Compliment Party, Visitors, and Outing!

Last week, we enjoyed a "compliment party" at school! The kids work hard to accumulate 10 days on which they've earned a compliment for their overall day and then we throw a party. Our theme this time was Twin Day and "Minute to Win It!" They had one to dress the same as one other student and throughout the day we gave them a ton of minute-long challenges or relay races to complete with their "twin." We had a blast! 

We also have been enjoying the company of a wonderful family visiting on a mission trip. They've been helping us in school, in the house, with organization, with technology, and in many other areas! We are very grateful for them! 

One other fun event that took place this week was a special "thank-you" trip for two of the women from the village that helped us out so faithfully when the Acosta family was in the States. We were able  to enjoy as they experienced a movie theater for the first time in their lives! We had a blast!

I hope you enjoy the pictures below! :)

Twin Day "twins!"

Yes, even the teachers joined the "twin" fun!

Minute-to-Win-It Donut Challenge!

A trip to the store to enjoy some treats!

Cheerios and shaving cream make excellent beards in one minute! :)

A minute to make the best mummy!

A minute to make the highest tower!

A beautiful birthday cake made for one of our little ones this week by one of our very own teens! Amazing handiwork!

These are barn owl eggs! We have a barn owl nesting in the unfinished part of the third story in the shelter! Our very own zoo experience! 

The wonderful family visiting us on a mission trip!

Having fun studying turtles in science!

Hanging with "Daddy"-grilling corn

Outing to the movie theater

A wonderful surprise in our room right before bed!

This was actually one of two scorpions that we saw in our room within about 20 minutes. Gotta love it!

The Week in Review

We have had a great week filled with some special events and just good day-to-day life! Last week, we celebrated another birthday (we have birthdays quite often around here :). As you can see, his cake of choice was a minion from Despicable Me! 

After the birthday celebration, we loaded up the van and headed into the city to participate in a big fundraiser put together for us. It was an auction that took place in a beautiful restaurant.  The kids sang a couple songs and recited some verses in front of the crowd, and even had a chance to auction off their own artwork. They had a great time! 

Auction items (signed jerseys from a famous race car driver and soccer player)

More auction items

Singing our songs!

The director and his wife gave a summary of  the ministry.

School Happenings...

Earlier last week, my math class was interrupted when we spotted a little stowaway in our classroom :). We caught him and he is now our classroom pet. I should say "she" as the kids have named her "Lizzie the Lizard." 

Our new little lizard fit perfectly into my habitat science lesson plans! We spent the afternoon making a little habitat perfect for Lizzie!

Maestra Jenny's class is studying the phases of the moon! Such a fun and tasty way to learn! :) 

The Precious, Precious Faith of a Child

I was washing dishes last night, when one of our 6-year-old children came up to me bouncing up and down with excitement. "Maestra Amber, Maestra Jenny is going to pull my other tooth out! And then I'm going to get money under my pillow tonight!" I smiled and joined in her excitement, but was not prepared for the sentence that came next: "I'm going to put it in the offering tomorrow so that I will get my riches in heaven!" Same excited smile, same joyful bouncing...simple, pure faith. How is it that she can see so clearly what the rest of us miss? The direct correlation between giving and receiving...the postponing of temporary pleasure for eternal gain...the joy that comes with giving back to the One who gave so much...the integration of heaven into our daily lives. She gets it...true joy...she has it! Oh, that we might learn from the faith of a child!

Update at Last! :)

A LOT has happened over the past month, but our internet has been down so I haven't been able to post an update! Hopefully, I can summarize with the pictures below!

The Acosta family was in the States for a couple months to drop kids off to college, attend a family wedding, and visit supporters, so a couple named Katie and Noah stepped into their shoes for about a month and a half. To thank them for their hard work, we had a little going away party for them when they left in mid-September! 

After they left, we stepped into the role of primary caretakers. It was quite busy with full-time teaching (not to mention we fought a battle with mold that had stealthily overtaken our room in the middle of the craziness), but for the most part everything went well. We enjoyed a birthday celebration for Tia Jo before they left in mid-September!

Hurray for Maestra Jenny's bday! 

The Acostas came back this past weekend! It was so good to see them! They were welcomed them back with two birthday celebrations!

"La Elotiza"

We celebrated our annual corn harvest celebration on Saturday! A ton of friends are invited over to enjoy as much grilled/boiled corn as possible. The popular toppings here are sour cream, chile powder, and lime! 

The HUGE homemade grill :)

Shucking corn with the best of them!

A little taste of school...

In the K-1 Bible class, we studied about having "ears to hear" what God is saying to us through his Word. The kids loved their little "ears!" :)

                                      

We're reading the book "Poppy" by Avi for read-aloud and did some research on the great-horned owl in the story! Thanks Grandma for the wonderful bird book ;)!