Three Weeks

Three weeks in.  Feels like we've been back a lot longer than just three weeks.

We've done a lot in that amount of time.  And there is a lot more to do to really truly be settled again.  There are still piles of things to sort and put away, we still need to register the boys for school that starts in a month, still need to restock the panty supplies fully.

But we are on the way.  I think all the bags are unpacked even though there is still stuff to put away.  The big projects are mostly done, with the exception of staining and vanishing the shelves and cabinet.

Oh, and just for the record, if you are planning on moving internationally, don't do it three days before Father's Day and a birthday.  Honestly, we've done Father's Day, Quinn's Birthday, Noah's Birthday since we've been back!  That's a lot! We totally skipped out on the 4th of July this year, much to the disappointment of several of us, me included!  Oh well, live and learn.

I think our hearts have caught up to our bodies for the most part.  It's been a bit rockier of a transition than I was anticipating. But boy, have we've so enjoyed being back at church each weekend,  and being part of our community here!  Noah's been in the office this week some, and it's been good to get back in the swing of things.

I'm hopeful that by August, when the big boys start school again, we'll be resettled.

And with that, this might be the last blog post for a while.  My computer decided to act up three weeks after being in Costa Rica, which means it gets a trip to California tomorrow, then to the repair shop, then to Illinois and then back to Costa Rica in September!  Yikes!  That's a long time without it!! Not sure how well I can blog on a tablet or phone, so we'll see ya when we see ya.

This and That

Yep, we're resorting to bullet points.  Don't judge.

• After two days of working on letters and sounds, Elliot became a reader!  Love this kid!

• I have been working on tons of projects for church!  We have a picnic coming up in a few weeks, so we've been painting and building outdoor games, sewing buntings, and figuring out relay races.  

• I am also neck deep in fabric to make new table clothes for church.

• We're working on plans to give the kitchenette at church a make over.  Fun stuff!!

• I started tutoring for my Spanish again.  It's been painful, but good.  This language learning, it's a life long process I tell ya!

• A few weeks ago, we found a desk for a steal!  After way too long of using the kitchen table as a desk, I have one again!!

• For Mother's Day (August 15, yep, it's different) the boys and Noah got me a hose and a nozzle!! So excited!

• Our neighbors, can I just tell you how wonderful they are?  Not only do they go along with almost every hair brained scheme we come up with, they take our kid to school, and bring us food, they also have a sweet fire pit and understand the importance of living in community and taking time!!

• We've started to think more about getting ready for our Home Ministry Assignment (furlough) that will start in December.  I've got really mixed emotions about that. On one hand, we're all very excited to see family and friends we haven't seen in over 2 years.  On the other hand, we are going to desperately miss our friends, church, and neighbors here!  Sigh.  This living with your heart in two places is hard. 

• Speaking of being in MI, if you know of anyone who has a car/van/something that will hold a family of 5 that needs to be driven, we're looking for a vehicle for that 6 months. 

Good Old Fashioned Cook Out

For the Fouth of July this year, we decided to have a good old fashion cook out.  We looked and looked for fireworks, but never did find any.  But there were three legged races, ring toss, sling shots and tin cans and FOOD!  Lots and lots of hot dogs, potatoe salad, chips, dip, ice tea, lemonade, watermelon and birthday cake for Noah!

Such a fun night!

A Gift of Understanding

Last Sunday, I was handed a package by a sweet old lady.  She moved here to Costa Rica in the 50's with her husband and young kids to help translate the Bible.  She was one of the first people to talk to us when we started to attend church. 

When I asked her what it was, she simple said, "well, I guess you'll have to wait until you get home to find out."

The card was so sweet.  It said "I hope this small gift helps you in your ministry to your family."  She knows what it's like to have young kids on the mission field.  She knows what it is like to be far from family, from familiar. She understands that my primary ministry here, there, anywhere, is to my husband and kids and everything else is secondary (something I often have to explain to people).

And what was in the package?  A new washcloth, a new spatula (a nice one too, one that is hard to come by here) and the best part?  A set of hand embroidered tea towels with the days of the week on them.  You know, these

When my husband saw them, he said, "it's from one mom to another."  And that is exactly right.  Sure, we had young kids 50 years apart, but some things never change.  You can always use some pretty things to make the daily washing dishes, cooking, wiping dirty faces just a little nicer.   And there is no way she could have known this, but I have always wanted vintage days of the week towels. 

More than the physical objects, it was a gift of understanding, from one generation to the next.  Understanding the life as a young mom in a strange land. Understanding my primary ministry.  Understanding that washing dishes, cooking meals, making a home is important, necessary, vital.  What a gift!

Part of The Grove Link Up

An Uncollection

Well good grief.  I am sure I posted here more recently than last week.  I really am sure of it.  Didn't I?  Oh well.  I have a lot of posts rolling around here in the background, but nothing ready to share with the world just yet.  It seems like everytime I sit down to write, somethinge else grabs my attention.  Like a screaming baby, or a barking dog, or buring something in the oven.  So, in an effort to keep you up to speed, I'll bullet point it for ya.

• We looked at another school last week for the boys.  Don't think it's a good fit.  On to the next one.  Honestly, this is getting discouraging for me.  Education is expensive here...like 10 grand expensive.  Per kid.  Per year.  If we're going to be honest here, I am struggling with this.  It feels too big.  Which is silly, because it isn't, but it feels like it right now.

• I broke down and bought frozen blueberries.  3 pounds for $12 USD.  We needed something familiar.  I think we will indulge in blueberry pancakes tonight.  With fake maple syrup, because well, $30 USD for a half a pint just doesn't work out.  

• I taught a bilingual group of kindergartens about density last week.  Let's just said I remembered why I taught High School.

• Quinn now eats crackers.  That's it.  I did manage to shove 3 black beans in his mouth last night and he didn't spit them out.

• My dirty dishes are out of control.  And to think I used to grumble about unloading the dishwasher.  Ha!  Oh for the day!

• Forrest told me a story the other day about a 17 year old who looked like he was 5 because he was a dwarf.  His name was Quanto and he rides sheep competitively.  I love that kid (Forrest, not Quanto, although I am sure he's a great guy.)

• It took me all morning to work out the math to make ice tea and lemonade for 35 people. Good grief.

• I looked at our orange tree the other day and realized that little green orange have just managed to appear...no blossoms, just BOOM, oranges!  Weird.

• Rainy season has been weird.  One day it won't rain at all, and then next it will pour!  Many days, though, in the afternoon the clouds will roll in.  And we are close to 5,000 feet up, so we are in the clouds. If the windows aren't closed the cloud will come in the house.  And no, it's not just fog, it's a cloud.

• 

The Everyday

When I was a teenager and even into college I had this rosie idea of what missions would look like. You know, the sorta hybrid Indiana Jones meets Florence Nightingale life where our days would be full of adventure, helping, seeing amazing things happen for the Kingdom of Heaven. Since we’ve been in Costa Rica, I think that has happened, ummm, once?

Most days this life feels a lot more mundane.  Like all the frustrating parts of life are exaggerated.  Nothing is straight forward or simple here.  Take making ice for an example.  In the States, my refrigerator made ice for me.  Now, I have to fill the water filter, wait for it to filter.  After an hour or so, I fill the ice trays and get them in the freezer, if there is enough room.  Or paying for your car insurance.  You can’t write checks here.  Instead, you go to the bank, wait in line for an hour, give the bank teller the account number where you want to deposit money to pay for the car insurance, or any  other fee.  And then you pray that the system is working and the money can be transferred.  Sometimes it is, and sometimes not.

Now, I will freely admit, some of these frustrations come from being a northern living here.  For people from colder climates, we show respect and value for people by respecting their time.  We don’t want to take up more time that is necessary, they have other things to do and the theory goes, that’s because it’s going to get cold and if they don’t get enough food and wood stored, enough warm clothes made and enough animals situated, they will die that winter, all because you talked to them too long at the bank.  Warm culture folks show respect and value by taking time with someone.  No conversation here starts right out with business.  There is the “How is your family?  How is the weather near you?  What happened in such and such situation?”  And then comes the business.  There is plenty of time to plant crops, to harvests them, and since it’s so warm, clothing is minimal….well, you get the point.  

We need you all to pray for the big things, the times when Noah is leading Bible Studies, when we have camps going on, you know, the exciting things in missions.  But we very much need you to pray for our everyday, for things like

• Patience as we wait in lines for groceries, paying bills, getting visas renewed, going to the doctor
•    Endurance to deal with the very long drawn out process of doing things here, like getting the official paperwork saying we can live here.
• For flexibility, as daily plans change, roads are closed, and things like electricity and water may or may not be working.
•   For the daily stress of adapting to a new culture where we don’t know the nuances of a particular phrase and are always asking ourselves “are we being to American?”
•  For the loneliness that comes from being in a foreign land.

Genius!

So, are you tired of seeing my laundry yet?  At least it's clean.  I told you I like just looking at it hanging on the the lines.

And remember when Noah put all those lines up for me?  Inside even?  Well, then we discovered another challenge in doing laundry in the tropics.  Stuff doesn't dry.  And by "doesn't" I really do mean "doesn't".  It can be on the lines for 4 days and still be damp, and by that time, well, it's also getting mildewy.

See, we are in the throws of raining season, with higher humidity, and times without any sun.  And those two things don't help clothes dry well.  Sometimes, if you aren't careful your clothes will seem dry, and you have something other to do than take them down right at that moment and you'll come back 2 hours later and the clothes will be wet again.  Yeah, they just sucked moisture out of the air.

So, in an attempt to get our clothes drier faster, we bought a couple of fans from another family that is finishing language school this week.  We tried them on their stands this week, but our lines are kinda high, and well, it just wasn't working.

So today, I brain stormed a bit.  See, this particular fans won't tilt upwards.  But, the fan part did come off the stand very easily.  And as I looked around the laundry room, I spotted it.  A round laundry basket.  Well, wouldn't you know, it was perfect for holding the fan so that the wind would go right up to the clothes!  And because the basket is tall enough for the motor part to not touch the ground and because there is all sorts of ventilation around the motor, I feel pretty confident in this solution.

And can I tell you, that even on this rainy, humid, cloudy day, my clothes are almost dry?  Now, the jury is out on if this will cost less than the dryer, which I am pretty sure it will, but wow, it's nice to know the clothes are dry within one day!

Bath Time

One of the essencial parts of any house in the United States is a bath tub.  For very good reason, right?  How in the world would you get children clean without it? 

One of the things that we were warned about when we began this process of moving to another country was the lack of bath tubs.  They are not at all common here or in Honduras.  So we started introducing the boys to showers while we were still at Barakel.  And they enjoyed them.

But since we've been here I have noticed fingernails and toe nails don't get as clean.  And the boys are constantly trying to play in the shower like they would in the bath tub. 

Then I realized the other day, "well, hey,  there is a spout near the botton here that looks like water can come out."  I tried it, and low and behold, a spiget of sorts!  And then I thought, "Hey!  I brought one of those rubber drain covers with us!"

 " And the sides of the shower go up pretty far.  Far enough at least for the boys to have a BATH!"

Now remember, they haven't had a bath since we left the States at the end of April.  When Elliot walked into the bathroom tonight he looked the water and said "Ohhhhhh!!"  I could barely get his diaper off of him before he in working hard at playing.

And when Forrest came up he said, "Mom, we should do a bath every time!"  Do you think they liked it?

They had a good long soak in the "hot tub" as Forrest refered to it when we were done.  It's was a prefect night to get snuggled in nice warm towels from a friend at Barakel and read with Dad. 

It's the little things, you know?