too much cuteness....

Where are your glasses Tony?

oh my. Sean is just too adorable and has a very cute little voice :) 

Vincent is always laughing at something....

Eliana screams when she laughs and she does it LOUD! 

Camille pretends she doesn't like preschool, but really she loves it! as you can see...

Tony and Lucy Kate, foster brother and sister. LK smiles most of the time, but for some reason in this picture she isn't. 

Jace loves to play trains. He has REALLY grown up a lot since I was here, especially maturity wise. 

Today my schedule was solidified and I am excited to see how it will work out. I am nervous that the kids won't learn much from me (I am teaching in English) and I am nervous about making a cohesive format to the classes, but I know it will take some trial and error. I just perfer to be perfect the first time :) Perfect? Did I just say that? No, I know nothing is perfect, so we are aiming for great! Please pray for me and the other teachers as we begin to make these changes. Thank you!

For good measure, I will add one more picture...Hannah, a sweet sweet angel who lives here with her family, took this one and I love it! Once again, I am loving this new camera!

why hello Cora! we love you :) 

1 week...

I have been in China now for one week. At times, it has gone by very fast :) I like that the days are busy with lots to do. Right now I am going to teach the morning class in English 2 days a week, teach the afternoon Pre-K and do some one on one times, then I will be assisting the afternoon class. I have just jumped right back into teaching and it has been great. I definitely feel comfortable in a classroom, although there is the challenge of me not speaking mandarin...hmm. On Tuesday, I didn't think I would be doing the lesson, but I walked in and Gloria told me I was teaching today. Ha. At least we had a copy of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." Kids can enjoy that in any language.

After the last class of the day, I do my best to sneak upstairs and hold babies. In particular, I really like a little girl named Sage who just had her cleft lip repaired and it looks amazing. God has healed her beautifully and her smile is gorgeous. I will try to snap a picture soon!

I want to give an update on some of the kids I work with over the next few weeks, but would like to wait to have pictures because I am know that's what everyone wants! So, here are some from the past few days, and then I will do some possibly interesting posts at a later time.

It was Claire's turn to pass out the plates at snack time. 

Emelia loves this game :) 

Jenna has blossomed into a wonderful student! 

Joshua thinks the only way to eat watermelon is with your eyes closed.

The internet is giving me problems, so those are the only photos I could upload.

In a nutshell: the first week has been wonderful. In many ways it has exceeded my expectations. Especially in regards to all the new things we are doing with the preschool. It also has been very easy to melt back into a routine and I feel like I have never left. The things that are hard right now (homesickness) I know will get easier with time. I am honored that God chose me and has challenged me to make this move, as difficult as it may be. I know my reward will be in heaven. 

Hopefully I will be back soon with some exciting updates on the kids!!!

pictures with a few (who am i kidding) words in between

Once again, this may not be an inspiring post. BUT, I hope to make up for it with some super cute pictures! I still love working in the preschool. Time seems to go by so fast when I am there and we always have a good time. I spend the majority of my morning helping individual kids and assisting Gloria. In the afternoon, we now have a Pre-K and then the little kids' class. The Pre-K class is brand new and we are still working out all the kinks. All that to say, we have a lot of serious cases right now, so please lift up these special children :) 

I am getting ahead of myself....this past weekend was my first back here. I was blessed to be able to go into the city and see the only 2 other people I know that live in this country. They both live in different cities but were in town that day :) I have been a little homesick, so God must have known I needed a friend. I always have a good time with Mikey and Michael and bonus: we ate TWO American meals! 

Also, on Sunday I ate dinner with Amy who works at the foster home and her family. I was just walking by their house and said hello and she invited me in. Little did I know, they were making my favorite--dumplings from scratch! They were wonderful and I was honored to eat with them. Amy is one of my favorite people here and I hope we can become better friends. 

Now it is the end of Monday.... (for some reason I felt the reason to say that because the time difference is confusing). Now the fun part.... 

Elliott was apparently very tired during our school lesson. 

Claire just sits like a little lady! 

Joshua works a puzzle. 

Philip! Yes, he is that cute in person. He is also very smart and speaks many English words! 

Beautiful Emelia. 

TONY! Ahhh.... he has my heart on a platter. 

Camille and Lucy at snack time. 

If this doesn't make you laugh then you have no heart. My man Landon! 

PS...my language skills here are awful. They are actually worse than I thought they would be. I probably understand about 5% of what people say haha! I hope to be motivated into studying but so far, not so much. Hopefully I can catch up this weekend. I do have the desire to learn, because it is frustrating when no one understands you and you can't understand them. Maybe I will be fluent in 2 years!

Today.

 Wow, such an original title....

Anywho, today I was still getting settled "back" into the routine of things. I missed most of morning preschool because I had to go into the big city. The drive was long, but it was to an area of the big city that I had never been to before. It was relatively clear today, and the scenery was just beautiful.

I made it to the very end of the morning preschool class and caught the June Birthday celebration! We celebrated 2 birthdays in the morning, and 3 in the afternoon :) Of course we celebrated with a lot of cake!

(I wish I had something really deep to share, but it is just not going to happen. I am too jet-lagged and lazy)

Tony is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. He is SO SMART and super cute! He sings really loud and always has a smile on his face. 

and Tony was very excited today to celebrate his 5th birthday!

Sweet Jace

I told Tony to smile and William cut in front of him! haha! I love William too :) 

Vincent was loving the cake and kept making slurping noises. 

Like a good boy, Sean ate his apple first. He was just a baby last summer, but now he is a full-blown toddler! He is calling me "Ayi" and saying so many other words. He spent most of the preschool time today right next to me :) Hey, I am not complaining!

Lucy Kate is a BEAUTY! I love her and she absolutely loves to have her picture taken and then look at it. I am sure she knows she is cute!

I made it

Well, after 2 days with only 5 hours of sleep between them, packing an hour before leaving for the airport, and 2 uneventful flights, I made it to my destination! I threw my stuff down and went straight to the foster home. I was able to see all the staff again, which was wonderful! There are a lot of new kids in the foster home, but definitely some I knew last summer :) They have all gotten very big and of course are just as cute as ever. Today (after 8 hours of sleep, praise God) I worked in the preschool all day and it was just as I remembered it. I had really missed the preschool assistant, Gloria and am happy to be working with her again! Actually, when I went to tell her I had arrived, I surprised her and she hit my arm saying, "You were supposed to come on Friday, not today!". Just another reason why I love her.

Since I know everyone wants pictures, here we go!!!!

Vincent hasn't changed...he is still a goof :) 

Angela is a beauty 

I was glad to be reunited with Claire again! 

SEAN! After I took this picture, he decided we were best buds and kept hugging me the rest of class. Of course, I didn't mind a bit :) 

snack time! 

Landon! One of my newest faves :) He is really special because he is being sponsored by a former students' family! Thank you "M" family! 

Cora. The little Barbie Doll. She is hilarious! 

It was a great day :)

Humbled and Grateful

God has continually fulfilled His promises He has made to me.

I am humbled and oh.so.grateful. for His never-ending mercies.

Each time I think things are not possible and will never work out, they do. God is always in the details. He is trustworthy and Great.

"Be still and know that I am God!" Isaiah 46:10

Just an example: I did not want to fundraise for this trip but knew that I had to. I sent out support letters and was reminded once again that He is the Great Provider through others' encouragement and support. One afternoon, I checked the mail and saw that there was none that day. At this point, I panicked, I think because it had been a long, busy day/week and a let's-ask-catherine-tons-of-hard-questions-about-china kind of day. I was getting out of the car when I calmly said to myself, "Okay, God, I know this is just one day. I know I have to trust you. I trust you, Lord. I know you will provide for my every need." Well, imagine my surprise when I walked into the door of my house and saw 2 letters addressed to me on the kitchen counter! Turns out, the mail had been checked earlier in the day! Inside these 2 precious letters were very generous gifts that brought me to tears in humility and thanksgiving. I was embarrassed at what I had thought and for being ungrateful. It was a BIG lesson!

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

To my family, friends, co-workers, and anyone else whom I have forgotten: THANK YOU! Thank you for being Jesus in the flesh to me with your kind words, sweet notes, monetary giving, prayers, phone calls, and general support. I cannot adequately describe in words how grateful I am. Your generosity has brought me to tears many times and to my knees in praise of the Almighty Father. Without you, I would not be able to go back to China and do this.... 

 or this...

 or see these sweet faces....

I want to personally thank the following people for making this dream become a reality:

Mom, Dad, Rebekah and JohnMichael (jie jie and didi) 

Nana and Papa

Kari B.

Wendy C.
Mary S. 

Rachel and Aaron K. and baby on the way! 

Bill and Lauryn M.  

The Barb R. family
Jim, Mary Ann, Katie and Jack H.
Donna, Laura, and James M.  

Rusty and Stacy R.

Debbie G. 

David and Holly M.

Chase and Kristen W. 

Josh and Kelly S. and their 2 little ones :)

Mark and Pat G.

Becky H.

Susan M. 

Judy and Ed D. 

Pam C. 

Gary and Marty S.
Joel, Tracy, and Anna E.
Bill and Dottie M.
Harriet K.
Creig and Janet S.
Dave and Linette B. and the 3 K's
Miss Cricket
Gary and Cindy S.
The "T" Family
Suzy F.
Miss Cricket M.
"Aunt" Ann and "Uncle" Paul
Aunt Risa C.
Susan P.
The "S" Family

The ENTIRE S*B*A* community :)

and to anyone else I accidentally forgot: THANK YOU!

T-minus 10 hours until my first plane leaves. And I couldn't be more excited!