Burned Beans!

I slaved over the hot hot oven (wood cook stove oven) for hours yesterday to make baked beans for supper! What a treat it was gonna be to have a different kind of beans, for once, but NOOOOO, the dumb things had to go and burn themselves to a crisp!! Iris and I followed the recipe exactly and the time to back them was 3-4 hours. Well, we thought that was excessive so we just left them in for 2 hours (all the while checking on them and thinking they looked fine)! Well, when I pulled them out and tasted them I wanted to scream!!! Oh, well, the dogs and cat and chickens will have a nice treat!
But Josiah sure wasn't upset by the burned beans! :) He's petting Pimienta (the one named Pepper because several weeks ago when she showed up, she looked gray).
This chicken was having a cow the other day, squakin and squakin so I had to find out why. I still don't really know why but I thought it made for a good picture, anyhow! :) cute butt! lol!

Fast Food!

A random photo from my birthday. Samuel was showing me somethin or other. This picture makes my eyes really look like glass like my sister always says they do. Supposedly, my brother and I have eyes that are kinda "see through". That's what we're told anyways! Funny stuff!
This is the lean to off the back door and soon it will be, no more. Zocorro (Zonida's husband) and their son are currently adding on a "room" type thing to be completely enclosed. In this little lean to is the boiler (for making hot water) and the inverter, which supplies the house with Internet and satellite phone and electricity (with the few outlets that there are). So, there will be cement walls and a door and everything. Like a little back porch. :) Maybe even by the time they go to have the baby. That would be nice cause then at night, when I go to shut the inverter off, it wouldn't be so scary (you know, with all the things that lurk at night!)! :)

Iris and the boys coming out of the Carniceria (the meat shop). Some day I'm gonna take a picture of the inside (and the beef hangin up behind the counter- with no refrigeration). :)
Hannah, hangin out at the store where we buy groceries (most of the time). These two stores are right next to each other as well as next to the Vet shop (where Aurturo- the Bornman's friend who has helped them with Spanish and seems open to things of God- works) and also the hardware shop where Aurturo's brother works. This is a row of stores that the Bornman's frequent.




So, I figured I should blog about something so I put a few misc. pictures up and now I'll share a few misc. stories and whatnot. :)

Fast food: Yesterday afternoon we realized that, due to the stores being closed on Sunday (when Iris and Andrew were out and wanted to get groceries), we didn't really have anything to make for supper. So, Andrew went out to get some groceries and picked up some "fast food" while he was out! He brought home already made, warm beans from this lady's store that makes kickin beans! They're pretty good! Iris says she makes them in a pressure cooker and it makes her want to get one! :) Anyways, he brought home warm beans and warm tortillas (both freshly made). So, we added some chopped onion and tomato and avocado and that was our supper of "fast food"! :) It was pretty good and way cheaper than fast food (for 6) at home! :)

Another lovely thing: on Sunday I burned myself on the wood cook stove (I have a few words for that stove but for the moment I'll refrain)! :) It's a nasty burn too! It immediately took the skin off and left black marks that the stove leaves on anything it comes in contact with. Only these black marks wouldn't come off and I wasn't willing to scrub it much because even plain ol' water made it hurt! So, anyways, I have a gross burn on of my hand/thumb. At least it's not on my fingertips where I'd have to pick things up all the time! Also, I've been waking up with some extra "sleepy" eyes the past few days and this morning it was worse. So, we went to the Farmacia (Pharmacy) this afternoon when we were out and I got some eye drops to treat my eyes. It appears that, as of right now, it's just like a cold in my eye but my doc always said that if I'd let it go it could become pink eye! And no one wants that! :) I had this issue in Guatemala too so maybe it's another one of those "different bacteria" things. Who knows. But I know that my God is bigger than any of this menial stuff! And don't worry, I've already rebuked Satan from having any dealings with sickness and what not in this house! He's outta here! Cause also another thing is that it appears Josiah has another bug, of some sort (he's got diareah again). But our friend, Suelle, is gonna test his stool sample tomorrow (again) and we'll know for sure. Poor lil' guy! It's definitely not fun to always be having that crap (HA! get it? crap! lol!)! :) Anyways, that's my story and I'm stickin to it! :)

In other news in San Juanito, Chihuahua, Iris will be having the baby on Monday September 17th! That's this coming Monday! They leave for Chihuahua City on Sunday afternoon and then the baby will be born on Monday! Exciting times! She's definitely ready for it (especially since she's not even allowed to sleep in bed because she's not supposed to lay flat (due to the low blood pressure issues). So, she gets to sleep in the recliner chair in the living room. Lucky her! Not! :) Anyways, when they leave to have the baby, I'll be at home with the kids. I believe that Zonida (the housekeeper) will still come in the mornings so I won't be completely alone for those days! And I'm totally not even worried about it at all! God is our protector! He's got my back (and my front. and both sides)! :)

Hmmm....is there anything else I wanted to share with you?? I can't really think of anything so I guess that's it, for now! Oh yeah, I will leave you with a quote from Hannah from dinner tonight!

Hannah was drinking some milk, really quickly, because she thought that the food was a bit spicy. Well, she also was trying to talk (at the same time) and so she swallowed quickly and then spoke. Well, it came out kinda funny (but still in her Hannah voice) but this is what she said:

Hannah: Oh! I had a bubble of milk in my throat so it made me sound like a man!



Oh, I've got another one for you too! The other day Hannah and I were outside (getting ready to go somewhere) and a few kids passed the house. Well, the one kid is a boy of about 10 or so and Hannah is kinda "fond" of him! This is the conversation:

Hannah: I'm gonna marry that boy some day. I am. (this was said in such a serious, matter of fact, voice)

Karisa: Oh you are, are you?! Why do you say that? Do you like him or something?

Hannah: Well, yeah and I think his face looks really nice. So I'm gonna marry him.



There ya have it, folks! That's all I've got for you this time! But I'm sure I'll be back with more!

Eeeekk!

I know, I know, it's disgusting to see into my mouth like this, but I've gotta keep it interesting, right?! :) So, anyways, the reason for showing you inside my mouth is to see that my back wisdom tooth is finally making it's way into my mouth! Geesh, it was hurting back there (for quite some time now) and so I kept looking but never saw anything. Well, the other day, when it was hurting, I took a close look (and I felt it) and my tooth is coming in. It appears that it's just the last corner that's finally making it's way through, but oh how one corner can hurt! And now, the other side of my mouth is feeling the same way!! Man oh Man! I can't imagine how babies feel when theirs are coming in, in front, and those sharp dagger like ones! OUCH!
Here's just another pretty picture to get that first one out of your mind! LOL!

More sights in San Juanito!

I was trying to get a picture of this "wagon" pulled by two horses but we were too close to it as we passed it in the van. But what I did get is something else that I wanted to. If you look at the house/building in the background, you'll see a $ sign on it. Well, in Mexico (and I believe I saw this in Guatemala too) if you want to sell your house you just paint a big dollar sign on it and there ya go! Everyone then knows that your house is for sale! lol!
Blurry but you can see how these horses are just grazing, right next to the sidewalk, in downtown San Juanito, as people pass! funny stuff!
This is a bread truck. The name of this bread company, the one that is most widely known/used here, is Bimbo! Yup! :) That's the kind of bread that the Bornman's have bought (on the occasion they do buy bread) and it just made me chuckle. :)
Mmm Mmm good!! Well, I took several shots, inside this bag, before I got a nice clear one. But don't they look good?!!? We treated ourselves the other day when we went to the grocery store. It started by Hannah asking if she could have a sweet bread (from this case where all the "sweets" are) and Iris and I were not up at the counter where she was. Well, she then walks over to us eating a sweet bread! hmmm....the lady at the counter, Gladys, heard her asking for one and so got her one. :) Well, then we kinda had to get more for the boys and while we were at it, Iris and I decided we needed one too!! :) Well, when I finally ate mine (at home with a glass of milk) boy was I surprised! Not so good at all! Stale and not donut like either! Weird. Definitely not Dunkin Donuts or Tim Hortons! I could really go for one of THOSE right about now! :)
Here's Glady's newborn baby girl. She was born just last week and it actually took them several days, after her birth, to name her. Iris says that that's normal around here. Anyways, she was just hangin out (sleepin) in the grocery store while her parents (who own it and live right behind it) were working. I don't know how to spell it but her name is CyndiKay. :) I think she looks like her dad! :)

Dang Flys!

The sky the other night was gorgeous but I didn't really take the time to make my camera capture the TRUE awesomeness! The part that looks white, in the picture, was actually the most bright blue ever!
So, this is the beer warehouse in San Juanito. I don't know what those trucks are for but once when I went by there was a semi parked there, unloading a semi full of beer. Andrew pointed it out and said that once a week, they get a semi, full of beer, brought here for the town of San Juanito. San Juanito has only 10,000 people living here and every week, that semi truck load is consumed by the people living here! To say the least, most peoples idea of fun, here, includes Carta Blanca! Now, there are plenty of people that don't depend on it (friends of Iris and Andrew) but there are more that do! Interesting. :)
Another attempt at an original self-portrait. I think I was whistling...what, I'm not sure. Maybe a song or maybe at an unsuspecting muchacho guapo alongside the road! ?? :)
The futbol field in San Juanito and some of the houses beside/behind it. I like Mexican futbol much better than American football! More fun and not so much brain damage! :)
Another part of the town. And if you'll look close, you'll see 3 horses, just roaming free. They're grazing on what little green they can find, downtown San Juanito! Now, that's definitely not a normal occurrence where I come from! :)




That's right, I said Dang Flys (for the title of this post) cause they are nuts!! There are so many flys, all the time here and Andrew says it's because of the pigs that are right next door to us! So maybe Dang pigs too!! :) Anyways, they get better at night, meaning there aren't nearly as many in the house cause it gets cooler at night so they go dormant. But in the mornings, most mornings, they are there again to WAKE ME UP!! YUP! Sure, the kids are always up before us adults and so I hear them, faintly, as I'm drifting in and out of sleep in the morning but what really gets me out of bed are the stupid flys that will not leave me alone! There's nothing worse than the "bzzzzzz" sound of a fly flying around my head and then landing on my face or head, to wake a person up in the morning! Okay, well I guess if it was rats or mice or even cucarachas (cockroaches) then that would be worse, but still, flys drive me crazy!!! During the day when we eat our meals, we are always having to shoo them away from our food and from everything! We've filled about 6 fly traps since I've been here and still they swarm around. Upstairs, the room where the kids and I sleep, you can see them as a cloud of black just swarming in their own little groups, during the day. It's nasty. But I'd rather them swarm around in their own little groups than bug me! :)

What's new, you ask?

Yesterday morning Iris gave us a scare with a severely low blood pressure reading. This is their friend Suelle (and her hubby is in the room too) checking her blood pressure. They then went to the free hospital here in town to do some tests that Iris' doctor (in Chihuahua) wanted done. Everything seemed fine and the fetal monitor showed that the baby is doing good. So, Iris just needs to rest lots and make sure to keep her blood pressure up with drinking lots and eating plenty and continuing to take her meds! Only 9 more days until they go to Chihuahua to have the little bundle of joy! :)
I caught him, somewhat smiling, before he realized I was taking a picture! :)
At the river, walking on water. :)
I was trying to get a good shot of my tshirt. It's another one of my many goodwill purchases that I made before coming here. Anyways, it says 'Sisters saving Sisters'. I'm not sure exactly what it was meant for (maybe something about Nuns rescuing those wayward "sisters" of theirs and bringing them back to their right and holy purpose) but for me, it just makes me think about MY sister (and no, she doesn't wear a black habit!)! :) I love my sister so much.....she's my best friend so maybe we help "save" each other, on a regular basis, just for being there for each other! ???? Who knows what this shirt was intended for but whatever it was, it's doing me good now as a tshirt for Mexico- that just happens to make me think about my Sis! :)
So, these are 2 local policemen that Andrew is talking with out in the back yard. He was telling them of the "chicken thief" we've been having in the nights as we sleep. Even since I've been here, several chickens have gone "missing" and sometimes there's even been a trail of blood to show for it. One time the thief was so brazen as to even kill it and hang it up to drain the blood, inside the Bornman's chicken house!!! So, since you're not allowed to shoot somebody here, even if they're stealing your chickens, Andrew has now included the police in on it. So, I might have a nice policeman to sleep out there at night when Andrew and Iris go to have the baby. I'll have my own personal night watchman! Sweet! :)







So, a few other things that have happened recently. The other night I wasn't able to sleep to well (due to my partaking of a coke zero in the evening! Normally it wouldn't affect me so but I hadn't really had pop with caffeine for over a month so my system wasn't so used to it!) and as I was tossing and turning I thought I smelled something funny. I got up to use the bathroom, once, and realized that the smell was skunk that was very potent, outside! Well, I didn't think much of it because it happens at home too. I figured it would be gone in the morning (the smell that is). But much to my surprise and HORROR Negro had obviously been a stupid little dog that night and tussled with a skunk! HE RANKED! It was awful! I didn't truly know if it was him or not until Josiah went on our little walk, in the morning. Every time we go, the dogs come with us, which, as I've mentioned before, is our protection because people are afraid of black dogs! Anyways, the dogs were running along with us and every time Negro would run past us I got a HUGE whiff! Disgusting!! He got it BAD! And as if that's not bad enough, Negro LOVES to rub up against us all (especially me, it seems)! And he had no concern that he smelled bad and so nothing changed. He still tried to get all up in my space but fortunately I was able to ward him off (with sticks and buckets and such, throughout the day)! Today, a few days later, I don't think he smells so bad but I'm not about to get down next to him to find out, for sure! Geesh! Dogs!

Oh, another thing is I finished the book "Mrs. Mike" which is a true story about Katherine Mary who married Seargeant Mike Flannigan and they lived way up in the north, Canada, in the early 1900's! It's a pretty humorous story and is pretty good! AND, it got me away from all those little "And they lived happily ever after" fake love stories! :) LOL! Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of books, at home, that I love and will still read but these ones here aren't quite up to par! :) So, I would highly reccomend Mrs. Mike to anyone looking for a good read! Now I've started reading "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" and it's really good so far!

Alrighty then, I'm off for now but I'll be back (in an Arnold accent)!! :)

Pictures from a walk to the Rio!

Josiah always gets so serious when we take a picture! Really, he's not usually this serious! :)
Gorgeous views on a gorgeous day! (except for those dang bugs that won't stay off of me!!)

What? Wonder what the story behind this tire is? Just hangin out by a tree down by the river.
After we came back from our walk, yesterday, there was a huge family out at the gate. I told Andrew that someone was here for him and so he went out. Well, it happened to be a family, that Andrew didn't know, that was selling fresh/warm tamales. So, for 10 pesos (or less than one dollar) Andrew bought a whole bag of them! Wow, what a deal! But I've never been a huge fan of tamales so I'll let the kids and Andrew eat them! :) Iris can't have them either cause they might have cumin in them which is a spice that her doc told her to stay away from, while she's prego! :)

Quote of the day!

Isn't he so cute? I said "smile" and this is what he did (every time)! He kinda cocks his head to one side and smiles, slightly. :) He knows what to do!
At first he just pointed, but then he began to rip them off!! Such a little boy! :)
I was trying to be sneaky and take a picture of him holding my hand as we walked but he saw the camera and wasn't quite sure what was going on, but gave a half smile anyways. :)
Gorgeous stuff, hey?!



So yesterday morning and this morning Josiah and I went on a little walk while the other two kids did school with Iris. That way he doesn't want to get all up in their business while they're trying to concentrate and the house is quiet for them. So, anyways, we went on this walk and down by the River Royale (a different area of it) there were all these flowers (goldenrod I assumed)! Everywhere! It was so pretty. So of course, I couldn't pass up a photo shoot! Josiah was my subject and he did so good at it! :) The quote from this morning was from Josiah and this is how it went: (he doesn't talk very much but he's definitely learning and saying more and more!)

This morning Josiah was saying everyone's name and so I thought I would try having him say mine! Well, this is how it went:

Karisa: Josiah, say Karisa! Can you say Karisa?

Josiah: Tonta!

Karisa: Say Karisa.

Josiah: Tonta!


So, this is really how the whole conversation went. :) And in case you don't know any Spanish, Tonta means stupid! And it's even in the right form, female. You would say tonto if you're calling a guy stupid but tonta if you're calling a girl stupid! So, yup, he was sure that he was saying the same thing that I was. And I promise, he was saying Tonta, exactly! :)

Quote of the day, from yesterday.

Here's the food that I was eating for supper last night when Hannah and Iris had this little conversation. This is an enchilada type thing made with chili colorado sauce. Very spicy but good! :) Easy to make too!





Hannah was crying about something or other and this is what she said as she was stopping but there were still tears on her face. She was very serious too! :)

Hannah: You should try your tears, Mommy. I'm licking my tears cause they're good!.............When we're on a trip and I'm hungry and we don't have any food, I just eat my tears!

Iris: So, Hannah, when we're on a trip and we don't have any food with us but you're hungry I can just say "Hannah, why don't you just go ahead and cry and then you can eat your tears!"??

Hannah: Yes! And actually I'll just take a rock along with me, in the car, so that when I get hungry I can just pound myself with it and then eat my tears!! :)

Quote of the Day!

Okay, so it's more like 3 quotes from today but I'm thinking about starting a "Quote of the Day" post for every day that I have left here. There sure are some interesting things said in this household (as with any household, I'm sure)! :) Anyways, here are a few that made me laugh (2 of them hysterically) today!

Quote #1- Dad (Andrew): Why did you hit Josiah on the back?!

Hannah: Well, I was trying NOT to put my hand there!

Dad: Put your hand where? Did you hit him?

Hannah: Well, yes but I was really trying NOT to!

Quote #2- **side note** I took the kids and went down the street to a little store to get some milk and orange juice. Well, the only "orange" juice I could find I decided to buy, only to find out (after I bought it) that it was actually just a punch with mostly sugar and not much juice, at all. Well, these kids know that that stuff is not so good for you and they don't drink it much at all. They actually don't eat or drink sweets very often at all (Karisa has been bad for that in the past couple of days). :) Anyways, Samuel knew that we got some stuff that wasn't very good for you and this was him talking about it, as he was having a glass of the "punch".

Samuel: This stuff really is like a hole in the wall!

Karisa: What? What do you mean it's like a hole in the wall??

Samuel: Well, the other day Dad was talking about that little restaurant, in town, being a hole in the wall and I think that's what this drink is like!

Quote #3 (Overheard while Andrew was talking to Janet this evening, on the phone)-

"Our next door neighbor, Oscar's brother, may be a drug addict, BUT HE'S OUR FRIEND!!"


Well, there ya go! I don't know if you'll find them as funny as I did but it could be just one of those things where, You would have had to have been there! Anyways, I laughed pretty good at these (maybe I just had the giggles) but it made me think I should try and "capture" at least one quote a day while I'm here. We'll see what happens. :) Oh, today when we went to the store I bought a 20 oz coke for 6 1/2 pesos! That's less than 65 cents, for a 20 oz! Cheap stuff. It seems that the junkie food is a bit cheaper here than at home but all the other stuff isn't any cheaper and sometimes more expensive. Milk costs about 4 dollars and some for a gallon! And, it's not always 100% milk. It's often times partly powdered milk junk. Crazy, huh? :) And actually these could be some of the reasons that diabetes is such a HUGE thing here in Mexico. Hmm....

Okay, well, just so you know, I'm not gonna go and start drinking regular coke now that I gave up the diet coke/pepsi. I was just in need of one this evening and that's all they had. Like I said yesterday, if I have to have pop I'm gonna try and drink that Coke Zero stuff. But I don't want to drink it at all, really. Only in desperation! We all know there are DEFINITELY those times where pop is a NEED! :) Alrighty then, I'm off to bed. Until later!

Then there was MORE!!

After ice cream we went to the grocery and got a bit more junk food. Oh, but junk food is such good food! :) They shared a juice and a small bag of chips. Oh, look at me on the first day of Leigh-Ann's "going healthy month" I pig out on junk! So bad! But it's been SOOOOO long that I just had to! :)
Today, for the first time since I've been here, I got a no calorie pop. Granted, I've only had a few pops, at all, since here (and 2 of those was when I was sick and were to try and make my stomach feel better). So, this just might become my new drink of choice. MIGHT. I am a diet coke/pepsi addict but as we all know, I've given it up while here (for lack of ability to get it plus it just doesn't taste the same here in Mexico). I love that whole nutra-sweet/aspartame taste that diet coke or diet pepsi has! I love it! Coke Zero isn't made with nutra-sweet so it doesn't have that same taste but it's still dark and fizzy and may have to get me by, in a pinch! :) We'll see!
And here's the new beauties that I got today (when we went shopping!)! :) Thanks to Heather and Carla (who sent me money in their birthday cards that they sent along with me) I have some nice new pretty shoes! I love them! And only $17! What a steal! :) I won't be breaking these in while in Mexico. That'll have to wait till I'm home. They're just too pretty! :) Thanks Heather and Carla!! :)

I scream, You scream, We all scream, for ICE CREAM!

I took Hannah and Samuel into town today (during Josiah's nap) for an ice cream break. It was great (although the ice cream left much to be desired) and we even did a little shopping! YAY!
Cookies n' Cream is what it was supposed to be but it didn't taste like I'm used to! oh well, it was sweet and that's just what I needed, sugar!! :)