The Beginning of the End

Well . . . today is my last day with my kids. I have to be honest it is a lot harder than I ever expected it to be! They are so full of life and love, always waiting with a hug or a smile or just something random and funny. I wish you all could be here to meet them, to laugh at them and with them. Each one of them has their own special personality and accent : ) but all of them I will greatly miss.
A few funny stories to brighten everyone’s day! SO yesterday we were talking about Benjamin Franklin and reading a story about him. Well right in the middle of the story one of the boys says this “Oh my word that man is not wearing any pants” which to the first grade eye it did appear that way, poor Benjamin Franklin was not wearing pants. Once I stopped laughing and regained my composure I began to explain that he was indeed wearing pants they were just flesh colored and very tight. Then when we were reviewing the facts of Benjamin Franklin’s life, a fact that was remembered was that “Benjamin Franklin does not wear pants” I was laughing so hard. Oh how those little munchkins make me laugh. I wish I could just record it all for everyone’s entertainment, I know that it would provide many hours worth.
Two months have flown by and in the process, God has taught me so much, and I have fallen in love with this country and its people. I stand amazed at the faithfulness of God’s provision and grace, I still do not know how he will use me in the future but I will wait, because God knows best!

So Much to Say!

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks, with school, traveling, and spending time with so many friends. My kids at school continue to make me laugh and smile. My first grader continue to surprise me with what they say, and or do : ) On Friday we were talking about Christopher Columbus, so I taught them a little rhyme to remember "In four teen hundred ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" well we sang it a few times then i looked and one of my little girls was doing a little dance. So then I just let all of them do the little dance. It was so funny!

Last weekend the Carolina's took us all over, to visit lots of fun places, it was so great to spend time with them and practice my Spanish haha! I am going to miss my Paraguayan sisters so much!

I also was able to see one of our other previous exchange students. Leticia lived with us about 13 or 14 years ago. So I got together with her and her two daughters late last week. It was so wonderful to reconnect with her and to meet and spend time with her girls.
Then this weekend we were able to go and visit Bob and Carol Givens, good missionary friends of out families. It was so wonderful to see their ministry and spend time with them. When I get to see them it feels like a little piece of home, although I did get really sick at their house and am still not back to myself but hopefully by tomorrow I will be feeling better.
It is so crazy to think that I only have one more week here, until reality hits and this dream ends. This next week is going to be so wonderful, and so hard all at the same time. It will be great spending last moments with everyone but sad as well knowing that almost a week from today I will be flying back to the states. Pray for me this week that I finish strong and handle the transition with wisdom and strength. Thats all for now : )

me and my sisters!

Well, here I am with "The Carolina's" It has been so fun to reconnect with them to see their world, meet their families and just spend time laughing and remembering the "old days". These two girls are such a wonderful part of my life and I am so thankful for the time that I have been able to spend with them. This morning we made breakfast together at my apartment. Stuffed French Toast, and bananna pancakes. I made this really delicious strawberry syrup, I have to admit I have really been surprising myself with my cooking skills. It was so fun and quite the adventure, all of us cooking together ; ) then later today, they took me to the most amazing ice cream shop! I loved it! I have decided that, that is my new favorite resturant haha! It was such a wonderful day! I enjoyed every min. of it! We are planning a road trip for next weekend!

I also started back at school this week, which was good for me, I missed having my purpose in the classroom. The kids never cease to amaze me! They keep me laughing! SO . . . there has been this rooster, that feels the need to cock a doodle dooooo ALL night long. I do believe he is a very confused rooster. So I had informed my little first graders that this rooster had been keeping me up at night and how it really irritated me. Then one of my little girl asks this "um Miss Cutting, do want to just kill that rooster?" and I replied with an enthusiastic YES, im thinking she must hear that same rooster when she is trying to sleep haha!

So, needless to say, life is still an adventure, and God is teaching me so much. It is amazing to me how much you think you know yourself, then God just feels the need to remind me yet again, that HE is in control and HE will take care of me. OUR GOD IS SO FAITHFUL! and I am so extremely thankful!

World Traveler

Well, in the last few days I have seen the countries of Brazil and Argentina, as well as one of the seven wonders of the natural world! It was a blur of scenery and an enormous testimony ofGod's AMAZING creation! Four of us from the school where I am teaching took a 2 day trip to the Iguazu falls that rest between Brazil and Argentina. Im telling you these falls make Niagra look like a trickle : ) It was so amazing, we spent part of the day at the falls, then we went to a bird park, then we took a tour around Itaipu, which is where the world's largest hydro-electric dam is located. We then went out for dinner at an authentic Brazilian resturant, they also a live show representing a number of latin American countries and their traditions and dances. We stayed in a hotel Tuesday night and then got up the next morning to head into Argentina where we were going to take a boat ride through the falls. WELL . . . we ran into a bit of a problem when we realized that the forestry workers were on strike and there was no way we were going to get through. I was a little dissapointed that I didn't get my boat ride BUT it was a wonderful day anyway. while we waited in the car for a few very HOT hours we all improved our card playing skills haha! So then we ended up going back and forth between the border at Argentina and got lots of stamps on our passports! We eventually ended up spending the rest of the day in a bordering city of Paraguay, we went to a wildlife refuge center and the zoo! So all in all it was so much fun! I had a blast, the two days felt like a week because of all we were able to do, it was so awesome!