I really don't know where to begin talking about this wonderful week! I have so much respect and love for the place where I work, and especially for all of the people with whom I work. Each of the teachers in my two classrooms are so sweet, hard working, hilarious, and caring! Sadly Ms. Debbie is on a mission trip right now in Uganda so we missed her this week, but it gave me the chance to get to know her substitute Ms. Jessica who is just as fun. I love how all of the teachers always make a point to thank me for helping, even when they really don't need to. I consider all of these women to be my friends.

And then there are my kids! I can't get enough of any of them, even our three new friends that joined this week. Two new little girls joined 105 and we also got a new baby, Thniyah. Thniyah and I became quick friends on Tuesday. When I came into 101 all of the babies were still napping (and so was everyone over in 105) so I just sat there waiting for someone to wake up. Thniyah started fussing so I went over to pat her back but she was really upset so I picked her up to rock her. She stopped crying and clung to me like a little monkey. I kept trying to put her back down on her mat but she squeezed me tight...so she laid on me and finished her nap for the next two hours-- it was the sweetest thing! So now were pretty tight :)

In 105 this week we've been working on colors, shapes, sizes, and rhyming. We made a bar graph of our favorite colors and the kids all got really into making masks. I am in charge of the art table during "centers", which is pretty much just freeplay. I am far from artistic so I usually suggest play-do and let them make a craft if they want. Jameson found a mask stencil one day and asked me to help him make it. It took us a while to do that first one but after it I had developed a science for helping five year olds make masks. I probably ended up making 15 throughout the whole week! This is Mykayla with the one she made today:

We have been working on rhyming a lot because that is one of the things they need to know before going to kindergarten in August, and they sort of struggle. One of my favorite quotes of the week was "Can you tell me a word that rhymes with black?" "Uhh...cookies?" I kind of had a hard time not laughing at that one but we are trying very hard to get them on track with rhyming.

When I first started at MOB it sort of scared me how hard the teachers in 105 are on the kids. But this week  Ms. Marvetta has taught me that while being sweet and loving on them is important, their time at school is usually the only structured part of the day because when they're at home they are largely left unattended. So we really are loving them in the best possible way by being tough about the rules and really pushing them.

101 this week has been a circus with Ms. Debbie out and a new baby in. We had all 7 babies four out of the five days this week. Each of them is so full of life and loving. What I loved about this week was that all of them now recognize me and are actually excited to see me, whereas at the beginning they were very cautious. In fact I quite a few of them have started calling me mama. This week we got really into peek-a-boo and singing row row row the boat. Even little Kennedy, who is almost always grumpy, loved peek-a-boo. I could probably say that any of the seven are my favorite, but I really really do love Sahriya. Her facial expressions are the best part of my day, although she does have a biting problem and can be quite mischievous (at times escaping from the classroom and constantly trying to go down the slide head first). Harmonii is very smart and she's starting to talk a lot, which is really exciting to see from day to day. Although she can be a little too smart...whenever I tell her "no"  she looks right at me and shakes her finger saying "no, no, no!" and thinks it's hilarious so I think the word has lost all meaning for her. Za'Kiyahh can never be unhappy. Gosh I just adore each of them!

For the first couple of weeks at MOB it was easy for me to feel unneeded because I do not count in the teacher:child ratio, but I have discovered how to serve in nonobvious ways. I like to do the difficult jobs because these teachers really do work so, so hard and I want to help in any way I can- cleaning, sweeping, changing diapers, and doing the laundry. I also worked in the development office a couple of times this week during nap time doing odd jobs like transferring clothing donations, wrapping thank you gifts, sealing envelopes, and filing. I feel the best about serving when I am doing the jobs that aren't really that fun. That is definitely one thing this experience has taught me so far- serving is not about doing what I do/know/like best, it's about doing what is most needed.

Unfortunatley with this new found sense of purpose I am about to go to the beach! I am so sad to be leaving for a week right as I am really building relationships but I can come back refreshed and grateful to be back.