This is how we roll....

 Maybe some of you are tired of seeing pictures of Ruthie, but she pretty much is our life here at the Pipera house!!  When she comes to our house (which is quite often) she immediately looks for an iPad (because my iPad and Jen's are hers).  And this is pretty much how we roll...

She knows how to turn it on, find the youtube app, doodle buddy or her Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star song!

Smile, Ruthie!  And she makes this face every time once the camera is out!

She loves to try on shoes lately!  These are my cute new flats....

These are Jen's flip flops....

She's going to be two soon!!

Pajama Party

The transition house graduate girls love to have sleepovers, so we invited them to come stay at Pipera.  We ate something really yummy (I can't remember what it was...possibly lasagna...because the girls love it so much), played Minute to Win It games, and watched movies.  This year we also invited some of the older Peris girls to come join us.  They were a little intimidated at first, but ended up having a lot of fun.  I enjoyed having one on one talk time with Raluca and Ioana in the kitchen during the first movie.  Second movie...I went to bed!!

Scoala Altfel

During the first week of April, Romania decided to do a different kind of school.  Schools were encouraged to do special activities, take field trips and do special projects.  The whole country participated in this project.

On Monday, we went to Rosiori and went to the forest with the boys from the boy's school in that area.  The team that was here talked about America and we did crafts related to America.  The director at this school really loves us and had special cakes made for us!

 On Tuesday we did the same America program at Peris...

 On Thursday, I taught a cooking class.  Others taught dance, music and sports....

 On Wednesday we watched a skit about dental hygiene...

 And on Friday, the dance group and the orchestra performed.  I didn't have pictures of these groups but other random pictures that I liked, so here they are!!

Summer Fun!

Where do I start on this topic?  We held 4 girly camps, 6 day camps in the Bucharest area, 2 boys backpacking trips, 2 boys camps, and 6 day camps in the Rosiori area.  And we have an orchestra camp and 5 small group music camps yet to come this next week!  Whew!  Here is a photo collage of what I've done!!

Making Pizza

Making Pizza again at a different camp!

Lots of pool time!

Yes, I was dancing Just Dance!!

Discussing game rules

Yep, she loves me!!

Sometimes, Ruthie comes to the orphanage with us!!

Boy's Transition House Graduation.  I translated from Romanian to English!

Little Love Bug

This is Maria...

She came to the Voluntari orphanage in December with her two older sisters.  She just turned 3!  Every time we go to the orphanage, she always asks, "Did you bring something good for me?"  The answer is usually, "No!"  :( 

One day, I let Maria and her sister go through my purse...  Unfortunately, I can't find a picture of that!

This is me and Maria in the pool this summer!  She loved the water, although, she was a little afraid at the beginning and clung to me.

What I have to say about this last picture is this.  About half way through the swimming portion, Maria got visibly tired.  She is used to taking a 2-3 hour nap each day.  So, she curled up in my arms and fell asleep.  The really funny thing, right before I had to wake her up was that I'm pretty sure she peed on me.  Oh well...that's life!!  And for the record, I wasn't really sleeping here...I was posing for the picture!  :)

Girly Camps!

This year we held four sessions of girly camps!  Each group was very different and very enjoyable!  The first two groups were held at the end of June and were made up of girls from Rosiori and the groups were quite small.  We had three awesome team members here (Ciara, Heather and Melissa) who were great helpers.  We talked about what it means to be a Champion with courage, integrity, in our friendships, with boys and in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  The girls enjoyed making their own pizza, making a frame, making bracelets, playing Just Dance, doing their nails and hair, watching movies and hanging out with our staff!  The last two groups were comprised of girls from Rosiori, Peris and Voluntari.  They were the oldest girls in the orphanage and their camp was at the end of July.  With the last group of girls, we invited the girls that have expressed interest in and that we think would be good for the girl's transition house program.  We talked with them about what the program looks like and held interviews with six girls.  What a blessing to spend time one on one with these girls and get to know them in a more personal way!

Our great staff and team members!!

Group #1

Group #2

Group #3

Group #4

Peris-End of the Year Celebration

It is always so cool to play the part of "parent" and watch the Peris kids at the end of the year receive their diplomas and watch them as they perform in music groups, skits, and dances! So proud of all my kids!

Easter 2012

At Easter, we had the Canadian team, a film crew, the H2H staff, and 30-40 transition graduates.  It rained that day, so our annual egg hunt with the golden egg was cancelled.  Instead, they played BINGO in the house and got to draw eggs out of big garbage bag in hopes that they would pull out the golden egg (which is worth 50 lei=$15).  I made a bunny cake, which turned out really cute!

Teaching children's church on Palm Sunday!  They look like bunnies, but they are really donkeys.

Emanuel is a cute little donkey!

Waiting in line to "draw" eggs out of the garbage bag and hoping it is the golden egg!

Bunny Cake!