The beginning of the end

I bought a teepee!!! It was on super clearance, and the kids love it. I added it to the reading station and put the music stuff in there.  

Impromptu band after school waiting for moms to come. 

One of our projects we finished in school. The kids loves them, of course everything they love is a little annoying so they were sent home. :)

More music, except I made them. hot glued some plastic plates together, after I drilled some holes. then tied on some bottle caps I smashed, they are wonderful. 

Maura has chicks, and occasionally they come downstairs and it follows me everywhere.

Auden and Wendy bought themselves a new mattress, KING sized so there will be room for the kids to crawl in with them in the mornings. However, they had some car trouble and had to spend the night at my house on the way home with it. Which gave me the opportunity of lifting a King sized mattress on the top of a car- cross that off the list? Haha, but better I got to see how ridiculous they look with the giant mattress atop their little car, for a 2 hour drive north on the Pan American. 

While preparing for Thanksgiving, Paolo of course wanted to help me. So I threw a little flour out for him to play with and he had a blast, and had flour in his diaper. 

Keili got Auden to build her a new swing, but she requested some safety features of her own design. Paolo tried it out when we were their for Thanksgiving but it wasn't so safe, because he had to hold onto the pole and use all his little stomach muscles to hold himself forward but could sit up straight cause of the safety pole. 

Resting outside in the bright and warm sun after a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with my American/Mexican Peruvian family. 

I wanted to make the kids some stilts so when canned peaches were on sale we made peach cobbler, and got stilts! The kids loved them, and fought over them for a whole day and a half until some of the bigger kids used them and they got too dented to be safe to walk on anymore. 

Everyday in school the kids get some delicious gummy vitamins., that were brought down by a church from Lubbock in June. I opened our very last bottle last week and I found this. About 30 gummies had become one giant gummy that all the children wanted as their own. I thought it was kind of funny, this was the only set of gummies that had this happen out of about 13 bottles. I was able to distinguish and separate out the gummies well enough so it wasn't a loss. 

It is Christmas time and everyone loves Christmas! We painted some Christmas trees in class using potato stamps. Three different sized triangles and a star for the top. Most of the kids put the triangles in the correct order, a few of them however may topple over if they were indeed real trees. 

Kevin, Paolo, and I were playing in the Psychologist's Room this past Sunday, even though we probably weren't supposed to be in there. It used to be unlocked for the kids to play, but then the little kids never cleaned up, so it was locked. But Paolo always cleans up for the most part, and he needs a place where he can play and touch everything without being told no. Life is getting a little more frustrating for him since he can reach most things, and get everywhere by himself, and he wants to figure out what things are by touching them, but he really shouldn't. 

This is one of our favorite toys. I of course get the microphone second hand after he yells in it, and his snot and drool get stuck on it he then presses it up against my mouth for a turn, glad I have a superior immune system.

Loves the giant mirror, and climbing. 

Paolo and me playing one of our favorite games of Can you Build a Tower Faster than Baby can Destroy It?

Going back to everyone loves Christmas, the girls at Casa de Paz love Christmas! And making decorations for the house. Last week we made these lanterns with whatever Christmas picture they wanted on it. They even painted them during the week. When I walked in on Friday I found them all in a semi circle bordering the Christmas Tree Skirt.

Here is Greisy cutting out he ornament for the tree. We shaved all my crummy crayons from school down, and them melted them between wax paper and hung them up on the tree. They loved it. They are definitely crafty girls, or they are when I bring projects they sat there working for a few hours. I didn't take too many pictures cause it was pretty involved using the iron and helping the girls. 

And then I forgot to take pictures of theirs but this is mine that I made and put on the tree when I was telling them how to do it. They made all sorts of them, stockings, trees, boots, flowers, stars, bells, butterflies, and some I don't remember.

The Craziness begins

      Well if you all remember, I am coming home now in less that ten days. My flight leaves Lima the 14th of January at like 10 in the morning. I get into Miami 6 hours later, then have a couple hours in layover time, I got to Dallas, wait another hour, then I get to Austin at about 10-10:30 the same night. 

     However, it feels like such a long time still before I leave. I have now 2 days left of school, which I am excited about it being over, I am tired and ready for "summer break" (which will hopefully only last until the 1st week of January providing and praying that I get hired at a school for the spring semester). So Wednesday is the last day of school. I have already gathered all of the school things that are my own and that I want to keep, and so we will be using all the things I am leaving for the next 2 days. Thursday is the Clausura, which is when I give them their grades, and we are also handing out some attendance awards. Wendy and I don't really understand why this is an important day for preschool, but apparently it is so we are having one. Friday at 3 we have the promotion for the 3 maybe 4 of our 5 year olds that will be going to first grade in March/April. 

     Promotions are also a big to do. We are very blessed to have been provided a place to hold it since our current school is little and won't fit everyone and their families. A man is letting us us his space that is on the main plaza, and even his tables and chairs, we just have to give him S/20 for electricity. Pretty cool. The promotion will be at 3 with a meal and hopefully be over and cleaned up around 5, then we will hop in the car back to Pacasmayo/Jequetepeque, and even more craziness will be going on. 

     I hadn't been planning on going to the Mayorista (the largest Market in Trujillo) again before I left. However, Gina, the director of the orphanage, decided to do Jacky's Quincenaera on the 10th so Kevin and I would be able to be there for her (now just me cause Kevin has extended his stay until the 29th of Dec). Gina also asked me if I would help put it together. Which I don't know if people know this about me but I actually really enjoy planning for weddings and other big events and such, so I don't mind, and it is for my "little sister" so I am even more willing. Everything is cheaper in Trujillo at the Mayorista so , I am in charge of the buying of balloons, disposable plates, forks, cups, ribbon, and maybe some other things hope I didn't loose that list. I also volunteered to make the cake (otherwise it could be not so great, and I love making cakes for people especially the kids), I am going to borrow some tiers from the party store, and make some tiers out of cupcakes, then do a 2 layered 8" round cake for the top tier. Pray it all turns out and their is no running out of time for anything!

    I am probably not going to be able to make the cakes until Saturday, but her party isn't until 7 so we should be good. I am able to bake 30 cupcakes at a time in their oven using their big pan and my silicone muffin cups. It will be enough cake for 38 guests and the other 20 kids at the orphanage who aren't coming (she only wants the big kids there, which is understandable).

   I also got to go dress shopping with Jacky and Gina this past Saturday. Jacky didn't understand how complicated and time intensive it can be to find the dress, so I had to educate her. We found her dress at the last store we went to. It is beautiful, and she of course is beautiful in it. I will post a picture after, because we don't want anyone to see her dress before hand. 

    After the Quinceanera I will have one more day at the orphanage to say farewell to all the kids. It is going to be really tough for me. The last three weeks have been really tough for me already, so keep me in your prayers on the 11th. After many hugs, kisses, and inevitable tears Kevin and I will hop on a bus to my house in Trujillo, an get up early to catch a flight to Lima Monday morning. The plan is to relax, close out my resident card, meet up with Gaby, and go paragliding off the coast (since the weather was a no go when my dad was here). Then Wednesday morning it is up early and to the airport one last time.