They really do keep you laughing some days these kids. Our current one liner champion is Tikvah. On a recent trip to a friends’ house she met a new little boy who also attends school here at Pinares. As we pulled out of their driveway in the back of the pickup (Yeah my kids think it’s so cool that you can ride in the back of a truck here in Honduras) Tikvah yells out, “Goodbye, I love you Lazer!” And then after a laugh from all of us and a thoughtful pause she added, “Not the kissing kind! The friends kind.” Glad she differentiated that. Some days you wonder what goes on in a five-year-olds’ head.
Yesterday we were walking to school. It was a cold day and the girls have been excited because their big sister helped get the warm clothes out of the attic storage. It’s like Christmas every time we venture up there and change out clothes or toys. Nothing is new, but it sure feels like it. Tikvah had decided to wear her long pink coat to school and she was explaining to her siblings what it was made out of. “Feel this Jubilee. It’s so soft. My coat is made out of snow and sheep……or maybe snow and pink lions.” I tried not to laugh too hard and touched the coat, agreeing that it was “mucho suave.”
Tikvah tells us that she doesn’t speak Spanish. But her teacher tells me otherwise and now and then she slips up at home. Apparently she can be quite the comedian in class at times-not nearly as shy as her older sister. Mrs. Flores said the other day she was letting her hair fly while Filipo laughed and saying, “miralo mi pelo!” When I ask her she says, “No I don’t talk their way Mama.” I believe that as long as she understands what is being said then it is English in her mind. Any words she doesn’t must be Spanish.
I’ve been helping with an ESL class on Saturdays. I wish I had one that went the other way for me. I guess I need to learn my littles that it really isn’t a problem, just say it and make a mistake. That’s how you learn. Even Gabe is doing well. The other day as we walked home from school one of the maintenance guys who is also his Sunday School teacher started walking and talking to him. After Antonio left, Gabe sighed, “Whew, I did it. I don’t like to talk in Spanish except in Mrs. Lopez’s (his Spanish tutor) room.But I remembered all the words.” He’s also become quite the soccer player and even the bigger boys will let him play.
So glad for these blessings God has given!-hungry hummingbirds who finish the nectar in a day, pizza night with hot chocolate and carols, chilly days that call for a fire at night, a watermelon from Comayagua through a friend, talking to my biggest boy and hearing his dreams, anticipating a holiday together