VBT HOORAY!

   Well, it's almost May, and for me that means preparing for another year of teaching Vacation Bible Time: A busy, crazy, exhausting, fulfilling week as our church ministers for an entire week to 250 kids a day from the Johnston/ Providence Rhode Island area! The days begin at 7:30 a.m. as our 3 buses and 2 vans head out into the Johnston, Providence, and Cranston area to pick up kids that maybe otherwise would never have the opportunity to step foot into our church and hear the gospel of Salvation and the good news of how Jesus loves them and died for them that they may have everlasting life.

  One of my favorite parts of preparing for VBT is the decorating, which probably shouldn't surprise too many of you. This years theme is "The Bug Zone", and it focuses on the transforming power of Christ in our lives. It uses the analogy of butterflies and other bugs that transforms from one form into another. I kinda cringed at the thought of decorating with bugs, but once I saw the clip art and read the ideas for decorating, I began to gain some hope. Some of the clip art is really cute, actually!

  Wednesday I mentioned my trip to the church to begin this process of making the clip art into posters, and here are a sampling of the ones I've made so far.

  A few of my kids and one of their friends stayed up late Wednesday night with me as we watched Veggie Tales and colored. What do ya think so far?

Here my daughter begins coloring the poster she copied from the overhead projector.

   Here are a few more we've got done so far:

So colorful!

This took up a full poster board.

These next few pictures are some posters we made and decorations we put up for my classroom last year.

This was a plastic table cloth used for a birthday. We added the black wording....

As well as this clip art I colored with crayons and markers. (Sorry-it's a small picture, so it's blurry when enlarged)

 *   So, have you never been to VBT before?  *

Here is what a day at VBT looks like in a nut  shell: 

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Here my daughter leads in a group of kids to join her class as the buses begin rolling in chock full of kids.

When everyone's here, we begin the time with songs....

Have a crazy skit....

Indoor games between the girls and the boys....

(I think the girls one this one-let's go girls!!)

Mean while downstairs, some kids are being made into silly clowns and other characters....

Here's my daughter Bethy awaiting the VBT parade to begin....

Here she is with my son, Bobo the clown, getting ready to line up to go in and give more smiles to the kids eagerly awaiting....

                       Let the parade begin!                                                                                    

 Complete with circus music being played loudly through the speakers.


The kids love it!

Here my son Tim helps Snoopy keep his head on....

Here my son Sean, dressing according to the "Polar Extremes" theme that one year, helps Snoopy keep his head about him on another day. It is apparent by the looks of him in this picture that he was starting to get the "VBT flu" that went through just about every kid and worker there by the end of the week. That certainly was not the highlight of anyone's week.

Here's a portion of the kids for one day as they look on and cheer during a race.

Here my son keeps one very busy little Kindergarten girl from running off, giving me a momentary break from watching her.

Now it's time for a puppet show with a spunky little penguin....

And then a short Bible lesson before the kids go downstairs to their classrooms.

Here Sean keeps little Wayne company.

Here is a small portion of the 45 or so kids we had each day in my Kindergarten classroom alone last year. Here the kids learn a Bible verse, hear a Bible Story, work on a fun paper, have a snack, and do a craft.

Next it's time to head outside for some sun, fun, and more games.

The kids then go under the big white tent to get a drink and some ice cream, then back to their buses where these kids here, and many more bus workers, are waiting to greet them and take them home. Happily they sing (scream) songs with them all the way home.

We then get to go home to rest and refuel to come back and do it all over again!

Whoever is was that said church wasn't fun has never been here before!

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Have a LOVEly day everyone!

Love all you do, and those you have, with all your heart!