Editorial Note

I just wanted to apologize, I am having some trouble with spacing and indentation so please bear with me and read along my "ugly" posts until I can figure out why I lost my ability to use the "enter" key.

The Tornado

If you're anything like me, after you stop laughing hysterically, you are saying, "You are riding that to work every day?"

When DaddyHealy told me he was buying a moto, I was thinking something intended for riding on the roads, something with a little power, not a dirt bike. He very defensively educated me that this is not a dirt bike, it's a cross-over. It also happens to have a speedometer that doesn't work, plenty of rust and on occasion it shorts out and won't start. But look at her. What's not to love?!

Teasing aside, it gets him to and from work, and he never drives over 60 kph on that route anyway. It gets phenomenal gas mileage, which is important because we pay something like US$6.35 per gallon. It's also the only "second car" we have. I am not at all surprised, but a little ashamed to say it is far too difficult for our family of 5 to survive with only one set of wheels.

So, do me the favor, and picture our Daddy dressed up in his slacks and button down shirt, climbing onto this monster and riding the roads of our fine town. I really need to photograph it for you, but if your imagination is telling you it looks a little absurd, you are right. Not as absurd, though, as another father on a motorcycle who also has his 8 year old daughter in her school uniform skirt and pink Hello Kitty backpack holding on behind.

Is it even legal for a kid to ride on a motorcycle in the US? The up side, helmets are required here. The down side, nobody drives particularly "safe" by American standards. At least our Daddy is an experienced motorcycle driver, and one of the safest drivers I know.

Oh, and I'm sure he'd have me mention that a bike like this is really better suited for the roads here anyway. A majority of them are made by hand laying pieces of stone. Big stones, sharp stones. Not exactly a smooth ride. For reference, here's a picture of our street and my foot for scale.
I'm not kidding. That is what our roads are made of.

And to give you a better idea of the size of this mean machine, here is The Tornado and its fan club.

Four Months

Earlier this month we hit 4 months living here in Brazil. How times flies. I walked the family through a little exercise I hope to repeat several times while we are here. I started off with "What We Love in Brazil."

As usual, some of the answers surprised me (Christo Rei-their school), some made me laugh (The Beaches, The Amazon, neither of which we have been to) and some were completely expected (the piscina-that's pool in Portuguese, tiny bananas) .

To round out the activity, and because I was immensely curious what the little ones would say, we also documented "What we miss from home."

I am not sure who had more fun with this one, the kids of the adults. Momma and Daddy certainly had plenty to add (tonuge in cheek)....stopping at stop signs, flushing toilet paper, the Park Avenue, 24-hour supermarkets.....

But here I was really surprised, and quite proud, at the junior answers...mostly people (if you are a Grandma, you made the list) M's beloved Bob, our house, Dum Dum suckers, graham crackers, and Red Lobster (this one is pretty funny, because I can count on one hand the number of times we've taken them there, and typically they appreciated the lobster tank in the lobby more than their food). The kids tried to add "the toys we left at home" to the list, but after a lot of prodding from me, they could not name one single toy specifically, so we decided we don't miss that stuff all that much after all.

The kids often talk about home on the Big River. M often asks if we can do XX when we go back to the Big River, and while they know it's a long way off, and how old they'll be when we get home, I don't think that either one has a grasp on how different they will be by that time. On the upside, the things the remember, talk about, long for, are usually people, places and experiences, not things. It gives me joy to know that's what brings joy to them.

Fruit+Labor+Love

We've been talking about sayings as a part of our homeschool curriculum. (Daddy's car was not really yellow and oval shaped, but it was indeed "a lemon"). As much as possible I like to find real daily life examples for our learning. I was explaining what the "fruit of one's labor" meant, DaddyHealy's paycheck, for example...the chocolate chip cookies after an afternoon of measuring, mixing, and cleaning up. But those are not fruit, D demanded. Stating confidently, "It's more like making Apple Butter." I could not disagree. Apple butter, by way of a famous family recipe, is one of the things we've been missing. I stashed 1 (rather large) jar into our luggage, but it's long since gone. It's good on toast, on a peanut butter sandwich, but our favorite is mixed in oatmeal.

I have no food mill here, nor other canning tools. I do, however, have an empty, clean pickle jar, apples, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, and surejel. So we set to work on a "Labor of Love" peeling, coring, cutting, cooking, mixing, guessing, (tasting), cooking more and then enjoying the "Fruit of our Labor." It has to be the smallest batch on record, and we didn't process it (no tools, no need--it will be gone in a week). Bless recipes like this, we feel at home.

The Fruit of our Labor:

The Fruit Bowl

Just because I find it interesting, here is what's in our fruit bowl this week:

Pineapple
This is a staple at the supermarket, not a specialty item like in the mid-west. I usually buy them for >$1, I buy 2 at a time, a ripe one and one to ripen.

Mangos
So far, I'm the biggest fan, H likes them too and whether or not they know it, D & M eat them in smoothies. This is a new fruit to everyone but me.

Pears
I bought these for a change, because I'm sick of slicing apples. Also, the kids take a snack to school and I thought they'd be good for that. If I leave them on the counter for more than 2 days they get overripe, so I usually keep them in the fridge and ripen 1 or 2 at a time. Unlike US fruit, things here are not waxed, so they seem dull compared to home, but they taste just as good.

Peaches
Peaches are very popular here. In fact, we have a peach tree in our yard. Baby H absolutely loves them. M eats almost any fruit and even D likes them. They are very, very fresh. The only problem with buying them is the grocery stores aren't very good about sorting out bad ones, so you have to take your time (unlikely shopping with 3 kids) and choose only the unblemished ones.

Bananas
There are 2 common types of bananas here. The ones we like are called Banana Prata. They are the little ones I mentioned in a previous post. They are more expensive, but so worth it. Actually, by the time you convert the currency and the kg to lbs, they are probably near 50 cents a pound, which is pretty standard in the US. It's easy to eat 2 or more at a time. We buy a bunch every 2 or so days. I would never buy bananas so yellow/brown in the US, but here they are just perfect. The ones in this picture are pretty yellow, but usually have more brown. I have never ever seen even partially green bananas here.

Limes
We go through a lot of limes. Good thing they are really cheap. (Lemons, on the other hand, are rare and expensive.) "The way" they drink Coke here (that would be DaddyHealy's Mountain Dew substitute) is with ice and a slice of lime. He drinks it that way every day. We've also started making homemade limeade. Not usually one for sugary drinks, my kids are pretty excited. But, it's part of our Brazil experience. How can I resist?

For You, Grandma

This one is for the Grandmas.

I'm trying to make her into a blankie baby like the other two. Currently my hair is her lovey. It's not really aiding in getting over her separation anxiety if you know what I mean. And besides, I'm tired of getting my hair pulled out. So far, so good. She loves how soft it is, likes to rub it on her face. Doesn't she look all grown up sitting in a big chair like this? So, tell me, who do you see in her face? I see Daniel all over again.

So, some friends made us some *fabulous* passion fruit mousse. It was amazing. H thought so too.My mom sent some valentine lollypops, and one of the benefits of being baby#3 is that you get things like lollypops a good 2 or 3 years earlier than your siblings did! So, her first lollypop, and she decided to share. I love how her tongue is sticking out as M licks the candy.

For the record, she picked out this outfit. She brought me the butterfly wings and said Haaah Haaah along with(almost) using the sign for help, so I put them on, she disappeared and came back with the hat on her head and flip flops in hand. Dress up at 17 months? I couldn't resist capturing it.

Honestly, just this week she has matured loads. Suddenly she's turning into a little person with a personality.

A Perfect Valentine

Valentine's Day was pretty uneventful around here, but we did receive this valentine from God, a perfect reminder of His love on Valentine's Day.