Jasmine in the Springtime

I have some really cute pictures of Jasmine outside in the front yard, but before I show you those, I want to give you the results of my Native American Class that I was telling you about in the last post. The fire I built looked like this:



I put a couple of fake flickering flames in the fire. Here is what it looked like with the lights off:



The kids really liked it, they had a great time. Here are a couple pictures of them:





Now, on to Jasmine. I finally get to take her outside on a regular basis again now that the weather has warmed up. She loves it so much. Here she is sitting on top of Nathaniel's video game TV. She loves to sit there and stare out the window. She looks thrilled to have her picture taken, doesn't she?



Here she is looking ready to pounce on something.



my little princess...



I thought this picture turned out really cool.



I guess 72 degrees is a little too hot for a long haired black cat



More to come soon!

My School

I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the school at which I am currently student teaching. The experience has been very positive so far, and I am having a lot of fun. This first picture is of my classroom.



This picture is of my desk. (It doesn't usually look this clean)



And this is a picture of my hallway. It is the 4th and 5th grade hallway, but also has the art and music rooms. My room is the first one on the left.



Right now I am doing a Native American unit with my 2nd graders. We have had a lot of fun learning dances and culture facts, etc. For my next lesson, I am planning on building a fake fire in the middle of the room, turning the lights off, and having some mood music playing when they come in. I will teach them a Naive American game that goes with a song, and I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they come in the room!

honestly, I have always looked forward to student teaching, but i never knew it would be this fun and rewarding. You really know you're making a difference in these kids lives when they give you hugs and open up to you about their lives.

More to come soon!

Destino Del Reino

Well, I wanted to take a few minutes to post some pictures from the place where I will be teaching when Nathaniel and I move to Honduras in June 2009. I'll be teaching music for 1/2 the day, and assisting in the adult ESL (English as a Second Language) class for some of the staff, etc. who want to learn English. Here is a picture of most of the school students.



This year, there are about 150 students in all. The lady who runs Destino also runs an orphanage next door to the school. The orphans that she cares for also come to the school when they are old enough. This is a picture of the road that leads to Destino.



This is a picture of the school itself. It is such a beautiful place, especially for a country like Honduras. Rhonda (the owner) has been so blessed by God to have such a nice place to raise future missionaries that has things like running water and other modern things that we take for granted in the states.



This is a picture of the Kindergarten classroom.



This is a picture of their outdoor sanctuary.



this picture is of the actual orphanage. I'll probably spend quite a bit of time there too.



And this is inside the orphanage.



the boy's room.



And finally, some cute little kiddos that I'm looking forward to meeting.

Virginia Memories and Winter Wonderland

I know it has been a while, but I wanted to share a few of the pictures I took while spending time with Mindy and the Boys in Virginia. Most of these pictures are of us in a little pizza joint (that ws really good, by the way) in Williamsburg.

This one is on the way, and Ryin had fallen asleep with a straw in his mouth. It was pretty funny. eventually, the straw drooped down, and drool was dripping out the end. Yuck!!



when we got to the restaurant and got our food, Adan quickly stuffed 2 pieces of pizza down, then informed us that he didn't feel good. Nathaniel rushed him to the bathroom, where it all came back up. This is a picture we took right after. Obviously, he felt much better.



A quick shot of Mindy...



For some reason, Ryin didn't want me to take his picture, but I sneaked one in. He's looking rather bashful...what a rare moment.



Adan is always a good cuddle buddy



and then of course, there is Nathaniel.





And now, more recently, we have had our second winter storm of the year here in Muncie, Indiana. the first one brought a lot of ice and rain and yuck, but this one brought about 13 inches of snow. Believe it or not, we got the light end of it. Down by Indianapolis, they got a lot more.

this is a shot from our back door.



And this is out our front door.



This is a shot of the house across the street. I thought it looked pretty



Since it has gotten cold, I have not taken Jasmine outside. Sometimes, she sits at the door, meowing at me to take her. So, I thought today would be a great day to take her outside. she was thrilled! But then she realized that all that fluffy, fun looking white stuff was wet, and she wanted nothing to do with it. She made a bee-line for the snow as soon as i opened the door, and this is the shot i got of her stopping dead in her tracks. She doesn't look too pleased, does she?



and this is her cowering at the door begging to be let back in



Well, that's all for now. Love you all!

CORRECTION!

Correction:

I gave the wrong website for my new store. The correct one is:

www.earthchasers.etsy.com

Sorry!

Just a Quickie

Hello to all!

I would like to dedicate this post to informing all of you about my new store! As most of you probably know, I enjoy doing various arts and crafts. Recently, I have discovered the art of jewelry making. In order to raise money for Nathaniel and I to go to Honduras, I have decided to start a store where I can sell my handmade goods. All profits will go directly to sending Nathaniel and I to Honduras in 2009. (20% will go to Touch of Fire Ministries to cover costs of accounting and money transmitting).

I encourage you to check out my store at www.etsy.com. My products would make great Christmas gifts! My store name is "Summer Rain". You can also access my store via www.summerrain.etsy.com. My username is EarthChasers. Thanks for all your support!

Love,
Nathaniel and Mallori

The beauty of nature

I love it when God surprises me with tiny little glimpses into His majesty and beauty. We had Bible study at our house a few months ago. In the middle of it, a really bad storm rolled through with lots of lightning and wind. It ended up knocking down a couple of trees on our block. the storm only lasted about 15 minutes, and then it was about sunset. The sun sort of peeked through the clouds, and a rainbow came out. It was so beautiful. but because there were so many clouds, the setting sun reflected off of them and turned the whole atmosphere a bright pink color. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. So, I snapped a couple of pictures (which of course, don't do it justice), but still you get the idea.