Oh What a Night...

I left AJU6 with AJU1 instead of taking him to Cubbies tonight with AJU5. My goal was to work on training AJU5 to sit, listen, and participate. Now that AJU6 is very mobile, it is hard to corral him and AJU5. Only having one is definitely easier, but we have a long way to go! AJU5 has a hard time going from play to listening. Add a very short nap (30 minutes vs. the normal 1.5-2.5 hours), and it was a struggle tonight. I had to remove her from teh room many times to discipline her. And she refused to say her verse. But, I think tonight was a learning experience for her - and hopefully next week will be better.

One thing I need to let go of is the external praise I want her to get. I need to become "fine" with her not getting her stickers and patches for saying her verses. It is not what matters. What matters is that she is learning the verses and learning about God. If she doesn't want to say the verse to the leaders, I need to learn to not force it too much. Hopefully seeing others with the "rewards" will motivate her if she wants them.

I hope AJU6 was good for AJU1. I know he was asleep when I left, woke up a little later, and was asleep again when I got home. AJU1 did not change his diaper - claiming he didn't know he was wet - before putting him back to sleep. I think he is just out of practice... I thought it was common sense that you changed a kid's diaper before putting them down for the night! And I even left him 3 velcro pocket diapers to use - the ones that are like disposables when it comes to putting them on. Oh well. AJU5 woke him up with her tantrum about having to put on jammies anyways, so I changed him, fed him, and got him back to sleep.

I wonder if next week will be more adventurous?

Helicopter...

Last night I realized at times I am a helicopter parent. And I am not a huge fan of it.

I am totally not a helicopter parent when we are at home or with close friends. But I am when we are not in our norm. Cubbies is one of those places - and even then it is only in certain situations.

I don't helicopter during play time. I do little to no helicoptering during craft. But, other times I am right there with her making sure she "performs" as she should. Some of it is justified - she is younger than all the others by up to 2+ years (Cubbies is for Pre-K, so a few just turned 5, but most are 3 or 4). She is shy and hasn't had a lot of "social school" time. So, if I am not there, she may not do as asked. If I am not there for a few parts of the night (story, opening, etc), she will scream and cry. So, those are times I need to be there still. Luckily, she is getting used to the way things work, and she is starting to not fight me. But, if they loose her attention, she melts...

Then there is book time when they need to say their verses. I think she is warming up to the leader a little, but he was gone last night. And she is one of two kids using a different Bible version that the rest, so I don't want them to confuse her/think she isn't saying it right. So, I helicopter. My goal, now that I have realized it, is to back away a little and see what happens. I want to wait until she doesn't respond to them to step in and help. Hopefully that will work next week...

And I think some of it is that I want to show people what she can do. She is doing the "extra credit" mainly because she is good at memorizing verses. She still has the one memorized back in August at the front of her brain (and will tell it to us all the time). So, having her recite three "old" verses isn't a problem. The second half of the extra credit is sometimes a challenge because it is putting the week's lesson into action/making it tangible. Some concepts are harder for her, but I think without even trying, she would get less than she does with our sometimes-half-completed attempts.

So, there you go. That is how Cubbies is going. The end...

Cubbie!

AJU5 is now a Cubbie in Awana. Awana is a Christian scout-type program that focuses on Scripture memory, and begins with 2-year olds. We decided to skip the 2 year old class (Puggles) with AJU5, and move her to the preschool class (Cubbies) because we plan on starting kindergarten with her when she is 4.5. Last night, the Cubbies who completed the first two weeks got their vests and books. AJU5 had to memorize three (shortened) verses and the Cubbies motto. I am surprised at how easily she learned the verses. I just had to repeat them a bunch of times during the week, and before too long she could repeat them to me. Plus, it is helping me learn verses too :)

She still isn't used to the format of Awana though. The group she is in starts with play time while everyone arrives. Then, they do a big group time with a puppet story, Bible story, and song. After that,t hey rotate through three stations - book/snack, craft, and game. The hardest thing for AJU5 is she doesn't always want to leave one activity - especially the play time with the play kitchen. Also, it ends right beofre her bedtime, so the closing time at the very end can be a struggle too. But, I think she is getting more and more comfortable with it. And, it doesn't hurt that her best friend is also in the class with her (and we make sure they are in the same rotation group). She was a little sad when her friends little brother (a very close second on the best friend status) didn't get to go with them this week. He is a Puggle, and he had to go to his class!

This morning the first thing she asked AJU1 for was her book and vest. She asked for them before juice, milk, and morning snack even. So, hopefully next Thursday will run even smoother for her!

Verses:
1 John 4:10 - God lvoed us and sent His Son.
Romans 3:23 - All have sinned.
Romans 5;8 - While we were sinners, Christ died for us.

Cubbies Motto; Jesus loves me.

Is It Nap Time Yet?

This week is killing me! VBS is a lot of work. We are averaging 34 kids with under 10 adult helpers and under 10 teen helpers. Oh, and I am not counting AJU6 in those 34 kids...

Add to that a teething infant who is waking every few hours at night, and you have one tired mommy. (The boy has cute 3 teeth in less than a month, and a fourth one is coming soon)

Luckily VBS is going well. We had a great family night yesterday at church, and the kids are enjoying the whole experience. Games have been hit or miss, but that is mainly due to heat (middle group - too hot and tired to play much by their turn) and age (youngest group). Lunch has been a huge hit, and the crafts have gone well. I haven't seen much of the lesson (since there are secluded for maximum attention), but supposedly that has been going well too.

One more day... I can make it...

July Trip 2010 - Part 3

The third part of the adventure was a VBS for a Native American chapter that our church has run the past 7 or 8 years. This was my third time going, and I have enjoyed it each year. I love seeing the kids learn about God and enjoy the activities we have for them. I would show more pictures, but I decided not to post ones with other kids in them.

This leg was just the kids an I - AJU1 had to return to work. Luckily I did have help from the rest of our "mission" team with the kids when I needed it. AJU6 was passed around a lot at dinners. It was really cute seeing the male teens wanting to hold him! They were great wtih him too. As long as he didn't see me, he was happy with whoever was willing to hold him.

Each day we would get up fairly early and have breakfast at the hotel. Then, sometime between 8;30 and 9:00 we would leave for VBS (the teens and most adults left around 8). VBS ran from 10-12 (ish) each day. This year we were outside teh whole time as they were remodeling the chapter house. This meant AJU6 was stuck attached to some adult/teen ALL the time. I tried to put him down a few times,a nd he crawled right off the blanket to the dirt. And then he picked up rocks and tried to eat them. After a few attempts to get him to stop, I gave up. Luckily I had a carrier for him with me...

AJU5 did okay with her class. Some times she behaved, and other times she wanted me. But, that was to be expected. She loved the craft time the most, and finally on the last day participated in the music. I hope she does even better at our church VBS in a few weeks!

In the afternoons we went swimming at the hotel pool. AJU5 did not like her swimsuit/flotation device combo that much, but I was very thankful for it. It meant I didn't have to watch her like a hawk. If she stepped off the steps, she wouldn't go under compeltely - if she relaxed she had no issues whatsoever. Some days she was adventurous - jumping off the side of the pool without hands, floating near the steps on her own, etc. Other days she wouldn't leave the top step without me. AJU6 liked the water too - he even fell asleep in the pool one day!

The hardest part was sleeping. AJU6 cut his upper two teeth while we were there, so he wasn't a happy camper. Since I couldn't "lock" AJU5 in a room by herself, it was hard to get her to fall asleep too. Some nights she was up until 10:30. The latest we slept in was 7am. Each day both kids would fall asleep on the way back to the hotel, but they would wake up once I got them out of the van. I tried to get them to sleep/nap before swimming, but it never worked. Luckily, the both took naps from 3ish until I woke them for dinner.

I wan't wait until next year - I already miss the kids out there!

The kids and i at Wednesday evening service.

AJU5 and I at the missionaries' house at sunset (ignore the wrinkled skort - I was too lazy to iron it)

I will let you interpret this one yourself...

AJU5 with bubbles at VBS.