Almost Christmas!!

Just to show all of you how excited we are for winter break and to spend Christmas with our friends and family, you may want to check out this website:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1241011376

(Thanks Ashley and Ryan!!)

We can't wait to be back so soon!! Love you & See you soon!

We have babies!!

Well not us, but our neighbors - the family of goats! (Yes, the ones that normally "bahh" us to sleep each night!). Well we were walking on the trail one day and out jump the cutest baby goats - and I mean they literally jumped! They couldn't figure out walking yet, so they would just hop from place to place. We thought we would share some pictures of the cute little guys:

Savanne Paille

Back in September or October, I told all of you how I started volunteering at a local Dominican school, Savanne Paille. Well, now that I'm done tutoring there for the semester, I'm finally getting around to posting pictures!

Outside the school. A group donated books to Savanne Paille, and the kids were more than happy to pose for a picture. (If they just see your camera, they're all smiles, ready for a photo shoot!)



Just a little recap, I tutored two Dominican students named Dervon and Aaliyah. Dervon is in first grade and Aaliyah is in kindergarten, though they are both in the same class and have the same teacher. (And it's also pretty funny because Aaliyah looks so much older than Dervon!)

Dervon (left) and Aaliyah(right) on our last day this semester!

I told them to make funny faces... It wasn't until I looked back at this picture and noticed Dervon's hands and his idea of "funny." This kid is in first grade!

Aaliyah enjoying her sucker! They loved getting stickers as prizes, especially the ones that said "super cool!"

We've found that Dominican schools are behind what children in the US are learning, so it was interesting to gauge where to even start with Aaliyah and Dervon. I made up my lesson plan each week (I think my desire I had to become a teacher started to come out again...) and we focused on knowing & reciting the alphabet, knowing and recognizing lowercase and uppercase letters, phonics, and spelling. Here's a little video of them saying the alphabet (notice how they change the tune in the middle - I didn't mind because they normally just leave out, "l,m.n,o,p"!)

I had such an amazing time working with these two. I really wish you could meet them because they are the most personable kids - are they will tell you the most hilarious stories, too! I'm really looking forward to working with them again next semester!