Canada Day hits the bus!

I know that it has been entirely too long since a post, so i thought as I sat and watched the celebrations for the 4th of July in DC I should post a little Canadian patriotism too! The office in BC is always so good to us while we are on the road and sends us packages periodically. This time it was a package all for the home and native land . . . CANADA!

We got on the bus and before we knew it there were flags strung up that the children engineered quickly. There were a few prized Canadian headbands that I pulled the Canadian citizenship rank and got to wear for the bus ride and dinner.

As you can see the children became patriotic quickly as they waved their Canadian pencils whatever else they could find in order to celebrate.


It is hard to believe that this marks the beginning of July. The end is near and its hard to even imagine what it will be like in just two months time saying goodbye to them. But I pray that these last few months will be filled with memories that last a life time and lessons that both the children and I never forget.

back in the home and native land

today we crossed the border into Canada! there was an excitement that filled my heart, but there was also a huge disconnect, I don't think I have ever crossed from Maine into New Brunswick before, unless i was a small child and don't remember. pulling up to a boarder crossing without an extremely long line and wondering which line to pick was a bit foreign as well. so i guess needless to say we made it to Canada quite easily! yeah!

so i guess i have a few memories of living on the east coast, and today as i looked out the bus windows i realized that they were actually quite accurate - lots of trees, completely gray sky, constant drizzling rain, and no sun. i really hope that changes though tomorrow when we head to PEI!

a few humorous incidents happened tonight as we ate dinner, and i just thought i must share them with you.

i guess the stereotype of Canadians being friendly really is true - i always liked to think so, but tonight it was evident. i personally had someone come to the table i was sitting at and welcome me into Canada - i didn't have the heart to tell her I was Canadian. but i talked with another chaperone who had three people welcome her!

one of the children tonight decided he really wanted to try some Canadian cuisine. Auntie Amanda saw Lubega loading up his plate with brussel sprouts - and she asked him if he liked it. he replied he didn't know but he wanted to try Canadian food! i found it just hysterical!

i am off for the night - after playing with the children in the indoor swimming pool equipped with slide i am feeling quite tired even after spending the day on the bus, amazing how that can happen.

much love!

Chocolate Peanut Butter

Once upon a time, there was a girl name Joy. Joy was good, patient, kind and she was a geatle girl. Joy loved God so much and she was faithful to God and she was so thankful for what she had. She had self control. She always read her bible in the morning and night.

Joy lived in a big house and in a peaceful place. Joy lived with her Mom and Dad. Joy has a little brother and a big sister. Joy's family is rich. Joy's Mom works in a chocolate factory. Joy's father works in a bank.

Joy loved chocolate, camol and peanut butter. Joy's mother brought her chocolate cake with camal and peanut butter every day for desert. But one day her mother brought vanilla ice-cream. Joy did not like vanilla ice-cream. But she ate ti. Then her mother said, I thought you would not eat it and her mother was pleased even God was pleased.

Joy had a bicycle. One day she was riding her bicycle and she fell off and broke her leg. Then her all family praed to God every day. But nothing happened. Then they prayed harder and harder. Then one day God answerd ther prays. Joy's all fmaily thanked God for what he had done. Joy was fill with Joy. Joy never tryed to ride her bicycle. Joy saved her bicycle to the poor. Then God was pleased.

THE END

This is a little story that Claire wrote in P3 English class the other day. We had learned about the fruits of the spirit and then given a written assignment to incorporate them into a story. I thought it was so cute how she did it! I hoped you enjoyed.

ps we are on route to Canada - we are crossing into New Brunswick tomorrow. you may not know but i was actually born on the east coast of Canada - Nova Scotia - and haven't been back since i was five. so far my memories of the east coast have been correct - gray, rainy, foggy and lots of trees! but the ocean has been beautiful.

bathroom breaks

travelling on the bus is always interesting, you get on the bus its cold, next time you get off its hot. you jump states and time zones numerous times every couple of weeks. this has become normal, but yesterday as i took a nap i had never quite had this happen before . . . i fell asleep we were driving along the highway, i woke up to the Washington Monument on my right. and no this was not our end destination. we were on our way from philadelphia to richmond VA and i guess the Lincoln Memorial had the closest most accessible bathrooms, why not. but it was a great excuse to get off the bus and stretch our legs!

so close but yet so far

the other day we were on route from wisconsin to indiana. our route went right around this beautiful city - CHICAGO! i have been gone now for about 8 months, and i have wondered a bit about life after tour and have been asked if i would move back, my answer is always the same . . . i would love to, but its so hard to know exactly what life will look like after tour. as we drove by the city though i was squished in between two girls reading The Secret Garden. i kept pausing and starring out the windows and they would yank on my arm and say Auntie you stopped here and pick up where i left off. i would give the parental "yes girls" and continue starring and making vague comments about how auntie used to live here.

i couldn't keep from just watching the beautiful skyline drive by and replay hundreds of fond memories that each building and street held. i guess that chicago truly stole my heart and hasn't let it go quite yet, maybe it never will. who knows if i will ever reclaim my area code that i still hold dear to as my phone or return to the 606-- zip. but i do know that chicago has been the closest thing to home and has provided the environment to shape so much of who i am today!

please enjoy the pics, i personally just wanted to go down memory lane.

Long Bus Rides

Today was one of the longer bus rides, somewhere around the 8 hour mark. Thankfully I was completely exhausted and slept for probably 7 of the hours on and off, very nice. But we have the privilege of traveling on a bus that has a working video machine (as opposed to the last bus that I traveled on). As a treat for both of the chaperones (a little more quiet time without constant requests from the children) and the kids we watched the movie "Prince Caspian". I have to say that watching movies with the children is one of my favourite things, even though it doesn't happen that often. I love watching the facial expressions and hearing the reactions to the scenes.
Even though I did fall asleep for most of it (I previously have watched it, so don't worry I wasn't missing out on anything) I woke up in time for the great fight scene. Of course at this point the children were looking quite distressed and making many expressions of sadness. And then my favourite part of the movie, when it looks like all is going to be lost and they are fighting a loosing battle we watch as Lucy sees Aslan for the first time. The whole bus erupted in cheers of "ASLAN!" and fists raised high with new confidence that the battle would turn around. Of course it does, I hope I don't ruin it for those of you who have not watched it.
I have found the symbolic Christ-figure of Aslan to be very encouraging, even as of late. It is such a good picture of what happens in my own life when the battle seems to be getting the best of me and when I feel like there is no hope - I am suprised to see that "Aslan" has come to my aid. And really He has been there all along but I sometimes forget and think that I have to fight the battles by myself.
Even though I didn't raise my fist with the children in cheer for Aslan, inside I was just as joyful to see His presence recognized again.

You know you are north when . . .

It is hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago I was longing for flip-flops and tank tops. From the pictures below you can guess that I am on the other side of the spectrum, wishing I had brought my winter coat and boots I have discarded along the way. The extremes that tour life brings is best noted in the temperature shifts. I just don't think that it is kind or necessary to go from 80 F to - 15 F drastically. I know that you are thinking, BUT you are a Canadian, you shouldn't be cold, this should be a nice spring day for you. However I don't think the body ever gets over the shock of the first blast of cold air in the morning. It literally took my breath away the other morning. After a sleep that was less than satisfying it does wonders to bring you to complete alertness, one of the many benefits I'm sure I just can't think of any more at the moment . . .

So as we made our trek to the great north, Houghton MI actually, and if you are a little rusty on your geography that would be the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which we are all wondering why it even belongs to Michigan when we had to go through Wisconsin to get to it. It was fun to watch sparse snow turn into a complete blanket of snow. Also the snowmobile world intrigued me as I saw little roads for them alongside the actual roads, complete with their own road signs. When we stopped for gas, of course there were snowmobiles stopping for gas, like it was their sole mode of transportation. And then what put me over the edge yesterday was discovering this parking lot, just for snowmobiles, located at Michigan Tech where our show has been for the last two nights.



I just couldn't resist sneaking a pic on one of the wonders!

Tomorrow we are heading south . . . Nebraska, oh how it is all relative.

Kids are Kids

The other day as I found myself on another long bus ride (this new choir tour does a lot of bus travelling!) I looked up to the front of the bus. I was having a conversation with another chaperone an then got so distracted that I had to stop my conversation - I was watching Rebbecca wrap a nap blanket (each child has a blanket that they nap with) around her head in some sort of head dress. It totally cracked me up because it was so random. Finally I had to figure out what was going on, so I took my camera and found out who Rebbecca had become . . . the evil stepmother in Cinderella. It all made sense now . . . well not really for my western mind, but I was able to see an African portrayal of the story.

The above picture is Joshua B in blue shirt (the fairy-god-mother, and yes don't worry he had a pencil for a wand) and Godfrey in red shirt ( the King/evil step-sister).

Below we have the narrators Florence (L) and Susan (R) - Susan I am sure did most of the narrating as Florence gets motion sick, so I'm sure Florence was just monitoring the acting and providing any sort of instruction she saw fit!


And drum roll please we have the two main stars of the show. I am sure you can take a guess at who is who. Fiona (L) is Cinderella and Rebbecca (R) is yes you are right the evil step-mother! She was taking her job seriously.



And again we have Fiona working her magic even if she just has an African Children's Choir bandanna to work with!


These are just a few of my new 26 boys and girls a part of choir 31. It is times like these that make my heart grow with love - it is so funny how you can never run out of room to love. Even when you feel like you have loved like never before something happens and a smiling face with a blanket wrapped around a head makes me explode!