Vacation Bible School: Ocean Commotion - By Serena

Hi everyone! Thank you for having patience with us! This post is a little late (because of technical issues), but we hope you enjoy it!

So the week of VBS (June 20th-24th)  was amazing! All members of TAJ Blog volunteered for it. Anna helped with the crafts, Jessica helped with the nursery children, Triniti did a skit, and I was a preschool teacher's assistant. Here are some recaps of the week from us.

(The following paragraphs are by Anna)

Monday:

The first day of VBS was today!! It was a blast. I'm working in crafts this year, which I always liked best when I was a participant, and it's really fun to be the 'adult' with my own table. We got to VBS a little late, so I only caught the end of the staff meeting. Afterwards I went to the craft room, and helped to set up the craft for the day. The other craft volunteers (as in the junior high/high schoolers) and I went to sing and listen to the first part of the skit (which Triniti was in!!). 

After we got back, our first class of the day came: the four year olds. They were followed by the kindergartners. After them, we had nearly an hour until the first and second graders came... So the other helpers and I went out to walk around the campus. We visited the snack station, listened to the worship team practice, and then visited my mom and brother at the science project station. Once we had gotten back and the first graders were done, we replaced the paper on the tables and went to listen to the end of the first day in the sanctuary. It was super hot today, and I'm really glad tomorrow will be much cooler. But overall, today was an awesome first day of VBS.

I was able to get some photos of Triniti in her skit! She was a British scientist, and she did great!

Triniti is the one with a black shirt. (Sorry for the blurry photos)

Tuesday:
Today was crazy hair day at VBS. One girl even had her hair up in a cone. It was about half as high as she was tall!! I didn't go all out crazy, just a ponytail and then a ton of tiny braids coming out of it. Not a huge deal... VBS today was pretty hectic in the craft room. The craft was a little paper crown (two strips stapled together) with circle cutouts of animals attached to it (using twirled pipe cleaners). It was a lot of work to put together, and most of it had to be done by the helpers (stapling for all ages, and taping for everyone but the first and second graders). So that basically meant that I was stapling and taping and trying to explain things and resolving little argument ("Hey, she took my marker!" - "I had it first!") all day. Few cute notes, though - first, one of the kids I helped yesterday walked by me when I was on my way to the craft room. She turned to her mom and said, "Hey, I know her!" It was so cute! Second, two first and second grade girls were telling me all about how they had been friends for forever, and how one had moved recently, and a bunch of other sorta random stuff. It was really funny and sweet!! We got to the sanctuary in time for both the beginning and ending, so I got to see the whole skit and sing both times, which is awesome. I love to do hand motions. :) That basically wraps up the second day of VBS!

Wednesday:

Mid-way through VBS!! It's been fun so far but I am a little tired. Today's craft was pretty uneventful. We used sand/glitter - I kept on calling it glitter throughout the day - and I was originally worried about that and it spilling. It turned out okay though! Today was water day, and my two brothers had fun in the water. I didn't go in... I don't really want to do that type of stuff anymore - which is strange. I feel like I'm not that old yet. :P While the kids were outside playing in the water, I went inside the sanctuary with some of my friends. I got to lay on the stage in the sanctuary. Which was strange, but fun! :)

Here is one of the songs we sang at VBS. (This is the theme song) It’s really catchy.

Oh The Deep Deep Love

Thursday:

Tomorrow is the last day. I'm gonna miss VBS. The craft was so-so. It was a thankfulness journal that we bound for everyone but the 1st and 2nd graders, then they decorated it with various stickers, a felt ark, Bible verse and instructions to parents. I had a little troublemaker in the 1st and 2nd grade class. He kept on jamming uncapped markers into the table and may have ruined one - he was also coloring his fingernails and just generally being disruptive. But I survived and conquered! ;) We totally should have bound the 1st and 2nd graders journals for them - but whatever. One of the volunteers in the craft room knows how to play the ukulele. She sang some songs (Jesus Loves Me type ones) and I did motions. It was pretty fun! I finally feel like I'm getting the motions for the theme song down - finally. It seems more complicated this year.

Friday:

Last day!!! So sad, but I am really tired. It's a bitter-sweet type thing. Craft was pretty good today - I was expecting the 1st and 2nd graders to be harder, but it actually went pretty smoothly. The ukulele player and I did some more songs. The kids seem to really enjoy that! I also helped with tear down in several of the rooms. It's sad to see it all coming down. A church is taking all the decorations for their VBS soon, then when their done with them, another church will use them. So the decorations surely aren't going to waste! I can't wait for VBS next year. I'm thinking about snacks - or possibly drama team if they need someone. I don't think they will though. A lot of people really want to be on it. Especially all the young high schoolers and the junior highers. Maybe they need a 10th/11th (!!) grader to keep the young'uns in check. :)

(The following paragraphs are by me, Serena)

This whole month of June has been fast, crazy, hectic, but mostly fun.
Here are some photos of the decorations.
My job as teacher assistant was an incredible experience.  I got to hang out 3, 4, and 5 year olds all morning. Teaching the bible to such young ages is no easy task, but the five year olds compared to the three year old are, as the teacher put it, "Award-winning, college graduates!"
Here are some photos of VBS.

My mom was in charge of all decorations for VBS (I gave her some ideas as well), so that meant we had to go to the church to start working on the decorations. We started going to church almost every day since the 5th of June (except Saturday and Sunday) to decorate. I'll be honest, I was exhausted after the 2nd week, but when VBS came I knew it was all worth it. We also had a great amount of helpers which I am so thankful to them.

But it was so much fun. By Thursday they were pretty exhausted.

Thank you so much for having patience with me for this post. Again, sorry it was posted late! Hope you continue reading TAJ Blog!

Comment below about your VBS! What theme was it? Where did you work?

~Serena

UPDATE: Here is a recap video of our VBS! Please enjoy!
Kindred Kids VBS 2016