VBS

The day we got home from Camp, Olivia started at Summerfield UMC's Vacation Bible School. The theme for this one was "Shake It Up" which is about God's "recipe" for salvation.

The idea is to present the Bible and a cookbook with recipes for our lives.

The "Secret Ingredients". They added a new ingredient each night and built the lessons around them.

Practicing hand motions and songs.

Gabe got to make an apron, just like Sissy.

Being silly.

Olivia paying close attention to the story. Each night the kids either put on costumes or used props or one of the youth from the church dressed as a particular Israelite would act out the bible story as it was read. For example, the first night an Israelite women kneaded bread as she told the story of preparing to leave Egypt. The kids then got to dress up as Israelites and escape. Another night the youth were behind a cloth acting out the Last Supper (sort of like a shadow play). It was very creative and hands on and helped the kids to remember the stories.

Rebecca volunteered for snack duty. Each night while the kids ate their snacks there was a kitchen based science experiment or two for them to watch. They were lots of fun for the kids. Some of them were repeats from experiments Olivia did in school last year and some were new.

She made these awesome oatmeal cookies with Cool Whip and cinnamon-sugar crosses. These were remembrance cookies. These (along with grape juice) were served on the night they talked about the last supper. The secret ingredient of that particular night was to Remember Jesus Often, as in "Do this in remembrance of me" Luke 22:19b. 

Gabe and Ezra had a fun time playing in the nursery. The boys spent the last two nights at VBS because Jeremy acted as a volunteer photographer for them. It was lots of fun.

Olivia showing me the sign language for "Holy Spirit"

Olivia and the "Rolling Pins". This was her crew. The crafts they made were super cute. As you can see, they made aprons and chef's hats. They also made milkshakes (colorful stuffed cloth with red "cherry" pompom and straw in a cup), placemats, and a photoframe (decorated in red checked paper with fork and spoon).