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get ready, get set … VBS!

13 Jun
I love VBS. I could eat it up. Tonight was the first night of VBS which runs from 5:30 to 8pm. The night begins in Grace Hall with dinner, a gathering in our jungle of a sanctuary, and then breaks off into crafts, music, games, and story. Love it. Three more nights to go … we’re tie-dying in crafts tomorrow. Should be wonderfully chaotic.

Ode to Wednesday Confirmation.

15 May
Seventh and eighth graders have confirmation on both Sundays and Wednesdays and, well, it was probably time for the Wednesday afternoon sessions to come to a close for the year. The twenty-four or so confirmands make their way over after school on Wednesday afternoons. They stop by Tammy’s office to buy chips and sugar and then make their way to the third floor click-clack room. (The click-clacks are the futon-like couches on which they lounge.) After a long day in school, they’re not always the most cooperative when it comes to listening, learning, and opening their Bibles (which they have forgotten at home, of course) and it’s just that point in the year when they like it even less.
Now they have found their relief. No more Pastor Lindsay writing on the white board. No more Pastor Lindsay asking them to be quiet. No more Pastor Lindsay quoting random movies they’ve never seen.
I’ve found mine too. I love the kids – honestly, I do – but it’s just that time of year when the kids are getting ready for summer and anxious to be out of school structure. No more picking up trash after the kids. No more confiscating cell phones when they are texting during the teaching hour. No more asking them to be quiet. Eight million times.
… but I’ll be sad next week. (Right now I’m in the slight celebratory period, the I-have-Wednesday-afternoons-free-now period but that will pass.) No more farming stories from Brandon. No more jokes from Kyler about my want of a Kindle, the e-reader. (“What? A Ken doll? A Kendall?”) No more teasing from Jake. This isn’t really an ode – no lyric poem here – but a tribute to Wednesday afternoon confirmation; I’ll miss it.

Lock-in #2

1 May
The list of fifth and sixth graders attending this lock-in kept growing – parents kept calling to sign their kids up. I would check the list in the main office every so often and by Friday, when we neared thirty, I grew terrified. Oh my. I wasn’t ready for the craziness; I wasn’t prepared mentally or physically for a night of little sleep, the running, the screaming … oh the screaming.

When the lock-in was in full swing, the total number was 37. We decorated flower pots, planted flowers, went on a scavenger hunt, ate snacks, and had free time. At this point, my coworker Tammy’s husband was a lifesaver. Jon took over the chaos of the free time and organized ridiculous relay races off the top of his head. It took a good hour and the kids loved it – perfect.
“Put the starburst between your knees and hop to the end of the hall.”
After Bible study, we let the kids run around a bit more before they were to be in their rooms watching movies. I taught them how to play sardines – the classic hide-in-the-church game. By 2:30am, it was pj/movies-in-your-sleeping-room time. Yeah … like that worked. I tried and some kids were asleep by 4:30 when I laid down on the floor. Others were not asleep and didn’t sleep a wink. Ugg. By the time I woke up at 6:15 to begin cooking pancakes, I could hear the non-sleepers getting anxious, running, screaming … and it started all over again.
Overall, it was a success. The kids had a blast. We completed a successful service project of delivering May Day baskets to our shut-ins. No trips to the emergency room. No lost children. The kids who attended left requesting another lock-in again soon. I told them they might need to find a new chaperone … I don’t think I’m cut out for lock-ins like this. (Small groups plus structured instruction, aka the first communion lock-in, are more my thing.) The lack of complete structure and the running/slamming of doors/screaming makes me go crazy. It was fun but I’m not always the most fun person with the above variables … lesson learned.

lock-in #1

24 Apr
Reason: First Communion instruction
Attendees : five awesome fourth graders and two pretty cool pastors
The fourth graders came over after school on Friday and got settled in – unloading snacks, ditching sleeping bags, and generally running around. Our schedule for the night was pretty relaxed. We were working our way through the new Augsburg Fortress curriculum, Fed and Forgiven (which I give two thumbs up), along with baking communion bread, eating pizza, watching a few videos, and staying up a bit too late with HSM2.
While it was unfortunate that not all the fourth graders in the class could attend, the small group we had was great. They were a TON of fun as we discussed what Holy Communion means for us and as they got excited about joining the church at the table. Kendall did most of the teaching; I enjoyed my spot at the “school” table with the kids. I learned a lot through the instruction, whether a new way of thinking or many new resources that will serve me well in teaching and in a more practical way than some seminary classes.
Baking the bread was a cool thing for the fourth graders to do. At Grace, we’re wafer people; our body of Christ tastes a bit like cardboard. But next week, on first communion Sunday, we will use the bread that the fourth graders baked last night.

The other highlight of the lock-in for me was listening to the fourth graders recite their memory work. I’m not always a huge fan of memory work from an educational standpoint but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all five of them at once say the Words of Institution and I think they found value in doing it as they learned what the words mean :
[On the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took break, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat. This is my body, given FOR YOU. Do this for remembrance of me.” Again after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks and gave it for all to drink, saying “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed FOR YOU and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. Do this for the remembrance of me.”]

project.

22 Apr

I love it when my office is filled with supplies for a new project. It makes me anticipate the day when the supplies will be put together to make something wonderful! These supplies will be put to work next Friday night at the 5/6 grade lock-in … I’ll keep you posted on the final product!

taffying.

14 Apr
We cooked. We buttered. We pulled. We got sticky. We ate.
It was taffy day for my last release time class with my precious and never-attentive third graders. It was successful in that each of the fourteen darlings took home a bag of packaged taffy that they themselves pulled. It was a success in that they had fun. One could also call it a success because Lindsay maintained her sanity for the entire hour (and only a couple times had to count to three before speaking). Overall, it was a lot of fun – buttery, sticky, messy fun.
This is how it worked – my coworker Tammy helped me cook the taffy before we went to pick up the kids at 2pm. The taffy cooled and once the third graders arrived, they washed their hands, put on a paint shirt and buttered up. Hands need to be completely buttered otherwise the taffy sticks. Once their hands were good and greasy, I scooped up some taffy and instructed them to start pulling.
Then, for the next twenty minutes, I heard the following over and over:
“I need more butter!”
“Lindsay! Mine is sticking!”
“Am I done? What do I do next?”
“Can you get the piece I dropped on the floor?”
“I need help!”
Oh my. It was chaotic but in the most organized sense possible. It was a fun and unique way to end the year of release time. I’ll miss my third graders!
And the lesson is :

an EGG-stravaganza.

29 Mar

Eggs were found.
Scavenger hunt completed.
Palm Sunday song sang.
Skit by confirmation boys acted.
It was EGG-cellent as EGG-spected. (Fake laughs EGG-cepted.)
A few highlights :

skiing part two.

28 Feb

Cross-country style.  
It was family fun ski day for Grace this afternoon.  I woke up super excited about the outing this morning.  A group of over fifty of us caravanned an hour and a half northeast to Andes Tower Hills.  Most of the participants, adults and children alike, opted for the downhill version of skiing, while four of us decided to hit the cross-country trails.  It was the perfect afternoon for skiing … sunny, warm, and delightful.
Two of my coworkers, Karen and Tammy, along with Julie, a congregation member, and I made our way to the trails.  It was a great adventure.  We all fell down a few times and had many good laughs.  We stuck to the easy trails but still found one hill we couldn’t conquer while traveling forward on our skis.  Sideways we went.
Alongside the hour and a half on the trails, other highlights of the day included:
… Two giant bananas, Chiquita and Dole, skiing and handing out oranges, pleading with people to eat oranges, not bananas.  Seriously.  Two grown men in banana suits over their winter clothes with sombreros.  Classic.  
… A confirmand approached me while in the ski lodge.  “Hey, Lindsay, remember that sermon you preached?  Uh, you know, I think it was Lent.  Uh, last week.  Yeah.  Last week.”  He hands me a dime.  “You know how we’re supposed to share our gifts?  Here.”  Even if it was a complete joke, it shows he was listening.  best. sermon. feedback. ever.
… caramel cashew trail mix from Target that Tammy brought along for snacking.  nummy.  

two favorite things.

17 Feb
[ [  a small project involving my third graders and the button maker – two of my favorite things ] ]

paper people project.

21 Jan

Awhile back, I showed you the beginnings of the paper people project with my third graders on Wednesday afternoon.  We finally wrapped up the project yesterday.  They were to trace themselves and then all about their paper body, color and write their strengths, gifts, and “likes” – the things that make them unique as a child of God.  

… they somewhat followed the assignment.  Not completely but it was still fun.  We tried to get a group photo but it didn’t quite work in our space and after five minutes of trying, the sound of rustling paper was driving me nuts so I settled for these pictures:

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