Kids' Room

We moved the kids' room a few weeks ago and I finally got around to taking pictures! We had some furniture built for all of the toys and although it was custom made, it did not fit in their room. I was very specific about the measurements but I suppose it was lost in translation....

Luckily, the back room is a bit larger and it fit there. So we moved the entire room! It turned out great though because they have lots more space and the room is the coolest in the house because of the two windows. I didn't realize how much bigger the room was though, until now.

 Walking through the door...

 Lucas's corner!

 I love how the shelves turned out after we painted them. They fit all her toys nice and neat, and each space is really deep too for even more toys. This way her room is nice and organized (most of the time). She climbs on top too, to play with her dollhouse, or get her dresses down!

The New Routine

Leyla is doing so great in daycare! She has really adjusted and made friends. She is even happy to go in the mornings and doesn't fuss at all when I tell her bye (sometimes she used to). I am very proud of her! The girl that watches all the little ones is very sweet and I can tell she does a good job. Leyla is always happy to see her and she gives her hugs and kisses bye-bye! She loves her new friends too - one time she fell asleep in the same bed with the other little girl, Aime. She tells me when the play together, too, and that she had fun. I am so happy that she enjoys it and I am so glad that we decided to put her there - I think that was the best decision we could have made!

We have our routine in the morning, too. We get up and eat breakfast together, brush our teeth, get dressed, pack her backpack, and catch a taxi. In the afternoons she "helps" me wash the dishes or the clothes or whatever, sweeps, mops, and then we play with her puzzles or read books.

She has gotten really good at doing puzzles! She loves to do them all by herself. One of her other new favorite things is singing (well it's not new, but she's gotten better at it). She sings "Ee-i-ee-i-ooo" all the time and in tune- she even tries to pronounce "had a farm" and "moo moo there." She sings "Baby Bumblebee" and can say "it stung me!" and "ugh, yucky!" She also sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and in her mumbled singing I can here "high" and "sky" at the ends of her phrases.

She has definitely gotten to be very defiant and well push the limits! But, we are learning to be firm and ignore crying episodes and she will comply. Most of the time I have to tell her over and over "You can't have any candy until you eat your broccoli" and eventually she will get it. It's amazing really how much she understands - you just have to be firm and not give in, and she will know that you are serious. She understands all the rules but tests you!

My big helper! After I finished mopping she wanted to mop the entire house again and did so for a good thirty minutes!

Patience!

Today was Leyla's first day of daycare!

We haven't exactly been pleased with Maria as a housekeeper or babysitter and lately her conduct had been getting worse. We decided this weekend to send her home so we had to find another option for Leyla. Thankfully a lady I work with gave me the name of the daycare she uses! I don't know if there is another in Catacamas. There are only 4 children, including Leyla, and all are around her age, plus the cost was about the same as we were paying Maria. I was excited because I think at almost 3 Leyla can benefit from a daycare. I don't know how well Maria was watching her, but there, she gets social interaction and they even teach a little bit - like a preschool.

She was excited, too, because I told her she was going to school :) We got her little backpack all packed and she was ready to go! She was so excited to see us when we picked her up, too! The only problem was that she didn't take her nap. I figured she wouldn't, because of too much stimulation, but I thought I would just put her to bed early.

My precious little girl was not so precious. It took all I had to keep from scolding her every second! I feel like it was a great test of my patience and I think I did pretty well. I don't know if it was because I knew she was exhausted, but I did not spank or yell once! But, my goodness - every little thing I said or that she tried to do she had to stop and cry about. She was hungry; wait, I'm making dinner. WAHHHHH. Ok here's your chicken. WAHHHHH. Help Mommy wash dishes - she can't reach the soap - WAHHHHH. Where's my baby doll? WAHHHH. Can't get the diaper on the baby. WAHHHHH. I mean it was every little thing; she would not stop screaming and crying. It was exhausting. Without Maria, I had to come home and clean the house up first and then make dinner, so I was running around "with my head cut off" and trying to respond to her every whine and whimper!

Finally we took a bath and I put her to bed at 7:00 PM and I have never seen her fall asleep so fast :) It is nice to have her asleep so early but I don't know if I can do this every day! Hopefully she will adjust and by the end of the week have adjusted to taking naps there. All in all though I think it will be a great thing for her, and I am already feeling the relief of not having a teenager to "raise" in my house!

Back to work

Well this week it's back to work. No more vacation!

So far it's been GREAT....yeah, that was sarcastic. First of all there's no water in the house. I cleaned the pila, and then the water left - and hasn't come back. I spent so much time letting it run and drain until it finally ran somewhat clear and then, it was complete mud again! So I drained the pila again....and now it is completely dry because the water hasn't come back. But, it has been raining really heavily every night and we've caught rainwater....however, it didn't rain last night, so we are really out of water now.

Yesterday Maria and I went to the market to look for a huge barrel to catch more rainwater (Marcos is in the mountains) and brought it back ourselves walking. I'm sure we looked crazy. And it was heavy! My hands were hurting by the time we got back.

Then I tried to fix Leyla's crib. Got all the nails in except one and it WOULD NOT budge. I think it must have hit a knot or something. I was exhausted and frustrated and hit my thumb twice, and my back started hurting like crazy. Then after all the pounding another side of her crib came loose. Finally I gave up and let the nail bend! At least the other three are in straight.

Then I stayed up all night typing English verb tense exercises for my students....soooooo tired. Leyla and I are both sick with colds AND Leyla has been spitting up a lot and crying for me constantly. I'm afraid her stomach hurts her, too.

I will be glad when Marcos gets home, and this month is over....and then we will be in Oklahoma for the weekend!!! That will be a nice break.

We have screen doors!

We had two screen doors made for the house. Marcos sanded them down really good and I stained them (3 coats), then we put on the hinges, hung them, and today we bought some springs for them so they stay closed. I think they look pretty nice!!





And here is yet another video of Leyla, this time climbing up the stairs in her Abuela's house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQ1dptqYjI

My First Experience Paying a Bill...

I had a crazy afternoon...

Of course, I've paid a bill before. "We" have paid bills before. But me, by myself, never. Marcos is still in the mountains and I was alone with Leyla and Maria. So this was my first real experience having to take care of something in the adult world in Honduras.

I come home from school and Maria tells me that the electricity is out and that a red truck with a ladder had been at the house but she noticed it too late and they didn't knock or say anything. She said she thought they had cut the lights off because she had heard music earlier from the house next door. Luckly, the electric company is right next door to our house! So I went over and asked and they said yes, it had been cut off and that I needed to go pay and then bring them the receipt (that is as much as I understood at least).

So I went to the bank before they closed at 3 and paid the bill. On the way back, about a block from our house, it started pouring rain! A nice lady let us come sit on her patio though until it passed - because of Leyla, I think :) I get lots of nice favors because of her! And then when it passed we made it home. I went next door to show them the receipt and they told me I had to go to the office in town and show them! I really didn't understand then. Apparently there's a second office and they do the reconnections there ONLY. So I went back to the house and met someone else on the way who told me that the office closed at 3! and that I'd have to look for someone and pay them to reconnect it now! That didn't make sense to me, and I was afraid he was lying to me for money. Made me really mad Marcos wasn't there, because I have no way to tell whether or not I'm being taken advantage of, not knowing how things work in this country!

I couldn't call anyone to ask, either, because the phones don't work when the lights are out. But I had an idea to go next door to the little grocery store and ask him, since he speaks English and is always nice to me. He told me the office shouldn't close until 4. So I rushed out to try and grab a taxi again. THEN I saw the son of a friend of my mother-in-law and asked him where his dad was, and since he said "At the business" I just told him quickly my problem and hailed the next taxi. I had no idea his dad's business was around the corner! Anyway, I jumped in the cab and then daw his dad running out and stopped the taxi and got out to go with him to the office in town. BUT the stupid taxi still made me pay him!! Full price, for half a block!! grrr.

So anyway we made it to the office, they weren't closed, and miraciously they made it to the house 15 minutes later and reconnected the electricity. And it turns out the man was not lying, I did have to pay a reconnection fee that will appear on the next bill. AND one more thing - because of the storm, the lights everywhere in Catacamas had gone out 30 minutes before that. So we still had no electricity. Go figure!

Cleaning Day!

We came home from school today and cleaned the whole house! Maria went with me today, and brought Leyla. It was unbearably hot, which is why I don't normally bring her, but Maria wanted to get out of the house and the kids always ask me to bring Leyla, so they came. Anyway when we got home it was still hot and I was sweaty and Leyla was in a bad mood, so after resting a bit, and after Leyla fell asleep, we got started cleaning. I guess I just didn't want Marcos to come home to a dirty house, plus I was laying on my bed looking at spider webs and clothes needing to be folded. In the living room Leyla's toys were everywhere and the floor was dirty and everything was just out of place. Sometimes it drives me crazy.

So I swept everything, Maria got rid of all the cobwebs and spiders, folded the clothes, mopped, and somewhat put things in their place. I get so frustrated not being able to keep things clean here - I did read that an obsession with cleanliness is a stage of culture shock - but really, it IS dirtier! The heat means more bugs, more bugs mean more spiders, lack of paved roads means more dust...it really is harder to keep things clean. And there are flies everywhere! I don't know why there are so many flies: there is nothing dead around my house, there are no piles of trash, there's no food left out, and I just cleaned the entire place! Ugh it's a problem. Maybe it's the dogs.

I can't wait for Marcos to have the screen doors made! Then I can keep them out better.