Birthdays

So there have been three birthdays this week, two of my friends, Fiona and Nicole, and then a little girl who lives with one of the families here.  Fiona turned 18 and Nicole turned 19.  Birthdays are very special here.. the whole day people have to do nice things for the birthday person and the staff performed a song for them as well.  (Me, Evanne, and Emily made cupcakes).  Their table in the dining room is dressed up nicely with a table cloth and glitter and candles, and then a card from everyone, and a special  chair.  They both had multiple cakes too.  The best part though is what they do after/during lunch.  The staff takes them and throws them up in the air (body surfing style) and  the number of times is equivalent to the age they are turning.  (they of course had to shorten it by saying 1, 2, 15, 16, 17, 18, etc.) because we are getting to old and their body strength can't keep up with the number of throws necessary.  So birthdays are entertaining for both the birthday person and the rest of us.  We will be on outreach for mine so I'm not sure what to expect, and I'm surprisingly the only May birthday.

     I'm helping to lead worship at the church I go to on Sundays and once in a while here at the school.  We also started our community service that we do once a week; I'm working at the nursing home with a few of the other girls every Wednesday afternoon.  Then I am babysitting Eloise and Caleb every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a few hours, and helping out with Hospitality on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  So, we are kept pretty busy around here but it's a lot of fun.  It seems like I've been here way  longer than just nearly 2 weeks.  Tonight we're going to the Pub around the corner for "Accendo" which is where the speaker for the week tells us stories for a couple hours while we enjoy some drinks and snacks.