A relaxed Sunday indeed. Paul and I went for breakfast and discussed whether our bug-free bed efforts were successful last night. So far, knock on bug-free wood, they have been. But I’ll never be smug when it comes to the bugs. I live in humble hope that we’ve outsmarted them this time, and that the girls won’t be covered in bites that drive them crazy.
Cali went to see her friend early in the morning and stayed there until we picked her up on the way to church. They hadn’t seen each other for at least two weekends.
Madi had lots of homework to catch up from last week, and did that without being asked. She has developed amazing study habits and time management skills here. I don’t help her manage her time at all, and she has it all under control and is making great grades. She has finally become excited about doing well in school, something I would have never predicted. I’m thrilled.
Kier surfaced from her sleepover at around 10:30. She and I ended up going out to breakfast with one of the mom’s who was out dancing with us last night.
During the meal Paul called me from Santa Catarina, the next village over from Pana. He had ridden there on his bike. Rather impressive if you’ve ever seen the road. By the time we left breakfast, it was the afternoon. As we walked out of the restaurant Paul pulled up on his bike.
While Cali was still at her friend’s house, the rest of us watched a funny movie that would have been inappropriate for Cali. It was called Shaun of the Dead. I think it was also inappropriate for me. Then Madi finished up her homework and I started to catch up on the blog, since I got hopelessly behind when my family is here.
I was thinking about the week with my family and how important those visits are to the girls, to Paul and to me. Especially living here, where most family units are not in tact, and many of the kids are estranged from their dads, I am reminded not to take the week we just had with my family for granted.
We then went to church. There was a woman who did a presentation about Haiti. She is a nurse and went down after the earthquake to help in one of the orphanages. As you can guess, the pictures were tragic and depressing. I couldn’t stomach the slideshow at the end of the program. It was too sad for me to watch. Instead I watched Cali folding cranes out of napkins.
We bought empanadas from a woman who attends the church who was in need of money. They were delish. Supper done. Cali locked herself in the bathroom somehow, with the lock located at the very top of the door. Somehow she has a gift for locking herself in bathrooms. She had fun at her friend’s house, but I told her she is not allowed to play with matches anymore, even if other adults say it’s ok to do so. I’d also prefer that she not eat raw eggs, but I’ll save those instructions for the next playdate.
We had ice cream after church, of course. Paul bought the girls double scoops today, they were pleased.
Kier was so tired from the weekend, she went to bed at 8. That’s what happens when your friend drinks 2 cans of Red Bull and keeps you up until 5. It’s great to have the girls sleeping upstairs because we can watch tv while others are sleeping.
Cali’s frog blog: I have not had any time to do my blog, and I heard that some of you miss me. So I am back. Today I had lots and lots of fun. But before we start, I just need to remind you how much I love my uncle Johnny and Bonnie and Ella. I haven’t forgotten all the fun stuff they bought me and how those things have made me very happy. This is not your special blog, but it’s past my bedtime, so I will have to write that a different night. I also love Grandpa and Sandy and miss you. I have a special place for all the dolls you left. Now back to news. Today I went to visit my friend who I haven’t seen for a few weeks. We started with watching Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Skweakquel. Then we played restaurante. We made a soup out of plants. It didn’t have any meat in it, just lots and lots of nature, so Bonnie and Ella could have eaten it. There was flowers in it and leaves. We served it to our customers, which was us. After we did that, we started playing with matches, like an experiment of what would happen. The babysitter knew we were lighting matches, so she said, “Don’t waste all your mom’s matches.” When I told mom that story, she said I can’t ever play that again. We lit the matches and then we would plop them in the soup. We used one whole box of matches, then another whole box, and then another box. We used three boxes but it was ok because we left her mom a tiny packet of matches, so that was ok. Next we went to the kitchen to play real restaurant for us. We started with a container. We started with a bit of lime, then we put chocolate stuff from Nesquik, then some milk powder, then a lot of sugar because that’s good in anything, then some water, strawberry jello mix in that, a teensy sprinkle of salt, and finally we cracked an egg in that. Then we mixed it. We tried it and it was disgusting, but the nanny said, “You made it, so you have to eat it.” So when we heard that we decided it may taste better if we make it into yogurt. My friend didn’t know how to make yogurt, so I had to tell her how to do that. I told her we needed a glass, we put the milk stuff in it as a base, then we stirred some of that stuff into it for flavoring. Then we tried it and decided it needed another egg, that would make it better. But when we tried to break it, my friend got it exploded all onto her shirt. It went everywhere on my friend, and the nanny laughed at my friend’s silliness. Then my mom showed up and I feel I didn’t have enough time to play restaurant. I begged her to stay longer, but it didn’t work. We walked to church and I made origami birds out of napkins, but it didn’t work, so I got mad at that. I went to the bathroom and the lock at the top closed on me. After a while my mom checked on me and asked if I was ok. I told her I was locked in the bathroom. The 3 boys had to climb on a chair to get me out of there. It didn’t take them very long. They pushed the piece of wood that was locking the door and unlocked it. Then I was out. Mom wouldn’t let us play pool during church because it’s too noisy. After church we went to Sarita’s and dad let me get a double scoop of ice cream. Woohoo. It was an extra good day because of the double scoop. We ate it while we walked home because I have to get back to school. Tomorrow is my friend’s birthday and my dad brought her a present from Canada. I think she will like it very much. We are all sleeping in the big bedroom now. I have my own bed to myself because mom says if I get lice, she only wants to deal with one lice head and not three. I told her I’m careful and I don’t want to wear braids to school because that’s not pretty. I’m not very happy about that. But I still got two scoops of ice cream and no one can change that. P.S. I love you all very much.