Love is in the air!

In Mrs. Encarnacion's first graders' air, to be precise. I don't know why these incidents seem to be restricted to her class, but I have not noticed it in either of the other 2 classes. First grade PE is the highlight of my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I wish everyone could get to know the special little people that I have the privilege to teach. These kids provide most of my funny sayings by students. A few weeks ago, I was lining the kids up in a certain order to play a game, and I told Juan to go stand between Alexandria and Nathalie. His answer was, "Between Alexandria and Nathalie??? Por fin! (translation-finally!)" I hear from his teacher that it is not a good idea to put him near those two again. She tells me this is not an isolated experience. On Wednesday, we were headed inside from PE, and Carolina raised her hand to tell me, "Teacher, Johnmarco said he loves me!" It was not a complaint, or something that bothered her, she just wanted me to know. Apparently they have to be separated in class because they have been blowing kisses, and touching each other often. And finally, this morning in early arrival, Juan (yes, the same one) raised his hand and said, "Teacher, Nayari is doing to me like this," as he went through the motions of blowing kisses. This one I think was pretty one sided because he did not seem very happy about it.

Vacation?

Last weekend we supposedly had a day of vacation, but I am very much looking forward to this weekend so I can recover from last weekend. On Saturday, we had Fall Fest (a school fundraiser), which meant booths, activities and food for 650+ kids and their parents. The entire week before was spent planning and setting up for this. Quite a busy day, but enjoyable. I was in charge of the art activity, as well as in charge of the art contest. I was rather discouraged when I arrived Saturday morning when half the art projects I had posted the night before were on the floor. Thankfully Priscilla, Valentina and Philip were there and helped me finish putting them up. I would not have finished without their help. The art activity was pretty messy, but then some of the best art projects are the messiest. For 2 tickets, the kids got a piece of paper, and they could either paint with the provided paints and brushes, or use birdseed and glue to make a picture.

On Monday, we had a college and career activity. Janice volunteered me to help her plan it, and we had a great time all around, but we have said that never again will we volunteer to plan something for the Monday after fall fest-too much to do! We split the college kids into 2 teams for a photo scavenger hunt. Each team had a list of pictures that they had to take, including things such as:

□ Everyone waving at a parking lot security guard
□ Guys on the team in front of a gas station selling gas for $0.56
□ Meet someone with the same name as a team member and take a picture of the two of them
□ Picture of group serenading a stranger with a Christmas carol
□ The Driver shaking hands with a McDonald’s manager
□ The reflection of your team in a mirror. (Just the reflection not the actual people.)
□ Your team looking over the edge of a parking garage wall. Picture must be taken from the ground. Team must be on second level or higher

(if you would like a more thorough list, leave a comment with contact info and I can email you the list)
Janice and I had great fun making up the list of pictures. For the bonus, they had to solve a series of riddles to figure out the final word (Spain) which they had to spell by forming the letters with the bodies of team members on the lawn of the fort. Since we planned the whole thing, we were the photographers, and we were not allowed to help our team at all. Half the fun was listening to them try to figure things out. The whole thing was a great success, and we've been told that we're planning the next one too. Maybe someday in all my extra time, I'll post some of the pictures we took.

Wednesday night I was especially thankful for God's protection. It was raining so hard as I went home that I could hardly see, and I missed my exit. Since the only way back home from where I was passed through a street that always floods pretty badly when it rains, I stopped at Burger King until the rain let up enough for me to make it home. I love storms, especially ones with lots of lightning, but it was unnerving to be by myself at night and not able to see the road because of the rain. But God kept me safe, and I made it home.

Hopefully this weekend will be uneventful. There is a ladies fellowship tonight, but after that, I plan on lots of sleep this weekend.