Bicho-de-pe

Another week has come and gone, this coming week we are going to be going through phonetics. So hopefully we will be able to read in Portuguese!

Curtis was having a problem w/ his toe and wanted me to take a look at it. It had a huge callus on the end of it and under his toe nail was all black! (He later told me it had been bothering him for about 2 weeks) He said it didn't hurt until I squeezed it. Curtis decided to cut off the callus (w/ a pocket knife!) as soon as he did the a bunch of white junk shot out, and on closer inspection the white junk looked like eggs! We found out he had a bicho-de-pe (bee shoe jee pay) in his foot, it is fondly called a "pet". It's actually a worm that boroughs into your skin (usually under your toenails ) and lays eggs and digs in further and further laying eggs the whole time! All you can see is a small black dot where it went in and then a callus where you skin is dying! So by the time Curtis was done w/ his toe there was a HUGE crater under his toenail! The best way to prevent getting one of these little "pets" is to where shoes, but sooner or later you'll end up getting one :)

Making Pamonha

A week full of fun :)

Natalie and Reuben were so excited to go swimming today!! Some one gave us there old wading pool, and it is really quite big! It has been so hot lately that Curtis and I were thinking about joining them!!

It is going to take a while to fill the pool :)

The other night we did popcorn and a movie for Natalie and Reuben, they loved it !:)

Cowboy Reuben

We read lots of books during the day, I think it is the kids favorite time of day because they get one on one time we mommy and daddy :)

Here is a picture of Reuben w/ our ground rod. After about a month of getting shocked every time we touched the computer (in our bare feet), we decided it was time for a ground rod, the first one in our apartment. It stopped the shocks, but now the joke is that we'll be a lightning magnet. I guess our area is real bad for lightning during rainy season, so people usually unplug everything at the first sign of lightning.We try to water the ground rod every now and then :)

In the spotlight!!

This past Sunday, Natalie and Reuben stood up from to say a verse and sing in Portuguese! They didn't actually sing, they just smiled and looked at everyone :) Natalie was pretty excited when she was able to pick daddy out of the crowd! I told them ahead of time that daddy was going to take a picture of them, so they both looked right at the camera! Maybe next time they will know a little Portuguese!

More bird pictures!!

I have no idea what kind of bird this is! But their really pretty :)!

I don't know how to spell what this is, but, in the states this is the kind of tree you see in malls. They get really big here, and they get little red berries (not edible though)

I heard Natalie talking to someone, so I looked out the window to see who she was talking to and no one was there. So I went outside to investigate! She was talking to this baby bird, "whatcha doing ?" It was actually quite large. I took Natalie to visit some one who has a parrot, and the parrot talked . So now she thinks all birds can talk! :)

A time for stories :)

Well this is the first week that the kids were happy about going to nursery! Actually they asked if they could go! I think that Reuben finally realized that we are going to come back for him. They are very excited when we come get them, and we usually read lots of books to get them calmed down for nap time :)
On another note.......... the Doctor is 98% sure that we are going to have a girl!! Natalie is VERY excited about this :)

Churrasco!!!

Last Saturday we went to a churrasco,(shew-haw-skoo) which is a Brazilian barbecue! We all had a lot of fun, there was lots of meat, which made Reuben and Curtis very happy :) Natalie wasn't to happy about trying new food, but she enjoyed ice cream and cake!

During the afternoon the kids took a nap and Curtis played games with the guys :) It was a very relaxing day.

When the kids got up they enjoyed swimming in the pond, it wasn't very deep and the kids enjoyed getting cooled off. No pictures of me :) I guess that's what happens when your the photographer :) Maybe next time.

Interesting new sites :)

Everyday we see these Parrots fly over, they land in a tree that is right out my kitchen window :) Parrots are quite noisy, Natalie has been asking us to get a "pink" one for her :) We are thinking about, but we aren't sure we want to get into that!

We also have seen toucans flying by, I downloaded this picture because I haven't been able to get a picture of one yet! We only see them flying, never just sitting in a tree. We have been told they can be quite a menace, robbing nests and such. When it rains and the trees start blooming and producing fruit the parakeets will come in :) I'll try to post more pictures later!

Getting settled in.

Here are some pictures of our muddy children, they look like this just about every day. Sometimes much dirtier than this:) but they are having fun!

They are both starting to enjoy nursery, everyone is happy about that :) Reuben is feeling much better today and ready to get into anything! Classes are going good, I (Joanna) am struggling remembering words and phrases from day to day. Curtis is picking things up really quickly! Pray that we will be diligent in our studies!

Reuben

Well, this weekend was Reuben's turn to get sick :( Throwing up and Diarrhea. He seems to be a little better this afternoon. Hopefully our bodies will adjust to the food and climate soon :)