Back to School

I wanted to share some of our fun back to school traditions, though I realize that like many of posts of late, this one is not so timely.  LOL  Life is just in a very busy season.

We enjoyed going to Wal-Mart for back to school supplies.  Everyone was able to pick out some thing that they wanted or needed.  

Or just something fun.

Can you see Eliana's back to school necessity?  Chips!  

Added to these things were some books and supplies I had purchased at our homeschool conference, as well as other places.  I put out all of our new things on our school table.  

They were excited to see these new things.  Well, most of them. 

 Back to school breakfast.  This has been a long standing tradition, but it is made more challenging with our need for gluten free foods.  We ate at home this year with some favorites - biscuits and sausage gravy and orange juice.  Note that the girls got the special plates this year - one for her first year of official schooling and one for her last (*sniff, sniff*).

 Then it was time to go outside for some pictures.  One of each child and their grade.  Aren't these cute signs?  Its a download that I got here.  This year Daniel's schooling includes Five in a Row Volume 4, MathUSee, Handwriting Without Tears, Apologia Worldview and various readers.

 My beautiful senior!  Rebecca's studies include World History and World Literature (Notgrass), PreCalculas (MathUSee) and possibly a 2nd math course, Physics (Apologia), French (Rosetta Stone), Worldview (Summit Ministries).

 Isaiah will be doing a unit study on the World Wars (I'm putting this together with a variety of resources), MathUSee, Life of Fred, Apologia worldview and All About Spelling.

 Joshua is also doing the unit study on World Wars, Rainbow Science, PreAlgebra, Spelling, and Worldview.

 Hmmm ... this way for the photos sweetie.

Not the photo I was hoping for, but an honest reflection of her feelings.

Here's my sweet girl smiling.  Eliana will be doing a variety of things including Before Five in a Row, reader from Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County, Handwriting without Tears and many things that I've put together from different places.

 My students for this year.

 And another one with me.

 And one of all of the siblings together.  I love these people so very much!!!

 Helping (or not) to get Christopher packed up to move back to State.  Testing out his carpet options.

 Just a cute picture.  The guys help load things up and then then all took Christopher to get him moved in.  The girls went for a visit a little bit later in the month.

Our first field trip of the year has been to Pullen Park for many years.  Its a sweet tradition.  And such an amazingly fun park!

Its a great place to hang out with friends!  These girls have been friends most of their lives!

 Fun playground equipment.

And rides!  So many fun rides!  The train goes around the park.

 Carousel.

 Eliana's friend George goes many places with her (as you can probably tell).

 We gather for a picnic lunch.

 Rebecca loves holding babies!  :-)

 Girl on the run!

 These two have a sweet relationship.  Eliana often comments "I like Isaiah".

 Joshua having fun on the ripstick around the empty paths.

Late in August, Roger and the boys made a trip to NE.  (They drove back in a car that would not hold all of us which is one of the reasons that it was just the 4 of them.)  They went back to visit with and help his family.  They had a fabulous trip and we all look forward to being able to go out there again soon.

 While the guys were gone, the girls had fun too.  Both girls got haircuts.  This is a picture of how long Eliana's hair was.  She had about 8-9 inches cut off!

 I think her new style is really cute and I also think it makes her look older.  What do you think?

 Rebecca has a beautiful  new haircut too!

We also visited Christopher one day.  We spent some time hanging out and he also gave us a tour of NC State.  

 The girls also went to Charlotte to visit my family.  One night we went to a Mexican place to eat and it was delicious.

 And to our delight, had a full gluten free menu!

Time with friends is always a treat.  

 Boys making a room for the caterpillars they have found.

 Guys enjoying a garage sale find.  (Roger is great at finding things at these!)

 August was a sweet month filled with family and friends.  Filled with new beginnings.  It was a wonderful way to start our year.  Hopefully I will post more again soon.  I'm trying.  I hope your year is going well too - whether it be school or work, old or new.  There is always blessing to be found in being with those you love.

Blessings
Leslie

Field Trip to Pullen Park

We started off our field trip season with a trip to Pullen Park,  We missed going last year due to construction here and it was fun to see some of the changes that had been made.

We have a number of new families joining our group this year and this is a great place to have time to talk and play together - for new friends and old.  

 We met at the playground where there is plenty to do for all ages.  While the moms congregated to chat, the children explored.

 It was all close and easy to keep an eye on what everyone was doing.

 It was a gorgeous day and what better way to spend it than with family and friends.

 I just LOVE this picture!  It has to be my favorite of the day.  Pure and unfiltered delight!   It also captures one of my favorite moments of the day too!  Christopher came by to see us!  I was hoping since we were so close to campus that he would be able to stop by - and he did along with one of his friends.  It was so good to see them.

 I've always loved seeing my children hanging out and enjoying each other.  As they grow up and have different interests, it still makes my heart smile.

 This is one of the photos that Eliana took.  She loves to borrow my camera and take photos.  Some of them end up being pretty good.  I thought this was a neat perspective.

 Often on our field trips, I like getting a picture of all of my children.  Its not always easy or possible.  I loved getting this one.  :-)  These are some of my most favorite people in the whole world!!!

 Of course, no trip to Pullen Park is complete without going on the rides.

 The train is fun for all ages.

 This just made me laugh.  I'm often taking pictures of the group and they are used to me doing it.  It will be fun to see what her picture looks like as I'm rarely in the photos.

 Eliana really enjoyed the boat ride and Isaiah was sweet to ride along with her.

 Eliana was the only one that wanted to ride the merry-go-round.  And she wanted to ride it until she sat down on the horse.  Then she was done.  Unless she was clinging tightly to me.

 After spending a lot of time there, playing, having lunch, rides and then popsicles, it was time to head home.

This was a fun start to our field trips and we look forward to many more!

Hope you are having fun exploring your world too!

Blessings
Leslie