The Murphies and their Monsters.

Monday, June 9, 2008


: : Beau, one of the Lunsford's dog : :

First of all, we don’t have internet access, so I am journaling on Word and then posting it when I get the chance. And hopefully I’ll be putting pictures up as well.
Today we began bright and early with our “Curriculum Training.” Basically, a few of the founders went over their ideas for basic ways they think might be good for separating each day and a little bit about the first week. The first week is “The Importance of Self,” followed by week two of “The Importance of Family,” then “Importance of Community” and “Importance of the World” for week four.

For those who don’t know, we spend four weeks with Burnt Chimney Elementary School and then four weeks with Moneta Elementary School.

: : Zac, the other dog : :

The days shall go as follows:
Gather at 8:15 to 9:00. Here, we’ll talk with the kids and talk about our “attitude of gratitude.” Here, we’ll talk about the weekend or the night before and talk about what we’re thankful for and what we love and what makes us happy.
Story Talk 9:00-10:00. Here, the interns will present 15 or 20 minutes of the week’s story, in a creative way, and the rest of the hour will be spent talking about, responding to, and connecting to the story and its message.

: : The othe rinterns: Michelle, Bre, Amanda, Kara, Ashlyn : :

Cycles 10:00-12:00. Here, the kids will rotate between arts, reading, and recreation. The crafts and art will relate to the message for the week (week one: Nature), the reading will be done with buddies (the major goal of the camp is to raise literacy levels and to enforce a love for reading. We have some great books to read with the kids, including my new favorite one called: A Bad Case of Stripes!), and the recreational activities will be games that include all students and focus on teamwork. This will also be our opportunity to try peaceful resolutions and working together.

Lunch 12:00-12:30. Here we’ll be singing “Hands, hands, hands! I am thankful for my hands! Food, food, food! I am thankful for this food! Friends, friends, friends! Are the best gift of all!”
Free Play 12:30-1:00. Here, the kids will choose between drama and skits, arts, journaling, music, media stations, acts of kindness, etc…
Journal Time 2:15-2:45. We are meeting with a professor from VCU to talk about how to encourage the kids to write creatively and to enjoy reflecting upon their experiences! It’s going to be really cool.
For the last 15 minutes of camp, we have sharing time and we will sing a song about loving one another and being besties. Weee.
That curriculum training lasted a very long time, and afterward we had a delicious lunch and then had CPR and First Aid training with

Chuck Murphy. That was just, you know, training.
After training, we had a dinner planned with a family in the community (as we do all through the week, Monday through Friday) and it just so happened that we were going to Chuck’s house with his wife Annie and his dogs Lucy and Seamus.

O. M. G.
I am in love with this family. First of all, their dogs weigh 140 and 160 pounds. THEY ARE HUGE. They remind me of “The Never Ending Story” and also of medium sized bears. It was so awesome. They are lovable and gentle giants if you ask me. Which you would if you ever talked to me, but I seem to have no hours in my day. They are all filled with planned stuff and hanging out with the other girls.
While we were there, they prepared a delicious meal of grilled chicken, brisket, sweet potato salad, real spinach and orange salad with lime and cilantro dressing, and a delicious oatmeal cookie sheet with ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whip cream.
Before we ate, we swam in the lake for a bit. Annie came out and talked to us and filled us with words of wisdom. She talked about how this summer will really help us decide if we wanted to be teachers, and how we should pursue graduate school if we could financially afford to do it. She said it was important for the long run, salary wise. Also, Annie told us stories about her and Chuck, how she basically ran away from home because her parents were protestant and Chuck was Catholic and they did not want them to be married.
It was really encouraging but a little bit stressful. I don’t know what I want to do. That’s just a fact. I think I am pretty sure I want to pursue graduate school, maybe after Teach for America?
I have two years to figure it out.

After dinner we came home, made invitations for our new grandparents (Charles and Linda) to invite them to a dinner we are cooking for them this weekend. It is a father’s day dinner for Charles and a Mother’s Day dinner for Linda. We just really love them.
OH, addition to list above:
--Annie said that we should know that we have a huge reputation preceding us. People have been talking bout us! They say we are 1. Bright. B. Happy. And C. really good at getting along with one another.
Isn’t that crazy and cool?
So anyway, we went for a 1.5 mile run, nice and short (AND PAINFUL) and snuck the envelopes in the mailboxes at the end of the looong driveway. Since then, we have just been talking.
OH, funniest thing: we sent Annie on a mission. She works our with Charles every morning. So, we told her she had to find out his favorite meal and tell us so we could cook it for him on Friday. She said she would call and report back. It’s going to be so much fun. We are making a card for both of them, and then we are treating them to the dinner. We just really appreciate them and we need them to know that.
Lastly, if Charles gets our passes tomorrow, we are going to go to the 10:15 yoga class!
Yay!
Love,
Sarah

Oh, my address here is:

Sarah Nagel the Swimming Yoga Type
1812 Diamond Hill Rd.
Moneta, VA 24121

Sarah.nagel@richmond.edu

My cell phone number is: 330-635-2929 if you want to call. I’m busy, and I’ll be checking email once or twice a week, so email me or call or mail me a letter.