All in a days Walk

The girls and I often take walks around the neighborhood in the afternoons when they wake up from their naps. I thought I’d “take” you along with us today…

The biggest reason that Samara and Noelle like to go on walks is to visit all the neighborhood cats and dogs

This little puppy is their favorite, he's not yet been trained as a guard dog so he loves our visits

overflow seating at the bus stop

It’s very normal to see large fancy homes

next door to not so fancy homes

The sidewalks here are pretty uneven, full of tree roots, broken concrete and holes, so pushing a stroller can be quite a workout.

In the five block radius that we normally walk I believe that we are one of three houses that does not have a dog (some have four or five). Here dogs are much more than the family pet, they are an important part of people’s security systems so you never hear someone tell their dog to “be quiet” or “stop barking.” I understand this but at 3am when the whole neighborhood chorus gets going…well you can imagine how understanding I feel.

We often see people going door to door selling things

Broom vendor

Corn on the corner, unfortunately not like the sweet corn we love in Oregon.

Noelle gets tired on our 5 block walk and sits down anywhere she finds a seat

taking a rest on a brick

headed home

Wherever there is a construction site you see these wooden frames on the street for mixing up concrete

People rely on more than just dogs for security

barbed wire, razor wire and an electric fence

Even though it’s almost winter time there are still beautiful flower and plants that we enjoy

beautiful poinsettia growing on the gate next door

Here we are at home sweet home

Thanks for taking a walk with us this afternoon, hope you enjoyed this little taste of the neighboorhood

Love is a big pot of Peanut butter

For those of you who might be confused over the title of this post, at least 1 of 2 things are true.
1. You do not know how hard it is to find peanut butter overseas
2. You do not know how my wife loooooves her peanut butter

Of all the sacrifices it is to live in Brazil, perhaps none has been as great for Marla as living without peanut butter. They do have peanuts here in Brazil, but people here haven’t developed the taste for peanut butter so it is almost impossible to find. And when you do find it the in the import section of some supermarkets, the jars are small and so ridiculously expensive that we’ve never bought it. So until recently, the gift of good peanut butter was something only a visitor could bring.

Oh don’t get me wrong, I did try to make some. I’d first buy the peanuts, then I’d roast them. After roasting them in the oven, I’d take each one of those red papery skin things off of each peanut. Then I’d roast them again. After their second roasting, I’d put them in a mini-food processor and blend them up adding oil and salt. The process took about 2 hours to yield about 2 cups of peanut butter.

But then about a month ago, I saw in a health food store dry, roasted, salted peanuts, without the little red skins. Oh my goodness, how my heart jumped. Not only did this store have salted peanuts, but they had unsalted as well. Sooooo after trial and error, I have discovered that 1.3 kilos of unsalted peanuts (that I have to roast again) + .7 kilos of salted peanuts + a cuisanart + about 40 minutes of work yields almost 5 pounds of delicious peanut butter for about the same price as you can buy it at Cosco! Oh how God is good, and life can go on!

Gifts from the heart

My mother’s day gift bags were many this year…Samara came scampering back and forth from her room her arms laden with gifts. As I opened each bag she explained why she had given me each present. Her dolly and doll blanket because “I love you so much, I want you to have her.” Her jewelry box filled with her jewelry “because you love jewlerrrery Mommy” Her pillow “because I love you so, so, so much Mommy” Item after item that she had picked out from her treasures, and wrapped up specifically to give to me. Then she sang an original Mother’s day song at the top of her lungs that went something like: “Happy Mudder’s day, it’s your Mudders day, Happy Mudders day…” and danced in circles. She presented me with a card that said Happy Mother’s Day. Micah had written the words in yellow marker and she had traced them in blue and was quite proud of herself. Later that evening when we were cleaning up she made sure that all the things she had given me were in my room. Dolly Isabelle was “sleeping” next to my bed and the jewelry box was on my dresser. I did convince her that it was okay if she “borrowed” her pillow back so she could sleep with it. I feel like I got the greatest gift ever. The love of my daughter, love enough to give to me her most prized and treasured possessions. As Micah was tucking her in that night she said “It made me wheeally happy to give all those things to Mommy, because it made her wheeally happy.” Well Samara, It made did make Mommy happy. So happy in fact that I don’t even mind when you “borrow” your jewelry back to dress like a princess.

Special card from a special girl