we all gathered into the kitchen to bake some cookies
we washed our hands
we wiped our noses with our hands
we were sent away to wash our hands again (about ten times)
we mixed and rolled
we baked
we decided the cookies were lame
we added more flour and chocolate chips
we were satisfied with the final product
we wrapped up the cookies
we tied them to some of our favorite Spanish tunes
we wrote "thank you for being good neighbors" notes
we made original art on the notes
we attached them to the cookies and tunes
we delivered them to our neighbors
we prayed that they would feel the love
you know, the divine love.
it's so good.

teaching truth

a good sign that Josu has been spending some good quality time with his Papa:
I hear him walking around the house muttering:
is Josu real? yeeeeeeeeeessssss
is Malachai real? yeeeeeeeeessss
is Mikey Mouse real? nooooooooooo
is Jesus real? yeeeeeeesssss

celebrating cultures (and respective mustaches) from around the world

Josu and Malachai (plus classmates, plus teachers, etc . . . ) helped to celebrate cultures around the world in this year's school Carnival festival - - Josu celebrated as a Mexican and Malachai as a China man. In order to get some pictures, I had to push my way through crowds of territorial, excited parents all of whom must have received some sort of recording device from the three kings this holiday season , because they were all taping all the processions - - whether their child was performing or not.
with a few strategically placed warm glances and and gentle requests, however,I was able to situate myself close enough to complete my parental picture taking responsibilities. enjoy:


there he is - - that infamous local legend - - Miel Otxin, in flames. After all the dancing, each class sent its representative to place the totems (the bad things - - attitudes or conduct that the students wrote down on pieces of paper) at his feet, to burn with him.

(yes, that produced some healthy conversation over our lunch table)

and today, the day after the festivities, I am very pleased that both Malachai and Josu have some left-over staches. Josu's is short and sweet and Malachai's is elegantly droopy.
I keep telling Josu to give me some leeto Mexican kisses; and he readily obliges.
Malachai has taken over the guitar. I had to stop a crazy rampage through the house earlier - - in which the sweet Mexican instrument was being swung over Malachai's head as he pretended he was an orc. don't ask me how he knows about orcs; he just does, ok? If you really must know inquire with Joshua.

one of the little ways that we are trying to love to our community is by regularly opening up our home (well, our home is always open, but this is more aggressive inviting) to Ana and Pablo - - the children of one of our neighbors.
When Ana comes over, she loves to feed Selma and decorate sugar cookies
When Pablo (one of Malachai's classmates) comes over, he loves to sing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs and and to incite Malachai to a state of excited frenzy (although, who are we kidding? Malachai doesn't really need anyone to do that for him; he gets there on his own)
Pablo doesn't really like to decorate sugar cookies, but sometimes we make him do it anyways. just a little. and then I let them be crazy.I wonder how some of you are showing love to your communities? please share!

speaking of soup . . .

so my Spanish friends often make what they call pure' - - where they boil up potatoes and carrots, zucchini, leeks and other vegetables of the sort, and then they blend it all together to make a nice smooth, creamy soup. I have made this, and enjoy it, but to tell you the truth, I like my soup to have chunks. every once in a while when I make my chowder I get it just right, so that the potatoes are soft, but not falling apart
the broth is thin, but it also has some sort of substance.
do you know what I'm saying?
but if I get it right, it's really quite by accident.
do any of you have to perfect formula?

an update on my morning

I hear this from the kitchen:
Selma: MA, MA, MA, MA, MA! (her excited, emphatic request for more food)
Rachel: Selma, you can't eat the butter off the bread and then ask for more; it doesn't work like that!
it's good to have a sister around to teach my kids the rules of food; I have a feeling my kids would be seriously messed up without their aunt Rachel around.

and I'm off to the kitchen myself now, to make the largest pot of potato corn chowder known to mankind, so that the next time I take a little nap and end up sleeping through lunch, Joshua doesn't have to feed the family peanut butter and yogurt sandwiches (not that there is anything wrong with pb&y sandwiches, mind you). good man.
and maybe I'll have some buttered bread while I'm at it.
and perhaps I'll put a double batch of butter on my bread now that I know I'm not supposed to eat the butter off and then put more on.

expectations are funny like that

There was once a time when I could take my knitting along to the pasteleria and knit idyllically as I sipped my coffee and chatted with Joshua; or sometimes I would just leaf through the newspaper, or journal all the profound thoughts spilling out of my clever mind. I loved that time!
and then one sweet child was born to us
and then another
and then another
what joy!
And I kept trying to take my knitting along, but I found myself frustrated (of the angry variety) as I would have to put my knitting aside again and again and again as one sweet child climbed up onto my lap, or when another fell off a chair and needed to be loved on, or when another stripped a toy out of the hands of a docile child at the neighboring table, and I needed to intervene.
And then I stopped bringing my knitting; I stopped worrying about getting anything accomplished.
and all of a sudden, I didn't mind so much when I had to coddle a crying toddler, or when one of my sweets climbed onto my lap with a huge stack of books, or when another repeatedly asked for help with his puzzle.
in fact, I kind of enjoyed it.

Josu, Spanish-ized:
if you ask him for a kiss on your cheek, he insists on kissing the other too.