Night of the Moonjellies Dinner

We've been studying Night of the Moonjellies.  What a fun book!!!  It is always so much fun.  We ended our study by having our own "diner" similar to the one in the book.

We tried to first pick a name.  It was hard.  Each boy was a little stuck on what he thought would be the best name - and not so willing to budge from his selection.  Rebecca tried to help and suggested that they each add just one word - one that they really liked - and we'd combine them to come up with a name.   I thought this was a great suggestion.  Daniel suggested "cafe".  Ok, this is going to work.  Isaiah's turn came.  He thought about it and instead of picking one of the words from the name he wanted, he picked "thorax".   Sigh.  Maybe this wasn't going to work.  Joshua finding this funny decides that his word is going to be "unthorax".  Never mind that it isn't even a word.  So, would you want to eat at the "Thorax Unthorax Cafe".  Me either.

Thankfully, they worked on it some more and came up with the Golden Grill Cafe.  Much better. 

We decided on a menu that was similar to the books.  Lots of good yummy choices there.  We made up menus and each boy had a clip boad of notes with which to take orders. 

Roger did all of the grilling - and did a great job! 

The weather was perfect for dining and playing outside.  It was really a lot of fun. I found myself thinking that we needed to do this more often!

We had ice cream for dessert - for those who were still hungry.

My friend Rebecca made realistic money for the boys to use.  They were thrilled with it!!!  They used it to tally up receipts and take payments. 

The cooler was enticing to everyone.  What is is about ice that makes it so much fun?

I just thought this was a sweet picture.  I love that my friends enjoy our children and are willing to hang out and spend time with them too. 

All in all, the diner was a big success.  I think we need to have another one.  Anyone want to come?

Blessings,

Leslie

Easter

First a big thank you to my sweet dh!!!  He recovered all of the pictures that I had accidentally deleted.  I had taken a lot of just "regular" shots and was excited about them.  On Easter morning, I was took a bad shot and was trying to delete it.  Well, I accidentally deleted ALL of the photos on my camera from the entire week-end.  :-(  I was really bummed.  There was no quick fix.  I took no more photos that day in case that somehow would mess up the retrieval of the deleted pictures.

Roger worked with some software and was able to recover all of them.  Yippee!!!  I was very thankful to see them again.  These are some of the photos that have been restored.

We spent Easter week-end in Virginia with our friends.  We arrived on Friday and it was beautiful!  We spent most of the day outside.  The kids enjoyed hiking around a nearby lake. 

I love shots from behind - can you tell?  (I have more that I haven't posted too.  LOL)

We saw ducks and the older girls even found a duck's nest - with eggs in it!

It's a little fuzzy, but can you see the eggs?

We walked around to a little dock area and the kids had fun splashing in the water.  Isn't lovely?

Roger worked on fishing to the delight of several of the children.  They enjoyed finding worms even though they weren't able to get any fish (this time). 

This picture needs a story.  Christopher was laying on the floors and spinning around while Eliana rode on his back.  She loved this - as you can tell from her face!

A cute, little Easter craft/snack was a hit with everyone.  The nest is "rice krispy treats" made with cocoa puffs.  The chicks are twinkies.  Gummy candy and frosting completed the bird.  A simple craft - with little to clean up and nothing to display but a photo.  ;-) 

I just thought this was cute.  They both love riding on this toy and I love that they enjoy sharing it!

Saturday we attended an Easter Egg hunt which was a large outreach function for our friend's church.  The day loomed dark and threatening.  The rain held off - but it was COLD!  The wind played a factor, but we were all surprised at how cold we were.  The event was very nice.  They served food and snow cones.  I couldn't believe anyone wanted one!  lol

There were 10,000 eggs hidden in a field for the children to find.  Yes, 10,000.  It was covered!  Eliana was thrilled to be able to join in on the action this year!  The littlest ones were allowed to go our first.  Eliana is using my old Easter basket.  :-)

The surprise of the day wasn't how MANY eggs everyone got - a lot!  It was a drawing that was held at the end of the event.  We were surprised to hear "Daniel Nelsen" called and then to hear he had won a new bike!  It's a nice one too! 

I was embarrassed that he wasn't excited about it.  He really dislikes a lot of attention and this was very uncomfortable for him.  In addition to the bike, they fit him for a helmet too.  It is very nice and I know we'll get good use out of it. 

On Easter morning, we made resurrection rolls.  I love this tradtion - we've been doing it for at least 12 years that I remember.  I love being able to tell the Easter story as you make the rolls with each ingredient representing a part of the story.  I love the visual of the "tomb" being empty.  He is risen!  (We all love that they taste sooo yummy!)

That's it for my pictures from the week-end - in that they didn't go any further.  (Our friends have some though.)  I feel like I have shared a sampling of our week-end.  I hope you've enjoyed it.  :-)

Blessings,

Leslie

What do the workboxes look like in use at our house?

Well, we are often not all at the table at the same time.  It's a tight squeeze.  Typically we are alternating spending time with Eliana while others are working. 

Here's a shot of  4 working at the same time.

I know that some worry about the space and mess of the boxes.  Here's what we are doing with ours.  When the box is completed it is put on the floor.  The completed work goes in one stack and the empty boxes in another.

I thought I'd share a few of our fun things.  A poster activity that has been a "center" is this outline map of the United States.  We were studying the New England states and I asked the boys to go in and mark these states.  Later I went in and found x's on random states and they were all the states that my 7yo knew.  I can see that we will get a lot of use out of this poster.  I think having the write-on/wipe-off pen makes it all fun!  LOL

Another great resource has been this book of science activities.  Most are simple concepts using things you have around the house.  My younger boys are loving it! 

A little chocolate in the day never makes anyone unhappy.  It's a sweet break and neat way to do some math.  We have several of these chocolate math books to enjoy.

This is something I made to go with our Keepers of the Faith badge work.  This sheet is my 4yo's work to earn the badge for knots.  The older boys have much more to do.  I put this checklist in a box along with a piece of rope and he is ready to learn about knots. 

Just thought I'd share a few extra things.  We are still loving our boxes!

Blessings,

Leslie

The Special Mother

Someone shared this with me and I thought others might enjoy it too.  :-) 

THE SPECIAL MOTHER
by Erma Bombeck

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures, and a couple by habit. This year, nearly 100,000 women will become mothers of handicapped children. Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen?

Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger. 'Armstrong, Beth, son, patron saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint Cecelia. Rudledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint...give her Gerard. He's used to profanity.'

Finally he passes a name to an angel and smiles, 'Give her a handicapped child.'

The angel is curious, 'Why this one, God? She's so happy.'
'Exactly,' says God. 'Could I give a handicapped child a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel.'

'But has she patience?' asks the angel.
'I don't want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has his own world. She has to make him live in her world, and that's not going to be easy.'

'But, Lord, I don't think that she even believes in you.'

God smiles, 'No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness.'

The angel gasps, 'Selfishness? Is that a virtue?'

God nods, 'If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says Momma for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations.'

'I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty, prejudice...and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side.'

'And what about her patron saint?' asks the angel, pen poised in midair.

God smiles, 'A mirror will suffice.'

At Home Therapy

Much of the therapy that we do with Eliana is incorporated into play.  Most of the skills that she needs to work on can be done in fun and interesting ways.  Not to say that it isn't ever a challenge - especially the feeding/oral skills - but mostly it's just a new way of looking at play. 

I've tried to incorporate the rest of the children into Eliana's play so that their time with her can also be helpful to her.  Since we are going to play, it might as well be done in a way that benefits her.

Rebecca has really taken this responsibility to heart.  She helps in many ways with Eliana.  I think her favorite thing to do is dress her.  It's like having a live baby doll.  LOL  Notice their outfits in the pictures below.

On Friday, when they went out to play, Rebecca decided to make an obstacle course for Eliana!  All on her own initiative she created a fun play area - that helped with her therapy goals!  Isn't that just the sweetest!

She started by pushing uphill on this little ride-on toy.

Then she walked across a balance beam while Rebecca held onto her arms.

Next came an inclined plane.  It tilted up until she reached the middle then shifted down as she finished the second half.

Then under a slanted board.

Love the look on Eliana's face. 

The next task was to put the balls into a box.

There was one more inclined plane before going up two steps to the finish line!

Great job girls!!!

Just a fun picture of my little boys.

We are all loving the beautiful spring weather and the time outside to play. 

Blessings,

Leslie

Historic Yates Mill County Park

Yesterday was field trip day.  I love field trip days.  The day was beautiful!  Sunny and a little cool - just perfect for being outside. 

We visited the site of an historic mill and had a short tour of the mill.  We watched the wheel turn and heard about the comunity that lived around and depended on this mill.

We then split into groups for classes.  The older kids (middle and high school) had an intro to geology class.  The reports that I heard from the kids and adults were that it was an interesting and fun class.  I was hopeful because the man who taught the class sounded excited about the subject when I talked with him on the phone.  (The topic though wasn't one that I found all that exciting.  I'm thankful that someone who did love the topic could share it with my children.)

The middle group of children (2nd to 5th graders) did a pond study.  They had a class time first to learn about the food web.  Then they went to the pond - to get wet, explore and learn.  They had a blast and found a lot of neat things.

I tried to get photos, but we left to walk around the pond before the kids did - and totally missed them while we went on a mile hike.  LOL

You can see some photos of this group on my friend Lynn's blog.

The younger children were free to do a number of things.  We could go on a hike, do a scavenger hunt through the museum, play with colonial dress-up clothes or read some books in the reading corner.  We did a little bit of it all. 

First we went on a hike.  I was hoping to find the pond study group, but we found some of our own finds.

Turkey tail fungus

A goose

A turtle

There were also snakes, but I didn't get a picture of one of those. 

Daniel enjoyed the hike and Eliana rode contentedly on my back.  We shared the walk with a friend which was nice too.

When we got back to the museum, we did the scavenger hunt.  They had a set of picture cards.  When you found the item that matched it, you turned it over and read the question on teh back.  You could then answer the question on a separate piece of paper.

When you finished the hunt, you were allowed to draw a wheat penny from a large barrel.  They chose these because of the wheat that was milled at that site.  We learned about the various types of wheat pennies.  I even got one made of steel that was made during the war.  Copper was needed for the war effort.  Its a lighter penny and obviously different in color. 

The kids enjoyed the hands-on nature of the museum.

Eliana had fun playing with puzzles, looking at the various animals on display, playing with a friend and just wandering freely about.

A photo of the kids and I.  This doesn't happen too often as one of us is usually behind the camera.

If you live nearby, this is a delightful site and I do recommend a visit.  I look forward to going back again one day to explore some more. 

We ended our day at a nearby park.  I didn't take many photos except for those I shared yesterday.  I did take one of a vending machine though that just made me giggle. 

Thanks for sharing our fun day!

Blessings,

Leslie