What do you want to be when you grow up?

I really still don't know! I'll be 34 in a couple of months and I'm thinking about a career change. I guess this year has brought about a no-career change due to the current habitation status, but I've been inspired by a new friend who told me about his dad who didn't go to law school until he in his late thirties and then became a judge. This amigo nuevo is also considering a career change. He is in a creative line of work. That's what I've come to realize I need in my life. I would love to make money doing something with that other part of my brain that doesn't involve sales or marketing (or at least not primarily!). I have several things I'm interested in and how can you just decide on one???!!! Anyways, this blogging thing has also made me see how much I love creating. I've had my babies, now it's time to make something else. lol. ;)

It's so funny asking my 5 year old this question. It's different everyday. A couple of days ago it was "a skier man". Today was a policeman, surfer and ski person. I think this kid is really loving the surfing! He caught a 10 second wave (above) all the way into the beach the other day. Today he went with his daddy to Colorados, which is one of the heaviest breaks around and Chris said he murdered it on the inside little reforming wave. He turned and all! He had people taking pictures of him and all! We've also discovered another reason to call him goofy because he pops up that way! So good to see my lil man sooooo happy! The smiles will continue when his three girlfriends arrive here shortly for a sunset play date. Lucky little guy!!!! Another part of the dream shining through...

Fiesta Friday!

T- Tona

G- Guacamole

I- Ice cold pool

F- Fried Food

(Can we insert a B for babysitter???!!!)

Happy Weekend Everyone!!!

Happy almost weekend!

Pancakes. Check. Cuddle time with Rio. Check. Steak Fajitas. Check. Nap. Check.
And these are the days of our lives. We are about to go to a place called Magnificent Rock to surf tiny waves now that I got my pop up back. For you non-surfing folks, that's when you pop up on your feet on your surf board in one fluid motion. Sounds easy, but it's a technique you have to get down before you can really drop in. Chris saw this wave yesterday and realized that it would be perfect for people like me and my five year old. (Yes, I'd rather surf where five year olds surf than the big guys!) After surfing we will come home to fried chicken and fresh cut french fries and brownies and ice cream for dessert. (It's one of those stuff your face kind of days.) Then the Pats play another preseason game. This is almost as fun as listening to my five year old talk to his cousin on the phone about his girlfriend. So friggin' cute, I love it! Life is good indeed. =)

Life is but a dream...

We went to a wonderful celebration of life yesterday in Popoyo. Keith Kenton was the husband of the teacher for the home school that Ryder was going to be attending. I didn't personally know Keith, but his wife is such a sweet person. They had his surf board in the sand, spread his ashes in the ocean and did a big group paddle out. The Kentons were among the first gringos to lay down roots in this part of Nicaragua. It was a great reminder of people coming together to help one another in a time of need. It was also another reminder that we should all shoot for our dreams, no matter the cost! One thing I'll never forget from yesterday was the children playing on the beach. Such a symbol of innocence. I hope that everyone I know and love is thankful for what they have and has a chance to reach for their dreams because there's nothing like it!

live, laugh, love and eat!

Funny story of the day: Chris' board shorts were ripped down to his ankles while surfing. For a second, he thought for sure he would have to catch a wave in naked and search for his shorts on shore. Luckily, he grabbed them right before they ripped completely off! That just makes me laugh out loud imagining a surfer having to ride a wave in naked to retrieve their pants. =)

Great food: We went to an awesome party last night at the clubhouse and they served us fresh seafood pasta fazinelli and lamb chops. I did not partake in the chops due to the vegetarian experiment, but the pasta was awesome!

Fun times: Chris, Ryder and I hiked to Escondida today then did some rock climbing to the next bay over and then did a little sand surfing in the ocean (laying down on your stomach and letting the shore break pummel you through the sand). Then we walked up the 250 steps to the top and hiked home, jumped in the pool and ate dinner.

Happy almost weekend everyone!

Fishy Perfection...

I've been behind on my blogging this week due to a severe lack of internet service. We've had some bad storms in the night and they've affected this plus our electricity. Our house has a generator back-up, but even that's been malfunctioning. I'm baaaack! (I know you've all been dying without me. ;)) Luckily, the storms halted during the day. Tuesday was another one of those "add this to the book" kind of days. I started out by walking Ryder to school. I then walked up to the community club house and met Isabel for a nice hour long walk through the hills. Gotta have girl time! Chris surfed for four hours during all of this and had the time of his life on his short board. We then ate lunch in front of the Santana surf break. I had a nice heart of palms salad and he had the coconut shrimp. We picked up Ryder and Neila from school and went swimming for 3 hours. After that we went to look at a couch for sale and bought it! (Can't wait to kick back and watch some football on it!) After that we headed to Los Perros with the kids and Neila's parents and friend Shawn. We all took turns surfing. I caught so many little waves that I was out of breath! The sun set was amazing. After a quick shower for all we went to the restaurant for our best dinner out yet: fresh robella fish with a tomato basil sauce over polenta for me and filet mignon for Chris. The kids had fresh shrimp and then Rio proceeded to polish off two orders of ice cream and half a piece of the yummiest carrot cake EVER! (We didn't order all of this for him, he just ate what the others left behind. lol!) I think that swim, surf, family time and great food and friends makes for the perfect recipe for a perfecto day!

Speaking of food, I had this epiphany on Sunday that I've never actually tried to be a vegetarian. Being that the beef and pork in Nicaragua are nothing to write home about, I thought this week would be a great time to try it out and just see if I could do it. Now my inner fat girl is screaming, "NO!" because I am a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I have 3 sisters and none of them really eat much meat, but not this girl! I can eat with the best of them. My only no-no's are bacon and hot dogs. (insert puking sound here!) Monday worked out great. Eggs and rice and beans for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch and rice and beans and sour cream tacos for dinner. Yesterday was great until my stomach saw the dinner specials at the restaurant and I was done. But some vegetarians eat fish, right?! So now I've adjusted my experiment to include fish and shell fish. Besides, I could NEVER EVER do the vegan thing. No eggs, cheese, dairy, milk and God knows whatever else. (leather shoes and belts maybe?!) I'm not trying to judge, but that's just not for me! Day three is going strong. Eggs, leftover fish and hopefully dinner out tonight will draw me towards more fish! Adios!

Lunes Bueno

Another great weekend in paradise! We spent most of Saturday at Playa Rosada. We had a picnic and Chris surfed. I also walked all the way to one end with the boys. (carrying River most of the way!) Chris and the boys also made a huge "sea monster" in the sand. Yesterday was a pretty lazy day until Ryder locked River in our master suite thinking that would keep him safe while he went downstairs. We had to call the landlord and literally break the door knob off of the door. Three hours later, River was finally free! Poor little guy. Luckily, it was his nap time and there was a dvd already playing to keep him preoccupied. We went out to dinner with the landlord and his wife and three year old son to celebrate. We had the best ceviche I've had here yet. We followed it up with some yummy fish tacos.

Today has already been great, too. Chris, Ryder and I went to Los Perros. Chris took his short board out and did really well. I took our 9'6" out and caught 6 waves in a row back to back. It was awesome! Next up, Ryder! It was my first time teaching him and it actually went really well. He stood up three times. The third time he rode all the way into the beach. I was so proud, mostly of him, but also that I could actually help him catch a good wave. When we got home, we ate breakfast and then Yveth, the kids and myself drove into town to pick up some necessities. I only stalled once! I officially LOVE driving stick! It's so fun. Gotta love the simple things in life.

This was written on Monday, but we've had a severe lack of internet this week, so it's a little late!

It's Friday the 13th and I guess I should be very careful sitting in my living room tonight! ha ha! We don't get out much around here. For one, because there's no where to go. Two, because we're getting old and the sun just takes it out of you down here. We are usually in bed by 9pm and rise around 7am. I guess we are still on Eastern time being that we're two hours behind here. I worked about 8 hours this week and feel fulfilled. I know, I know, it's a rough life! I don't have to work, but it feels good using the old brain every so often. I'm hoping to eventually start making jewelry again and selling it. That was probably the most fun thing I've ever done to make money. (No, I haven't tried nor will I ever try prostitution, so get your minds out of the gutter! lol.)

I'm looking forward to a pretty chill weekend. Watching a dvd tonight. Anyone seen 7 Pounds yet? We paid a whopping dollar for the dvd and this time made sure it was in English! Tomorrow, if the weather is nice, we'll be beaching it and surfing. During the day, we'll be watching Neila and then at night it's date night! We are going to Hacienda Iguana for some buffalo wings! Yum! Sunday Chris will most likely have some surf lessons, so it will be another beach day then some much needed friend time in the evening. Hasta Lunes!

Hola Vacas!!!

The other day when I was driving my nanny home, (yay! I only stalled when stopping. hee hee!) we got stuck in a traffic jam. A traffic jam of cows, that is. No lie! They herd them right through the streets (dirt and muddy roads) here. There's a man on a horse that just sort of watches them and they follow. It's reminiscent of walking into a football stadium (minus the bright lights and hot dogs). No one really knows where they're going, but they just follow along. Anyway, Ryder thought it would be fun to stick half his body out of the car window and yell, "Hola Vacas!". Our nanny quickly told him to remain inside the car for fear of a horned stabbing. Once we made it past, he came up with the hilarious (not really) idea to proceed with this salutation to every person we passed. For you non-Spanish speaking folk, that would be like calling them all cows. I don't know how they feel about it in Nica, but in the States that wouldn't really go over too well. (Just ask Tom Brady. lol!) A lot of the people gave him a blank stare, but he actually got a few laughs, so I guess it was pretty harmless. Back in the states, we passed some cows before we left and I taught him the word vaca. He then said, "Oh, so when we say hi to them we say, 'Hola *uckas!'". He had no clue what he was really saying, but still it was pretty funny. Thank God he got that word down before our trek through this small village in Nica or we may have had some problemos!!! Kids do say the darnedest (sp?) things!

Today has been a good day, of course! Ryder had school, so Chris and I went to a deserted beach. I finished 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' (awesome, btw. now on to 'the hornet's nest'). Chris surfed. It was small, but he had fun as usual. We then stopped by school and saw the kids. We are now working. Blogging counts, right? Tonight we are having fresh local shrimp for dinner and then we get to watch our Pats beat up the Saints in their first preseason game! Are you ready for some football?! I sure am. And guess what my fantasy football team name is? Hola Vacas. (duh! =)) Chris actually named mine and I named his The Ex-Pats. Get it? Nica living Patriot lover. Gotta love American Football!!!

Mama~Drama

My two year old never ceases to amaze me! Last night I was trying to stop the dance party on my bed. (Both boys were dancing and jumping while Chris was asleep?!) I looked at River and said, "It's night-night.". He proceeded to curl up next to Chris, put one arm above his head and close his eyes and pretend to snore! Two seconds later he peaked through closed eyes and smiled. He is such a little actor already! It was too cute. I then tried to let both boys sleep in the same room. That ended 5 minutes later with Ryder telling me that River was out of the bed. River thinks it's a party anytime anyone tries to lay with him. So much for that idea!

Yesterday was a good day. Chris had his best day surfing yet and I started working again for Chris. Correction, for ME, next to Chris! ha ha! I realized that you can only read so many books and chill for so long. It actually gets boring after a while! Imagine that. I'm going to work for about 3-5 hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to stimulate the brain activity and make some money. It's weird how it's just ingrained in you to make that money! The nanny is sick today, so I'm just researching some leads in between coloring Iron Man, chasing the kids around and cleaning marker off of furniture (the two year old is at it again!). We had the yummiest fruit for breakfast and now it's time for a good old fashioned ham and cheese sandwich for lunch!

Good friends, times and food!

Well, it's been almost a week since I've blogged and I'm definitely missing it! Who knew it could be so much fun?! We had a great week with our friends Gabe and Lindsey in town and now we're just trying to catch up on sleep. We had a blast in Managua, which isn't a very nice city, but we definitely enjoyed hanging with friends and McDonald's! (Don't judge!) It was really cool seeing everything new again through Gabe and Lindz' eyes. They were shocked by the poor quality of the roads, the degree of poverty and the ox and cart system still being in use in the world. Gotta love developing countries! It also took them a little time to get used to the fact that you can't just run up to the store because there are no stores! At least not where we live. You save a lot of money this way. Chris gave them some surf lessons and they both stood up. Very cool. We headed to San Juan Del Sur for the weekend and had good weather and stayed in some really cute places. The highlight was zip lining over the ocean! So much fun! All in all, it was very relaxing and nice to do something different for a change. We ate at an amazing restaurant there called El Collibri (The Hummingbird) and had great curry, gnocchi, and fresh fish while sitting in a beautiful garden. I really love this part of Nicaragua. It's a little town in a perfect half moon bay and they even have a grocery store! We have to drive an hour to get to one, so this was definitely a luxury. Can't wait for more visitors!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today is a great day! Here's why:

Chris is 34 today.

Chris, Ryder and I are going surfing together.

Chris and I are going to Managua to pick up our friends from the airport. (Yay! First visitors!)

We are going to eat McDonald's for lunch! (My deep-down fat girl can hardly stand the wait!)

We are going to try to see Inception in English at the movie theatre.

We are staying at this awesome hotel tonight: http://www.contempohb.com/

It's hump day! =)

Our baby boy is growing up!

My baby started school today!!!!! Well, kind of. He started his three hour tutoring that he will do with an experienced elementary teacher every Tuesday and Thursday this month with his good friend Neila. To me, it felt like his first day of school. I was pretty nostalgic. We filled his back pack with the new cool surfer notebook Daddy got him and some crayons and pencils. He also had his lunch packed. We took the five minute walk together holding hands most of the way. I wonder how long that will last?! His "school" is the owner's clubhouse that doesn't really serve a main purpose, but it does now! It is right on Playa Rosada and overlooks one of the community pools. Not bad for kindergarten! Nicaraguans run on a very different school schedule than what we do in the States. Their winter is essentially our summer, so they go to school for a good part of it. The school year begins in November, their "summer" (they only really have a rainy season and non-rainy). Ryder will start somewhere around the 15th on a four to five day a week full kindergarten. It will be a private school in our community and we already have free housing for the teacher and space for the school. If all goes well this year, they are talking about building a permanent school in the community for next year. This year might have maybe three to six kindergarten age kids. If it goes well, hopefully more in the next year. Since September and October are usually off months down here because of the rainy season, I'll home school during that time. (Say a little prayer for me!) Then the next break will probably be in February, just in time for his 6th birthday. So excited for the little guy!

Tonight our friends are coming over for a little fiesta for Chris' 34th tomorrow and then it's off to Managua in the am. American movies, no Spanglish and real restaurants here we come!

brownies and STUFF...

I'm sitting right now watching River play in a rubbermaid bin filled with water. It's amazing just what little will amuse these little guys. His nanny also "made" him one of the favorite local toys. Basically, you just bang this old curtain rod (or whatever you can find for that matter) against this dried out palm frond that's tied to a tree. It makes for minutes (hey, he's two!) of excitement. With both boys sick with colds today, I'll take those precious minutes of joy. This toy is yet another reminder of how little the majority of the people live with down here. Most of them have never even been out of their little villages. They are still very happy people. I couldn't believe what our housekeeper said when I asked her to bring her 7 year old son to work with her one day to play with Ryder. She said, "Il es negra. Es bueno?" and pointed to her skin. She was basically asking if Ryder would mind if her son Michael was brown. I told her that we didn't see color and to please bring him. She said he was ecstatic all week because he really wanted to play one of Ryder's different video gaming systems. He'd never played one which is very different from most 7 year olds in the States. It makes you realize just how blessed we are, but that there has to be a happy medium. The lesson for today: You don't need so much crap! A couple of "stuff" that I'm not willing to live without for much longer is the Siracha Rooster Sauce. (I wonder what Lizano and Rooster sauce mixed together would taste like?!) Our good friends will be the first visitors to the Putnam compound on Wednesday and I've requested a bottle. Along with some rag mags (guilty pleasure) and maybe a tv??? Dad, are you listening? :) We need one for Ryder's room, since Chris' got completely smashed on the trek down here. Apparently, you have to handle your own carry on baggage with care. We, on the other hand, had a two year old who probably walked on the bag or something. You never know with the "raging River"! So happy to have good friends coming to visit on Chris' birthday! We are going to try to catch an American flick before we pick them up in Managua. Yay~ American movies and just plain old Americans! And chef Ryder and I made Ghiradelli brownies for dessert. We have also migrated to listening to our favorite Hawaiian songs cd and Daddy just walked in the door from a surf. More good news: Ryder starts school tomorrow. Good STUFF!

Welcome to the bug house...

Chris was hailed down by security at the front desk on his latest venture to Managua for supplies and to get the car fixed. Our housekeeper thought to call them so that he would know that his gas tank was leaking. Luckily, they caught him, but the bad news is that it took him 8 hours to get there. It should only take three hours max. I felt so bad for him, but of course always-positive Chris was still smiling. He got the car squared away, but had to stay all weekend. The good news is he came home with about two months worth of food! While he was there, I spent Friday playing with the boys around the house. Ryder had a slight fever, so he couldn't go to "school" like we had planned. On Saturday, Ryder, River and I walked to the store to get some staples and then played on the community playground. We then went to Playa Esteria with some friends and played in the surf. The boys had a blast. Then we went for pizza and had an oh-so-yummy gorgonzola topped pie.

I spent today cleaning for about 3 hours. It still amazes me how many dead bugs appear in our courtyard every morning. We get several inside as well, which never cease to disgust me. Ryder has dubbed our house the bug house because of this. I have never seen so many types or so many giant bugs in my life. We also have a resident bat who lives in our indoor/outdoor courtyard at night who loves to crap all over the stairs to the upstairs suite. We scared him one night and he flew off into the darkness. Ryder has named him "Saw" like the movie his cousin showed him online. (Yes, that cousin deserves a beating for that one!) They don't hurt you, but they definitely still creep me out. To top it off, we have a cute little baby lizard that lives in our kitchen. He never really runs when he sees you. I've dubbed him "Lizzie". We also have the biggest moths you'd never want to run into. "Mothra" is the coined term for them. Not to mention the fact that I got woken up yesterday by a wasp bumping into my arm. They are giant, but don't really sting unless provoked. I know this all sounds so delightful, so who's ready to visit??? With love, from the bug house!