Baby finds carrot

Baby finds carrot under table.

Mother does now know how long it has been on the floor.

Nor does she care.

Baby is quiet.

Yesterday was a long, long day.

I waged war on the ants in my kitchen. It’s the same war I wage every summer in Paraguay. I always loose, until the cold winds come again and then they die. I’ve tried everything (cornmeal, grits, salt, pepper, etc.) I have not spread ant poison on my counters, that seems a little much.

I was homesick for somewhere but I wasn’t sure where that was.

I’m so done with culture-shock. (Except I’m not, which explains everything.) Honestly, this city we’re living in now is so different from Asuncion. I sometimes feel as if I’m in a different country.

But yesterday is over and we’re moving on to today!

Have a great weekend!

6:30 PM (or so)

6:30 means bathtime.

Babies that smell like Johnson’s Shampoo.

Fluffy white towels.

Slippery baby toes.

Little hands rubbing small eyes.

A bathtub emptying of water, and smudged with dirt.

Pajamas.

Tangled hair being combed.

Bible stories being read.

Prayers being said.

Girls being tucked in.

Mommy and Daddy time.

6:30 PM means bedtime is on the way.

Hangy Thingies…?

It’s Tuesday.

Which means I blog about the latest simple craft the girls and I have made. Hopefully these fairly simple ideas will help your days be a little easier, simpler, more fun and memorable. It’s so important to keep those littler fingers busy, isn’t it?

We took paper plates and cut them in half. We each got two halves to paint with watercolors. Then we took long strips of tissue paper (we had yellow and pink on hand), glued them between the two paper plates, and then hung them from the ceiling on our patio.

A little splotch of color and we like watching the ribbons flutter on breezy days.

Making these was better than spending the afternoon watching cartoons.

(Which is what my girls are doing right now while I type this. Ha!)

Cowboy Cookies

I made these cookies to get out of our usual cookie rut. It was a good choice, the dough make sa lot of cookies, freezes well and is choc full of many different flavors. Stop on by, I’ll let you have a taste!

Cowboy Cookies

3 cups of flour

1 Tbsp. of baking powder

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla

3 cups chocolate chips

3 cups oats

2 cups coconut

2 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In LARGE bowl (this recipe is huge so make sure the bowl is big) beat butter till creamy. Gradually beat in the sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture till combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and nuts. (I also added raisins…just because.)

Bake for about 15-20 minutes till golden brown around the edges.

Our days via the iPhone

{Youngest church pianist ever}

{Abbie and her funny faces}

{The girls spot a rainbow}

{A very hot day}

{Flowers from the yard}

{Baby eating dirt…again}

Super Hero Girls

Elena says:

“Andy from Toy Story 3 looks very romantic.”

Abbie says:

“Andy is handsome, but I want to marry Prince Phillip”

Seriously? Where do they get this stuff?

Embracing with my new do!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My wavy mane is gone and I have to say, I really don’t miss it. It’s cooler, and because I don’t have to do a single thing to it I get more time for the important things. Like posing in front of Photobooth with my girls.

Elena likes my new hair. She says it’s “really cool.”

Abbie did not like it. “You look like a different mommy.”

She’s getting used to it.

And seriously, if you’ve ever wanted a pixie cut, but have been too scared to get one, a piece of advice:

DO IT.

You will love it.

Where I live…

New languages are all around us in this city, from Chinese to Portuguese, to Spanish to English, to Arabic…it’s a long list. I only wish I could learn them all in this lifetime.

I find myself understanding Portuguese a bit better but I wish I had more time to dedicate to studying it.

Perhaps the next best thing is to make sure my daughters (who have minds like sponges) will learn it. Once they are fluent I will appoint them as my translators.

In this picture, after church service a few weeks ago, Abbie is teaching her beloved Tia Bi the English word for common objects and Tia Bi in turn gives her the Portuguese word.

(Yes, Abbie wore her pink polka dotted rain boots to church. She wears them everywhere. )

Making Crowns

What is there to do in that one hour between supper and bedtime? That hour is usually pretty awful around here what with a tired mommy, hyper kids, messy kitchen, blah blah blah.

Sometimes I read aloud to them but lately our very active ten month old has not allowed for that.

So…crafting came to the rescue this day.

A simple crown made out of aluminum foil.

We decorated them with crayons to keep messiness to a minimum.

Tell me: What do you do during the last (and maybe hardest/longest) hours of the day?

Any ideas that will hopefully not make the messy house any messier, the tired mommy any more tired, the hyper children any more hyper, would be greatly appreciated.

Or maybe I’m just dreaming?

Berry and Buttermilk Cake

Berry and Buttermilk Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 cup of buttermilk

4 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 cup fresh blueberries (I used dehydrated, it’s the only kind of blueberries that are imported here. Fresh would be MUCH better)

2 1/2 Tbsp. raw sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease and flour a cake pan. Sift flour and baking powder into large bowl, add the sugar and mix. In separate bowl whisk eggs till light and fluffy, add buttermilk, and butter. Mix well. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon just until everything is combined. Do not over-mix.

Spoon mixture into pan, sprinkle berries over top, sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting and removing from pan.