Summer

In Honduras, the kids are out of school in November, December and January.  Our kids, like most kids, were ready for another school year to end.  We had some really good grades and some that could have been better.  But what to do with them when there is no school is always a challenge.

Every morning, after breakfast and chores, they have to do math, grammar, or reading.  Nicole gets frustrated at little they know, especially in the grammar area.  Nicole and I are making worksheets.  Some of the older kids are really proud when they can work a few math problems that are a bit harder.  Some of the younger kids grumble because they even have to try something a little harder.

They are also learning how to cook and Nicole does an art project once a week.  Many of our kids are not very creative and want Nicole to do the entire project for them.  This week she thinks she will make gingerbread houses.  We will see how that goes.

Ana, Rosy, Brayan and Antonio are going to work on a horse farm every Thursday morning.  Another missionary is working with them.  John's wife, Marilyn is deaf and they both know sign language.  This is an excellent opportunity for Rosy as she is excluded from so many things we do.  The four kids getting to do this are loving every minute of it.  After they work, John ends the morning in Bible study.  I like that.

John also asked Brayan and Antonio to play on a soccer team.  They practice on Wednesday mornings and play on Saturday.  We talked about it and decided team sports are a good thing.  And soccer is king in Honduras.  The boys are excited about getting to play soccer.

This morning I let three of the boys go out the house site with Matt.  We have a family here this week.  Today they are building a house.  I figured help was needed on the house and it would be good for the boys to go work.  I told them they had to help Matt load the tools and they jumped up and changed clothes and could not wait to go to work.  I hope that enthusiasm lasts all day.

Nicole and Mirian take the kids to the park on Saturday morning and one day they played in the spring.  We hope to take an all day outing one Saturday in January.

We are trying to keep a good balance between work and play.  Summer with 19 kids home all day definitely has some challenges.  Pray for the staff and the children as we all deal with these challenges.

Terri