I don't like scorpions in my bathroom

We knew when we moved here that there were the occasional scorpions around. Our neighbors had told us about a three inch long one they found one night on the way to bed. While that didn't thrill me, I knew that as far as scorpions go, the bigger the better. It's the huge, scariest looking ones that, supposedly, are the least dangerous. For some reason, the little ones are the guys you have to watch out for.

The week after we moved into our house, our Bolivian friends, Oscar and Cristina, confirmed my thoughts in this regard. Adding, however, that the most common scorpions here are small, the same color as our tile and cause a three day fever if they sting you. I was a bit frightened by this news and thought about praying every night for God's protection against all things creepy crawly. (I haven't been all that faithful in doing so.)

Last night, at an inopportune time, I saw this guy in our bathroom. I called Adam (calmly), stood on the toilet (I didn't think they could climb up porcelain), and told him to get shoes on. My self appointed job was to watch him so we could seek and destroy. He must have decided that the crazy lady on the toilet was frightening, I suppose, because he made a run for it. (Aren't we all glad I was watching him?) I'm glad Adam brought big, heavy boots with him. The photo here is after a successful smashing of said scorpion. In fact, there are bits of scorpion goo to the left of him.

brick henge, dirt coffee and hibiscus...a day in the life of the hijos

It wasn't too hot, or too windy or too cold. It was just right. A perfect day to make dirt coffee, pour dirt on your sister's head and make brick henge for your Mom. Don't you think?

The brick henge. Natasha told me, "I made you triangles."


The dirt pouring and "coffee" drinking. Well, you can't see the actual dirt pouring, but I watched them out the window. The admitted to it later--especially when a 1/4 cup of dirt came out of Natasha's ponytail at bathtime. Oh, and the hair "do" is her wild girl version of curls.

One of eleven hibiscus that were in my yard this particular day. We have yellow, orange a few different pinks and this red one.


This is my favorite part of the hibiscus--the velvety stigmas.


Ana has started to sit on her own...though she still falls on her own too.


Natasha loves to climb our trees--which are actually huge mulberry bushes.

Birthday planning

"What did you say? It's my birthday?"

Elias's birthday is coming up quickly. He will be four on the seventh of September. I have been busy the past couple weeks brainstorming ideas and questioning locals on cultural expectations. I knew from attending a b-day party here last year that birthday parties are big. I've already learned that social manners are different here: you don't ask what someone wants to drink (ususally), you pour choices and serve an assortment of drinks on napkins on a tray--that's just one of many lessons.

So, I wanted to do this right and have fun at the same time. We are inviting three different families we have gotten to know and a few adults too. We'll probably have an even kid to adult ratio.

I'm planning on making a bunch of colors of playdough for the kids to play with and to take home (goody bags are a cultural must here!)

If you're in the area, here's your invitation. Just call for directions!
(Do you like the envelope I made?)

The best part of waking up...

...is GOOD coffee in your cup. Right? I love good coffee--even if I can't drink it straight off in the morning without wanting to wrench out my intestines later in the day. That said, and some of you may already know this, we have had a very difficult time finding good coffee here in the heart of black gold country. I mean, is it like people who make hot dogs for a living or something? You make it so you don't drink the stuff? That can't be because there are set times for coffee breaks across the city. The only thing is, those unfortunate people are all drinking INSTANT. AAAAHHH (covering my eyes and cowering in horror!)

We were determined not to let this happen to us. Some of our standards have to change as we adapt to a foreign culture; but this is not an area we were willing to compromise.

So, after much research and planning, trial and error, we have arrived at a very satisfactory solution to our caffeine habit: Cold pressed coffee. (Actually, I have to credit my grandparents who have been doing this for years. It just took me awhile to figure out I could do it too.)

The beautiful aspects of this method are as follows:
1. It's just as easy as instant to prepare. You can make one cup or several at a time; make it as strong or weak as you want; make it hot or cold, etc.

2. It doesn't use any power to make, for those greeny Oregonians out there this is a great plus--for those of us in third world countries with unpredictable power outages this is a must.

3. The thick, rich coffee liqueur it produces is a beauteous thing to behold.

Oh, and I didn't have to buy a thing to get set up. (We already had a good coffee grinder.)

Here's a brief tutorial for those who've kept reading up to this point.
Grind or purchase a pound of coffee beans. Pour the ground beans into a container large enough to hold 1 1/2 gallons.


Next, slowly pour in 4 cups of cold water. Wait five minutes. After this it will look like a chocolate souffle. Gently pour in five more cups of cold water--some people even recommend ice water.


Let sit for 12 hours. After twelve hours, strain the grounds from that liquid black gold you have made. I use a fine mesh plastic strainer. The liqueur, if you can call it that, will last for two weeks in the fridge. Just add 1 part coffee to 3 parts water, more or less to taste. I think my grandparents would use 1-2 ounces in a mug of coffee.
Here is my setup: an old Tupperware container to soak everything in, a strainer, a ladle for pouring everything through the strainer, the measuring cup with all the strained grounds (headed for the flower beds), a pitcher to pour the liquid into the reused 2 liter bottle. Isn't that bottle of dark, rich liquid beautiful?

It's quiet...too quiet

Worse things have happened when it's been quiet at our house, but when it grew very silent this morning, I knew I should grab my camera and investigate. Usually, Elias is reading a book quietly, but I knew he was in the kitchen. This is what I found:


Did you know that you can eat an apple with a spoon?



Did you know this is how many spoons you need beside you on the floor to eat an apple with a spoon?



I let him continue, though finding food for yourself is frowned upon for the five and under crowd around here. He pretty much obliterated the apple. I'm hoping he actually ate as much as ended up on the floor.

He also got to learn how to wash the floor.

The Electric Slide

I wrote earlier that I would have an electricity story and here it is.

The power down here is 220v. I couldn't tell you exactly what that means, but I'm sure a great many of you already know. My gut tells me it's stronger than the 110v we have at home. So, my brain tells me "don't mess around with this stuff!"

That said, you kind of end up "messing" with it whether you like it or not. Nothing here is grounded. The buildings are all made of brick, mortor and concrete so they're not going to burn if something bad happens. For this we are very THANKFUL!

Now, you need to know how our showers work. We do not have plumbed hot water, so if you turn the shower on, it will be cold. We do, however, have an electric shower...any red flags go off there??

Water...
Electricity...
Seems like a bad idea, but that is the norm and it doesn't kill the locals, so we should be able to figure this out.

There's a shower head with an inline heater. The water goes into the shower head, heats the water and then showers you, hopefully, with warm water. To turn on the heater part, you have to add in the electricity. You do this by flipping the circuit breaker located somewhere near the shower, above your head.

But, and this is key, you have to let the water run for a minute before you flip that switch so that you don't burn out the heater element. If you're thinking this through, you'll realize that you are about to flip a circuit breaker full of that good ol' 220v power...while there is water on the floor and most likely on your hands.

If you make it that far without getting a shock (I have so far), you might then want to adjust the water pressure because the more water you have running through that heater, the colder it is (there just isn't enough time to heat it well.) The way to do this is to turn the METAL knob. And that is where you will most likely get that oh-so-refreshing-wake-you-up-quick jolt of 220v. Remember how nothing is grounded? Well those electric wires and your metal plumbing are a little too close for comfort and YOU, being the wet, showering person make a fine ground for that power.

My solution to this is to adjust the knob with a bit of rubber tubing. So far so good, for me at least.

Still, none of these seemingly dangerous possibilities are what caused our scariest electrical moment so far.

A few Sundays ago, Adam was performing his morning rituals. We are all thankful, of course, that this includes a shower. Amid my own rituals of getting all the kids dressed and fed for church, I heard distressed yelling from our bathroom. Adam was hollering at me to flip the main circuit breaker. (Note to wives: You should know where this is for a moment like this!) After I do this, I go to see if he is okay.

He is.

The shower and circuit breaker are not:


Like I said, we are very thankful our house is not made of wood! Oh, and the picture doesn't show you all the lovely gray smoke pouring out of the circuit breaker. Our very gracious landlord had someone come and replace the breaker and our fried shower.

Sick babies

Ana has a cold. She just has upper respiratory congestion really (a.k.a. a snotty nose); but I kept thinking over and over today, "There's just nothing more pathetic than a baby with a stuffed up nose." Especially nursing ones. When you can't breathe through your nose, it sure makes eating difficult. She didn't eat much yesterday because she felt so crummy, but she was feeling better today, yet still stuffed up. So, she'd get kind of frustrated trying to eat, but having to stop and take a big gulp of air to continue.

Well...I realize there are things far worse than a stuffed up nose. God reminded me of friends and people I know who have been there and are there right now. I thought of my little Adriana who I cared for in South Africa, away from the the other kids when they were sick, in order to keep her healthy...only to lose her to pneumonia a few months later. I thought of Rachel and watching Joy go through so much for so long and how we get to rejoice with her in heaven for her new, perfect body. For Jeana's cousin's daughter who is going to get her own perfect body soon.

Many of us know that mama's love that grieves for her child when he or she suffers...and yet, we know our heavenly Father feels our suffering even more acutely, with even more love, patience and empathy. Thank you Lord, for pricking our hearts and keeping us empathetic when it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day.

My sleepy sick baby (she was snoring, by the way!)

Last night at bedtime...

Elias (pretending to fly instead of laying down in his bed): I'm going to Oregon
Molly (waiting patiently for said boy to calm down and give her a goodnight hug and kiss): Do you like Oregon?
Elias: Yes!
Molly: Why do you like Oregon?
(silence)
Molly: What do you do in Oregon?
(silence)
Molly: What is in Oregon that you like?
(silence)
Elias: Toys! There are lots of toys at Grandma Pam's house and I play with them.
(I guess he doesn't realize he has more toys here than Natasha or Ana--and he considers their toys his as well!!)

Update on the homefront

Ana has a cold. Natasha is enjoying school. Adam is attending a planning meeting of the academic council for next year's classes this afternoon. Elias is his usual happy, inquisitive self. I would like some more sleep, but what's new?

Ana hasn't been sleeping well for a week now. Waking during the night after sleeping through for months. She's been working on learning to sit up by herself--actually getting into a sitting position from a crawling one. We've read before that babies sometimes sleep poorly before acquiring a new skill because they are practicing in bed instead of sleeping. Well, it's either that or teething or this cold. She's pretty clingy, fussy and sad. I know it might be par for the course for other babies, but it's rough on me because she's usually so happy.

Elias and Natasha are busy pretending to be Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books--though it's a convoluted mix of Jack and Annie, VeggieTales, and pirates.

Welcome to Portland, Paper Source (I'm there in spirit!)

"Do something creative every day" has been a motto of mine for some time now. Whether I cut the kids's sandwiches in a new and interesting way (narrow strips are fun and easier to eat, by the way), or make a pencil box from a recycled cereal box, I like to do something to get the creative juices flowing. It gives me energy. It makes me happy. It's fun and entertaining. I think it's a nod to our Creator...and it's an idea that I totally ripped off these guys: Paper Source. I could go on and on about my love affair with paper, this store, etc....but the big news is they are coming to Portland, OR!!! (Which I suggested to them years ago...even specifically to the Pearl District!)

Grand opening is the 16th. Sure wish I could be there. I command all Portland vecinity dwellers to grab a mocha breve and browse the aisles for me. Smell the paper, touch the tools, Breathe in the creativity and take a class or two. (Grand opening class schedule) I certainly will the next time I'm in the area! Cheers!!

Today's project

I was inspired by friends on frugally green to use some of the things I would normally throw away. I also needed to find a pencil box for Natasha to use in her classroom at school--Adam wasn't having luck communicating that to the guy at the school supplies kiosco near here. So, here's what I came up with:

I started with this cereal box. I wanted the final product to stand up to a year of kindergarten, so I folded and glued and reenforced every side.

Natasha then picked out some of my scrapbooking paper that I brought with me. The 12x12 sheet wasnt' quite big enough to cover everything, so I added the strip of blue on the edge of the lid. My favorite part is the magnet closure I made by stealing a magnet from a pad of paper on the fridge. I attached it to the inside of the flap and put a strip of metal under the paper facing it (stolen from the cutter on my aluminum foil box.) I covered the entire box with contact paper when I was done--hopefully it will last the year. And it was pretty much free!!

Good Day/Great Day

I was wondering what made a day a good one for you? ...what made it great?
For example, a good day for me is that the house wouldn't be dirtier at the end of the day than when we started, a GREAT day would be getting all the laundry done.

Or, a good day would be if Elias didn't have any accidents (the potty kind), a GREAT day would be if he actually went by himself.

So, it looks like I'm being overcome by housework right now--at least mentally. What's happening in your life? What would make your day good and great??

Kindergarten, Frogs, and Spanish

Natasha began her first day of kindergarten today. We went to her school last week to visit her classroom and meet her teacher, Mrs. Jackson, a missionary from Billings, Montana. Natasha looks so cute in her uniform, don't you think?


It's been a bit on the rainy side lately, though a warmer 86 degrees is forecasted for today. We had one whole night and day with thunder and lightning on Friday. Adam was at the Seminary visiting classes and attending chapel while the kids and I hunkered down, unplugged all the appliances (see further blogs for more info. on idiosyncratic electrical things) and played. When I opened the door to shake out a cleaning rag, a froggie jumped on in. Yes, I did scream...actually it was more of an excited squeak of some sort--though mostly because our keys were hanging above our door and fell on my wrist when I opened the door and then somethings started hopping all over the place.


We like these little guys. After rain, they hop onto the outside of our windows and eat bugs. YAY for frogs!!! This guy was about 1.5 inches long. He was accepted into our frog relocation program and has made a successful reentry in to outdoor, civilian froggie life. Congrats, little guy!

Settling down...

The super short version--as to leave room for photos--is that we have arrived safely in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (the 17th of July); we've moved into our rental home (the 24th of July); we've figured out almost all of our appliances/showers/stuff; and we're working on Spanish language aquisition and visas.


Ana hanging out in our tub...used right now for everything: baths, laundry and of course, the pirate ship!


All the kiddos hanging out on our bed. They were all watching Clifford on our laptop.

One of our neighborhood friends...can you find him? It's a huge, green macaw that really likes the tree in the block in front of our house.

One of our friendly house geckos. This guy was about nine inches from nose to the tip of his tail. He was spotted in the living room one night.