Tasha

I just finished wrapping Tasha's presents...so I can hopefull give it to her tonight. I love giving people presents, it's so fun! But shhh, you can't tell her because I want it to be a surprise. She probably thinks no one has any present for her. Her birthday was actually on the 2nd, same as my brother, and I got to call her and wish her a happy birthday.
Anyway, I love her lots and lots. She is such a good friend and a wonderful person. I hope you have a good year Tash!

Cherish The Children

I just read these cute stories about children and thought you'd enjoy reading them too! Especially those of you who have children, or teach and care for children like I do.


Author and lecturer, Leo Buscaglia, once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was: A four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."
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Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted.
A little girl said, "I know all about adoption, I was adopted."
"What does it mean to be adopted?", asked another child.
"It means", said the girl, "that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!" ****************************************************
On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League base ball game that was being played in a park near my home. As I sat down behind the bench on the first-base line, I asked one of the boys what the score was. "We're behind 14 to nothing," he answered with a smile."Really," I said. "I have to say you don't look very discouraged." "Discouraged?", the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face... "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet."
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Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in life, I stop and think about little Jamie Scott.Jamie was trying out for a part in the school play. His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be chosen. On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement. "Guess what, Mom," he shouted, and then said those words that will remain
a lesson to me....."I've been chosen to clap and cheer." **************************************************
An eye witness account from New York City , on a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the young boy and said, "My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!" "I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,"was the boy's reply. The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, "No doubt, you will be more comfortable now." As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her . "Are you God's wife?"

Sam

Happy Birthday to my dearest little brother Sam! You're so smart, witty, creative, talented, and such a fun little brother. I hope you have lots of fun this coming year. I love you.

Cinnamon Rolls

This evening I really wanted to bake. For some reason had cinnamon rolls stuck in my head...I had to make cinnamon rolls! I got Steve to join me and we had so much fun. He doesn't usually bake and we've never really cooked/baked anything together, so it was a new experience.
Noah came and joined us in the kitchen and we had fun talking. Once we had cooked a batch of rolls, we had to taste them to make sure they were edible for everyone else. According to the boys the cinnamon rolls were a success. So, we're having cinnamon rolls for breakfast.--Hooray!

Chubby Cheeks and Toothless Grins

Some recent pictures and updates of the kids during this last month. They grow so fast...sigh

Brendan: 7months.
So cute! The cutest baby in the whole world. He going through teething, he has two teeth now, and he's being weaned! I can tell you he does not like it one bit. He hates drinking milk bottles but tolerates water. He loves walking, whether in his walker or supported by one of us. It's one of his favorite activities and can keep his happy when nothing else will. He also still loves the great outdoors and can entertain himself for a long time just sitting on the grass.

The pose he likes to take when flirting.

Toothless no more! Take a good look and you can see two little teeth peeking out.

"Baby in a basket." Anything new is totally awesome in the eyes of a little tyke. It also gives me a few extra minutes to clean up any disaster that was made during snack time.

Kiara: 3 years.

We celebrated her birthday on the 22nd on this month, but it's actually on the 18th. There was a big plan for a party with all her little friends but one of the homes have measles and are in quarantine. Her parents made the day as special as they could and she had fun.

She's the best little student a teacher could ever have. She reads and writes so well. This last week she has really overcome her shyness barrier with reading to others. I found her showing off her new skill to a few people in the home! (I'm so proud of her) We try to do French every afternoon. It's so cute when she tries to pronounce the words. When she gets into it she starts asking me for the French names of objects, then she shows of to others at meal times.

She's kind to Brendan and acts like a little mommy for him. I ask her to help watch him and the other day I let her feed him. She really enjoyed that! Sometimes there are little bouts of jealously especially when she sees the interesting baby thing he has. She wants to try anything that's his: his bottles, his baby mush, new cup,..etc.

And she's still very affectionate. She's always holding my arm, kissing it, or asks to give kisses and hugs.

The Princess

Licking frosting of the candles

Look at that serious little face!--so pretty, so cute.

Peace and Quiet

This week we had our monthly prayer day. During the afternoon I decided to take some meditation time going for a walk in our garden and the nature reserve. I hadn't gone for a leisurely walk in so long I had forgotten how peaceful and relaxing it could be. I brought my camera along to capture anything that caught my fancy.--mainly the sunset, it was beautiful.
On my way back to the house I saw a herd of antelope nearby. They hadn't seen me so I kept quiet and tried not to move. Then the wind changed and I think they caught my scent because a few of them were on the alert. A few seconds later the leader gave a snort and they all dashed off to a safer distance. They're such amazing creatures it was so cool to observe them for that short while. Here are some of my favorite shots taken that day. I love sunsets! But look for yourself and tell me which ones you like.

Boabab

Today was my free-day, and I decided "art"! That's what I wanted to do, I wanted to paint.--So I did. I borrowed all the necessary tools from Joy (brushes, guache, pad...) and went to it. Here's my boabab and 'african sunset'.