its raining today :( which isnt so nice.
but on the more positive side of things its friday today which is my day off. i've already gone for a drive with Anna and Hannah (who passed her test on wednesday!). plus Lucy and I did the RE lesson yesterday and it went very well which is awesome and we've been asked back :D
my mum gets her new car on monday and i might be able to drive it (she's very excited about getting her new car).
and its less than 2 weeks until spring harvest! i'm starting to get very excited about it!!
oooh and PJ and I might be hosting one of our famous murder mystery parties which'd be cool :)
so things are going well. mostly i just cant wait until the holidays so i can have a break and relax a bit.
other than that i dont really have alot to say...sorry!
will blog again when something exciting happens lol
much love xxx
Friday, 28 March 2008
Saturday, 22 March 2008
sorry!!!!
i realise its been 2 weeks since i last blogged but in my defence i have been ill. i got a cold almost straight after the godzone sleepover and it still hasnt gone away :( it's gotten better but is still determined to hang around! mum worked out that i havent had more than a couple days off since christmas and while this is normal for a full time working person, i'm just not used to it and therefore am burning out and catching every bug there is.
plus last wednesday i got a stomach bug thing, which just wiped me out completely. I was off work wednesday, thursday and yesterday. which meant i missed easter holiday club and the space sleepover.but i just needed to rest. i'm feeling alot better today (as in, not sick but still got a cold, and not as tired) which is a really good thing because tomorrow is Grandpa & Grandma's 60th wedding anniversary party and we're off to celebrate with them- this means dressing up slightly, taking lots of family pictures and hanging out with my cousins which will be good actually :)
things that have happened in the last 2 weeks:
- High School Musical at JMS- it was very good. the mics kept giving out so i felt bad for the cast but it was good and i sang along and the girls i took with me had a good time so thats good.
- Women's day at church- was very good, Michele Guiness spoke well and i enjoyed it. unfortunately i had to leave early for...
- Genesis Ice Skating Social- the skates hurt my feet after about half an hour so i chickened out and sat at the side chatting to whichever member of the Genesis decided to stop by on their way past. it was actually still good fun though.
- Youth Alpha Day Away- although we were on plan B where it was only us and the 6th form team who came away, it was a good day. we prayed and praised and talked through everything. it was really good to just hang out with all the 6th formers, i had a really good time and kinda wished it could've gone on longer.
- Holiday Club planning meeting- this is the first time i've gotten to go to the planning meeting for the summer holiday club and it was fun :) we discussed last year and this year and i was given some new responsibilites which was cool. (oh and another very cool development- this year the Dancing Divas are becoming Cheerleaders!!!!)
- JMS assemblies- we did 3 assemblies at JMS this week, although i only made two. and they were good fun. (as a side note, my friend Lucy asked me if i'd like to help her run an R.E lesson at JMS next week and i said yes! scary but hopefully really good!)
- Uni finance form- i got lost in student loan paperwork last weekend. i think i've finally figured out how it all works and have printed off the application, we're going to fill it in over easter holidays.
well alot has happened since i last blogged but hopefully that got you up to speed.
i have effectively have today, tomorrow and monday off since its the easter bank holiday weekend. and then i'm back at work for 1 and a half weeks and then its the spring holidays and i get almost 2 weeks off, plus its Spring Harvest!!!
anyway i'm off, one of the things i do have to do this weekend is write a cell outline- unfortunately i can't find the material i'm supposed to write it from :S
much love xxx
Sunday, 9 March 2008
godzone sleepover 2008
alright so it's sunday and the Godzone sleepover is finished...i'm exhausted!
it was very good though :)
although for kids work i'm based at LF for this year, i still wanted to so the Godzone sleepover because it's one of the major events of my year. and it didnt let me down!
saturday morning we all rolled up to church and finished setting up (we'd done some of it the night before). over the next hour the teenagers started arriving and by 10.30am we appeared to have set up.
after a leaders/teenagers briefing we prepared for the children to arrive...and they sure did arrive; there were 27 of them which is way more than last year which meant we had the girls and boys in seperate buildings which complicated things slightly but seemed to work.
we then did a craft activity and James ran a session with them that started looking at our topic for the weekend (being friends with Jesus) which was a really good session and i think it really challenged some of them on where they're at with Jesus.
and then we had lunch which was brilliant, i was sat on a table of girls and had a really good chat with them. the highlight of that chat was the following conversation:
girls: sarah, do you have a boyfriend?
me: no.
girls: why don't you have a boyfriend?
me: because boys smell.
girls: (lots of chattering in agreement)
hehehehe!
after lunch the children went with the adult leaders for the 'going deeper' session which looked a bit deeper at the topic.
during this time us teenagers (yes for the purposes of this weekend i classified myself as a teenage helper when it suited me) cleared up lunch and prepared for the wide game...by this point Kat had arrived and the fun really began :D
for the wide game we each had an object and the kids had to decode a bible code number to find our object. my object was a teddy bear and Kat's was a blanket...hence how we ended up on a bed made of chairs with a blanket over us, cuddling the bear and pretending to be asleep!
it was a very clever and fun wide game.
after this we had about 45 minutes before the rest of the Godzone kids would arrive for the party. so I took the kids over to the corner suite to play Bible charades and a couple of games of splat! (the exclamation mark is part of the name 'splat!' rather than me feeling very enthusiastic about the game...although i do feel very enthusiastic about the game.)
the next hour was a blur since it was the party and i was with the older kids group this year and i spent most of it helping with games and also being a first aider- you get alot more injuries with the big kids group than you do with the smaller kids.
then it was the upfront session which was brilliant. we did some puppets and a very very fun quiz where i didnt help the kids win, obviously.
and then lots of songs, particular highlight was James coming on stage and pointing out that this is my last Godzone party (although he also said they were going to get me to come back next year!) and that we should sing my favourite song! after a couple of rounds of 'every move i make' it was time for the kids to leave.
under the chaos of kids leaving the party, the teenagers sneaked over to the shops on a mission to buy some very expensive milk (if you dont get the joke then don't worry) and then stealthily made our way back to church, we used the shadows as cover and it was a lot of fun :D
then the teenagers stayed with the kids while the adults set up for the film. it was a time for them to chill out but needless to say that some kids got a bit noisy and i had to use my leader voice...apparently its a skill i have!
after that we watched a film (Ratatouille- surprisingly it was an alright film) and ate some supper (hot dogs...yum!)
then we put the kids to bed.
by this point Kat, PJ, Richard and myself were the only teenagers left (although Richard didnt stay overnight). we offered to put the kids to bed.
obviously it goes without saying that we didnt wake the kids up for a midnight feast and we didnt give them lots of sweets and stuff, and clearly when my mum popped across to drop something off we didnt have to rush to switch off the light and hide everything....because that sort of thing isn't allowed!
i didn't sleep amazingly well, our airbed didnt pump up so Kat and I were on cushions (although Kat ended up sleeping at the bottom of the stairs...don't ask!). especially since a watch in Andy's office (where we were sleeping) had an alarm that went off at 5.45am!
the girls woke up early and had some sleeping bag races...noisy but they seemed to have fun.
we then had them pack up their stuff and head over for breakfast.
after that we played some more splat! and when it got to 9.20am we walked them over for Godzone.
i stayed for the first 10 minutes and then had to leave to go help with Lazers up at LF which was fun.
however its now midday and i'm shattered! we're going to have lunch soon and then i plan on crashing on the sofa for the afternoon...particularly since i have to go out for cells tonight!
ah well...it was ALOT of fun and i wouldnt have missed it for the world...just give me a month to recover!
hope i covered everything, will blog again later this week.
much love xxx
it was very good though :)
although for kids work i'm based at LF for this year, i still wanted to so the Godzone sleepover because it's one of the major events of my year. and it didnt let me down!
saturday morning we all rolled up to church and finished setting up (we'd done some of it the night before). over the next hour the teenagers started arriving and by 10.30am we appeared to have set up.
after a leaders/teenagers briefing we prepared for the children to arrive...and they sure did arrive; there were 27 of them which is way more than last year which meant we had the girls and boys in seperate buildings which complicated things slightly but seemed to work.
we then did a craft activity and James ran a session with them that started looking at our topic for the weekend (being friends with Jesus) which was a really good session and i think it really challenged some of them on where they're at with Jesus.
and then we had lunch which was brilliant, i was sat on a table of girls and had a really good chat with them. the highlight of that chat was the following conversation:
girls: sarah, do you have a boyfriend?
me: no.
girls: why don't you have a boyfriend?
me: because boys smell.
girls: (lots of chattering in agreement)
hehehehe!
after lunch the children went with the adult leaders for the 'going deeper' session which looked a bit deeper at the topic.
during this time us teenagers (yes for the purposes of this weekend i classified myself as a teenage helper when it suited me) cleared up lunch and prepared for the wide game...by this point Kat had arrived and the fun really began :D
for the wide game we each had an object and the kids had to decode a bible code number to find our object. my object was a teddy bear and Kat's was a blanket...hence how we ended up on a bed made of chairs with a blanket over us, cuddling the bear and pretending to be asleep!
it was a very clever and fun wide game.
after this we had about 45 minutes before the rest of the Godzone kids would arrive for the party. so I took the kids over to the corner suite to play Bible charades and a couple of games of splat! (the exclamation mark is part of the name 'splat!' rather than me feeling very enthusiastic about the game...although i do feel very enthusiastic about the game.)
the next hour was a blur since it was the party and i was with the older kids group this year and i spent most of it helping with games and also being a first aider- you get alot more injuries with the big kids group than you do with the smaller kids.
then it was the upfront session which was brilliant. we did some puppets and a very very fun quiz where i didnt help the kids win, obviously.
and then lots of songs, particular highlight was James coming on stage and pointing out that this is my last Godzone party (although he also said they were going to get me to come back next year!) and that we should sing my favourite song! after a couple of rounds of 'every move i make' it was time for the kids to leave.
under the chaos of kids leaving the party, the teenagers sneaked over to the shops on a mission to buy some very expensive milk (if you dont get the joke then don't worry) and then stealthily made our way back to church, we used the shadows as cover and it was a lot of fun :D
then the teenagers stayed with the kids while the adults set up for the film. it was a time for them to chill out but needless to say that some kids got a bit noisy and i had to use my leader voice...apparently its a skill i have!
after that we watched a film (Ratatouille- surprisingly it was an alright film) and ate some supper (hot dogs...yum!)
then we put the kids to bed.
by this point Kat, PJ, Richard and myself were the only teenagers left (although Richard didnt stay overnight). we offered to put the kids to bed.
obviously it goes without saying that we didnt wake the kids up for a midnight feast and we didnt give them lots of sweets and stuff, and clearly when my mum popped across to drop something off we didnt have to rush to switch off the light and hide everything....because that sort of thing isn't allowed!
i didn't sleep amazingly well, our airbed didnt pump up so Kat and I were on cushions (although Kat ended up sleeping at the bottom of the stairs...don't ask!). especially since a watch in Andy's office (where we were sleeping) had an alarm that went off at 5.45am!
the girls woke up early and had some sleeping bag races...noisy but they seemed to have fun.
we then had them pack up their stuff and head over for breakfast.
after that we played some more splat! and when it got to 9.20am we walked them over for Godzone.
i stayed for the first 10 minutes and then had to leave to go help with Lazers up at LF which was fun.
however its now midday and i'm shattered! we're going to have lunch soon and then i plan on crashing on the sofa for the afternoon...particularly since i have to go out for cells tonight!
ah well...it was ALOT of fun and i wouldnt have missed it for the world...just give me a month to recover!
hope i covered everything, will blog again later this week.
much love xxx
Monday, 3 March 2008
aha! i found the edit button :D
hello lovely people
i've got about an hour before i go out to house group so i thought i would use the time wisely and blog :)
i'm actually really looking forward to house group tonight. although i had a pretty good weekend, today was a blah day. not great, not bad, just blah. so i'm looking forward to seeing people tonight because i know i'll have a good laugh with them and also get some great bible teaching too!
as i said, the weekend was good though. on saturday the desire team (which i'm a member of) were supporting an event going on at Abingdon Baptist Church, it was an arts workshop for 11-16's and had a DJ, tshirt printing and graffiti artist.
i ended up being bullied into doing some DJ-ing and graffiti art, was actually alot of fun.
then on saturday evening we had a space big screen film night which was so much fun :D we watched 'bill and ted's excellent adventure' which i'd never seen before but thought was brilliant. i also got to have a couple of really good conversations with different people which was awesome :)
at least until Jonnie dropped ice-cream and strawberry sauce on my coat :( he was in big trouble!! (i then accidentally crushed his cone whilst trying to push the ice-cream in his face and got it on his t-shirt....i'm a good youth worker aren't i?)
thankfully my coat seems to have washed ok so no harm done, even though its supposedly dry-clean only.
on sunday morning i ran a puppet workshop for xtreme+ (9-11 year olds) which went very well, that group are definitely talented when it comes to puppets :) they picked it up quickly and seemed to really enjoy it!
it was also mothering sunday and the kids gave out flowers to all the women in church- i even got one :)
and because it was mothering sunday, mum and i took my nanny to Bicester garden centre. it was good fun and really nice to spend time with my mum too.
then in the evening we had a space celebration which was good, at the last minute i was asked to lead it which i was nervous about, Andy did say i didnt have to do it but i felt God was challenging me to give it a try and it was one of my goals for this year so i did it! and it went alright, started off a bit shaky but went ok :)
had an awesome time of prayer ministry at the end of it which was great, i hope space got something out of it.
university update:
i have officially accepted my place at oxford brookes!!
southampton solent have offered me a place so that's my insurance offer but since the conditions are that my CRB and health check come back clear, i don't think i'll be needing an insurance place.
on friday i'm meeting a girl called Aimi who's a first year social work student at brookes and is going to show me round halls :) which not only means i get to see the accomodation but also get to chat with a first year student!
anyway that's all i have for now i think
will blog again soon, especially since the godzone sleepover is this weekend!! (i plan to buy some very expensive milk!!!)
much love xxxx
i've got about an hour before i go out to house group so i thought i would use the time wisely and blog :)
i'm actually really looking forward to house group tonight. although i had a pretty good weekend, today was a blah day. not great, not bad, just blah. so i'm looking forward to seeing people tonight because i know i'll have a good laugh with them and also get some great bible teaching too!
as i said, the weekend was good though. on saturday the desire team (which i'm a member of) were supporting an event going on at Abingdon Baptist Church, it was an arts workshop for 11-16's and had a DJ, tshirt printing and graffiti artist.
i ended up being bullied into doing some DJ-ing and graffiti art, was actually alot of fun.
then on saturday evening we had a space big screen film night which was so much fun :D we watched 'bill and ted's excellent adventure' which i'd never seen before but thought was brilliant. i also got to have a couple of really good conversations with different people which was awesome :)
at least until Jonnie dropped ice-cream and strawberry sauce on my coat :( he was in big trouble!! (i then accidentally crushed his cone whilst trying to push the ice-cream in his face and got it on his t-shirt....i'm a good youth worker aren't i?)
thankfully my coat seems to have washed ok so no harm done, even though its supposedly dry-clean only.
on sunday morning i ran a puppet workshop for xtreme+ (9-11 year olds) which went very well, that group are definitely talented when it comes to puppets :) they picked it up quickly and seemed to really enjoy it!
it was also mothering sunday and the kids gave out flowers to all the women in church- i even got one :)
and because it was mothering sunday, mum and i took my nanny to Bicester garden centre. it was good fun and really nice to spend time with my mum too.
then in the evening we had a space celebration which was good, at the last minute i was asked to lead it which i was nervous about, Andy did say i didnt have to do it but i felt God was challenging me to give it a try and it was one of my goals for this year so i did it! and it went alright, started off a bit shaky but went ok :)
had an awesome time of prayer ministry at the end of it which was great, i hope space got something out of it.
university update:
i have officially accepted my place at oxford brookes!!
southampton solent have offered me a place so that's my insurance offer but since the conditions are that my CRB and health check come back clear, i don't think i'll be needing an insurance place.
on friday i'm meeting a girl called Aimi who's a first year social work student at brookes and is going to show me round halls :) which not only means i get to see the accomodation but also get to chat with a first year student!
anyway that's all i have for now i think
will blog again soon, especially since the godzone sleepover is this weekend!! (i plan to buy some very expensive milk!!!)
much love xxxx
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