James the Super Baby!

My friend Rosilene and her two daughters came over last night for tea. This is the family that I mentioned earlier that just moved in to our building. What a blessing to have them close by. We take turns watching each others kids when we need to run some errands. And the girls absolutely love playing with James!

Shame on Me!

I have allowed way too many days pass by without a post. Please forgive me blogging buddies and friends alike! This past week has been filled with children birthday parties, baby showers, and a wedding shower. It is the season. And there are more to come..........2 more on Saturday and 1 more on Monday. Not to mention, I am putting together a bridal shower next Saturday for a girl named Jaque who works with us at the Fiel ministry. Below are some photos from one of the baby showers. Let me just tell you they are completely different than what you would expect in the States. Read the captions below. Here are the ladies playing a game after the devotional. Who can dress the baby the fastest?
When you are given an invitation for a shower, you are told what present to buy and what food to bring. This really shocked me when I was first invited to a shower. For example: bring something sweet, and a baby bottle. Kinda funny, huh? I guess they want to have a variety of food and to save the guest of honor from getting repeat gifts. No such thing as a baby registry here! Most gifts are baby shampoo, cottonballs or diapers and sometimes clothes are given. Below is a photo of a women cutting a "salty cake". This is a common treat made for showers or special events. It is layered with white bread and has a filling of chicken salad with eggs, olives, corn and such. It is then iced with mashed potatoes and topped with potato sticks. I usually avoid it as I am unsure of the amount of time the mayonnaise has been out of the fridge.
Below is a photo of James staring at the cake. This little boy loves sweets! Another common occurrence is there are never plates or forks at showers. (Mainly because these items are expensive and they can do without them.) One is expected to eat cake off of a napkin. So I usually volunteer myself to bring these items!!
Here is a photo of my dear friend Rosilene and a little girl from her church. She was the one that invited me to this shower at her church. Rose's husband works with Rick at the Fiel ministry and just recently went with Rick to a Christian Booksellers expo in the US. She and her family just moved to our apartment building and James has been spending a lot of time with her two little daughters. I have a video clip that I want to post of them playing. Look for it soon.
This little girl followed me around like a little puppy. She kept asking me to say something in English all night! She was so cute that I had to take a photo of her.
Here are all the children at the shower. They noisily played behind the church. And of course, my blondie is a favorite among the girls.

An Attempt to Catch Up

Below are several random photos I have wanted to post for a while now. I just needed to catch up a bit! Below is a photo of James and a carton of milk. I thought you would find it interesting that we get our milk delivered here. This helps a lot as the 1 liter cartons are so small and have an expiration date that lasts about 2 days. Otherwise, I would have to go to the grocery to fetch milk almost everyday. Below is a photo of several young people from our youth group that were over at ricky's parents house to say goodbye to Ryan, my nephew holding James. He was down here for a 3 week visit. Rick's mother Pearl, Ryan and James.
Below is a photo of James charming the ladies for a piece of chocolate. It worked! We were at a winter fair where they sell sweaters, coats and such.
Pictured below is a booth selling necklaces and other jewelry made by Indians in the north of Brazil. (Amazon) Most of the pieces are made from seeds, wood, feathers and coconut.
I took a picture of an ambulance so you could see what one looks like here.

Water Baby

I have started taking James to a "Mommy and Me" swimming class two days a week. The place is called Aqua Brazil and it is just down the road from where we live. Super convenient, as we only have one car! James says thanks for the shirt Auntie Heather! He was really hesitant at first and it took a while to get the little guy in the water. Finally in the water! It is currently winter in Brazil but they keep the pool nice and heated. Class is over and time to get out of the water! James kisses little Julia goodbye! Always a hit with the girls!

Chicken Leg!

Here is James talking to mommy while eating a drumstick! It's a good thing we have a leather sofa! Easier to clean!

Where We Live

I thought you might be interested to know where we live. Here is a photo of our apartment building taken from the street view . The name of the building is Bella Vista which means beautiful view, that is, if you have an apartment on the backside of the building. There are only 6 stories and we live on the 4th floor facing the valley. There is a small lake, lovely protected trees and cows that roam around. James loves to point at the cows and say"moo" every time they get real close to the building. There are also two castle homes in the distance that we like to spy on with our binoculars. Just kidding! Supposedly, a retired general from the Brazilian army and his son own the two homes. If you double click on the photo it will enlarge and hopefully you will be able to notice them. Also, have a look at the many ant hills. They are huge and solid as a rock. Someone told me that these giant ants mix the dirt with their saliva causing it to pack on firm. I have a photo of my dear friend Hannah standing on one at our ranch when she came to visit last year. If I find it, I will post it.
Photo below is of ant hills and castles.Here is the main view from our balcony. Notice in the top left corner the famous small jet factory Embraer. Many of their planes are bought and used by American, United, and Continental Airlines. You have probably flown on one of their planes! And they are made right here in my back yard!This is the view from my kitchen window. I spend a lot of time washing dishes looking at this view. That's right ladies, NO DISHWASHER! Actually, I do have a housekeeper that comes twice a week for $12 dollars a day to give me a break. She arrives at 8am and leaves at 4pm. She is a huge blessing to me, homes here require more daily upkeep. Notice the terracotta roofs, ALL homes here have this type of roofing.
Here is one of our friendly guards whose name is Jose. Actually, he doesn't look too friendly in this photo but he is a nice guy. After I took the photo, he asked me if I wanted his autograph too! He doesn't speak a lick of English so it took me a few moments to figure out what he was saying.

My Teacher

Meet Simone, my Portuguese teacher. She comes to my home twice a week and gives me lessons while James takes his afternoon naps. She mainly teaches me grammar, all of which she explains in Portuguese. This is definitely not easy but I'm managing. I know I am progressing, as last night was the first time I caught myself thinking in Portuguese. This is huge! (I have also dreamed in Portuguese) I wouldn't say that "I have arrived," but at least I am just around the corner!

James singing

Here is our little ham joining in the hymn singing as grandma plays the piano! Thanks to my dear friend Hollee, I figured out how to post video clips. Refer to my post on July 6 for the whole story. Enjoy!