Friends!

Shane is one lucky boy.  There are so many little kids his age on the island, and even several within a couple months either way of him.  We get together often, and he loves it!  Here are the ones at playgroup today from youngest to oldest

He is getting to be a little social butterfly.  He loves reading with Elisabeth

And was so excited when he saw Kira walk in the door

So much so that he had to kiss her.  He is doing a much better job at being gentle though! (He is only two months older but they are on opposite ends of the growth charts!)

Avery is the older woman and he loves any attention he can get from her

But I think Matix may be his best bud.  They like to chase balls, play with cars, admire the babies, and get into trouble together!

I think they like each other!

What's For Dinner?

Sometimes I feel so proud of myself just for getting lunch all together and ready for the three of us, diaper bag ready and stroller packed with whatever we may need to go up to campus for lunch that around 4 o clock or so I realize that I need to start thinking of what the heck I'm going to make for dinner! 

I used to feel like I had trouble with this question in the states with the whole gluten thing and all, but let me tell you, I have got a list of recipes waiting to be made and ingredients to be used in the states that I will appreciate ever so much when I get back!  Until then, it's the same old same old.  But today I thought I'd see what Shane could come up with. 

"Uh, sorry mom, looks like all I've got is some keys and a rubber ball."

"I think you might want to take over now."

Looks like it's corn tortilla pizzas again folks!

backyard.frontyard

This is our "backyard".   

Yes, it's a little...hmmm.... how shall we put it?  Ghetto.

But, when your frontyard looks out on this

and is complete with a ginormous mango tree

I guess you can't complain.

Shane sure seems to think it's pretty great anyway.

Shane's Favorite Dominican

Meet Jennif, our next door neighbor (and Flat Rusben, who we're entertaining for the week)

She is Shane's absolute favorite.

Every time we are playing outside and she sees him she shouts "Boyfriend, boyfriend!" with her thick accent.

His ears perk up like a dog and he grabs onto my hand and starts pulling me as fast as he can down the stairs and to her house.

As soon as he sees her he gets a big grin on his face and she pretends to kiss him.

He walks up and down her path eagerly clapping when he gets to the top of her hill because he knows she is going to clap for him.

Then she sings him his song and claps the rhythm:

Papa go in the sea

Papa catch a little fish

Mama boil it in the pan

Papa eat it like a man

When she finishes he waits a few seconds then starts bouncing up and down signalling he wants her to sing it again, and she sings it as many times as he wants.
If only she were smiling and you could see how many teeth she's missing- not like he cares!

Thursday Thoughts

(Otherwise known as an excuse to be random)

-March Madness has started! Josh and I made brackets and are having fun checking in on the games and comparing scores. Shane is even getting in on the action too.
As of right now I am 8 for 8 on my picks! But I don't expect that to hold up too long...

-I thoroughly enjoyed making dinner tonight and simply opening the (gluten free) can of cream of chicken soup and pouring it in instead of making it from scratch beforehand.

-I've been struggling the past week or so with balancing my desire to be more generous and Christlike and realizing that I can't take care of everyone who needs it. I gave a little girl some money who told me about a hard position she's in (hopefully spoken in truth), and now she keeps coming to me with things she needs money for- medications, school fees, etc. I know I can't singlehandedly finance her and feel a little used, but yet I also know what Christ said about giving to the poor... any thoughts on this anyone?

-I just found out the hard way that our insurance does not cover immunizations. Ouch

-Feeling relieved that some problems we had with our flights home in April have been resolved and that we will be going home in a little over a month! (Barring any volcanic ash ha ha)

Lest you be fooled by many pictures of us frolicking on the beach...

... living in Dominica isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Most of the time I really like it here. Other times I am less than thrilled with living here. This week just happened to be one of those times. So in case you're still stuck in winter and feeling jealous of our island life, I'll let you in on some of those less pleasant details of my week:

-my clothes being soaked by the end of the day with my own sweat and getting patches of heat rash all over because of it
-dreading putting on my starchy stiff line-dried clothes and making it worse

-taking hour long bus rides into the capitol for things that would be routine in the states

-worrying that if something were to happen to us or Shane, that I don't completely trust the doctors here

-not being able to depend on the internet working, or the electricity for that matter

-Walking to four different grocery stores today to collect everything I needed. I've learned to never count on something being there even though it was a few days ago.

-living in a one bedroom apartment and consequently still not being able to shake that 5:30 am feeding, or keep Shane from waking up when Josh's alarm goes off

There, that feels better now. As annoying as some of these things have been to me, I have to stop myself and realize that it is these very things that are really making my experience here a memorable one. I am actually really grateful for the chance to not just see, but actually experience living (to some degree) how a lot of the world lives. And with a wonderful husband, a cute little boy, great friends, and an abundance of natural beauty here I really don't have much to complain about (at least not often :) ).

These Are the Moments That Make Up Our Days

Exploring outside and saying "dog" about 20 million times
Walking to campus and stopping at every cow we see to say "moo"

Relishing time with Dad at lunch

Playing with other kiddos. Apparently we are not through with the kissing stage. And apparently it's not limited to girls either.

Cooling off in the shower when I don't want to walk the mile to the pool

Dominicans Know Where It's At

So glad I had my camera with me today,

so glad I spotted this woman with this shirt,

so glad she humored me when I asked to take her picture,

and so glad for little moments like these to make me smile and keep me amused

This Week in Numbers

0- amount of gas left in our propane tank in the middle of cooking dinner tonight. Unfortunately there is no gauge to tell you when you are going to run out.

1- ice cream I've eaten at KFC. I'm sure this number will increase by the end of the week!

2- play groups we've gone to

3- cans of gluten free cream of chicken soup I found today!!! Thank you Canadian generic brand.

4- nights I've fallen asleep on the couch while Josh was studying

5- approximate number of hours spent at the pool so far

6- miles I've run

7- time in the morning Josh has been at school by

8- consecutive times I read Fidgety Fish to Shane after forgetting about it for a few days. I think that must be some kind of record

9- average number of times I get asked a day what happened to Shane's face (heat rash)

10- mangoes our landlord picked us from her tree. Yum!

All in all just another typical week. Josh studies, Shane and I find ways to keep ourselves busy and cool. I'd say we've managed to have a lot of fun though. I can usually tell when we get home and I find this: