Vacation Bible School

From June 15th-19th I provided snacks for 450 kids at our church's Vacation Bible School. Thankfully I didn't have to pay for them, but it was still stressful. It took Mom and me about an hour to get the snacks, but there were 20 kids with all different kinds of food allergies and it took me at least 1 1/2 hours to buy things they could eat. I must have woken up 3 or 4 times on the Sunday before, worrying that some child would break out in hives or go into shock from something I'd fed them!!

Each day the kids met in the church for the assembly and to sing some praise songs, and then they dispersed in groups of 10 to all kinds of activities all over the church. The theme this year was 'Camp EDGE', so there was an outdoor element to all the activities. Each day had a scripture and a catch pharse, both of which emphasised God's love for the kids and how they should follow him.

This was my snack tent and from 9:30am to 11:30am we provided the snack for the day (something different each day) and lemonade to 100 kids every 30 minutes. I had a great team of people to help me so it was very straight forward, but it was still tiring. Jaden and Kirsten were experts at making lemonade by the end of the week. Jaden would make 12 gallons while Kirsten would put the ice in it.

I had cut down a load of bushes in the garden on Sunday and Adam had helped me make it look somewhat like a forest.

I'd borrowed some stuffed toys from a friend and used the kids too, to make it look like animals were climbing in the trees, but by the end of the week our forest was dead! It was definately a metaphor for how I felt at the end of it!!

No one else wanted to do snacks, which was why I ended up doing it this year as a favor to my friend who organized the whole VBS, but I've signed up to do it again next year as it should be easier now I have a menu and know what I'm doing.

After snack the kids went and did some recreation before going on to do science experiments, crafts and drama. Even Jaden admitted that it was good fun, so it must have been great as he is getting a bit too old for these things.

The highlight of the whole week for me was seeming Nicolas (in the stripes)walk by each day with all his little friends to go to the play ground. The kids all hold on to a ring on a piece of rope and follow each other. It's just the cutest thing. I get sad to think that soon I'll be out of this stage with Nicolas because this is definately my favorite age. I can still baby him if I want to, but he is independant if I need him to be. He amazes me everyday with the things he tells me and all the things he can do.