A Normal Thursday

Thursday is always a full day for me… there are a few variables but for the most part, every Thursday looks like this.

I was up and ready for my day by 7 AM. By that time, I had stripped most of the beds (except Asher’s cuz he was still in it), started washing the first of three loads of sheets and bedding, and I was puttering around in the kitchen, dicing a couple mangos for breakfast and frying an egg or two for Ariana and Ty. Cordell had already made himself a cheese omelet. He, Ariana, and Ty normally eat a bowl of cereal, a cup of diced mango, and an egg – sometimes with toast. They like their breakfast. Arlen and I eat mango with yogurt and granola.

At 8:00, I’m hanging out my second load of sheets on the line – the first ones I hung out are almost dry already – it’s about 85* with a slight breeze, perfect for drying laundry. I take a walk out to the back fence with Cordell and Ariana, who are ‘staking out’ a watermelon patch back there… Hmmm… we’ll see how that develops.

Arlen has already left to go to the ‘Greenhouse’ that we are helping some friends start. The netting is up and we’ve got a whole bunch of seedlings that will need to be transplanted in a couple weeks. The ground inside needs a bit of leveling, so Arlen choose ‘the cool of the morning’ to do some of that.

Claudia arrives at 8 as well, with her 15-month-old son, Ty (named after our Ty). She comes on Monday, Thursday, and Friday mornings to clean, and I get to be ‘Mama Keturah’ for the morning. (Works well for me – I get a clean house AND I get to play with a charming little boy – works well for her, too – she gets a decently paying job and a babysitter to boot.) In the four hours that Claudia spends here on a normal Thursday, she’ll make all the beds, clean all the bathrooms, dust, sweep and mop all the floors upstairs (all floors are ceramic tile – except for one area rug in the kids’ entertainment area.)

Baby Ty will join Ariana and me in the school room from 8:30 to about 10 – she’s in first grade. I’ll be in and out while she completes her work… by 10 AM, I had most of the sheets already in from the wash line and folded by the time she finished today. I also washed two loads of towels – it was such a great day for drying laundry.

At about 10:30, Baby Ty’s getting a little fussy… time for a nice sit in the high chair with some finger foods and a sippy cup of water. No, he doesn’t want his milk in the cup – that belongs in the bottle – actually he didn’t want that at all today. But he downed two cups of water – wow, he was thirsty!

While he eats, I clean up the kitchen. I tend to need to have the place cleaned up before I go and make another ‘mess’ for the next meal. So I wash all the breakfast dishes (sometimes Ariana does that but she didn’t get it done today before school). And I finalize my lunch plan – it’ll be tricolor pasta with pesto and parmesan cheese, steamed and buttered guicoy (sorry, don’t know the English name for the little squashes) and carrot salad with raisins.


Asher and Cordell are in 7th and 5th grades respectively, and are primarily self-taught, using a combination of books and CD-Rom programs. I helped Asher study for a Science Test this morning. Asher, Cordell, and Ariana are also learning keyboard/piano this year.

Halfway thru the morning, my Ty (4 years old) appears in the kitchen. "Is this Marvelous?" he exclaims as he proudly holds up his water color artwork. Some things just make a momma's heart melt!!!

Claudia and Baby Ty leave at 12 and we have lunch around 12:30. Today, Cordell is the only one who turns up his nose at the pesto. Ariana seemingly doesn’t remember that she didn’t like it the last time I made it and she woofs it down and asks for seconds and thirds! Asher does lunch clean-up … God bless him… he’s a great dishwasher! Actually, we do have an automatic dishwasher, but it only functions well on rain water (vs. the city water we are using now during the dry season) … and I think it needs maintenance again… that’s a ‘honey-do’ job.

1:30 to 2:00 it’s Mystery of History time with all the kids. I love the curriculum. I attended Christian schools all my life, but nobody ever put Bible and History together. Bible was one class, History was another and they were unrelated. Nobody ever put dates on Biblical events – besides Old Testament (obviously BC) and New Testament (AD) – much less coordinated chronologically what was happening in other parts of the world along with the stories and events we read about in the Bible. My kids think I have a weird fascination for History, but it’s like I’m learning about it all for the first time again.


From 2 to 3, Asher and Cordell can be found staring at a screen somewhere – usually Wii, DS, or a computer game.



At 3 PM, Asher, Cordell, Ariana and I gather up our stuff and walk the three blocks to ‘the court’ – El Refugio (the Refuge) Recreational Center. Ty comes with us sometimes, but Arlen was home studying this afternoon, so Ty chose to stay home. Noah Bendele is an intern working with us for 6 months, and he is story-telling thru the Bible with the local kids on Monday and Thursday afternoons. About 40-50 kids show up on any given day, listen to the Bible Story, and then roller skate til 5 PM. I spend the ‘skating’ time up on the veranda with coloring pages and the littlest kids or the ones who prefer coloring to skating. I try to produce a coloring page that has something to do with the story Noah tells each day. I so enjoy getting to know the kids in the neighborhood. Most local ‘middle schools’ are in session in the afternoons, so the kids that come are younger kids, usually between ages 5 and 12. We have quite a few skates but most of them are too big for the kids. They don’t seem to mind. Several are getting really good at skating.

Upon returning home around 5 PM, Arlen has sharpened his machete and cuts open a few that I put in the frig for a refreshing afternoon drink/snack. He, Ariana, and Ty love the milk and then scoop out the soft coconut meat with a spoon. I’ll drink the milk if it’s cold but I prefer if the ‘meat’ is more firm. Barbara Stoltzfus happens to walk across the lawn, so she stops and has a coconut with us. She lives in the apartment above our garage, and we can actually go for a couple days without seeing each other! (Shame on us!)

I filled the lawn mower with gas and send Cordell out to mow the back lawn. The grass is struggling back there because of the poor soil, but it needs mowing every couple of weeks, and Cordell can only handle the mower on flat ground, so today, it was his turn.

I fold the remaining laundry items, put them away, and take my shower before making supper. After our coconut break, Arlen went to check the fingerlings we bought to stock one of the fish projects. They are fine, he says… he didn’t see any of them!!! It’s always a good sign if you can’t see them on the surface – that means the water quality is good and they are happily swimming around in the green water.

Supper is Quesadillas with fresh salsa, guacamole, and cream. The kids like flour tortillas best so I make theirs with that. Arlen and I enjoy ours with corn tortillas and a cabbage salad on the side. I normally serve fruit as well, but it’s Thursday, and my fruit stash is dwindling. I’ll stock up again at the market tomorrow or Saturday.

While Cordell is doing the supper dishes, I hop in the car with Asher, Ariana, and Ty. Thursday nights, the ‘court’ (El Refugio) is open to whoever wants to come and hang out. They usually play a form of indoor soccer and the little kids roller skate, play soccer on the grass field, or just run around together. Ariana has a friend or two that always want to meet her there.

Arlen went to check on the kids at 9. Ty had fallen asleep on a table and was being devoured by mosquitoes. He was happy for a ride home on his Daddy’s motorcycle. Ariana and Ty came in 30-40 minutes later, when the place shut down for the night. Their friends dropped them off.

I'll leave you with a couple pics, taken by Ariana or Ty this afternoon... well, I WAS gonna leave you with a couple pics of our house and one of my flowers, but Blogger is refusing to upload them for me... and it's already a full day later...

Happy Mother's Day to all out there!