TO MAKE a funny

There's a little 6-letter word in this language that means "to make". It is necessary to use this word in order to communicate many things. Today in language class Mike's teacher wanted all the students to practice using this word. She asked the class, "After school, what do you want to do?" The students were to respond with the "to make" word. The teacher went around the room, and each student gave a response. Being the family man, Mike planned carefully how he wanted to say, "After school, I want to play with my children." He threw in that "to make" word. His literal translation was "After school, I want to make children." The teacher heartily laughed and had to regain composure. Since everyone in the class is a beginner language student, she had to explain to the whole class Mike's after-school desire. Then there was uncontrollable laughter from the entire class.

Chain Smoking Chimp

At the local zoo we saw a chimp smoking cigarettes. When we glanced at the cage, we did a double take and then guffawed at the sight. This is a classic example of monkey see, monkey do. There were some kids in front of the cage that were tossing nuts to the chimp. He would catch them and eat them. Then, there was a man smoking a cigarette. He tossed the cigarette into the cage, and the chimp picked up the cigarette and started puffing! He was inhaling and blowing puffs of smoke. Fotunately my camera has a video button, and I captured this video. This is the funniest sight I have EVER seen at a zoo. It was worth the entire 10 bucks it cost our family to enter. Perhaps a better title for this blog is "Bad Day at the Zoo".


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Kentucky Brit

Today someone asked me if I was from England. I just wanted to post this for all those who have ever admired my Southern KY accent. -Lisa

14th Anniversary

Mike and I were out of town a few days ago, and we were in a beautiful city surrounded by water. We took one evening to celebrate our anniversary. We went to a picturesque outdoor restaurant. Our table overlooked the sea. The sun was setting as we took our seat, the music was in English, and we couldn't even smell smoke from other people because we were outdoors! Even though we couldn't understand most of the menu, we managed to order a pasta dish that was very delicious! As we were eating our meal, I asked Mike, "Did you ever think we'd be celebrating our 14th anniversary on this continent overlooking the sea to another continent?" Wow! I can't even begin to explain how God surprises His children with such good gifts.

Soccer Kids

David and Annie are playing on a local soccer league. It's a great phsycial activity for David, but Annie appreciates the social aspect of the game.

Good 'ol roll-on

I'm putting this picture on just for my sister. My mom has always and continues to use Ban roll-on deodorant. As children we would look at that wet rolling ball and gross ourselves out thinking about making your armpits wet. Well, Mike and I were travelling to some meetings and he forgot to pack his deodorant. I ran out to the closest store, and the ONLY deodorant they had was roll-on! I cracked up as I had a nostalgic moment. I couldn't wait to take the new find to my hubby! He was thrilled.

More free stuff

This has been my favorite free item yet! As a promotion with the chocolate Nesquick cereal (like Cocoa Puffs), there was a free bowl attached to the box. I feel like the kid who convinces the parent to buy the cereal (just for the toy) regardless of the nutritional value of the cereal. I convinced myself. I bought 2 bags of sugar-coated cereal so I could get some free bowls for the kids. I knew David would love the bowl. The outside of the bowl looks like a soccer ball, and the bottom of the inside has the Nesquick bunny kicking a soccer ball.

2 senses - taste and smell

I like gum. They have all sorts here. When I was in the mood for some fruity gum, I bought some pomegranate -flavored gum. Little did I know it would cause my tastebuds to celebrate. It could be the best fruity gum I've ever had (it's the pink cubes on the right side of the picture). The other day I needed a breath-freshner gum, so I bought some gum that had a picture of a mint and a tree on the box. When I chewed the gum, two words came to mind - moth balls. Not that I've tasted moth balls, but if I did I imagine that's what this gum tastes like. In this country, there are 3-4 mothballs in every sink. Evidently, the moth balls keep little bugs from nesting in the drain. So I've become quite familiar with the smell of moth balls, and the white gum on the left tastes how moth balls smell.

That reminds me of a lemon tea I had in the states. I was excited about trying a new flavor, and I had a friend over to try this lemon tea with me. As we began to drink it, my friend commented that the tea tasted like furniture polish. By golly, it did! We had never actually drank lemon furniture polish, but we imagined that if we ever did, it must taste like the lemon tea. Have you ever tasted anything that reminded you of how something else smelled (even though you never actually tasted the nasty smell)?

Sesame Seed Smile

This sesame seed-covered bread is so popular here. There's a vendor on every corner. The bread is a full circle when you buy it, but Emma's already eaten half of this one. She lifted it to show me how it looks like a smile. Her cheeks are full of the bread, which explains why she is smiling so much!

The Castle

There are remains of a castle on the highest point of the city, and it is a fantastic view. As you walk to the castle, there are cobblestone streets with lots of little shops selling tapestry, purses, pottery, ceramics, and so on. Some people have made dwellings within the remains. We climbed to the top of the castle, and we found some boys catching birds. This boy let me take his picture holding one of the birds he caught.

Learning to Cook

I thought I knew how to cook. That was until I didn't have all the convenience items. No cake mixes. No already made pie crust. No canned biscuits. No frozen dumplings. No pre-packaged granola bars. We are learning, and my Grandmother Tuggle would be so proud. We made these bisciuts from the recipe off the back of the Kroger's baking powder can. They looked and smelled tastier than they actually were. They were very bland. If any of you have a recipe for really good homemade biscuits, please send it my way. We can get something like buttermilk here, so I could make buttermilk biscuits.

A friend here gave me a recipe for granola bars, and they turned out pretty good. So, here's a new recipe for you:

2 c. quick-cooking oats, 1 c. all-purpose flour, 3/4 c. packed brown suger, 3/4 c. raisins, dried fruit, or choc. chips, 1/2 c. wheat germ or flax seed, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 c. walnuts, almonds, or other nuts, 1/2 c. oil, 1/2 c. honey, 1 egg, 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil and spray with oil. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix oil, honey, egg, and vanilla in separate bowl. Pour together and press into baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

A note: If flax seed reminds you too much of bird seed, you can grind it up in a coffee bean grinder, and then it's flax seed meal. That's what I did.

BEWARE: Not For The Faint of Heart

If you want a true experience of life here, you must come and go driving! It is part Nascar, part Formula One, part demolition derby, and part survival of the fittest. For example, there may be 3 lanes on the road, but you will typically be 4 to 6 cars wide! The only rule is - he who has the biggest vehicle has the most rights to the road. You have never heard so much honking in all your life. Many will honk simply as a warning that they will not be yielding to anyone! It is very stressful...and we are not even the ones driving yet. On the flip side, it increases your drive-time intercession habits. I am sure it will exponentially increase our children's, too, once Dad starts driving!! (note from Lisa - Mike chose the picture)

Out of the Big City, Men's Version

After Lisa went out of town, the men had the same opportunity to go away for 2 nights. These photos were taken along the way. The middle one is an inactive volcano which remains snowcapped for most of the year. Though the picture does not do it justice, it was an awesome sight! The photo on the left is a common sight when you leave the city and drive just a few miles. This man was caring for his flock, although we obviously distracted him from his duties (but couldn't get him to smile for the camera :-) ). It also serves as a reminder of how our Shepherd cares for us as His sheep. If you would like to read about how a shepherd provides for his sheep, email me and I will send out the full version. It will bless you to know how well YOUR Shepherd cares for you!

Out of the big city

Several weekends ago I had the opportunity to get out of the big city and attend a women's conference. It was so refreshing to see plant life and water. I once heard that a man can't find his soul on the sidewalk. After living in a city of 5 million, I can understand the importance of getting R & R outside of the city. I went jogging with some friends, and here's a picture of two us and the beautiful lane we jogged upon. As we were jogging, I noticed a very large snake halfway in the road and halfway over a log. I practically jumped out of my skin (it was on my side of the road), and I scared the hibbie-jibbies out of my running partners. This was the largest snake I'd ever seen in the wild, so we stopped for a closer look. It was not attacking us and it was not slithering away. As we glanced further, we noticed the snake's head was clamped down on the back half of a frog. The frog was looking at us with sad eyes, and the sight of it actually made one of my twenty-something running partners from Tennessee cry. We were thankful that the snake's mouth was full so he wouldn't attack us, but we had pity for the poor frog.

Game Farm meets Africa

Today Abby's class went to the zoo. It was the "Game Farm in KY meets Africa". So many of the animals in pens were KY wildlife. We saw deer, raccoons, dogs, wolves, turtles, cats, chickens, vultures, horses, and eagles all in cages. They also had the token lion and tiger, but for the most part, KY wildlife was the majority. I imagine the animals that live in North America seem exotic to them (or maybe their upkeep is cheaper). We got there following feeding time for the wolves, and they wolves were hauling around fresh meat and bones. The smell was disgusting! As we walked to the picnic area, two men were carrying live rabbits towards the lion cage. Thankfully we did not witness the lion's dinner, but the boys and girls said the man was going to feed the rabbits to the lion or tigers. On the bright side, there was a nice playground, and it was really cheap to get in. It cost each child approx. $1 for admission.

Squatties

Many of you have asked about the squatty potties. To give you a true appreciation, I included a picture of one. This squatty potty was in the public restroom at the local zoo, and it's actually a clean one. It's an art teaching 3 young girls (and myself) to use one in a sanitary way.

I've not quite perfected it, but they say practice makes perfect, and around here you can get lots of practice.

Puppies On Our Street

Hi. This is Abby. We see these 8 certain puppies about every day. We saw these 5 while walking home from school. Annie thinks the brown and black one is the cutest. There is a gray and white one, but it is too shy for a picture. They are strays and they live on our street. They sleep on a trash pile. Sometimes the puppies sleep on these old mattresses people have thrown out. There are also a lot of stray cats. We have at least 12 cats on our street. I'm glad we live on this street.