Elis

Through a miracle, Elis passed her 8th grade exam! Please pray with us as we make decisions about where she should apply for school and her future.

Daniel and Kati move on to 5th grade...

I remember like it was yesterday. Switching classes rather than just staying with your one teacher. It was scary at first, and hard to figure out where you were supposed to be and when. But then it became normal and you realized you were growing up, at least a little bit. This is what's on the agenda for Kati and Daniel next fall. Kati was pretty emotional and talked all day about "the big separation" of never being with this teacher and her classmates again, but I didn't see her shed tears (as most of the rest of the kids in the class did). The teacher had nice things to say about everyone and encouraged them to try even harder next year. The kids crowd around as their teacher reads a part of the letter that Kati wrote to her: "She forgave us for our bad grades. Our teacher is like a mom that I will never forget."
It took everything just to get Daniel in the van to come to this end of the year celebration. But he remembered his lines and sang along with everyone else. Here he is with David, who has worked so patiently with him (and Zorro and Janos) this year.

second grade carnival

I think Claudia was actually worried about passing 2nd grade and moving onto 3rd because her face lit up when it was announced that everyone was moving on (she should have been worried because these last few months of school have been torture!). Margareta's and her end of year celebration was an hour of songs, poems, dancing and each child pretending to be someone at the carnival.

Mama Lidia is getting married

As Zorro gave Lidia this vase from the boys, his words (though scripted) were precious and received applause, "We hope that Liviu will keep this vase full of flowers as beautiful as you are." Our brides, decorated by their teammates with toilet paper.
Catalina-her team worked the fastest and finished before the 7 minutes were up.
Daniel! What a happy bride he makes!
Mama Doina-very original tiara.
Claudia- couldn't be any cuter!

Catalina's dance recital

Catalina faithfully (somewhat) went to reheasals all by herself from February through May getting ready for her "Sport Dance" recital. I'm glad she was able to branch out and do something a little different.

Sergiu, Fanel and Daniela are ready for school

Well, we at least hope they will be ready by September. These little ones have come a long way. Here are Fanel, Daniela and Sergiu with their Kindergarten teacher for the last year and a half. Is she smiling because of all the fun she had with them or smiling because these little troublemakers are moving on? We'll never know.

Elis finishes the 8th grade

Yeah! By the grace of God (and her math teacher) Elis has passed the 8th grade.

She and her Romanian classmates singing (oh yes, the more than an hour long ceremony was in Romanian AND Hungarian)

June 8 = day of insanity

Well at least for me that what it meant. It all ended up being great but there were 4 events I had to prepare for/host/take pictures at/attend.

It all started at 10 am Friday when we celebrated with Elis passing the 8th grade. This is a big deal in Romania and at Casa Ana. She still has the huge end of year exam in a couple weeks (which passing will be a miracle, so please pray).

After this I ran next door to the outdoor market to get fruit for Mama Lidia's going away party/wedding shower. I went out to the houses, spending most of the day at Casa Ana getting ready for the party, thankfully having help from the kids to decorate.

At 4 was the kindergarteners' end of year celebration. I sadly missed the first part, but made it in time to see traditional Romanian dancing (which Fanel was so serious about) and to hear Daniela, Sergiu, Fanel and their classmates say poems and sing songs about going to school next year.

After this I ran (almost literally...I walked as there were no taxis in sight) to the "fortress" in the center for Catalina's dance recital. I thankfully made it in time for that and watched her cheerful group dance "The Jive." Very fun!

Then we went home to finished getting ready for Lidia's party (before it started I stood in front of the fan in the mom's room a good 2 minutes trying to cool off from all the running around). Thankfully Lidia was late, so I was less stressed. We played some games, enjoyed some food and delighted in each other's company. We'll miss her!