1st Quarter Projects

We finished the first quarter of school a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to share some projects from my Geometry class. The kids created their own string art designs and we used them to discuss symmetry as well as lines that are tangent to curves! If the math doesn't matter to you, maybe you'll appreciate how pretty they are!

Trip to Poland!

Finally! I'm sitting down at my computer and ready to post another entry on this blog. Things have been more than crazy a while, babysitting some great kids, the first quarter at school, and visiting Poland. This weekend has been a much needed time of rest. Yesterday was Saturday and I did no schoolwork AT ALL! (More rare than you would imagine!) What's more, this weekend was the time change and I gained an hour of sleep last night.

I thought I'd post some fun pics from my trip to Poland.

Last weekend I went to Poland with several other women from the missionary community here in Budapest. Jennifer, one of the ladies who planned the trip, is an aficionado in this area, and boy was I thankful. We drove about eight hours to the town of Boleslawiecs and spent two days exploring the factory stores that sell Polish pottery. On the last day, we even went to a factory where they make and decorate the pottery by hand. It was so much fun, and I purchased my first set of real dishes! These pics are from the factory. The lady is stamping a plate and the man is cutting the stamps from foam with a tiny pair of scissors - amazing! (Another interesting note, inside the factory we saw boxes that were being shipped to TJ Maxx and Marshall's!)

A Great Saturday

This morning I met a group of teachers and students at school and headed about 1/2 hour away to Velence to an orphanage. We played games, drew pictures of our shadows, painted each other's fingernails, and told the story of Noah and the ark. I chaperoned the trip to this orphanage twice last year, but this was the first one I have been on where I was basically in charge. Praise the Lord, nothing scary happened! The kids seemed to have a great time - I know I did. One of the biggest hits every time we go are our digital cameras. They are amazed every time they look at themselves on the tiny screens. I've attached a few to this blog entry for you to see.

Also, this coming week, there are several school families away at conferences. That means I am "babysitting" a family of 4 kids for the week! The highlight thus far? I pulled the lasagna out of the refrig. and it was stuck to the package of bacon below. I laughed, amused, and held the lasagna up with the bacon. It was fun until 30 seconds later when the two were no longer frozen together and the pyrex baking dish with the homemade lasagna burst on the floor. (Thankfully, there's a second lasagna in the other freezer! YES!)

Bible Study

Tonight I ate dinner at Iguana's, the Mexican restaurant in Budapest with my friends Robyn, Meg, and Laura (L to R). We only eat somewhere like that on special occasions and Laura's parents are here visiting from the US. It's fun to meet the families of the people you spend all your time with!

I've uploaded a picture of the four of us because I am so thankful for these friends. Laura teaches 3rd grade at ICSB, Robyn works at the regional office for the Evangelical Free church, and Meg is serving as a missionary with World Gospel Mission. We meet once a week to study the Bible together and pray for each other.

Clinton is here...or so I'm told

After church today we passed a large group of people carrying cameras and standing outside the most expensive hotel in the city. Apparently, they were all waiting for photos of Bill Clinton. I didn't know he was even here, but that doesn't mean much. We drove through the round-about a couple of times so that I could snap these shots. No, Bill isn't in any of them, but we had bigger fish to fry and headed home.

High School Retreat

After 3 days filled with fun, I am now back at home in the village of Diosd. We took all 95 or so high school students to the Word of Life Hungary Bible College outside of Budapest for the weekend and had an awesome time.

We sang some great worship songs, spent time studying the WORD played on the tire swing,
participated in a few small group activities - my group was a toaster,built boats with cardboard and plastic bottles,played a little Capture the Flag,had a bonfire, and much much more.

I love watching the Lord work in the lives of young people, drawing them into a closer relationship with Himself, and I saw that this weekend (along with a little ridiculousness)!

Thanks for your continued prayers!