Until next year!

Whew! VBS is officially over for this year. I'm exhausted! I always look forward to VBS all year, then in the weeks leading up to it, I dread it. The stress, decorating rooms, wondering what the kids will be like. Then it starts, and I love it again, the comaraderie of the workers getting ready, the tee shirts (I love a good tee shirt). The first day always flies by and is so fun, meeting the kids, going from activity to activity.

And the week goes on. And then, suddenly, it hits. The day I dread every year.

VBS Thursday.

It's an official day, I'm sure it is. It's a day when babies are cranky for no discernible reason, toddlers throw impressive tantrums worthy of the record books, and older kids are suddenly bored with the songs they loved singing the day before. Everyone is exhausted...leaders are dragging and forget why they signed up in the first place. The hoedown throwdown gets stuck in your head and it won't go away. Ever.

This year, there were a few things that kept VBS Thursday from taking me down with it.

Amazing snacks. Especially the S'mores. This year, the amazing snack leader (Who is also Ava's first grade teacher) made a special treat for the leaders in addition to the snacks for the kids. I made way too many trips to the canteen, let me tell you.

The best preschool workers ever. Ever. This week was the first week I have ever put Evany in the nursery, and at the beginning of the week, it wasn't my intention. Mara and I were considering just keeping the girls upstairs. But we tried it out, and every single person in the nursery was awesome. Amazing. I miss them already, and Evany loved them all, too. Seth also lucked out and had a great time in the two year old room. He even deigned to speak out loud to his teacher after the first couple days, which was very exciting for me. I hope this means good things for when he starts preschool in September!

Getting to work with my best friends.

Worker kids had lunch after VBS every day. Getting to take them home and have to do nothing but put them down for a nap? Heaven. Enough said.

Unbelievable teenagers. We had three teens assisting with crafts this week, and I was nervous before the week started...I didn't know who was helping and whether they would actually be helpful or not. But we lucked out and we had some of the most engaging, helpful kids in the place. It made the week so much better!

So when the going got tough, I had enough good things to keep on going, which is good, because without the lows of VBS Thursday, you never get the highs of VBS Friday.

On the last day of VBS, it always hits me how cute the kids are, how sweet, how old the 4th graders are and how huggable the 1st graders remain for a little longer. It's so great to see the friends that the kids have made within their classes, how excited they get when their leaders get slimed on stage on the last day. It's great to see them getting to be kids for a week, surrounded with age appropriate fun and activities, encouraged to ask questions and have fun, with the knowledge of Christ right there for the taking.


And look at that...even though I could sleep for days, I'm officially excited for next year!