Tantrums aren't just for toddlers.

Hi friends,

Happy to have you back this week, I think I may be a little late, my apologies. I seem to have a 3ft dictator who isn't real keen on seeing the computer in front of me, attached to my hip lately.  This put bit of a damper on my blog writing, but this dictator also doubles as my two year old, so I don't mind it all that much. I am pretty sure his two year molars are comming in and with a vengeaence I might add. Holy cow, I forgot how miserable teething can make our lives. AHHHH! The sleepless nights, the diaper rash, the  whining, OH the WHINING! Poor kid... when I ask him if his teeth are hurting he just responds "uh huh." Thank GOD for Motrin. We are all better because of motrin. TRUST me. Although, the teething does not explain the fact that he fed the dog an entire loaf of wheat bread ( the fact that it's wheat is important because it's expensive here) and emptied the entire bag of dog food onto the floor...This happened back to back and at 0530am. Good morning sunshine. It resulted in " Donny you are going to have to wake up for this one." I think he was napping by 0645am that day. It was a sanity nap but a nap no less. It's interesting, as awful as he can be at times, he has started this thing where he wants your kisses and then says "kank oo" in his little adorable sweet love of mine voice, and makes the whole world right.

As some of you may know I have recently taken up surfing...It was only a matter of time, seeing as I live in a place with some of the best surfing in the world. I began on my husbands long board, and the waves seemed to just happen, I was happy catching waves no problem. Then I decided I needed my own board, once again that was the five year old in me not wanting to share. So I got myself a nice fancy new lighter (faster) board. Really Brooke?  Anyway I surfed Hermosa, a nearby beach to the south of where we live with my husband and his friend this past Saturday. I proceeded to paddle out or so I thought, and only ended up a 1/2 mile down the beach from where I set out. The waves were thick and closed out and horrible, and so a tantrum was in order. Seriously, I whined and smacked both my hands in the water and made my way to the beach in a stomping manner. Nice. True story. Ask my husband. This was only minorly embarrassing, it was eclipsed by my husband breaking the only board that I am actually good at catching waves on. However, it  solidifies the fact that the waves were crappy and no one caught anything that day, so a tantrum may have been in order after all.

I would like to take this time to now ask those of you who are return readers, to officially follow my blog. Please and Thank you:)

My New Normal.

Hola Everyone, I know you are all shocked that I have managed to get two blogs out in the same week. Aren't I just a productive pants these days. Looks like the siesta's are working. I have decided that in this blog I would highlight things that are perfectly normal here and well... lets just say they might be a little unorthodox to most people I know.  Let's get started shall we...

1. Riding your bike with a small child in the front basket.
2. Treating your beach cruiser like a mini van. Seriously, the other day we saw an entire family of four on one bike. Dad was doing the peddling, mom was holding baby and the little boy was behind mom. Straight up talent right there folks.
3. Taking your dog everywhere. We saw a couple with their dog on a dirt-bike. The dog was riding with front and back paws hanging over and belly down on the back seat. This was not a small dog I might add. I could not get a picture as it was raining too hard.
4. Wearing your bikini into the grocery store.
5. Gold chains are back and in full force here.
6. Getting to first base just upon meeting someone. Seriously everyone kisses you it's no big deal, unless of course your a germ-a-phob.
7. At any given time you may be delighted to to see a combo store, my husband and I enjoy these a great deal, it's when you find a place that has dual or even multifunctional purposes. For Example, you may have a soda y zapata repair shop. After all who doesn't like to have a bite to eat AND get their shoes fixed, duh it makes total sense.
8. Holiday's are very common and everyone gets off school or work for these days. Example, we have had three holidays since being here, Guanacaste day, Mothers Day, and some other holiday that I honestly didn't take the time to remember. This Friday is yet another holiday and we are comming up on Costa Rica's independence day. I am actually quite excited about this, but only because my son is going to be in the parade here in town with his school.
9. Eggs are not believed to necessitate refrigeration. ( I don't follow this rule)
10.Everything will be done later or tomorrow just not now, and with no sense of urgency.

In other news...the restaurant is doing well and we are up and running for breakfast, my cinnamon rolls are a hit. I am finding myself making at leat a few batches a week. It's great for business and not so great for my waistline. We can't seem to predict when people will be hungry but they tend to come in herds when they do come. It's the one thing that reminds me of the ER, feast or famine ya'll. Shout out to my Nurse pals I am missing you guys something fierce. Did I ever mention that I ran into Dr. Ullery in line at the airport when we were on our way to Costa Rica? Crazy right? 

Charlie has been great this week, but that could be because he went to school all full days this week. So proud of my man. It's not easy being the youngest kid in the whole school. Who really wants to poop in their pants in front of their peeps, it takes away all your street cred, for real. I took some time to observe my little piece of genetic offspring the other day. This is what ensued, he marched around his toys and proceeded to say the word "mine" at least 15 times consecutively and I'm being conservative. Also he changes at least 4 times a day, but he won't wear what I choose. He has to pick it out. You can only imagine the tantrums that result because of this. Today he wanted to wear his soccer cleats, but we have ceramic tile floor so this combination usually results in lots of falling and it's not good . Needless to say I have hidden the soccer cleats for now. I'll break them out when I find him a team to play on. 

That's all I have for now. Love.

The Good the Bad and the Day to Day.

Holy cow have we been busy lately, hence the lapse in time from the last blog post. My bad. No excuse other than the fact that we have been working, playing and meeting so many new people I feel like I need clone just to process all of the new information. Any way...I guess I begin with my canine counterpart Evie, my black lab. My little lover girl has a man friend who lives across the street. His name is Chewey, he's a golden doodle and a bit of a grump. He stays in our yard guarding it without prompting or reward and even barks at Donny when he leaves, which makes me giggle a lot. I'm pretty sure he just does it to be cavelier. Maybe that's what she likes about him. When I call her to come in at night he walks her all the way to the door, waiting for the invitation to come in, usually to no avail but hey whatever works right? They do say that persistence pays off don't they?  He is a bit dramatic, sometimes he stands in the middle of the road and refuses to move, I ususlly end up talking him down and de-escelating the situation telling him that "suicide isn't the answer and things will get better." he usually ends up moving out of the way with no sense of urgency what-so-ever. See my nursing training did me some good. Chewey and Evie are a super cute couple, I will most definately need to post some pics of this pairing.
Next order of business is Charlie, he has been doing really well you know as well as a two year old with his countless emotional breakdowns, anorexic tendencies, and throwing himself onto a tile floor at the mere mention of the word "NO" can be. But seriously he is awesome and loves a party, no kidding. I showed up to school the other day and there was a Karoke bus parked with the bass bumpin to some killer Miley Cyrus tunes. I'm telling you they really know how to get down. He loves to dance. It's pretty cute.
On another note, I think he inherited my clumsiness, his teacher sent him home the other day with outfit # 3, #1 was a victim of the blueberry and granola combo think lots of fiber and a really good cleansing of the colorectal system. # 2 he managed to fall sliding at least 2 feet in the mud covering his entire outfit in good ol Costa Rican mud. I used bleach and peroxide but those clothes are DONE with a capitol D. I don't understand why they don't make special clothes for toddlers, espically boys, out of the same matieral as those washable bibs. Just wipe em off.
We are meeting so many interesting new people, it's lots of fun. So far we have a couple of Texan friends, A man from Alaska who hunts things, carries guns and is friends with Ted Nuget. A group of kids from Seattle, one of whom is getting ready to stard Med-school, so I got to talk using medical jargon, it was kind of nice. A lady from Turkey who likes my Empanadas, and a bunch of Highshool teachers from Germany who can't get enough of my Banana pancakes. Just to name a few.
I took a two hour nap today, I have not done this in a long time. It was well deserved and much needed. I am thinking about making the siesta a staple in daily life. I guess that one of the perks of being my own boss.
In other news...
Currently reading a book called Breakthrough Prayer, by Jim Cymbala great read so far.
I got donny hooked on espresso, for those of you who know my husband this is a big deal.

Just a few pics of us around the shop and Charlie playing at McDonalds.

Me Encanta!

Hello all...


I have just sat down at the kitchen table with the most delicious cup of costa rican cafe` con leche y asucar.Trust me, it sounds as good as it tastes. Charlie is napping not suprising, seeing as he wakes up at 6am and is bouncing off the walls until we leave for school at 0745. His teacher is truly earning her $ with Charlie joining the class. Which brings me to the subject of escuela. We have learned in the short time that he as been in an organized classroom setting, that A. He needs to work on listening. HA. B. He eats a lot...seriousl,y I sent him a huge bagel and cream cheese for a mid morning snack, and the teacher said he was still hungry. Geez, the kid is a living breathing garbage disposal. Did I mention that the mid morning snack is at 9 and he eats at least three times before we leave the house? My favorite part about school so far, is that when I go in to pick him up, the kids yell "Charlie! Your Mommy is here!" It's adorable that all 10 of them know me already. As for the atmosphere in school, its so incredibly different than that of a school in the states. Just the other day when I went to observe. I was outside watching Charlie, when a huge Iguana climbed onto one of the trees and was pooping on the concrete around the outside of the play area. One of the little gringa girls says in English "EWW the iguana is pooping." then a little Spanish speaking boy comes up to her and in spanish says. "Cuidado, chicos and went on to explain the Ca ca situation. To my amazement that little girl who was maybe 5, switched over to the most clear Spanish I have ever heard. Impressive. Not so impressive to my sons Spanish repertoire he now has the addition of "ca ca" to his ever expanding Spanish vocabulary. Super! In other news, today was picture day, o my goodness was my kiddo cute in his little uniform, made me smile. I being the awesome mom that I am forgot to take a picture...I'll just take a picture of my guy in his little uniform tomorrow before he goes to school. So you can see for yourselves how adorable he is. Also, while I'm on the subject of adorable... Charlie's little camo rubber boots have been added to the lineup of boots outside the classroom. I'm not kidding it's precious.



Mom after talking to you this morning I thought I should include this... I met a Man his name is Hector. Me Encanta! It does not matter that he is gay, because the work he did with his hands today on my frock of hair was nothing short of amazing. I think Donny loves him too because he made me look pretty, and I'm convinced that my husband likes when I look pretty. 7 inches later I am a new woman. Seriously I have been a notorious hair stylist whore for years. I am now ready to settle down with Hector. Anyone who really needs a good stylist, it's well worth the $20 for a shampoo, cut and style! Mom, skype me tonight, and I'll show off my new hairdo.



Bought the new Mat Kearney album, its amazing. Highly recommend it, I have had it on replay at the shop while getting it ready for the grand opening. That's all for now folks... I have included a beach pic of my girl Evie, on a little Sunday romp on the beach.

Spanglish

Hey guys,
I realize now that 1. I do not know nearly as much spanish as I initially led myself to believe. 2. I am secretly jealous of my husband and his fluent spanish speaking skills. Don't get me wrong it's super sexy, but I want to speak beautiful fluent spanish and be the best one at it. That's the five year old in me talking. Lately I have been venturing out and doing a lot more, with this I need to be able to talk a whole lot more. As you can seen this poses a bit of a problem. Anyway, the major issue came tonight when I asked the lady at La Soda de Garbito, "que es eso?" she responded, "papas" I was at a loss here because I was commited at this point she thought I wanted the potatoes and I didn't have the words to explain that, I just wanted to know what it was, I didn't want it on my plate...Needless to say I ended up with potatoes on my plate for dinner. Also, Donny has purposed it in his heard to no longer translate for me so I'm pretty much on my own these days. BOO.

Moving on, today was our anniversary, to celebrate we went to the beach for a little surf session, and then went to one of our favorite Sodas. Donny said it himself, best anniversary ever! It was in fact pretty awesome. I sometimes have to really stop and think...This is where I get to live? This is what I get to do on a thursday afternoon? Thank you God, I know that I am so blessed. 

We are thinking about starting breakfast at the restaurant, so I have been attempting to perfect a cinnamon roll recipe. I have a whole new appreciation for bakers, and chefs. Seriously, its insane the amount of patience and precise measuring that goes into every bite of deliciousness. Give me a 300lb lady on dialysis with no veins complaining of Chest pain and had Rapid A-fib with RVR and I could probably get the iv's started, monitor, ekg and meds in the time it takes me to get the flippin yeast and water dissolved. irritating to say the least. grrr. Anyway I have rolls attempting to rise as we speak. I am impatient, this is very difficulty for me.

I have some pics from the beach today. Hope you like em.

More on life here...

Hello friends...I think a am a bit behind on an update so, I'll start with Charlie. We began looking at schools a couple of days ago and I think we found "the one" it's pretty amazing. I am a little jealous that I didn't get to go to school in the middle of the jungle. This place is complete with a pool, butterfly farm, veggie gardens and a huge play ground. All the kids have to bring rubber boots because it gets pretty muddy here during the rainy season ( which we are in now) All the different colored boots are all lined up outside the toddler room. Simply adorable! I told Donny that I'm pretty sure if Dora and Diego were real people this is where they would go to school. We will go on Wednesday to spend an hour with his class to see how he does. I think he is going to love it.

As for Donny and I we are closing on the restaurant on Monday, and will be taking over this comming week. Eeek! I am both excited and nervous at the same time. We have met our employees and they seem pretty receptive about the change and are really nice. So that's good.

Our dear friends Aron and Melissa found a church here in Jaco called Calvery Chapel. We visited when we were here about a month ago and absolutely fell in love. It's outside in a soccer stadium, and looks out over a hourse pasture. The atmosphere is truly indescribable. We are going tomorrow at 10:30 if anyone cares to join us:)

I almost forgot here are some pics of my man Charlie splish splashin it up on some puddles outside the house a couple of days ago. Hope you enjoy!

The gang's all here.

First I would like to say how incredibly grateful I am to have family and friends that love and care for us so much. The fact that I really feel like we broke some hearts with this move has not rested well with my conscience. However, I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that this was the right move to make for our family. We have been praying for months for God to show us his will in our lives and well this is where we are now. I am so thankful, everything has worked out. The move was incredibly smooth and Charlie is transitioning exceptionally well. This alone gives me peace.

Skyping with Cathy and Preston has been awesome, it was something that seemed like it would never suffice for true human interaction, but let me tell you it is by far the next best thing. Lola (my moms golden retriever) even got a little lippy with Toby ( our black lab) when she heard him barking this morning during our daily skype. LOL.

Sunny our yellow lab did not make the trip with us after careful consideration and lots of tears, I decided it would be best for him to stay in the states. Thank God, I have an amazing family and my Aunt Claudia( aka dog whisperer) and Uncle J, are his new adoptive parents. I have heard nothing but great reports and know that he is going to be very happy with his new family including two new canine brothers, Lance a black lab and Woody an irish setter And two human brothers Evan and Elliott.

Ill post some pictures soon and do some talking about our resturaunt Los Pibes in the next couple of days. Until then. Adios