Saturday, June 27, 2009

TERCEIRO ESPACO PARTY!

This past friday was the closing "Terceiro Espaco" party. Classes just got out so we are also taking a month long break. We had a great time with the kids blowing bubbles, playing UNO, swimming, using the new "slip n' slide" and flying the cool Spiderman kite! 
I want to say a special THANK YOU to our friend Diana from Valley Center Community Church in San Diego, California who donated the fun toys for the kids of the Terceiro Espaco! It was such a treasure to see so many bright faces. I know it was an unforgetable day for each of them! May the Lord bless you!
Lorena (one of the members of the Africa Mobile Team) also had fun blowing bubbles with the kids!
That's a BIG one!
Even Danilo was all smiles...which is sadly rare for him.
The kids were all concentrated on the UNO game that, for many of them, was their first time playing. In Brazil, we make up some extra rules to the game, like slapping your hand down each time a #6 card is put on the pile, and the last one to put their hands in has to draw a card. Another made up UNO rule is that whoever has a Zero card (0) can exchange their entire deck for someone else'.....it's especially nice to take someone's last card and win the game!
Later Joao Paulo (the new director of the project) pulled out some fun water toys that the kids enjoyed in the pool!
Everyone wanted to give them a try!
Sometimes it's necessary to pull someone aside and have a little chat! But it's all with the best intentions...and the kids know it.
The Slip N' Slide was the most awaited toy, and everyone wanted to help set it up. Unfortunatly, our water pressure was not strong enough to make it work...but it was enough to make it wet...so they did not complain!
Debora had the idea to put soap on it to make it slide more...
but finally the Slip N' Slide ended up on a hill, which seemed to work the best!
At the end there was a short quiz on a book that the kids had been studying the past month, and the one who answered the most questions correctly won the kite! Paulo Henrique was the winner and it was nice to see him share the fun with many of the other boys.
Every semester we give out two scholarships to the Terceiro Espaco kids so they can participate of the Kings Kids camp that summer. This time the winners were Paulo Henrique and Debora (who are brother and sister). They truly worked hard this semester and stood out from the rest. They even wrote a letter with all the reasons why they wanted to be chosen to go on this trip! It was so cute! They are great kids and really deserve it! I know it will be a life-changing experience for both of them!
What a beautiful group!!!
On Saturday morning I went to pick up our boy, Jonas so he could spend the weekend with us. My parents generously gave us a new double bed for our guest room (Jonas' room when he's with us) and Mario and Jonas spend some quality "guy time" putting his new bed together!
Jonas had a great time. I think they both enjoyed having a reason to use Mario's new power tool that he got in the states! ;)