Great Moments In Parenting

It was one of those days. You know the kind. The (big) kids were loud, disobedient, argumentative and, at moments, completely out of control. They were constantly picking on each other, making each other scream and cry. Jeff and I felt like we were getting on to them all day long, but nothing seemed to work. We had already planned to make pizza for dinner--which the kids were obviously excited about--but we didn't feel like their behavior warranted such a reward. So, in what we thought was a stroke of pure parenting genius, we decided that we would go ahead and have the pizza ourselves and serve the kids leftover chicken, explaining to them that you don't get to have special things, like pizza, if you don't make good choices. And to make them really suffer, we would serve them the boring-est of the boring as a side: unseasoned, boiled cabbage. As expected, they were heartbroken at not getting to eat the pizza. But here's where the plan broke down: they both loved the cabbage and ravenously scarfed it down. In fact, Ruth didn't even eat her chicken. She only ate cabbage. And Weston doesn't eat any vegetables if he can avoid it--except cabbage, as it turns out. Still, I think the pain of us eating pizza--and mango/pineapple pie--in front of them without them getting a bite will inspire a genuine change in behavior for tomorrow. If not, we'll just threaten to take away their cabbage.

Feelin' the love

I cannot not tell you how loved Jeff and I (and the kids) have felt since we have been here in Brazil. We have no less than a dozen phone numbers of people who have told us we can call them anytime if we need anything--from people in our church to random cab drivers, to the porter in our building and our neighbor. We have been invited to playgroups and birthday parties. Our children have been given gifts in abundance. We've had several offers from people willing (and eager) to babysit our kids. It's been amazing. And every person is completely genuine. They truly want to help and to just be friendly. We have been made to feel so very welcome. Unfortunately, American culture tends to be much more closed, with everyone minding his or her own business and not really caring what anyone else is doing. It's been convicting to me being here as I've thought about how I might treat a foreigner living in my country. I'm ashamed to say that I don't even know if I'm capable of showing the kind of love to strangers that has been shown to me here. I do hope that I will come home changed, though, and be a more loving, genuine person, looking outward at the needs of others instead of only and always inward at what's going on in my own little world.

No Stopping Him Now

Our little guy is mobile now. It's not really orthodox crawling, but he can flat get where he wants to go--and quickly, too. Just look at that look on his face. He's knows the world has opened up to him in a whole new, wonderful way. I would love to show you the video, but our internet connection still isn't quite that powerful. It's been loaded on flickr, though, so if you have better internet service than we do, you might be able to check it out there--but I'm not making any promises. There are also lots of other new pictures up there, if you're interested.

Sexta-Feira: A Day In The Life

• Ruth finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, her second in her current goal of five books.
  
• We went to the grocery store, which is a very big outing for us. It entails loading the boys up in the stroller, packed with my front-pack carrier for Max, our big bag and a few toys; walking several miles over to the store; picking out the things on our list; gawking at all the things we aren't familiar with; letting everyone pick out one special something to take home; finding at least one new thing to try; convincing the clerk that we really are not interested in paying for our groceries in installments; loading Max into the carrier; loading the stroller up with groceries; walking back home; and finding a place for everything in our (not-so) gigantic kitchen. It's a blast! One of our favorite outings of the week!
  
• Ruth's last day of a day-camp she has been attending at a nearby language school. She was actually in a class that was being taught in English to Portuguese-speaking children. But it helped her gain confidence in interacting with Portuguese speakers and allowed her to get out of the house and away from us, and make some new friends, while enjoying some fun activities--like American football (as opposed to soccer, which is the "football" of choice around here) on the beach.
• Laundry Day. Sounds a little mundane, but it's actually a huge, huge deal, since I have 3 children, as you know--one of whom is two and another of whom has just recently started eating solids; and since there are quite a lot of laundry rules to follow. For instance, each family is only allowed to use the lavanderia two times during the week--not including Saturday and Sunday--for six hours at a time. They enforce this by having you check out a key, not to the laundry room, but to the individual washers and dyers. And they keep a log of when you return the keys. In addition, you must sign up for a machine at least 24 hours in advance, so there's no just slipping in and doing your laundry on a moments notice--although they did let me get away with that my very first time because there happened to be a free machine, and I'm sure they felt sorry for the poor, dumb American bumbling her way through the process.
• Churrasco success! Jeff got going early on the churrasco and produced a fabulous pile of (cooked) meat any Watts man would be proud of.
• Dessert! Fridays have always kind of been days that we have a little mini-celebration to start the weekend. Tonight we indulged in some of our special grocery store treasures: chocolate/hazelnut cookies, Garoto bombons and balls of chocolate yumminess covered in chocolate sprinkles.
• Family Night. We like to use Friday evenings as a pure family night when we can. We usually have a little family Bible study and then do something like play a game or watch a movie or some other little something that we can all do together. Tonight it was Phase 10--a card game that both kids know how to play (with our modified rules, which more resemble Uno) and enjoy very much.
  

It was a very fun and intersting day, and now it's time for a restful and peaceful night. Hope you all had a happy Sexta-Feira as well. I'll try to check back in with you tomorrow.

If the Salmonella doesn't get you, the love bug will

The first time Jeff ever cooked for me we were dating and in college. He spent quite a long time cooking chicken on his little hibachi grill and then served it to me raw along with some excuse about the charcoal. We ended up going out for burgers as we laughed at the situation. I fell completely head-over-heels in love, and he's been cooking for me ever since--although I would definitely say his technique has improved and most of the things he produces in the kitchen or on the grill are super-fabulous these days. But sometimes, you need to go back in time, to remember why you fell in love in the first place, and tonight was just that occasion. Jeff decided to try out the little churrasco grill at our apartment complex tonight. (Picture meat on swords going around and around over a charcoal fire). So, we all hung out by the pool (with a view of the ocean) while the meat went around and around (and around), having a grand ol' time, until it finally became clear that the chicken was not going to be done at any kind of a reasonable dinner time, at least not on this day. Turns out language isn't the only thing with a learning curve. We laughed, moved on to Plan B, and maybe fell just a little more in love. And the mishap aside, the churrasco is a wonderful invention that definitely has the potential to produce good eats. We will certainly be trying this again soon.

Como se diz...?*

They do not teach you everything you need to know in Portuguese classes. Here are some of the questions/situations we have had to navigate since we've been here:

• My son had an accident and I need new sheets for the bed.
• Our sink is stopped up. Can you help us?
• I need the key for the washer/dryer.
• Will this cell phone work internationally?
• Where can I recharge the credits on my prepaid cell phone?
• Is the grocery store open on Sunday?
• Where is the nearest grocery store?
• No, my baby is not cold. In fact, he is sweating.
• Etc. etc.
  

Living in a country where you don't speak the language is not for the faint of heart. It is sometimes very frustrating, but also pretty exciting when you are actually able to communicate. These were some of the successful conversations. I won't even bother with the ones that went nowhere.

*That's "how do you say...?"

From Our Back Porch, You Can See The Sea

Here's the amazing view* from our porch:




*Picture this as a panorama, and know that it definitely doesn't do justice to how amazing the view actually is. And it doesn't have sound, so you don't get the soothing crashing of waves, but it'll give you a small idea about what our backyard is like and why we love this place.

We Have Arrived

In Brazil. In our apartment. In life, in general, it seems. We arrived in this inappropriately-named country of "Order and Progress" a week ago yesterday. We spent the first five days in an apartment that our church keeps for foreign visitors, where all five of us (and our intimidatingly large amount of luggage) stayed in one little room, packed wall to wall with twin-size beds. We shared our meals with people from Brazil, Peru, the Czech Republic and the United States. It was a wonderful experience, but we were thankful to get to move into our own apartment on Tuesday. It is still a small space (about 600 sf), but there are lots of common areas in the building we can use, and--and this is the best part--our back yard is the Atlantic Ocean, so it doesn't really seem so small. (I'm serious about that backyard thing. From our porch on the 8th floor we have a 180 degree view of the beach/ocean, and it is absolutely is amazing)! And aside from a few minor inconveniences--no hot water in the kitchen sink, laundry facilities 5 floors below, imperfect internet service and not speaking or understanding the language very well, and maybe one or two other little things--it's absolutely perfect! The kids are having a blast, and Weston has surprised us by being the most willing of anyone to speak the language and make new friends. I will upload pictures when we figure out how to get a wider bandwidth for the internet signal. This afternoon, we are headed up into the mountains for the weekend. Our church has a beautiful campground there where we will attend a seminar. We are looking forward to drawing nearer to the Lord and enjoying a very lovely part of His creation. I'll check back in with you sometime next week.

See You On The Flip Side

Of the world. Literally. We head out for Brazil tomorrow! Unbelievable. And as soon as Jeff gets back from Wal-mart with another suitcase for us (so, we can't count!), I think we will be able to get everything packed...and under the weight limits. Hopefully. After I post this, I will pack up my computer, and then will be out of touch for a while. Until we get settled. So, it might be a couple of weeks or so. Don't give up on me. I will be back--in Bloggerland in the near-term and in America in the longer-term. I love you all and appreciate your thoughts and prayers and well-wishes. Tchau (Brazillian "ciao") for now.

La Isla Bonita

*See the rest of the pics on flickr.

Blissful Belize

Well, we made it to Paradise on Saturday afternoon, though I was a little concerned I was actually headed for an episode of Survivor, based on some of the things packed by my other traveling companions--duct tape, plastic cups (large and small), a large jar of peanut butter, artificial sweetener and a spiral sliced ham. Not to mention all the fishing equipment, snorkel gear and pool toys! But, alas, I have not been dumped in the jungle to fend for myself (yet). Instead, I have spent my time sitting on the deck of our amazing condo, looking at the ocean, reading, lounging down by the pool, walking along the beach, taking full advantage of lobster season which opened on Saturday and generally being completely stress-free (if you don't include a couple of hairy rides in the golf cart). I don't have pictures up yet, but trust me when I tell you this place is amazing! It will be hard to pull ourselves away--and if it weren't for the promise of six months on the beach immediately following our time here, I don't think we'd ever leave! I know I said I probably wouldn't post again until we got back, but what can I say, I'm full of surprises, and I like to keep you on your toes. Now, if you'll excuse me, there is a lounge chair calling my name.

You Better BELIZE It

That's right, the Watts are gone again. And this time its the whole clan--us, Jeff's parents and Jeff's brother and sister-in-law. We will leave the lake tomorrow morning, stop briefly in Austin to see the movie WALL-E in celebration of Ruth finishing 4 big, honkin' chapter books (Around the World in 80 Days, White Fang, Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte's Web) and then make our way to Houston, where we will meet up with Jeff's brother and sister-in-law. We'll spend the night in Houston and then leave bright and early Saturday morning for Belize. Jeff and I have never been there, so we are super-excited! (Of course, I think we'd be pretty excited even if we had been there 10 times)! We'll be back in the country on the 5th and back at the lake on the 6th. I'm not taking my computer, so I will probably just have to catch up with all of you when we get back. And, then I'm sure I will have lots of pictures to share with you. Hope you all stay well and have a very happy 4th of July!

Good times, good company, and more shrimp than you can eat

Today was my mother-in-law's birthday, so Jeff and Maxie prepared a three-course shrimp dinner, inspired by Sharon's request for Acapulco-style shrimp cocktail. We started with the shrimp cocktail, which was super-fabulous. In fact, you should cancel your dinner plans for tomorrow night and have this instead. Then we moved on to grilled shrimp with lime butter. Oh so good! And finally, we had Panko-breaded fried shrimp with cocktail sauce and creamy avocado dip. Umm, umm, good! We all enjoyed all of the food, but Weston is some kind of crazy shrimp eating machine. He was cramming them in his mouth as fast as he possibly could and was cleaning up what was left over on other people's plates. The funniest thing, though, was during the shrimp cocktail when he asked if he could have another "leg"--that would be a boiled, peeled shrimp with the tail on. We almost all fell over. Tomorrow night we are planning a fondue party with Sharon's new fondue pot. Wish you could be here.

Little Jumping Bean

What Hurts The Most

Since we've been staying at the lake, Weston "Accident-Waiting-To-Happen" Watts has met with quite a few little problems from some of our friends in nature, not to mention the normal tumble-bumble that just comes with being Weston. He has had run-ins with multiple groups of fire ants, and he came across a nasty little wood wasp burrowing into his swing. But the creature whose sting has been, by far, the cruelest--partly for the pain, partly for the blood lost and partly just for the shock of the source--was the evil catfish. Weston was on a roll out on the pier this afternoon. He had two perch under his belt and was going back for more. When he hooked a catfish, he was so excited that he managed to throw the fish down. Next thing we knew, he had stepped on the thing and caught it right on the razor-like dorsal fin. There followed no less than half an hour of bleeding and crying before he was ready to get back out on the dock and cast his line again. But even with the tears all dried up, his mantra for the evening was: "I don't like that other one fish sting me."

"Home" Away From "Home"

We left our new "home" (at the Lake) today in order to revisit our old "home" (my parents' house) to celebrate my sister's birthday. And we found out that our real home (in Austin) has finally been rented for July 1st! Yippee! Cross that off the ol' list of things to worry about. I guess that's the biggest thing I have to report. If you want to know what we've been up to the last few days check out our pictures on Flickr. We're back to dial-up land tomorrow, so, I'll see you when I see you.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Or: What we've been up to the last few days, including, but not limited to:

• Ruth's Art Camp Finale
• A trip to Houston
• Max and Aunt Bekki meeting for the first time
• Max's dedication service
• Max's first time in a real pool
• Lots of water fun--in the hotel pool and at the lake
• Moved into our "new home" (Jeff's parents' place on Lake Buchanan)
• Max trying out his doorway jumper.
• Max's first venture into the veggie world. It may just be shock, but, so far, he thinks he likes peas.
• Blog posted from the parking lot of the local library as only means to overcome "quaint little dial-up set-up" at new place.
  
  
  
  

The Nomadic Watts Are Gone Again

Well, we've been staying here with my parents for two weeks now, and we've had such a good time and are so incredibly thankful to them for opening up their home to us, but we are moving on. Tomorrow, we are off to Houston for the weekend, and then we will make our way to Jeff's parents' place on Monday, where we will be for the next two weeks. It's sure to be lots of fun, but I must warn you that their "quaint" little dial-up set-up may prevent me from posting as often--though I will try to check in from time to time. You all be good, and give your dads some lovin' this weekend!

Here come the uhTOWELians!*

*Statement issued by Ruth as she and Weston skidded into the kitchen after their bath tonight.

Art Camp

Ruth's grandparents gave her a week at art camp for her birthday, the theme of which was appropriately "Happy Birthday." Today was her first day, but since she attended the camp last year as well, she felt like a real expert. She had a good time today and is looking forward to the rest of the week.