Becoming Accustomed...

It is hot and humid here in Costa Rica. More so in Jaco where we are.

When we are out running around, I can walk in a house that has had the {so called} air conditioning on and be hit by a wall of cold air. It is so relaxing and refreshing. One of my favorite things here.

However in about ten minutes in the same room, I will start sweating. Did I say sweating? I meant perspiring. Once my body has acclimated to the temperature {the temp I used to think was COLD} it didn't seem to appreciate it anymore.

I've thought about this a lot lately. When we first moved here, I loved the drive to church. I loved bouncing along the crazy road. I enjoyed the gorgeous trees, vines and other foliage. The sky was such a bright blue with fluffy clouds.

Now I dread the drive.

When did that all change for me?

Sunday as we were starting our 6 hour church adventure, I realized I haven't appreciated any of the above mentioned benefits of Costa Rican life in quite awhile.

Why you ask? Maybe it's having to make all three meals for our Sunday and have my 5 kids dressed and ready in church clothes by 7:45 am. Or the fact that munchkin number 5 gets car sick now and pukes every time on our drive there, no matter what I do to avoid it.

But here is the thing. All the above mentioned difficulties are reality. So are the "beautiful" benefits attached to life here. When did I become acclimated to this beautiful environment?

Maybe the trick is to see the bright blue sky, gorgeous white fluffy clouds and green foliage even while your hands are scrubbing vomit.

Yes, I think that is the trick. Then life becomes more beautiful because of what you choose to focus on.

Easier said than done, however. "Focus Shawna! Focus!"

Because I Care...

I've read about how tight things are in the states. So here is my contribution. Walgreens has a $5.00 off $20.00 spent. Use that with the deals on school supplies and you've got a great bargain. I make sure to only spend $20.10 to get the most from my money. :) You can also head right back into the store with another coupon, and another and another.
You can get the magic coupon here .
Remember, it's only good for Friday and Saturday. {if you don't have a Walgreens in your area, I'm sorry for the tease.}

Enjoy!

Don't forget to check out my "frugal" links to the right. They're pretty good.

Does anyone know if CVS honors Walgreens' coupons? I think they do.

A World Record Set Here in Costa Rica

We've seen the advertisments. We've heard the talk around here. We waited until the time was finally here. And then it arrived, the world record was to be set for the biggest fish taco, here at Bubba's Fish Taco joint. We have been heavily anticipating this moment. I packed the kids in our new "red feedom" wagon and headed on our hot, mile walk to see this awaited moment.

I'll just say we were highly disappointed. All they did was lay out the tortilla's side by side. Aren't they supposed to make a HUGE tortilla???? Oh well. I thought about doing my own advertisements and beating Bubba's {lame} Taco by 1 inch; making a taco 30 feet and 1 inch. But then, who am I to make enemies here? I certainly don't want any.

I do have to say that it was for a good cause. He was raising money for a reef ball to help save the ocean. Way to go Bubba.

That is what Aiden thought of the taco setting record. He got his chair and sat facing the street.



This is a shot of our new "red freedom". Aiden got this for his birthday and my favorite feature is the seat belt that neither him nor Landon can undo.

The last shot here is of the news report being done of the owner. The reporter was also the camera guy {holding a regular family camcorder}. Let's talk about multi-tasking!! I tried my best not to giggle.

If You Give a Kid Some Gum...

Remember the book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? Does it sometimes feel like your life is like that? A series of events all connecting to one another, where you might wish you could go back and change the first {mistake} event?

Me too.

Here's one of mine from last week.

If you give a child a 100 colone {about 25 cents), he'll want to buy a large bubble gum. If he tries to buy a large bubble gum the gum will get stuck in the machine. If his gum gets stuck he'll stick his hand up the machine to get his gum. If his hand gets stuck you'll try and get his hand out. When both of your hands are stuck the nice "Spanish only speaking" store manager will try and rescue both of you. You will be of no help because you have no idea what he is saying. When you are finally rescued you will make it home just in time for your sister in law to drop off her large dog for you to watch. Her large dog that you are watching will of course find the large chewed up bubble gum and lay in it. You will spend the next 20 minutes up to your elbows in peanut butter {to get the gum out of dog fur}, dog hair and bubble gum. When you have peanut butter,dog fur and bubble gum dripping off your arms, it will remind your little guy that he misplaced his "gum" and would like some more.

Do you think I have a book here????

Over Night Peach French Toast

I know this isn't a "recipe blog" but hey, this is really good and I have to share with my buddies.

I got it from here at yummyfood4all

I am a strong believer in a healthy, homemade, preferably hot, breakfast. This can be thrown together the night before and sit in your fridge until morning comes. Or if you are like me and don't have much room in your fridge, you can make it right then and it still comes out delish!

I even have {bad lighting} pictures to show.

Over Night Peach French Toast

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter or margarine

2 tbs. water

Sliced peaches

French bread

5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

1 tbs. vanilla



Melt butter; add water and brown sugar.Boil till mixture foams.Pour into a 9x13 pan and cool 10 minutes. Line the pan with the sliced peaches, covering all the caramel mixture. Slice bread 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick.Place on top of peaches.Mix eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour over bread completely covering it. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.Bake at 350o for 45-60 minutes or until golden brown.

 Bake uncovered, let cool for a few minutes then flip the french toast over and spoon caramel and peaches on top.. serve with whip creme.

A Shout Out to my Amigas...

“Indian wisdom says our lives are rivers. We are born somewhere small and quiet and we move toward a place we cannot see but only imagine. Along our journey, people and events flow into us, and we are created of everywhere and everyone we have passed. Each event, each person, changes us in some way. "

-1st paragraph from "Tending Roses"

I've used this quote before, however pulling a different meaning. I'd like to re-quote here.

It's not as tacky as re-gifting. Which of course I've never done, even when I received 5 rice steamers as wedding gifts, {which I love rice steamers} and forgot I stuck the cards inside the boxes, then wrapped one up to give to another couple because we were dirt poor young marrieds. Yeah. That was embarrassing.

I love the words "people and events "flow" into us..." Isn't that just pristine? I've been contemplating the people that have flowed into my life experience. All of them adding joy in my life. Yep, some when they flowed in and others when they "flowed" out!!! Lol { I know that wasn't correct grammar, but it's midnight and it works for me}

I have been very lucky in the friend department. I truly have. The best thing about "mis amigas" is the variety in personalities. All of them are important to me but so different. I am often caught commenting that if I could stir us up and then sift off our best qualities we would make the perfect women.

So here is a tribute to my best buddies:

There is Penny.

Here she is with her beautiful daughter who modeled as a paper doll in a previous post. You might recognize her. :)

Penny is one tough {black belt} cookie. She keeps me on my toes by questioning anything she thinks might need to be questioned. And her favorite questions are ones that might make someone squirm, just a little. She has yet to make me uncomfortable, try as she may, I don't think she can do it! And yes, Penny, that is a challenge! She is a wonderfully patient, playful mom and a good example to me in many, many more ways. When times are tough she has taught me to grasp on to spiritual knowledge and I love her for this.

This is Cindy

{We are all in black in white because of reasons relating to vanity, we look better this way!} Cindy does the most creative things with her little ones. She has a apron with pockets that hold fun toys and activities and I will admit here and now, that I covet that apron. She will tell you ever so gently {not! hee, hee} if you aren't doing what you should be doing. She has a clap that she does when all is right in the world and it makes me smile just thinking about it. And her sweetheart and munchkins come before all else in her temporal life. I love it.

Meet MaryAnn

MaryAnn is easy going and fun. She is the great keeper of traditions. Even my husband {who wouldn't notice if I changed out all our furniture and painted the walls bright purple} mentions how great her home looks during the holidays. She has taught me the importance of the handwritten "thank you" card and celebrating a friends birthday on her actual birthday. She held my hand as I strained under the weight of helping my mother pass from this life. She is cool on the outside, but on the inside she is sensitive to the struggles of others and does what she can to relieve them.

My friend Christine

We go way back to our last year of girls camp. That's where I first met Christine. It was after we had found our true loves and started having children that we really start to become good friends. I hope that just being friends with Christine will give me "spiritual bonus points". My plan is to announce at the pearly gate, "Hey, I know Christine, can you let me in??? Please!!!!" {She would get embarrassed to hear me talk about her like that, but it's my blog. Hee, hee.} Christine is a wonderfully supportive wife. Her honey has so much on his plate and she does what she can to support him. She is kind, hard working and never speaks negatively of anyone. She just graduated with her bachelors degree and is quite the intelligent one. She also is an artist and the best family home evening lesson creator. {family home evening being one night a week (usually Monday) we stay home as a family and have a quick spiritual lesson and fun family time} At my house FHE would have a different description {being one night a week, we constrain the kids to the couch by sitting on them, to listen as we try to feed them spiritually and they now announce all the huge homework assignments that have just entered their minds and all of the sudden are of the utmost importance} Sorry, lets get back to Christine.

She is humble and a great leader. I'm thankful to have her as a friend.

I also have Nikki, Tracy, Christina, Sharla, Tonja, Shanie, Louann, Andrea, Kristen and many more buddies that have changed me for the better. I am thankful for friends. It hasn't been as easy here to make them and because of that my appreciation level has soared. Thank you from way over here in Costa Rica for what you "all" mean to me. Oh and now a few more have entered my mind. Boy, am I lucky.

Love ya all.



TIP:

One of my above mentioned friends got this tip from her mother. When you receive a thank you card or little note from a friend, find a basket and tuck it in there. Collect your notes throughout your life and tuck them in the basket. Then when you are having the "rare" down day, grab your basket {some Dryers ice cream} and sit for awhile. Go through them and I can promise you they are a great "pick me up". It has also helped me to be better to sit and write those important thank you notes.

Another idea:

This would be a great gift don't you think? If you have a friend you know who needs a good pick me up you could write your note of appreciation, attach it to a cute basket {filled with a few yummies, o.k. I've got little ones I can say yummies} and then tell her what the basket is for {filling with thank yous to come}. You could also get a few of her closest friends to write a "card of appreciation" too. That way it will already be filled. Or you could have them mail in within the week. How cool would that be?!?!?!? I amaze myself sometimes.

Some Great Sites...

Don't you love when you've found a great website? I remember finding Everything Is Pink and Rocks In My Dryer Those were great days for me.

Now I have found a few more.

www.hostesswiththemostess.com
great ideas for baby showers, bridal showers and entertaining. My fav is a baby shower with a theme of bedtime stories. Everyone brings their favorite book and the food table is made to look like a cozy bed with a stuffed animal. How creative is that?????

www.gourmetmomonthego.blogspot.com
this has, yep you guessed it, recipes! She has the most creative ideas for making your dishes look appealing to your little ones, or big ones. My favorite; doggie soup {soup made from left over veggies from the week} and biscuts that are in the shape of doggie paws. Then she goes one step further and throws a blanket on the table and lets the kids eat in the "dog house". Like she says, it's all in the presentation.

Aren't these cute???

I thought I'd post what I've been working on lately in Primary. I got this idea from mormonshare. We have a primary activity on service coming up and this is our handout. They are wristbands to hand out with the day and time on them. Cute huh?
Before you are thoroughly amazed at my translation skills, I have to admit I use a translating site to turn everything to Spanish for me. I have been picking up a little more though.

Do me a favor. The next time you are at church or out in public and hear someone who is bilingual, give them a pat on the back. Don't just let the thought enter you mind that oh, it's easy for them to pick up the language because they live here. NO, it doesn't just seep into their brains while they sleep at night {as I had previously thought and hoped}. No it takes tons of blood, sweat and studying. It is hard. I will always appreciate anyone who has or is going through this smoothing of a rough stone process. ALWAYS.
Another thing I can thank Costa Rica for. Boy they just keep adding up!!!

It's That Time of Year

I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL!!! I know it's old, I remember my mom laughing every time it came on, and me, not getting the joke! Yesterday we saw our first back to school commercials. What a wonderful time of year it really is. I love the smell of a brand new box of crayola crayons! New school supplies, new classrooms, new friends and new wake up times. I have to say the J.C. Penny, Mervyns and Khols advertisements made me homesick for life in the states. Sniff, sniff.

Instead we will be HOMESCHOOLING. Yep, that's what I wrote, homeschooling.

The private school the boys attended, well, let's just say, it was costly and not worth the price. They wouldn't be able to make it in the states if they attended there one more year. I'm quite overwhelmed to think about teaching the three oldest, especially my sweet Paige. I love her, but if she doesn't want to do something, other than me tying her arms and legs to mine and making her do it, she won't do it. {Which by the way, works!} I remember one day quite a few years ago, talking loudly to her {screaming actually, but I won't mention that here!} "You are 4 and I am 30! You will not win!!!" as we were in a head to head, I'm more stubborn than you stand off. So as far as the idea of a sweet mother lovingly teaching her youngsters at home, Paige has me shaking in my flip-flops.

The program we are using is the one everyone here uses. Calvert. Then we will look into putting the three oldest into a local private school part time. {at about $80 a month per munchkin, you can't beat it!} So as you get your little ones prepared for their newest adventure in life, pray for me. :)

Do you have a back to school tip or tradition that you can share with the rest of us? Since I only have 5 readers, if you could all 5 comment, that would be great. :) Think how much more efficient we could be with 5 more tips to get our wee ones out the door. Oh, and MaryAnn. Good luck with seminary this year. {hee! hee!}

Here's mine

The night before we make the lunches including the sandwiches. I don't put any condiments or lettuce on it if it's a meat sandwich. If it's PB&J I put a thin layer of peanut butter on both pieces of bread. That way it keeps the jelly from making the bread soggy. I pop the sandwiches in the freezer the night before. In the morning all we do is pop the sandwiches into the lunches and they are off. Extra bonus: the cold sandwiches keep the rest of the lunch cool.

Happy back to school!!!!

I had to post a picture.

Look What I Made...

This is a button I made to live on my sidebar. When you click on it, it takes you to www.mormon.org. Isn't that cool? If you want it to live on your sidebar too, email me and I'll send it to you.
photomom5@gmail.com
Or you can cilck on it, then right click on the larger image to save to your computer.

Here are the directions to add a button to your blogger blog.

1. click on "layout"
2. click on tab "page elements"
3. click on "add a gadget"
4. scroll down to picture and click
5. I don't add anything to tittle or caption because the picture says it all.
6. under link make sure it reads, http://www.mormon.org
7. now select Image, "choose file"
8. now find it on your computer and select.
9. click the orange save button
10. don't forget to drag the picture button in the order you want it to appear on your sidebar.
11. go to your blog and test it out, pretty cool!!!

Part II on our Trip to San Jose...

As you know from earlier we headed to San Jose, the capital city here, a few weeks ago. It had been quite awhile since we had done anything "vacation like" and the natives were getting restless. We basically tagged along with Rusti. San Jose is where we do any major shopping. They have Payless Shoes there, however you won't find anything for under $20 there. {O.K. so I just realized I let you in on my secret, I"M CHEAP!}
San Jose also sports a "PriceSmart", it's like a wanna be Costco. {Oh, how I've missed you Costco} Someone please buy a case of sweet grapes for me. If I dared to purchase them here I'd pay about $13 for a pound. And they have the audacity to carry seeds.

My daughter enjoys the finer things in life. The first thing she did was try and order room service. {Yeah, right!}

This is Aiden sporting the view from our hallway. It was beautiful, especially at night as we were fighting to get 5 kids to actually fall asleep.

Oh the luxury!!!! Here is where I spent many moments. Nah, I wish, but I did get in a 2 hour bath the first night. Yummy!!!
I thought this was cute of Wes and Landon.
Here is what I love about Costa Rica, parent traps like this train that rode around the mall, only cost $3.50 for all three of us. I was ready to pay $3 each like I would have in the states.
This is what our feet attire consists of now, flip flops. Wes accidentally called them thongs, like when we were kids. That started an interesting conversation. :)
We still don't have a car, and my little blue freedom doesn't live with me anymore, so we have to take a Taxi/Bus. It's a taxi that seats 15 people I believe. I won't tell you the cost of having us transported to San Jose and back, it will ruin my "cheap" status. But it is nice to be able to stretch out. Doesn't Aiden look like he appreciates it?
Here I am, only because I know if I don't post pictures of me every once in a while you will think that I'm a phantom, not real or pregnant. So here I am, early in the am, snuggled into the most comfortable bed I've slept in in years. I couldn't resist the fluffy robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door. {By the way I have a funny story about pregnancy I'm going to tell you soon.}
Here are my oldest 2 tickle torturing my youngest. And I do believe tickling is a form of torture!

A Normal Trip to the Store...

One thing I do everyday is go to the grocery store. In the states I would attempt this feat once a week. I could maneuver 2 carts through Costco; one filled with kids and the other with my soon to be purchased goods. Bystanders would comment on my talents. Most comments would sound something like, "Boy, you sure have your hands full." {I could also get out of there under $200, another amazing feat!} Here the refrigerators are small (most available appliances are smaller actually). The good thing here is that food doesn't get lost in the deep end of the fridge. The negative, I have to shop often. So come along with me as I restock my fridge.

Okay...the wife just dosed off (hee hee) so I will see what I can do to finish this post. So....these are our front gates. The muchacho sitting down opens and closes the gate by hand. He has to sit in that chair for an entire shift. The guard shack or "casitas" has no A/C and I don't think I have ever seen a fan in there. The guard service is excellent and no one gets past these guys without a specific house number and typically verbal or written permission from an owner or tenant. About 150 meters straight out the gate and down the road is the main drag, not to mention Kentucky Fried Chicken where we can find the treasured Mug root beer:)


Look closely and you can see it. Right there....see it. We call it "peace of mind" and much better than the gaping hole that used to be there. We were worried the kids might fall in and are very pleased that the city took care of it so quickly.
Shawna: I wanted to mention here that underneath this previous gaping hole was rushing water headed to the ocean. I was always worried the kids would mess around and fall in. Every time I walk over these now I let out a sigh of relief.


Ahhhh! My honey waiting on din din and bubbaloo looking at the kitty hiding in the wood stack out of view. This small restaurant/soda (A "soda" is a small spot to pick up some grub.) is called Pollo's Leña (Leña = firewood) and is located in the town of Orotina (on the road from San Jose) and is the best place to pick up some rotisserie chicken. At $9 bucks a chicken it better be good! Look closely....yes....that's a pig being roasted and was brought in by the locals for a party. We stuck with chicken:)
Shawna: This is from our trip to San Jose.



Okay, this is definitely my wife's department. However, I think can name some of them...go ahead...time me! From top to bottom and left to right: 1st row - Leaf lettuce, garlic. 2nd row - pinto beans, cashews, peas, yucca, cherry tomatoes, ???, limes or mamon, ???, peppers. 3rd row - green cabbage, tomatoes, empty, smaller tomatoes, red cabbage. We'll see how I did after the esposa reads this.
Shawna: I wanted to mention here that lately this has been my selection of produce. The produce area keeps getting smaller and smaller. My new item on my get from the states list is vegetable SEEDS.


P-pooh and mom walking to or from the store. The walk is rather nice and this stretch of sidewalk is the most scenic.
Shawna: O.K. let me change P-pooh to Paigee Pooh. Actually even that sounds bad, how about just Paige. Here I was trying to show how some of the sidewalk is beautifully pothole free. Although most of our trek is quite dangerous. {If you consider the chances of tripping dangerous}

Uhhh...here you can see that "Mega Super" has a decent selection of canned goods. And...I might add, that the clerks have a tremendous talent for agility and balance. NEWS FLASH...the power just went off here at home so I'll have to move quickly to...never mind it just came back on.
Shawna: You should have seen me trying to photograph this one. I didn't want to seem rude with my huge camera taking pictures of my sweet grocer friends so I just took it without looking. This picture describes Costa Rica. There aren't many rules to how things get done, they just get done. {sometimes} Can you imagine seeing this in the states? Someone would sue the store for negligence. My sister-in-law was given the flag to hold out her car window {the one that street construction workers are to use to slow people down} and hand to the worker that was 1/2 a mile up the road. The guy just handed it to her and said take this up. So funny!
I've also seen a man climbing up a ladder to the 4th floor of a building, outside, with a huge heavy box on his shoulder. No one was below holding the ladder and no one was up top to help him when he got there. I had to leave I couldn't even watch.

Maybe it's better when Wes does the comments, his are so much shorter.

Mmmm...fish eggs, anchovy paste, and sardines. Someone pass the crackers please...yeah right...this is just foul. I'd rather eat boiled cow tongue!
Shawna: I can get Caviar at my grocery store but not a brand name I recognize of tuna. I have to order that from another store.


Caviar is the processed, salted roe of certain species of fish, most notably the sturgeon. It is commercially marketed worldwide as a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread; for example, with hors d'œuvres...The highest prices paid are for the Beluga, Ossetra, and Sevruga varieties. (The large-grained Beluga caviar is from the Beluga sturgeon, a fish which is unrelated to the Beluga whale, a mammal, the word beluga derives from the Russian word for white.) -Wikipedia-


There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home.

Shawna: Cute honey! This was to show how most of the sidewalk looks.


There are a number of these little flower people embedded into the sidewalk. Stare at is long enough and you might expect it to start talking:)
Shawna: There are about 10 of these embedded in part of the sidewalk along my route. I always have to smile at these. They remind me of the book, Where the Wild Things Are. Love that one.


The yellow and brown gate or "portion" is where my sister used to live a few years ago. We have video of it from our visit in 2005. Oh and of course our beautiful daughter posing for the masses:)
Shawna: I wanted to show here how everyone is behind gates. I remember reading about how important sidewalks are to "child development". Yep, sidewalks. I've lived in both type of neighborhoods and the ones with sidewalks have a different type of neighborhood feeling, especially for the kids. Can you imagine what that child development book would say about houses with bars and fortresses built around them? Thanks for coming with us. I will take a mental note never to fall asleep with a sick little one again and leave my post up and halfway done. Then my husband will literally take over my blog and change everything including all the colors, the background, the sidebar, the info about me, the font, and give him access as an author. {ah ha, didn't think I found that last one, huh honey?!?!?}

Okay, that wasn't so hard. WB