Home from Campmeeting

(To see a larger version of the photos above, just click on the slideshow and you'll be taken to the Picasa Web Album!)

The end of Campmeeting each year is bittersweet. Oh, how I wish it didn't have to end! But it is nice to be home again after two weeks of very busy, very fun, and very rewarding days.

We had sooo much fun in the Primary Department! I wish I could share the fun with all of you - there is so much I will always treasure in my heart. Our theme was Adventures in God's World - An Adventurer Campout. The decorating turned out exactly how I had envisioned it and it was so much fun putting it all together. We even had a "fish pond" with real live gold fish swimming about! And the Campfire pit looked soooo real! Our name badges were our "Nature Adventure Bags." Some of the young ladies who helped me set up stenciled bugs in different colors on 122 bags before campmeeting began. As the children came each night and registered, they received their own "Nature Adventure Bag" with their name written with a black Sharpie. When we went on our nature walk, they used these to put special finds inside. These worked out wonderfully. I loved this idea!

I can't thank my young helpers enough - I had a group of young ladies including my own four children who helped me put it all together. And of course, Melissa Bradshaw and her husband, Pastor John Bradshaw whose time and dedication were invaluable.

The children were precious and I love each and everyone of them. We averaged any where from 75 - 90 children during the week and 96 - 112 on the weekends. We learned a lot about nature and I encouraged the children to explore nature and bring "show and tell" to each class. They loved it! There were some classes where nearly have the class would get up to show what they had found. Some of the things that were brought to class:

2 toads
3 frogs
4 froglets
15 bullfrog tadpoles
6 mosquito larve
crickets
spiders
1 black widow spider (yikes!)
6 snakes
3 lizards
several fossils
severa l geodes
earthworms
minnows
crawdads
1 turtle
lady bugs
2 luna moths
moths
butterflies
4 mice

I wish I could remember every single thing that was brought in! We also did nature journaling and took a nature walk down to the creek where I encouraged them to sit and observe what they saw and then write or draw about it in their journals. The children really enjoyed that. I wish we had had time to do it more than once. I also taught them how to draw a luna moth, a swan, and a duck in their nature journals. On the last Sabbath we had a lady who brought us two baby oppossums that she is raising.

We had a continuing story each class - we read Nyla and the White Crocidile. The kids loved the book! Pastor John Bradshaw read it with his wonderfully deep voice and New Zealand accent. I can't wait for next year's story!

Every class was fun and exciting. I had so much more I wanted to teach the children about God's love and the world around us, but unfortunately we ran out of time. Now it's time to start planning for next year. My theme is going to be: The Parables of Jesus. I just know it will be wonderful!

But for now, I am recuperating - I slept almost all day on Monday and Tuesday. Well, I did get up for a little while. Today, I am feeling much better and ready to tackle the house - we unloaded the 5 x 8 trailer that we had taken to campmeeting (which was packed floor to ceiling) into my dining room. And in ten days we are having a district church meeting here in Harlan and everyone is invited to my house after church - so, I have to get busy!! Not too mention the yard grew three feet while we were gone!!