at 12:00. If he took that class, no one would fetch the kids. It's a good thing too because he had a chance to witness how they did in their first skiing lessons.

Miggy and I together with Randy, Gina and Hannah took the Discover Skiing 1 with mostly kids in our class. We learned the right position, how to attach and remove the ski, how to slow down, break and do the turns and how to stand up when you fall down - the last one I mastered very well from the hard falls I experienced. I joined that class not only to experience how it is to ski but most importantly, to be on the look out for Miggy. But it seems that he doesn't need his slow-learner mom to learn and enjoy this sport. In fact, he learned faster and I think he only fell once when we were trying on the ski before the class started. He is very good for a first timer. The instructor who noticed that I always fall focused on me and was like a personal trainer to me until I went down the lowest hill without falling. She told me that my son is going to the medium hill (a steeper one) with other 3 kids who were able to do the skills from the beginner lessons. If I want to be with him, I should be able to do the skills myself. But by the time I was able to do all of them, I was already too tired and scared to try the next hill. Gina and I just finished the 75 minutes in the smallest hill. After seeing Gina's kids from the snowboarding class, we were relieved that this is over. From the ticket that we got, we should be practicing what we learned in the different hills but just looking at the lift going up, I could not even move my feet so we decided to call it quits and headed to the Picnic area to have our lunch. There we met Lito and the 2 kids from their class. From the looks on their faces, they must have enjoyed the lessons and I was right. Here are some of the videos and photos from this first (and hopefully not the last) ski trip our family had.






Kyle is in blue jacket.


Thank God that we enjoyed this day. I will share the tips on skiing and part 2 of our adventure later.

Signs of the end times?

I was shocked when I saw the news about the Tsunami in Japan this morning. I feel sad for the victims and those survivors who until now are experiencing tremors from continuous after shocks. My family (sister, brother-in-law, my 3-yr old niece, my mom and dad) were in Boracay when this happened and I prayed that they are safe. I thank God they are safe.

Actually, my prayers extend to all of us who need not wait for big natural disasters (or might even call it the wrath of God) like these to happen before we turn from our ways and come to God. The Book of the Revelation of the Holy Bible tells us the signs of the end times and it is not in the distant future. The things that are happening everywhere tell us that we, as believers in Christ must seek God's guidance in working double time to deliver God's message to the lost before it's too late.

I want to share the following verses for the survivors of the Tsunami and the rest of mankind as we wonder if these are the signs of the end times:

You are my hiding place;
You will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7

I sought the Lord, and He answered me;
He delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34.4

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging Psalm 46:1-2
The Lord Almighty is with us
The God of Jacob is our fortress Psalm 46:7

My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2

One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4-5

May God bless us all.

Praying and our last Winter Hirit

I am reading the emails of co-nawies in our online community and I was amazed at how prayer works in some of nawies' lives. Truly, God listens and answers our prayers not only in crisis because that's when most of us really pray hard but in our day-to-day walk with Him. The power of prayer lies in the fact that it's based on a relationship, not on the weight of what's being asked. All prayer matters to God because it flows from the heart of someone he created and loved dearly.

I prayed to God for the sun everyday when I'm walking on the way to work. I love that moment, my prayer time with God. He continuously gives me warmth in the coldness of the day. Now the sun is shining but wind chill is still here. I pray that God will keep the snow for next week because we are going skiing at Ski Snow Valley in Barrie.

I can't wait to post our first skiing adventure here. In the meantime, I will keep on praying because everyday is an opportunity for a sweet communion with God.

Praying for our children (and for us too)

"then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them." Matthew 19:13

It is imperative for Christian parents to pray with and pray for their children. It is our way to connect with God and present our children with our requests in whatever we want them to become. I want to share what I read in Pray Big by Will Davis Jr. on how we should as believers in Christ pray for our kids. There are enough promises and exhortations in the Bible for you to cover your children virtually head to toe in prayer. Aside from those, we can make use of parts of their bodies as our pinpoint prayer for them:

Eyes - Pray for what they will see in you and in the world. What we look at can have a huge impact in our lives. It can be inspiring or horrible sights. Let us pray that our kids eyes will gaze at things that will cause them to love God and not destroy the knowledge of God in us.

Mind - our mind is the key to the soul. We should pray that our kids will feed their minds with God's words and that they will have sound mind and the wisdom to know what is right from wrong.

Mouth - Another area to cover in your prayer is your children's mouths. James 3:7-10 says "All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

Let us pray that our children will always speak the truth and that they will learn the word commitment at a young age, so that their "yes" be "yes" and their "no" be "no". Include in our prayers that they will not fib, exaggerate or mislead and that they will always speak in love because this honors God.

Heart - In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon told us to guard our hearts above all else, for the heart is the wellspring of life. Pray for our children's hearts that they may become huge for God and His words so that love will pour out from them.

Hands - Pray for their hands so that they will be kept from acts of sin. May we teach them to raise their hands to God in worship and surrender.

Feet - Ask God to direct your children in every step and to run away from sin when they are tempted. Pray that they will trust in, believe in and commit to memory the teachings of the Bible.

Of course, we can also pray for ourselves too. Lastly, let us end our prayer with this - We pray all this for our sweet kids. Please cover them from head to toe. In Jesus' awesome name, Amen.

Things to do on a bright winter day

Toboggan definition in modern times: it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill or other slope for recreation. I first heard the word Toboggan from my friend Joy. She said since we just arrived and we don't know how to ski or even ice skate, we can only do tobogganing during winter. That's what we did as our Pre-valentine activity yesterday. The kids were excited when they heard that we are going to the place we pass by every Sunday where we often see children sledding or tobogganing. Kyle asked if we brought our own and we said yes. Lex was the most excited as you can see in the video. The kids showed no signs of fear in the slopes. I remembered the Giant slide days at Big Bang sa Alabang when Lito and I were younger which were so much fun. This time there was a slight tinge of fear because I'm not that young anymore but I need to show my kids that I was not afraid because they are not. Anyway, the fear only lasted while we were waiting to be pushed and turned to shrieking fun when we started going down the slopes. Here are the videos of our first Tobogganing adventure:







Happy Valentines!