It was a busy weekend around here! Lots of happenings and lots of love shared. It was a perfect celebration of the holiday of love.
I'll go in reverse order...
Yesterday, on Valentine's Day, we had a picnic with the homeschoolers and read Valentine's poems. We have the biggest group of homeschool kids that Chogoria has ever seen and it's a beautiful blessing.
Before lunch, however, I busted out the Valentine's candy I brought over from America. M&Ms and heart-shaped Reese's! The boys were pretty happy
And I was pretty happy when I woke up to a surprise breakfast in bed. My hubby made me a ham-and-cheese omelette (one of my many favorite breakfast dishes) and the boys had picked fresh flowers and made me Valentine's cards. It was incredibly sweet!
The day before Valentine's Day included a Ladies Afternoon. The Chogoria ladies are an amazing group of people and I cherish them so much! I could write an entire post about them (and maybe I will). This day had us enjoying snacks and chai and learning to play the game Code Names, which was really fun. Lots of laughter filled the afternoon and I was reminded again of how grateful I am for this community.
The day before that (Saturday) culminated in our annual "Valentine's Day of Races." It's like a field day of various races and events. I've planned it for the past three years and it's become a tradition. We had a great turnout this year and everyone loved it! Who doesn't love the chance to channel their inner child and run and laugh and maybe get a little wet if the water balloon bursts on you???
I've said it before and I'll keep saying it till the day I die: I greatly appreciate and respect any adult who willingly and gladly plays with children and creates memories like this with them. Kids do not forget the times an adult ran around with them and got silly with them! They do not forget when a grownup tripped to the ground during a sack race because said grownup is really too big for the sacks (Eli and Derek) or dove to the finish line to beat the other team (Will) or was the person who caught a water balloon from halfway across the yard and got the most soaked (Anne). I know they will remember these things because of how they talk about them. They talk about them like memories were made, and I believe they were.
So here's a smattering of photos from this year's Valentine's Day of Races:
The classic egg race. Even the little ones participated with a little help!
I love this set of photos because it shows both the excitement and the intensity of these races!
Again, adults who participate in stuff like this are the coolest! Jumping with a balloon between your knees is pure silliness and everyone was cracking up!
This is a super simple but super fun race: two people running with a beach ball between their foreheads. I particularly admired the folks who chose the strategy of one person running backwards while the other person ran forwards. I feel like that takes more coordination than both people running sideways, but maybe I'm wrong. Either way, it looks ridiculous and I love it!
And the sack race! Another classic race. I'm indebted to our househelper who supplied the sacks for us. I was busting a gut watching Eli and Derek race each other. I couldn't get many photos of them because I was laughing too hard! The kids were laughing pretty hard too.
The last race of the evening was the wheelbarrow race. It's always tempting to wanna put some kids in there and let the adults run amuck, but that's a sure recipe for disaster with this many kids around. So we keep it simple and just have everyone push the wheelbarrow down and around the cone. It's still a fan favorite and I totally understand why!
I brought water balloons from the States just for this. I only wish I could spare more, but at least everyone got to toss twice. The little kids typically drop theirs right away, but some of the older kids can get a little farther. There's a lot of technique still to be learned. I kinda want to give water balloon tossing lessons to improve their chances of throwing father and getting more soaked in the end!
Check out this action shot! Olive missed the water balloon but I love seeing the shape of it as it landed on her leg and was about to burst!
Lastly, we pulled out the parachute. How on earth did we get a parachute in Chogoria, you might ask? I have no idea. A colleague who used to live here had it and passed it on to us when they left Chogoria. I'm not sure how they got it here, but I'm glad. We don't get to use it very often since it's so huge and requires so many people to operate, but this was the perfect chance to enjoy it. Balls were flying and then kids were flying as they ran underneath it, trying not to get trapped as the parachute was brought back down on top of them. I can barely describe the giggles and squeals!
More than the fun that everybody had, my greatest joy of the entire evening was watching Caleb participate in every single event. That was the first time ever that he's done that and I was so incredibly proud of him! Usually he sits out of certain things, or sits out of everything, but that night was his night and he not only participated but enjoyed all of it. A smile was plastered on his face and no one had to coax him into anything. What a milestone for our son!
Our community here is amazing and I think we love each other rather well. I think part of the reason Caleb was able to reach the point of participating in this stuff is because our community is a safe and loving place to be. There is encouragement and understanding, kindness and grace. Love abounds.
And as I said to the kids before we started the races, "Let us love one another, for love comes from God" (1 John 4:7). Anything we do that loves each other well is because of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment