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Good afternoon Phil & Angie!
WOW!!! We have been enjoying a GREAT November here at the toddler house, with so much to be thankful for!
Two new little girls came to live with us last week. Both have adjusted well, and are making new friends and bonding with their nannies. They are smart and happy little girls. They both LOVE to talk, so have fit right in!!! When I first brought them in to meet all the kids, the older girl said to me, “OH, They are making so much NOISE!” She was very clearly annoyed, but within two days she had joined in as one of the noise makers!
We have been blessed by a great group of volunteers; sadly five of them left us last week. They are sorely missed. Before they went though we wanted to have a party so we held our second annual Toddler House Carnival! Our 32 oldest children participated while the younger children napped. We had 7 event stations that each child completed. Two events tied as their polled favorites: “Royal Portraits” – where each child dressed up in any way that they desired and sat on the “throne” to have their picture taken; as well as the “Relay Race”, which is always a hit with these kids! They had to do four tasks, 1.) walk on stilt cans, 2.)jump through the course in a flour sack, 3.) balance a spoon on an egg while running to the finish line, & 4.) tightrope walk the balance beam. The first of these tasks was the most difficult for all involved, it was very touching to see the older children helping the younger ones stay on their stilts. When the day was over a few of the children even became quite good at it! I have the stilts tucked away now, out of sight but not out of mind, several of the kids have asked when they can play with them again! Other events included: “BIG Bubbles”, “Fishing Pond”, “Bean Bag Toss” , “ Juice Bottle Bowling”, and lastly “Water Balloon Throw”.
Joyce’s English class enjoyed two weeks of crafty lessons. There were a variety of projects ranging from glittery lunch bag windsocks – to learn weather vocabulary, cotton puff sheep – to learn about texture adjectives, all the way to making scaly snakes – for the age old counting game. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the change of lesson material, even though they still had to complete their daily worksheets as homework!
Joyce’s mother Barb came for her biannual visit the beginning of the month, and we were blessed with her energy and enthusiasm for two full weeks! The moment the kids heard that I was going to the airport to pick her up, they started chattering about the “katon sirét” which translates into a PINATA!!!! If Barb ever shows up in Haiti without a piñata I don’t believe the kids will be able to forgive her. We had a great morning taking turns hitting it open. Even the nannies took a swing, with the children cheering them on. The kids again impressed me with their thoughtfulness of the younger children and sharing their stash with them.
One more major event that will be forever a memory to these kids, was our afternoon of Crab Soccer. I don’t know if you are familiar with this game or not, but if not you are certainly missing out! Its goals and rules are the same as that of regular soccer, EXCEPT that the ball is 3 feet in diameter, and you must play in facing upwards walking on your hands and knees, hence “crab walking”. The ball was bigger than many of our kids are!!!! Some ran screaming after it, and then when it rolled back towards them they ran screaming away from it! I tried to keep the little guys off the playing field for fear that they would be bowled over, however two of our little ones were just not content participating in a non-active way, and made a game of being chased off the field!
There is never a dull moment here! And this year as we reflect on God’s blessings, I cannot even put into words how thankful I am for each of the sixty-two little angels that I am blessed to know and live among.
I pray that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are surrounded by the love of friends and family! Know that Ronaldo is here giving thanks for you!
Blessings,
WOW!!! We have been enjoying a GREAT November here at the toddler house, with so much to be thankful for!
Two new little girls came to live with us last week. Both have adjusted well, and are making new friends and bonding with their nannies. They are smart and happy little girls. They both LOVE to talk, so have fit right in!!! When I first brought them in to meet all the kids, the older girl said to me, “OH, They are making so much NOISE!” She was very clearly annoyed, but within two days she had joined in as one of the noise makers!
We have been blessed by a great group of volunteers; sadly five of them left us last week. They are sorely missed. Before they went though we wanted to have a party so we held our second annual Toddler House Carnival! Our 32 oldest children participated while the younger children napped. We had 7 event stations that each child completed. Two events tied as their polled favorites: “Royal Portraits” – where each child dressed up in any way that they desired and sat on the “throne” to have their picture taken; as well as the “Relay Race”, which is always a hit with these kids! They had to do four tasks, 1.) walk on stilt cans, 2.)jump through the course in a flour sack, 3.) balance a spoon on an egg while running to the finish line, & 4.) tightrope walk the balance beam. The first of these tasks was the most difficult for all involved, it was very touching to see the older children helping the younger ones stay on their stilts. When the day was over a few of the children even became quite good at it! I have the stilts tucked away now, out of sight but not out of mind, several of the kids have asked when they can play with them again! Other events included: “BIG Bubbles”, “Fishing Pond”, “Bean Bag Toss” , “ Juice Bottle Bowling”, and lastly “Water Balloon Throw”.
Joyce’s English class enjoyed two weeks of crafty lessons. There were a variety of projects ranging from glittery lunch bag windsocks – to learn weather vocabulary, cotton puff sheep – to learn about texture adjectives, all the way to making scaly snakes – for the age old counting game. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the change of lesson material, even though they still had to complete their daily worksheets as homework!
Joyce’s mother Barb came for her biannual visit the beginning of the month, and we were blessed with her energy and enthusiasm for two full weeks! The moment the kids heard that I was going to the airport to pick her up, they started chattering about the “katon sirét” which translates into a PINATA!!!! If Barb ever shows up in Haiti without a piñata I don’t believe the kids will be able to forgive her. We had a great morning taking turns hitting it open. Even the nannies took a swing, with the children cheering them on. The kids again impressed me with their thoughtfulness of the younger children and sharing their stash with them.
One more major event that will be forever a memory to these kids, was our afternoon of Crab Soccer. I don’t know if you are familiar with this game or not, but if not you are certainly missing out! Its goals and rules are the same as that of regular soccer, EXCEPT that the ball is 3 feet in diameter, and you must play in facing upwards walking on your hands and knees, hence “crab walking”. The ball was bigger than many of our kids are!!!! Some ran screaming after it, and then when it rolled back towards them they ran screaming away from it! I tried to keep the little guys off the playing field for fear that they would be bowled over, however two of our little ones were just not content participating in a non-active way, and made a game of being chased off the field!
There is never a dull moment here! And this year as we reflect on God’s blessings, I cannot even put into words how thankful I am for each of the sixty-two little angels that I am blessed to know and live among.
I pray that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are surrounded by the love of friends and family! Know that Ronaldo is here giving thanks for you!
Blessings,
Molly
