The Little Red Hen

Last week I read aloud the story of the Little Red Hen to my students. We're starting to talk about chickens since, I suppose, they sort of go with spring. Anyway, once we'd finished reading the story, we then began making a batch of very simple bread, an experience most of the kids hadn't participated in before. They thoroughly enjoyed watching the dough rise and then kneading it after it had risen for a few hours (chanting, "Push, turn, fold" according to the directions I'd given them in how to knead). The next morning, they ate fresh bread with honey, and then the PCS teachers got to eat the left-overs.

Yesterday I assigned the students to teams, and they began writing their own version of the Little Red Hen story. It will be interesting to see how they turn out. One of the teams has an owl as their main character and a meerkat, an elephant, and a worm as the three lazy characters. My little "Happy Feet" student is in that group, and he's loving the chance to write a story. Hm, perhaps I should have the class do more creative writing.

On Sunday afternoon we took a chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, and some chocolate cupcakes for the kids at Huejotzingo. This is our first time celebrating their birthdays, and we combined January, February, and March birthdays. Two of the kids helped me decorate the cupcakes before the others arrived. When the kids came, Abraham told them the Bible story of Nicodemus and about being born again. He explained what Jesus meant by being born again, and told the children they could talk with any of the adults in the room if they wanted to be born again.

After that, those who had birthdays chose which cupcake they wanted to eat with vanilla ice cream, while the rest of the children ate pieces of chocolate cake. We plan to celebrate birthdays every three months, and we would also like to begin doing crafts with the kids once a month, but at present we don't have the funds to buy the supplies. Please continue to pray for the kids and families of Huejotzingo and PCS.

weddings and things

I am finding out, like all brides before me, just how many details go into planning a wedding. And this is a simple wedding! - and many people have offered to help as well. Still, there are details, and soon there will be more, since my certified birth certificates have arrived today. That means Abraham and I can start on all the paperwork to required by the Mexican government. That's a good thing, I suppose.

One of the details that I don't think many American brides have to think about is how to decorate the tortilla cloths. I wouldn't have thought about that, but my future mother-in-law Six asked me what I thought we should decorate them with. Would it be easier to paint them or embroider? Definitely paint. So, since yesterday was a holiday in Mexico, I went to their house for the whole day, and we painted tortilla cloths. They look very nice, by the way.

On Saturday my roommate and I went to her favorite downtown market. I hadn't been there before, so we first stopped in to the fish section to browse first. I simply couldn't resist buying a few octopus tentacles. They are so slimy and unappealing looking, that I just had to try them out. I've eaten squid and octopus before but hadn't had the fun of cooking it myself before Saturday.



A week ago Sunday, Abraham told the story of Jonah to the kids at Huejotzingo. I have the Jonah and the Big Fish dvd from Veggie Tales, so this last Sunday we took Abraham's computer, the church's projector, my speakers, and lots of popcorn and a popper, fruit, and soda so the kids could watch the movie. We told them to try to notice the differences between the Bible story and the movie (for one thing, Jonah wasn't an asparagus), and next week, if they write down five differences, they can get a prize. Thirteen kids showed up and mowed through two kilos of popcorn, sliced oranges, two large sodas, and water melon. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy the movie as well. Please continue to pray for these kids and their families.

Save the Date and green eggs

Abraham and I have to wait until the certified copy of my birth certificate, complete with apostil (or something like that?) comes to Mexico before we can start on the paperwork to allow us to get married. Therefore the only preparation I've done so far is to make and send out save the date cards. Many of you received them, but due to printer errors and other technology bloopers, I didn't have quite enough to send to everyone. Consider yourself 'save the date-ed' now with this picture. It's the one I made and sent out, except the color is supposed to be blue. It appears blue everywhere except here:
Last week in school I immersed the kids in Dr. Seuss. The kids are at Spiritual Emphasis Camp this week, so we would have missed Read Across America. Can't have that! Therefore we read many of Dr. Seuss' books, made silhouettes to go with The Shape of Me and Other Stuff and recorded on cat-in-the-hat shapes plot, characters, setting, and the title of favorite stories. And no Dr. Seuss unit would be complete without green eggs! On Thursday the kids went to my house to whip up their green eggs. Only one of the kids didn't like them; the others agreed green eggs are scrumptious.

On Sunday we went to Huejotzingo with a group of five young ladies visiting from Ohio. Throughout most of the afternoon, only four of the kids came, but just as Abraham finished the Bible story and songs and the four began reviewing, a group of several boys came. Since there were plenty of adults to help the four girls with their review, I started retelling the Bible story to the boys. It was a good workout for my Spanish, and the boys listened attentively - something they don't always do.

Please keep my students and the Huejotzingo kids in your prayers. They are two very different groups of kids, but both groups need to know the personal love of God in their lives.