waiting for becky! i pulled a fast one on the kids...all this time they have been told that becky was coming back on saturday (today). well she wanted to surprise them and come to gabriel house a day earlier, friday, which also happened to be kid's day. it worked out perfectly, because we had nothing planned and the kids were bummed. they were like, it's kids day! how can we not have a party! and i was like, i'm really sorry, guys, but there's just not a lot of money. i'm sure we'll figure something out. so i said i wouldn't be around friday night or saturday morning because i had a friend in ensenada who needed help, so we needed to set up for becky during school on friday morning. they went along with it, because they're great...and then i told them to celebrate kid's day, we could read a story outside at the end of our school day. (what a treat, right? ha. they weren't exactly thrilled.) as we were reading, who pulls up but...becky! they were stunned. the first thing marcos says to me is 'why did you make us put her name in the calendar on may 1st?! she's here a day early!' i said, 'i tricked you...she wanted to surprise everyone!' it was so fun.

some cute videos of becky getting here, and jose seeing her.

reunited with her marcos, wearing the new clothes and shoes she bought him (shorts: size 5T. falling off of him. he's 7 and a half...)

so instead of having a cake to welcome becky back, i decided fruit salad was a better choice. (the kids love me, really. no but seriously, this past weekend two groups came and each brought huge cakes. more cake = unnecessary! even if it was kid's day...)
i put a little bit of whipped cream on top, and thelma looks at her bowl, scoops the entire spoonful of whipped cream up, and devours it, leaving only a tiny bit on her face. i was laughing so hard...so sad i didn't get that on video hahahaha

we went for a walk, and pilar got tired :)

jose, very proud of some work he did in math. marcos just wanted to be in the picture hahaha

marcos decided he wanted to take an angry picture...i decided to take an i-just-ate-something-very-sour picture.

at church tonight - teddy reading along with the pastor.

praying after the sermon. note marcos playing with the car...although this was after he prayed and was prayed for. he's 7! very short attention span...and he did great. we brought josue along this time, too, and he loved it. every time the preacher said amen, josue yelled amen! and clapped and hugged whoever was nearest to him. so adorable.

getting ready to welcome becky home!

teddy being teddy :)
i told him today that he can go to kids camp, at rancho el refugio in july, and his eyes got huge and he started asking me a ton of questions. the thing that he was most excited about is that he isn't going to sleep in his bed for 2 whole nights! he asked me to make him a calendar so that he can know how far away camp is.

nene, on the other hand, asks me every few minutes: kakey? (becky) i tell her becky will be here in a couple days! and then, always, ana? (hanna) me: one month. nene: oh.
so funny - today nene and i were reading i spy together. we looked for a bunch of things on one page and then she kind of goes off to do something else, and i said wait, nene, there are still more pages! and she looks at me, at the book, turns the page, and goes, WOW! which is hilarious because we read 2 or 3 books every single day. maybe a big book confused her. i don't know...but priceless either way.

there are some new videos i've put up lately...if you go to youtube and search "hilaryholbrook" (in quotes, no spaces) it will bring up all the videos i've posted.

marcos and jose playing being before school starts...

nene and ruben LOVING the big books that i brought back from mexicali...an esl program in the states had shut down and the books were donated to mexico outreach, or they ended up at the mexicali camp somehow. we were packing up at the end of the week and i saw this PILE of spanish books, and some big books too. i was like ron, where are those going and can i please have some! he let me take a whole box! chica chica boom boom, tiki tiki tembo, i spy, and tons of great books. the kids were excited to see some new ones :)

eliseo was/is having some major girl problems so i went to his house this afternoon...there's this place he always tells me about but i've never been to. it's called el mirador - it's like a lookout point. oh. my. goodness. i saw ensenada like i've never seen it before. first we were level with the ocean and walked along this beautiful path, right next to the water, while the sun was setting. there wasn't a sandy beach, just big rocks, and so when big waves came up we got wet - the pathway was that close to the water.
then we went up to the lookout point, way way way up this one mountain. there's this stone ledge that you sit on and you can see the ENTIRE city. since it was dusk and then later completely dark, we could see all the lights and everything. there was a full moon and it was reflected into the water, we could hear the seals barking or whatever they do, and we seriously were looking out over the entire city. of course we both forgot out cameras, so we're going back in a couple weeks to take pictures of everything. i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e. i wish i had known about this place sooner! everyone needs to go.

today was a good day!
i woke up this morning just not feeling it and was trying to get over that. i kept telling myself that i could just slog through the day or i could make the most of it. then i found out the boys broke the cd player that we use ALL DAY at school...i love to have music playing in the background and i was like, dang, this is just going to be one of those stinkin' mondays.
but it turned out to be a pretty good day! the kids worked well and we did a LOT. they knew they were working hard and well and were proud of themselves (and rightly so!)
josue is with his mom for a few days, so preschool was much more calm and i was able to work one on one with all the kids (again...rare).

i just got back from dinner with dan and ivey, a couple who live at rancho el refugio and are working on a school that's being built at the ranch. it was great to spend time with them - they're such a sweet, solid, Godly couple. it was nice to speak english with people in person and not on skype, too!

rocio's nephews went to a birthday party on saturday, and rocio invited me to go with them. it was so fun! i love being a part of life down here. not the cruise ship, tourist area where everyone speaks english part of life. the part where people look at me wierdly because i'm so white, and then look at me even wierder when i answer the questions, in spanish, that they ask rocio because they don't think i understand or speak spanish. never a dull moment! this was a legit party, though. the kid turned 5, and there were TWO pinatas. apparently 5 is a pretty big deal :)

eric, rocio's 3 year old nephew. adorable...

pinatas could be an olympic sport here. not kidding. these kids know what's up.

church today! i taught sunday school to the young adults. it was interesting. but i brought cookies and made everyone stare at them until i was done teaching, and to please pay attention in the meantime. it worked.

tonio hanging out, getting ready to clean the bus. the boys LOVE to be around anything that has to do with cars, so they spend a lot of time wiping down the bus. every since i got back from mexicali, i have been the main teacher and chuy has been my aide. up in this point, chuy technically was the lead and i was his aide. i did a lot behind the scenes to help him, but he still had the final say. that has changed, and one thing i did when i took over was start our school day with a prayer. after a couple days, the boys wanted to pray too, so teddy and marcos prayed. yesterday, tonio wanted to, so he did. we usually pray before lunch, too, and when one of the brothers prayers my eyes are usually closed...i know they're praying silently, seeing as how they can't speak. they'll smack the table or get our attention somehow to say amen. well yesterday, i was watching tonio, and he was signing. it was beautiful. he was thanking God for the rain, even though it meant we couldn't go to church, and asking that God would not let it rain next thursday so that we could go to church. he signed about everyone, and school, and the whole time had such a big smile on his face. it was so cool.

pilar helping, as usual. she LOVES to be the momma bear.

i know this shouldn't be a rare sight - preschool, with everyone in their seats - but it is. i was so happy to see it.

nene doing my hair. painfully funny.