Day Two: A Whale of a Time

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Today was A-MAZING!!!! The kids are absolutely awesome!!! We started the day with some more praise and worship that the kids LOVE! The sound is soooooo intoxicating! They catch on to the moves and words so quickly. After we worshipped with the kids we shared the story of Noah's Ark (it's really funny to hear the kids say Noah... they pronounce it NO-A.. haha). They loved the story. Afterwards we did some crafts, the best one being the elephant! We had the kids create elephant ears and trunks to wear! I can't wait for you guys to see the pictures... SO STINKING CUTE!

Lunch was at a new restaurant, Khmer Delight, hihgly recommended for any future groups and travelers to Battambang. We then did some shopping in the market, although the somewhat foul odor from raw meat baking in the sun for hours leaves it stench on you. We got paper, pens and other stationary for kids, in addition to badminton birdies and hacky sacks, since they love playing with these in the late afternoon. Mike wanted to be a little adventurous and eat some spiders, but none were to be found in the market. Instead, he had to settle for three types of bugs (video to be posted later). The second bug was the worst, because although it was crunchy as the other two, the insides just gushed out in your mouth. He had to pass on the snakes though, as they've been sitting outside for days. Maybe next time ...

After lunch, we shared the story of Jonah and the BIG fish! We have this bug blue blow up whale that the kids just thought was so funny. I have this picture I can't wait to post of all the kids carrying it to the school house from the bus. It's so funny! After the skit, the kids made stuffed lunch bags that looked like whales... water spickets and all! And the cutest were the whale ornaments that they decorated with tissue paper and put on the tree...

THE TREE... Natalie and I were so excited to bring the christmas tree and were sorely disappointed to find that they had a tree at the orphanage already... but then we found out that the tree is the church's and they had just brought for while we were there! The kids love the tree we brought and all the bright lights. After we put it up today they kept taking all their pictures around it!

Tonite we stayed at the orphanage late and watched Ice Age with the kids! We brought a projector with us and showed it on one of the big blank walls in the school house. We brought Chex Mix and Cheez Its with us from the states and then went and picked up a whole bunch of sodas for the kids! It was so finny to see how excited they were to have it all. Before the movie started though we gave the kids a whole bunch of glow stick necklaces! The kids were in awe... I'm not sure if they've ever seen them before. And being the New Life kids that they are... were very creative! Let's just say... the trees have a glow about them these days:)

It was so nice to just sit and relax with the kids and watch the movie. It makes me dread leaving though! I'm happy to be here in this time though! But the night is over, and we are exhausted. But before we go to bed, the hotel advertises a body massage for $5/hr, so off we go...