The college decision ...

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time.  At least parts of it.  But, the time just slips away and now its already March.

Rebecca decided to apply to just two places, Liberty University and NC State University.  She decided that if she pursued theatre, that Liberty would be the place she wanted to go.  She wants to explore and learn about theatre in a Christian environment so that her values are encouraged and strengthened in this vocation.  If she decided to pursue a different major, then NCSU was her top choice.  Most likely in the First Year College, like her older brother, so that she could learn more about the various options available to her.

She applied to both schools in the fall.  She also visited both schools.

She heard back quickly from Liberty as it has rolling admissions.  She was accepted!

She waited longer to hear from NCSU because while she thought her application was complete for early admission, it was missing some information so that she didn't hear from them until January.  Another acceptance!  I love it when the envelope is fun!

There are pros and cons to each school.  Things to weigh, consider and pray about.

One of the biggest cons to Liberty was distance from home.  Its not "that far", but when you don't have a car, it can sure seem like it!  Its also not close enough to just pop over for dinner or to bring your friends over for a few hours - both things that we have LOVED about having Christopher at NCSU.

The other challenge to Liberty was cost.  As a private school, the yearly cost was just high.

The biggest benefit to Liberty is the opportunity to study theatre in a great program at a Christian school.  This is something that is exciting to Rebecca!

Then looking at NCSU, the positives included a strong academic program, having a brother and friends already there, being able to stay connected to her own church, a fabulous campus ministry and being close to family.

The negative was really that there isn't a theatre program.

In January, Rebecca received exciting news.  She received a full tuition scholarship to Liberty!  We were elated to see her academic work rewarded in this way!  We are so proud of you Rebecca!  This certainly made the decision a bit easier for her too.

Next year, Rebecca will be attending ...

If any of you have friends attending, Rebecca is looking to meet some people that will be there and is also looking for a roommate.

We are excited for Rebecca and for all that lies ahead of her.  My heart is at peace, though I will sorely miss having her here!  I don't think about that all too often as it is just going to be hard having her gone.  This growing up stuff is really hard sometimes, isn't it?

Blessings,
Leslie

Before FIAR co-op: ABC Bunny

We spent another delightfully fun day at our Before Five in a Row co-op.  This month we read the book ABC Bunny.  This is a delightful classic story of a bunny's day by going through the alphabet.  We started our morning by reading the story.  

 We used some fun ABC exercise cards that you can download free from Homeschool Share.  (If the link doesn't work, look for the unit on My Body for the downloadable pdf.)  We looked at each card and identified the letter and then did the activity on the card.

 The cards had us stretching, crawling, hopping and more!

 The kids really enjoyed moving around and I think this is a great addition for a group of family to do just for fun (and learning though they don't have to know that).  

 They were pretending (to be a volcano) and more.  I love seeing them laughing and enjoying themselves.

 After going through all of the cards, I passed out cards to each of the children and we worked together to put them in order.

 They did a great job with this too.

 Next I had a large bag filled with a variety of items.  Each child took turns choosing something from the bag and then identifying which letter the name of that item began with.  I tried to have 2 items for each alphabet letter.  Ex.  I - Iguana and ice cube tray.

 We worked through the whole alphabet.

 Time for a snack.  Something a bunny might enjoy.  Lettuce with cream cheese, sunflower seeds and raisins.  There was also fruit and popcorn for those not feeling like a rabbit.

 Our last activity was playing with playdoh.  (For the record, I recently  made gluten free playdoh from inexpensive rice flour and it has held up really well.  Leaves your hands feeling a little dry, but otherwise works well.)

 The kids made letters - some made their names.  There were bells and "eyes" to decorate them if they wanted.

Fun morning.  Looking forward to our next time together.

Blessings

Leslie

And here is the 2nd half of January

Other than some posts on co-ops that I will do separately, this will about wrap up January.  :D  And the big post on college decisions!

Here is a peek into the second half of our January.  We met for book club and discussed The Amateur Cracksman.  It is a story about a "gentleman thief".

 And look at the spread we enjoyed after our talk!!!

 Rebecca is still talking about the yummy sandwiches!  It was a delightful evening with friends.

 We also enjoyed having Christopher and some of his friends over on MLK, Jr Day.  They came for lunch and it was great having them here!  Such a fabulous group of friends!

 Our whole family really loves spending time with them and are thankful that they are close enough - and willing - to come over.

 It was a gorgeous day and we spent time playing outside after eating.

It always warms my mama's heart to see people enjoying Eliana.

Look at the delight on her face!  (She often prays for these two friends too!)

This is a fun game that Christopher got for Christmas - Poleish.  The object is to knock the bottle off of the pole with a frisbee.  

You play in pairs.  Each takes turns trying to knock off the pole while the other team tries to catch the bottle and the frisbee.  Its a lot of fun.

And Ultimate.  Fun for all ages.  Two teams and each tries to get the frisbee to their side/driveway.

And then the weather changed.  Just like that.  We hardly EVER get any snow, but finally we did.  And we enjoyed it greatly!!!

 It wasn't much (the first time), but it was enough to sled and play on.

 Eliana just loved sledding.  And yes, she is holding a fly swatter.  Not one that is used for anything other than her toy.  LOL

 Not quite enough snow left for snowboarding.

 Fun Daddy!

 A race sounds like fun, right?

Love seeing the teens having a great time out in the snow!

 This was a fun day for everyone!

Sadly, it melted to quickly.  Little did we know that there was more coming!

 We enjoyed a trip to Defy Gravity.  This is a fabulous indoor trampoline site nearby.  My whole family loves it!    There are trampolines to jump on.

A foam pit to jump into.

An area to play dodge ball is also fun.

 And its great exercise too.

 Just thought I'd share a funny photo.  If any of you remember some of my cooking posts from last year, here is another one of boys in the kitchen.  I had the crockpot on and cooking dinner.  One of the boys decided to make something on the burner in front of the crockpot.  Yes, the big burner.  I was in another room and then smelled an awful smell - burning plastic!

I asked what the smell was and was told that a noodle had hit the burner.  I assured them that this was not a food smell and went into the kitchen.  To my surprise, one of the boys was cooking on this burner and did not notice the melted knob or smell and another was standing beside him cooking on a different burner.  LOL

So, I'm in the market for a new crockpot and hope to make a decision on one soon.  I really miss mine!

We also started back with our co-op.  Last semester was Shakespeare and this semester is Robin Hood!  We had planned to do 2 books this semester (similar to our Beyond FIAR co-op days), but we have missed 2 of our co-ops due to snow/ice so we instead are going to spend the entire semester going leisurely through this book instead.  I think its a great idea and am looking forward to enjoying this book and the many fabulous topics in it!

We started out talking about the history of the time period in which this story takes place and also the legends surrounding Robin Hood.  (And watched a great video about this.)  We also learned about Maid Marion who is not in the original story at all!

We also learned about different types of measurements that were used in the middle ages.  The students learned terms that were used for measurements in that time period as well as what the "standards" were for each measurement.  

We found that there could be great variance depending on who was being measured.  

 Going outside for some larger measurements.

 And having some fun seeing how far they could pull a "load" the same distance that was measured for horses (I think).  They had a blast doing this!

 They took turns piling on and also pulling.  Lots of laughs here.

 We also watched a neat video on outlaws of this time period.  This is a part of a series if you want to see more.  And as has become custom, we ended the day with an amazing spread for lunch.  YUM!  Always a treat to come to this co-op and I always learn something fun and new.

This year is off to a great start.  Some of our plans have gone awry and there have been surprises too.  In the midst of it all, I am reminded that none of this surprises God and He is in control.  He is good.

Blessings to you!

Leslie