#ecuadoring3

Slept in until 830.
I needed to catch up - already.
but now I feel energized and awake so hopefully I will be feeding the babies for the rest of the week! 

So we had to get more groceries this morning - ALREADY! almost the same amount that we got the other day. I guess thats what you get when you have 6 grown men in the house! Haha.

Today we are leaving a little bit later for the Kids Club because we were two hours early yesterday - I guess we over anticipated how long it would take us to get there. We passed a man on the street who had all these clear bags of fruit and when we stopped he came on our bus and walked up and down the aisles shouting repeatedly, 'ONE BAG FOR ONE DOLLAR, ONE BAG FOR ONE DOLLAR!' (6 in each - Mandarines, Pears, Apples and Lemons) 

all of the corner stores were barred shut at all times in protection from theft.

 check out all those taxi's!!! 

the school where some of the children attended  

1130 - Kids Club! 

'Olà! Mi nombré es Cassandra, Tengo vienté tres añios!'

When we got to the kids club this afternoon, each of the children stood up and said their name and how old the were. (actually I think that was the first day, I wish I had filmed it, it was so precious, they all worked so hard to say that sentence in english for us! It was so sweet when they would fumble a few words and Robbie helped them out!)

Kenz teaching one of the boys how to say 'Can I borrow a pencil please' in English!

Steve teaching the children how to speak English I believe? 

All the children LOVED Robbie's beard and would not stop touching it! so funny! haha 

At one point we were talking about how much a taxi would cost for a ride from the orphanage to the kids club (1 hour) … $35!!! 

White American - Gringo
Asian - Chinnoh

A little boy showed up today with a crab inside a plastic bag, he bought it on the street for 20 cents on his way to the club. (This crab was not a big one, it was a small one you would find underneath a small rock on the beach)
Pet Crabs 

 his name is Daniel (the boy)

Another boy showed up to club with a baby chicken - but he gave it to Robbie to hold on to throughout club because he was too embarrassed! So Robbie put it in a woven basket in the kitchen. But don't worry the chick made an appearance during arts&crafts. The boy that brought the chicken had bought it from his school for $1.00. 

While the children were doing their homework, I went to prepare the snack and I had 3 girls following me around, so I brought them with me and had them help me to prepare snack. I had to mime what I wanted them to do and then pointed to them then pointed to the food. It was great! I spread the peanut butter on the celery and the girls helped with putting the raisins on the log. Ants on a Log! - delicious & nutritious! 

So snack time came around, and as we handed them out and all of a sudden the kids were asking Robbie all these questions and motioning towards the snack and Robbie BURST out in laughter! what the heck man?! He said that all the children did not know what celery was or if they were supposed to eat it, apparently they never eat vegetables raw! They were all so unsure of it, most were scooping off the peanut butter and raisins and eating that! Then little by little they all started to come back and ask for seconds. Then child by child, they started to venture out and take a bite of the ants on the log, even though they thought it was the grossest thing ever! Their faces were so disgusted and disappointed as they slowly chewed. But then Mackenzie made up a second batch and it all went within 30 seconds! and they were all thanking him. It was great! 

…Later on we discovered all of these pieces of celery with small bits of peanut butter and raisins on them. Hid around the stumps and walls and some children even threw pieces outside the wall of the club.

After snack we got to listen to them sing their national anthem! So Cool! 

Next, we did our bible lessons and painted some rocks for our arts and craft time! So many children knew their memory verses from the day before! We didn't have as many children as yesterday, but we still had a lot! (25). 

Don't worry the chick made an appearance! The baby chick would not stop chirping though and Robbie was getting very annoyed! So he took it in his hands and wrapped it up with his shirt; it was not cold. Robbie & Kelvin broke up some doritos and tried to feed it; it wasn't hungry. It just kept chirping. 
Then the kids tried toPAINT it. 

While the rest of the kids were painting rocks, the rest of the children were outside playing 'What Time is it Mr.Wolf', then as others joined in, we played a GIANT game of 'Octopus.' They loved it! 

I absolutely ADORE this picture! (So does Nanny!) 

At the end of the day the children came around to say goodbye with a hug and a kiss and Robbie gave out their memory verses for tomorrow.  

I also put up my hand washing posters I had made back in Canada today! Right outside of the kitchen.

When we arrived home, we had some grilled cheese, Tomato soup, Coke and Tortilla chips? Kind of weird, but oh well! it's 2 hours later now and I am so hungry full. 

This really needs to be a COKE advertisement! 

Later that evening we went swimming in a pool across the street, it was really fun! We played a lot of rubber ducky games (Throwing, diving and counting them) and some pool noodle games (Mostly using them as weapons, both swords and water guns). We had a whirlpool and tied noodles around our legs so we could float! At the very end Mackenzie and Robbie were putting the pool cover over and Robbie threw a rubber ducky really hard at Mackenzie's chest! So Mackenzie goth he ducky and wound up to throw and Robbie got so scared he turned to run away! BUT he turned too quickly and slipped! His feet flew from right underneath him and he whacked his elbow and smacked his head! I rushed over to see if he was okay and he was just laying there, laughing historically. Haha! And in the midst of it all, the rubber ducky had ended up hitting him smack-dab in the thigh and there was a huge mark. It's still really red (few hours later when I was writing this entry) Robbie is so lucky he didn't fall in the hole by the pool decks. (Yes, if you remember those big gaping holes I posted pictures of on

the first day we arrived in Quito, they do not stop on the streets. There was one in the pool hall - we don't know where it led or what it was used for, but it was weird. 

After that we just went back to our house and rested and basically all went to bed! 

Goodnight Quito! 

Check It.

"God is not a belief-system.
Jesus is not a religion.
The good news is not a ticket to Heaven.
Church is not an address.
The Bible is not a book of doctrines.
Transformation is not behavior modification.
Community is not a meeting.
Grace has no exceptions.
Ministry is not a program.
Art is not carnal.
Women are not inferior.
Our humanity is not the enemy.
Sinner is not our identity.
Love is not a theory.
Peace is not a circumstance.
Science is not secular.
Sex is not filthy.
The herelife is not a warm-up for the afterlife.
The world is not without hope.
There is no “us” and “them.”
Tattoos are not evil.
Loving the earth is not satanic.
Seeing the divine in all things is not heretical.
Self-actualization is not self-worship.
Feelings are not dangerous and unreliable.
The mind is not infallible.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes from (Over) the Edge

Goodbye 2013 and Hello 2014!

2014!

Well, we did it! We made it to 2014.

It overwhelms me when I think about how much has happened throughout the course of 2013 and how much is going to change in the upcoming year, in the work place, where I will live and who I will be living with, the fact that I’ll be MARRIED to my best friend and so many other great things to look forward to. 2013 you have been beyond great, beyond surprising and beyond unforgettable. Weekend trips, Family trips, Getting engaged, Missions trips, Graduating, Moving out on my own, so many ‘firsts’ that I can’t even name them all! My heart has been flipped and flopped this year, built up and torn down, but has been refined through the fire and you have closed doors, but opened so many new windows and I am so excited to see what 2014 has in store for me, for what God has planned for me, for Mackenzie and I, and how we will be starting our new life together and where God will lead us; where he will guide us.

One of my friends made a vow last year to write a blog post every week for the whole entire year, and she did it! So, I’ve been inspired to do the very same thing! I’ve found that blogging has really been helping me express things that have been going on in my life, the positive and the negative. I’m really excited about this new years resolution!

This past year I learnt a lot about myself, things I have never come across or thought I could do on my own until I was put through the task and pushed on to the stage, for the final call and for the final cut. You never really do know how far you can go until you try. 

Try and try again.

When I was going to school for my ECE, I never really put my head up to see what was going on around me, and now that I look back, I wish I did. I was so focused on the task at hand that I didn’t come up for air, I just fully immersed myself into my work, my passion, my everything.  I was told that I did my job well, I did my projects correctly, and that I had this undeniable passion for what I did and molding the hearts and minds of little ones. Now that I am in the field and fully qualified, I can see what everyone meant when they said I was a ‘perfect fit for the job.’ It’s just hard to take that seriously when you’re in the middle of exams and projects and just trying to survive and get your diploma. But now its all different and everything just comes so easily, I click with the children and with the parents effortlessly, It’s fantastic and I love it.  There has been some ups and downs in the past few months, things that have really built me up and other incidents that have really taken a toll on how I feel about my job and my position as an Early Childhood Educator and if I am a good fit or not. Through these struggles I have shed a lot of tears and held on to a lot of hurts, but one thing that has rang true is that God is just. God is great and God has a plan. No matter what ends up with my work and my job, it is all in Gods timing and his planning. Having this knowledge has helped me immensely and has brought a peace over my heart that I don’t feel like anything else could’ve calmed the seas in my heart.

In the decision to start my employment with Wind & Tide, I was required to move out to South Surrey (the nice part I promise!). This was a really big step for me and I didn’t know if I could really pull it off without crawling back to daddy in 1 week. When I first moved out it took a lot of nights of Mackenzie staying until 11PM or whenever I fell asleep, I pestered my landlord to make sure my alarm system was working correctly and, still to this day, have my ‘instant’ set on my alarm when I am home alone. I try to never walk in the dark – it scares the bejeebus out of me and if I do have to, I am on the phone with someone the entire time until I am in my house, with the alarm set. Things have been going really well though, I have found a lot of great deals on furniture for my place and was given a lot as well. I have ben decorating my place a lot and been doing some DIY’s because I have so much time on my hands. Which I am loving! Being out ‘in the booney’s’ does have its downfalls of not being able to go out for coffee whenever with friends etc. BUT I am able to get a lot more done around the house and have a lot more ‘me’ time to spend.

(Oh..and maybe I started watching a show or two on Netflix…. Or three…or four.)

Another huge thing that has been an unreal change in my life is my relationship with Mackenzie. Things in-between us are amazing. Ever since we have been engaged, he is so much more thoughtful, so kind, so loving, so generous; it’s almost like all the qualities that I love so much about him have all been super charged. I don’t know what it is, maybe I am just seeing it more now that he is going to be my husband, or if it’s coming out more because I am going to be his wife. But, either way, our relationship is the best it’s ever been. We are also going to these meetings on Sunday nights that is aiding us in working both on our relationships with God and our relationships with each other. Also, coming up in the next few weeks, we will be starting a new book devotional called ‘Love Dare’ – I am SO pumped for this! We will be going through this book with Anya & Bryan (a couple that attends our church and has been married for about 5 years). I am really blessed and excited to have them speak wisdom into our lives individually and as a couple.

This is huge for 2014!

Oh gee.

I just love him so much.

I am so blessed to have him in my life and so excited to start my life with him and to start planning our future together. He is the only person who knows me inside-out, he knows all my flaws, my insecurities and all my failures.

But he believes in me,

He believes in my triumphs,

He believes in my success’

& he believes in my love. 

To have someone believe in you as much as he believes in me; it’s unfathomable, endearing and beyond understanding.

I really anticipate what God has planned for us throughout this upcoming year. There has been talk about where we will live and what we will be doing in our lives together and apart, when and how many children we would like, and when we would like to buy a house. All of these things require planning, and not just quick planning, yearly planning and it’s all been on our time. Not God’s time. This is something that Mackenzie and I will be focusing on for 2014, God has been speaking some things to our hearts about how we are to live our lives and what and how we will proclaim his love to those around us, both near and far. There’s a lot to plan, to discover and to pursue, I’m really scared, but it’s that good kind of scared.

Bring it on 2014,

I’m Ready.