Another morning at church!

This morning, a few of the volunteers wanted to try out the church Sarah and I attend, so they met us at the hogar to pick up the kids... It was great as we got to take some of the youngest ones who hardly get out of the house as we had extra help today (we usually only can take the big girls and toddlers)! We ended up with 12 total, as two of the big girls backed out at the last minute. It's never an easy, calm morning with so many little ones, but it sure is fun and a great start to our week!

 C. got to come to church for the first time! He did so well and looked too cute!

These two (the "old married couple" as Sarah referred to them) also got to tag along this week and did pretty well too!

 J. didn't join us but did request a picture with her baby before we left!

 The motley crew... S. changed her mind at the last minute and decided to stay home to help with the other babies... Everyone else was stuck with us!

 R. looked SO cute!

 She loves going to church!

 Biggest girls and littlest girls

 Caught in the act... I was trying to get a cute picture of them standing together and right as the picture was being taken, R. reached out and hit A. in the face...

 There's always something that makes us arrive late... This morning it was a nosebleed as soon as the taxi arrived!

One of our church members (sitting next to Sarah) has moved to another city outside of Cochabamba for mission work. Today was her last Sunday at church and she requested a picture of everyone at the end of the service. This isn't quite everyone, but it's most of them... LOVE this church and how well they care for everyone!

Including the driver, we had 18 in our taxi back home... The more the merrier!

A Day with S.!

Usually on days we have kids at our house, we fill them with all sorts of fun activities outside, around the neighborhood, or at the park. With elections, nothing was opened and I still had a lot of school work to do so we ended up spending most of the day inside with a quick trip out for dinner. Our little charges handled it well, however, and they managed to find all sorts of ways to keep themselves entertained! They go back to the hogar early tomorrow morning, and I don't think any of us are particularly looking forward to it... However, trying to do a lot of school work while also keeping watch over a 5 year old was a bit more work than I think I may be ready for right now... Next time we'll let her come for visits when I have a day off after!

Taken last night right after I arrived home... Too tired to even sit up and play!

When we were given permission to bring E. and S. over, part of the deal was that we'd work with them on academic concepts... S. just started kindergarten so I gave her some of my leftover "Community Helpers" pages to work on.

 E.'s doctor picture looked a bit demonic when he was finished with it!

Now practicing her name... She's so smart but has NO idea where to even begin with her name!

Now time for a little math... He was starting to understand the iPad game but writing double digit numbers completely escaped her... We've got a ways to go it would appear!

 She's come so far with Crocodile Dentist! When my mom first sent it to me, she was terrified of it. Now she looks for it when she comes over!

My mom also sent this hedgehog sun catcher and S. had a lot of fun painting it!

"I really don't need to sleep. I'm not tired"... And this was five minutes later and what turned into a four hour long nap. I finished my school work just as soon as she woke up so it was definitely good timing!

 When S. was playing in the bath, I sat down on the edge and said I was going to wash off my feet. She offered to give me a "pedicure" so how could I have said no?!

 Being so helpful and taking out the trash!

Waiting on dinner to arrive!

Sleepover!

Tomorrow is a very important election day in Bolivia. As usual, there won't be any transportation and no group meetings are allowed to take place... meaning church won't be happening and we won't have any way to go to the hogar to see the kids. Sarah and I really didn't want to be stuck at home alone all day, so earlier tonight she asked for permission for E. and S. to come over for a sleepover. I have a lot of school work to do this weekend and was out working on it with the other kinder teacher, and when I got home I was so happy to see my favorite little bear at home! It was nearly midnight and she was too exhausted to even sit up to play! She was laying on the floor, half asleep waiting on me to get home. Poor thing was so tired! She was asleep the minute I put her to bed! 

Come back tomorrow to see pictures of our adventures... 

Feliz Cumpleaños, M.!

M. turns 1 today! We had a bit of confusion over who was making the cake and he ended up with a huge cake today, and I have another for tomorrow... I don't think anyone will complain!

I feel like I NEVER see the kids anymore so made sure to get lots of pictures of them today :)

 Our youngest party guests... Unfortunately so young they don't get to try any cake yet!

 Birthday boy eating his dinner!

 Time to get the party started!

 Just a quick picture with a few of his most excited party guests!

 Birthdays are pretty great!

 Biting his cake with the help of his tías!

 So unimpressed. Ha!

 They were supposed to be helping me clean the tables. Instead they moved all the crumbs into a pile and were taking turns "biting the cake." Always helpful, those two!

S. kept asking if I'd spend the night tonight and when I said I was planning on going home, she offered to braid my hair in an effort to get me to stay a little longer... She knows I won't say no to her fancy (crazy?) hairstyles!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My little Valentines would like to wish you the sweetest of Valentine's Days today! There is never a shortage of love (they live in a "House of Love" after all!), and while we don't need a special day to remind us to love each other, we're up for any excuse to wear pink and love each other a little more! We had a fun morning at church and out to lunch... They'll be having cake for Tía Mirtha's birthday tomorrow so I didn't make them any more sweet treats... We'll save that for another day!

 Brother didn't have anything pink to match his sister (I better get on that...) so they both got to wear red!

 These two are so full of sass and I LOVE it!

 Quick picture in the street... Depending on which five I take, it's a doable number to take to church on my own... These five were a bit much, however!

 She's one of the few who can make him run!

 Burning off a little energy before church starts and they have to sit!

 After church we went out for empanadas with some friends! They bought the kids ice cream after they finished eating.

I can always count on her to share ice cream with me! :)

 This girl... She has changed so much. When she arrived, we were told her family only spoke Aymara so she didn't know Spanish... And it was true. She didn't understand anything we said to her and certainly didn't speak Spanish (didn't speak anything really). One of the tías tried to speak to her in Aymara but she didn't respond at all. We weren't really sure what was "wrong" with her. Today at lunch, Angelica asked her a question in Aymara and she immediately understood and shook her head "yes!" She just started pre-school and is doing well overall... and for the first time since she arrived last September, she's talking and understands so much of what we tell her!

Eating her ice cream without a care in the world!

Always my valentine!