A Day at Casa

This week there is a group here from Belpre, Ohio. That is Jen and Karen's home congregation. Jen is leading the group. I wanted Karen to be able to spend some time working with the group and being encouraged by those whom she loves and love her. In order for her to do that, I spent the whole day at Casa.

Days at Casa de Esperanza begin early for the children. I began waking them slightly before 6:30. Cindy is alway the hardest one to get out of bed. Then we had a short devotional. I love listening to those little people sing and pray. They are so sincere and they remember to thank God for everything and everyone. Sometimes they have to open their eyes and look around the room to be sure they remember to call everyone of us by name.

After devo, is the time to dress for school and a few chores. To me, that is the most hectic time of the day. Those girls take so long to change out of their pjs and into their school clothes and they have so much fun doing it. Maryuri got a small toy stuck in her mouth, which I had to pry out. Nothing like a bit of excitement to get the day started. Cindy had pinkeye and did not have to go to school. After breakfast and making sure everyone's teeth were brushed, it is off to school for the the older kids. They love riding in the car to school. I locked the automatic windows. I am not sure how many times six kids could put the windows up and down on the way to school. They did treat the radio like my husband and my father-in-law treat the tv remote. They did not leave one station on long enough to know what was playing.

Then I walked the kindergarteners across the street. To them, this is as exciting as it was the first day of school. With the remaining four, we played outside. I pushed Maryuri on the swing. She will let you push her for hours, but it was not quite that long this morning. Some of the kids colored and Antonio dropped the color box. He had to pick them up and put them back in the box. He made that last a long time.

It was our day to take snack to the second graders. Dilicia had baleadas, which are similar to quesadillas, and pears. I drove Dilcia to the school and helped her serve the second graders. The baleadas were a big hit. Most of the kids had two and some had three.

When I walked over to the get the kindergarteners, I got there a few minutes before class was dismissed. I stood outside, peering in the window. I could see Francisco. It was amusing to watch him when he did not know I was out there. Suddenly, he looked up and saw me. He waved, smiled and said "hi Terri." Then he got up and walked over to Fernando's table and told him I was outside. They were so excited.

Remember how fun it was when you were five or six to walk backward. Once we got across the street, Monica wanted to walk backward. I walked backward with her. To her, that was funnier than walking backward herself. Oh, the giggles and laughter that came from that sweet child. Of course, we were the last ones back to Casa.

Time to go back to school and get the older kids. With all of this running back and forth, the morning passed quickly. I was ready for that naptime. Only problem, the boys are much harder to get to settle down than the girls. At least a couple of them did not quit squirming until almost 2:30. Naptime is over at 3:00. I was looking forward to sneaking in a little nap myself. Not to be today.

This afternoon, I played soccer. I made a few good kicks. I played basketball with a football. I lost. I loved on kids and they loved on me. They all love to be loved. I am loving these kids more every day. I was glad to be part of their day, all day.

Terri