Traveling VBS: Day 3

Day 3: Fremont to Lorain

Our family and the bishop stayed overnight with Tina and Tom. They served breakfast of homemade granola bars that were so yummy, we've already made a batch at our house!

Ann Orr's Granola Bars
3c quick cooking oats
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2TB melted butter
1c flaked coconut
1c slivered almonds
1c mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/c dried cranberries
Mix all. Press into greased 9X13 pan.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, more if you like them crunchy.
(you may substitute your favorite ingredients for the add-ins)

We began Day 3 back at the church where the 8 kids played together and the adult chatted. Then we got on the road and went to the Deer Park. Besides having a whole bunch of deer in the enclosure you walk in, they also have a variety of exotic deer, goats, sheep, large bird (emu, rhea, etc), and peacocks. I think the peacocks were the hit for the group. Here's one a the top of a pillar.

And who knew that deer could be intimidating? But when you've got a bag full of food, the 2 dozen + deer are not shy and did intimidate a few of us. Here we are after all the food is gone:


We had a picnic again under the trees at the park. Then we went in search of berry picking and frozen custard at a stop along the bike route. When we arrived, there was plenty of custard to eat, but their berry crop had been ruined by the recent rains. So we bought a bit of pre-picked produce, ate some yummy custard, and were on our way.

When we got to the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Lorain (no website found), there weren't many people there. We found out they had planned dinner at a nearby waterfront park, so we drove over there and had our VBS lesson in a pavillion at the park. We invited some nearby kids and adults to join in our singing, then we heard the creation story and talked about the Fruits of the Spirit and how we can live each one of them in our lives.

Day 3: We looked at everything and called it good.

Traveling VBS: Day 2

Day 2: Maumee to Fremont

Our family stayed with Stephanie and Steve overnight. Stephanie made a wondeful big bowl of fresh fruit salad, and Steve made pancakes so scrumptious that I asked for the recipe.

Steve's Mostly Healthful Pancakes
1/2c whole wheat flour
1/2c oat flour
1/2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/2t sugar
1/4t salt
1 1/2c sour milk or buttermilk
(optional: add blueberries or chocolate chips)

Our VBS then met at The 577 Foundation in Perrysburg. We had an hour-long tour and then dug for fossils, checked out the bee hives, and had a picnic on the grass. One of the interesting things in their greenhouse was that they had a group of carnivorous plants, and also a sensitive plant that wilts when touched.
Here, the children are testing different types of basil to see if their nose can tell which one is chocolate, mint, or geranium.

The 577 Foundation also had a really great compost set-up. They have 4 bins, each with a 8ft pvc pipe sticking up out of the middle. These pipes have 1 inch holes in them at several points, and help air reach the compost for faster decomposition.
They begin their compost by mixing 1 part green (grass clippings, food) to 2 parts brown (dry leaves, straw, etc). The next week, that compost gets turned into the next bin, and the compost in that bin gets turned to the next bin...so that at the end of 1 month, the compost is ready to be sifted and used. Here is the sifting table:


We then went to St. Paul's Fremont for singing, crafts, and our lesson. We invited the bicyclists and parishioners to join us in a lesson about time and God's omniscience. And the VBS was invited to lead singing during our pre-dinner worship.

Day 2: We looked at everything and called it good.

Traveling VBS: Day 1

Day 1: Defiance to Maumee

Our small but mighty VBS began at the Whitehouse Butterfly House. It was fun to be surrounded by so many butterflies. If you look carefully, there is a bright blue butterfly flying right in front of Charlie in this picture:


Besides having a great indoor butterfly house, the grounds were beautiful and had lots to do. We enjoyed a fish pond, some sculptures, a butterfly meadow walk (which the children ran), and the kids even made their own corn maze in the waist-high corn (it will become a true corn maze in the fall when it's tall).


Later in the afternoon, we settled in at the church and worked on some team building games, singing songs, and decorating our bags and water bottles. Today's lesson was about community.


St. Paul's in Maumee has a wonderful adult respite day care program. We asked if we could sing for them, and were greeted warmly by the staff. We sung a few songs, ending with one where we shake hands, rub backs, and give hugs.
What a great way to reinforce that we are part of a bigger community!


Day 1: We looked at everything and called it good.

Traveling VBS

Each year, our diocese has a Bishop's Bike Ride across Ohio. This year, the ride's theme is From Defiance to Alliance. It's the first year my husband will be riding, and the first year we'll be offering a traveling Vacation Bible School for children along with the ride.


Last year, there were this many riders:


And my husband and a few others have these great biking jerseys:


So far, we only have 2 families confirmed as attending the VBS, but we'll go ahead with it as the Beta testing of a traveling VBS.

Each day, we will take a field trip to local points of interest, and have an activity that relates the field trip with something about God. Our trips will include a Butterfly House, the 577 Foundation, Berry Picking, a wilderness area, a zoo, and a pool.

The other coordinators and I are pretty excited about it. Hopefully it will go well this year and we'll have a big increase in enrollment next year.

Living the Cathartic Effect

Alright, like many things on the internet, I've now discovered that the tornado picture in the last post was of one several days earlier in a different state. Still a pretty amazing photo.

But here are some actual photos of my home town, taken by an old friend of mine.

When I was very young, I hung out with two other friends and we were called, "The Three Musketeers." This is the home one of the Musketeers grew up in. Only a wall left standing:


Here is what is left of the High School auditorium where I had my Senior Recital, was part of Bye Bye Birdie, and many other productions:


And this is the Lutheran church across the street from the school. The pews on the left are a mess, but the pews to the right of the aisle were untouched. I've also been told that the walls of this church were green, but the wind stripped them. Wow.


Even though I no longer live there, and the house I grew up in sustained no major damage, I'm still having disaster dreams most nights. I have to carry my mom on my back away from a tornado. My son and I watch a passenger jet crash a few blocks from my house, etc.

So although I normally hate scary movies, last night my husband and I decided to go see "The Happening". It was scary, and more gory than I prefer. But it helped. I was able to say, "That scary thing isn't true," and to let go of some of the real scariness that has been overly affecting me.
It gave me a good reminder about why kids sometimes like to be scared by movies or playing around--it helps them put their real-life fear in perspective.
Thank God for the Cathartic Effect

The Episcopal Church Welecomes You

I've been thinking recently it's time to re-activate this blog. Maybe not confine myself quite as strictly to just children and spirituality.

And then a tornado hit my hometown (yes, this is a picture of the actual tornado that hit Chapman):


Luckily, there was only 1 death and few injuries. But the loss of buildings and "stuff" is tragic.
Several friends' homes are gone, and several others have walls, roof, etc missing.

It's been a rough week trying to process this from afar. Then I drove to church this morning, and look out my windshield and see this:


If you can't quite see the window, here's a better look:



Jesus invites us in. With whatever baggage we may have. Set it down. Stay a while. Grieve. Heal. Then go back out into the world to help others.
Amen.

Stations of the Cross by Coloring

Because our Grade School WorkshopCycles class has been studying the Stations of the Cross, I encouraged parents to bring their kids to our noon Stations service.
Very quickly, I realized how boring it was, being 3 feet tall, listening to someone talk and talk, and having 30 people between you and a 4 X 6 black and white woodblock print place high on a wall.
So I ran downstairs and got the coloring pages (VERY slow to load, but well worth it!) that we used for "fillers." There is a page for each of the 14 stations. I made quick booklets and the children then were able to follow along, coloring each page and talking about what was happening in them.

Even the 4-year old picked up very quickly that when the group began to sing, it was time to turn the page.

I highly recommend using these coloring pages and inviting families to attend Stations of the Cross together. The parents can walk the stations as one adult sits with the children and talks about each coloring page.
WOW.