visiting the dominican republic

 Howard has been traveling since March 16.

The first two weeks of his trip took him to many stops

in Brazil.

The third week found him in the DR

with me!

Because it was my Spring break, 

it worked for me to come down and meet him

and meet up with our two teachers who are

planting a school.

I was also able to bring a few goodies along for them

which was fun for me and for them!

 This is Jessica.

She's the director of the school and of course

also a teacher.

 And this is Ellen.

This is her first year of teaching!

She  is loving her job and loving her kids.

 

 They started the year with 4 children and now have 17.

It's been an extremely challenging situation for these two young women

but they feel they are where God wants them to be

and they are forging ahead.

 One of Ellen's little students was playing on the sidewalk

as we drove by.

What a cutie!

 It was wonderful to meet these young women and have some time

with them to (hopefully!) encourage them.

And what a bonus to be able to make this trip with my husband.

Lots of adventures awaited us...

easter egg tree

In Germany, part of decorating for Easter

includes decorating your trees and shrubs with eggs.

This man takes this traditional to a new level.

He has over 10,000 eggs on this tree.

I wish I could see if for myself.

ukulele lady

The ukuleles have finally arrived.

The kids are beyond excited to finally get to play

another instrument.

The recorder has lost its glamour....

 It was a huge job unpacking all of them

and of course tuning them.

And they have to be tuned every morning as well.

I tuned them again for the first time this morning

and it only took me 15 minutes.

It went much faster than I imagined it would.

 So now the racks are full and they are a dream.

I am so pleased with them and having those instruments hanging

adds a whole new dimension to the classroom.

It really looks like a music room now!

the golden boy

 Today was the perfect day for a field trip with

67 grade 4 students!

Our first stop was at the Manitoba Legislative Building

where we enjoyed a very entertaining

and informative

tour.

 The Golden Boy is always a hot topic

of discussion and today he definitely

did not disappoint.

After the Legislature it was off to the concert hall

for a concert with the

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

It was a great time and I was so impressed by the

excellent behaviour of our students.

I think I was glowing almost as much as 

the Golden Boy!

a glorious day at the forks

 What a day.

We had to get out with our skates today

so we went into Winnipeg and met up with the girls

and thousands of other Winnipeggers

at the Forks - the meeting of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.

 As you can tell from the pics, the skating conditions were not

the greatest. 

It did get a bit better further on

but at this point my shins were already killing me

so we didn't spend much time on this part of the river.

 We found a shady spot on the "curling rink" where the sun hadn't done

its damage yet

and the skating was much better 

although we did have to dodge the odd puck.

 Howard was sporting the toque I knit for him.

I am quite proud of it.

:)

Oh, and of him too - of course!

 This dog's owner said, "She loves hockey!"

She was mesmerized by the pucks and every so often

managed to snag one

but she always gave it back right away.

So cute!

This wall of ice is just across the river from The Forks.

There were some pretty intense climbers doing their thing

up there.

you've gotta love 'em

 Sometimes the kids just warm my heart...

...and other times they just make me laugh out loud!