tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9923707406133935722024-02-20T18:15:33.912-08:00Wanderess in a World of WondersAlison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-6391291587333385632011-04-18T13:12:00.000-07:002011-04-18T14:11:58.495-07:00Therefore, as God's chosen people...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLWfbSi25edsDmSLpHzcafWllOlKoNJQNeeCz9ML9otB_D40k3fil3yfWreVamp0DblvAOE1DX0twOqeIXU0vexldw2QwVd_U8N-LKxJXuE6hZJuBs11zNy7HoN9EUvCP-Isar9z22tIZ/s1600/chapel+1.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLWfbSi25edsDmSLpHzcafWllOlKoNJQNeeCz9ML9otB_D40k3fil3yfWreVamp0DblvAOE1DX0twOqeIXU0vexldw2QwVd_U8N-LKxJXuE6hZJuBs11zNy7HoN9EUvCP-Isar9z22tIZ/s320/chapel+1.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597034321662908354" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAafzyoWN4KerlEKVu3AqDx5myjFigXe5o9WQ_KH12g8vcLbpwiNbrrS1soNOI08DP51wiVzewjC3W8-4lPeR6zBAle6xMduKXstaox9JPKaHPZ2VLSbChABUxc6U00RDfAQacfRhwSmK/s1600/chapel+3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAafzyoWN4KerlEKVu3AqDx5myjFigXe5o9WQ_KH12g8vcLbpwiNbrrS1soNOI08DP51wiVzewjC3W8-4lPeR6zBAle6xMduKXstaox9JPKaHPZ2VLSbChABUxc6U00RDfAQacfRhwSmK/s320/chapel+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597034315953516034" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSILF277m-9JfMAOsNe0oltkyaw6njn_5y3fgsssCrldiJrK1fjRwnzkzh0YM9iMjDE6T_ON928g-Ggx74UiF9RQ7d888UNyyViQuy3zMz2nIMEPbLBc61o7ym5O9LRky8s9XVuRE_Xnuu/s1600/chapel+4.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSILF277m-9JfMAOsNe0oltkyaw6njn_5y3fgsssCrldiJrK1fjRwnzkzh0YM9iMjDE6T_ON928g-Ggx74UiF9RQ7d888UNyyViQuy3zMz2nIMEPbLBc61o7ym5O9LRky8s9XVuRE_Xnuu/s320/chapel+4.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597034311189336114" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fqueaIZ1ykcTxDfHqkG2MvUwD_TEU6zWNZijac6cBcWry4Ar_jePkWdgjiwbz6XOkU_4duFveMglCXN8SR3fKqszE0rBCKhRUgoYnSR1s7pjn21v-QSLWyRwjPEGjRyjocKvfoJudY93/s1600/chapel+5.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 181px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fqueaIZ1ykcTxDfHqkG2MvUwD_TEU6zWNZijac6cBcWry4Ar_jePkWdgjiwbz6XOkU_4duFveMglCXN8SR3fKqszE0rBCKhRUgoYnSR1s7pjn21v-QSLWyRwjPEGjRyjocKvfoJudY93/s320/chapel+5.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597034303530342162" /></a><br />.. holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12<br /><br />Learning about compassion last month, we decided to do a relay race to practice "clothing ourselves". We used the illustration to show how important it is that you not just grab your clothes in the morning, or throw them over your shoulder, or even lay them on top of you... but PUT THEM ON. <br /><br />Of course, Megan and I also used it as an opportunity to dress our kids in our respective favorite colors. :)Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-11429897930664355842011-04-03T07:02:00.001-07:002011-04-03T07:13:11.092-07:00Giving Back<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-HnJRn97Ud9CjC_tSu45uh6Hye6irJ1TjvYCCiWSl46UNeWwLiAVhNZntcDbq-ZibvTfHBIrTttGlGO0P0u88dAzyHGcz6uf4GjejCQ5nP4OPJYQoNgdrYAJYb5v0F_7uhzMahlc7ptx/s1600/money+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-HnJRn97Ud9CjC_tSu45uh6Hye6irJ1TjvYCCiWSl46UNeWwLiAVhNZntcDbq-ZibvTfHBIrTttGlGO0P0u88dAzyHGcz6uf4GjejCQ5nP4OPJYQoNgdrYAJYb5v0F_7uhzMahlc7ptx/s320/money+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591360110484305650" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMGnGnoYCVsnDxo3mjOwPclMw30c_9KDSdj0mHy8lpk6QKLmxP3Npdk-_qMxUQrlHtIfY8A-ntr0xcCqft5oUcf0ymc2ZSB6XpaJcEM5RVSlT63x8qzyCmK3_XmK29e7Ra4Omnbh2VPf7/s1600/money+3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMGnGnoYCVsnDxo3mjOwPclMw30c_9KDSdj0mHy8lpk6QKLmxP3Npdk-_qMxUQrlHtIfY8A-ntr0xcCqft5oUcf0ymc2ZSB6XpaJcEM5RVSlT63x8qzyCmK3_XmK29e7Ra4Omnbh2VPf7/s320/money+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591360103547231778" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtR829wwQPRaqKJaWtTpe_J9hs4OZWmDLt8FaCLtSgFRWKj7Pc3rACdpN0UmKdUTTXGyhmFG3uiRMqu6TZ3CYgFkUcTPLt4GL2pb_skCueCvJmkBMneLCKCC9VX1jCjcyz5cwSDxTRz0T/s1600/money+4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtR829wwQPRaqKJaWtTpe_J9hs4OZWmDLt8FaCLtSgFRWKj7Pc3rACdpN0UmKdUTTXGyhmFG3uiRMqu6TZ3CYgFkUcTPLt4GL2pb_skCueCvJmkBMneLCKCC9VX1jCjcyz5cwSDxTRz0T/s320/money+4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591360099592720370" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQXfag8FPB3uygcJYrDEsR8_hUt_Kgxzz5ARgXvYQaTy-aZDaE5eeYAL36XxEGriNjguvDEpZ3GnokzWY0JothaSgJJWvaB2MyNF4ULpL5Lu1EHZVUIhJqh2OeeXVXnvqa7Sq4UH9Nxnt/s1600/money+5.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQXfag8FPB3uygcJYrDEsR8_hUt_Kgxzz5ARgXvYQaTy-aZDaE5eeYAL36XxEGriNjguvDEpZ3GnokzWY0JothaSgJJWvaB2MyNF4ULpL5Lu1EHZVUIhJqh2OeeXVXnvqa7Sq4UH9Nxnt/s320/money+5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591360094477065186" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqe9bWKSgezWqqQLE9P2Q2ua4VTnYVcRS-rk5xS-1YoFphyphenhyphensRsrEVS00QmZ9BRDr1t_t6bxANmxYnLd_NbF9JFAvHexDb5a6lneLpDzrn_9Ti2vhndc0akXYxXV5Vci_DqKwfrIAldstP/s1600/money+6.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqe9bWKSgezWqqQLE9P2Q2ua4VTnYVcRS-rk5xS-1YoFphyphenhyphensRsrEVS00QmZ9BRDr1t_t6bxANmxYnLd_NbF9JFAvHexDb5a6lneLpDzrn_9Ti2vhndc0akXYxXV5Vci_DqKwfrIAldstP/s320/money+6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591360089624551842" /></a><br />A week ago a tragic accident happened to a 6 year old boy, Jostyn... he's the best friend of Mami Ines' grandson. He and his cousin found dynamite in the house and somehow ignited it... it blew both his hands off, made him blind in at least one eye, collapsed a lung, cut open his throat, and burned his face. Miraculously he is still alive and after many surgeries already ..finally stable. So in math class I was passing out their allowance for the week ($1.25) and we were adding up how much tithe they should've saved up in the 5 weeks they've been getting allowance. They decided to give their tithe money to Jostyn to help pay his hospital bill (their family has no money). They get out their 10% and I pass around a brown paper bag. Then Gabriela raises her hand and says " can we give more, Miss Alison?" Of course I said "of course!" so without hesitation she dumps everything in her wallet into the bag... and the trend continues. We end up with a grand total of $22.50. HUGE. I had to read them the parable of the widow's offering to explain to them just how much of a difference they were making and how happy they were making God by giving everything they had. Not only that but then they went around challenging the teachers and staff to match what they had donated as a class. At the end of the day, we had raised $180 for Jostyn. $180. Now here's the kicker... when Mami Ines came to get the money from me to take to the hospital we counted it up and in that little brown bag there was $303. God saw their $22.50 and took care of the rest.Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-17087635831905313362011-03-07T22:12:00.000-08:002011-03-07T22:34:11.399-08:00How Do You Say Hello?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pZ2BPF3Cuorx3jx3vmqJ0SYvXU_oEH9YP8JFhmGQ_qfeoe8Tzss3wi2zPBMVO_5vl8Mu9wl7hRIAPS759HIqhRj_vp_aCnLtx_H6J5rY44a2kQXLApQlUE6GTxnWoMGoO2AQKQZLnNQ9/s1600/DSCI0157.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pZ2BPF3Cuorx3jx3vmqJ0SYvXU_oEH9YP8JFhmGQ_qfeoe8Tzss3wi2zPBMVO_5vl8Mu9wl7hRIAPS759HIqhRj_vp_aCnLtx_H6J5rY44a2kQXLApQlUE6GTxnWoMGoO2AQKQZLnNQ9/s320/DSCI0157.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581593483419316162" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4rsWZ5sHRX0WTuoKoEfInGOhs4wsRNEAXKF0riimEa7w_U-_5x4BC-KglwlvIqUDHkpeKxoo96ANVbXttlvcXm2p5VSE2LdwYUG0uyC4wAg3vm2dEatk5Iyr1nE_JaBTZ1rtfWmnkdI7/s1600/DSCI0158.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4rsWZ5sHRX0WTuoKoEfInGOhs4wsRNEAXKF0riimEa7w_U-_5x4BC-KglwlvIqUDHkpeKxoo96ANVbXttlvcXm2p5VSE2LdwYUG0uyC4wAg3vm2dEatk5Iyr1nE_JaBTZ1rtfWmnkdI7/s320/DSCI0158.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581593478920854178" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqRE64N1k4kr2JsHeG2tlW2RlkCoTFXRhmb-kOQXlESrAEChS9ZQQeec5g2_x6MTiswFWdR5Cus84_aRA6lbtXvcaGK7hQAMPhKG_UQZ78O2CsHxTsQ1Q7mEtvzqEd7AULhmIXR8OSM-x/s1600/DSCI0161.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqRE64N1k4kr2JsHeG2tlW2RlkCoTFXRhmb-kOQXlESrAEChS9ZQQeec5g2_x6MTiswFWdR5Cus84_aRA6lbtXvcaGK7hQAMPhKG_UQZ78O2CsHxTsQ1Q7mEtvzqEd7AULhmIXR8OSM-x/s320/DSCI0161.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581593475900102274" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTckNPBt37tCjEd0G6DMBvG4QWxl3vcD0eV292NXC6plubIEn7zHHL9dlsfjwBCktLQe_kzvqua3jP6Fa6bcuKgUMsnZMuC2hfELs2bNLqRVoCI6LAr3k7nvc89KOD3G7NzrapmoE7xDqC/s1600/DSCI0162.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTckNPBt37tCjEd0G6DMBvG4QWxl3vcD0eV292NXC6plubIEn7zHHL9dlsfjwBCktLQe_kzvqua3jP6Fa6bcuKgUMsnZMuC2hfELs2bNLqRVoCI6LAr3k7nvc89KOD3G7NzrapmoE7xDqC/s320/DSCI0162.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581593468386997634" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTENv2pZPcXQZnZA7RDAaZJgpw0Stgko511PS6mCnuhH7MnpVRfnMPqgm_GFCqDkw9mvC0dCH1K0etNn9V1l9bd8llL1lCiYQsPTTaXYFyxyUKeScGYxoRRnPk3xGr0AYfMgRCrUVgKeJT/s1600/DSCI0163.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTENv2pZPcXQZnZA7RDAaZJgpw0Stgko511PS6mCnuhH7MnpVRfnMPqgm_GFCqDkw9mvC0dCH1K0etNn9V1l9bd8llL1lCiYQsPTTaXYFyxyUKeScGYxoRRnPk3xGr0AYfMgRCrUVgKeJT/s320/DSCI0163.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581593463060185122" /></a><br />I cannot begin to describe how proud I am of the 7 girls I am blessed to teach every day. These are their awesome art projects... that we carried out into geography projects to find out a little more behind the face. Afterwards, they "researched" themselves and drew portraits of each other. One of the biggest things they are learning this year, I think, is that being different is okay. They are realizing that there are lots of different cultures, languages, and people in the world and that there is beauty in each one of them... even themselves.Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-1259668161272296012011-02-20T18:17:00.000-08:002011-02-20T18:38:50.564-08:00Thanks Grammy and Lauren!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAgP2X7obPvqTsF57a3DdJ0KUuFOYwpcY1CmOed9MogOXhMfP4nBpg7h5N7l0Yyb5Sq1dBB-sx4Vn0akl2zFD5pUsMHPbmr7QkWZWt3QO3XNyP7eeIIDFRgItCE9won9Il5uzwqLlZozB/s1600/DSCI0205.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAgP2X7obPvqTsF57a3DdJ0KUuFOYwpcY1CmOed9MogOXhMfP4nBpg7h5N7l0Yyb5Sq1dBB-sx4Vn0akl2zFD5pUsMHPbmr7QkWZWt3QO3XNyP7eeIIDFRgItCE9won9Il5uzwqLlZozB/s320/DSCI0205.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575965773318947058" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxrIeIXYKe-Zcn1yvK1CfnvYtFODD2gzvDGsPrF5Adf11jdunBrb7AP9-B8bVvQ6onlxAYCzkGHYYu6l9pCpAGHJKs23Fx0R0Jtv7lfNr_Oyfxscu_FmWAIGMDCrKtkNoo3eahPp8tThw/s1600/DSCI0208.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxrIeIXYKe-Zcn1yvK1CfnvYtFODD2gzvDGsPrF5Adf11jdunBrb7AP9-B8bVvQ6onlxAYCzkGHYYu6l9pCpAGHJKs23Fx0R0Jtv7lfNr_Oyfxscu_FmWAIGMDCrKtkNoo3eahPp8tThw/s320/DSCI0208.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575965768350111842" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBqkMAgka1lsvWUUvhRthICUH5xVcxXJzAvdwmNIN7W9XuNG_snW4UeWVUdakTw92qKn_nwwiDxNFCxRdgqdbyBLWpe4ocCQORbX2QkcUpEFQoAAR0ujcUo-mvY2FeDDhyphenhyphenhvaO88HUrw6/s1600/DSCI0211.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBqkMAgka1lsvWUUvhRthICUH5xVcxXJzAvdwmNIN7W9XuNG_snW4UeWVUdakTw92qKn_nwwiDxNFCxRdgqdbyBLWpe4ocCQORbX2QkcUpEFQoAAR0ujcUo-mvY2FeDDhyphenhyphenhvaO88HUrw6/s320/DSCI0211.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575965756160284130" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwfV1MK8YnhxZMj22unOVjBQFlI2lEZQnYBJA1UgW9OE0jdbs5xx3F4svNjQgrs09zi8-1-cF1QfURD9N3M454m0_FpBWdcleWo0QCzPob9-lLiwbRd4Qqn4EXuVJ-XES4ZJgBYrJMFIe/s1600/DSCI0214.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwfV1MK8YnhxZMj22unOVjBQFlI2lEZQnYBJA1UgW9OE0jdbs5xx3F4svNjQgrs09zi8-1-cF1QfURD9N3M454m0_FpBWdcleWo0QCzPob9-lLiwbRd4Qqn4EXuVJ-XES4ZJgBYrJMFIe/s320/DSCI0214.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575965751265652818" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCEolfXGu-QTjiIQuqmBA8fdQ0X2guNf1sk1EuxgEoKKCJrGYhn8SknRtu7GenO5D63ocgTOuss_ErXHV5d5SKUHTE2Tl1uASqSYGdkMua1fkREpBAk0gm33QFTjP5nz8poU4OTx2CQgv/s1600/DSCI0209.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCEolfXGu-QTjiIQuqmBA8fdQ0X2guNf1sk1EuxgEoKKCJrGYhn8SknRtu7GenO5D63ocgTOuss_ErXHV5d5SKUHTE2Tl1uASqSYGdkMua1fkREpBAk0gm33QFTjP5nz8poU4OTx2CQgv/s320/DSCI0209.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575965745267184466" /></a><br />We had a lot of fun diggin into our new candy Grammy and Lauren gave us! The kids wanted to show you just how "yummy in their tummy" it was... or in Ariel's case "oops! i ate it all!" THANK YOU!!!! :)Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-26199654327288326112011-02-20T17:50:00.001-08:002011-02-20T18:17:00.941-08:00Thanks Aunt Lisa!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8iJn6OwKXqFka4g8ItPTxjD40GfizWzhYyNS9wJ_Zfft-tgDMI8oc7NRKHXcQuNo-byRNmWKyiCvOzYB2nGzss0rAd_Zzp5-3UhKsOG0E_2edV-2KHRywi-IGJxtja0o4mhJFwsFsphku/s1600/DSCI0192.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8iJn6OwKXqFka4g8ItPTxjD40GfizWzhYyNS9wJ_Zfft-tgDMI8oc7NRKHXcQuNo-byRNmWKyiCvOzYB2nGzss0rAd_Zzp5-3UhKsOG0E_2edV-2KHRywi-IGJxtja0o4mhJFwsFsphku/s320/DSCI0192.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957799716717458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQF_aXfDtCRnAnJ_47JONdVbTuXNkQEtI6XKoywrTQjbq3ELPI5wtFfjlu58E9oat8G3P_uyhM7oTh23CjWLNrt7lNj1tQtZHZJvCDdOOWIS9Q35pa-Zq6e3SNAv8MhhqtfMD2hp8WXDKD/s1600/DSCI0193.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQF_aXfDtCRnAnJ_47JONdVbTuXNkQEtI6XKoywrTQjbq3ELPI5wtFfjlu58E9oat8G3P_uyhM7oTh23CjWLNrt7lNj1tQtZHZJvCDdOOWIS9Q35pa-Zq6e3SNAv8MhhqtfMD2hp8WXDKD/s320/DSCI0193.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957797490125426" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCx2h1dviVBUkNdwajWReeHY7YH6KT4BiPFAgLd1vPNkfPepzfrf6uB-ID-j_dzjuXoesA28ZhtGjM_NfcJPg_HV10EXlWWZar-PkSxZEOt7JG5qgERPYNGi1vsLdxM0m8ztOr8f5cuYD/s1600/DSCI0204.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCx2h1dviVBUkNdwajWReeHY7YH6KT4BiPFAgLd1vPNkfPepzfrf6uB-ID-j_dzjuXoesA28ZhtGjM_NfcJPg_HV10EXlWWZar-PkSxZEOt7JG5qgERPYNGi1vsLdxM0m8ztOr8f5cuYD/s320/DSCI0204.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957790641742850" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1496cjG2Jx6iVcusy2aGKhBeIdJdx4_Olt3pPXUDdqaUOq0k-cr0ljqMnmSv6NmwNhm32Pgw3-cT66aA51EQl8iMCpee49ek9TISJZGP2Atmcki5wWHZhe4Y0GPVRIcK4u-yeVzEDVrf/s1600/DSCI0200.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1496cjG2Jx6iVcusy2aGKhBeIdJdx4_Olt3pPXUDdqaUOq0k-cr0ljqMnmSv6NmwNhm32Pgw3-cT66aA51EQl8iMCpee49ek9TISJZGP2Atmcki5wWHZhe4Y0GPVRIcK4u-yeVzEDVrf/s320/DSCI0200.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957787966818754" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaSR4tecBVJwWRpqWdWZ0tcNTvKgDKA0icyrMpQCbKRZZqMlOWkSVTkHKo4FpTEsg3TbhjBIeK3O21tII3ULv5wGG6OcriQcMl5nfBAiimD12fDIGL-9CMrPAOZglmwqVLvkMZxoClaZp/s1600/DSCI0198.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaSR4tecBVJwWRpqWdWZ0tcNTvKgDKA0icyrMpQCbKRZZqMlOWkSVTkHKo4FpTEsg3TbhjBIeK3O21tII3ULv5wGG6OcriQcMl5nfBAiimD12fDIGL-9CMrPAOZglmwqVLvkMZxoClaZp/s320/DSCI0198.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575957787430902146" /></a><br />The girls got brand new headbands and earrings for Valentines day and look beautiful in them! Thanks Aunt Lisa! :)Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-47055761066637754932011-02-02T18:21:00.000-08:002011-02-02T18:54:07.936-08:00Computers!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEK-ZrpDfQfPWkn2UdUVCofkkA7Z91LDrGaCBqD6r3m6Q6b8dyYJrKZc6aB5iKYa-shpSmj8Lm2ciKEFPZc0-p1otck_tBRLaTos6amHumSyzLzDnvalms7XvhXrkZFkJEC2qg_FzeYWyL/s1600/DSCI0154.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEK-ZrpDfQfPWkn2UdUVCofkkA7Z91LDrGaCBqD6r3m6Q6b8dyYJrKZc6aB5iKYa-shpSmj8Lm2ciKEFPZc0-p1otck_tBRLaTos6amHumSyzLzDnvalms7XvhXrkZFkJEC2qg_FzeYWyL/s320/DSCI0154.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569289274676779810" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8t26f6rJxBOWWkXCvXzaT-2z3f0TzDyv1tmGllG2aPshroBnZOffv_fO3A3QNFSMNfL8uv1eYwe8DGOzs-xB0MuhH9zLnmfLdlRzaLKL_UppH2C3DwPWVA0c3AQiD_nTpDiBlP43z4-cb/s1600/DSCI0155.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8t26f6rJxBOWWkXCvXzaT-2z3f0TzDyv1tmGllG2aPshroBnZOffv_fO3A3QNFSMNfL8uv1eYwe8DGOzs-xB0MuhH9zLnmfLdlRzaLKL_UppH2C3DwPWVA0c3AQiD_nTpDiBlP43z4-cb/s320/DSCI0155.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569289270124038706" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCCAsnqNs2uNuMGEwVlroVyBSAeQAvbiR8K2pCPguKGCIYrOkdZdlmB7c2Vyu65OHV-Hgy-JJFkLfOQUBPr93eVh9J6pBc6-ATfo2YG1YGznPAi0h6Vc3YbZUHBQNbhohzoS5ba3KLFhE/s1600/DSCI0164.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCCAsnqNs2uNuMGEwVlroVyBSAeQAvbiR8K2pCPguKGCIYrOkdZdlmB7c2Vyu65OHV-Hgy-JJFkLfOQUBPr93eVh9J6pBc6-ATfo2YG1YGznPAi0h6Vc3YbZUHBQNbhohzoS5ba3KLFhE/s320/DSCI0164.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569289263453687890" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbDSDdfUM2CzKGm9W8L2kuBnV_fVSey71IWCIh4kSClAUJgcCNcK96th0QCGOiVz9_kja6DSxBCmGZY6YUcghdtYLlX6XPMbjKV9-dpfvvtWQIcQmGeYDAnSufBnVeNto-fHMCq6zPQMO/s1600/DSCI0165.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbDSDdfUM2CzKGm9W8L2kuBnV_fVSey71IWCIh4kSClAUJgcCNcK96th0QCGOiVz9_kja6DSxBCmGZY6YUcghdtYLlX6XPMbjKV9-dpfvvtWQIcQmGeYDAnSufBnVeNto-fHMCq6zPQMO/s320/DSCI0165.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569289258793572354" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNSfRp_1sVk_E3UtXWTxT5VF_04yZq8y60ZCuu-GdrbvivRBFCE78nce543ceRMpsjnf5fdqhC9YbDEQ4pTiHHlDMy3rkQpzd1zh1UJnLfu0-20CkASvl-ZRW6KwmQKks6YgYCgMS_31a/s1600/DSCI0166.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVNSfRp_1sVk_E3UtXWTxT5VF_04yZq8y60ZCuu-GdrbvivRBFCE78nce543ceRMpsjnf5fdqhC9YbDEQ4pTiHHlDMy3rkQpzd1zh1UJnLfu0-20CkASvl-ZRW6KwmQKks6YgYCgMS_31a/s320/DSCI0166.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569289248945700242" /></a><br />I have found a new magical way of creating complete silence in my classroom mixed with uninterrupted focus and a sudden burst of motivation... computers. These amazing new tools were introduced to my students and as of Monday they have begun taking typing lessons after school with Mr. Omer and me. Yesterday when we let them open and turn on their computer without any instructions they were overwhelmed with excitement...Rosa was pulling at her cheeks, Gabriels shaking her hands back and forth nervously, and Maribel of course exclaiming "I DID IT!!!!" It really is a dose of good medicine seeing them so excited yet so serious about something. And of course they are catching on quicker than you would believe. When Maria passed the first set of practice exercises and arrived at the chameleon game I thought she was going to fall out of her chair laughing so hard. She would try to put her firngers back on the keys and start typing again but the game cracked her up so much she couldn't even do it. Today, day 3, she was going around making sure the other girls knew how to properly shut down their computers and ended the day with a thumbs up to Omer and a "very good!" (she doesn't speak much english so this was extra cute). Maribel prayed in the morning that they would keep learning how to get better at using the computers and that they would be nice to them and take care of them. :) They are already asking if they can type out their book reports instead of hand writing them! I am so thankful that these girls are getting the opportunity to take responsibility and have computer education. Noticed their faces in the pictures... utter concentration!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-51762461056570560582010-10-26T11:43:00.000-07:002010-10-26T19:52:35.241-07:00*Princess Party!*<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbq7A4BKcTmqADNQ3g8DshFHeFRHCwS-GdwUNBoijTpW_M4dTfH3sfiINsLyVaJI-iFmqWRBcdEPhN7RldP8SVvzI6zPPmkintGiiFXs6LX7wasgdCZgDo6L9izo9YD89RTdY0D4TyOkR/s1600/DSC01401.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532553005403488418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbq7A4BKcTmqADNQ3g8DshFHeFRHCwS-GdwUNBoijTpW_M4dTfH3sfiINsLyVaJI-iFmqWRBcdEPhN7RldP8SVvzI6zPPmkintGiiFXs6LX7wasgdCZgDo6L9izo9YD89RTdY0D4TyOkR/s320/DSC01401.JPG" /></a><br /><div>The advantage of having 7 students who are ALL GIRLS is that we get to do things like have princess parties when we have a celebration. :) Last week for the first time my students filled up their "team jar" with marbles so we got to eat ice cream and have a party. It just so happened that we were reading and studying fairytales in English class... so appropriately we had a Princess Party! All the girls got crowns and lip gloss and we had a little tea party with cookies. Then we watched what I think of as the original princess story... Cinderella. They still talk about it and keep their crowns by their bed to remind them that they are God's princesses. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZif4rLv6CZbtE7FEu0tR9KgP-MyY_KIvtYG-svYtNA4d9y5lc6TSKbbSfi1XvHi3prjAmz82wP9Q0zzdS6nwDBzRUMtnH2CN720lf0gyUYoCGlFRiGR6VWkFZ6xV_6AinTGpi_Iuntwk/s1600/DSC01399.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532551422545899986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZif4rLv6CZbtE7FEu0tR9KgP-MyY_KIvtYG-svYtNA4d9y5lc6TSKbbSfi1XvHi3prjAmz82wP9Q0zzdS6nwDBzRUMtnH2CN720lf0gyUYoCGlFRiGR6VWkFZ6xV_6AinTGpi_Iuntwk/s320/DSC01399.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqp2_FeV8k6hhfCyysVzQUmrk-xyACk1NrD320d_k1jRMiS13Xasj2l5fwHGXlwV6pWqq0c6dFXIK0ZSp6noVs_u7R7gqakO93spTHUEQTt8tDbamTB5ZLOBLVY_G1fTnEvCAEkZMyhtOA/s1600/DSC01387.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532550598762962514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqp2_FeV8k6hhfCyysVzQUmrk-xyACk1NrD320d_k1jRMiS13Xasj2l5fwHGXlwV6pWqq0c6dFXIK0ZSp6noVs_u7R7gqakO93spTHUEQTt8tDbamTB5ZLOBLVY_G1fTnEvCAEkZMyhtOA/s320/DSC01387.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWC0Sm9lPmrPJfrRw5GbvZTEr34aau1AOp6uPORdfyKPi7wFzQDjb2Qtw0D7-mTYfq_pHXH5XJ8bkfTnU1cUn_6Bk4AIvKoalYlcHrbmue4ZS-C9knRqwVTcL2t2tMP76DnLT7GBpR4-w/s1600/DSC01385.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532549866985735906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWC0Sm9lPmrPJfrRw5GbvZTEr34aau1AOp6uPORdfyKPi7wFzQDjb2Qtw0D7-mTYfq_pHXH5XJ8bkfTnU1cUn_6Bk4AIvKoalYlcHrbmue4ZS-C9knRqwVTcL2t2tMP76DnLT7GBpR4-w/s320/DSC01385.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMaYuEpztuYbwpAed84Y7PwfRfs4zZZGUPpz_Vg3Rk6UyzgZ9VxeKhShpKPBY-I-N0Nx7P53BpITe_oaTgN42JkWXPODiriZyQiOulTEifVnno7aYTuqmMdB9A1VhPrKpPmTZDyVYtmXa/s1600/DSC01380.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532549170557759394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMaYuEpztuYbwpAed84Y7PwfRfs4zZZGUPpz_Vg3Rk6UyzgZ9VxeKhShpKPBY-I-N0Nx7P53BpITe_oaTgN42JkWXPODiriZyQiOulTEifVnno7aYTuqmMdB9A1VhPrKpPmTZDyVYtmXa/s320/DSC01380.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-29967146424208052532010-10-18T18:47:00.000-07:002010-10-18T18:54:28.171-07:00Happy Birthday Nanki!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwsdDMxU_sHAW3QjjK6JzRcKsXU8Djxe2e4Si-9Zultvm4xLKqolBJqNMMp8k5Vk4ra48hbXnzi8oVE3vQmxBY_S6TL8nVRb7ibrWf1iT4J-0MKtMob7PBM9_lDw7FM2ehFlIqrnvPJFL/s1600/nanki+11.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwsdDMxU_sHAW3QjjK6JzRcKsXU8Djxe2e4Si-9Zultvm4xLKqolBJqNMMp8k5Vk4ra48hbXnzi8oVE3vQmxBY_S6TL8nVRb7ibrWf1iT4J-0MKtMob7PBM9_lDw7FM2ehFlIqrnvPJFL/s320/nanki+11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529569524540231330" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYY22gvjgO89nGw7BRzY4VXo07FRaLHZYZBfu3nCIRI2gaUKdDPFHhE18rRNBw7iZbD3S-h6SGCrHR-tLmjdolj0Y-Z5GE6w1TiqkVWaxIUdkkZeIkUt_StwtYJVvB4QOsg6rlCKxsQ7_/s1600/nanki+8.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYY22gvjgO89nGw7BRzY4VXo07FRaLHZYZBfu3nCIRI2gaUKdDPFHhE18rRNBw7iZbD3S-h6SGCrHR-tLmjdolj0Y-Z5GE6w1TiqkVWaxIUdkkZeIkUt_StwtYJVvB4QOsg6rlCKxsQ7_/s320/nanki+8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529569511551947922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjdyI06UFqNpFYlese0M3A8fAhPT1_3zc_9ZJPyY7I94A8jnv2pXKSXCN3MHh71iGLfzrj_xdN09tcXpQSmFgqgV1YTiPQ4LP36F5bDudCvOM5fOSAPlbPrbfPQ_m2tad-iSWuHW9fzCp6/s1600/nanki+bday+1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjdyI06UFqNpFYlese0M3A8fAhPT1_3zc_9ZJPyY7I94A8jnv2pXKSXCN3MHh71iGLfzrj_xdN09tcXpQSmFgqgV1YTiPQ4LP36F5bDudCvOM5fOSAPlbPrbfPQ_m2tad-iSWuHW9fzCp6/s320/nanki+bday+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529569496395535122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitufHWY_y1yzdAMTcxcA7zbVPOtkmfMBuPj18BR3iZ701Aw0rB9ijlyTLGhBVXoPQpNPqktV1rMq6R8IzK7LkTeS9FUxqvD9vn7ZOh5kO1Hv5jjQoNQv55xMHZ10a-TN-IY32oY2IzT31/s1600/nanki+bday+13.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitufHWY_y1yzdAMTcxcA7zbVPOtkmfMBuPj18BR3iZ701Aw0rB9ijlyTLGhBVXoPQpNPqktV1rMq6R8IzK7LkTeS9FUxqvD9vn7ZOh5kO1Hv5jjQoNQv55xMHZ10a-TN-IY32oY2IzT31/s320/nanki+bday+13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529569482703603442" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHYSmmjKZg6OaOyr_Xey7VAwH5R2Z0UnGEo740ecQ43TCTGcLNBLmNTy9AbdHVk8gjVXcXeZHDe6XRgSk-hkPl9dRjygNPg57B32__w1L8LcAdNxDmdaTgc2aCuwwo3fkhHgcJoJEgl6z/s1600/nanki+bday+15.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHYSmmjKZg6OaOyr_Xey7VAwH5R2Z0UnGEo740ecQ43TCTGcLNBLmNTy9AbdHVk8gjVXcXeZHDe6XRgSk-hkPl9dRjygNPg57B32__w1L8LcAdNxDmdaTgc2aCuwwo3fkhHgcJoJEgl6z/s320/nanki+bday+15.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529569474067829042" /></a><br />My dear baby Nanki turned ONE YEAR OLD on October 5th. I am so thankful for him in my life and what a happy, healthy baby he is! He loved having a party to celebrate just HIM but getting his fingers all messy in the cake was a little too much for him... he wanted me to get dirty so he could laugh and get finger fed. Thats ok though, it was HIS birthday :).Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-43976973634063929482010-09-21T19:22:00.000-07:002010-09-21T19:51:10.971-07:00New and Beautiful!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQvBkNbLcKECctAD3FRnViDTwOC00fpp58m-mUXxrJVqtKg3nqwITW2W2fAQk8iZZQH0FtTggo_E1ajJunJwGPugH6oG4jcMW77hJG_V4Wuj_KaVgTMoSlzcVTTSSouusgGmffYbhC9I7/s1600/SAM_1585.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQvBkNbLcKECctAD3FRnViDTwOC00fpp58m-mUXxrJVqtKg3nqwITW2W2fAQk8iZZQH0FtTggo_E1ajJunJwGPugH6oG4jcMW77hJG_V4Wuj_KaVgTMoSlzcVTTSSouusgGmffYbhC9I7/s320/SAM_1585.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519561751295190354" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqLkxbyyWzhYEsChtcFYvoplK1ZtC1gug0DYxGcTmVGnaRXeJDgC775F6KBtHKGnXz3aMZaigqBuIv9_tkJEt3cnPDGJSFHCoK-SEoNbFSAYoCgSBCeqezTDbQHqnMpa7UH63Z12VBAhO/s1600/gaby.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqLkxbyyWzhYEsChtcFYvoplK1ZtC1gug0DYxGcTmVGnaRXeJDgC775F6KBtHKGnXz3aMZaigqBuIv9_tkJEt3cnPDGJSFHCoK-SEoNbFSAYoCgSBCeqezTDbQHqnMpa7UH63Z12VBAhO/s320/gaby.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519561743638177282" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzP8BV4WuNbcgCVghu3Qsu3NeetAoA_q2n52kYQq07H-pPgU4lQ8SEWVdA7EK1jmtc1rAoFmwNj8KHv2ZMON8glK4fwi2lfZVeLYVS0ntlI5zx90nD58H1YH0rymAyJ8o_pOAXWN22zCEJ/s1600/church.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzP8BV4WuNbcgCVghu3Qsu3NeetAoA_q2n52kYQq07H-pPgU4lQ8SEWVdA7EK1jmtc1rAoFmwNj8KHv2ZMON8glK4fwi2lfZVeLYVS0ntlI5zx90nD58H1YH0rymAyJ8o_pOAXWN22zCEJ/s320/church.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519561740861109154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRigkH3NQuNVyEYmMXcZIvfKUcYUuR8Iqwnhucs6PrhqmdYnMBNLM9jpyvF_emdwr7rddMYwSBaUmM0NDDZB_PzYTKzeVswVIDVA4sEWehIIWIGvQSMJuuVvW-NRyYoJfumBu4XQneCj6G/s1600/SAM_1573.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 182px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRigkH3NQuNVyEYmMXcZIvfKUcYUuR8Iqwnhucs6PrhqmdYnMBNLM9jpyvF_emdwr7rddMYwSBaUmM0NDDZB_PzYTKzeVswVIDVA4sEWehIIWIGvQSMJuuVvW-NRyYoJfumBu4XQneCj6G/s320/SAM_1573.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519561729011860642" /></a><br />Its a new year with new beautiful roomies, a new beautiful house, and new beautiful students! It feels so great to be back "where everybody knows your name" :) We are still in our old building for the time being, but soon and very soon we will be in our new and beautiful house and school at the property! <br /><br />The pictures you see are of my classroom (notice the brightly painted desks!), one of my new students- Gabriela (a total sweetheart), my roommates (Dallas, Bethany, and Aleta), and my precious and beautiful baby Nanki. Isn't he big now?! He's got 4 new teeth too. He fell asleep in my arms while I was singing to him at the restaurant on Sunday after church. It is so great being near him again and seeing him fat and happy :).Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-33541563075295526892010-06-01T20:43:00.000-07:002010-06-01T21:19:23.496-07:00Fat, Happy Nanki :)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTxurN732OSp21_VFfamPicaGIQ27Vt6Llx07JLD59W7aDTCLLujKW9DM3o-uy9wLF7iposXvSjtx_fjGRsZo3vSYOFlauKbD3lEeTTJlScyqk7ZrH62kpxe49wd-S1ByqV_0VjG76Eay/s1600/spring+431.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTxurN732OSp21_VFfamPicaGIQ27Vt6Llx07JLD59W7aDTCLLujKW9DM3o-uy9wLF7iposXvSjtx_fjGRsZo3vSYOFlauKbD3lEeTTJlScyqk7ZrH62kpxe49wd-S1ByqV_0VjG76Eay/s320/spring+431.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478026089549865122" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLK10mhQ-G3mXq1-IHh06W4RhDCAgzRpL2aLCh1W1isiyC6qqzFTjq0dVWuIZnpOI7v2yKYDd2OM0-ZQVSf4k4ZA7Lhv9fMAhoP7qUNGK967lVj2XoDq6_21enqDIwHuAXNt5I3YeiVK-t/s1600/spring+426.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLK10mhQ-G3mXq1-IHh06W4RhDCAgzRpL2aLCh1W1isiyC6qqzFTjq0dVWuIZnpOI7v2yKYDd2OM0-ZQVSf4k4ZA7Lhv9fMAhoP7qUNGK967lVj2XoDq6_21enqDIwHuAXNt5I3YeiVK-t/s320/spring+426.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478026083670796834" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDJ0r2WOmj7SKoMC0NrRSfw7G3LPUkYtK_jlADmdDc82GYUEHoR6r8KOg78DCQphIMUnrvehw5fHon2fhtdErCG78OuILF_TPb-SH89UIhk0o2PH1Ab-CWQzkhNw6jNIWKyx-sNzjfXOi/s1600/spring+10+565.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 277px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDJ0r2WOmj7SKoMC0NrRSfw7G3LPUkYtK_jlADmdDc82GYUEHoR6r8KOg78DCQphIMUnrvehw5fHon2fhtdErCG78OuILF_TPb-SH89UIhk0o2PH1Ab-CWQzkhNw6jNIWKyx-sNzjfXOi/s320/spring+10+565.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478026076777861714" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphtkNlb7zBKxtDvvTG3OrB7_N62X9Fw8BV5iU5Hmddn_APjU3mVEYjI5IXqiLf5xdaXg538gAFfZOg4aBpZqyb_jHvU1Td30A5J2CRCdS6j6yhqmSS2O5YTsu1eNg2ynnbJk-OpitwHGd/s1600/spring+10+567.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphtkNlb7zBKxtDvvTG3OrB7_N62X9Fw8BV5iU5Hmddn_APjU3mVEYjI5IXqiLf5xdaXg538gAFfZOg4aBpZqyb_jHvU1Td30A5J2CRCdS6j6yhqmSS2O5YTsu1eNg2ynnbJk-OpitwHGd/s320/spring+10+567.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478026068959971362" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKV3pG7rv2U93EfyjpL-YJ907mfSREnz2m3iWsR_t8JfkBaxOyaOXNs7rYz5TiSgkS6a5Wtk7ugFaNeXUKYzlJcdqkP3unVwDuiHt6JPROFxmXFOVAICoIlfQsaTal0gOMWatTdlIW_Xd/s1600/nanks.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKV3pG7rv2U93EfyjpL-YJ907mfSREnz2m3iWsR_t8JfkBaxOyaOXNs7rYz5TiSgkS6a5Wtk7ugFaNeXUKYzlJcdqkP3unVwDuiHt6JPROFxmXFOVAICoIlfQsaTal0gOMWatTdlIW_Xd/s320/nanks.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478026064893980290" /></a><br />I took Nanki out for a walk today around town and I realized that he is getting SO BIG and I haven't posted any new pictures of him lately. When my mom was here with me, we kept him at our house and the whole time he was really sick and puny and she hardly got to see the real Nanki. So, I promised my mom "fat, happy Nanki pictures" and I thought I would share them with all of you. I wish I could take him with me this summer... I don't want him getting bigger without me!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-56712171010312500592010-05-21T14:16:00.000-07:002010-05-21T14:46:59.594-07:00The Zoo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRp8GnvdyFRBfMi6MMTxhUmMb3yuE6FPz6DjEpXPGbdtM0fGlqfcVwRJp8exWlwodxwcD8TA5jgZYvrSrgfAPi49CZpkXvS9FQhrkJ7xs_Ob6EhcJMnVu0sotixGIMR4cCQjy2lf4X8iaP/s1600/Ali+2010+781.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRp8GnvdyFRBfMi6MMTxhUmMb3yuE6FPz6DjEpXPGbdtM0fGlqfcVwRJp8exWlwodxwcD8TA5jgZYvrSrgfAPi49CZpkXvS9FQhrkJ7xs_Ob6EhcJMnVu0sotixGIMR4cCQjy2lf4X8iaP/s320/Ali+2010+781.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473840799148198146" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9MkjYK41kWEHbGh9qeeKICI8dokLgP_LPhT2LHXCUJO3csZlhEkXZ5gZI7B3180vvg5cn0Z88Hi9MeS6XPRSU2pOXNLEQwI97jhI9Krdqc96C90vRFffwzTokv48El3cmH67GziUn5nm/s1600/Ali+2010+766.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9MkjYK41kWEHbGh9qeeKICI8dokLgP_LPhT2LHXCUJO3csZlhEkXZ5gZI7B3180vvg5cn0Z88Hi9MeS6XPRSU2pOXNLEQwI97jhI9Krdqc96C90vRFffwzTokv48El3cmH67GziUn5nm/s320/Ali+2010+766.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473840794847088178" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-CFMSivyXb_mUcUDDxevfQTEZmyVFkP5JwJXMQIj43s_zoF1V-uUi9uZrKJxSdOXLYKY-xkcc3-CBtyJifSdsxUmUUaVMLWhkNDwBNiHP5ED9XG66Mo4pNGBzqXKaii_C5e54jyC10D3/s1600/Ali+2010+777+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-CFMSivyXb_mUcUDDxevfQTEZmyVFkP5JwJXMQIj43s_zoF1V-uUi9uZrKJxSdOXLYKY-xkcc3-CBtyJifSdsxUmUUaVMLWhkNDwBNiHP5ED9XG66Mo4pNGBzqXKaii_C5e54jyC10D3/s320/Ali+2010+777+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473840787180179442" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7ewVmdKofVei33fZ9fugr-VrH4eyAqZ6G8tYNtxMhu3ZO_VJj2U0ki8sO7iIUxGMh481GkLiVS7Tk-VI7IndMmyE0JGEQUBzAURIFwg1mTOMKZVE-zjkJZafPHOZKHmBQDgp4fNBoir0/s1600/Ali+2010+762.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7ewVmdKofVei33fZ9fugr-VrH4eyAqZ6G8tYNtxMhu3ZO_VJj2U0ki8sO7iIUxGMh481GkLiVS7Tk-VI7IndMmyE0JGEQUBzAURIFwg1mTOMKZVE-zjkJZafPHOZKHmBQDgp4fNBoir0/s320/Ali+2010+762.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473840780733508418" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzR6PQvFZFpG3IyM3RSahJrHGIz4qhyYxsSrXkJgpGkwSE-Y0NdUiQg7U2d8sQ518WhyZsRvE0xzjIh6z_F0Nqj8kWvmYtjKyLNOkaCQfWZGS1jqvFv1Uhc-qEk9CruwQZLgFTQsAhVNA/s1600/Ali+2010+719.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzR6PQvFZFpG3IyM3RSahJrHGIz4qhyYxsSrXkJgpGkwSE-Y0NdUiQg7U2d8sQ518WhyZsRvE0xzjIh6z_F0Nqj8kWvmYtjKyLNOkaCQfWZGS1jqvFv1Uhc-qEk9CruwQZLgFTQsAhVNA/s320/Ali+2010+719.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473840775221816994" /></a><br />So when my whole class is working together as a team, they get a scoop of rice in their rice jar. When the rice jar is full... its party time :). Last time we had a party we went to the ZOO! I made no-bake cookies (which they were scared of at first bc of the appearance but then they fell in love with them once they tasted the yummy goodness) and we jumped on the bus and went to the military zoo. They did a great job of asking the guide interesting questions and they had such a blast getting to hold the animals and play with them. The zoo here is no normal zoo... none of the birds or monkeys are in cages so they were the kids' constant companion.. especially the little 9 month old monkey, Blade. After seeing all the animals the kids played on the zip line, the rope swing, and canoed over to see a waterfall. It was so much fun seeing them explore, and they still talk about it all the time. Be sure to pay special attention to the picture of me, Thalia, and Maribel with the boa. Maribel's face is priceless.Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-71192371402512195042010-03-19T06:03:00.000-07:002010-03-19T06:21:31.169-07:00St. Patrick's Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0kSA13PmlZy5kiW3qCcVjBWoclJk6naiT7HgdB4sScqm-z7gAEzR_i_Va4ARQnkIVyHmPzorVGO1BqHw8x4VrC3QRd6A3uaO1AtBIbPQhpCX2DIP_bCt0b2hxH3XxFXsOaHiUUEGLtVq/s1600-h/spring+594.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0kSA13PmlZy5kiW3qCcVjBWoclJk6naiT7HgdB4sScqm-z7gAEzR_i_Va4ARQnkIVyHmPzorVGO1BqHw8x4VrC3QRd6A3uaO1AtBIbPQhpCX2DIP_bCt0b2hxH3XxFXsOaHiUUEGLtVq/s320/spring+594.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450334398073831426" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAqwXomMw9r6TOpMihIBFUauyF-emXGMOADkLZbNdOOEy_ZJeqv4hyQTuy9sy-3FubB5qHrSd7UMd930NYAWcVrBecwJ4j1XCsUqN3Ebc8qrxyQqkZ5O6OpsqLuYjlrLAHRG2KtfM1Ww1/s1600-h/spring+593.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAqwXomMw9r6TOpMihIBFUauyF-emXGMOADkLZbNdOOEy_ZJeqv4hyQTuy9sy-3FubB5qHrSd7UMd930NYAWcVrBecwJ4j1XCsUqN3Ebc8qrxyQqkZ5O6OpsqLuYjlrLAHRG2KtfM1Ww1/s320/spring+593.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450334390565610290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyWJdUxw1Kd8TX7K04UQxV-3IasMe0zm16i0nQ-wB3vd207p4dXR7JnyGaptq12Xa4yWL1zZn3kJWm0Ucxbpvgm5r07iFgbFAgn34foTM1GtzXu-lESC6KJqqDYY8dqGWC2zQlWh4s6qk/s1600-h/spring+591.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyWJdUxw1Kd8TX7K04UQxV-3IasMe0zm16i0nQ-wB3vd207p4dXR7JnyGaptq12Xa4yWL1zZn3kJWm0Ucxbpvgm5r07iFgbFAgn34foTM1GtzXu-lESC6KJqqDYY8dqGWC2zQlWh4s6qk/s320/spring+591.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450334379654171074" /></a><br />Even though they don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in Ecuador, we thought it would be fun to teach the kids about a holiday other people celebrate around the world. So of course we told all the kids to be sure and wear something green (or there would be pinching).. and I tried to somehow incorporate some fun facts into our lessons of the day. In Bible class, I decided to tell them about the three leaf clover and how St. Patrick used it to tell others about Jesus. Our verse this week is John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except THROUGH ME." So we talked about how you must go through Jesus to get to God and then God will give you His Spirit... the Holy Spirit. So we made three-leaf clovers and labelled them Jesus, God, Holy Spirit. I guess we haven't talked as much about the Holy Spirit before because they had lots of questions (which I love) so we talked about the Holy Spirit and what He means to us. After Bible class we moved on to English class and Reading and then come 10:30 it was time for snack time. I had everyone get in line to go downstairs but two girls stayed in their seats, Jeniffer and Thalia. When I asked them what was wrong they each said, "I want the Holy Spirit inside me." So I sent the others downstairs and Thalia, Jeni, and I sat down and prayed. I told them it was important for them to do it in their own words and in their own language because its a personal decision between them and God... and WOW.. you should've heard their prayers. I definitely could not have given them any better words to "repeat after me". They were so honest and genuine and ready. I am so proud of these girls and their desire to have the Holy Spirit guide them to be like Jesus. <br /><br />The next day we were studying "cause and effect" in English class and everyone had to come up with one on their own. I took a picture of Jeniffer's notebook...Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-39603484013336136102010-02-13T13:29:00.000-08:002010-02-13T14:24:18.153-08:00Jesus had the Heart of a Servant.... So de We.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzQXzmGAN1569zAsZq-J9V6cz3kp8pa0RAn91L1OOnPrlp3NMTlae-5LqheLyFF8ML5y3o5oi7jlZkbUA-P3I6N9N2TZs5Oxe3-2-OpNKG7LsZ4tRJz_GUQgP1gCme_gHpu5ht4Mrqo-r/s1600-h/january+090.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzQXzmGAN1569zAsZq-J9V6cz3kp8pa0RAn91L1OOnPrlp3NMTlae-5LqheLyFF8ML5y3o5oi7jlZkbUA-P3I6N9N2TZs5Oxe3-2-OpNKG7LsZ4tRJz_GUQgP1gCme_gHpu5ht4Mrqo-r/s320/january+090.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437848239278472930" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhj1rxbTrAgxOM2TppA7n_LF13WzWtm9Lj32WGN1FQah9njYWJcZZd75Xaa-q9SHx13VVyzwP91qKg8jd2SwNDhc7ywKoGMDuC5lMAHL7_nOjaWQVaFbbY4nZfTPuH2JSrYWYvrwfEsG6C/s1600-h/january+083.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhj1rxbTrAgxOM2TppA7n_LF13WzWtm9Lj32WGN1FQah9njYWJcZZd75Xaa-q9SHx13VVyzwP91qKg8jd2SwNDhc7ywKoGMDuC5lMAHL7_nOjaWQVaFbbY4nZfTPuH2JSrYWYvrwfEsG6C/s320/january+083.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437848234540141234" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgISgqSJmRIZu3BQ2bdjEKFolLXs-Pvn7N75Kjmd5N34pm0RQZlQeAYcgIk1grNRSujdvUWRCwU1qlX-juU39CQ1xgWf8vJ1K_fop5Vo7knDsZtN3N6IhWNYCB6CaYTdIh205WTX-pDsf7/s1600-h/january+081.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgISgqSJmRIZu3BQ2bdjEKFolLXs-Pvn7N75Kjmd5N34pm0RQZlQeAYcgIk1grNRSujdvUWRCwU1qlX-juU39CQ1xgWf8vJ1K_fop5Vo7knDsZtN3N6IhWNYCB6CaYTdIh205WTX-pDsf7/s320/january+081.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437848226831421970" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdbjvQOrIUKhtwQieKczHGl6HPr5ZuZuvZMY3akJO9lidGL7JUyTW9u3VZZmWo-V98_XpxegcStzIsKzUUKCb12N6yFnNo3q-CY6Nw4ObyRKLRxonI68y8vPiF31T_DL720pbr4U7PWSS/s1600-h/january+078.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdbjvQOrIUKhtwQieKczHGl6HPr5ZuZuvZMY3akJO9lidGL7JUyTW9u3VZZmWo-V98_XpxegcStzIsKzUUKCb12N6yFnNo3q-CY6Nw4ObyRKLRxonI68y8vPiF31T_DL720pbr4U7PWSS/s320/january+078.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437848218863617394" /></a><br />Throughout the semester we have been studying what it looks like to have the heart of Jesus. What did his heart look like? Even though he was the Son of God and the king of the world... he washed FEET! Dirty feet. So thats just what we did in Bible class. :) We washed each other's feet. You should've seen the look of horror in my kids eyes when thats what they were going to do. But it was incredible how much they got into it.... they washed, dried, and changed out the water for each person without me having to say anything after the first time. And, after each person went, I always heard a "thank you". Of course they pointed out that Jesus probably used warm water with his friends (the water we had was quite chilly)... but I think they really grasped that Jesus served others.. gladly. I pray that this activity will be one that they will always remember!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-50958655680476910102010-01-27T12:53:00.000-08:002010-01-27T19:12:52.413-08:00Esteven Setpember 11, 2009 - January 26, 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIg3sUrvE09C5JD7YjGV9m_wErk5KulB25uUOOsVzWhAdF_5V6nDDI7aCujoVRCpzf38vGXLXdt7hCy6w2aa1-2ja6_7zn3wXW8pAdv-nzoPGbv3P5uk4jaiVg8f-IsSkk2Mt1fLS0dnX/s1600-h/Esteven%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIg3sUrvE09C5JD7YjGV9m_wErk5KulB25uUOOsVzWhAdF_5V6nDDI7aCujoVRCpzf38vGXLXdt7hCy6w2aa1-2ja6_7zn3wXW8pAdv-nzoPGbv3P5uk4jaiVg8f-IsSkk2Mt1fLS0dnX/s320/Esteven%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431621534845387778" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIebeu7x_fa8HMVtGniXH457IS2fH_1yCqT_bJbHFH2RbZdS8xDmpPqZU6f3EWKNmmkFtyUtVnaI_8xNa_hOWvnxlVao7uX_2JowWQ0MmCzXK3_erXUjnLdy2hCwf4hT0DYi_7sVcJjVwc/s1600-h/esteven+2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIebeu7x_fa8HMVtGniXH457IS2fH_1yCqT_bJbHFH2RbZdS8xDmpPqZU6f3EWKNmmkFtyUtVnaI_8xNa_hOWvnxlVao7uX_2JowWQ0MmCzXK3_erXUjnLdy2hCwf4hT0DYi_7sVcJjVwc/s320/esteven+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431621532707613602" /></a><br />Today was a hard day. I woke up to a phone call from Patti Sue telling me that baby Esteven passed away last night. Esteven was brought to us in September as a newborn because he had so many health problems. His 4 1/2 months of life were filled with oxygen tanks, pulse monitors, and hospital runs. But this little kid was such a trooper. He fought harder for his life than I've ever seen anyone do. We called him "el buen luchador"... or the good fighter. Somehow though, in all of his pain, Esteven had such a peace about him. As Patti Sue said in his obituary, when he looked at you it was like he was looking at your soul. I think its because to him, thats all he knew- his soul. A body that worked was a foreign concept to him. <br /><br />So when I got to school this morning I had to tell my kids the news. Jeniffer and Jessica, the two girls who live with Patti Sue, already knew because they had been living with him. The other kids never really saw Esteven, but they had been praying for him since he was born. When I told them this morning that he passed away, they all kinda looked disappointed and then one of them said, "why?". The kids could tell that Jeniffer and Jessica were hurting and they all looked at me with this puzzling question of... "but why???" <br /><br />So I told them this: When I was getting ready this morning I asked God the same question... "why God? why this precious little baby that was fighting so hard? why couldn't you have healed him.. given him a miracle?" I wanted so badly to talk to Esteven 10 years from now and tell him how he spent his first year of life in a little bed with tubes hooked up to him. But God quickly reminded me of this... He said, "Alison, I have healed him. I did give him a miracle. He's with me now. I sent him to this world to give you all joy. To teach you the beauty of someone's soul. But I am ready for him... I've missed him.. and its time for us to be together." Now Esteven gets to be a normal baby. One who breathes on his own, laughs and crawls and runs and talks and plays games with Jesus. <br /><br />Some of the kids started crying when I told them this (I was tearing up too) and then they started asking questions about heaven. I asked them if they were 100% sure that they too would go to heaven when they die and many of them said "mmm yea".. and others shrugged. So we talked about how you get to heaven.. about how you cant do anything good enough to get there... its not by your actions. But by.... (and Maribel said) "Grace, Miss Alison". What a beautiful heart that girl has... she was totally right. So we talked about grace, and about having Jesus in our hearts. Then the kids decided we should pray together to ask for Jesus' grace. <br /><br />At Esteven's burial, Patti Sue had Tia Heidi read Isaiah 55:8-13. I started crying when I heard it because it could not have been more appropriate. I already know one of the reasons why God sent Esteven to this earth... his life was a witness to seven precious little students in my class. They learned of God's grace and how to invite Jesus into their lives. <br /><br />I praise Jesus for the little life of Esteven. And as my mom just wrote to me, maybe my Nanny is up there rocking him right now....Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-3356705759664267492010-01-17T09:19:00.000-08:002010-01-17T09:57:11.386-08:00My Baby..... Nanki.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwI9N0mFugDCtS5WlsGhgE7cyNJFrfLYm_zji3LisXMHqQPtBvEbdEaAdqPZyroXoTuisbJvOzKN3RSJPMd-9WupLtWSxSsfRv4bV7H4ETFVcm6cxFRP5xahDD0qos2KPjQiw9jiutgTSN/s1600-h/SAM_0169.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwI9N0mFugDCtS5WlsGhgE7cyNJFrfLYm_zji3LisXMHqQPtBvEbdEaAdqPZyroXoTuisbJvOzKN3RSJPMd-9WupLtWSxSsfRv4bV7H4ETFVcm6cxFRP5xahDD0qos2KPjQiw9jiutgTSN/s320/SAM_0169.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427769209955622818" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3jwy7NF7XI0bRzXW7201j8KxXENdItnkJalvjIUo_etmBDyQQGe3J_AwoZXmISGxjT6j-pX8Sua3YMr82KnO7VYfyWmEO87H0x7POQc7qi2Shwyt5OZs7Mb_fcNW1gwEfEhyphenhyphenDFl1QZFj/s1600-h/SAM_0165.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3jwy7NF7XI0bRzXW7201j8KxXENdItnkJalvjIUo_etmBDyQQGe3J_AwoZXmISGxjT6j-pX8Sua3YMr82KnO7VYfyWmEO87H0x7POQc7qi2Shwyt5OZs7Mb_fcNW1gwEfEhyphenhyphenDFl1QZFj/s320/SAM_0165.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427769200684633746" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-tsuPP4Y72toTiiRyQvVLErKNUd1hPMgTVwCtuMMGsSbkPm71o_6Ij1LfGjoXTqZ9MH39BP76ETEanLveFNSWndHRxar2xM2dSe54WsBoNZeeeWlp1aVYm2GshLGPZDFFjOwAUaR5fCb/s1600-h/SAM_0179.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-tsuPP4Y72toTiiRyQvVLErKNUd1hPMgTVwCtuMMGsSbkPm71o_6Ij1LfGjoXTqZ9MH39BP76ETEanLveFNSWndHRxar2xM2dSe54WsBoNZeeeWlp1aVYm2GshLGPZDFFjOwAUaR5fCb/s320/SAM_0179.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427769192583115442" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DsW3xtelF4o9u-v6lJIpYqi9rJv3IEAJHhLuls5CWh1z8AVEh_g4C_dADVhciEaApIx5qFFNmVInk-_Md8WfGCe8Nu_b5Zjcbm_d5QaMRidlfJlLI9-FrIZYQiwuifjsghpM4g_2Yf71/s1600-h/SAM_0164.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0DsW3xtelF4o9u-v6lJIpYqi9rJv3IEAJHhLuls5CWh1z8AVEh_g4C_dADVhciEaApIx5qFFNmVInk-_Md8WfGCe8Nu_b5Zjcbm_d5QaMRidlfJlLI9-FrIZYQiwuifjsghpM4g_2Yf71/s320/SAM_0164.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427769187633296770" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRB4pn5jw9b-RrBM31xJ59gt83E_K_pXFQBWtbhfTuiXF8OozCWjDdhAAy0LJNUvJx37yd4M1FKdA_EiCmc7oM9GXRnIMFez8vpfG3nXZkQogl43SjDk4k-HXyYbJl23RBMEjqriZPy0Es/s1600-h/SAM_0170.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRB4pn5jw9b-RrBM31xJ59gt83E_K_pXFQBWtbhfTuiXF8OozCWjDdhAAy0LJNUvJx37yd4M1FKdA_EiCmc7oM9GXRnIMFez8vpfG3nXZkQogl43SjDk4k-HXyYbJl23RBMEjqriZPy0Es/s320/SAM_0170.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427769178291040514" /></a><br />Hi Everyone! Today is a good day because the internet is fixed and I am sitting at home in my pajamas able to connect to the outside world. :) What a great feeling! <br /><br />Christmas break was such a great time with family and friends. It was so refreshing and rejuvenating. It also made me realize how MUCH I love these kids and missed them. Especially Nanki... who I like to call "my baby". I had so much fun with my Mom and Grammy over break going down the baby aisles at all the stores and looking for baby clothes for Nanki. One of these pictures is of what we ended up buying. :) <br /><br />Nanki grew so much during the 3 weeks I was gone! He's getting nice and chubby and learning how to smile and make funny faces. He is also exploring his sounds and loves saying "goo". He is SO precious. <br /><br />One day after school when I went over to play with Nankipoo, I had the opportunity to meet his dad. His dad came in from his village in the jungle to visit him and see how his foot and hip were doing. It was nice to meet him and learn more about Nanki's family out in the jungle. By the end of the visit, he had taken a picture of me with him and Nanki and asked me to be his "madrina", or godmother. <br /><br />Please pray for precious baby Nanki, that God will provide the surgery he needs for his hip and his foot and that He will grow him into a strong man of God. And for the 5 years he is with Casa de Fe, that he will learn how high and deep and wide the love of God is for him.Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-15701407301668604682009-11-28T14:23:00.000-08:002009-11-28T18:08:38.450-08:00Thanksgiving Day Parade<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDUofEa6URM81z2EYO9xpac9a-qW17SMR2aoREd_lQh1gwhY9VPuzWlHIy_ChNkEmh3sY_8EKe6_xC4hI3s_jlVbrau9774cAYqUbzRIoQ6mJGMAe6tQt38LrN2lHb-Q9adpKX7hyphenhyphen6kxc/s1600/DSC03165.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDUofEa6URM81z2EYO9xpac9a-qW17SMR2aoREd_lQh1gwhY9VPuzWlHIy_ChNkEmh3sY_8EKe6_xC4hI3s_jlVbrau9774cAYqUbzRIoQ6mJGMAe6tQt38LrN2lHb-Q9adpKX7hyphenhyphen6kxc/s320/DSC03165.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409301530746333986" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6YOeJdDUe-0PmOf34wwgrKNTeQLnM6b22avzAsd2FbFvgoQA152edIK45ZF1doDgcB3Ac3Cpmt21d2x70RBqb2815d61QLW4BV9bPNgVVbhnSD58vB1Ht_SzwMaCPTKkYH_PdwBkzh9G/s1600/DSC03216.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6YOeJdDUe-0PmOf34wwgrKNTeQLnM6b22avzAsd2FbFvgoQA152edIK45ZF1doDgcB3Ac3Cpmt21d2x70RBqb2815d61QLW4BV9bPNgVVbhnSD58vB1Ht_SzwMaCPTKkYH_PdwBkzh9G/s320/DSC03216.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409301526278503698" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5oGmzP6Wy8gnDFRNX0hjZFeoiKUcuwoDsuhgiPhHR63nFEJaXseEMROMeI_fYTkC91DCB7Fs_XoK95gnVZawbdqh-JARnadSPdqrOGAuFm_RkBKc0b4c8kWwPXF2KoEBvr0epNI7BdK5/s1600/DSC03186.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5oGmzP6Wy8gnDFRNX0hjZFeoiKUcuwoDsuhgiPhHR63nFEJaXseEMROMeI_fYTkC91DCB7Fs_XoK95gnVZawbdqh-JARnadSPdqrOGAuFm_RkBKc0b4c8kWwPXF2KoEBvr0epNI7BdK5/s320/DSC03186.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409301521476854850" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeeN8jPf4SLd8k_n35Zm5BOUwU8_JP7CeGDAfVRW3uS0uFVWPvA6-x7kB74vz7Z4CiOrDXRCMT6yNF7MebhHeG-F8E52O7HeE782Dx65brMfEkuseYdEAEjKDe7X2gW6JFSYU3tBxqfWd/s1600/DSC03149.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeeN8jPf4SLd8k_n35Zm5BOUwU8_JP7CeGDAfVRW3uS0uFVWPvA6-x7kB74vz7Z4CiOrDXRCMT6yNF7MebhHeG-F8E52O7HeE782Dx65brMfEkuseYdEAEjKDe7X2gW6JFSYU3tBxqfWd/s320/DSC03149.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409301512564710818" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrKaPqrZGYzEdyRtwHnL1qb4nKbZ0U3b9UDwpyNJq76izAn89cXgaTv5rxRoH6LsFaew1qy9PE5qVu5gYHMs2RC5SuIe3akrwocEATqldqeMr-JMkXF4yn5Zign2p8e3J2CGxHoQcPALU/s1600/DSC03182.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrKaPqrZGYzEdyRtwHnL1qb4nKbZ0U3b9UDwpyNJq76izAn89cXgaTv5rxRoH6LsFaew1qy9PE5qVu5gYHMs2RC5SuIe3akrwocEATqldqeMr-JMkXF4yn5Zign2p8e3J2CGxHoQcPALU/s320/DSC03182.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409301507605358706" /></a><br />Sorry I haven't posted anything in such a long time! I wasn't very good about planning my internet time around the electrical outages we've been having and then lately the internet in all of Shell has just been down. I am in Quito with Eric this weekend and will going back to Shell tomorrow so hopefully the internet will be back up and running and I can get back to my regular blogging. :) <br /><br />Lots of things have happened this month, but the highlight has been the parade that just so happened to be on Thanksgiving Day (for us USA people that is). In Shell, it was the celebration of "Shell Days. People come from all over to participate, the town is repainted (literally) and decorated, there are bull fights, a circus, and even a pageant for the Queen of Shell. It was such a big deal... and this year our kiddoes participated! They were soooooo excited about it... everyday they asked me "Miss Alison, when will we march? We practice today? How much time until the desfile (parade)?" So after much practice and lots of singing, on Thursday the kids got all dressed up in their typical Ecuadorian "of the coast" attire (as did I) and marched and sang these 5 songs: I Love You Lord Forever, Lean on Me, Tu Amor Hace Eco en Todo Mi Universo, I'm in the Lord's Army, and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. I cannot tell you how proud I was of them. They did the motions, sang loud, smiled, and at least tried to stay in their lines. You should've seen the faces and heard the applauses of the people lining the streets... they were so impressed that these kids were singing in English.. and so well! Also, when they sang the song in Spanish proclaiming to the whole community that Jesus' love is everywhere and is everything to them..... well that was the best part. I know God used these precious little kids to touch of hardened hearts of many people in those crowds. <br /><br />As you can see the kids looked beautiful! I am so thankful that I have these kids in my life... and you. Whether there is internet or not, electricity or not.... please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-12280144242715921852009-11-03T18:20:00.000-08:002009-11-03T18:33:29.338-08:00Precious Moments<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXT0bj2qDMwYHxDOAMCwmZirVqmQ-9KcYMbRKUPVLXtjTDHN545Rq-tlmNY9VmKdd6Em6yqjGgIqPivOrTiohe31pmi5fRnUlkYvJdCN3k1oeX3PWKREGtAI2CZjmXP9uomJd3-cLKzE7q/s1600-h/DSC03548.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXT0bj2qDMwYHxDOAMCwmZirVqmQ-9KcYMbRKUPVLXtjTDHN545Rq-tlmNY9VmKdd6Em6yqjGgIqPivOrTiohe31pmi5fRnUlkYvJdCN3k1oeX3PWKREGtAI2CZjmXP9uomJd3-cLKzE7q/s320/DSC03548.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400069437983851394" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-dBMExXKdZ67RaPHJfPTuVUCu0WQkCOervhjluCYtDNieApFmbtk86QxVVro28kll9rfVfTL6P6gBs7OO_-KB05VDPMFfq9RTKv_ZYyiibKBgOpUkOs2UXs6OeiojGEcKdnZz2bz3E2f/s1600-h/DSC03533.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-dBMExXKdZ67RaPHJfPTuVUCu0WQkCOervhjluCYtDNieApFmbtk86QxVVro28kll9rfVfTL6P6gBs7OO_-KB05VDPMFfq9RTKv_ZYyiibKBgOpUkOs2UXs6OeiojGEcKdnZz2bz3E2f/s320/DSC03533.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400069441132999730" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNhc4cQtCle1bxcWP19pmgldVZ-HlD8FKJJGWrRF7vJMUbjs_PLlUpGcUdMUUqKPGDWNvlW146Qe6B4V38K4NlbAuM1NCQD_L1r4rXCB6quZixztCleERSCTqQiR_e1GSkTnzJo7a3VLM/s1600-h/DSC03566.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNhc4cQtCle1bxcWP19pmgldVZ-HlD8FKJJGWrRF7vJMUbjs_PLlUpGcUdMUUqKPGDWNvlW146Qe6B4V38K4NlbAuM1NCQD_L1r4rXCB6quZixztCleERSCTqQiR_e1GSkTnzJo7a3VLM/s320/DSC03566.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400069432152813122" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-loEpWzlpG8wf2P9KW16Ns9W7v3HjxIH6K06TcrP8E0AWwbDspv8Ydm7jxPKiEL7-xSZ3n1kGlwV592xZGcXDQLGxub6-j3udfLeGhN0Fl72IEj58uadaVNfU9d2RBkRxpKgQT9sJoS-/s1600-h/DSC03543.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-loEpWzlpG8wf2P9KW16Ns9W7v3HjxIH6K06TcrP8E0AWwbDspv8Ydm7jxPKiEL7-xSZ3n1kGlwV592xZGcXDQLGxub6-j3udfLeGhN0Fl72IEj58uadaVNfU9d2RBkRxpKgQT9sJoS-/s320/DSC03543.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400069427737346098" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXcUIkdQfemIX8U2faKNZ6XJwL0hRYdb4Yp1oNHk5q3wuZwRYoAbPqDvEQPLmh0Ki3x1hQVrgMTuO8EICUyEEOI4JifaiQzCrzjeHr4vzs2CdZNHJv_X_DgxSjF1wsBDw9vrdiM0dcqXC/s1600-h/DSC03541.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXcUIkdQfemIX8U2faKNZ6XJwL0hRYdb4Yp1oNHk5q3wuZwRYoAbPqDvEQPLmh0Ki3x1hQVrgMTuO8EICUyEEOI4JifaiQzCrzjeHr4vzs2CdZNHJv_X_DgxSjF1wsBDw9vrdiM0dcqXC/s320/DSC03541.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400069421372609762" /></a><br /><br />This is a day in the life of Alison Bowen at Casa de Fe. Its true, I am surrounded by the most precious creations of God.... I LOVE IT. These are a few of my favorite scenes.... Coco being ADORABLE and making a funny face (usually he's blowing kisses), Gilmar and Nicole getting ready to go to Miss Sharon's pre-school class over at the Nate Saint Memorial School, Jefferson and Ivan hugging each other randomly when the rest of the time they are running around like crazy silly kindergarteners, Veronica playing with her dolls and always looking up at me with her pretty little smile (she is SO small), and little Ana eating her popcorn during snacktime.. such a doll. I could go on and on about how cute these kids are... but I thought I'd at least share a little bit of the joy that goes on here. :)Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-29951113210648031482009-10-28T11:26:00.000-07:002009-10-28T11:58:59.100-07:00Tu Amor Hace Eco en Todo Mi Universo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9fOoM7-NiSyuC13bSreN9eSTF5B5by8DUcoyu3dBViNNoHjSC26Kqs5NLyrIrw9ezLKZKwvqDglJyktZp7W7hK-Hi01KxaLtsmC0P17Yrb9NKRRyndP8dDwyafJROIlh-ywig1SwSLa3/s1600-h/IMG_1378.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB9fOoM7-NiSyuC13bSreN9eSTF5B5by8DUcoyu3dBViNNoHjSC26Kqs5NLyrIrw9ezLKZKwvqDglJyktZp7W7hK-Hi01KxaLtsmC0P17Yrb9NKRRyndP8dDwyafJROIlh-ywig1SwSLa3/s320/IMG_1378.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397727271399228274" /></a><br />So "Tu Amor Hace Eco en Todo Mi Universo" means "Your Love Echoes in All of My Universe". It is such a great song and I will post the lyrics in Spanish and English. My students had to plan a project to help someone, and they decided to do something for the preschoolers. They memorized the words to this song, made up motions, and painted a poster depicting each thing that the song says God is. They did such an amazing job! I tried to take a video of them singing, and sadly it didnt work! I'll have them sing it again and post it another time. This picture is of my 7 students and I in front of the pre-school classroom at Nate Saint Memorial School (where our pre-k kids go as well as some of the missionary kids). The poster behind us is the one they created. After the kids sang, they helped the pre-k kids paint stars and encouraged them to be leaders in the classroom (so cute). Before leaving they sang "Lean on Me" in partners. My kids are so precious!!!<br /><br />Lyrics to the song in Spanish: (sorry I have to go to class... I will translate it in another post but pretty much it says God is EVERYTHING and He echoes in all of my universe!)<br />En la cruz se lavó todo lo que mi alma tanto cargó<br />Fuiste tú, mi Jesús quien pagó el precio de mi perdón<br />Y no hay palabra que quiera hablar<br />Ni hay canción que se me antoje cantar<br />Pues si no es para ti<br />No hay razón para poder existir<br />Coro<br />Eres el aire, la lluvia<br />La risa de los niños<br />La fuerza, la calma<br />La guía en el camino<br />Misterios, estrellas<br />Galaxias y sorpresas que llenan<br />Eres la noche, el día<br />La luz que me ilumina<br />Destino, pasado<br />Tesoro más preciado<br />La llave, la puerta<br />La voz que me alimenta y alienta<br />Tu amor hace eco en todo mi universo<br />Eres tú la razón por la cual perdido ya no estoy<br />Mi dolor se marchó por la fuerza de tu abrazo y calor<br />Y no hay palabra que quiera hablar<br />Ni hay canción que se me antoje cantar<br />Pues si no es para ti<br />No hay razón para poder existirAlison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-37478792268262285422009-10-22T16:05:00.000-07:002009-10-22T16:13:06.334-07:00Our Newest Little One... Nanki<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgkRWuCr_Cm4n741EfVrZxiauFbhWIOweNJRXnrPN6ERWPKK_TPjm0jad6o2adki3d5e6VnIc5YGGVjBe-LElCXaYT1SObMPaf7WHW_n91yBh_yJOXAbjysXCMJa5T9G1SpNMERR9qh18/s1600-h/Nanki+edited.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgkRWuCr_Cm4n741EfVrZxiauFbhWIOweNJRXnrPN6ERWPKK_TPjm0jad6o2adki3d5e6VnIc5YGGVjBe-LElCXaYT1SObMPaf7WHW_n91yBh_yJOXAbjysXCMJa5T9G1SpNMERR9qh18/s320/Nanki+edited.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395566316546893106" /></a><br />This is precious little baby Nanki. Nanki is the Ashuar word for "spear". He is 15 days old in this picture (taken 3 days ago) and I fell in love with him the moment I laid eyes on him. Every day after school all I want to do is go over to Patti Sue's and hold him. His parents brought him to her because they have six other kids and he needs some special medical attention that they can't provide. He was born with a club foot and a femor that didn't quite form correctly. So, Patti Sue is trying to find doctors who can operate on him when he is strong enough... and praying for the money for the operations. He is SUCH a good little baby... good eater and good sleeper. And even at a little over 2 weeks old you can already tell he is going to be quite the little heartbreaker! :) God is so good. I am so thankful for this little boy!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-50508006703453733592009-10-21T05:17:00.000-07:002009-10-21T05:28:33.580-07:00My little Gilmar<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M96M2TqTDKES4lFvEovIcfS1Wk5Aebx0gAjiE5ZSO489s3sTZyc4-1vLdXBpFwCyAxAh-IUNKC3Rk4IpjvSOelCYKILxrrZjXwGJ5L_5BOAGX4rPSK47OgEuvvWGC0Lf8gS0e-nJL5GS/s1600-h/DSC03521.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7M96M2TqTDKES4lFvEovIcfS1Wk5Aebx0gAjiE5ZSO489s3sTZyc4-1vLdXBpFwCyAxAh-IUNKC3Rk4IpjvSOelCYKILxrrZjXwGJ5L_5BOAGX4rPSK47OgEuvvWGC0Lf8gS0e-nJL5GS/s320/DSC03521.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395029068014954082" /></a><br /><br />This is my little 4 year old crush, Gilmar. He is the quietest 4 year old I've ever met but has the cutest smile and HAIR( its really curly and just long enough to comb over) you'll ever see. He is Alejandro's (the baby I talk about in my newsletter) big brother. He also has an older sister, Ana, who is in kindergarten and an older brother, Javier, who is 8. Their dad still comes to visit them every once in a while but he cannot take care of them. They are a good-looking bunch of kids, not to mention smart and loving, and I am so glad that God is capturing their hearts at such a young age!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-4872388092569487952009-10-13T11:24:00.000-07:002009-10-13T11:31:23.199-07:00Haircut!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1Br689pk1NhNUeo9dshJlNcF_e1zNeya7D2m_02gWA_AY7etMzhyphenhyphencmjSPHy6XtrTZZ3s2JEDYZTqb3NGslMaiDvSgADmER0iLjCvsxaur5EvkemYIvIF3HFVays8qFgHJuf24wYKu0Fg/s1600-h/tandy+party+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1Br689pk1NhNUeo9dshJlNcF_e1zNeya7D2m_02gWA_AY7etMzhyphenhyphencmjSPHy6XtrTZZ3s2JEDYZTqb3NGslMaiDvSgADmER0iLjCvsxaur5EvkemYIvIF3HFVays8qFgHJuf24wYKu0Fg/s320/tandy+party+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392153858774307058" /></a><br />I said when I was 16 that I would never get bangs ever again..... well here I am 23 years old, living in Ecuador, and I got BANGS again. LOTS OF BANGS. Melissa cuts hair and she gave me my daring new layers and blunt bang look. I was ready to do something different with my hair. The next thing I am thinking about is dying it ... I wanted to go black but maybe just chocolate brown or dark red. It's not that I'm itching to change my hair color, but more that I want chemicals in my hair! (They say that lice don't like treated hair). What do you think???Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-58478779996341448512009-10-07T13:57:00.000-07:002009-10-07T14:06:53.606-07:00Painting<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIXH0_vHrcJCGizRVQliEl-Bji_MRbeUihU5OOXya6awHB5C-P4y8_sUa4QLTYNZDONTuNobCXVZox4k1LtZnkWxclPYNksY7lDUreceFXmmuBinOVe7s0Fs1CpA-U5TEHP8ySpbq4KJG/s1600-h/DSC03468.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIXH0_vHrcJCGizRVQliEl-Bji_MRbeUihU5OOXya6awHB5C-P4y8_sUa4QLTYNZDONTuNobCXVZox4k1LtZnkWxclPYNksY7lDUreceFXmmuBinOVe7s0Fs1CpA-U5TEHP8ySpbq4KJG/s320/DSC03468.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389967429981542130" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNIpsP9O1dg_QM-2BE7F3lLi_rCn0hIeTZhTDsPsr0Y6MMyK6xhrNRZM63VwQYt9lANr5meApXiTYKPl4R2GHlNN5Sj3zPaDtM-Q9pGgY-NF5InZqMcFKPg3zJXZmuxaACfb88so0ACE67/s1600-h/DSC03469.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNIpsP9O1dg_QM-2BE7F3lLi_rCn0hIeTZhTDsPsr0Y6MMyK6xhrNRZM63VwQYt9lANr5meApXiTYKPl4R2GHlNN5Sj3zPaDtM-Q9pGgY-NF5InZqMcFKPg3zJXZmuxaACfb88so0ACE67/s320/DSC03469.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389967414848331202" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHDVZo-EP1hCxjL88OhhOO6hx6Jxf8STzwyErNlJfY5hOnUSJyREIQsBfeDl0yGVGrrbTgVSf5iK9ehksviLpmQ-d1lS9L5lvfoV0A-fkB_tgB_uFnlIeN2wlVbJo3HdiEg6rIaQf90jJ/s1600-h/DSC03467.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHDVZo-EP1hCxjL88OhhOO6hx6Jxf8STzwyErNlJfY5hOnUSJyREIQsBfeDl0yGVGrrbTgVSf5iK9ehksviLpmQ-d1lS9L5lvfoV0A-fkB_tgB_uFnlIeN2wlVbJo3HdiEg6rIaQf90jJ/s320/DSC03467.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389967412688417682" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j7UVsvBuDtE5rMUuHS4dY2J68K0rHjN5FQFRinkAfb41VTnT5c4S87TLmpnSXz8Ce9tVBAuj7qRxJ2Ucp7oEA4SPdDNVD5ICOACVYoxM7Sj-uJje0-c11GKS3lyQR3Qyie149c2eppN9/s1600-h/DSC03474.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j7UVsvBuDtE5rMUuHS4dY2J68K0rHjN5FQFRinkAfb41VTnT5c4S87TLmpnSXz8Ce9tVBAuj7qRxJ2Ucp7oEA4SPdDNVD5ICOACVYoxM7Sj-uJje0-c11GKS3lyQR3Qyie149c2eppN9/s320/DSC03474.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389967403166485042" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32ISCRefoN2nosToUhg1Ab6_AqbOGCnO1cFZ_wlAvYnjyLeOmX2Spu4MWhUAb1E-TqIuPHRH0BvKDRqWU1gf_iqW1OBR1xXn5JAYJBE48M4h6GXnA756pcZnApc8seDFwtT3T7Hj-FDlo/s1600-h/DSC03473.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32ISCRefoN2nosToUhg1Ab6_AqbOGCnO1cFZ_wlAvYnjyLeOmX2Spu4MWhUAb1E-TqIuPHRH0BvKDRqWU1gf_iqW1OBR1xXn5JAYJBE48M4h6GXnA756pcZnApc8seDFwtT3T7Hj-FDlo/s320/DSC03473.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389967399580788434" /></a><br />Here are some more pictures of my kids painting in art class. (SEE POST BELOW).Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-57894594748500509592009-10-07T13:43:00.000-07:002009-10-07T13:55:31.347-07:00My little Artists!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGmSCSgyBzFj-Jzcw_DDO7FyL9I2432KBe0sPQ4Jbw04zj13w0Kyue2WjuTU95yT0I3Fzd3SGTBMbTBUYXphEl09igJQlFCbetneyVlJ7vgCVW12mmKUAz-pOgBVHI4tX7RhoSB_N_2W2/s1600-h/DSC03472.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJGmSCSgyBzFj-Jzcw_DDO7FyL9I2432KBe0sPQ4Jbw04zj13w0Kyue2WjuTU95yT0I3Fzd3SGTBMbTBUYXphEl09igJQlFCbetneyVlJ7vgCVW12mmKUAz-pOgBVHI4tX7RhoSB_N_2W2/s320/DSC03472.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389964497764808914" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyydD0SQ3fDxq4YvG18lrRYnlR2kMpHqAqmhI-KjAgbtsw9vNqlm0GAPfdvUwIXSkOi3qMsUfWyJj0aDMt663EpCEQFPeRHNoLBssATqxewIeOjoDJjqErpDVNj2Ishp3R9ZHneXMcJhN/s1600-h/DSC03470.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyydD0SQ3fDxq4YvG18lrRYnlR2kMpHqAqmhI-KjAgbtsw9vNqlm0GAPfdvUwIXSkOi3qMsUfWyJj0aDMt663EpCEQFPeRHNoLBssATqxewIeOjoDJjqErpDVNj2Ishp3R9ZHneXMcJhN/s320/DSC03470.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389964489435273394" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9DXidFZVrmw7mXdYjE4e32PrpUoJW7Lx_f6AOum8NOGKL29Ru_W7FWwCLmGBCLwRyNcD9znYdQrgBUxzc6rcyhrWOFr8BjNAIlBu9U6yuYFS68Dyl0LF8h1KwmXzXYPOG6JqFuKSdx1J/s1600-h/DSC03465.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9DXidFZVrmw7mXdYjE4e32PrpUoJW7Lx_f6AOum8NOGKL29Ru_W7FWwCLmGBCLwRyNcD9znYdQrgBUxzc6rcyhrWOFr8BjNAIlBu9U6yuYFS68Dyl0LF8h1KwmXzXYPOG6JqFuKSdx1J/s320/DSC03465.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389964481350552482" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-BjMI8H39Tc8foVZKqxHLyu8riU7-3Kah1cXhOFs6qfjE9PoKVhC9d23jBC9LINFL3eVG2z76UrBxXJDYLU7htnRKhwMAdq5rwxEyU0D9agIdWgjfr2FltL3ljy-RoDAhGMedA7faoIv/s1600-h/DSC03464.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-BjMI8H39Tc8foVZKqxHLyu8riU7-3Kah1cXhOFs6qfjE9PoKVhC9d23jBC9LINFL3eVG2z76UrBxXJDYLU7htnRKhwMAdq5rwxEyU0D9agIdWgjfr2FltL3ljy-RoDAhGMedA7faoIv/s320/DSC03464.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389964473038554962" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpINL8JoouPVmLV1VIKw7Uel9KQJ0O3jPTYD6JkW3sBpJi79B_fQK9fwN3RPqyPKLp6dp_6a7346nU7DSOwk654zHTFqsMAFFHCsqARkv3hY-tI2O2qiRmWZ5gvn6FMsg5Uc_1k1xs5w3/s1600-h/DSC03463.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 286px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpINL8JoouPVmLV1VIKw7Uel9KQJ0O3jPTYD6JkW3sBpJi79B_fQK9fwN3RPqyPKLp6dp_6a7346nU7DSOwk654zHTFqsMAFFHCsqARkv3hY-tI2O2qiRmWZ5gvn6FMsg5Uc_1k1xs5w3/s320/DSC03463.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389964466356459874" /></a><br />Our first couple of weeks, art class was taught by Miss Emily. Emily is Tandy's best friend. She lives in Dallas, TX and used to be a junior high art teacher. Now she is working as a full-time artist... and she is amazing. Emily was here in Shell for two weeks to help teach the kids about painting... how to mix colors, how to hold the brush, texture, etc. The kids were each given a blank square board. The first class was all about the background color. Then, in the second class they had to think of something they think is beautiful and then paint it. At first, the kids kind of freaked out. I could tell they were thinking, "How in the world do I start?!" But once they started, they flew with it. All of my kids are such the artists! And they loved it too. The best part is that their painitings will be hung on the walls for everyone to see in the brand new building on the new property for the orphanage. I am so proud :)Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-54290159863854067432009-10-04T20:47:00.001-07:002009-10-04T21:05:38.251-07:00My "Homies"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9r0kL8fzL-HanFYW5Rt48I5Gm1g9qdRAgE6wMv9G_k69CP4b6xzhKiilRAmeKYtdeCJYvvKE9hW-BQH_LCzqHKB4JcZkfovvmWwPM34j1rrZ5_rL9VnWUxIE-qjCU-N-DXxDvtvUIA95/s1600-h/cheerleaders.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9r0kL8fzL-HanFYW5Rt48I5Gm1g9qdRAgE6wMv9G_k69CP4b6xzhKiilRAmeKYtdeCJYvvKE9hW-BQH_LCzqHKB4JcZkfovvmWwPM34j1rrZ5_rL9VnWUxIE-qjCU-N-DXxDvtvUIA95/s320/cheerleaders.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388961859754151234" /></a><br />So I haven't shared anything about my roommates yet! We actually call each other "homemates" instead of "roommates" or "housemates" because while we are here, we ARE each others' home. So my two homies are the two other teachers at Casa de Fe, Melissa and Dallas. They are pretty much AWESOME. Melissa is from Kansas City and taught my class last year at Casa de Fe. This year she is the kindergarten teacher. She enjoys cooking (and I enjoy her cooking), knitting, and having random dance parties with me in our pajamas. Dallas is from Tacoma, Washington and is the 1st-3rd grade teacher at Casa de Fe. We call her the "muscles of the house" because whenever there's a jungle size bug in our house (not so rare I'm afraid), she is the only one man enough to kill it. She is also currently surviving the military-man run aerobics classes with me. Oh yeah, and she loves movies. I figured I should share a picture too, so this is one we created ourselves one Friday night for school spirit purposes. In all seriousness, we really are each other's cheerleaders. I don't know what I'd do without 'em!Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992370740613393572.post-61912732949106837232009-09-27T16:32:00.000-07:002009-09-27T16:39:18.073-07:00Our "little" visitor.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5hXXtmnVEWNgiiVZqNOkjgWRSJ91DpS-4WNAJlbZYKspAnSLEsjvQ292oEq7ydk3X7L77UJLhtiIqhv3rvgjePaGq3xYDor68huWTSlHeHXbQG548rTyHnj0AXcD0II77MVoU9jHUE-E/s1600-h/spider.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5hXXtmnVEWNgiiVZqNOkjgWRSJ91DpS-4WNAJlbZYKspAnSLEsjvQ292oEq7ydk3X7L77UJLhtiIqhv3rvgjePaGq3xYDor68huWTSlHeHXbQG548rTyHnj0AXcD0II77MVoU9jHUE-E/s320/spider.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386295798082546626" /></a><br />It's Saturday morning, and Melissa and I are enjoying a cup of coffee and working on our homemade bread.... when suddenly this jungle sized monster of a spider comes crawling our way. Needless to say, we jumped on the kitchen chairs and screamed to our other roommate to call for help. Yeah, we called for help. Our friend, Ivan, was at work so he told us to trap it and he would come kill it for us. He came over that afternoon, put 5 socks on his hand, took it outside and smashed it with a rock. I'm not sure what kind of spider it was, but he said if it had gotten us with its fangs we would've had to go to the hospital. Good thing we have friends like Ivan! And all I can say is I hope this thing didnt have babies in our house....Alison Bowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03294567115483541458noreply@blogger.com0