Monday, August 31, 2009

Big Brother

Evan has decided he's big enough to be Trey's Boss Big Brother. Evan and Trey both live in foster families, and though they aren't in the same family, they are close neighbors. So, when it is time to go home every day after preschool, Evan's foster mom takes both boys home.

Recently we installed a merry-go-round in the back yard. It is quickly becoming a favorite activity among most of the children, and Trey would be perfectly happy to spend his whole afternoon whirling round and round. Evan's OK with Trey's merry-go-round obsession, as long as it doesn't interfere with his foster mom's plans to take the two boys home.

The other afternoon, Evan noticed his foster mom had arrived. Before she could even ask the boys to leave, Evan was already walking over to the merry-go-round, patiently explaining to Trey that it was time to go.

"Let's go home," Evan politely suggested.

Trey continued going round and round on the merry-go-round.

"We need to have lunch."

No response from Trey.

"Trey! Let's go!"

Trey shakes his head no and hangs on for another round.

Finally, with Evan's foster mom finally on the scene encouraging the two boys to leave, Trey agreed to go. And like any good big brother, Evan was right there to help make sure he got both feet planted firmly on the ground.

The two boys happily walked off with Evan's foster mom, and went home to eat lunch, leaving the merry-go-round to wait for another day.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Favorite Shirt

So Peter has a Favorite Shirt... The pink and yellow tropical print perfectly reflects his bright and sunny personality and warm-hearted love. It is an obvious choice for a little guy who's faced with the need to select a Favorite Shirt.


But sometimes, much to his dismay, the pink and yellow statement simply must be washed, and he's forced to wear something else. And the other afternoon, with his Favorite Shirt in the laundry, Hal's Helicopter shirt fit the bill. Peter discovered that it performed OK in the sandbox, but clearly it didn't measure up to the Favorite Shirt. It just doesn't make the same statement.


So when it was time to go inside at the end of a long afternoon of playing and digging, we found Peter lagging behind the other children. And where did we find him? Standing underneath the clothes-line, sans the Hal's Helicopter attire, pointing to a bright pink and yellow shirt fluttering in the breeze.


"It's Peter's! It's Peter's!" he kept shouting. Hal's Helicopter had been discarded in some corner, because when he came face-to-face with the alternative of wearing his Favorite Shirt, Peter just couldn't bear to wait any longer.


Poor Hal's Helicopter.

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I'm back from a blogging hiatus! Thanks to Laura-Kate, Caroline, and Rita for posting in my absence. My husband and I enjoyed a month in the states with our families, but it is good to be back with our precious kids. I'm looking forward to bringing you lots of cute new stories about our adorable little ones.
- Carrie
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Evan


Monday, August 17, 2009

Another Miraculous Story

Posted by Rita Rippee
Child Sponsorship Coordinator


Tristan came to us with a heart condition that is quite serious -- PDA and Pulmonary Atresia. At that time, we were told that he would require two surgeries to treat his condition. His first heart surgery was performed on December 5, 2008. Recently he was taken back to the hospital for tests to do his next surgery. The doctors were amazed and excitedly reported to us that Tristan may not require more surgery! They told us to bring him back in another 3 months and they would run more tests to verify that fact.



Yet another encouraging story was when our staff was approached by the surgeon at the hospital the same day Tristan was there. He told us that he’d noticed something of significance regarding our children at New Day. He began to tell us how he had found that our children consistently did better than others and wanted to know why. These orphans not only come through the surgeries better, but quite often recover more quickly and are released faster than those who come from regular families. In the natural, one would think that the opposite would be true. This is coming from a surgeon, who recognized the fact that he was not doing anything different with our children, yet the outcome was amazingly greater and he wanted to know why. Our staff then had the opportunity to tell him the reason, “It is because people pray for these kids!” What an awesome testimony! It is something our New Day staff has already known to be true, but to have him not only notice the difference, but also to be curious enough to seek out the reason, well……it speaks volumes to us! We cannot take the credit ourselves, but give all the glory to the One it truly belongs!!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Victoria's Giggle


Thursday, August 6, 2009

Hanging Out

By: Laura-Kate Denny, A NDFH Summer Intern

So often, the children astound us with their incredible strength. We are constantly awe-struck by their strength in the face of adversity, strength in healing after medical procedures, and strength in opening their hearts to love. In addition to all of these inspiring instances of strength, Peter definitely displays another type:


While playing in the yard, Peter asked his nanny to lift him up to the monkey bars. She happily obliged (who could say "no" to that face??), and Peter amazed us all by being able to hold himself up without support! Of course, loving arms were always ready to catch him, just in case.

Peter's laughter and smile are a source of joy at New Day - we are so thankful to be able to care for such a strong little man!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Show-and-Tell

By: Laura-Kate Denny, A NDFH Summer Intern

It seems we have a curious little scientist on our hands here at New Day. Yesterday, Adam made a new friend, and he just couldn't wait to introduce him to the other children.



Annie and Nathan were cautious at first, but curiosity got the best of them! What's in the box, Adam?

Honestly, the bug that Adam caught was huge and undeniably "yucky." Some of the children (and volunteers - myself included!) wanted nothing to do with his discovery. Annie, however, is fearless!


Adam proudly shared his little pet all morning. At lunch time, I'm glad to report that Adam set the creepy crawler free - even bugs have to go home for lunch!

Wordless Wednesday: Liam


Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Littlest Learners

By: Laura-Kate Denny, A NDFH Summer Intern

In the past week, New Day has expanded the preschool program. Now, the older kids (ages 3+) attend class in the morning, and the 2-year-olds attend class in the afternoon. The little ones are adjusting very well to the new learning environment!

After just one day in class, Raegan has already mastered folding her hands and saying “Ready!” before she receives her snack.


And, as usual, our kids LOVE to sing! Aren’t you impressed by how well a group of 2-year-olds knows the ABC’s?




At the end of class, lining up to play outside is no problem!


Can't wait for class tomorrow!
Sunday, August 2, 2009

Student or Teacher?

By: Laura-Kate Denny, A NDFH Summer Intern

I help with Sophie's English language lessons. Sometimes, it's hard to tell who is the student and who is the teacher! While practicing our shopping vocabulary (important for any 4-year-old girl, right?), I asked Sophie to teach me the Chinese word for "store." Always the eager teacher, Sophie looked my in the eye and slowly said what sounded like,

"Sha - Doe - Ah"

And so I repeated, "Sha-Doe-Ah." Sophie shook her head, obviously unimpressed with my Chinese language skills, and said again, "Sha-Doe-Ah." I repeated. She said no, and repeated the phrase again. This back and forth went on for probably 30 repetitions. Clearly amused with my accent, Sophie even tried squishing my cheeks together to help me make the right noise. Still, my efforts fell short of her high teaching standards.

Finally, in exasperation, Sophie looked at me and said, "No, I want to go to the sha-doe-ah!"

Sha-doe-ah. Store. I had been repeating Sophie's pronunciation of the English word, while she was patiently correcting me as I dragged the word into at least 3 syllables. When I finally said "store," Sophie happily congratulated me for getting it right. Maybe there's a teaching degree in Sophie's future - she's certainly got the patience!