Little Kids

Greetings.


I have said that I like church. I don't like, however, the songs. They go on FOREVER in the teen service. Okay, I am getting back on track, um, there are two services at the church I go to. It's a small, homey church and that's the way I prefer it, not the Empire State Chapel, you know? Well, first service is for the older folk and during said service, the little kids have Sunday school. And that's my favorite part. So I volunteered to help with the 2- and 3-year-olds. Mrs. Morton, who's pretty much in charge of Sunday school (seriously,if the Mortons ever left the church, the church would absolutely crumble), told me to go help Miss Mikayla. And out of nowhere, Joseph joins me. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

So we're playing with three little kids: two boys, Everett and Fritz (I kid you not, poor boy, what was his mother thinking?), and a girl, Alison. (I miss Ally now...) We were learning about creation and about how God created the animals and we were playing a finding game. The kids had to leave the room while Joseph and I hid the animals around the room for them to find. It was so fun. After that, we had to help the kids identify animals. Joseph was very patient with Alison. I was very impressed: you wouldn't think a robot would be so kind and gentle with little kids, but it just goes to show how wrong I can be.

Alison seems to have attached herself to me. She's only three, but she talks better than Bentley did. (I was kind of a genius talker, Bev says, so I can't compare her to me.) Anyways, as I was about to leave (I was not planning on staying for the teen service, I have four and a half hours of sleep under my belt and I was TIRED) she and her dad, the teen pastor, came into the room and she sees me and then turns to her dad and says, "I don't wanna go to the service." Her dad looks a little surprised and asks her what she wants to do. She points to me and says, "I wanna stay with her." He looked at me and I shrugged. So I spent the latter part of my church time with a smart little girl. We played house and she "covered" me with the pillows on the couches. Once she fell down and scraped her shin BAD (not bad enough that it bled, but it looked really bad) and I kept my cool and cleaned her off. I made her stop crying and got her Band-Aids and I felt SOOOOO bad. She's not even my kid (obviously) and I felt awful.

I had a nice day, so far.


Hugz
HM

Independence Day (also Homecoming)

Greetings.


It's been a while since I have posted something. I don't know where to start, so I'll start with today.

As you can tell, today is Independence Day, the Fourth of July. The day all the furniture stores have monster sales that save you 'Washingtons". Cheap paper plates, tri-tip, and fireworks are very common around my house on 7/4. Bentley and Dad work on our backyard for our big Independence Day bonanza like cleaning off the patio and scrubbing the pool while Bev and I vacuum and dust and Windex and mop and do everything on the inside. I hate cleaning. Organizing I can do, cleaning, not a chance. Unless I'm paid.

Then the usuals come over: Ally, Colleen, Wanda, Robert Clay, Aunt Gertie, Uncle Sam, Jeremy, and Josie Lowell, a few stragglers whose names I have never bothered to learn, and sometimes our neighbors from across the street, the Andersons. Joy Ann has been quite smitten with Bentley for as long as I can remember. And I had a crush on her older brother Corbin when I was little. We all swim, eat barbecue, and then wait for dark to start the fireworks. Joy Ann, Bentley, Colleen, and some of the stragglers' littler ones have fun with sparklers. Sometimes Ally and I join in but I'm not a big sparklers girl. Bev hides in the house; she's a pyrophobe. Then as soon as the sun sets, Dad breaks out the good stuff. I'm not talking about sissy Piccolo Petes here (please, no, they give me headaches) I'm talking big ol' honking dinosaur fireworks. While Bev is a pyrophobe, Bentley and Dad are pyromaniacs. They LOVE their fire. I am flexible either way. But I like 7/4 because I get to see Ally. I STILL have her birthday presents from MAY.

Another thing; I was working Vacation Bible School with the kids and Joseph was playing (ironically) Joseph, like the guy with the coat with a lot of colors, in the VBS skit thing. Beforehand, he was just being really... playful. He was messing with my face, like pushing it around and stuff, and I asked him why. He just shrugged and said "I dunno." It was great...

I actually like working with the kids. I'm really good with kids. They like me too. I know how to talk to them, Bev says. Now I'm torn between teaching elementary or high school students. I love the little kids, ideally I'd teach third or second grade, but I want to teach a high school curriculum. I even have extra credit assignments ready, assignments that I can't do with little kids. And I just want t teach both. I love both. I'm torn...


Hugz
HM