Waves in Arkansas

Bet you did not know we have waves in Arkansas.

Samuel had been land locked for 12 months and 26 days when we received heavy rains during the night on July 2nd. He woke up talking about river surfing and how he knew where there was going to be a wave today and could he go surf it. What?!? Wait, WHAT?!?

"I don't know, I'm trying to fix breakfast. We have church, go get ready for church."

What the heck is he talking about? We go to church. Our church can be a little long...in a good way, except not so much when the rain has stopped and you are worried about your wave disappearing. We talk and eat and pray and catch up and read scripture and talk about scripture. He patiently waits. We close in prayer.

"Mom, I have my board in Hannah's truck, can she take me to the river, I want to surf that wave before it is gone."

"Ummm, ok?"

After we say our goodbyes and get in the car, I pause and look at Sam. Wait, WHAT?!? "Ummm, I told Samuel he could go surf a river wave, maybe we should go check it out."

We locate Samuel, with his little brother in tow. He was right, there was a wave. How did he know there would be a wave there? {little brother was not going to surf or get in the water, but I can see how him standing by a fast following drainage area in the middle of town could cause some concern} Two concerned citizen were urging Samuel not to get in the current, as he was insisting it was perfect for boarding. A police officer was also pulling up.

After some discussion, the police officer noted that he thought it was dangerous, but he did not know of any laws that were being broken. {I want to put another caveat in here: my boys have spent a good amount of time in rough waters and surfed Zicatela Beach in Puerto Escondido, Mexico...think big waves, so I'm not recommending this for anyone without experience} 

We go to Lowe's for a rope to help Samuel get to the wave. This proved unnecessary. I choose to be in denial that I have to live with the consequences of raising adenine junkies and walk over the Barnes & Nobles to peruse books on tiny houses and gardens. {More on the tiny homes later}.

Okay, so it is not as good a getting up at the break of dawn, dipping into the Pacific and feeling the rush of breaking ocean waves, but it is pretty nifty. Now my boys are constantly watching the weather for heavy rain. Especially since Josiah had other obligations and missed this wave.

Mamut Cake

Here on the field life is a little different, we are aware our children miss out on somethings their counterparts in the U.S. have and do.  In light of this, we try to create traditions that the kids can look forward to, that make life unique and special and create memories.  For example, we did not have room to bring Christmas decorations when we came to Mexico, so we have a tradition of making decorations every year.  This year we made Peppermint ornaments, which you can see by (clicking here).  We also do Tostada Tuesdays, which you can see by (clicking here).  Another tradition is letting kids choose what kind of birthday cake they want to be made for them.  One year everyone wanted ice cream cakes, the next year everyone wanted cheesecake.  This year Josiah wanted pecan pie.

So this week Haden and I walked to the store for some carrots I needed for dinner.  He asked if he could bring a few pesos to buy a treat.  As we were walking along and he was thinking about his treat, he said he wanted a Mamut cake for his birthday.  I was a little confused, so he explains this is his favorite sweet treat at the tienda.  I tell him I have no idea what it is and need to take a look before I can promise anything.  After two tiendas we find carrots and mamut, which is what we called Moon Pies when I was growing up.  A round cookie sandwich with marshmallow filling, covered in chocolate.  When we got home I typed "Moon Pie" into the Pinterest search engine and there were actually several recipes for homemade moon pies.  Figuring out how to modify the recipe to make it the size of a cake was pretty easy.  It turned out very yummy, very sweet, but very yummy.

The kids and I had fun with the PicMonkey edits.

Mamut means Mammoth, by the way!  Before you get too impressed with my Spanish, I only know that because one of the kids told me.  This is the blog where I found the recipe for homemade Moon Pie. (Click here)

Pinterest Fail

When we moved to Mexico our Christmas ornaments were one of the things that just did not fit.  So, we began a new tradition of making Christmas ornaments.  We have made popcorn chains with chilis, popcorn balls (very yummy, they make great gifts also), paper snowflakes, origami cranes, dried apples and oranges (bonus: they smell great), cute little peanut snowmen, gingerbread cookies, ect.  The kids love this tradition.  

I turned to Pinterest for inspiration this year and I found this neat idea that SEEMED very easy and staight forward.  The idea was to place peppermint candies in cookie cutters and place them in the over to melt together, producing {these} cute ornaments.  Honestly, I thought the hardest part would be finding peppermint candy in Oaxaca, Mexico.  Super, mega easy...right?  I mean, I'm crafy...right?  :)

I think this is when you say...NAILED IT!

In the end, we did get a few to turn out nice enough to hang on the tree.  

How about you?  What Christmas tradition do you enjoy with your family?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!  

We were blessed to be able to celebrate with fellow missionaries that we love.  Everybody pitched in and we had turkey, stuffing, pecan pie...the works really.  And of course, we have so very much to be thankful for this year.  You can check out this post about Gracen's birth or this post of some of the fun ministry things we get to be a part of to see some of the awesome things we are so thankful for this year.

One of the things that is hard to find down here is sweet potatoes like the ones that grow in my grandmother's garden.  However, it might be that one of those sweet potatoes from my grandmother's garden ended up down here after one of our trips and it might have sprouted and then ended up in my garden.  Wednesday we dug up the area to see if we actually had any sweet potatoes under the ground...

Thought I would add this one, because, well, this is what is going on at our house and it's great!  Just have to share the cuteness!

For This Child I Prayed: 1 Samuel 1:27-28

I know that every child is a gift from God, uniquely placed in our care for such a short amount of time.  However, there was a time when it seemed if my husband looked at me the right way or held my hand long enough, I could get pregnant.  It seemed mostly in our control.  Our youngest was born four years after the other four and we thought it would be wonderful for him to have brothers and sisters around his age, so we started making plans in that direction almost as soon as Sam returned from Iraq.  But God had other plans and for seven years we have prayed and waited.  Just this year I really began to think that God was clearly saying the ministry we have here in Mexico and our five children were more than enough.  I almost gave away the cloth nappies in January, but decided to wait just a few more months until my friend's baby was born and we would go visit her.  Then in February we got this almost unbelievable, surprise blessing!  After a few weeks of letting the news settle in and really become real, we are ready to announce that a new baby will be arriving later this year!

So in the grateful words of Hannah we say, " For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:" and let us not forget that as parents we should also strive as Hannah place our children back in the hands of the Lord.  1 Samuel 1:27-28

Have to say, our kiddos are really good sports!  :)