This is what our days look like, poor Shae just wants to curl up right next to me sucking her two little fingers. And I let her.

I realized that the croup who visited our home before our Costa Rica trip and plagued my other kids and husband was back for us! Shae and I never caught it so to make everything fair it came back.

So let’s hope with the last member of our family finally getting it that it will be over and done.

Good riddance to you croup!

P.S. Thanks to a sweet Grandma (Tyler’s Grandma actually) that called me to say sweet things. Made my day and gave me strength to carry on!

Ezra 10:4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good ^acourage, and do it.

Painting by J. Kirk Richards

1. Consider Renting a Home Through Vrbo.com: You could rent a beautiful, clean and well recommended home right on the beach instead of being stuffed in an “ok” hotel room for the same exact price. Even better, maybe even cheaper! Lots of the properties have many reviews, videos showing off the property and many pictures. Wouldn’t you prefer a private home, a security company over the property, private pool, etc. where you can completely relax? Check it out.
2. On Your First Day, do Nada: If you are traveling with children, just let go of the idea that on your first full day in the area that you will be able to finally go ziplining! Or go visit a new city! Just relax. Go to the local grocery store to get some essentials, take a slow stroll around the city to get a feel for it, heck  – watch a movie. But if you try to hurry and get straight to sightseeing… you are going to have some grumpy, overwhelmed kids.
3. Ask Locals About Food: With our personal tastes we have no desire to sit in a stuffy bistro, hotel restaurant or Americanized restaurant when traveling abroad. Ask the locals where to eat… and make sure you’re asking normal, day-to-day locals! Like the man helping you with your baggage, the manager at the grocery store or the surfer walking down the street.
4. You Don’t Need the Tourism Companies: We had great success searching online for things to do in the area and booking them ourselves. The tourism companies charge at least double for the same ziplining, crocodile tours, etc. that you can easily set up yourself. Then when you do one fun thing, ask the employees of that company where you should go for other things! They will give you good recommendations.
5. Figure Out Cell Phones Before: We learned this the hard way while in Costa Rica. Try to figure out ahead of time if you will have service on your cell phones, if just having them on will create tons of roaming fees for you, etc.
6. List of Phone Numbers & Addresses: Find the American embassy, if your church is in the area and their bishop’s phone number and meetinghouse information. Make a list of anyone you might know in the country, emergency contacts back home, where you will be staying, renting a car from, etc. If something bad were to happen, you would at least have a starting point of people who can help you.
7. Cook at Home & Find Local Markets: If you rent a home, chances are you will have a well stocked kitchen and maybe even a great barbecue outside. Go to the local market and ask around if there is a fisherman in the area who sells his latest catch. And cook at home!
8. Souvenir Shops Suck: If you want to bring something home for close family, friends or yourself, don’t think you can just find a souvenir shop! They have some of the ugliest, cheapest, inauthentic items in the whole country. It looks like an American Dollar Tree. If you pass by a woman selling something on the street or a farmers market… pick something up there! Don’t pass it by — that is where you will find good souvenirs.
9. Take a Break from Your Camera: I learned to only take my camera on half or less of our excursions. It is another thing to worry about, another thing that gets on the kids’ nerves and one more thing to bang around when you should be having fun. Don’t get me wrong — documenting your family’s trip and experiences is great, and I do it! But I also give myself (and the rest of my family) a break half the time from it.
10. Make a Flexible Plan AFTER You Get a Feel for Things: Sure! You can go to Costa Rica knowing there are things you would LOVE to do. But take the first day to get a feel for the area, ask around a bit and THEN make a flexible plan on what you would like to do. You might find out the city you are staying in has world-famous surfers, so you might want to skip seeing the volcano that is 4 hours away and just spend an extra day surfing from the masters. Get a feel for things, and then make a flexible plan.
11. Downtime: We travel with small children (three girls, ages 5 and under), and they get overwhelmed quickly when off their schedule. They are eating different food, in a different place, sleeping in a new room — it’s overwhelming! So we would only plan something new/fun/adventurous for half the day. And then the other half of the day would be downtime: cooking, eating, swimming, sitting in the sand, watching a movie, taking a slow walk nearby. It is ok to have downtime while traveling. You don’t always have to be going, going, going!
12. Don’t Be Lazy with Your “Mom Bag”: Your “diaper bag” or “mom bag” needs to be stocked well because things are going to happen that you don’t expect. Take time to prepare, for example: a bag to put dirty clothes in, a change of clothes for everyone (even the older ones), snacks, water, children’s medicine, sun tan lotion, special treats, etc.
13. DRESS DOWN: Do not put on (or even bring) any nice accessories. Just wear some plain shoes and comfortable clothes. Don’t wear anything that makes you stand out. Just focus on spending time with your family and don’t worry that you aren’t “dressed to your nines.” People are less likely to sell to you, bug you for money, put you on a bad radar or bring attention to you if you are dressed down.
14. Be fair with money: Tip well. Don’t be cheap. People are living on a lot less. Be fair with money and tips to others.
15. Kid’s Electronics: Are great for the travel part, our Leap Frog tag readers, explorers and pads along with the DVD player are HEAVEN SENT. But take those suckers away once you get to your destination. Let the kids learn to relax and look around while you travel through a new country!

Hopefully these Tips for Traveling to Central America with Children help you out some! You can also check out some of our travel adventures as a family below in these links:

Costa Rica

Hanging Around the House Relaxin’

Children’s Museum & Art Museum in San Jose

Jungle Walks at Dusk & Kiddo Beach

Zip-lining & Wonderful Food

Manuel Antonio Costa Rica

I DID IT! I SURFED!

Little Critters

Crocodile Tour in Tarcoles, Costa Rica

We are here! Costa Rica!

Panama

Boquete, Panama

What else did we do in Panama?

Jungle Excursion

$5 Lobster, Arturo & Ocean Fishing

Frogs, Monkeys and Butterflies… OH MY!

75 Cent Bathroom Break, Chimichurri & 2 Million Dollar Beach House

Embassy No No’s, Beauty and Trash

You should.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html

Abby came home a couple of weeks ago really sad that a little girl had moved out of her class. I showed her this book that I received from my class when I sadly had to move in the first grade.

I forgot how much I loved this book and how it reminded me of where I grew up in Maryland. The book is about all the animals scurrying and hurrying in the dead of winter to see something!

I love the illustrations in this book and how the only bit of color is on the page above in that little tiny flower. The woods in the pictures remind me of Maryland; we lived near the woods and spent a lot of time playing in them. Also, I am reminded of the slugs that would collect outside during different parts of the season.

Such a sweet book that brings back good memories. The Happy Day, by Ruth Krauss would be a fun book for any house. They have some on amazon for only $6.99!

We semi-followed the directions for the DYI: Photo Snowglobes over at Design Mom. We used larger bottles, which I am sure is fine, but we just put in regular craft glitter thinking it would be ok. Ha! You really do need to follow her directions correctly.

I still am proud of how we decided to do the pictures on the inside. I had the girls put on some of their snow gear and make a face like they were “TRAPPED” in the snowglobe. The girls wanted to include their favorite “lovie” in the photo as well.

Maybe we will just stick to the actual snow!

WELL MOM, if THIS:

…LOOKS LIKE DEATH…

Then sign me up! Bowchickabowbow.

Ok fine, that is pretty bad — explains why a neighbor just looked at me weird when I said hello while trying to pick up the girls from school without passing out.

Being sick is no fun.

I do love the husband getting me late night slurpies on demand — that is pretty awesome. I might consider keeping this up a bit longer.

Yes! Let’s talk croquetas/croquettes. Yes, they are easy and you can pull them off — be brave and try something new! Croquettes are a Spanish appetizer (tapas) and my husband orders them at restaurants whenever we see them. You can make seafood croquettes, potato croquettes, vegetable based, cheese based, turkey based. I mean, it’s basically a thick white sauce, and you add whatever you feel like to it. Then you refrigerate the mixture until you can roll it into balls, roll it in some breadcrumbs and fry. It’s good, it’s different, it will impress at a party. Try it!

Prosciutto & Manchego cheese  are two weaknesses of ours, so let me present to you my recipe for….

Manchego & Prosciutto Croquettes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup flour

1 1/3 cup whole milk

1/2 cup finely chopped prosciutto

1/2 cup grated Manchego cheese

1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Salt & pepper

2-3 eggs

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I do love panko, but I don’t think it’s right for this flavor combination)

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1.  Heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Add the flour, and cook one to two minutes while whisking. Gradually add the milk while whisking, and continue to cook another two to three minutes. The mixture should be smooth. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the ham, cheese and nutmeg. Taste the mixture and add salt & pepper if desired — but be careful because the ham and cheese are already salty!

Now listen, you want to get the consistency of the mixture perfect before you pour it into the pan. Watch this video (yes it’s in Spanish, but you just need to see the consistency). Don’t follow THEIR directions BUT look at the mixture by starting the video at 2 minutes 30 seconds, and watch for about 30 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cIdHox4U_I

1. Transfer the mixture to an 8×8-inch baking tray and spread it out so that it is even. Let the mixture cool, and then cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. 
2. When ready to cook, lightly beat the eggs in a dish. Mix the breadcrumbs and ½ teaspoon garlic salt in another dish. Scoop up tablespoons of the cooled filling and form them into balls. Dip each ball into the egg and then the breadcrumbs. Place the completed croquetas on a wire rack or baking sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes. The croquetas must be chilled before frying, otherwise they may fall apart in the oil. And I think it would be quite tricky to make them in the summer months! You might have to use the freezer.
3. Pour vegetable oil about 1 1/2 inch high, and heat over medium low heat. Be careful and maybe just test one to see if the oil temperature is right, cause these suckers burn fast! Working in batches, fry them in the oil, turning them on all sides until golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
4. Serve immediately with aioli or mayo (or nothing)!

Well, let me tell you what we have planned for this one. I kind of went more of the way of… I will spend my money on craft supplies and let all the other parents bring everything else… and I went the lazy way of just ordering things from Oriental Trading.

I am doing the stations like last time that the kids will work through. Let me tell you what I learned from doing this station thing. The kids wander and get lost and forget what group they are in. And none of the kids remember what number or letter you assigned their group to keep them together! So this time I am having them put labels on their shirt that just have a simple color on it. So that way I can say, “RED group over here,” and they’ll just look down at their shirt to see what color they are.

I also am not going to worry about giving them a “treat” or little “prize” at every station because they will all have their Valentines to pass out to each other at the beginning of the party.

Five Stations:

#1 Don’t Eat Pete: Yes, again! The kids love this,  and it’s easier to get through than Bingo. I found Valentine’s Day themed ones here at Be Different Act Normal.

#2 Conversation Hearts with Chopsticks: This idea is from Family Fun (isn’t that a cute magazine?). Put a bunch of hearts in a bowl and have two kids race each other to see how many they can get out with the chopsticks.

#3 Magic Color Scratch Hearts from Oriental Trading

#4 Monster Valentine ornaments from Oriental Trading

#5 I LOVE YOU Keychains to make for parents — from Oriental Trading

Opening, Closing & Extra Filler Time Needed Activities:

Reading the books The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers (about love), Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (about friendship) and If You’ll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant; eating heart sugar cookies & punch and singing some silly Valentines Day songs — great list here.

P.S. Here are some other great Valentine’s Day Party Ideas here.

Winter sunrises. We watch them out the back window while we eat breakfast. We love when they are PINK because this is a house full of girls after all.

I love always having a buddy.

Sunday dinners, Indian food themed. It’s Abby’s favorite!

I adore having a house full of girls and a mini-van always full of Abby’s friends screaming at the top of their lungs singing along to songs or giggling to each other.

Most importantly I was excited to find a KILLER cookie recipe that all of them helped me make — Carina’s recipe here for Caramel Biscoff Blossoms.

I like buying my girls new cute outfits a little TOO much. Hey, but she needed some jeans that were soft and had no “metal” on them which drives her bonkers. And that owl shirt — how could you not get that for Poki?

I love that the first thing she does when she is ready for bed is grab that bunny. She keeps it smushed to her face all the night long.

Afternoons spent crafting.

Visiting the Bean Museum. I think my kids might like it better than the zoo.

3 Little gals in curlers watching late night cartoons with Mama.

Sisters that are friends.

My kitchen counter. So much happens here. I love how huge it is and how everyone can gather round and help me out!

Listening to these two cousins chat it up for almost two hours while working on their projects. Cracks me up every time. Cameron at the end of the day proclaimed it, “THE BEST DAY EVER WITH LYDI!!”

A husband that cooks — and cooks way too well. Also, date nights to the temple with Big Poppi and grandparents that babysit for FREE FOR TEMPLE NIGHTS!!

Poor baby. I don’t love that she was so horrible when my sister-in-law watched her last night. Or that it was all in vain — we couldn’t even make it up I-80 (because of the snowstorm) to the event and private screening for Robot & Frank at Sundance.  I have heard nothing but good things about the film. But we did go out to dinner with friends, although someone around me somewhere last night was terribly sick. Because this morning I landed myself in Instacare. I am one sick puppy, and now I am going to try to go back to bed.