Trading Cards

Earlier this week when we were searching for crafting supplies, Molly and I found a pack of 4" x 4" canvases. 24 of them to be exact. We couldn't pass them up and started brainstorming what we could create on each one.

We found some great pictures, painted up a storm and ended up making a pack of Camp T Friend Trading Cards. We'll be the first to admit that they're weird. But we're okay with that. 

We'll shortly be randomly distributing them to all of the lucky card holders with rules of how to play the Camp T Trading game. Better than Pokemon, Baseball and American Girl trading cards, these things are hand crafted and have people you actually know on each one.

As soon as we figure out how to mass produce multiple packs of these I'll let you know. Perhaps we should sell them in the Trading Post along with wooden pencils and jellyfish yo-yos?

Moll and Sar's Dinner Party

Tonight was a grand finale for the week of Sar and Molls. We invited camp girls over for a dinner party, favorite camp outfits required.

Alli, Kelsey, Kathleen and Erin all came over ready to have some fun.

We made our own pizzas...

played some Just Dance 3...

and just got to laugh and tell stories and hang out.

I really love these girls. I love that we all live so close and that hanging out can be such a normal thing.

These girls make me laugh, they give me a different perspective on things, they make life fun and being with them brings so many parts of camp to the real world.

Molls is the most energetic dancer, loves to laugh, and knows how to celebrate each day. Alli is such a good story teller, always kind, and is one of the best listeners.

I love when I get to see Kath because she is so good at making people feel included and she can make anything fun. Kelsey cracks me up and  really loves her friends.

Erin O'Awesome has a beautiful heart, has the gift of being able to read people well and she is so dang weird sometimes--in a great way.

I love any excuse for a good party, a celebration, a reunion.

 Tonight was a great one.

Today I loved...

... laughing with my students, saying hi to them in the hall, and talking about life inbetween all the curriculum. Today I was really aware that these kids are awesome.

... when Emma came into my room with two pieces of Bazooka bubblegum before lunch. We sang a verse together with all the motions while we chewed the gum (it's illegal in Junior High). She's going to bring more tomorrow.

... that we celebrated National Letter Writing Day in every class. I was amazed that some of my kids didn't know how to send a letter. After we got over that hurdle we all wrote. I really hope they'll actually go home and mail them.

... meeting up with Lizzy and Molly at Orange Leaf after FBC. I haven't seen Lizzy in weeks and this girl just makes me so happy. Her attitude is contagious.

... getting dinner with Hannah really quick to talk about life and her Club Talk about being changed from the inside out. She is so great and I love getting to connect with her.

... hanging out with leaders and middle school kids at Wyld Life club.

... Minute to Win It competitions and the Wheel of Misfortune with Sloppy Joe.

... being part of something bigger than myself.

... getting word from people all day long that they were sending letters for the National Letter Writing Day.

... connecting with friends and hearing about Taylor's work crew weekend, Annie's P90x, Kraft's newest Air Force endeavor, and Mag's ability to be vulnerable.

National Letter Writing Day

Today we celebrated National Letter Writing Day.  Readers of Overlap, friends across the country and all of my students picked up their pens to write something important.

Instead of just texting our friends we took the time to write them something that'll make their day when it gets delivered in a couple days.

We wrote to people we'd lost touch with, friends that have moved away, people that have changed us for the better.

Everyone pulled out cards, envelopes, markers and pens, wrote till their hand hurt, searched for a stamp and found a mailbox. Snail mail is the best mail.

While Kata was working on her letter in class the girl beside her leaned over and said, "Are you writing a letter? I haven't seen someone do that in year." Kata told her about NLWD and encouraged her to write one too.

When I told my students we were going to write letters today I was astounded that most of them had never written a letter, didn't know how to address and envelope, and didn't know how to send it once it was finished. Today we learned. It was a big day.

There's just something about being able to see someone's handwriting, about a really fun envelope waiting among the boring junk mail, about opening the back flap really carefully so it doesn't rip.

Last night my friend Melissa showed me The Month of Letters Challenge and said she would do it if I did too. The writer Mary Robinson explains how she has learned that writing letters is intimate, relaxing, and lasting. She proposes this plan,

"I have a simple challenge for you.

1. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs.  Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
2. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items."

Melissa and I are going to try it. We're two days strong-- 22 to go. Want to take the challenge with us?

Give me sunshine

I really miss this face. I wish I could play with baby Lincoln everyday. Good thing I'll see him in just a couple weeks. In the meantime Katie and Nick are doing a really good job being his parents.

I finished reading The Pact last night. Another Picoult book that I couldn't put down with an ending that was not what I had been anticipating. As I read, "the anti-Romeo and Juliet story: the families that are too close, instead of being enemies--and that still wind up hurting their star-crossed  children as a result," I thought of the High School kids I know through camp and Young Life wondering if they've thought the things that Chris and Emily were overwhelmed by. Picoult's book bring the characters to life and only a few chapters into the story you are already so invested in their lives.



The week of Sar and Molls is going strong. Today we've been checking things off of our bucket list left and right.

Go to a movie and get snacks. Check.

One for the Money--we love Katherine Heigl and New Jersey accents.

Try a new restaurant neither of us have been to. Check.
This pizzeria was just opened by the family of one of my 7th graders. She keeps asking me to come because she knows how much I love pizza. We were impressed.

Make at least three crafts. Check.
We're actually making way more than three... but all of them are in progress and I don't want to give anything away yet. But here's a hint: What do American Girl Dolls, baseball, and Pokemon have in common?

I want you to be a part of something great.

Tomorrow I'm going to be celebrating National Letter Writing Day. I want all of you to participate too so I'm giving you a heads up. For one day, instead of just sending texts, emails, Facebook messages, or phone calls, pick up a pen, find some paper or a card and write a letter to someone you care about.

I think it's because of my history at camp; getting mail at the Trading Post and writing Parent Letters at the end of the week, that innately taught me how special hand-written messages can be. There are few things I love more than finding a card that is just perfect for someone or seeing a letter waiting for me when I get home. I have boxes of letters from pen-pals, friends, campers and Young Life girls that I don't think I'll ever be able to throw away. They're just too valuable.

Tomorrow give the gift of a hand-written letter to someone else. Plan time into your day to get it done. Maybe you'll write because, "Sometimes people write the things that they can't say." Maybe you'll write to catch up with an old friend. Maybe you'll write to say you're sorry. Maybe you'll write to tell a story. Whatever your reason--your mission is to write.

Let me know how it goes!