Vacation Bible School

Last week was VBS at our church. It was the kids' first time participating in such a program, and they loved it! Nate was with the preschool group of course, and since I volunteered to help, Abby got to be in the nursery with a few of her friends.

It was all week, from 9-12 pm. There were 6 stations set up: movie/saints, imagination station, games, music, snacks, and bible class. I was in charge of games and it was oh.so.exhausting being outside in the heat with 100 kids! Luckily we only had each class for 25 minutes and then everyone would rotate stations. It was for pre-k up to 5th grade, and let me just say, I have a new-found respect for teachers!! I was paired with one other adult volunteer, as well as 5 "youth helpers" (aged 6th-10th grade). Luckily, we got some great ones and they really wanted to be involved with all the kids and help out. I even snagged a new babysitter out of it (hi, Brooke)!

The first 2 days it rained, so we were stuck inside and it was a bit challenging to think of some games on the spot. But we brought back some old classics like Duck Duck Goose, Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, Heads Up Seven Up, Charades, and 4 Corners. I think the kids had a good time!

 And once we got outside, the kids were non-stop! Thank goodness we gave them popsicles and sat in the shade the last few minutes of each session.

Nate's favorite days were the "human bubbles" at Imagination Station, and the bible story about the "scary soldiers." Here is Father Deasy, being a good sport and trying out the bubbles!

Then, Nate got a kick out of the snack station, which was complete with a huge hot air balloon since this year's VBS theme was "The Sky's the Limit: Trust God & All Things Are Possible."

And of course, he loved ALL the songs! Every morning, there would be a 10 minute intro with a skit, to get the kids excited for the day. One of the high school kids has volunteered to lead this segment every year (because he's in choir, drama, etc). He was known to the kids as "Skeeter" - kind of like our mascot - and he was hilarious. Not to mention he had a great singing voice and a huge passion for kids. He just graduated, but luckily is just going to UA in the Fall, so hopefully he can continue to volunteer in future years.

Like I mentioned, Abby was in the nursery with a few other of the volunteers' kids. There was also a youth helper in there (a 6th grader) that fell in love with Abby and carried her around all week. Like literally, I think Abby's feet barely touched the floor. I know this b/c I saw her various times throughout the mornings, as they moved the nursery kids around to a few of the stations so they wouldn't be cooped up in the nursery for 3 hrs. And she was always in someone's arms! Needless to say, she loved all the extra attention and now wherever we go, she insists "Hold me, Momma" and pretends she can't walk. Awesome.

Then on Saturday, Nate performed with all the VBS kids at 5:30 pm mass. I wasn't there (I was in Knoxville with Becky, helping with her nursery!), but Greg took the kids and said that Nate did a phenomenal job. He stood in the front row, sang all 4 songs, and remembered all the hand motions/dances. Greg had to stand at the back of the church with Abby in order to get a glimpse of Nate. And so that Miss Priss had room to dance and do all the hand motions along with the big kids. We have the cd so Nate has been teaching her the music all week. (It was cute at first, but I swear.....if I have to hear Nate sing "Joy, Unspeakable" one more time I might slit my wrists....)

Here is a picture from rehearsal on Friday:

Now that VBS is behind us, we have 2 days left until we leave for our annual family beach trip to Litchfield, SC!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to *try* and do "picture of the day" posts from the beach - thanks for the idea, ML! - so stay tuned for that.