Vacation Bible School 2011 (Hometown Nazareth)

Happy July 1st!

With the "official" arrival of summer, we've been busy bees around here, thus, my lack of blogging. Sometimes, blogging just has to stop so that "life" can be "lived"!

What have we been up to?

Vacation Bible School, swim lessons, a trip to the movies, a strawberry festival, and a major basement overhaul...throw in two sick kiddos (the boys) mid-week and it makes for jam-packed days with lots of craziness! 

First up...VBS.

 

This year, our Parish chose Hometown Nazareth, Where Jesus was a Kid from Group Publishing, Inc. for our VBS program.  This was such a fun, dynamic, and hands-on program for our kids!  I can't say enough good things about our program this year, so I'll let my pictures speak for themselves!

Ms. Andi teaching the hand motions to "Big House" by Audio Adrenaline.

Ms. Allison and Baby Eden teaching the hand motions to "Beautiful One" by Chris Tomlin.

My sweet, sweet Kindergarten/First Grade Class!

My sweet boy (red and white stripes) in his Preschool Class.

We did a four-day program, Monday through Thursday.  Each day's theme centered around Jesus' life.

Day1:  Jesus had a family...we do too.
Day 2:  Jesus had a name...we do too.
Day 3:  Jesus had a home...we do too.
Day 4:  Jesus served others...we do too.

In addition to classroom time, where the children learned the day's Bible Verse and lesson, they rotated through three different stations:  Mary's House, Fun & Games, and Marketplace.  (My favorites were Mary's house (ahem, I named my daughter after our Blessed Mother!) and the Marketplace.  I'm a girl that loves to shop...not so much into games!) :)

Each combined grade-level was named after one of the 12 Tribes of Israel.  Benjamin's preschool group was Tribe of Asher; Mary's K/1 group was Tribe of Levi.  I was her teacher.  :)

At Mary's House, children heard from Mary and her Cousin Elizabeth about the Immaculate Conception and birth of Jesus as well as about John the Baptist; they learned about Jesus as a baby being presented in to the temple as well as a hurried flight to Egypt.  The children also got to smell frankincense and myrrh.

My girlfriend, Corey, from my Women's Bible Study group played Mary.  She was perfect for the part.  So soft-spoken, she kept the kids enthralled.  Is it any coincidence that her last name is GRACE?!!!

My little crafter LOVED the marketplace!  With a limited budget we could not do all of the available crafts, but we offered quite a few.  Mary especially loved the Bead Bazaar and Olive Oil Shop.  Benjamin loved the Carpentry Shop and the Rock Quarry.  All the kids enjoyed "paying" for their craft with authentic-looking shekels (coins).

Presenting their "rocks" that from their dig to make into jewelry.

At the carpentry shop making sheep.

Making a Tzedakah (charity) box.

Bead Bazaar

Creating Olive Oil hand scrubs.

On the last day, the kiddos took home their cross carabiners which had their mini Bible Verses attached as well as their "Jesus Loves Me" backpacks (which I forgot to photograph!  They were white cotton with the words "Jesus Loves Me" written in many different languages.  The kids used fabric markers and crayons to color them in.  They were very cool!)

Unfortunately, my little ones were so very sick on our last day (Thursday).  Benjamin ran a fever up to 104.8 (scary!) and Luke (11 months) up to 103.1.  Cool baths and Tylenol helped, but my two littlest ones were miserable.  I had to miss the very last day (thank you to my good friend, Erin, for picking up and taking Mary to VBS) and so I didn't get a chance to say good bye to my Kindergartner/First Graders.  :(

All in all, it was a great week, even with a couple of sick kiddos!

Kindergarten/First Grade VBS Class 2011

Hope that all has been well with you over the last two weeks.  I look forward to blogging a bit more regularly!