The Weekend

We were up early on Saturday morning to get ready for Bible study in the village of Lagunetas.  I say that like it's abnormal.  Who am I kidding- we're up early EVERY day. ha   I had a little help making a batch up biscuits while we got dressed.  I always let the boys have some extra dough to play with.  It entertains them for the longest time.

my little biscuit making helpers

Cruz put on his daddy's boots and said "I think I'll wear these to the village today". 

My boys in the village of Lagunetas.  They were checking on the chickens.  A recent conversation I had with Cruz turned into the topic of what he wants to be when he grows up.  He told me "mama, I want to work in the villages."  I responded by telling him how great that was.  I added that maybe he could be a doctor and help take care of the people who live far out in the villages.  Or, maybe he could be a dentist and take care of all of their teeth.  I shared how the kids in the villages don't have good dental care like he does and they could use some help.  He thought for a minute and then responded with "I just think I want to tell them about Jesus".  HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

We combined our classes this week.  David was reviewing the resurrection story.  He has been going through a chronological picture Bible story book that our partner Dan Watson made.  The locals love seeing the photos as David shares the stories.  It was the first time for my kids group to see them and they loved it too. 

This is Dionicia and two of her seven kids.  We meet at her house for Bible study.

David sharing the story of the resurrection in the village of Lagunetas.

That afternoon while the boys napped I got supper in the crockpot and whipped up a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  David subtly mentioned that he wanted something sweet so I made one of his favorites to snack on. 

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Our supper- pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches made in the crockpot.  These are so good and easy.  We love 'em!

We had planned to attend a little circus that was in the neighboring town of Jocotan.  They advertised shows for Saturday and Sunday at 4:30, 6:30, and 8:30.  We wanted to go to the 6:30 show.  Thankfully I sent David over a little early just to double check the times.  They had decided to only do a 8:30 show on Saturday night but said they would be doing two on Sunday- one at 6:30 and another at 8:30.  We kept it a surprise from the boys and made plans to go on Sunday at 6:30- keep reading...

On Sunday morning David headed to the village of Nearar to teach Bible study and I got the boys dressed to take their fall pictures.  They turned out very cute and I'll post about them separately.  But, here's a little peek at one of my favorites.

my sweet boys

Cruz has been begging me to cut open one of the pumpkins so Sunday after his nap we cut the big green one.  He was so excited!

I was curious to see what it looked like on the inside.  It was yellowish and the insides were the yuckiest color green you have ever seen.  The boys wouldn't touch it but wanted spoons to dig all the seeds out.  They got some small cups and filled them with the seeds and then emptied them into a garbage bag.  It was a like a game for them and they played there for a while. 

scooping out the yuckiness

I spent some time that afternoon baking the pumpkin and then pureeing it.  I have already made some delicious things with it this week that I'll share in a later post.

Our power went out mid-afternoon and stayed off until almost dark.  And, it rained.  We had not made our afternoon coffee yet so that meant dragging out the generator to make that happen.  Yes, we'll go to great lengths to have our coffee, ha. 

cheers to giving me the energy to make it through the rest of the day

The boys, as usual, spent their time playing in the rain.  We sat on the sidewalk and watched them while we drank our coffee.

Ben would put this empty diaper box on his head and run out into the rain- giggling the whole time.

He would then sit down with the box over him and let the rain fall on it.  You can't see him but he's under there.

No power meant a quick, easy stovetop supper so I made up some grilled cheese sandwiches and we ate them before leaving for the circus.  There was not really a good place to leave your car there so we ended up taking a tuk tuk over to Jocotan instead.  The only problem was I mentioned it was raining.  To catch a tuk tuk from our house you have to walk into town and wait on the main road for one to come by.  And, if you'll remember a few posts back I let the boys play with my only
umbrella and they broke it.  So I put on a hooded rain coat and we headed out.  I'm certain I am the only one of the four of us who was bothered by the walk in the rain.  My boys thought it was super cool. 

My guys waiting on the sidewalk in Camotan to catch a tuk tuk.

Me and Cruz in the tuk tuk.  This was right after he noticed where we were headed.  He squealed when he saw the circus lights up ahead!

But, we got there only to find out we were the ONLY ones there.  The circus folks were even gone.  I was quite aggravated.  How was I supposed to explain to my boys that, yes, we surprised them with a trip to the circus but the circus was closed.  It was not fun.  As we were walking away to go find a tuk tuk to take us home (in the rain) the circus guys drove up and told us "oh sorry, we decided to only do an 8:30 show again today".  UGH!!!  Just ugh, ugh ugh!!!

David's face pretty much tells you how we were both feeling, ha

This was Cruz when he realized that we really were not going to get to see the circus- he crossed those arms and pouted in true 4 year old fashion.  Waiting for the 8:30 show was not an option because it would not have started on time and would have ended way too late for our little guys to be out.  We were all sad about missing it.

But to at least brighten one of my boys day Ben got to ride home in a yellow tuk tuk.  Probably 99% of the tuk tuk's in our area are red but Ben asks often to ride in a yellow one.  We have no idea where he gets that from.  So what are the chances of us waiting in the rain on a Sunday evening in Jocotan, Guatemala and a yellow tuk tuk passing by to pick us up?   Well it did and he loved it!   He said all the way home "it's a yellow one... it's a yellow one!". 

my boys in the rare yellow tuk tuk

So that turned a bad situation into a happier one.  We came inside, took baths, and all fell into bed.  I love the weekends.  And even when they don't turn out as planned I still enjoy the memories we make along the way.