Camp Hot Springs 2011

I was blessed to be a part of Camp Hot Springs at Spring Lake this year. It is funny how it all worked out. All along Adam had planned on being a counselor for some boys at this kids camp and he was going to be gone all week for this. Then, at the very last minute they decided they needed a camp nurse and didn't have one. They were asking me to do it but at first I said I couldn't since we have Grace and Adam would be gone too. Then they decided they needed a camp nurse worse than a counselor because they had enough, so I took Adam's place and was off to camp. By the time it was all sorted out, I didn't arrive to camp until Tuesday morning around 6:45am. Another girl was going to share the responsibility and time there and that fell through.. so I came on Tuesday and stayed the rest of the week until yesterday at lunch when it was over. Adam just came back and forth to be there if needed and to just be a part. He came some on Tues, Wed, and Friday.

So I found out they had lots of children who got medicine and mainly needed a nurse to dispense all of these meds. Well, I was a bit surprised when I saw this...



And this was just the morning meds I dispensed. There were just as much at night and throughout the day I often gave, Tums, tylenol/ ibuprofen, creams, etc. As the week went on it got busier at my little nurse's station. More and more complaints of aches, pains, bug bites, rashes, hurt foot, etc. etc. Nothing major though... thankfully!

I was thankful that the camp was only 30 minutes away so that Adam and Grace could come at times too. Grace and Adam even got to swim in the pool, and got to cane pole fish on the last day and enjoy snow cones and a few meals there and services.

I ended up loving those children and especially the little girls. I got to know one particular group of girls and spent most of my time following them to all the activities. The camp was for ages 4th-6th grade. Of course, it was VERY hot with record heat indexes. On Wednesday our heat index was 120 degrees but thankfully they had tons of water activities for all of us to enjoy. They have a big pool, water-slides, they have paddle boats, and also had a fire-truck come one night and spray all the kids with water. :) They also have a zip-line and can you believe... I did it!! I did all of the above (except getting sprayed with the fire hose). Oh my goodness, I chose the one where I had to step out of a tower and I was TERRIFIED when I got to the top to do this.. but I did and it was SOO much fun! The worst part was just stepping off!:)

In all, these kids had a blast and there was awesome praise music, services,great speakers, etc. for the kids and many of them prayed to receive Christ!! Christ was definitely glorified and His name was made known to those 50+ kids!! We're excited for the follow-up with these kids and their families!!

Few churches were involved in putting this together and it went great!

Another crazy thing is how amazing the Lord works every thing out. I volunteered for this camp with no intentions on getting anything back from it besides being a blessing to the kids. I just was willing to help. This was a FREE camp for kids in the Hot Springs School District so I sure didn't expect to be paid for my time there as a nurse. Well, the Lord ended up blessing me anyways through this camp. It was a surprise to get a check and I was very grateful because I was trying to figure out how I was going to fit work in after being gone all week from Grace and Daddy (at home), and have church and then we leave for our 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Panama City Beach on MONDAY!!!! (YAY!!!). Well, it worked out that I got a bit of a paycheck so I was very thankful!!

The girls were so cute to watch.. they often danced in their spare time.


Believe it or not, the crazy lady in the front with the dark brown curly hair is a ZUMBA instructor. She also runs 30+ miles a day. She has lost lots of weight.. anyways... she is CRAZY, and boy can she dance!! :) She was teaching all of the girls zumba routines and they LOVED it! :)








Me on the zip line!!










Christian Magician :)


Too bad I didn't get a pic of the pool or water slides...

Where's "Grace"!

Grace's imagination is running at full force these days! With this, she LOVES to pretend that she is all kinds of Disney characters. It first started with Snow White, then...Cinderella, Ariel (The Little Mermaid), RAPUNZEL, and now Jessie on Toy Story.

The Rapunzel went on and on for days which included her being Rapunzel, and she wanted me to pretend to be Mother Gothel, and Daddy to be Flynn Ryder... ha ha ha! We went through this story over and over again. She just LOVED playing this. Her latest love is Toy Story. She especially likes Toy Story 2 (haven't seen 3), with the cowgirl named Jessie :) I'm Andy's Momma and Adam is Woody. LOL

I even braid her hair a little like Jessie's and she does a bandana (which is a headband), boots, cuffs on her wrists (washcloths), a hat (cap that is suppose to be a cowboy hat), etc.

A few pics of her being partially 'decked' out. All of this has spurn a new love for boots and she has wanted to wear them nonstop since this. Hence.. the reason for boots on Sunday :) We did find her a little Jessie doll and it came with Buzz Lightyear, at Walmart. She HAD to get a picture of it.

I cherish these days! There's nothing like the excitement she gets for us to play along with her.

Partying with Friends..

Last Saturday, Grace was invited to a Birthday party for Isaac, who is the brother of one of Grace's VERY favorite girl friends here, Abby. Abby is 4 and her brother was turning 7 yrs old. They had a party at the bowling alley and of course, Grace had a blast. The highlight for her... learning how to play air hockey with a friend Abby and playing it continuously!! They were so cute playing too.. :)

Fun and Family

Mom and my step-Dad (Gary) came for a visit week before last from that Saturday thru this past Thursday. We had so much fun. We did things around Hot Springs that we haven't done yet. The first night we went to the infamous McClard's BBQ restaurant which was good. The next day we spent most of the day at home, except for a brief shopping trip with Mom, cooking. Mom and Gary had brought some fresh green beans, tomatoes, corn, Okra, even a green tomato, cucumbers, and so peaches from AL. We ate most of the veggies that night with a porn loin and then Mom made her AMAZING peach cobbler and we made a freezer of vanilla ice cream. Everything was great with the exception of me messing up part of the ice cream by putting it in the ice cream freezer and letting it run without the turner in it... oops!! :) That night though, we all loaded up and went down town and walked around. This was so neat and fun! It is just a neat environment down bathhouse row and with all the shops and restaurants.

The next day we went to Lake Ouachita except Adam had to stay home and do homework. Grace got a new Puddle Jumper floaty and LOVED the water. She didn't want to get out! I am amazed at how she is getting so brave this year and even learned how to kick her legs, etc. and swim to us! Such a change from previous years! That night Mom and Gary graciously watched Grace while Adam and I had a date night. It was so nice... we went to Fisherman's Wharf that is right on Lake Hamilton and you can see in the first two pics.. our view :)

We did more shopping on Wednesday and Adam and Grace went to church that afternoon for a little bit but I had to work that evening for 4 hours. They left Thurs. am. The departures are always hard but we were so thankful for the time!