clover hill visits

this week an awesome team from clover hill church came to kick butt on some projects. it was particularly special because clover hill is brayden's church and his parents came along with to visit. it's amazing what can be done with a few extra hands. the library and storage area got a complete overhaul of organization. {this is the "in the process," i failed to get any shots of the finished product but it is impressive, people.

we are also in the middle of some major office construction so many of the guys got to experience how honduras cement mixing works  -- lots of muscle and back bending required. but much of the base is done now and i think everyone enjoyed getting to know the hilarious and hard-working men that head up all the construction here.

the group was a huge help with running the library program and kindergarten, and i think the kids enjoyed some activities that we wouldn't have been able to pull off if it were just us. 

the group was also able to go see one of brayden's last soccer games before the end of the season and went hiking up to san luis, a remote village from where some of the kids from library come. it was a good experience for them to see a whole neighborhood of people who live with no electricity, live very simple lives and are very, very happy.

we all headed up to school one day to show everyone how english class worked and to hand out reusable bags of school goodies for all the grades. the kids were so happy to have brand new supplies and enjoyed learning some new english songs and showing off their skills.

thank you clover hill for working so hard and loving those kids. we appreciate all your effort, organization, cooking, digging, playing and teaching. looking forward to seeing you next year!

photo credit goes to michelle from the group. thank you for all your wonderful shots of this week!

new beginnings

here's just a super sneak peak at what we've been up to with the new kids we just took in on tuesday. 

our kinder class has doubled -- whew! major shout out to all kindergarten teachers out there...

you've got special talents!!

it's been a blast getting to play with all the kids together. 

things have definitely turned into a little party around here and i love it.

{water balloon toss contest at library time -- the kids loved it! we are really getting into some seriously fun games and activities with the kids. the possibilities really seem endless!}












it's been an encouragement recently to be able to see how far our first group of kids has come in their attitudes, behavior and schooling since they arrived. what an amazing thing it is to know that they will be brought up in a safe, positive environment with plenty of people around to tell them how much they're loved.

there is something holy about what happens here. about being a part of kingdom work. it's exciting. it's meaningful. it's what we are all supposed to be doing -- working for causes beyond ourselves. we all need something to get us out of bed in the morning and an intravenous coffee drip might not always do it {hard to believe, i know}

as the children's home grows, it takes more and more resources to support the kids and all the programs we've got going on. if you're interested, check out our sponsorship page to see how you can help out the kid's more directly with their daily needs like food, clothes and school supplies.

thanks again to all of you who have supported Give Hope 2 Kids ministry prayerfully and financially. you are truly part of something incredible and i hope you believe that!

little things

today is an ordinary monday. 

we are thankful for 

the rain that has finally come after a few weeks of waiting. 

 for visiting friends. 

 for give hope 2 kids family. 

for new puppies on the porch. 

and for an extraordinary box of blow pops that successfully feeds my unashamed addiction.

{{how can this not make you smile??}}

{the guys of the house made breakfast the other day. french toast and eggs. this was their final exam to graduate "cooking 101" class. they passed. 

can i also draw your attention to the 3 liter pepsi bottle filled with milk straight from the cow? 

love that country life.}

{{unashamed}}

{{ david teaching his daughter about the bull they killed that morning for food. yes, that is the head. }}

{{ early saturday morning at our house }}

{{ this morning's english class with out friends visiting from virginia. playing a little simon says to help remember all the body parts in english}}

{{love that miss girl finishing up her meal for the night. headed straaaaaight for the bath. }}

tomorrow....tomorrow will not be so ordinary. 

tomorrow we get to meet five new kid's that will be coming to live with us.

 prayers for our new house family, the kid's travels tomorrow and a smooth transition into their new home.

love.love.love

i got it from my papa

seems like all that organization education when i was a kid paid off...i love organizing! 

we're cleaning out and revamping the library this week, trying to get an idea of all the stuff we have for the kids to use for school and for fun. 

{between me and you, it looks like we've got a crayon factory happenin on the side here.}

anyway, i get a real kick out of this stuff and i know i'm not the only one. don't be ashamed. 

who doesn't love the smell of school supplies??

can i get an amen?!

anyway,

thanks, dad, for the inherited love of putting things into large tubs and labeling. someone's gotta do it.

home

in third and fourth grade english class we are learning some family vocabulary. this assignment was to draw all the people who live in your house and write who they are below. just had to share some of these with ya'll. i loved learning about their families in class...and the assignment turned out to be a huge help in learning who's related to who. it aaaall makes so much sense now.

my personal fav is the second one featuring a

 lively looking cat and duck pair. hah! this is why i love english class. 

happy friday!

schools back for summer

school has been back in session for about a month now and life has gotten a bit busier around here. the two oldest kids that we have living with us have started attending the local school, Carolina in 3rd grade and Javier in 1st. so far, they've done really well with their schoolwork and have made a bunch of new friends 

from the community. 

monica, another volunteer here at Give Hope 2 Kids, and i have become the english teachers for the third through sixth grade classes at the school. we have so enjoyed getting to spend some extra time with the kids we already have formed relationships with and getting to meet a few new friends. we started with colors and numbers, playing bingo and teaching new songs. {dear seventh grade spanish teacher of mine, thanks for all the ridiculous songs you taught us to help us remember your material. i still remember them and now all the kids in a  village of rural honduras are singing them too.} for the older students we've started with simple verbs. they are so excited to learn and practice their english sentences with us. we've even given out a few quizzes already ;)

the kindergarden program at the school has been on hiatus for a while now. in light of that, the three 4-year-olds {the triplets we call them} don't have any form of schooling. to sort of fill in the gaps, we have started a small "kinder" program for these three on tuesdays and thursdays. Carlitos, Lilian, and Fernando have their own backpacks and notebooks to practice shapes, letters and coloring projects. we also spend some time playing games outside and reading all the wonderful books we have access to in our library. this has proved to be an awesome way to get them a bit of a head start so they will be more than ready when it comes time for grade school. 

since the library addition has been finished, our library program has been a bit revamped as well. we've got new books, a new computer teacher, new structuring and the discovery of a mountain of good resources for  all the students who come. 

there are about twenty students in the computer classes now. this has been an awesome program that supplements the computer class at the high school and helps prepare younger students earlier. the computer skills they are learning are so valuable for future job opportunities and furthering education.

after teaching up at the school and being part of library every week, we began to realize that some of the grade school kids had a lot of trouble reading. the problem is they tend to get passed from grade to grade without being taught how to read and they quickly run into problems. 

the positive part is, with all the resources we've been blessed with, there's opportunity to spend extra time with these kids and help them get a better grasp on getting through books and quizzes. i don't have to do much convincing for you to believe that knowing how to read changes the game academically as well as in ever aspect of life. 

just writing about some of the things we're doing with the kids here gets me so excited about their potential and opportunities. thanks again to all of you who have shown your support prayerfully and financially. it's been incredible to continue forming relationships with the kids and watch them learn and discover new things every day!