Where July went

It's August!  I just wanted to post some pictures to show where our July went.  Time sure does fly by during the summer.  June ended with a harvest of strawberries..(well there were only a few but next year there should be many more!)

 William and Miriam each caught a fish...

 We enjoyed a puppet show at the library...

 went to the water park with friends...

 And Welcomed Sister Rose Anthony to Amherst Junction for a week!  We hosted an open house for her with a treasure hunt.  It was so much fun!

 While she was here we went to Chicago to visit Uncle Chris, Aunt Mimi, and cousins Emma and Catherine who happened to be in Illinois for a few days.  The cousins had so much fun together, we can't wait to see them again at Uncle Steve's wedding in September.

Luke discovered the Sword and learned how to use one.

 Sr. Rose Anthony made matching aprons for Miriam and William.  We were so sorry to see her go and can't wait for her next visit..though it will be a couple years.  The kids loved having her - it was such a belssing and we look forward to visiting the convent again in Michigan next year.

After Sister left, we had a week to finish preparation for the parish Vacation Bible School: There's No Place Like Rome  that I got to design:-)  It was a fun but exhausting week - well worth the months of preparation.  Our friend Johnny came to visit and spend that Thursday night with us.  Miriam is wearing the lion mask she made for Vacation Bible school.

We finished off the month with a Celebration of Life for our friends the Parkers who were getting ready to welcome their little girl Kateri Rose (born August 3rd) into the world. 

 and I made strawberry freezer jam for the first time and I'm hooked - it's so easy and SO delicious.

Every summer day is filled with fun, especially when you mix in a little imagination!  I love the train the kids made.  We hope your summer is going well!

July Project

The big project for me in July was our Parish Vacation Bible School. For the past 4 years we've been writing our own curriculum - I generally do the teaching points & then one of our very musically talented parishoners does the music, other volunteers teach & Phil handles all of the nitty gritty tasks & the actual directing and coordinating during that week. The overall theme was "In the Footsteps of St. Paul" in honor of the recently concluded Year of St. Paul. Each day followed the life of Saint Paul from his conversion and the focussing on the adventures he had while on the Missionary Journeys. Each day always has a Saint or Saints & Prayer that the kids learn. Everything went really well this year! I wasn't able to stop with just writing the teaching points this year though but ended up organizing the crafts and a skit - thus the kids & I were exhausted by the end of the week but I think everyone had fun. Here's some pictures of our crafts. I'd upload the Curriculum but I'm not sure how to post a pdf file.