Well. That's a Record

This is the longest I have ever gone without blogging since I began.

So much has been happening.  Some of it mundane. Some of it very stressful. Some of it happy and fun.

The summer is flying by.  We had a restful and enjoyable vacation to the Smoky Mountains.  We hiked almost every day, and our last hike was an 8 mile one!  It took us 6 hours, and at one point I thought I was going to fall off this skinny little board bridge into the raging river below.

Lynn and I (and Leanna too) survived another week long adventure known as Rustic Youth Camp. Lynn and I stayed at Hotel Beulah with our kids who are not old enough for the bunkhouse. Olivia stayed with us too, because she is 20 now, and she was an official teacher at camp! The week was hot and fun. I taught thirty 3rd and 4th graders with five other fabulous ladies.  Lynn tried out a new counselor position this year--cleaning crew.  She got to wipe up spills and clean bathrooms.  I am seriously thinking about signing up for something other than teaching next year.  :)

I've been diligently working on my English class plans.  I am really looking forward to teaching this class for Clay and his friends. The class will meet weekly for two hours for a total of 32 weeks.

Julie is getting ready to go off to college. That's the thing about having your kids two years apart…..one of them leaves home every other year.  I do have a small gap between Clay and Leah…..then just two years between Leah and Sam. So. Just nine more years of homeschooling left.

Julie is going to the same college as Olivia. They will not be roommates, but they will be living in the same dorm but on different floors.  Both girls are running XC for the school, so they will be spending time together every day. I plan to stay down there a while when I take Julie to get her settled and all. Olivia actually has to return to school one week early for a summer school class that she has been taking online this summer. (And that has been an adventure since we have no internet except for our phones!)

And yes. It will be an adjustment for our family to have both girls away from home.  But I am so happy for them and the opportunities they are having for spiritual, social, and academic growth. I cherish the time we are having all together this summer, and I will completely enjoy the times we have together when they are home for various holidays. I will also call them, text, them, email them, and write them letters on a daily basis. Jimmy and I and the other children also have a few visits planned to see them this fall. I have already bought our plane tickets!

Lynn's family and our family have a short lake house vacation together coming up soon. I am really looking forward to sitting down and doing nothing but visiting and reading a book.

I'm slowly getting my school materials organized and prepared for the upcoming year. I hope to find that Not Back To School Blog Hop and participate in August. That's always fun, and it motivates me to get my act together so I can share it with others. I like reading other people's plans too.

Last thing today.
My running has taken the back burner to life/traveling/visiting/whatever for quite a few months now. I plan to begin anew next Monday with some sort of running plan. My blogging and my running both have been in a slump, and I hope---I really am going to try---to rekindle both.

Rustic Youth Camp

Rustic Youth Camp (RYC)

I tell people that RYC is like Vacation Bible School on steroids!  The days are full--beginning at 8:00 AM and ending somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00 PM.  Here is an overview of each camp day.

• General Assembly--where all campers (150 of them, ages 3-18) and counselors and staff (about 70-80 adults) gather in the multi-purpose building (un-air conditioned--hence the name Rustic Youth Camp, well, actually that is just one of the many reasons that the camp is rustic) to sing hymns, a patriotic song or two, listen to short Bible talk, hear pertinent camp announcements, and sing silly songs and play silly (and sometimes messy) games.
• Bible Classes--the campers are grouped by age and grade.  I taught the 3rd grade class.  Originally I signed up to teach the 3rd/4th grade class, but since the group was so big, the 3rd and 4th grades were separated.  I had Leah placed in my class even though she is a finishing 4th grader--she wanted me to teach her.  Leanna's son and Lynn's daughter were also in my class.  We had 13 students and 3 teachers.  We were responsible for our class from after assembly until pick-up time in the late afternoon.  The Bible classes always have a theme for the week, and each class studies the same theme and lessons, but of course the younger classes make the appropriate adaptations.  This year's theme was The Cross.  
• Crafts--Younger campers do crafts in their classroom, and older campers rotate through various craft stations on the campground.  Our class also had a secular theme, Rainbows, and so a lot of our crafts centered around that theme.
• Food--Two snacks and lunch are served each day in the air conditioned dining hall. 
• Playground Time--RYC has two playgrounds for the campers to enjoy.
• Sports--Each afternoon at 3:00, the classes participate in their assigned sport for the day.  The campers are divided in to two teams, Red and Blue (before we arrive), and score is kept all week.  Our class played ring toss, water ballon target throwing, volleyball, and kickball.  Other sports for older campers include softball, disc golf, ultimate frisbee, archery, trap shooting, plus others I am sure that I am forgetting.  Also, there are ping pong, archery, disc golf and trap shooting tournaments going on all week as well.  And, on Friday afternoon, all of the classes participate in a kind of Field Day.  The classes rotate through a variety of events, and the scores for red and blue teams are added to the week's scores.  Events include tug-of-war, hula hoop relays, sack races, and many others.
• Raft Building Competition--This was a new event for this year.  In the past, the 7th-12th graders go on a field trip on Thursdays.  This year, instead, the three classes (7-8th, 9th, and 10-12th) were each assigned the following project:  build a raft, that will float with at least one person on board, using only materials found around the campground.  No supplies could be purchased.  Thursday at 5:00, the three teams with their rafts put them in the lake and raced a short distance to the boathouse.  I think much fun was had by all the builders, and the crowd really got into it!
• Bunkhouse--I don't know much about what happens after 5:00, because Lynn and I take our younger children to Mrs. Beulah's house for the night.  Campers must be 13 years old to stay in the bunkhouse.  This year Julie, Clay, and Lynn's oldest two boys stayed in the bunkhouses.  I know that they are served supper and breakfast,  have free time, and have at least one Bible study each night plus an early morning singing session (while waiting for the day campers to arrive.)
• Friday Night Program--all parents, grandparents, friends, and other family members of campers are invited to the Friday Night Program.  The campers and guests enjoy a BBQ and hotdog dinner followed by the skits and awards.  Each class prepares a short skit or song to present Friday night.  The camp directors award various awards and recognition including a service award, camp favorites, and individual sports awards.  

RYC is run by individual Christians, men and women who donate their time, money, and lots of hard work to create a week of memorable fellowship and fun for young people.  The camp has been in existence for over 30 years, and it has grown to be extremely popular in our area.  Registration used to be by mail, but this year the camp instituted online registration.  Once the registration link went live, first camp (the one we attended) was full and registration was closed in twenty seconds!  Second camp took a little bit longer…..45 minutes!  

Here are some photo highlights of our wonderful week.  Keep in mind that I was Leah's teacher, and that is why I have more pictures of her than of my other children.

 3rd grade class

 Avery and Leah doing a sharpie tie dye project.

 The whole class, hard at work.

 Sam, enjoying his lunch.

 Waiting in the lunch line

 Clay with two friends

 Leah and Avery on the playground

 Leah, painting a rainbow vase

 Practicing the song for Friday night

Sam on the playground

 Leah and Avery in matching outfits and hairstyles

Me and Mrs. Vicki--Camp Leader Extraordinaire
and organizer and announcer of all things FUN!

 Avery, Leah, and Jared at Mrs. Beulah's house

 Our gracious host, Mrs. Beulah

My children enjoy staying each night with Mrs. Beulah as much as they like camp!  She has a huge pool with a diving board and slide.  Lynn and I let the pool be there bath, every night except for two while we were there!

 Morning Announcements

Morning Bible Lesson

Julie, playing a sport (not sure which one)

 Me, Julie, Lynn, and Stacee,

just hanging out on the playground.

Seeing old friends--Mr. Jerry and Mrs. Dottie

 Our class leading a silly song in one morning's assembly.

 Clay's class's raft

They finished in 2nd place.

 Our class having fun with water balloons one afternoon.

 Sam and Julie

Julie's Class's Raft

They won!

 My class with our three teachers, Mrs. Beverly, Mrs. Sharon, and Mrs. Roan.

During a Bible lesson

 The cute, cute backdrop that Sam's teachers made for their skit.

 Sam's class, ready to take a bow.

 Leah's class, singing their song.

 "I Can Sing a Rainbow"

 Cute skit shirt

The back says, "Do you love RYC?"

 A scene from Clay's skit

 A scene from Julie's skit

 Julie's class

 My car…..all packed up and ready to head home.

One last family picture before we left.

We are SO HOT AND SWEATY in this picture!

We are missing Jimmy (who had to work) and Olivia (who served as a junior counselor at another camp this week).

 The raft race

 The winners, approaching the finish line

 My class, again.

That trailer in the background was our classroom.  We were really fortunate to be able to use that trailer….it was air-conditioned.  Most of the classes for 1st grade and up, and all of the crafts, are held outdoors under pavilions or on the porches of log cabins.

Rustic!

 Clay and Parker

 Clay, doing a relay on Friday afternoon.

 Leah in the sack race

 Taking a rest during sports

 Asa, Sam, and Samuel, waiting their turns for a relay.

 I'm helping out my team in the hula hoop relay.

One last picture of the tired, hot, dirty, sweaty Mamas.

RYC is an exhausting week, but it is full of fun, fellowship, friendship, and memory-making.  Both the campers and the adults build lasting friendships, and we all grow in our Bible knowledge and our service to our Lord.  I always learn so much from the ladies that I teach with, and I am eager to put into practice those new ideas. 

Pinterest Is My Friend Again

When I first joined  Pinterest about three years ago, I spent time every night scrolling through and pinning various things.  And then I lost interest.  It was too overwhelming!  It also seemed like everything I tried was a "Pinterest Fail".  Remember my Lego birthday cake for Sam?

Now I usually get on Pinterest when it's time for me to plan for Vacation Bible School, Rustic Youth Camp, Back-to-School Celebration, and sometimes at Christmastime.

I have just spent over an hour on Pinterest looking at rainbow craft and art ideas! I am so happy with what I have found.  I discovered all of these really neat websites full of cool art projects for children.  And since I am not creative, I am so excited over finding these fun ideas!  I have already begun planning our Back-to-School Celebration, and I have not even ordered the first schoolbook for next year.

We began our VBS today, and the first day was a success.  Our theme is Running With Jesus, and as you can imagine, this theme (of running) was not too hard for me.  We are using a rainbow theme for our RYC class this year, and that is why I was looking for rainbow-related crafts.  So many to choose from!

I need to close the Pinterest window and start actually creating a plan.

Camp Week

Recently, all five children and I attended Rustic Youth Camp for the second time.  RYC is owned and run by Christians who desire a place for young people to gather together each summer in a very rustic setting and participate in things such as Bible study, singing, arts and crafts, archery, trap shooting, rock wall climbing, kickball, canoeing, soccer, disc golf, and various other P.E. type games--plus lots of time for the children and teens to visit and get to know one another.

I was one of five teachers for the five and six year old class.  We had 21 students!  One of the teachers was the lead teacher, and let me just say that being the lead teacher is a lot of work.  These lead teachers take their jobs very seriously, and they make sure that we provide the campers with a high quality camp experience.  I am more than happy to be an assistant, and to just have to teach for one day.  The other days I helped out as needed.  All day.  From 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

The day campers are campers aged 3 years old to 6th grade.  Once a child is 13, he or she can be an overnight camper.  These campers stay in the bunkhouse with some very brave counselors.  Olivia loves staying overnight in the bunkhouse.  Julie, not so much.  She tried the bunkhouse for two nights, and decided that she preferred to stay with the rest of the children and me.  Olivia says that most of the fun occurs after the day campers leave!  The overnighters enjoy supper and breakfast together, in addition to lots of free time and an evening Bible study.  Time to forge lasting friendships.

Lynn and her four children and four of my children and I all stayed at Mrs. Beulah's house this year.  (Last year we stayed at a local hotel, and we vowed to NEVER stay there again!).  Mrs. Beulah lives about 25 minutes from the campground, and she was such a gracious host! We enjoyed getting to know her, and we really appreciated her hospitality.  It was a lot of fun staying there!

Each afternoon of camp, there is a time called "Sports".  Families are assigned either the red or blue team.  We were blue this year.  Every day during Sports, each class plays a game and the team that wins gets a point.  On Friday night at the skits and awards program for parents and other visitors, the winning team is announced.  Also on Friday afternoon, there is a sort of field day where each class rotates through various games, earning points for either red or blue.   

Each class is also supposed to create and practice some sort of skit for the program on Friday night.  My fantastic lead teacher had our skit all planned and we had most of our props made before we arrived at camp!  

Here are some highlights of our camp week:

 Parker and Clay enjoying lunch

 Julie waiting in line for lunch

 Olivia--in the woodworking area I think

 Julie (on the right in front)

and her Bible class

 Sam and Me

 Clay during Sports on Friday

 Clay (far right) and his class during their skit

 Sam's class doing their skit.  Sam is in a blue George Washington hat on the right.  The narrator read several historical facts about our country's history, and then the children sang and performed sign language to God Bless America.

 Sam--the children stamped the bandanas in class.  The teachers painted the shirts.

Leah and her class doing their skit.  They made their shirts during their arts and crafts time.

 Leah pretending to be an elephant

 Julie and her class doing their skit

Olivia, showing her happiness after receiving the Camp Sweetheart award.

Preparing for camp and actually teaching and working at camp wears me out!  But it is so worth it!  Not only are the children making friendships that will last a lifetime, I am making new friends too.  And I learn so much by being surrounded by such godly men and women.  I am encouraged by the other counselors, and when it is all over, I look forward to being with everyone again next summer.