On the Road Again!

Well today was my last day at my summer job. It has been a challenging summer and I still haven't totally made up my mind as to whether or not I am going to be back next summer, but I know I am going to miss those kids whether I come back or not. Today we ended up making soap, and play dough, and gooey gunk, and homemade pretzels. I don't have any pictures because my hands were covered in gunk but the kids had a great time and we made big mess. Though I think if I am there next summer we will do more of these activities, just spread out over the summer and not just in one day! We also went swimming today and managed to make it through the entire time without someone pooping in the pool. It seemed to be becoming a trend every time we went swimming because it happened 3 different times this year! I was beginning to wonder if it was one of our kids.

Now I am off to Gulf Shores, Alabama tomorrow and catching a few days of laying around on the beach and sight seeing. I am so excited about going on a dolphin cruise one day! There is a wireless connection at the place we are staying so I will be updating with some great pictures!

To Be a Teenager Again!!

After spending Tuesday and Wednesday with a bunch of teenagers in Branson I am 100% sure that I never want to be a teenager again! Honestly we had a ton fun and I had a great time with the girls in my group. They have been a part of the camp for the last four years I have been there so I have gotten to watch them grow up.

Teenagers are at such a place in their life that I do not envy. Having to figure out how to pave your own path in this world, desiring freedom that comes with growing up but still needing the guidance of the adults around you. My teenage years were hard enough and I had a great home life and amazing supportive parents. Too many of my kids in the summer come from broken homes, mixed homes, and places that just are not positive environments. I pray that the little time I spend with these kids makes a lasting impact on their lives. If I can just show them a small glimpse of true love that comes only from Jesus maybe that will be enough to help guide them on the right path.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at Celebration City and Silver Dollar City. We had a great time riding rides and seeing a few shows. The kids all look forward to the trip every year and the adults all dread the planning, but we all have a wonderful time in the end. We are all exhausted but it is well worth the time and frustration when you see the big smiles on all of their faces. Many of them would never have the opportunity to get to go to places like these so it is a great blessing to be able to take them. We even got to dance in the rain about 45 minutes before we left the park.

In the News!

I am never in the newspaper and yet now I have made it twice this year! In yesterdays paper there was a full page layout all about Lifesource and our Kids Camp program! You should check it out here and you can actually see me in the pictures this time :)

My Kids!

My last post was about how frustrating my job can be at times. Though the last few days I have been reminded about why I put up with all the frustration and come back every year. It is so rewarding to know that you are making a difference in someones life. And getting your quota of hugs everyday doesn't hurt either. :)

Friday we took our kids trout fishing at a local state park. The park ropes off a specific hole for the kids and then stocks it with fish so that most of them actually get the opportunity to catch one. About 75% of our kids got the catch a fish and we had about 10 that caught a fish for the very first time. The kids were so excited every time they pulled one out. I was just glad I didn't have to touch them :)


Today we took the kids to the dollar movie. As we were walking in one of our 12 year olds said that this was the first time she had ever been to a movie theater. Many of our kids don't get the opportunity to do things that I take for granted every day.

Though half the time I feel as though I am battling disrespctfulness, bad attitudes, and general preteen behavior, it is worth it when you catch those random smiles!

Frustration!!!

The only thing more frustrating than 50 kids who won't listen to anything you have to say is 1 parent, who doesn't have any idea of how hard you work everyday, and thinks they can do your job better than you can! Today was very stressful and I was about ready to walk out at one point. The kids were so talkative and won't get quite no matter what we did. I even made them all eat lunch in silence and still had 13 kids have to sit out from recess because they couldn't be quite. Then of course our kids that generally have a bad attitude multiplied it by 20 times and refused to do anything!! And then to top off my stressful day, after working 9 1/2 hours mind you, I had a parent who decided to let me know that I have a bad staff and that I am not doing my job because her son, who never tells the teachers what is going on, has had some kids picking on him this summer. And of course the fact that all of the incidents that I knew about had been addressed I wasn't doing enough because what I had no clue had happened hadn't been addressed! Oh and the fact that our website says that there is tutoring and basically all we do are worksheets every morning isn't enough for her. I told her that I am one teacher with one other adult, 40 children in 4 different grades, all at about 10 different levels of ability, and that I am doing all I can. Then she told me that there are plenty of people out there looking for hours to tutor kids and volunteer. I told her we try but to find people who can and are willing to commit all summer is practically impossible. Then she had the nerve to say that she has tons of connections and can get a lot of people to volunteer but she didn't know that we needed people.

Honestly, most of the time I love my job. I would miss the kids if I didn't work in the summer. But I don't appreciate people telling me that they can do my job better when they haven't even spent 15 minutes in my shoes. Really even if they have been around elementary kids before this group is very different in that 70% of them would have already been kicked out from any other program and they are the ones that need us the most.

The Naturals and Bike Riding!

Well it was back to work today! We took 70 kids to the Naturals baseball game today. The kids actually did pretty well but having 70 kids and only 9 adults really makes for a busy day. I pretty much only watched one inning of the 10 inning game, they lost to Tulsa 4 to 2. The main thing is that the kids had a great time and most of them had never been to a baseball game before!

When I got home I decided to finally take my new bike for a spin. It was nice and I was amazed at how easy it was to ride even with all the hills around here. I ended up riding down past the Naturals baseball stadium which ended up being somewhere around 5 miles total I think. I haven't put my wireless computer on yet so I don't know how far it was exactly.

Here are a few pics from all the fun today.





I look so sexy in my bike riding get up don't I! :)

Lost Valley

Today we took almost 70 kids to hike at Lost Valley. It was amazing! The kids had a great time as well as the adults. I think this is the best group of kids that we have had at Lifesource in the last 4 years that I have been a part of it.

Lost Valley has to be one of the best short hiking trails around. There is so much to see and do! We were on the trail for about 2 hours and didn't even get to go up to the cave because the kids were having so much fun looking at everything else. I have put a few pictures of us all in here.

I must admit it was a bit of a weird day because alot of it made me think of Jeremy. We were supposed to go hiking there this weekend together. But God is good and everything is in his hands, honestly I had an amazing time with my kids and wouldn't have it any other way. :) The other good thing that I realized today is that it is okay if I end up being single the rest of my life and never have my own children. I have hundreds of children every year that I am pouring my life into and I love them all! I know that I am making a difference and that is all that matters. I am completely fulfilled doing exactly what God has called me to do.

The Necessary Evil

I think that computers are one of those things that are a necessary evil. I know that I wouldn't be able to survive without a computer that is for sure. And the one that I just bought back in January has now died. Thank the Lord for 3 year in home warranty because the replacement of the LCD screen and possibly the mother board are all covered and won't cost me anything and they will come to me to fix it I don't have to ship my computer off anywhere!

You may be wondering how on earth I can blog if my computer has died. Well I also thank the Lord for school laptops! I have to bring it home over the summer so I still have my connection to the outside world even though it is as slow as molasses! So don't worry all my very amusing stories shall not be stopped by crappy technology :)

In other news Kids camp started this week. I am totally exhausted from working 9 to 10 hours a day. I didn't get off till 6:30 tonight because we were busy getting all of the paper work in order for our field trip tomorrow. Though I am totally pumped about the field trip because we are going to Lost Valley and hiking. I have wanted to go there for a while and had planned on going with Jeremy. But this is going to be sooooo much better!!!! I get to take 70 kids to see the waterfalls. Though we aren't going to have a chance to go into the cave because we will only have 2 hours to hike. Anyone up for going back with me this fall??

Breakfast of Champions!

Last Friday night I was recognized by a local organization called Champions for Kids for all of the work I do in the summer at Lifesource. It was a really nice evening and I almost started crying when they started talking about how we touch the lives of so many kids every summer. As our gift they gave us each our own personalized Wheaties box. How many people do you know who have their face on a Wheaties box?

HELP!

I need your help! I have been nominated by Lifesource Inc.,the non-profit I work for in the summer, as their volunteer that has a large impact on the lives of children. This is honor is presented by Champions for Kids, a local organization that supports non-profits in the area that have a big impact on the lives of children. Every year they hold Razorfest which is a huge event on the University of Arkansas campus. Some of the events are the Red and White game, our first real glimpse of the up and coming Razorback team, an Alumni Football game, and a flag football game between local vendors. There are also lots of fun activities for the kids and lots of local vendors booths set up. The entire event is free to the public and helps raise money for local non-profits, Lifesource being one of them. This will all be taking place on April 26 so I would encourage anyone in town to go and check it out! On April 26 they hold a semi-formal event called the Night of Champions which is where I and 7 other people will be honored for all of our work with kids in the community!

So help comes in with choosing a picture for the program that evening. These are my two choices but I need your help to decided so just leave a comment to cast your vote.

They Do Listen!

I was reminded today that even though it my seem that you are talking to a brick wall at times, children really do listen to what you have to say. I had a parent of one of the summer camp kids stop me today. She was telling me all about how her 6 year old grandson has been doing so much better in school this year already. Last year was very difficult behavior wise for him. She told me that he has really benefited from our program. Then she said that he has even done somethings that really surprised her.

Apparently they had gone to the west coast for vacation the week before school started. While there they were visiting with her sister's family, who have a differing belief system. At some point the idea of faith came up in a conversation between her 6 year old grandson and the little boys cousin who is 7. In the midst of the conversation he started telling his cousin that it doesn't matter what color our skin is that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. That Jesus loves us all the same. And that we should love each other just like Christ loves us. My friend was so surprised to hear her grandson step out like this. She takes him to Church every Sunday but has never heard him speak so surely about his faith. She then thanked me for taking the time to love all of those kids and teaching them about God's love.

Honestly I was quite surprised. Yes, those exact words that the little boy said had come out of my mouth on several different occasions over the summer. However, most of the time I felt like it was going in one ear and out the other. I guess somewhere along the line it made a connection. I might not have been able to see the effect immediately but it did make a difference.

Joys of Being the Boss!

Camp is almost over!! I swear it gets more and more stressful every year. I guess that is because I keep adding more and more things that I do every year. But as always we are ending with a bang!

Wednesday we took our annual trip to Silver Dollar City! It was great fun. It was actually a really great day. And I was glad we had enough adults that I didn't have to have any kids with me. My co-worker Alan and I basically got the day off. I did have to manage a few little things here and there but it was handled over the phone just fine.

We ended up riding the Giant Swing, Wildfire, and Fire in the Hole. All were great fun! Though I have to say that the Giant Swing is one of the scariest rides I have been on. Alan was even praying the whole time. It was quite funny because at one point he yelled "Thank God I am Saved!!" I guess what comes out of your mouth when you are on a ride really reflects what is in your heart! We both got off and could hardly walk because our legs were shaking.

Today we had a giant water fight. There is no better way to get out some aggravation than to shoot kids with ice cold water! We had a blast! And of course I think it was totally fair that the adults had super soakers and the kids had tiny ones. Hey 12 kids with little guns gets you pretty wet. Of course there is no staying dry when they dump 5 gallons of water on your head either.

Tomorrow we are off to the park for a day of fun in the sun! After tomorrow Camp is officially over and my 5 days of summer break begins! You know I thought teachers were supposed to get the summer off?? I don't quite know what happened there!

Another Exciting Day!

If a picture says a 1000 words then this picture explains my day perfectly!



Between the baby copperhead and the homeless dunk man, today was a very interesting day for being the Kids Life Camp director!

As soon as I walked in the door this morning one of the kids had a severe nose bleed. This is the same child who had seizure earlier this summer so I was a bit worried. Once I got him taken care of we had to get the mess cleaned up. That is when it is nice to be the boss and you have someone else do it!

After breakfast we had a painting project. Kids and paint is always an adventure. We only had one major incident which involved a cup of dirty paint water getting spilled all over a students white shirt. Thank goodness it was one of the VBS shirts from earlier this summer and I had one left, so I was able to give him a new one.

Next was morning snack. One of our older kids and staff members decided to get creative with the pudding and made a tower and then spelled out messages. Snack was going great until 5 of the kids decided they were going to break their plastic spoons and start poking each other with them. Honestly, how could they possibly think that was acceptable?? I don't know.

So once we get snack cleared away we head out to recess. As soon as we get out there one of the girls yells "Snake!" There was baby copperhead right in the middle of where all the kids play. It wasn't more than 6 inches long, so lethal if one of the kids had been bitten. One of the men on my staff took a baseball bat after it and killed it but not before one of my kids tried to give me a heart attack. He decided that he was going to try and step on the snakes head. I don't think I have ever yelled quite so loud in my life!

Lunch was pretty uneventful. Though after such a crazy morning I decided to put in a movie just for my own sanity. After the movie we had afternoon snack and then back outside. This time while we were out a recess a homeless drunk man wonders into the parking lot. He sits down under a tree right next to where the kids are playing. I have one of my guys go over and ask him to leave and he starts yelling. Of course the kids, being as bright as they are, have to come over and stand right next to the guy. So once again there I am yelling at them to get away. The guy went away pretty easily but there was a moment when I had phone out ready to call the cops.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quite. Although being exhausted I had bright idea of clear coating our painting projects inside. Of course they were sitting in a small room that isn't well ventilated. I guess it just goes to show that kids and adults alike have idiotic moments.

My Heros!

If I were ever to be paranoid today would have been the day. I could have easily concluded that some calamity was about to be fall me, that the "powers that be" were checking in on me or something along those lines. I think I saw more Emergency Responders than I ever have before in a single day. This includes firemen, police, and EMT's. It was a rather strange day that started off fairly normally.

We had the Fire Safety House and the Fire Truck already arranged to come this morning. The kids had a great time climbing on the fire truck and going through the Fire Safety House. I had a great time watching the kids and hanging out with the firemen. I have to admit I do find firemen in uniform very attractive. Of course that fact lead to a big embarrassment for me today.



One of my co-workers took it upon himself to ask all of the guys if they were single, strangely enough all four of them were. Then he proceeded to make it abundantly clear to them that I was single. On top of that he stole my camera and made me take my picture with the four of them, which I didn't mind. But I didn't know that he had said all this to them until after they had left. Which it then explained the strange awkward silence there was when I was standing there with them and we were waiting on some of the kids to come out of the Fire Safety House.



Seeing those emergency responders was planned all the rest were not. While we were out at morning recess a person got pulled over for speeding right in the parking lot where the kids play. Then as we were getting ready to go inside, a dump truck working on the south side of us took out a power line. Because of that more cops showed up. Then a very bad accident happened right out in front of our building. Apparently someone riding a bicycle was hit by a car. So we had all kinds of people in our parking lot for a couple hours. And before the day was over there was yet another person pulled over for speeding in our parking lot as we were out for our afternoon recess. The guys who had seen us that morning with the fire truck also waved as they drove by leaving the wreck.

It was quite the day that is for sure. I am just glad that none of the random occurrences directly affected any of my kids. Though I did have my eye out on the way home and defiantly made sure that I wasn't speeding.

Oh Well!

For some reason it wouldn't let me put this picture on the last blog entry so here is the picture of all of the 1st through 4th graders I was talking about. And the shirts they have on were donated to us by Wild Heart Designs, a local T-shirt printer.

What A Week!!!

This week has been both fun and exhausting at the same time. Here is how the week ran. I returned from Honduras on the 20. Took the kids to the aquatic center on the 21. Drove to St. Louis on the 22. Drove back from St. Louis on the 23. Had the kids all by myself on the 24 and DHS Licensing decided to show up that day as well and half of the paperwork I need to show them was in Branson with the other kids. Then on the 25 took the other half of the kids to Branson. Then today we had a huge family picnic at the park to wrap the summer up. And in the mean time I had meetings every day after work so didn't get home until 9 or later each night. Also it was one of those weeks where if something could have gone wrong it did. Needless to say I am glad this week is over.

However, I did have quite a bit of fun this week as well. The kids were amazing in Branson and they actually got me on Thunderation and the Powder Keg. Thunderation was fun I must admit and Blake (a 6 year old) rode with me and was less scared than I was. Now the Powder Keg is one that I will probably never get on again but I can say that I have ridden it now.

I thought I would share a few pictures from that trip. Here is a picture of the younger girls and I after we had ridden on the Lost River. We actually were allowed to ride it twice because Mrs. Dawn, who is in a wheelchair, was riding with us. Every single person on the raft was soaked by the second time through except for me. I don't know why but I only got a little splashed both times through.

After Lost River we went over to geyser Gulch. Of course if you walk any where near there you are going to be drenched. So I jumped right in and had fun shooting the kids with giant water guns. Even though it was a hot day I got pretty chilly after being completely hosed down. So I went over and found a sunny corner to lay down in. One of our girls decided to come down and lay right next to me. One of the other staff members snapped a quick shot.

Last but not least is a picture of some of our crazy kids. Half of our group were already in the park because they had come up the day before. This picture is of our 1st through 4th graders. As much as they drive me crazy during the summer I love them all and I am going to miss seeing them everyday.

Summer Fun

Well this summer has been amazing as always. Not only have I had a wonderful time with the kids I have made a new good friend as well. Monica and I have been hanging out and shopping together quite a bit this summer. She is just one of those people you can spend an entire weekend with and not get tired of their company. So on top of shopping we have had many new experiances together.

One of those expericances was going on a zip line. I had done it one other time but had a semi bad experiance with it (I got stuck on the course you had to do to get to the zip line). But at the encouragement of the cute guy who was helping with the zip line we both took the plunge. And of course you have to love the climbing harness. It is so fashionable and comfortable. I think everybody will be wearing them in the future. :)

Fun in the Sun!

This week has been busy with 4th of July fun. The kids went to the LAND today and I found out that a few of them are budding young photographers. I know my pictures looked quite scary when I was 10 but the girls managed to take a few pictures that were pretty awesome today so I thought I would post them.

Kids Life

Well I have started summer camp. It has been great! I am exhausted everyday after chasing 37 first through fifth graders everyday but, it is all very rewarding in the end. To hear from a parent that a kid was sick and was begging to be able to come to camp still just makes me smile.

All the kids at the camp come from underprivileged families. They all get to come for free and we do all kinds of things including math and reading tutoring. This year my church donated backpacks for each of the kids. They loved them! It has also been a very helpful place to keep all of their stuff!