Lakewood Kid Connection

5th Grade Turkey Bowl 2010

2010-11-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

Our monthly Friday Night Live for 5th Graders was so much fun! We not only bowled with a "baby turkey" but we also had a great time decorating and eating yummy cupcakes (thanks KC) but the kids worked hard making 2 special fleece blankets to give to "His Nesting Place" a home for unwed mothers that our church supports. It was fun seeing the kids work hard on the blankets (yes, even the boys) and also so great to see them so welcoming and friendly to the new students who had not been there before. Way to go 5th Graders!

Passing on some Memories at Kid U

2010-11-04T12:16:00.001-07:00

I had a great childhood! I grew up constantly learning new crafts... macrame, knitting, crocheting, sewing, bead making, potholder-loom-thingy, ceramics, leather making, etc. My mom was awesome (and still is). She basically taught CRAFTS for a living... how cool is that! I can still picture in my mind her big giant silkscreening machine, and her giant LOOM where she was weaving a rug or something, and let us give it a try. Even now, she has a KILN in her garage and still comes to church to teach crafts to our kids on Wednesday nights as often as possible. Right now, I'm teaching a jewelry making class at Kid U on Wednesday nights, and my girls are making their own beads out of the long paper triangles. Remember those? I'm feeling quite "retro" because I remember my mom teaching me how to make those when I was younger. The girls were very excited that you could make your own beads out of paper and glue! It will take us a few weeks to make the beads before we string them onto some cool bracelets or necklaces! It's fun (and a privilege) to pass along what we've learned to others! I love my girls and I sure love my job!

2010-10-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

Another super fun day in KidStuf at 1BL! Rae Ann and Megan leading in worship and helping our kids rock out!
"Vinny," "JJ" "Jenny" and "Tyler" channeling the A-Team cast and teaching our kids about Respect! KIDS! Don't stay home on Sunday mornings.... come and hang out with us at KidStuf at 1BL and get your week off to the best start possible!

Friday Night Live at the Mall

2010-10-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

For our once a month "Friday Night Live" activity with our 5th Graders, we headed out to Lakewood Mall with a bunch of energetic kids, parents, and leaders for a "Scavenger Hunt." Each team of 4-5 kids was given a list of 35 items to find around the mall (mostly free stuff like a napkin, a straw, a namebag, a store display, etc.) within a specific amount of time. They were also given $5.00 to purchase the largest item they could find to bring back to the judging area. It was a blast!!!

The blue "Snuggie" was the winning item... they found it for only $2.50 at Target.... cool huh!?

Arbor Road 500 and BBQ Fun!

2010-06-14T14:36:00.001-07:00

I love Pinewood Derby Day at our church! Moms & Dads, grandparents & kids all having fun together, eating great food, and cheering for their favorite race car. Kids are so proud to walk up to me and turn in their car that they (and their dad?) have worked so hard on. My job is the best job of the day. I sit at the "impound" table and weigh in their cars when they are turned in.

Here's our Master Chef Gary Wahlstrom, who always does a great job cooking a great meal for us!

Here are the DAHL KIDS (???) making some last minute adjustments to their car.

Congratulations to everyone who participated! Great job on those cars. They were awesome! And congrats to our winners especially!

Preschool / Kindergarten Division
1st Place Best Design: Dylan Medley
1st Place Fastest Car: Adelina Ordanes

1st & 2nd grade Division:
1st Place Best Design: Alexander Hamilton
1st Place Fastest Car: Alexander Hamilton

3rd - 5th Grade Division:
1st Place Best Design: Lilly Bullard
1st Place Fastest Car: Bryce Love

Youth & Adult Division:
1st Place Best Design: Ian Book
1st Place Fastest Car: Ian Book

5th Graders are Ready to MOVE UP!

2010-05-10T17:41:00.001-07:00

At this time of year, our 5th Graders are anxious to promote up to Middle School, both at school and at church. We love our 5th graders, and I've known MANY of them since they were babies, so it's always bittersweet to see them graduate. Fortunately, I still get to see them around church, and many of them continue serving in Children's Ministries as helpers. I am proud of the loving, kind, servants they've become. Especially this group. We took a few of them to a concert a few weeks ago. For some of them, it was there first "concert" experience. We saw "Mercy Me," "The David Crowder Band," and a few more. It was at the Long Beach Arena, (I was glad it was close to home) and we had a great time.

Look at These Sweet Kids!

2010-03-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Look at our sweet 1st & 2nd graders working hard learning their memory verses in Sunday School! Every week they review and say all this past year's verses to their teachers to earn "Disciple Dollars!" Our teachers and our kids are so amazing!

A Wintery - Wacky Time!!!

2010-02-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Last night, (Feb. 17) was a very special Family Fun night at 1BL! Every 7 weeks we gather parents and kids together for a time of fun, laughter, learning, and celebrating. Last night was one of those nights. In honor of the Winter Olympics, we hosted our very own "Wacky Winter Family Olympics." Families were divided into 3 teams (Germany, Canada and Russia) and we played "hockey" built "snowmen" and through thousands and thousands of snowballs at each other! (And the Fellowship Hall doesn't look any worse for wear today I might add!) Take a look at some of the fun we had!
Making a Family Flag together!
I know it may not look like it from this picture, but here we are "building snowmen!" Each team had a snowman to fatten up using as many balloons as possible. Our good natured snowmen, KC, Shelly, and Pastor Brent!

Lily grabbing up some snowballs to throw at an opposing team!

This is where one of the teams almost got disqualified :)

"I don't remember Ice Hockey ever being this messy before!"
At the end of the evening, each child received a MEDAL for their excellent participation!

Thanks everyone for coming out and "going for the gold!" We hope you all had a great time. See you next Wednesday at our "regularly scheduled Kid U Program!"

Bible Sunday for First Graders

2009-11-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

If you weren't here with us this past Sunday (November 15) you missed a very special day! It was Bible Sunday for our 1st Graders! At 1BL, we love the Word of God and we Love our kids, and so we look forward each year to the very special day when we can put the precious Word in the hands of our Precious kids! First Grade is the year that typically kids are learning to READ and what better book to read that the BIBLE? Pastor Brent believes strongly in this as well, and so as a special gift from our church to our kids, we are thrilled to present them with their very own copy of the NIV Adventure Bible.

Here's a peek:

Psalm 119:12-17 is my prayer for you my sweet friends:"Blessed Lord, teach me your rules. I have recited your lawes, and rejoiced in them more than in riches. I will meditate upon them and give them my full respect. I will delight in them and not forget them. Bless me with life so that I can continue to obey you. Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word."

More Fall Festival Pictures

2009-11-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some more fantastic pictures taken on the night of Fall Festival! I love seeing faces of those I know and many I don't know! It lets me know we are doing a great job of inviting our friends and neighbors and reaching out into our community! Thanks again everyone for your faithfulness!

Fantastic Fall Festival Fun!

2009-11-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from last weekend's Fall Festival! 1600 people (at least!) enjoyed a beautiful October California evening, complete with great food, games, 2 huge bouncers, great music, and lots of candy! Here's Lilly the Cat!

Here's Jillian and Hudson! I can't tell if Jillian is taking candy away from Hudson or giving him Candy! I'm sure it's the later :)

Looks like little Carlie was pooped out... good thing grandpa was there to give her a place to crash while mom and dad were working at a booth!!

Part of the Gilbert Family having fun... check out those tats on Lisa... wow, Lisa, I had no idea!!!

And of course our amazing band! Great job guys!

Thanks everyone for making our 19th Annual Fall Festival such a huge success! We hope to see many of those who came to "visit" come back again soon to see us on Sunday morning!

What God wants us to Learn From Penguins

2009-10-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today I had the fun privilege of speaking to our elementary school chapel (Lakewood Christian School K through 5th). I always get to do chapel at LCS the week right before Fall Festival so I can pump up FF to the kids. It's not a good week for me to plan a chapel, so I try to start very early in September to start planning what I'm going to talk about. Over the years, I usually do some kind of character quality that I think is important for the kids to think about as they begin their school year, like sharing, or lying/ honesty, or friendship, or something like that. This year, I decided to talk about PENGUINS! Penguins? In October? Yes, Penguins..... we can learn a lot from penguins... so here you go... Here is my chapel talk for today.

I know this is not the normal time of year that we learn about penguins or talk about penguins, but because I love penguins so much, I thought it would be fun to do a whole chapel based on penguins… and THEN I heard that Mr. Kell wrote a song about penguins… well then that sealed the deal! I knew it was meant to be!
Did you know that there are about 20 different kinds of penguins?
1. Chinstrap Penguins
2. Emperor Penguins (those are the biggest ones!)
3. Fairy Penguins (those are the smallest ones)
4. King Penguins
5. Rockhopper Penguins
And a bunch more!
There’s even one called the Macaroni Penguin… (my favorite, because of his funny yellow bushy eyebrows!)

So let me tell you a little bit about Penguins and why I think they are one of God’s most amazing creatures and why they always remind me of how much God loves me….
You see, none of us are the same, are we!? Just as there are 20 different kinds of penguins, there are way more than 20 different kinds of kids! Some of us are tall like the emperor penguin and some of us are teeny tiny like the fairy penguin. The fairy penguin is less than 3 pounds….. that’s less than HALF of what all of you weighed when you were born. Some penguins have feathers on their head, and some of them have little red marks on their eyes or on their beaks, just like some of us have freckles all over their bodies, or ears that stick out, or feet that are pointed inward instead of outward.

There are a lot of things that Penguins aren't very good at; or they CAN'T DO....They walk funny, and they waddle, and their wings are so short they can’t even fly; they can’t use their arms to crack open their food like a monkey or a bear; they can’t fight off other penguins in the wild with their sharp teeth or lightening fast speed like a cougar or a jaguar or a lion. You know there are a lot of things that I can’t do either that I wish I could do…
*I can’t fly
*can’t play the flute
*can’t jump the pole vault
*can’t swim to Catalina and back...
Are there some things you CAN'T DO? Of course there are! But God doesn't want us to focus on those things or worry about those things.

CAN DO: But there are so many amazing things that penguins CAN DO: God made them so unique and so special and unlike any other creature.
Did you know that some of them can eat snow when they can’t find fish or kreel to eat; that because of their white bellies, they are almost totally camoflauged in the water, so that a predator below them looking up at them can’t tell that it’s a penguin… He just thinks it’s the reflective surface of the water. God not only created them, He protects them every day, just like He protects us. He doesn’t just make us and throw us out there, He keeps on taking care of us every day, every moment.

The large emperor penguins (4 ft. tall!) can stay under water and swim for almost 22 minutes… I don’t think any of us can do that, BUT there are amazing things that we can do that no one else can do. We can sing & worship and give praise to the Lord Jesus. We can pray for our friends who don’t know him and talk to our friends about Jesus and tell our friends how much God loves them.

Penguin Moms and Dads are known for their unique teamwork and cooperation with each other. After mom lays a baby penguin EGG, Dad holds the egg on top of his feet for many months while MOM goes out and looks for FOOD, food for mom, dad and the baby. Mom could just go off by herself and leave and say, You know it’s way too far to go look for food. I’m way too tired. I think I’ll just eat these shrimp over hear on this tropical island and forget about dad and jr. way back over there in “snowy ville”…. And I’m so tired of swimming. But mom always comes back. God created penguin moms and dads to be a TEAM. To cooperate with each other. While moms are out swimming and looking for food, the DADS are huddled together trying to keep warm in the middle of a snowstorm. You’d think they’d want to go sit down somewhere and watch a football game and eat some pretzels, but they can’t. They huddle together and protect each other, and when dad gets really cold and thinks he can’t go on anymore, then the uncles and aunts and grandpa’s trade places with him and make sure he’s doing ok. They know they have an important job to do… to help JR. survive and stay inside that egg until he’s ready to be born. He is totally dedicated and committed to the task God made him for. He knows his purpose in life. He knows why he is designed the way he is designed.
YOU and ME:
Do you know why you are made the way you are made? Do you know why you are good at math and maybe not so good at playing a musical instrument? Or why you are super great at playing soccer, but not so good at spelling? We can’t all be great at everything. God didn’t design us that way. But we can learn some important lessons from our friends the penguins. We need each other. We need to cooperate together and take care of each other. And we need to do what WE’RE good at while someone else does what they’re good at. Just like the mom and dad penguins do their individual unique jobs, with the purpose in mind of helping that baby penguin come into the world.
What’s the purpose God made us for?
Psalm 78:4 says that we are to tell the next generation the praises of the Lord and about his strength and His wondrous works. That’s your job. That’s why God put you here on this earth. To keep the message of his glory and power and strength going and going and going. If you weren’t here on this earth, then there would be certain people who would never hear about the Lord Jesus. This generation, like people MY AGE will wear out and fizzle out and die, and the message of Jesus would STOP unless YOU, the next generation, keeps the message going. If you know the purpose God made you for, and you know the gifts and strengths He gave you, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to swim away with the message? Or are you going to “cooperate” with the other people around you to make sure the message keeps going?
God never intended for you to spread his message all alone. He wants you to be a part of the team; just like the mom and dad and aunt and uncle penguins all live together to make sure those baby penguins get born! You were made on purpose!

Kid U 09-10 has begun

2009-09-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Kid U & Preppies, our Wednesday night club ministry, are up and running in full swing! We have more kids than ever, but there's still room for lots more, so I hope you'll join us if you have children age three up through 5th Grade. Here are a few pictures of our kids having fun already in their elective classes... woodworking, scrapbooking, "It's Your Move," and "Extreme Games." We also have Sign Language and "Preppie Leaders In Training" a class that allows our 5th graders to learn about serving in our preschool area.

Kid U & Preppies meets every Wednesday at 6:30! There is no cost to sign up. A few of the electives have a small fee. We have crafts, games, puppets, and a time in God's word with godly leaders who love your kids are who are excited about helping your kids grow in their relationship with Christ! Give us a call if you have any questions...... 562. 420-1471 ext. 144

VBS 09 Was So Great!

2009-08-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Crocodile Dock VBS... Where Fearless Kids Shine God's Light! July 27-31! Thanks so much to the 130 volunteers who made it such a great week for the 200 kids who came.

From preschoolers to 5th graders, and even our youth and adult helpers, we all such a FUN week! We were busy making crafts, playing games, preparing cute and tasty snacks that reminded us of the Bible stories, we learned some fun new songs during morning worship, and then our Bible teachers helped bring the Bible to LIFE for us!

Atlantis Park Adventure Day

2009-07-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

A fantastic day at Atlantis Park today for our kids! We have an outing just about every Thursday during the summer (except for VBS weeks and stuff like that!). It's great to see our kids making new friends, inviting their neighbors, and just hanging out together. Atlantis park is a small "play center" within the boundaries of Garden Grove park in Garden Grove. It's $1.00 to get in, and the cool thing is that kids are only allowed with an adult and adults are only allowed with a child, so there are no "strange" adults hanging around inappropriately. We started with a nice lunch time in the pavillion area, and then started exploring! It didn't take the kids very long to find the "wild" bunnies (that were obviously very used to having kids poke and chace it!) After a little exploring, we had a scavenger hunt, and then time for more exploring! Thanks counselors for a great day and thanks kids for making today soooo fun!

2009 Arbor Road 500

2009-06-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite days of the year! This past Sunday was our Pinewood Derby race... a barbeque and then the race. We had 4 division... preschool/ 1st & 2nd grade/ 3rd - 5th Grade/ and then Youth & Adult. I love this day because we get to be all together as a church family.

Here is the Wahlstrom family (plus some boyfriends!), including Gary who did all our cooking in the red shirt and blue hat. Thanks Gary! And here's Beth's boyfriend Marcus, who

is from Sweden. He tried so hard to make a car that would beat Gary's car... sorry Marcus! But it sure did look good! And finally, here are our Grand Champion winners for the fastest cars of the day:
3rd place, Hannah Rockwood (2nd grade); 2nd place: Cayden Ziemke (8th Grade) and Firs Place: Bryce Love (4th Grade.) Great Job everyone... and thanks to all our helpers for making the day go so smoothly. Until next year!

Aloha To my Sweet 5th Graders!

2009-05-17T06:35:00.001-07:00

This past Friday night was our goodbye party for our 5th Graders, as they will be "moving up" to our Middle School Ministry at church in a few weeks. It was at the fabulous Johnson house (Thanks Matt, Jeni, Toby and Tylie!) and the kids had a blast!

Here's a picture (below) of Sarah and Sabrina getting ready to HULA! Can you see that giant backyard! A 5th graders paradise!

As our dads, Matt, Geoff, and Dwayne, grilled the burgers and dogs, the moms had a chance to get to know each other better. After dinner we had some silly games (dress like a tourist.... wow, the kids really got into it!) ate more cookies and brownies and went home full of sugar!

Here's Julia doing gettin' her HULA on! Good Job Julia!And AJ struttin' his stuff as a tacky tourist in Hawaii! The hula skirts were way too big for them so they had to hold onto the skirts while running, as well as hold on to their hats, and sunglasses, to prevent them from falling off while running. This made for some very funny running!

Goodbye (or "aloha") to an amazing group of kids.... most of you I've known since you were TWO. I remember watching you play together in the two year old room at church when I first became your pastor. You are GOOD FRIENDS to each other, you are kind to new kids who join the group, you are serious about reaching your friends for Christ, you are eager to study God's Word and figure out what it means for your life, you are a LOT of fun to be with and I'd party with you any day! I will never ever drive past the Rockview Dairy on Bellflower and Del Amo again without hearing Solomon shouting in my ear, "Zombie Cow! Zombie Cow!" I can't wait to watch and see what God does in and through your lives. I know I will see pastors, missionaries, teachers, godly businessmen and women, loving moms and dads/ husbands and wives, and Kingdom/ World Changers! Oh yeah, and at least one Marine Biologist :) I'm glad we have a few more weeks in Sunday School together before you officially leave the Children's Department and enter the Middle School Ministry. And I'm also VERY glad that I will still be involved in your lives as you come back to serve in the Children's Department and use the amazing gifts God has bestowed upon you. I love you all. See you AROUND 1BL! Thanks for letting me love on you and be a part of what God is doing in your lives.

Hangin Out with Rob Biagi

2009-04-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun pictures taken at the Rob Biagi Concert a few weeks ago when he was ministering at Calvary Chapel North Long Beach. Emily and I took Jake, Cooper, and Jillian with us and "they could have danced all night!" We love you Mr. Rob. It was so fun to sing and worship with you again!

Preteen Kids Out on the Town!

2009-03-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

Another fun preteen "Friday Night Live." This time it was a "car rally/ camera party" thing..... Three cars driving around town, opening up clues along the way, to find fun and/or unusual things around Lakewood and Long Beach such as...

*The giant cow at the Rockview Dairy on the corner of Bellflower and Del Amo

*The airplane at Del Valle Park on Woodruff

*The cinderella pumpkins at the park on Candlewood next to Gompers elementary school

*The pyramid at Long Beach State!

and finally, the fountain at Long Beach Town Center, where we of course stopped for ice cream or pretzels.

Thanks so much to our drivers, Becky Dugan and Heather Klingsporn. Oh and by the way... BOYS are WAY noisier than GIRLS when driving around town! I have the noisiest boys in the world in my preteen group! Wow! Seriously! But they sure are CUTE!

Preteen kids hit Downtown Disney

2009-03-26T10:59:00.001-07:00

One of our recent activities for our 5th Graders.. the preteen group at our church. We had hoped to hang out at EPSN zone, but discovered that it was a 3 hour wait for a table on a Friday Night... not gonna happen with a dozen hungry 5th graders! So we ate at Wetzels Pretzels and then did some playing at the Lego store and the Disney store. I think the kids were just happy to be together and happy to be at the "Happiest Place on Earth!" So kids... if you're out there and you're listening, what kinds of activities to you like to do with your friends?????

How Do You Give your Pastor a Heart Attack ???

2009-02-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

Today, in honor of Valentine's Day, we had a very special day planned for our Kids! This is a day we've been planning and anticipating for a long time! To tell our new pastor, Pastor Brent, how much we love him, this day was called "Heart Attack" day... not the kind you're thinking of! Each of our 1st - 5th Graders were given about 30 - 40 sticky notes, to draw hearts on and write notes of encouragement to Brent. Then we trekked outside to find and "attack" his car!!!!!

The sign on the windshield says, "You've received a Heart Attack from all the Kids in KidStuf!"

We had a great day, one we'll remember for a long time... hope you had a good weekend too!

Lots of New Kids at Kid U!

2009-01-22T16:32:00.000-08:00

We sure are excited about all the new kids who are coming to Kid U on Wednesday nights. Our kids are inviting their friends, and our leaders are so wonderful... as they make each week an exciting, fun place to be!

This semester, we're offering: Art (taught by Sherry Friese), Model Building (taught by Larry Dearing), Woodworking (taught by John Welty), Cross Stitch (lead by Kim Oldham), Indoor Games (lead by Trasi Adams), Music in Motion (taught by Erica Borrowdale), and Preppie Leaders in Training (for our 5th Grade girls to learn what it's like to SERVE in the Preppie ministry. Here are 2 of our "newer" friends, the Eldridge boys, working hard at their models!

Hope you can join us on Wed. nights from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Ages 3 - Kindergarten attend "Preppies" and 1st - 5th Graders attend Kid U! See you there!

Love Out Loud November 30

2008-12-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday ROCKED! We had a special worship concert for our kids during KidStuf, featuring Dave Hopkins, who came all the way down from Monterey to bless us and lead our kids in worship, along with my sister in law DANA and the rest of Dave's band, "Love Out Loud." We've been using some of Dave's worship songs in KidStuf for about a year, and it was so fun to have them here in person. The kids LOVED it and I was amazed at how much they participated, how much they SANG from their hearts, and how much FUN we all had. Here are a few of the pictures!

(Backstage before the concert began. The band and our worship girls, Courtney, Sabrina and Natalie!)

(Lord, we lift your name on high!)

(Hugo, Bailey, Alyssa, Cooper, Kennedy and Kalyn down front singing their hearts out, while the worship team girls are up on stage between Dave and Dana! Boy were they excited!)

Thanks Dave for coming to lead us and worship with us! It was awesome! Come back again soon!

18th Annual Fall Festival

2008-11-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

Fall Festival... the biggest event of the year... and the event where we work the hardest, need the most volunteers, and certainly eat the most candy! 1500 people (I think a few more than that actually) great music, delicious food, smiling faces, adorable costumes, and wonderful memories... at least enough to last us until next year! Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a wonderful evening.

Fabulous Fifth Graders!

2008-09-29T07:59:00.001-07:00

We have had some very exciting times with our fifth graders the past few weeks. These kids are so amazing. They reach out to new kids and make them feel at home quickly, they love to talk about God's Word and memorize Scripture, they love to serve and help others in our church, and I just love each and every one of them.

We had a Progressive Dinner on Friday night and took 18 kids from house to house BACKWARD! Dessert First Of Course! They loved it! I was afraid they had filled up on dessert too much, and wouldn't eat and the next 2 houses, but I was wrong! We stopped to play some games in between eating, and we had a blast! Thanks to the Bartons, the Armstrongs, and the Coxes who hosted our wild and crazy kids!

Here's a shot of our Sunday morning kids this week wearing their "PT Cruisers" T Shirts that they won in a game we were playing.

Arbor Road 500 Race and Barbeque!

2008-08-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

June, 2008: One of my favorite events of the year... our Pinewood Derby, which we affectionately call "The Arbor Road 500" (our church is located on Arbor Road!) Here are some of the fantastic cars our kids made and brought to race!

We have 4 categories: Preschool; 1st - 3rd; 4th - 6th; and Youth/ Adult with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner in each division for both the fastest car and the most creative design! I love this event so much because it is so fun to watch dads hang out with their kids for the day, and watch moms, grandmas, aunts, uncles, etc. all come out to cheer on their children, eat hamburgers, and get sunburned together! All from a simple $4.00 block of wood!

Sermon on the Mound Was Great

2008-05-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

As usual, our kids choir was amazing last Sunday... they never cease to surprise me. We always get nervous during those last few rehearsals and wonder if it's going to come together. Are the kids going to remembe their entrances? Are the microphones going to work? Will the kids remember all those lines they memorized? And will they actually SING? (Sometimes they get so excited about all those people watching, and trying to remember the choreography, that they forget to sing!) Sermon on the Mound has a great message and our congregation really enjoyed it.

Here are some fun pictures: Sarah Barton and Bailey Gray as the sports announcers, "Dizzy Deano" and "Jackie Rawlings." And the four cheerleaders: Aubri, Sabrina, Samantha, and Kennedy. They were so adorable!

One of the highlights of the program were our nine "dandelion" girls who came out and danced around Phil Davis, the hot dog salesman, "Mr. Oscar Meyers." Show stealer for sure! Thanks to Shelly for all the wonderful choreography! And our nine baseball players, "The Soaring Eagles" were as handsome as ever!

Great job kids! Can't wait to do it again!

Great Year at Kid U

2008-05-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

We had such a great year in Kid U... we always want the focus to be on establishing godly relationships between kids and their leaders, and I truly saw that happening this year. From woodworking, to knitting, to scrapbooking, to leather crafts, to "Fun with Food" and in each small group/ discipleship time, it was all about CONNECTING.

Thanks everyone for a great year. We're sad it's over. See you next year!

Kid U Study Abroad

2008-04-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Every year during our Wednesday night club program, Kid U, we hold a Missions Emphasis to help our kids get a global perspective on what God is up to, with the prayer that they will begin to look and listen for the call of God in their lives, and hoping that many of them will some day ANSWER that call to be involved in kingdom work all around the world.

This year, we studied the countries of Thailand, with my friends Dan and Judi Juhasz, then the country of Ethiopia with one of our church members Bill Stamps, and then the country of Zululand, which is in South Africa, with our missionary, Katie Gurzi. Here is a picture of Judi serving some rice, curry, and papaya to the kids. They definitely liked the papaya more than the curry!

Here's Bill Stamps explaining Ethiopian food to the kids. These huge "pancake" things are a staple in Ethiopia, and the people there use them kind of like forks or spoons, and they scoop up their food with it. We tasted lamb, beef, and pork. Again, mixed reviews from the kids, but such a great experience for the kids to see the many different types of people in the world. Here they are making Ethiopian flags and learning a little more about the Ethiopian culture.

What fun! I love our church, and I love all the people who have a global view of the world, and mostly, I love the fact that those people are willing to share their passion with our kids!

More Winter Camp Photos!

2008-02-14T11:27:00.001-08:00

Here are some more photos of our weekend at Alpine Winter Camp with our 3rd - 6th graders, which took place Feb. 1-3.
Here's our group of 3rd - 4th grade boys having fun in the snow!

Looks like quite a crazy game.... building a snowman perhaps?

Winter Camp at Alpine 08!!!

2008-02-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

Wow, when our kids pray for snow... WATCH OUT! Our 3rd - 6th Graders enjoyed a great weekend at Winter Camp at Alpine (in Blue Jay) Feb. 1-3, and they had more snow than ever! In fact, they had so much snow, they got a little stuck on Sunday trying to get home and had to stay a little longer for new chains to arrive for the bus... but that's a long story. Here are some pictures that give the story much better than words ever good. All these great pictures were taken by Wendy Spradlin, one of our counselors.

Here's our fun group of 6th grade girls with their counselor Sarah.

Some of our boys keeping warm inside playing pool.

Lots of girls having fun in all that snow!

A beautiful picture of the chapel where the kids had their time of worship and time in God's Word with Mr. J (Kurt Johnson) our camp speaker and worship leader.

2008-01-31T12:31:00.000-08:00

In looking for fun family activities to pass along to our parents for LENT and EASTER, I came across a few fun and meaningful websites I wanted to list.

http://www.familieswithpurpose.com/easteractivities.html

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/bible/resurrec.htm

http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/clr-indx.html

Have fun together as a family this season of the year. Invite some neighborhood friends to come over for a little Easter party and put the easter story inside a set of easter eggs (which has come to be known as "Resurrection Eggs" which you can purchase at Lighthouse, or online at www.christianbook.com... but as a preschool teacher, I used to make MY OWN using a rock, a piece of cloth, 3 dimes, a thorn from a rose bush, etc.... leaving the final egg EMPTY!).

Let me know what YOU'RE ideas are for making Easter and Lent significant and special for your children.

Children's Choir Resumes in February!

2008-01-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

Back by popular demand! Children's choir will resume February 10 for Kindergarteners through Sixth Grade. In December, our musical was only 20 minutes long, and our Kindergarteners did great, but this musical is a little longer (about 35 minutes) and a little more challenging, but we have an extra special job for them, so I think it's going to be great!

The next musical we're going to begin working on is called "Sermon on the Mound" by my all time favorite children's composer, Celeste Clydesdale. This musical is actually a few years old, but it's still a favorite of mine, and we've never done it here at LFC! (My kids Stephen and Emily were both in this musical when they were in 2nd grade, and it was a blast!)
Here's what Celeste has to say about "Sermon on the Mound."
"For quite some time it has been my desire to write about the importance for believers to put on the armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18) The baseball uniform correlated perfectly - then the musical seemed to take shape. In Matthew, chapter four and five, we see that Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the desert, praying and being tempted by Satan. He defeated Satan by standing firm and responding with the very Word of God. After these victories, He began His public ministry by teaching the Sermon on the Mount, and teaching us how to pray. Our "Head Coach" is the Lord. We are the team (the church), encouraging one another and uniting our hearts to stand firm in this spiritual battlefiedl. We need to take time out to train and pray before we can be effective Christians in this world. Every one of God's children need to know the incredible value of hiding God's Word in their hearts. How else can we possibly put on the "Helmet of Salvation," hold up our "Shield of Faith," and be ready to respond at the appropriate times with the "Sword of the Spirit"? Through SERMON ON THE MOUND I pray that God will use the baseball analogy to help our children see the battle that is reality... is your armor on?

So kids, I really hope you can join us beginning February 10, at 4:00 pm. The musical will be performed on May 18 in our morning service. More details soon about auditions, etc. BATTER UP!

There's SNOW in Long Beach!

2008-01-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

The final day of extra special fun that we planned for our kids at Lakewood Family Church during the month of December was a SNOW DAY on Dec. 23. We brought in 5 tons of real snow (well actually, a company called "The Ice Man" in Bellflower brought in huge blocks of ice, shredded it and BLEW it all over our play area.It was a little expensive, but our kids and families sure had a blast. We served free hot chocolate, and let the kids play in shifts. After a couple of hours, most of the families and kids had gone home, and we just let everyone have at it! The Snowman was provided by "The Ice Man" company. They also do movie sets and in Santa Clause 3 they had to make a ton of these snowmen identically, and quickly, so they discovered a way to make them in a large barrel, remove the barrel, a bucket of snow for the head, add the eyes, nose, pipe, hat, etc, and wa-la! Instant snowman! The snow was very packed, and so not really adequate for making snow angels, but here's one of our Jr. Highers, Alyssa, trying to make one anyway! I don't know who had more fun, the kids, or the parents who were taking pictures!

Way Too Cute

2008-01-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist posting this picture of some of our adorable toddlers! Each of our classrooms in our early childhood hallway depict a different part of God's creation, and this room is called the Fish Room. Here are some of the kids having their snack.

Our KidStuf Drama Team ROCKS

2007-12-29T23:22:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos of our KidStuf Drama Team... their talent and dedication blow me away each and every week.

This is Kevin Fernandez, the youngest of our team. Kevin is in 7th grade, and is the sweetest young man in the world. His mom was actually our DESIGNER on this entire project, so it is especially sweet to have him a part of our team. Here is playing one of his many "egos"... he plays a variety of characters...

We also have a group of children who help us lead worship each week. I have the fun job of working with them once a month to teach them a new "Virtue Song" or "song of the month" we call it, and then they get up and teach the rest of the kids at KidStuf. I would have NEVER gotten up on stage to sing and dance when I was their age, so I am so impressed with them. It's also fun to sit and talk about what all the words of the songs mean, giving us another opportunity to connect with Jesus. This picture is of some of our fabulous High School girls, that I've had the privilege of knowing and teaching and leading since they were in 2nd grade, who sometimes help us lead worship as well. Love these girls!

December Fun at Lakewood Family Church

2007-12-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

We decided to make December an extra special month for all the kids at Lakewood Family Church and our community. We wanted the kids to have an extra reason to invite their friends to church and to know how much Jesus loves them!

We started the month with our Preschool Angel Breakfast, on Saturday, Dec. 2. There were 35 Preschoolers and their parents who came to hear the Christmas Story told just on a preschool level. There was a craft, a simple breakfast, and a visit from several angels who came to sing to the children and give them a special gift.

On December 9, our playground was turned into a Petting Zoo, as we brought

in a truck load of "Nativity" type animals for our children and families to experience. We used a company called Giddy Up Ponies in Palmdale. We encouraged kids and families to have their pictures taken together in the nativity scene that one of our wonderful dads built. It was a precious day and so fun to watch the kids play with these little goats and bunnies. The donkey was hysterical. You could tell he was used to having his picture taken!

The following Sunday was our Children's Choir Musical. Actually it wasn't a full musical, it was just a 20 minute "Mini Musical." This is the first time we've done a mini musical, and it worked out very well. Only 5 songs for the kids to learn, 4 main characters in the drama and very little dialogue to memorize. One of the most precious parts of the program was the "living nativity" scene created by several of the kids. What I love about leading a Children's Choir, is that I get to spend quality time teaching kids the truths of Scripture throught songs that will stick in their heads for a very long time, and also the fact that Grandmas and Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins who might not normally come to church will come and see these children sing about Jesus. It doesn't get much better than that. Great job kids! You were amazing!

Gotta get to work. I'll post some pictures from our SNOW DAY later on. Talk about FUN!

Thanks Everyone!

2007-11-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

After a crazy day on Halloween running our church Fall Festival (on my feet literally for 13 hours!) I had 2 days off to relax and get caught up on stuff at home. ... Well, here is a giant thank you to everyone who helped make Fall Festival such a huge success. There were about 140 volunteers, and 1475 people in attendance. The weather was great, the atmosphere was fun and festive, and everyone had a great time. This was our 17th year. We hope everyone who came will come back to visit our church if they don't already have a church home.

We love our Clubhouse!

2007-05-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

Everyone who walks into the Kid Connection Clubhouse for the first time has the same reaction... WOW! People who've heard about it still can't believe how awesome it is when they see it for the first time. One of the greatest thrills of my week is when I'm out in the CMC and a few of our elementary school wander through the hallway, poke their head in. I hear the squeels of delight, the ooohs and aaahs, and I get a chance to chat with those kids and invite them to church/ KidStuf! Sometimes I even get to talk to their parents, and invite them too. I love my job! Here are those pictures I've been trying to upload!

The Clubhouse

2007-04-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our new Children's Ministry Center... known by the kids as the Kid Connection Clubhouse.

2007-04-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Lakewood Family Church (First Baptist Church of Lakewood) Children's Ministry BLOG...
Our ministry is known as "Kid Connection Ministry"... based on our vision statement of "Connecting Orninary Families with an Extraordinary God."
My name is Carol Scheevel, and I am the Children's Pastor at Lakewood. I have been in Children's Ministries since 1982, and have been serving at Lakewood for a total of 13 years , part of that time in the 80's and back here again since April of 2000. It is my honor and privilege to be in the business of telling kids about Jesus Christ, and helping parents navigate the road of leading their children into a deeper faith.
This blog is a chance for kids and parents to chat about what's going on in their lives, ask questions, talk about what they're learning in KidStuf, etc. LET'S BLOG!