Triple Threat

You see?  I keep my promises!! ;)  Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for..  presenting, Princess P's 3rd birthday (3months late..)!!!  I can hear the squeals and shrieks of excitement already ;)

The day started off like any other birthday morning in the Hooley household with the infamous breakfast in bed!  (Don't mind my focusing on the food rather than her sweet face.. apparently I was hungry or something!) 

Gma gave her the hookup with a sweet wooden castle which she LOVED!!

For lunch we went to Mickey D's and she was in her glory having me all to herself! ;)

After a loooong day of patiently waiting it was present time :)  With so many siblings she was spoiled properly:

The icing on the cake was her new LeapPad - her older counterparts have had theirs for over a year and she realized she'd been jipped quite a ways back!

 May I take a moment to explain this sad excuse for a cake??  With the movers only days away, we had been clearing out the pantry.. I was out of sugar and everything I needed to make icing, and I had this lovely jar of jelly from the US that I didn't want to throw away.. so yes, I slopped a jar of jelly on my 3yr olds birthday cake.. does that make me a bad mom?  Or maybe just a slacker??  Sorry P.. desperate times ;P

This sweet girl has brought so much joy into our family!  I could write a book of stories on her and her silly antics and personality traits, but alas, I will share only 3:

1 - SPUNK!!  I've yet to meet her match!  She keeps us on her toes with her quick and witty (at times sassy!) comments.  She has SO much personality for such a little thing, and my word is she SMART!!  You can't pull one over on her - she'll call your bluff and make you eat it too!  LOVE this little turkey I do! ;)

2 - LAUGH.  It's mischievous meets villain meets a whole lotta crazy and it is so stinkin hilarious you just can't help but join in! (See video below!)

3 - TEASE.  I didn't realize a child could be sarcastic but she LOVES to tease and torment, and she thinks she's just as funny as everyone else seems to (minus her brothers who she has figured out how to make cry).  It takes a lot of confidence to take on the "big kids"! ;)

I ADORE this girl and the laughs, smiles, and drama that she brings into our lives!!  There's never a dull moment with her and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Happy (belated) birthday Princess!!

EXTRA:  You know how people say to nap while the new baby is napping??  Well, I honestly can't remember the last time that was ever a possibility!  Lol, my attempt at a nap a few months after Baby C was born turned into a hand sanitizer attack like you've never seen!  Thanks P for making sure we stay clean and keep the baby healthy.. that was her intent, right?? ;)

I LIVE!!

It's true, I AM alive!!  I have compiled a list of excuses, just to help make myself feel better..

Let's see, how to begin??
Temporary housing for 2.5 weeks in Brazil?  Check!
A VERY hard and emotional goodbye to all of our awesome friends in Sao Paulo?  Check!
Yet another month in temporary housing in Fort Worth Texas?  Check!
Survive crazy tornado warnings while praying harder than I ever knew I could?  Check!
Close on a house in the middle of nowhere?  Check!
Move into the house in the middle of nowhere?  Check!
Sleep on the floor o the house in the middle of nowhere?  ..still in progress..
Host my mother and out of state sister in law at our house for the weekend for a baptism?  Check!
Keep busy with the re-launch of www.baileysblossoms.com ?  ..still in progress..
Relaunch Bailey's Blossoms on Etsy until the website is completed?  Check it out - it's a work in progress.. :)  https://www.etsy.com/shop/baileysblossoms
Sleep at my sweet sister in laws house for 4 nights while my kitchen cabinets are repainted?  Check!
Tape off the kitchen for 2 weeks because it needs to "cure"?  ..still in progress.. :(
Paint the girls room?  Check!
Paint Sir L's room?  Check!
Paint Handsome H's room, read my monthly book, try new recipes and remember to post them on my blog?  ..good heavens, who do you think I am, super woman?!

Alas, I DO have many a plan to update all you cyber folk - including a post featuring:
Princess P's 3rd Birthday (it was in April.. yikes!)
Our new abode
& Texas culture shock

So PLEASE, stay tuned, don't fret, and know that the Hooley's are alive and oh so very well.  BUSY, but well! :D

Um Adeus Brasileira

Estou sentando na cama no hotel, olhando a toda a nossa bagagem, e pensando sobre todos que nos fizemos aqui no Brasil. Dois anos passaram muito rápido! Nós foram tão abençoados aqui para encontrar amigos e professores tão incríveis. 

Eu sei que meu português é bem simples, mas por causa isso, foi possível para falar com todas as pessoas aqui (brasileiros tem MUITO paciência!). Eu adoro o Brasil! Eu adoro as pessoas aqui! Eu adoro a cultura aqui. Eu aprende muito sobre esse cultura, outros vidas das pessoas, e eu também. Eu tenho um desejo de ver mais deste mundo e aprender mais sobre as pessoas e culturas nele agora que eu não tinha antes! Espero que eu posso fazer isso. Espero que eu posso ensinar os meus filhos sobres esses coisas também. 

Brasil vai ficar sempre no meu coração. Nenhum país é perfeito, vemos que todos os dias. Nenhuma cultura é perfeita. Mas, quando aprendemos juntos, podemos entender um ao outro e tentar melhorar a mesmos. Obrigada Brasil. Você me ensinou isso. Eu sou americana, mas meu cultura é um pouco brasileira agora também! Mas nada pode ficar para sempre e Deus tem um plano melhor do que nós! Agora é o tempo para aprender sobre um outra cultura. Cuidado o Texas, a família de Hooley vai chegaram amanha! 

Beijos todos. Eu vou voltar!

Video grams

Yesterday when I picked up the kids from school, Miss B snuggled into my arm and told me how lucky she felt to be a member of our family with tear brimmed eyes.. Not our typical ride home from school conversation, though I will take it whenever I can get it! ;) It didn't take long to find the root of her sensitive state: my husband and I are leaving tonight for Texas in hopes to find a home, a school, and all the other fun stuff that comes with a big move. My 4 oldest kids will be staying with my two AWESOME friends for the next few days, and although the thought of their first ever sleepover with friends has them jumping for joy (I don't surrender my kids too easily.. call me a control freak but I like to keep them close while I still can!), I can see that there are quite a bit of nerves about the idea as well! Last night I was given a video message to confirm:

Good heavens I love this girl! And no B - I will DEFINITELY miss YOU more! ;)

RECIPE: Refried Beans & Salsa

I adore Mexican food.  It's comical how many people remark - "Oh wow, Brazil!  You must get some GREAT Mexican food out there!" ..well, actually, NO.  The only thing that Mexico and Brazil have in common is that they are both "Latin American" countries, but let us remember - they aren't even on the same continent!  If you want great Mexican food, go to Mexico.  Come to Brazil, and you'll be sorely disappointed.

For starters, Brazilians do not like spicy food.  In the US, salt & pepper are married.  In Brazil, they've never even met!  It is salt only on the tables out here folks - pepper wasn't invited to this party!  That's not to say you can't find the occasional imported jar of salsa or taco shells.. you'll just pay a good ole' hefty imported price for them (think R$35 for taco shells - that's about $15!!).  No thank you.

THIS is what brought me to search for this priceless recipe:  Refried beans.  In the slow cooker!  Seriously, it doesn't get easier than this - and the taste??  I swear you will never see a can of beans in my house again - once you try these, you'll never go back!  The hubster doesn't even like refried beans.. or at least he didn't.. until now! :)  Click here to get the recipe.  You won't regret it!  (If you have a food processor, a few quick pulses when it's done will save you the mashing and you don't have to pre-chop the jalapeno.. SO SIMPLE!!)

And while you're at it, hop on over here for some LOVELY salsa.. YES PLEASE!!  And now I'm off to the kitchen..

Bitter Sweet

I guess I've always known it, but the past 6 months have proved it to be true: The only thing I know for certain is that nothing is for certain!

My husband gave me the heads up about our move out of SP back in October, and the location has changed as much as the deadline to leave! December to January to February to March and now finally to the end of April. Dubai, Portugal, Germany, South Africa, Australia - there weren't many avenues that were left unexplored.. It's no secret that my preference was to stay abroad, (and heaven knows we tried!), but the perfect opportunity just never panned out.. unless of course, you count Texas. I mean, I guess it's the next best thing to being abroad, seeing as it practically is its own country (seriously, what other state in the US has a waffle maker made in the shape of it??). I've personally never been outside the DFW airport, but many a friend have exclaimed, "Texas?! I can SO see you there!!" .. I'm not quite sure what that means just yet ..

Although I know that that deep Texas pride is only a few months away, I still can't get myself to be completely excited about the move. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of pros to being back in the US - we'll even be close to family this time around! But right now, the main thought that Texas brings, is the reality that getting there means I have to leave here.. and that just makes me want to cry. By far this will be the hardest move we've ever had to make. In no other place have we grown so much both as individuals, and as a family in such a short period of time. Two years have flown by, and I am honestly having a hard time wrapping my mind around "the end". So please, don't tell me how excited I should be about living in Texas just yet.. because even though I am, right now I don't want to be robbed of the opportunity to be sad, and even a little upset that I'm leaving a country that I have come to love for a myriad of different reasons. Eu amo o Brasil!!

Shoot It

Something about having a 5th child, in an area outside of Utah and Idaho causes people to ask all sorts of questions:

"Are they ALLLLL yours?!"

"Did you plan it that way?" - usually accompanied by a stark white complexion and eyes filled with horror.

"But you're done now, right?" - these people are usually quite fun to mess with ;)

"Are you Mormon or Catholic?"

"How old are you?!"

And my personal favorite, "Wooow.. how do you do it?".  I'm never quite sure how to answer that last one.  Umm, one day at a time?  With patience and long suffering?  Quick one-liners never seem to satisfy, and all of the sudden I see a desperate sense of longing in their eyes to unlock the secrets of successful parenting, because clearly, anyone with more than 3 children MUST have all the answers right??  Oh how I wish that were true!  I have opinions, sure, but I am no longer naive in thinking that there is ONE right answer for everyone.  Parenting is unique.  Personal.  As different as each of us and each of our children.  What may work for me may not work for you, and vice versa.  And you know what?  That's completely fine!  If I have learned one thing from living abroad it is this:  there is no ONE right way to succeed.  No matter what your upbringing, your culture, financial status, personality traits and personal breaking points may be, there are countless ways to bring up a great, well rounded child.  Countless ways to achieve a genuinely happy family life.  Evaluate your expectations, your hopes and dreams for your kids, for your family, and for yourself, study out the available paths you can take to get to where you want to go, do your best, and above all, be willing to stop, reevaluate, make some changes, and try, try again!  What more can any of us hope for?  I've heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child.. how true that is turning out to be!

This past Friday I wanted to document just a regular "day in the life of me".  It's nothing glamorous, but it's my life, and it makes me happy! :)  I saw the idea to take a picture every hour.  In order to fit everything in and be realistic, I opted to do a picture every 30minutes instead.  So, without further adieu, here is a typical Friday as they stand right now:  

5:30am - Wake up.  Nurse the baby.  At this point I was still half asleep and didn't remember that I wanted to take pictures until he was happy with a full belly.. oops. 

6:00am - Time to get ready!

6:30am - Get kids ready.

7:00am - Breakfast and top off baby.  Yes, I can nurse one handed.  It's how I roll. 

7:30am - Family scripture reading and prayer.  We use an iPad app with children's versions of the stories with pictures.  LIFE SAVER.

8:00am - Take the kiddos to school (the 3 eldest that is).

8:30am - Off to the feira with Princess P and Baby C in tow.

9:00am - On to the meat store.. yes, that's raw meat all over the back counter.  No, they don't use gloves.  Or hairnets..

9:30am - Heading home.

10:00am - Unscheduled diaper explosion with resulting impromptu bath.  Happy Baby C.  You're welcome little dude.  

10:30am - Organize and put away the spoils.

11:00am - LUNCH = Happy mom.  Simultaneous baby feeding = Happy baby.

11:30am - Dishes anyone??  (No Amazing V isn't slacking.. I guess I never did mention that we only have her clean one day a week now instead of the original 5 (we made the switch back in July after our trip to the US).. after I got used to life abroad I just didn't want someone in my house all the time anymore.  Even if that did mean less than sparkling floors 24/7.)

12:00pm - Pick up Sir L from school.

12:30pm - After school snack at the park.

1:00pm - Kids playing, baby sleeping = mommy gets in a little reading time!  I mark up my books.  I'm rebellious like that.

1:30pm - Precious downtime. :)

2:00pm - Hunger strikes again.

2:30pm - Straighten up.

3:00pm - Pick up Miss B and Mr H from school :)  Silly kids!

3:30pm - Prep pizza dough for dinner.  Friday night = pizza night! :)

4:00pm - Chores.  Teamwork is a beautiful thing!  (One of the major reasons I wanted less help was so my kids could have more responsibility.. we won't be in Brazil forever so they best get used to it now!)

4:30pm - My little pizza making pros :)

5:00pm - Get ready for bed.

5:30pm -  Pizza's ready!!  This Hooley family movie night brought to you by Netflix.

6:00pm - Popcorn's ready!

6:30pm - Desert anyone?

7:00pm - Bedtime routines.

7:30pm - Me time. :)

Not too shabby for a 14hr day!  As long as I stick to my schedule and have the ability to multi task, I am generally very happy with what can be done in the course of one day.  The only downside is come 7:30pm I am D-O-N-E being a mom.  I have nothing left to give in that era of my life.  It's time to be a wife and just plain old Erin.  But don't be surprised if I'm out cold by 9! ;)