Where we're at

Life.  It can get busy, no?  I guess this post is just a notification that things will slow waaay down on the blog for a while.  My niece is with us during the day now, she is a few months younger then the Babes.  Two 2-year-olds in one house is no joke.  I'm just hanging in there, waiting for them to grow up a bit, and for the pretty much constant whining/fighting/temper tantrums to slow down.  If kids don't out grow it by the age of 3, I don't want to hear it.  Miss M is still a pudgy, smiley, drooling joy, so that helps.  To add to the fun, I have to re-sit my PA boards this year, which means I am using nap times to relearn all the things I have forgotten in the last 5 years.  Blogging, unfortunately, has been put on the "not an absolute necessity" list, along with fun things like sewing and crafts.  My test is scheduled for December, and I promise to be back then.  I might pop in here and there up until December, but don't expect much.
Wish me luck!

learning Montessori

My friend Jena requested that I share some of the links I've gathered while researching Montessori for the Babes.  Everything I'm doing with him is self taught through necessity-- there aren't any Montessori schools here in Belize, unfortunately.  So don't be too hard on me, anyone who has actual training :)

I started off with some reading to introduce myself to the big concepts of Montessori.

-Maria Montessori's works are free for Kindle on Amazon (I haven't read it though)
- This is the book I read-- I have to say it was a bit boring and not too helpful on instituting Montessori in my home, but it did give me a foundation of concepts to start with. Also, it was the only Montessori book my library had :)
- I also have this book, which has lovely inspirational photos but not much concrete methods.


Ok, now to the details...

-I have a friend who is an actual trained Montessori teacher.  She sent me this link to a Montessori school's course outline, which is super helpful to me because it lists the activities that are introduced by each age group.  Then I go to another site to find out how to do the activities myself.

- Ok, here is where it can get a bit overwhelming.  This site  is where I try and begin when I am learning about an activity.  The site gives extremely detailed step by step directions for a ton of basic Montessori activities.  Why is it overwhelming?  Well, for example, teaching a kiddo how to roll a mat has 21 steps.  Here is where you can benefit from my experience.  When I first saw the crazy amount of detail my brain fizzled and I ignored it, figuring how hard can it be to teach a child to roll a mat?  Um, yeah.  Hard.  I'm still trying to fix the mess I made by teaching the Babes the wrong way.  This is very important: kids will stick to the first way you teach them something.  It takes waaaay more effort to reteach a method then to teach it right the first time.  The thing about Montessori is that it builds on little lessons learned along the way.  So my kid can't roll a mat, no big deal, right?  Well the skill he failed to learn there will also needed for self-care activities taught down the line, etc.

-Living Montessori Now is a site that has a TON of  Montessori DIY activities, as well as links to more sites that offer free printables and lessons.

-as usual, there is tons of inspiration to be found on Pinterest.

And for inspiration, so you don't get bogged down in the details and forget the beauty of this method:

- Three Oaks
-How we Montessori
- Sew Liberated  (actually one of the first blogs I ever read, when she started blogging she ran a Montessori school in rural Mexico)

Don't get discouraged by the gorgeous pictures of 2 year olds using kitchen knives to chop carrots.  Remember they started with the basics, too.

seven quick takes vol. 8

--- 1 ---

When you live in a country with no walmart or target, sometimes you just have to improvise.  Miss M loves her slightly getto baby play station. 

--- 2 ---

Speaking of Miss M, my very proper British mother-in-law was kind enough to watch the kiddos last week.  When she handed Miss M back to me, she said, "this little girl is very good at bringing up air."  Translation: your baby burps like a 13 year old boy.  Why yes, yes she does.

--- 3 ---

Just look at this deliciousness.  I do a monthly photo shoot with Miss M, and I think this shot is my favorite.  It didn't end up being the picture I used for her album, though, because she can't actually sit up yet (she is propped here) and apparently I have strong feelings about honest representation of baby abilities in monthly pictures.  I often find myself odd, too.

--- 4 ---

The Babes and I are still working in a few montessori activities each day.  His favorite right now is anything to do with transferring.  I am amazed at this little boy, who used to spend most of the day attached to my leg whining, and now spends large chunks of time fiercely concentrating.  He also spends large amounts of time fiercely saying No.

For example: the Babes-- water? Please? water?
                      Me-- here is your water.
                     the Babes-- no.  NO.  NOOOOOOO!

Let's just say the amount of wine being drunk in this house rises in direct proportion to the amount of time outs experienced per day.

--- 5 ---

No. NOOOOO.

#^*@* chickens. Yeah they look all cute and fuzzy and smooshy now, but wait till they are ugly scrawny teenagers who poo all over the yard. My husband might be a science teacher, but apparently we need to have a nice chat about rooster+hen = eggs = MORE CHICKENS.

--- 6 ---

I finished my mobile, and I love how it came out. 

--- 7 ---

My parents are coming to visit in a few weeks.  We will take a quick trip out to the Cayes where we are renting a house with hot running water, AC, and a pool.  You might never hear from me again.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

where I shop: the Boundary Store

I was too tired to post last Friday, cause Daniel and I took a sort of impromptu road trip on Thursday.  We had a meeting in Belize City which ended a bit early, and since the babysitter wasn't expecting us back for a while..... we decided to drive an extra hour up the coast to my favorite thrift store in Orange Walk.

6 hours total driving time in a 20 year old pickup truck with no air conditioning is no joke.  It is also an indication of how desperate I am to get out of the house, since my car is still not fixed.  If I'm lucky I have been getting out of the house twice per week-- an hour for Mass, and about 2 hours for market/ grocery shopping.  I think Daniel agreed to tack on a few hours to our trip because he knew it would ward off insanity for a bit longer.

Anyways, I love the Boundary store.  It is such a random place, and every couple of months the inventory totally changes because they get a new shipment of things from the States. This time there was about a hundred lamps, a room full of baby swings (which would have been useful for Miss M a few months ago) and what looked like the entire contents of a cafeteria kitchen.  Huge stainless steel pans and serving equipment-- even a whole silverware/tray serving station that is ubiquitous to cafeterias everywhere.  I kinda wanted it.

such a bad picture.  I was really rushing. The point is, this place is HUGE.

I always mean to take pictures when I am there and always forget because I am in such a rush.  This is not a man-friendly shopping place.  After about 20 minutes of me digging through shelves  and bins and pondering if I really want to get another pair of shoes, Daniel starts to get a distinctly martyred air. I think the most time I've ever managed is an hour.  Sadly, I ran out of time/ Daniel's patience before checking out the literally 1000's of shoes (since I once found a pair of Manolos for $5), but I did get some great materials for the Babe's montessori work.

Babes hard at work. I got the tray from a Boundary store a while back.

various bits and pieces.  He looooves the tongs.

My favorite find this time was a bunch of quilt scraps.  At some point this lovely vintage quilt that someone spend a lot of time on was chopped into pieces.  I rescued them.  None of the pieces are very big, but with a bit of bias tape sewn around the edges, they well make perfect doll quilts for the Babes and Miss M to enjoy.

The next shipment is due mid August, and I'm already scheming to get back...

market magic

I was due a bit of shopping luck, I’ve been looking for a pair of pants for months now with no results.  Pants are the thrifting prize, I think.  I can easily alter a shirt to fit, but pants need to fit around my waist and have the length I need, which tends to be a problem here.  I wandered into a tent at the Satuday market with a sign that said “all clothes $1,” not really expecting much.  But the first thing that caught my eye was a silk blouse-- Ann Taylor.  Then a JCrew skirt.  Then some Banana Republic pants.  I got a bit excited.  I must have spent about ½ an hour rooting through piles, and came away with 3 bags of clothes for $18 Bz total, which included 5 pairs of pants in my size!  I hope this doesn’t wipe out my shopping luck for the next few years.

When I find clothing at this price range, I tend to shop for fabric as well as  following my usual shopping guidelines.  I found this skirt, which is the most amazing silk/linen blend fabric with decorative stitching.  It is huge, but I can easily cut a skirt out for myself with plenty of leftover fabric.

I also found this… shirt thing? bathing suit cover up? nighty? with the original Macy’s price tag on it for $88 US (! you must be kidding me, Macy's....).  It is a beautiful coral cotton voile, and there is at least ½ a yard of material there which will make a nice summer dress for Miss M. 

By the way, this is Myrtle, my homemade sewing form.  I used a Pinterest tutorial (of course) which recommended using  duct tape to shape the form.  Poor Myrtle is slowly melting, sagging, and generally deforming in the tropical heat.  In case you were wondering, this is not a helpful quality in a sewing form, but she is made of like $30 worth of duct tape so I refuse to get rid of her.

Anyways, it does take a bit of who-cares attitude to root through piles of used clothing.  I am always the only gringa, and I get a lot of funny looks.  Most people probably are puzzled as to why a tourist is shopping for used clothes in Belize.  When I went to pay for my massive pile of clothes the girl in charge actually swore under her breath (in Spanish) in astonishment at me…. Believe me, I am willing to trade some funny looks  for  nice clothes.   

When I got home, I went through pockets before throwing everything into the wash, and found a tiny cheat sheet for a Spanish test.  I find it highly amusing that that particular pair of pants made it all the way to Central America...

7 quick takes vol. 7

--- 1 ---

 New baby horse!  She was a bit of a surprise, as her mom accidentally got into the wrong field and crossed with a stud... we weren't sure who though.  Lucky us, it looks like this little filly's dad is an Arabian.  She is absolutely beautiful.  I love baby horses at this age, they sleep with total abandon.

--- 2 ---

I like the idea of meal planning, but I always fail to sit down once a week and plan.  So I've decided to make a monthly plan, with the hopes of eventually getting up to 3 months at a time.  I already have about 3 weeks worth, and I am attempting to plan meals that are strictly stovetop-only.  There is nothing worse on a 90 degree day then heating up the oven at 4pm.  Recipe suggestions would be welcome!

--- 3 ---

Along with the meal planning, I'm trying to be better at consistently making bread. Buying bread in the store is frustrating, cause unless I can get into Cayo for fresh bakery bread, I am taking a chance and getting bread that is probably already stale and most likely will mold within a few days. I have a bread machine (which I got at the market a few years ago for $30BZ!) and I have fiddled enough with the recipe that I have it down to 5 ingredients and about 4 minutes of active time on my part.  The only problem is that the loaves are small, and if my husband is in the mood he can finish off an entire loaf in one setting.  This wreaks havoc with my meal planning....sigh.

--- 4 ---

 So, laminating is high on my list of tropical living life hacks; it protects against mold and geckos and damp, etc.  Once upon my husbands' teaching training time, he had a laminating machine, which jammed after about 2 uses.  Since then I have to go into town and pay a lot every time I want something laminated.  The other day I decided to pull out the old laminating sleeves and try laminating with my iron.  I just put my item in the plastic laminating sleeve thingy, covered it with an old t-shirt, and ironed on the cotton setting.  It worked fabulously.  I've been wandering around my house since, looking for more things to laminate.

                                                       --- 5 ---

I've started a new method for organizing my craft stuff.  When I decide on a new project, I throw every supply that I think I might need for it in a plastic bag.  Then whenever I have a few minutes during naptime, I can grab a bag and work for a while.  Everything gets thrown back in if I don't finish.  This is a hot air balloon mobile that I've been working on for about, oh, 11 months or so...

--- 6 ---

The new-to-us storage container came this week.  It is 8X17 feet, and our downstairs is only 10X26 feet.  So I'm a bit excited about the huge increase in storage space.  I'm sure my husband will fill it up fast though.

--- 7 ---

The Babes, on the other hand, was absolutely thrilled with the backhoe that helped move the container.  So excited, in fact, that he literally peed his pants in excitement :)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 quick takes vol. 6

--- 1 ---

     Last week my car bit the dust. We were about 40 minutes from our house when it happened, and of course there is no triple A to call to come get us.  So we called our mechanic, and he had his son drive ½ an hour to come and tow us.  During the hour or so we were sitting on the side of the road, 3 of Daniel’s current or former students saw us and dropped by to chat and of course diagnose the car (teenagers are good at this).  One guy even rode his bike home and came back with a few tools.   The only thing that was surprising is that more people didn’t stop by (I would have expected at least one cousin). 

Belize is really just a small town masquerading as a country.

--- 2 ---

I finally succumbed and started caffeinating myself.  I’ve always been a hold out against coffee, maybe because my dad drinks like 5 cups a day and is continuously wired.  But two babies have succeeded where even grad school failed.  Every morning around 10 I have my (classy) spaghetti jar of sweet tea.  I use a cold brew method, and put my jar in the refridge the night before so the tea steeps a while and it is icy cold.  I am rather shocked at how much more energy I have.  Now I’m actually voluntarily doing things at 4pm, instead of dragging myself off the couch while softly weeping.

.--- 3 ---

   The energy burst let me rearrange a bunch of the Babe’s stuff to mesh more with a montessori philosophy.  Beyond a bit of internet research and having attended a montessori-ish kindergarden myself, I don’t know what I am doing.  However, I like the ideas of order and self-sufficiency that montessori promotes, so I set up some stations for the Babes.  In the bathroom he has a little tray with his toothbrush, some soap, and some small hand towels.  He does not get toothpaste on his tray cause he would eat the whole thing.  In the kitchen, he has a little tupperware filled with his utensils, cups, and plates so he can set those up for himself when he eats, and I've also put single servings of snacks in easy-to-reach containers so he can serve himself.  So far it has cut down a lot on whining and messes cause he stopped going through my other cabinets looking for his things.

--- 4 ---

His toy shelf has also been overhauled and now includes a sensory basket and some other learning type activities.  I'm working with what I have, so no fancy matching baskets and trays yet.  He is playing so much better now that he sees his toys, and also because he has less to choose from I think.  The house is much easier to keep looking neat, which is a nice bonus.

--- 5 ---

This is in my front yard.  I FINALLY got my husband the chicken collector down to 2 chickens, but he is unable to help himself and let this hen get broody so more chicks I guess in about 2 weeks.  ARGH.

--- 6 ---

I found a bumbo for Miss M, but it is proving to be a popular spot for others.  The Babes is a big fan too.

--- 7 ---

And this.  The best part of my days.  Miss M has started smiling at us, and she puts her whole heart in it.  Really it doesn't get any better.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!