Wordless Wednesday-Snack Time

The search

Do you know how difficult it is to find a

4-ring binder?

It was on my son's 5th grade list of what to buy for school this year.

I have looked everywhere here, and to no avail. I got the strangest look when I actually asked about a 4-ring binder in one of the popular office supply stores...

you know, the look like...

A what? 4-rings? no, ma'am......

we only have 3-rings here (meaning America in my opinion, hahaha)

So, I wrote an email to a couple of people in the school, and yes, in fact, the paper and the binders in Brasil are 4-holed/ringed.

So, that is one item from "The List" that will have to be bought in Brasil!

Remembering and sharing

I can remember these machines from when I was a kid...

and now I like to share and see the excitement on my children's faces.

Shaved Ice...

I always got the cherry flavored, like my daughter.

I like the one my son gets, too...

half blue raspberry and half cherry!

Yummy and cool in the summer heat!

A Funny for Friday

I thought this was so funny.

I found this "Living" Basil is the grocery store the other day...

boy, am I glad it wasn't dead! We would have a crisis in the grocery store!

AAAAHHHH, mass confusion in the vegetable aisle. The basil is dead, I repeat, the basil is DEAD!

Well, luckily, that was only my imagination because the basil is "Living"!

reminiscing and stuff

Here are some fotos of our 4th celebration.

We always seem to do the same thing every year.

We go to the parade and watch the 5k run, marching bands, war veterans, fire trucks...

Of course we celebrate my nieces birthday, she turned 23 this year!

Wow, time goes by so quickly...I am her Godmother, and can still remember being so nervous holding her in church.

Then we go to my Brother's house and have grilled yummies, delicious sides, cake, ice cream...a great time hanging out with family.

Then off to the fireworks. This year I didn't take my camera to the fireworks, and really, they weren't all that good this time. I mean, they were fine, but they have been better in the past.

Still, the kids love celebrating the 4th, and I love being around with my family.

Happy 4th of July

What does it mean...

to be an American

So you may think, how can this girl that lives in Brazil, used to live in Venezuela, married to a Peruvian.....know about being American?

I was born and raised in a town whose reputation was for steel. The Steelers are our football team, the mills spewed out ash that covered cars, houses....

but that wasn't my family. We weren't steel workers, but Pittsburgh was a steel town.

That wasn't my time, but I see the pictures and recognize the streets, the mills.

My family is still living in the same house that I grew up in, my sister lives 3 houses away, my brother lives a street away. Yet here I am, the world traveler, the otherworldly resider.

Well, I am American.

I enjoy the adventure of living in foreign lands, and meeting strangers. I enjoy the thrill of finding something new in a different culture.

But I am American.

I try to learn new languages, I try different foods, I spend my time learning new places.

I am American.

I am American, I have the freedom to do whatever I want, practice any religion, say, generally, anything I choose, wear freedom on my sleeve. My country has given me the ability to discover myself, as a complete person, without the restraints of oppression.

I like to travel and explore, learn and see, live and discover new worlds,

but I am an American.

Let us celebrate the freedoms that our country allows us....

because there are many others that do not have this freedom.

Happy Fourth of July, let freedom ring...

I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the Unites States of America

and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation,

under God

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

Wordless Wednesday

Views of my town, part 1: nature