A Busy Day!

Well we had a busy day today. The school schedule is very different here and we had children showing up all day. We are going to have to figure out the best way to work the schedule or I'm going to have to learn how to go with the flow more like the Salvadorans. The children still haven't learned how to do that yet though and that is part of the problem. :) The Kindergarten is out at about 10:30 and a few of them show up while we are still working with the younger children. It's hard to keep the younger children on track this way. The children in first or second grade usually get out early and come at 11:30. I make them wait until I've fed the younger ones so they can eat in peace.

The afternoon group, hard at work on a craft.

One of the little girls bit me today. I guess that's part of working with 3 year olds. Gissel is quite a handful and some days she has an invisible switch that gets turned on and she can't seem to handle herself. I was glad she bit me today instead of one of the children (yes, she's done that before). Gissel is very spoiled which is part of her problem, but sometimes her older sister drops her off and likes to hand around for a while and that seems to put an end to Gissel's good behavior. We are going to try this without the older sister from now on. :)  When she's in a good mood, Gissel loves to share, talk, play, and help. She's very smart which can sometimes be her downfall. She really is fun despite her difficult temper. The church has an outing scheduled to the beach this Sunday and Gissel's family was invited. She is very excited that Matia and I will be going and can't wait to play. 

Gissel being angry today.  I showed her a video of herself so she would know what she looked like when she has a fit. :)

Olman has been doing better. There is still a lot of ground to cover, but I'm encouraged by what I see from him. He actually let me hold him for a little bit today and sought me out a couple of times to talk to me and to play. He even came over once for me to pick him up! Yesterday, he brought his table with his food over to me so that I could help him eat. :) He really is a sweet kid, but I think he has so much going on. He is very fussy and his skin is unhealthy. I'm a little concerned that something is making him uncomfortable - an allergy, malnutrition, or something - and that is why he is so fussy. He comes in a very good mood, but he fusses at the drop of a hat. I think he's starting to steal my heart though. He has such a funny way of playing and communicating! He loves playing with cars as always and always wants one in his hand no matter what. 

Olman, sitting in my lap!



Please keep us in your prayers and pray for wisdom in dealing with Olman and Gissel and all of these precious children. I think I had about 22 children today with the afternoon and morning children counted together.  I will sit down and tell you about each one of them soon. Right now I need to go finish cooking the beans and wash the dishes so I  can finish preparing the lesson for tomorrow. Oh yes, and figure out how to get the big red ants out of my kitchen - praise God that ants don't like peppermint! Thank you all for your support. You all are the tools God is using to make this happen and these children need it!