Art

"Every artist was first an amateur" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

                                            

The Team

My Group of really, really great kids at camp last week.  13-17 year olds.

Laughing.



























The girls.





























                                                                       We do hard things.

Camp Counselours

We are very calm.  And serious people.

                                                                            Ummm....

Not.













Evidently we think we are in a musical....

























And Dave thinks he's the star... ;)

VBS Camp 2008

We had an AWESOME week at VBS camp this past week.



I'm ready to go right back!



















                     

                                                This year's theme was Pilgrim's Progress.

We had lots of fun!

We did crafts....





















And did you know they serve ice cream in Beulah Land?





























And since I can't possibly share it all I'm linking to some other blogs that have already told more of the story.

Enjoy!

Merry

Lydia

Ri

Home again, Home again....

jiggety jig.

Yeah.

People, I am SO dog tired. 

Camp was amazingly amazing.  I love camp.

I'd go back tomorrow.

Love, love, LOVE camp.

I don't have pictures to share yet... but I'm working on that for you.

We arrived home Thursday from camp, crashed on Friday (as much as is possible with 7 children under 7 running around)

Then we went to a wedding out of town over the weekend.

I loaded up my car with flowers and kids to take home to their parents and the wedding photographer and the pianist and drove to central Illinois. 

Where we proceeded to help decorate for the wedding, arrange flowers, take pictures, do hair, occupy 13 (absolutely ADORABLE) flower girls while the wedding waited to start, get said 13 flower girl safely down the aisle in groups of 2 and 3, tear down the ceremony and set up the reception, decorate the cake, serve the food, take pictures, and probably lots of other things that I can't think of right now....

Then we loaded up the car, loaded up the people, got on the road, turned around because we forgot something, got BACK on the road, forgot something again, turned back around, and got BACK on the road.

We drive two cars everywhere because we don't own one big enough to transport all of us.  Mom and I drove slightly faster than we usually do on the way home.  We did a 4 hour trip in about 3hrs. 40 mins.  arriving home at about 1:15 am this morning.  Where I fell into my bed and proceeded to lay there blinking at the ceiling for the next 3 hours.

Ugh.
Did I mention I left my coffee maker at Mom and Dad's?

Youth Camp

Think Vacation Bible School... to the 10th power.

And we have interactive activities/obstacle courses that we design ourselves.  

And we all stay together at an indoor group campground for 5 days.

And we talk about important and interesting things.

And we listen to each other and learn.

And we play with lots of babies.

And dress up in costumes.

And whole families come.

And have arts and Crafts.

And eat yummy food.

And work really hard.

And have campfires.

And learn about God.

And make friends.

And play games.

And laugh a lot.

And have skits.

And we sing.

And laugh.

And cry.

I'm going!  See you all in a week!

Monday Morning!

Good Morning Everyone!

How was your weekend?  Mine was pretty good.  Very busy, but we got a lot accomplished so I'm very happy.  (Of course, there were also a lot of things on my list that didn't get done, but oh well).

I got to the greenhouse FINALLY and bought some shrubs and perennials for my front yard!!  And even MORE exciting..... *drum roll* Katie and I actually got them planted!!!  Our yard isn't stunning yet, but it is actually on the way to being there!!!  I plan to take some pictures to share with you very soon.

We got most of the costumes figured out for camp next week.

Still working (or thinking about working) on that "about camp" post, so hang with me, I'll get it to you, I promise!

Ok, I've got to get back to browsing iTunes.  I'm looking for music for the skits, which is... fun, but frustrating.

See ya *waves*

ok...

So, I'm home from a whirlwind weekend.
We had fun, but I'm really ready to be home and relax....
not going to happen though.

we have kids camp in 2 weeks, so I have a ton to do to get ready for that.
I can try to do a post here this week describing kids camp and why we have to so much to do to get ready for it...

in the meantime, I can't promise a post everyday this week, folks, although I will give it my best effort.

Have fun!

I would LOVE to hear about your Independence Day festivites....
does anyone have any family traditions???

We Film a Skit

With Spies :)Of course, I can't tell you anything else... if I did... I'd have to... you know...We have WAY too much fun

Camp Counselours

Being a camp counselour is one of the best parts of my summer. It's so rewarding!! We love camp.

It's a lot of hard work! And it's a very serious responsibility.

But, it's a lot of fun, too!!

Do, Re, Mi....

My sister Katie taught a music workshop at camp last week.

Some of us tried to help her... (Note: emphasis on TRY....) Notice how most of us look totally lost?
On the last night the children performed for us... it was beautiful!

More Camp

We really had a blast at camp last week!!

My Grandpa taught some of the boys how to raise the flag and take it down at night.

They were very diligent about it.

We did some hiking.

Fanny Crosby made an appearance, too!!

Camp 2007

This year was the 5th youth camp that our church has hosted.

60 kids between the ages of 3 and 17

plus babies

Our theme was "Running the Race"

Needless to say there was lots of running!

.... and duck walking....

Well, that's all for now!!! I have piles of pictures to sort through. I'll share more soon!!!!

Back from camp!!

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share, yet! I do have pics... I think Steph ( my sis) took about 3 or 4 hundred... but, right now, they are downloaded on the other computer. I'll get to it soon, I promise!

But, I just want to say...

#1 I LOVE CAMP!!!

#2 I LOVE THE CHILDREN!!!!

#3 GOD IS AWESOME!!!

that's all for now... pictures soon!!!

Cheerio!! I'll be back soon!

On your mark!

Get set!!!

Go!!!!

Youth Camp 2007!!!! I'll be back in a week!!!