Mc Donalds

When Wes and I came down here with our friends the Bagley's a few years ago we got a kick out of a made to look like McDonalds restaurant in Jaco; where we live now. Well, Saturday we headed to San Jose {where the international airport is} and found this real McDonalds. I made Wes photograph the breakfast sign with Mc Pinto as a menu option. Is that hilarious or is it just me? {Probably just me.}

How do you like the view?

This is a condo that I photographed, well the upper view from the penthouse. What do you think of the view? I wish it was our place, but then again I can imagine what my kids would do from up here. Oh, and yes that is an infinity jacuzi on the right.

This is the living room. Isn't it gorgeous? As I was photographing this, two red macaws came flying by. Yep, I said two macaws. Did you know that macaws stay with their mate their entire lives? If you see one flying solo then you know that their mate has died.

Paige was attacked viciously...

Well, sort of. We were getting ready for bed and my sweet one went to get a diaper for the baby. Next thing I know she was SCREAMING and a scorpion was crawling for safety. Eventually Wes came running and tried to save the scorpion. He loves to collect insects. Quite a few times I have located a jar {with a deadly creature struggling for survival} as I am doing my spring cleanning. When he realized that there was no way the scorpion was being taken alive, he sadly killed it. I put a baking soda paste on Paige, along with an ice pack and some Ibuprophin. I just did everything I could think of to help her little arm. Thank goodness the bites aren't too dangerous here in Costa Rica. I just had to make sure her tongue didn't swell or that a pain didn't start up her arm and we were good. She did have three little marks, two where the claws got her and one from the tail. She's a pretty tough girl you know. So in three weeks we have killed 2 scorpions, 1 centipede and 1 spider the size of my hand (that climbed out of Dallin's shoe). I feel for the insects, we have entered their country and annialted them. However this is a warning to all insects, enter my house, attack my child, and your days are over.

and another Happy Birthday...

My mother in law had her birthday last week. I hadn't thought of wishing happy birthday to our loved ones until today. So I decided to go back a week and do the same for her. I have been very lucky in the mother-in-law department. (Very lucky!)
So here goes:
The top 10 things we love about Grandma Foote:
10. "She feeds us popcorn when we are watching movies" Paige said.
9. She always has something from Target for the kids.
8. She is a great babysitter and unlike my father, the kids are usually asleep when I pick them up. :)
7. Grandma Foote has the best collections of sandals, she really does!! (We won't mention how many sandals)
6. When she was a young mom she took her kids to great "FREE" activities like the Disneyland fireworks.
5. She makes a delicious pot roast.
4. Christmas, we won't even mention how spoiled we are all at Christmas. :)
3. She keeps everything! Mail, her kid's baby clothes, furniture and cars.
2. Grandma Foote makes the best cherry cake. Unbelievable!
1. She always dyes eggs with us.

Glad you had a nice birthday. We love you!

Happy Birthday to you!

It's my dad's birthday today. Happy Birthday Dad! We baked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting in your honor. To him if it isn't chocolate it isn't cake. :) Too bad he can't enjoy it with us, oh well!

So here are the top 10 things we love about him.
10. Grandpa can wrestle pretty well, even wearing his church clothes.
9. He can throw a grandchild up in the air no matter how old they are.
8. Paige said, "I love how grandpa sneaks me things, like chocolate chips."
7. He is a loving and patient.
6. He loves his Father in Heaven and tries to serve him.
5. He can do the best cannonballs into the pool when no one is expecting it.
4. He cannot remember birthdays even if his life depended on it! Do you know today is your birthday!?!?!?
3. He can fall asleep on the couch even in the middle of a party.
2. Grandpa is the best babysitter, but watch out when you come home, it will take hours to calm the kids down for bed.
1. When he gets caught doing something he shouldn't, he turns a bright shade of red!!!



We love you dad!!!! We love you grandpa!!!

Happy Mother's Day...

Molecular Science...

Nah, just making Play-Doh. However we did talk about molecules. It went something like this.
Me: "Paige, when the molecules of the items we put in the pot get hot, they start bouncing around really fast."
P (my daughter):"So they are like, having a party!"
Me: "ah, yes."
"Now that they are cooling down, they are different, they have changed. They are tighter together."
P: "So now they are hugging really really tight!!!!" As she hugs me to show how tight.
Me: "Yep."
Kinda cute I thought. :)
You can check out the lesson we used with a great Play-Doh recipe, it's a link on the right.
Enjoy!

Our pet froggie..

Actually I think he's a toad. We have at least two of these guys in our courtyard. At night when I went out to finish laundry, my foot met one once. Now I always wear shoes. (for those of you who are worried, I just swept the frog to the side, it didn't meet it's fate) This is how creature capture and release happens in our family. They older boys T and D spot it, they run and announce the find to P (my daughter), she darts in the direction they told her and catches it. Then she hands it to them after they know it's safe. The boys love to be the ones to release, and she, well let's just say she's not the happiest camper when the animal is let go. Isn't this guy so cute??? He reminds me of the book "Frog and Toad" that I read when young.

My BIG blue bins...

I love these guys! This is what I packed all our stuff into to come here to CR. What a genius I am! I should have taken a picture with us and our 12 blue bins at the airport.
Why I love my blue bins (I should have my friend Penny write me an ode to my blue bins)
They stack nicely when empty or full. You can cram a lot of stuff in them, including 2 large Tonka trucks for my little boys. I have used them for bathtubs, storage bins. shoe closets, dressers and a ladder. Because they have locking lids, they keep the insects out of our clothes and shoes. Boy and I smart. O.K. no more boasting.
What I wish I had brought was baking soda and cream of tarter. Those things I can only buy in packages of about 2 teaspoons. And I pay about $1.00 for them. Crazy! I can get 100 teaspoons in the states for only $1.00.
For those of you that giggled when I said I was bringing my bread maker, I'm on my 5th loaf of bread. I also brought 20 pounds of Dallin's bread flour (he has a wheat allergy) and other baking ingredients for him. Go glad I did. There is no way I'm finding xantham gum here if I can't get a decent sized baking soda. :)

What a wonderful "day"...

Today is a wonderful day! T and D start school! Bless this day. We coughed up the money for private school yesterday. All I can say is “ouch!”, that hurt!!!! As if the monthly fee wasn’t bad enough they attach 2 more “outrages” fees just to start. I’ve been home schooling these past 2 weeks; seems like a month. Without Internet access in our “cozy” home, it’s been about impossible. As of last night the Internet has reentered our lives. Whoo hooo!


I will continue to home school Paige and Aiden. He’s just starting to read little words. If anyone has a two year old (or older) I HIGHLY recommend “Leap Frog’s Letter Factory” DVD. It is the best thing I’ve found for learning phonics! You can find it at Target or Wal-Mart. Aiden has known his phonics for awhile now. His cousin Ethan picked them up after a week of watching the movie. It’s worth the $12.00.



As long as I’m recommending things here are two more recommendations I have. I have found the best dentist on the face of this earth. Well, at least in the Inland Empire. His name is Dr. Mohns. He and his staff are amazing. They are happy, and kind and Dr. Mohns is so gentle and careful (and honest) with your teeth. So if you are nervous to go to the dentist, or tired of grouchy staff at your dentist, call his, they are wonderful! He's in Riverside on Tibbits off of Brockton.
(I actually can’t claim I found him, my good friend Christine B. found him first. Way to go Christine!)


And for my final recommendation, a book. “The Peacegiver”. Most of us understand the atonement but when we need to apply it to our lives, do we know how? This book is written in story form so it shows the practical application to the atonement. It is about a severe problem in this man’s life, but even though we aren't going through the same situation, it is a huge benefit to understanding our part in the atonement. When you read it have a pen handy to underline! Great book.

More of Manuel Antonio Park...

Here the little ones are playing, unaware of how gorgeous it is around them.


This is an adorable white faced monkey. Not sure why the call it that! (hee,hee)


And finally, back at home Dallin caught this in our pool. Can you tell what it is???? It's a cockroach. It's huge!!!! I just finished killing a centipede in the kid's room. Wes and I can be found in their room most nights now. I don't want them playing with a creature they aren't supposed to be touching.

Manuel Antonio...

Sometimes it's so beautiful here I have to remind myself that it's real! Manuel Antonio Park was as exciting as I thought it would be. Iguanas were everywhere! As we were hiking around the pennensila to find the beach we wanted, Paige ran out through the brush to get a better view and screamed. Then said, "Oh I thought that was real!" Then Troy replies, "It is real!!! Mom come check this out!" There was a HUGE iguana about 2 feet from Paige. She slowly backed up and then we were able to enjoy the reptile better. There were 4 of them in this particular spot. We are guessing they were guarding a nest. Iguanas are known to charge at humans if they feel threatened.

We also saw these rather large ants and some were carrying leaves on their backs. While the picture doesn't do it justice, it was pretty impressive to see in person.

We also saw a sloth. It was high up in the trees so the picture isn't that clear. That's why I didn't post one. But they are soooooo sloooooooow. It was funny to watch him move from one branch to another.



T,D,P and A on the first of many rocks they climbed today.