Cold and Wet and Soup

Well, Hurricane Sandy is causing a fair amount of rain here today.  And it all started before lunch!  In fact, we woke up to rain this morning.  Normally during rainy season, the rains start in the afternoon.  But it has been cold and wet today.  In fact, it's colder here than it is in Michigan today!  When I say cold, I mean 68 Fahrenheit, but with no central heating in cinder block buildings and windows and doors that aren't air tight, 68 and rainy is cold. 

Which really, is just fine by me.  It is October after all, and 30 years of living at a latitude where it could be snowing this time of year makes it seem as if you should be in long sleeves and jeans in October. 

In the spirit of all this rain and damp and cold, I made a couple of things, hot cocoa mix and tomatoe soup.
My mom posted the hot cocoa recipe this morning on Facebook and low and behold, I had everything in the pantry!  And while I don't have a food processor, I found that the food mill attachment to my mixer does just fine grinding up chocolate chips!

So, here it is...

Hot Cocoa mix
3 cups powdered milk, 
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa 
1-1/2 cups white chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips because they are the only ones I can find here.)
Process in food processor until it becomes a consistent powder (or you can mix with a spoon if your chips are ground up)
Mix with boiling water and enjoy. 

The great thing about this recipe is there is actual nutritional value unlike store bought or the coffee creamer/nestle quick version.  There's about 8 grams of protein per cup as well as calcium from the powdered milk.  There is also antioxidants from the dark cocoa.

The other thing I made today was tomato soup.  I had 4 giant tomatoes hanging out in the fridge and they needed to be used up.  And with all this rain and cold, I thought grilled cheese and tomato soup with rice would be a lovely dinner tonight.  You know, indulge in the cheese we pay an arm and a leg for!  Seriously, a 2 pound block of cheddar is over $10 USD here.  

I had never made tomato soup before and this worked out so nicely.  I used stock from the freezer and everything came together very nicely.  And oh, how sad is that measuring cup?  We only have three casualties on the way over, my 2 cup and 4 cup glass measuring cups and a glass milk jug.  The measuring cups are still usable for this sort of thing, but without handles they aren't going to be much good for hot things.

And now, I do believe that all three boys are tucked away in their rooms for rest time.  I think Quinn finally settled down to sleep, and the others are playing quietly.  Now to enjoy a few minutes of the rain pounding on the roof. 

Waiting and Ice Tea

We're in the waiting game.  Just waiting for baby.  I think all the loose ends are tied up, and now we just sit and wait.  And try not to wilt in the heat.  Seriously, this is absolutely awful weather!  I never thought June in Michigan could be this icky.  But oh, wow, is it icky.  And it doesn't look like it's going to let up any time soon.

I thank God multiple times a day for this wonderful house with air conditioning!  Being two days away from having this baby, I am so thankful that God knows what we need before we need it!

But with this heat, I thought I would pass on this fruit ice tea creation that I have been downing by the half gallons.

First, find a container.  I am a bit partial to my glass half gallon milk jug.  And then you need some black tea and whatever fruit flavor herbal tea you want.  I have used raspberry and orange.  For the half gallon I use 8 normal decaffinated black tea bags and 2 herbal bags.

Then, bring to boil enough water to fill your half gallon container 2/3 full.  Really, just eyeball this. When it reaches a boil, take it off the heat and add your tea bags.  Let them steep until it seems right to you.  Oh, and I do like my tea a bit on the sweet side.  To the half gallon, I add 1/3 cup of sugar.

Pour the tea into your container, top it off with cold water, put it in the fridge to cool off and then enjoy with a lot of ice!

Just Stopping By

Hard to believe, but we are drawing to the end of our month here in Michigan.  It's been a crazy month, full of lots of traveling, lots of food, family, friends, and fun.  How's that for illiteration?

Anyway, we will be spending the next couple of days packing up, saying goodbyes, and finishing up all those odds and ends.

I haven't had time to really work through the photos I took this month, but I will leave you with this one of the boys from a few days ago.

Noah's Wife

So I caught a glimpse into Noah's wife's life the other day. How is that for ironic!?

But really, I am talking about Noah, the guy with the big ark, the one who found favor in the eyes of the Lord.  Yeah.  Her.

I was reading Elliot the Peter Spier version of Noah's Ark, well, reading maybe is a loose term because there are something like 2 sentences in the whole book.  But there are captivating illustrations.  And Elliot is enamored by them right now.

Anyway, we came across this illustration

Yeah, do you see her?  Hanging up laundry on top of the ark?  And how do you think that worked out once the rain began?

It's been raining here, and I mean raining, like buckets of rain.  Our clothes have been hanging on our indoor line for 2 1/2 days with the fans on them full blast and they are still soaking wet.  And I thought of Mrs. Noah again.  Yeah, after 40 days and 40 nights of rain...nothing was getting dry anywhere in that stinky old ark!

Anyway, this Mrs. Noah is am grateful for a dryer so that in a pinch we can get our clothes dry!

Uncollection

• There is something about these Costa Rican cold bugs...they knock me out completely!  I have been in bed for 24 hours now...and by in bed, I really mean in bed.  I never did that back in MI.  Ever.  But here, just about every time I have a cold that's what happens.

• Noah came home from PriceSmart (think Costco) tonight with not only a Supreme Pizza, but 3 pumpkins.  Yes, three real, round, orange, lovely fall pumpkins.  And yep, they are imported from the US.  But they are lovely and Forrest keeps asking when we are going to have pumpkin pie.  And he did say something about carving them like last year in the Dinning Hall.

• We not only have plane tickets to Michigan for the entire month of December, but a pastor we know has a car that we can borrow for our time!  You don't know what a relief that is for us!  Seriously, we have been praying about how to make this trip work, because while we have free domestic tickets from this mess the tickets from Costa Rica to the States were quite pricey, like close to $400 each.  Yikes!  So we watched and waited and prayed, and a couple of weeks ago we found tickets for $170 each!!  Yeah, that's like $200 less than what we were planning!  And because we are going to be traveling all over the state, we needed a vehicle.  Again, we kept praying and asking around, and sure enough, God provided!  Can you tell I am excited about this trip?  Yeah, and yeah, we will be praying there will be snow while we are there!

• The rainy season has finally hit with a vengeance!  It's been pouring for about three days now.  Someone asked me if that is a good or bad thing.  Sorta both.  It's nice and cozy with all the rain, it's cooler, like you want to wear jeans and a hoodie, but it also makes some things more difficult.  Like you know, drying clothes and walking places.

Now that was an Adventure!

So, that was exciting!  Tonight about quarter to 5 our time, we experienced a full on earthquake.  Like 6.0 earthquake at the epicenter.  Which apparently, according to the Richter scale is classified as strong.  It didn't last very long.  Maybe 30 seconds.  But boy it was different!  Our neighbors came to check on us, which was very sweet of them.  Everything was fine.  My little art guy feel over in the kitchen and the hanging fruit basket in the laundry room swung around, but other than that, we really were fine.  By the time we realized what was happening it was over. 

Being from the land that nothing ever happens in (no earthquakes, hurricanes, poisonous snakes, alligators, fire ants, etc.) this was a new experience for us. I had to look up the whole Richter scale thing.  Our neighbor said that the heavy rains this time of year sometimes cause tremors.  He even called this tremor season.  Brings to mind that silly movie that always seems to be on cable.  Anyway, not sure how much scientific fact there is to his comment, but interesting none the less.

All of this did prompt us to look up the Red Cross information about earthquakes.  I have been meaning to do that, but just hadn't gotten to it yet.  Turns out you stay inside the house if you are already in there.  And the whole thing about the door frames being safer, nope.  Apparently a large sturdy piece of furniture is a better option.  Want to know more?  Here's the link to the Red Cross information.

So anyway, that was the big excitement for the day.  Or maybe the week! 

Sick And Snow

Well, last night made the "Possibly the Worst Night Ever" list.  Both boys were up about every hour, and of course they didn't coordinate their efforts.  I was pretty certain Forrest had an ear infection.  He's pretty good about telling us now that his ear hurts.  And poor kid, all night he would ask to go to the doctor.  Breaks your heart!  This is what they did as soon as they got up this morning.  Both were whimpering the whole time.

Elliot has had a fever for a couple of days now, and snot has been pouring out of the kid.  I figured it was a virus, nothing the doctor could do for him, but with our moving date a week away, I thought we might as well bring him in this morning too.  And good thing!  Both boys have really bad ear infections. 

So we now have 4 bottles of antibiotics in our fridge and a couple of new DVDs in our possession. 

I am just so very thankful this happened this weekend instead of next!  I have no idea what we would have done then!  Thank you LORD!

And to just add to the crumminess of today, this snow is so ridiculous!  Forrest said to me on the way to the doctor, "I want to go back to Florida!"  Remember our vacation?  I asked him why, and his response was, "It doesn't snow there!"  Yep!

So the rest of today is watching Curious George and Sid the Science Kid and getting everyone feeling better and rested!

Our Florida Vacation Thus Far

The Snowy Day

There is Only One

Left His seamless robe behind
Woke up in a stable and cried
Lived and died and rose again
Savior for a guilty land

It's a story like a children's tune
It's grown familiar as the moon
So now I ride my camel high
I'm aiming for the needle's eye

I chased the wind, but I chased in vain
I chased the earth, it would not sustain

There's only One who never fails
To beckon the morning light
There's only One who set loose the gales
And ties the trees down tight
When all around my soul gives way
He is all my hope and stay
There's only One, only One Holy One

Lord, You are my Prince of Peace
But this war brings me to my knees
See, there's a table You've prepared
And all my enemies are there
But where my Shepherd leads
Where else can I go?
Who else fills my cup 'til it overflows?

There's only One who never fails
To beckon the morning light
There's only One who set loose the gales
And ties the trees down tight
To the Solid Rock I fly
Though He bids me come and die
There's only One, only One Holy One

-Caedmon's Call

Share the Well

Back to You Regular Scheduled Programing

Sort of.

After a really really long trip home on Sunday (more in a minute), we are back to life as normal.  Errr, except that it's 10 days until Christmas, so maybe not completly normal.

After 8 days on the road, we made our way home in the first statewide snow storm of the season.  We left around noon, thinking that even if it took us 6 hours (normal is 4) to get back, it would be only 6.  Well...

A half hour into the trip, we got a flat.  And remember back this summer when we got a flat and learned that our spare is stuck to the van?  Silly us, we never did anything about that.  So that spare is still stuck to the van.  And our cell phones weren't charged like they should have been.  And the computer wasn't charged like it should have been, and well, we were pretty desperate.  We prayed, and Forrest started to, out of no where, sing a song from Seeds Family Worship "Philippians 4:6-7".  Ummmk.  Think God was trying to say something?

 A few minutes later a state trooper pulled up behind us and called a tow truck.  And we got a hold of my sister and her husband who live about 5 minutes from where we were.  My brother in law came and got the boys and I, while Noah took the van to the nearest open tire shop. They had coffee and Charlie Brown Christmas for us to enjoy.  And really, overall, it was a nice afternoon.

We were so thankful we got a flat where we did.   There were so very many worse places to get one on our route home.  You know, like in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard!  We got back on the road around 4pm and made it slowly north, through the ice and snow.  Really, we didn't loose that much time we were home by 8:30, but it was a looonnnng day!

And it was a good week of talking with people about Honduras.  And we are now at 54%!!  Thanks for all your prayers over this week.  We sure can't do this without the prayers and gifts of the people here!

First Snow

Well, it happend.  It snowed last night.  Here are some of the remanants on Noah's golf cart this morning.  Hoping this doesn't stay around for long!  It' is only the 22nd of October people!

But winter isn't far away.  My hands can tell you.  This week they started to crack.  Oh joy.  Time to dig out the rubber gloves for cleaning and washing dishes.  So very attractive.  hummmm.

From My Time Out Walk

This morning Noah sent me on a time out walk.  Yeah, I was that cranky and overwelmed.