Life is crazy!

It's been a couple of weeks since I've had a spare moment to post anything. School has started, our church has moved locations, Derek's been working overtime, Faith has started childcare, the dogs demand attention...needless to say, we are busy!!! But, overall, things are going pretty good.

My student teaching placement has been going well. I like where I am at, and have been learning a lot. One of the neatest things I've gotten to do so far is administer all of the children's initial assessments (or as I call them, "Brain Checks") to see where they are at entering the school year. I have flashcards with the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors. I ask the children to identify each one, and take notes. The same assessment will be given in the middle of the year and at the end of the year to see the progress the children make. It has been interesting to see how each child does.

Faith is adjusting to childcare just fine. Her mommy and daddy are still adjusting. I cried for two days when she first started going, but I am able to drop her off sans the tears now. It is an excellent program, and she seems to enjoy being around other babies.

Our church has moved to the Union on my college campus for Sunday morning services. We have outgrown our current building, and can use the Union at no cost. We also want to reach out to the students on campus. With the move comes so exciting things. You can sit at a table, drink a cup of coffee bought from Starbucks downstairs, and listen to the sermon. We have a new logo, slogan, and are becoming much more contemporary in style (which Derek and I LOVE). We have also teamed up with a college ministry, so students are getting involved too. We hope to attract young families too, and to continue to grow.

I'm super excited about all of this, but it comes with a lot of work too. As one of the directors of the Children's Ministry, I've been busy getting our area mobile. We are not permanently housed at the Union, but "rent" some space there every Sunday. This means everything that we need has to be transported to the Union each Sunday, set-up, and torn down. I have also been busy updating our security policies, creating a volunteer handbook, training our volunteers, and learning a new curriculum.

Derek and I now live for Saturdays :-)