Thanks Aunt Lisa!

The girls got brand new headbands and earrings for Valentines day and look beautiful in them! Thanks Aunt Lisa! :)

Computers!

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!

*Princess Party!*

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.

Happy Birthday Nanki!!!

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 :).

New and Beautiful!

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!

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 :).

Fat, Happy Nanki :)

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!

The Zoo

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.