Bible School, 2014

Sapphire toned down her crazy dancing for the closing service

Last week was Bible school. I had been preparing for this since February, and, because of all of the motivated helpers, it was a great week.  Daniel floated around, filling in for a crew leader one night and the story lady two nights.

The girls like Bible schools in general, but when they get to be with their church friends every night for a week, it is just perfect. Pearl said out of the blue one night, "I love Bible school." On the way home one night, Ruby told me about how she put her sins in a trash bag, which was part of a skit I oversaw and narrated, with her daddy as Jesus on a cross lit with Christmas lights.

After the closing worship service on Sunday, we visited the MA and PA Railroad, in Muddy Creek Forks PA.  Today it is just an intersection, but, according to the nineteenth-century photos, it used to be a commercial hub. The girls took the hour-long train ride. We last rode this together as a family the day before Sapphire was born, and I attribute the start of labor to the train ride.

Pearl has over thirty days of school in already. Now that she is over eight, we have to count our days. With piano lessons, karate, and our field trips, she is speeding through the school year without even realizing it. As I type this, she and her daddy are on a day-long fishing trip off the Delaware coast.

These are just a few more pictures from youth day at the PA Renaissance Faire.  We took a family picture in the same spot just before we left for China two years ago. 

The mermaid at the Renaissance Faire had such a convincing tail, I'm pretty sure that the two little girls now think that mermaids are as real as dolphins.  Sitting beside her was a highlight of the day for them.