VBS Day 2, 3, and 4

All is going well in VBS land, albeit a bit overwhelming. The kids and I came home yesterday and we all took naps! What a wonderful experience. Here are some pictures from the week.

VBS Day 1!

The kids and I had VBS this morning from 9-1. All I can say is WOW! What a day! We belong to a really big church down here. And that means our Vacation Bible School is HUGE! In VBS alone, there are 200 adult volunteers, 180 youth volunteers, and (are you ready for this) 825 kids!! It is an overwhemling and wonderful experience.

I am teaching Princess's class this year and we have 23 first graders. They all behaved so well! I had 4 year olds last year and the difference is like night and day. I was so afraid we were going to lose someone last year. Kids that age tend to "herd" with any group that matches their hight, and our VBS classes are always coming and/or going somewhere!

I will take pictures tomorrow. Today was just too much excitement as everyone was trying to get where they were supposed to be.

Wish me luck for tomorrow. This is such a great ministry. I hope to be up to the challenge for these precious little children!

Wednesday Update!

Today was the best day yet at VBS! The Prince did SUCH a great job of sharing me and not having me carry him around all day! Yippee! I thank him and my back thanks him! He is almost 40 pounds now and it was very hard to carry him around the first two days. Today was Indian Day at VBS and we learned that "God is Strong!" I made a little Indian Princess head dress for Princess and she wore it all day. The Prince and the Knight were not interested in wearing one and I didn't make them. I did the Bible story again for all of the 50 or so 4 year olds and it went really well. The Prince was actually my assistant. I figured that he would throw a hissy fit if I went up on stage without him. It just so happened that we were talking about Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. I brought some blocks and had Will make a wall of rocks while I read. Then, when I gave him the signal, he knocked down the blocks! Then as I went on to ask questions at the end, he picked up the blocks without being asked! What a BIG boy! He went to SUPERSTAR today and we went to McDonald's after VBS. Just to set the tone, I never take the kids to McDonald's unless we are traveling to Iowa. It is a very crazy place to get to and the food is not good for you. The kids did choose chicken nuggest with apples instead of fries though! On the way home from VBS, Will asked if we could eat in a restaurant. Since he was SO good for me today, we went. Tomorrow is the Teacher's Luncheon to thank the teachers for teaching. They have childcare for this, so that is good. I need to pack lunches for everyone tomorrow. I pack a lunch for the Knight everyday because the little ones cannot last until 1:00 without eating lunch. We head for home about 12:45 every day. The Knight has had a rough start to each day. He cries very hard when I drop him off. I am assured that he recovers quickly though. On Monday I actually saw him playing on the playground. He didn't see me though. He was happy as a lark.

I have a Girl's Night Out tonight. I am looking forward to it - we used to play Bunco once a month and I actually liked those better. We are trying out a new restaurant - I hope it is good!

Tuesday Update

Today was a much better day at Vacation Bible School! My co-teacher was there and things ran a lot more smoothly. Yippee!
I brought my camera and snapped some pictures of my class, including the Prince. I took one of the Princess too. She is wearing a straw hat that looks like of yellow in the pictures. We learned today that "God is Everywhere!" I didn't have to do the Bible story today so it was a little bit more relaxing for me.

<--PRINCESS

I did take a picture of one of the other teachers doing the Bible story so you can see the little stage where I go to speak. That is the last pictures. The Prince was a little bit better today. He is VERY overwhelmed by all of this. He was a little bit scared on Monday and was very clingy. Today he was better. I cannot blame him for being overwhelmed. He is one of 700 kids and 400 or so adult volunteers and he is only 3 feet tall. It is a madhouse there sometimes! I even felt overwhelmed. We had a chat about how he needs to share Mommy when we are in our classroom. I told him that I cannot hold him all of the time but that I will hold his hand whenever I can. It was a much better day today!

<--PRINCE making the craft of the day!




<--PRINCE coloring after craft time!









<--Another teacher telling the Bible story of the day. I did this on Monday and will do it on Wednesday and Friday too.

Monday Update

We started Vacation Bible School this week! I signed the Prince and the Princess up and then decided that since the Knight and I would be in the car 2 hours a day (2 round trips) anyway, that it would be a good idea for me to sign up to teach and have the Knight go into the nursery. I do not regret it, but man! Monday was a tough day. I am teaching in a room full of 16 four year olds, including the Prince. Man! They sure do keep me on my toes. Unfortunately Monday it was just me and three 11 year old helpers. I was supposed to have another teacher with me, but she emailed and told me that she would not be able to make it on Monday. The logistics of delivering my 5 year old and my 2 year old to their classes and being in my class with my almost four year old before class begins and within a 10 minute time frame is a little tricky. One adult has to be in the classroom with the 4 year olds. We cannot leave an 11 year old to baby-sit. Today we taught the kids that "God is real!" We talked about real things versus fake things. I was actually proud of myself and got up in front of about 60 people and told the Bible story of the day. Talk about getting out of my comfort zone! Yikes! We have a total of 700 kids total at VBS this week. 700 KIDS! Isn't that amazing?

DadOf3's company went through another round of lay-offs on Monday too. Since DadOf3's team lost several people last time, they were spared this time. DadOf3 was not worried about his job but each time this happens it makes us think about where we are and where we want to be.

VBS Kickoff

Tonight we had Vacation Bible School Kick-off! The kids had loads of fun. There were water jumpers and all three kiddos just got soaked! I picked up all of the stuff for my class. It is going to be very interesting to see how I do in a roomful of 15 four year olds! They didn't have the Prince in my class so I sent an email to see if I could steal him back. I want him with me! They had hotdogs and hamburgers for the kiddos to eat. DadOf3 and I opted out because we wanted to eat at home. The kids liked the hotdogs though and they especially liked getting a Sprite all to themselves! They don't get to have soda very often.

VBS Training and Hot Rollers!

Since we are getting more and more involved in our church down here, I decided to sign the kiddos up for Vacation Bible School this summer. We love the church, but it is a bit of a drive so it made sense for me to volunteer to be a VBS teacher too so we would all be on campus together. Last night was the kick off meeting. Before heading out to the meeting I decided to do something with my hair - let me tell you that doesn't happen just every day! Normally I don't have time to get myself as ready as I would like AND get the kids all ready. Last night the kids were being good so I decided to break out the hot rollers. The Princess was fascinated by the hot curlers and wanted me to put them in her hair too. How could I resist? She looked adorable. I didn't get an after picture but never fear! We will be doing this again, I am sure!

I did go to the VBS meeting and I am going to be the teacher in the Prince's room. I told them that I didn't care where I went - just to put me where they need me. This will be fun. The Princess will be out of school one full week before VBS starts. That will be nice so she can be well rested before we begin. There is a Western/Cowboy theme to VBS this year and I am sure the kids will get a big kick out of it. I always loved VBS as a kid. When I was old enough, I got to teach the little kids and that was fun too. More able this later, you can be sure I will bring my camera!