Rain, Rain, Come Our Way, Please!

Marathon training is going as planned.  But like a lot of you have experienced, it sure is hot!  Been a real hot summer.  On top of that we have had very little rain. VERY LITTLE RAIN! We couldn't even have fireworks in our town cause it is so dry.  We live outside of our town, so we do not have city water.  We depend on our well located in our back yard.  Now if you didn't know our well depends upon the winter snow melt and the rain. Both of which we have had very little.  So, I have thoughts run through my head like "Will our well run dry?"  "What will we do if it runs dry?"  We are watering just our vegetable garden and a just few flowers to conserve water. I love our fresh veggies and hate to see them die but at the same time I hope we don't run out of water.  A good friend of mine re-landscaped her yard in the city and invested in several rain barrels to catch the rain and water her gardens.  The barrels have not seen any rain since she installed them.
I have sponsored two children through World Vision for 10 years now and our home church has been involved with World Vision sponsoring water filters.  So after last years Chicago Marathon I decided that I would run with World Vision to support water wells and water filters in countries that experience poor water situations.  This year here at home I am beginning to get a hands on experience of what it is like to wonder if your water will continue to flow through the pipes. Will this drought continue or will we finally get some relief?  Beginning to appreciate the importance of water in my life and am rethinking better ways to conserve it. 

Storytime

I am a children's librarian. It was a career change for me after my children went off to school. I love my job and it is so much fun. I use the internet alot to find ideas for storytime lesson plans. I have decided to put some of my ideas and lessons on this blog to share with others who may also be doing storytime or a preschool program.
A few years ago I read a great book called Early Literacy Storytimes @ Your Library. It really taught me alot about how important it is for children to participate in the storytime. I also have encouraged parents to participate in storytime. I always try to leave time for children to partipate, ask questions, and share what they already know about the subject our storytime is about. Storytime for me is about learning to love stories, learning to love being read to, and vocabulary. The larger a childs vocabulary the easier it is for them to sound out word later in life. I am going to put the basic lesson plan on the blog but you will need to add your own special flavor to it.
I hope that everyone who reads this blog will be blessed by it.