It's fun to learn new things in a different culture.  I was waiting for my kids to get out of school when a mom, who I've had coffee with a few times, of one of the boys in Brennan & Reegan's class handed me a packet.
I've now been introduced to Torrijas.  A traditional pastry eaten during the Lent season.  I couldn't wait to give it a try and do a little research.

Torrijas are similar to French Toast.  Bread, milk, egg, vanilla, cinnamon.  The only difference is they are deep fried in olive oil, which does give it a slightly different flavor and a bit more oily.  But they are good!  I plan to make them myself sometime!
 Do you like trying new foods?

Hello swimming pool.  We miss you!  We'll see you in about 4 months!  Oh how I wish it was sooner!



Thanks for joining me on a tour of our neighborhood!

Take a look at Spain's version of a Dillards.  Or Saks.  Or Nordtrsoms.  Or what have you in your corner of the world.
This is El Corte Inglés.  Not all of them come with a mini train land.  The one closest to our house just happens to.  It's not open all year round.  Just at special times.  You should have seen it at Christmas!  Cra-zy!

Anyway, I love coming here to look around and shop in their Hipercor (hypermarket).  It's pricier than other stores, so I am selective in what I buy.  Purchasing only the things that I can find at this particular store.

A work day in the morning is prime!  The place is practically empty and I feel like I have the whole place to myself!  Not hard to do with a 6 (or 7, can't remember) floor store!  Take a look at this place!

-I'd say we're not hurting too badly for decent shopping!

 As I've mentioned in the past we have been attending an English speaking international church.  We've attended several in our time in Europe and it is amazing to me how vastly different they can each be (of course, that's true of churches in the US too).  So much can depend on the culture of the host country, the different nationalities represented in the church, some being attended by more nationals (of the home country), people coming and going on a regular basis and so on.

It's a fun and interesting experience really.  Take for instance the ladies' coffee time I attended this morning.  The ladies in the church have decided to have coffee times based on the area of Madrid that you live in.   It was nice to meet these ladies that live relatively close to me.

We had so many diverse backgrounds and I loved every bit of time I spent with these new friends.  We had a Dutch/American, A Scottish married to a Spaniard, a Brit, an American (pastor's wife from TX), 2 South Africans, an American (from CA) married to a Spaniard, 2 - 20-something girls from CA here to play volleyball on a European circuit, an American (from DC) here with the embassy, a Swiss whose family decided to relocate to Spain 15 years ago, and me, an American missionary.  Quite the group, eh?!  Different backgrounds, different cultures, different age groups (even different states of the US) all finding ourselves in Spain, coming together in the bond of Jesus Christ to fellowship together!

We hope to do this once a month or so and I can't wait until I can fellowship again with these ladies.  Maybe next time I will remember the camera!

Weekly Jerry and I mention how much we have been blessed in Spain.   How much we love it here and love our neighbors, our school, teachers, other moms, our landlord.  And that's even with our limited Spanish!

Then I started thinking about how much we have been sick.  Ok, so maybe Spain isn't as excited about us as we are about it?!  Ha!!



flu
Karis 2
Reegan 2
Brennan 1

cold
Brennan 3
Karis 1
Reegan 1

strep
Reegan 1

bronchitis 
Brennan 1
Tina 2
Jerry 1

eye enfection
Tina 1

fevers & coughs
Ugh, too numerous to count

Our doctor says we've got 6 months to a year of this.  New place, new germs, first time in school.  We went about 1 week recently without sickness.  One week!  Spain, I hope we can soon come to a mutual love/love relationship!  Heh, heh!

We could sure use your prayers!

I've been asked about the camera situation (thanks for reminding me Renee Ann =).  We submitted a claim to our insurance.  A week later we were questioned more about it and I got a little scared thinking they might deny us seeing as it was our mistake.  But they wrote back and said they would start processing!  I'm so ready to get a new camera.  I'm already a little embarrassed tired of fuzzy pictures!

Have you ever had so much sickness you just wanted to cry?!

peanut butter chocolate chip that I've been craving since my friend posted it on her blog!  Thanks Michelle!  They are great!!


I should have added some study time in there but oh how I find that next to impossible while the kids are whirling around me!!  I can cook and clean and even work on the computer.  But something that takes brainpower is near impossible.  And with Jerry's work schedule right now I couldn't ask him to watch the kids, although I'd hoped to.  My teacher will be none too happy with my performance tomorrow.  *Sigh*

Aris (pronounced like Ah-reece, but ya gotta get a good, but light rolling "r" in there!  Ha!) is a kind of mascot for Karis' class.  There are pictures of Aris in their workbooks taking the kids through their lessons.  Each weekend one of the kids gets to take the stuffed Aris home and they have to take her everywhere with them.  This was Karis' weekend!  She was so excited!

The picture above cracked me up because Karis didn't think Aris needed to go to the bathroom with her!  Ha!

We shared our weekly Friday night tradition of pancakes and movie night with Aris!

We didn't do too many exciting things with the kids this weekend.  I was home most of the day Saturday baking this cute little cake with my friend, Amy for a baby shower on Sunday!

A colleague of ours was celebrating his birthday and invited everyone to come bowling.  It has been months since we've been able to hang out with colleague friends due to Jerry's insane schedule and the sickness our family has experienced.  Jerry was actually sick, but was determined to go.  He is laid out on the couch even now.
Our kids have never been bowling.  I wasn't sure if they would be able to, but we found a small ball, got them some bowling shoes and were even able to put up the bumpers (although we didn't realize we could play a game with some using bumpers and others not until half way through the game).  They had a good time and it wasn't that expensive.  I would love to do it again. 
These are ITouch pics, so excuse the quality.

Last night the kids sang a song in honor of the holiday.  It's kinda cute!
You can read a description below about Los Tres Reyes Magos or skip to the end of the write up to see what we've been doing.

The best-loved tradition among kids during Spanish Christmas is Los Tres Reyes Magos (the Three Wise Men). Santa Claus is quite well-known as he delivers toys and presents, but the real stars in Spain are los Reyes. These Three Kings are the ones who followed a star to meet the new King of Kings (Baby Jesus) and offered him three presents: gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn child in Belén (Bethlehem).
When December comes, all the boys and girls in Spain and Latin America start to write their letters to the Three Kings or to their favorite King: Melchor, Gaspar or Baltasar. They write about the things they'd like to receive on the morning of the 6th of January, (which is the day the presents get delivered) and also about their behavior during the year. If they’ve been good, they get presents; if they’ve been bad, they get a piece of coal.
Their Majesties travel by camel and due to the fact that they come from the East, they take a long time to arrive to Spain. Once here, they visit all the cities and villages, and listen to the kids' requests, after a spectacular parade. On the night of the 5th, the kids put their shoes by the door before going to bed so that the Kings will know how many children live there. They also put out something to eat and drink for Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar, and also water and grass for the camels (true, they can last a month or more without drinking water, but that night they have a lot of work to do, so they need extra water and food).
On the morning of the 6th, children find their presents inside and outside the shoes (it's very unusual for their Majesties to bring carbones (coal) because no child really behaves so badly, and many people say it's not true that naughty girls and boys get only coal and no toys). The food and drink placed in the plates and glasses are gone. The children start playing with their toys, and excitedly await for the next 5th of January to come around.
This write up came from Donquijote.org

Yesterday Reegan made a picture for the 3 kings.  A picture of them and their puppies with crowns on!  Ha!  Isn't that cute?!
 
The kids woke up to find gifts in their shoes.  Take a look!

A tradition on King's Day...eat Roscon de Reyes (King Cake) of course!  It reminds me of the tradition for Mardi Gras.




 This insert explains that inside the cake is a small surprise and a bean.  Whoever gets the surprise will have good luck all year.  Whoever finds the bean must pay for the cake!  Ha!

Brennan will be the lucky duck all year!  The bean has not been found as of yet.  It's a fairly big cake and we haven't eaten it all yet.  So it's not been decided who must pay yet!

My goal for next year?  To make my own Roscon de Reyes!

During the Christmas season I had been seeing these neat little bags in the candy section or store.  It looked like a little sack of coal.  Then I was in one of the candy stores, like this
(isn't it amazing?!) and saw them.  I decided to get a few bags.  It's basically a big black sugar crystal!


 We gave one to Jerry's dad as a joke!  Ha!  He let the kids sample it and they ate almost one whole piece!  I guess it tastes good even if you get coal in your stocking!

It was fun celebrating this new (to us) holiday!  I really like the tradition and the meaning behind it.
There are parades that go on all over town, but we were afraid of the kids getting sick again.  Between the 5 of us we've had the flu 3 times, 1 with strep, 3 with bronchitis and numerous colds.  Too many to count.  It is time to get this bunch well and to stay well!!

Happy Three Kings Day!

Tomorrow we hope to take a road trip to Segovia.  I can't wait!  It looks like a beautiful city!  And a fun thing to do for my birthday!