In our family of 12, there's usually a lot of bickering and discord, but every now and again the stars line up in our favor and we cooperate.
Last Saturday was a perfect example and one I'll treasure for years. We volunteered to promote 4-H at a Family Play Day sponsored by Social Services. J. and P.A. were excused from the event. P.A. honestly had too much school work and J. put in his time the day before, loading the van with everything we would need including the big popcorn machine, the alphabet floor tiles, J.A.'s nail salon, a 4x6 white board, snacks for the troops, 4-H stickers and tatoos, ingredients for GAK and 60 copies of the recipe. It was a venture into the unknown...
In the morning, we ate a quick bite, dressed in our Fleet Farm shirts and headed to the Middle School.
Dad and Li'l P. headed up the popcorn stand, by the end of the day they had popped the 4 bags of kernels we'd brought and used all but 10 of the paper bags. They were popping constantly from start to finish with no leftovers. (How did we gauge that so close!? Lesson here: it's all about time, 4 bags = 3 1/2 hours)
P.E. supervised the alphabet floor and the white board,with R.L. and A.R. assisting in ways we hadn't anticipated. The floor tiles were meant to create a space for organized group games, but the kids had more fun jumping through the randomly placed letters in alphabetical order. The white board offered a place to brainstorm project ideas that matched kids' interests, but instead became a huge drawing board and helped visitors express themselves vertically. (Lesson here: If it works, go with it!)
J.A. thrilled many young ladies by painting their nails. Even though she's done this at other events and is beginning to think it's an 'old' activity, these girls LOVED IT! (It can be good to repeat past successes!)
B.P., K.M and I headed up the GAK table. B.P. made the first batch before anyone arrived, and then she started in on another only this time she had an audience. Everyone enjoyed it and K.M. passed out copies of the recipe and little bags with samples for the kids to take home. Every time we finished passing out a batch, a new group of kids came around wanting to know what we were doing. Soon, I took over for B.P. and she assisted K.M. and me. I learned how to weave the magic of GAK around my 4-H elevator speech, things were going great. Then I looked at the clock, only an hour into a 3 1/2 hour stint, and my glue bottle was getting awfully light.
Dad moved B.P. to the popcorn stand and ran to the store. Soon he was back with another gallon of glue and more zip bags. I happened to see him in the parking lot and the William Tell Overture played in my head, my hero!!
I loved watching the kids' faces as I shared the chemistry lesson and 4-H. It was a warm friendly experience and we hope to do it again next year. Oh, and N.? He was in charge of talking.... to every one. He made several new friends and created a general air of fun. We put him on the 'welcoming committee'.
Last Saturday was a perfect example and one I'll treasure for years. We volunteered to promote 4-H at a Family Play Day sponsored by Social Services. J. and P.A. were excused from the event. P.A. honestly had too much school work and J. put in his time the day before, loading the van with everything we would need including the big popcorn machine, the alphabet floor tiles, J.A.'s nail salon, a 4x6 white board, snacks for the troops, 4-H stickers and tatoos, ingredients for GAK and 60 copies of the recipe. It was a venture into the unknown...
In the morning, we ate a quick bite, dressed in our Fleet Farm shirts and headed to the Middle School.
Dad and Li'l P. headed up the popcorn stand, by the end of the day they had popped the 4 bags of kernels we'd brought and used all but 10 of the paper bags. They were popping constantly from start to finish with no leftovers. (How did we gauge that so close!? Lesson here: it's all about time, 4 bags = 3 1/2 hours)
P.E. supervised the alphabet floor and the white board,with R.L. and A.R. assisting in ways we hadn't anticipated. The floor tiles were meant to create a space for organized group games, but the kids had more fun jumping through the randomly placed letters in alphabetical order. The white board offered a place to brainstorm project ideas that matched kids' interests, but instead became a huge drawing board and helped visitors express themselves vertically. (Lesson here: If it works, go with it!)
J.A. thrilled many young ladies by painting their nails. Even though she's done this at other events and is beginning to think it's an 'old' activity, these girls LOVED IT! (It can be good to repeat past successes!)
B.P., K.M and I headed up the GAK table. B.P. made the first batch before anyone arrived, and then she started in on another only this time she had an audience. Everyone enjoyed it and K.M. passed out copies of the recipe and little bags with samples for the kids to take home. Every time we finished passing out a batch, a new group of kids came around wanting to know what we were doing. Soon, I took over for B.P. and she assisted K.M. and me. I learned how to weave the magic of GAK around my 4-H elevator speech, things were going great. Then I looked at the clock, only an hour into a 3 1/2 hour stint, and my glue bottle was getting awfully light.
Dad moved B.P. to the popcorn stand and ran to the store. Soon he was back with another gallon of glue and more zip bags. I happened to see him in the parking lot and the William Tell Overture played in my head, my hero!!
I loved watching the kids' faces as I shared the chemistry lesson and 4-H. It was a warm friendly experience and we hope to do it again next year. Oh, and N.? He was in charge of talking.... to every one. He made several new friends and created a general air of fun. We put him on the 'welcoming committee'.