More 4th week-end happenings

We arrived early for our week-end so that we could go on a college tour.  Roger, Christopher and I went and toured Appalachian State University.  We were all very impressed with the school and all that it has to offer. 

As we were watching the dvd about the school at the beginning of our time, I wondered if I was the only parent there feeling emotional.  The thought of my child being in college soon is just hard at times.  I don't think that it is because I'm resistant to change - but that may be part of it.  I think its much deeper than that.  I've spent most of the last 17 years hanging out with my son.  We've learned together and grown together and I really love spending time with him.  He is fun and interesting and enjoyable.  When he leaves, it will leave a hole - for all of us.  I know change is necessary and is often good.  I know too that for me, this is going to be hard. 



I know I mentioned before, but we had beautiful weather!  The view from my parents' back porch is lovely. 



We enjoyed eating and just sitting outside relaxing on the deck.  It was nice to just hang out spending time together.



It was also a great place to watch beautiful sunsets.  My camera would not capture the intensity of the colors.  The sun was a bright orange and hung low in the sky for such a long time.  God's designs are amazing!



Roger went on a hike with the two little boys.  Hopefully more of us can go the next time we are up!





Playing in the park was fun too.



Some of us also went to an outdoor drama called Horn in the West.



There is an area with interpreters and buildings to explore.  We didn't arrive early enough to do much here, but hope to come back again to see more.



This is a true story about the history of Boone.  It was wonderful!!!  We loved being outside.  The sets were lovely.  This is the left side of the stage.



This is center stage.



The story was intense, funny, sad and encouraging (all at different times). 









Next time I hope we'll convince more people to join us.  It was really worth it!

Blessings,

Leslie

Free Summer Movies

I just wanted to pass this on to any of you who may not have heard of it.  Today I took 6 children to the movies - and it was FREE!!!  How can you beat that on a hot summer day?!

It was Eliana's first time in the theater (and free was the right price when I didn't know how she would do!).  She sat in my lap because she is so light she couldn't keep the seat down.  LOL  She did wonderfully!  I think we have found a neat outing to do for the next month or so that it is available.  My children are very excited about going again.  This is a treat that we don't enjoy often and it's so nice that they are offering it for free!

Here is a link in case you want to see if it's available where you live. 

Free Family Film

I hope you are able to go!

Blessings

Leslie

4th of July Celebration!

I have so many pictures from the week-end, that I may try to do this in a couple of posts.  We headed to the mountains to spend the week-end of the 4th with my parents.  It was such a beautiful week-end!  We had a wonderful time.  The main celebration in town was on Saturday when they had games and all sorts of fun things for the children to enjoy!  There were lots of games.  The kids were very excited about participating!



The limbo.





Eliana just walked under the stick for a long time.  When it was time to bend - she went forward and was out. 



There was the sack race.





The egg and spoon race.  My younger boys all made it to the final heat - but then there were some broken eggs. 







Water balloon toss.





A watermelon eating contest.





Rebecca was entered with adults.  She was beaten by two men - but not by much! 



There was a rock wall for climbing.



This was all held in a park which was just fun to play in too!



In the afternoon there was a parade.  A number of the people in the parade throw out candy which my younger kids loved. 





Eliana wanted to roam.  Can you see the determination in this little girl?!!!



This was my favorite entry in the parade. 



We had dinner at home with some dear family friends and then watched the fireworks from the house.  It was a lovely day!  I'm so thankful to be an American.  I'm also very thankful for the many who have served so that we could enjoy the freedoms that we have.  Thank you!  I'm thankful for my precious family. 





I'm thankful for a loving God!

Blessings

Leslie

Camp - Day 2 - Seeds

I'm going to be playing catch up for a few days.  We  were gone for the week-end and I'm working on uploading pictures.  Rebecca held her second day of camp last week and the topic was "Seeds".  I loved watching how she learned from her experience and planning accordingly for the next camp day.  She has really worked hard and poured a lot of herself into planning fun activities.  I've enjoyed watching her.

She started the day with a devotion and then reading a book.  She read a Magic School Bus book on seeds.



She then shared some facts about seeds with them.  Next they took a closer look at some seeds.  They took apart some lima beans (soaked overnight in water) and corn seeds to see the difference between a monocot and dicot. 





For snack, Rebecca chose some foods that were from seeds.  Sunflower seeds, watermelon, apple slices and smoothies.  Yum.  What a nice, healthy snack!



After snack was craft time where they each painted a small pot.  She used watercolor paints and then covered it with modge podge. 







They then played a bingo game that Rebecca made up.  She made a bingo board with pictures of various seeds. 



She drew a picture from her bowl and called out the name of the seed.  The children could read the names or look at the picture to match it up.  When they found it on their board, they covered it with a lima bean.  Each board was different.  The first to get 5 in a row was the winner.  There were two tied for first place.  For the next round, they worked to make a T (the top row and the middle row) on their boards.  There was also a tie in this round and it was the other two children.  Nice how that worked out.



When the pots were dried, they filled them with potting soil and planted some flower seeds. 





The morning ended with another game.  Rebecca made this one up too.  The children each had a different role.  One was the seed that had to move in tiny baby steps.  One was the sun and that person skipped.  One was water and that person took large steps.  The last was the bird who hopped.  The seed was trying to catch the sun and the water.  Once tagged those people were with him.  If the bird caught the seed before the seed caught the water and the sun, then the game was over and the bird won.  They had great fun playing this!





During the morning, Eliana and I just hang around, watch and play nearby (mainly so I can take some photos and just enjoy the camp too!).  Here's a blurry one of Eliana having a blast on the swing.  Can you see her grin?



It was a beautiful day weather wise which was so very nice!!!  Wish the whole summer could be like this.  As I look at what she has done, I'm so proud of her.  She is a creative and fun-loving young lady that really enjoys children. 

She has three more camp days planned for the summer.  I'm sure that they will be lots of fun too!

Blessings

Leslie

Fun visit

Our nephew came up to visit for a couple of days earlier this week.  It was so much fun to have him here!  All of us enjoyed hanging out with him.  (I hope you'll come back soon  Brad!!!)

The reason he came up was to deliver a table.  Our kitchen table has been a little tight for our family (it seats 6).  I mentioned to my sister while we were at the beach that we really needed to get a new kitchen table.  One of my sister's neighbors was getting rid of one that she thought would be perfect for us.  They gave us a table!  What a sweet blessing for all of us!  It is soooo nice to FIT comfortably around the table.  :-)  Thank you!



I also received another gift.  A pair of shoes.  They are cute and comfortable and they FIT!  I have had a hard time finding shoes because I have narrow feet (which it doesn't appear that I've passed on to anyone!).  Only a couple of stores locally carry anything that fits me (with a very small selection and high prices).  Having a new pair of shoes was an unexpected treat from my sweet generous sister.  It is something I wouldn't have done for myself.  Thank you Laura!



More to our visit.  The boys had been eagerly looking forward to playing airsoft.  It was hot and yet the desire to be camoflauged trumped over comfort (it was very, very hot).  They had a lot of fun together.



We headed to a local fun park for a birthday party.  The little boys were thrilled to ride in Brad's truck!





We hated to see him leave.





Hopefully we'll see him again soon!  As always, I have much to be thankful for!  I'm thankful for family - I've been blessed with a wonderful family that I love spending time with!  I'm thankful for the generousity of others.  I'm thankful for a God who hears my desires - and surprises me in ways I don't expect. 

Love,

Leslie