Going for a walk

Here is how a typical walk for me goes:

I start out with a quiet, responsible kid, then have a half-dozen or so little munchkins follow after us saying, "Faith Jiejie! Faith Jiejie(Sister Faith)! Let us come too!"

So, we start off on a big, wild adventure!

They stop to take a peek in the window to see what some other boys are doing (there's my big, responsible boy I started out with: Dai Shengyou, 7'th grade. He is such a goof for the camera! He had an appendicitis attack last month, but has recovered from the surgery and is doing fine now. He's still a little too thin, though. He likes to come to my room and see if I'll give him any American candy. Considering how thin he is and how well-behaved, I usually give it to him!)

They're messing with a whole bunch of flashlight pieces. I'm not sure if they're taking it apart or trying to put it back together! (the kid on the right in the white shirt is named Noah. He is one of the sweetest kids here and the most well-behaved. He only has one foot (the other was amputated a while back), and hops around our center with a smile on his face. He's such a trooper! You should see him on the badminton court!)

So, we continue down the road....and the little boys see some beautiful flowers on the neighbor's tree...and, yes, they start to pick them! I say, "No, don't do that! I'm not taking you with me next time if you don't listen to me."

But they're just too cute! And then they want to give ME the flowers! (That's Hai Ting(above), our youngest child here. He's 4 1/2 yrs. old and started 1'st grade this year. He's doing very well in school! He's really sweet, but needs to be taught what one should and shouldn't do in public. For instance: one shouldn't just go in the middle of the road, even if it's a country road and you aim right into a puddle. Lesson learned on this walk...)

Here is Zeng Wen Bing, the feistiest kid here! He's in 5'th grade. When I first got here, he was always hitting the other kids and causing trouble. He's much better now, and ridiculously sweet! He gives me thumbs-up and calls me “Sister #1”. He come up to hug me every day, many times a day. His parents both died when he was very young, so he has grown up not knowing the love and security of a family. His older brother is a bit feisty too (he's the other kid playing with the flashlight parts above).

Tuo Tuo caught a frog! How cute...
Tuo Tuo, Hai Ting, and Zeng Wen Bing put together make one exercise of a walk!

But it's all worth it.

It's good.

No, better than that....it's wonderful!