Summer Camp

Most of the kids in our neighborhood have spent the summer in some sort of camp. Whether it was the YMCA, a tennis camp or church camp, their comings and goings have caught JillyBean's attention. She keeps talking about being able to go to camp when she's "a little bit bigger."

Well, the camp experience is coming a bit sooner than expected byway of spending a week with Nana in Tennessee. Daddy and I are going on a cruise later this month and are taking the major step of leaving Jilly behind. She didn't like the idea that we were going on vacation without her (and honestly, neither do I) so I quickly told her that she will be spending time at Camp Nana. She warmed to the idea.

Now as anyone who has ever spent time in camp - whether it be a day camp or sleep away camp - knows, you always get a really cool t-shirt marking the event. Camp Nana is no exception. Jilly and I made our own camp shirts yesterday. She is so proud of them and had to make one for herself, Nana, Ma and cousin Kallie. We still have a little bit of work to do on them once they're completely dry. The shirts should provide a good memento of their week together.

My Fair Little Lady

It's fair season in these parts so we decided to check out our county's fair. We have been to neighboring counties and to the state fair, but never to ours. I sort of expected a little more since we are a larger county, but it was relatively small. Still, we had a good time. The newspaper had a coloring page that JillyBean colored to take to the fair in exchange for a prize. She received a cute toy Holstein cow, which sadly did not make it home. I think that she left it on the train ride. I was surprised that Jilly wasn't upset about it, instead said that "we can get another one next year."

Jilly rode almost every ride that was meant for kids her size and one for kids a little bigger. She started out with the pony cart ride, moved on to an alligator then decided to step it up a notch and ride the dragon roller coaster. She wasn't quite tall enough to ride it, but the man taking tickets didn't pay too much attention to the fact that she was up on her toes. Jilly was so excited when she got on the ride, but shortly after it started decided that maybe it wasn't a great idea.

Still, she got off the ride without tears but ready for something a little slower paced. It is amazing how grown up Jilly is becoming lately. She is becoming so brave when it comes to new adventures and does not shy away from people like she has tended to the past couple of years. In fact, it is not unusual for Jilly to say hello first to a new person - similar to the way she was when she 18 months old. She also exhibits a great sense of pride when she accomplishes something she considers "grown up."

The State Fair is next month so we will have to make sure to go. JillyBean will have access to a few more rides, animals and shows. All of this is a warm up to a future Disney trip that we hope to take in the next two years. We have friends who took their four-year-old this year and that seemed to be a fairly good age. I want to go when I know Jilly will be old enough to have strong memories of the trip. In the meantime, we are thankful to have photos of these fun times together as a family.

Questions of Faith

JillyBean has been asking a lot of questions about God. I don't know why, but I never expected to get such questions at this age, though I don't know why since she asks about everything else under the sun.

Last week we were reading a book my cousin gave her for her birthday. It's a rhyming story book on the Book of Genesis and has great illustrations. We were reading the creation story and she pops up with: "Who made God?" I really didn't know how to answer but said something to satisfy her little mind. Today we had an exchange that went like this:
J: Mama, why did God make me?
M: Because He loves you and he needed you to love other people and to take care of the things He created.
J: But why does He love me?
M: Because He is your father.
J: No. God is Jesus' father. Daddy is my father.
M: Yes, that is right. But God is your Heavenly Father. He is the one who made you and gave you to me and daddy. He is the one who made you and who has a special plan for you.
J: (silent while thinking) So if God is my Heavenly Father then is Mommy Mary my Heavenly Mama?
M: No. She is just Jesus' mama.
J: Oh. Hey! Can we play Peter Pan now?

ABCs

Today was an unusually cool day for the start of August. On second thought, maybe it was nice to be away from the 100-degree mark. Either way there was a slight feel of fall in the air and that means that school is around the corner.

So many of our friends send their children to preschool. Some started as early as 18 months while others have held off until three. We have decided that JillyBean will not go to preschool. I have mixed feelings on this issue, though I am happy with our decision. One one hand I would like for Jilly to be with her friends. She had a great time at Vacation Bible School, though that was just a blip. However, I'm not exactly crazy about the public school system as a whole, although we live in a fabulous district. Also, kids are in school for SO long that I don't want to start her any earlier than she has to. Still, knowing that the public school here demands so much of kids at younger ages, I don't want Jilly to be behind if we do choose to send her down the road so we are going to do a home school program.

I am a little nervous about this and not too confident about my ability to actually teach her. That's silly, I know, because basically everything she will "learn" at preschool we are "teaching" during our daily routine. She knows her letters out of context, all of her colors and shapes; she can count to 20 (when she's not be asked to do so) and she gets sequencing, matching, rhyming and all of that stuff. What we need to work on are the sounds of letters and how to write - something I don't remember doing until first grade but something kids today master, in some cases, before kindergarten. Reading will follow soon after, which she is chomping at the bit to learn.

Jilly has been showing a lot of interest lately in learning to write. She understands that words are made up of individual letters and when she asks us to spell something for her, she makes a separate mark for each letter. She also seems to grasp that each word is an individual item and spaces her "words" further apart than the "letters" that comprise the words.

Knowing that she is interested and ready to learn should make this process a bit easier. Having never taught any form of school, I decided to purchase a formal preschool curriculum. I chose the program from a company called Sonlight because it is literature based and uses story books to teach science, social studies, etc. We are doing a program above her current age because she is ready for it. The curriculum for 3- and 4-year-olds is nothing more than reading together and that is something we have done since birth. So she'll be in a pre-kindergarten program that will teach her how to write.

Homeschooling is something I have said that I would like to do for as long as possible but we are going to take it a year at a time. It is very exciting and Jilly is looking forward to mom being her teacher.

VBS

Tomorrow begins a very busy week for me and JillyBean. Vacation Bible School starts and I'm so excited. Although Jilly is only three, she gets to go because I am volunteering as a teacher (I have been assigned to the five-year-old class). This is exciting because she will be doing the same preschool program as the older kids.

This is a massive program and the ladies from our church in charge of the children's ministry have been hard at work for months. As of today, they are expecting more than 470 kids for the week long program. It's a western theme, which is great for Jilly since she's all about horses and cowboys.

I loved VBS as a kid. I remember spending summers "church hopping," as we would attend Vacation Bible School at our church as well as VBS at our friends' churches. I hope that this is something Jilly will grow to love and look forward to each summer as well.

I have never led a class so I'm a little nervous but also excited about the opportunity. Keep us in your prayers as well as all the kids who will be attending and the volunteers leading them.

Little Miss Firecracker

Here it is July again and I have failed to come in and update the blog. It sure isn't for lack of things to share, I just haven't taken the time to do it - once again. I need to dedicate a time of day each day to do this, sort of like a job.

Until then, we had a fabulous July Fourth celebration. JillyBean had been looking forward to July Fourth for weeks. Although I had been talking to her about why we celebrate the date, she mostly saw it as a time to shoot off fireworks. We had a couple of neighbors come over for a cook out and to let the kids have some fun. Jilly's buddies weren't as jazzed by the popping of the fireworks she and Daddy purchased, but they enjoyed the sparklers. Jilly didn't want to like the explosive rockets, but I think she forced herself to enjoy them since she had been looking forward to shooting them off for some time.

I really love the Fourth of July and have great childhood memories of family gatherings in Kansas. We would get together with my dad's cousins and spend the day tying black cat firecrackers together to make huge explosions. They all had cellars in their backyard so we would light the suckers and throw them into the cellar to hear the echo of the boom. We'd shoot off bottle rockets that we set up inside soda bottles and throw cherry bombs across the yard. It was so much fun. Then we would all have a picnic, play a game of softball and gather in the town park to watch the fireworks display that was put together by the local volunteer fire department.

Relay For Life

We participated in the local Relay For Life event this weekend with our wonderful Mom's group. It was great fun and we were able to raise a bit of cash for the American Cancer Society.


It was rainy, so not as many people attended the actual event on Saturday night, but we had a good time. Our group, Moms On A Mission, endured the wet weather and enjoyed some yummy Wayside chicken and barbecue. Each of us signed up to walk an hour or two-hour shift (the goal was to have people walk 24 hours) so JillyBean accompanied me on my trek. She did great - walked the whole hour and even ran two laps around the track (more than I can do without stopping).

Afterward the kids ran around and played in the rain, danced, attended a magic show and, well, acted like kids. This is one of my all-time fave pictures of Jilly and her friends. I can't believe that I was able to get four three-year-olds to stand together, look at the camera and smile at the same time.
One part of the event that we did not stay around for (thanks to the wet weather and an exhausted child) was the lighting of the luminarias that people purchase in honor of or in memory of someone impacted by cancer. We made a luminaria for Aunt Evelyn who died last year. Jilly had a fun time decorating the paper bag that event organizers filled with sand and a candle to light. We are sure that Aunt Evelyn looked down with pride.