Beyond Co-op: Thomas Edison #5

Our last co-op with Thomas Edison.  We had some last minute changes due to sickness.  I love the flexibility of this group.  I love how God helps us to work out the details.  It has been a sweet thing to be a part of this group!  

 One of our teens took over the teaching responsibilities for her mom!  Isn't that neat?  She did a great job too!

 More science lessons on the atom - protons, neutrons and electrons.

 They each had different elements to work with to apply what was being taught.

 We also learned about phosphorous.  Some neat videos helped to explain things to the kids.  You can check them out here.  http://wn.com/phosphorus  We looked at 1, 2 and 14.

 The next part of the lesson was on economics - price comparisons and shopping.  They kids worked in small groups and had flyers from a couple of stores noting sales on various things.  They also had a shopping list.  They needed to determine which store had the best deals!  What a great life lesson!

 OK, this photo just made me smile.  At one point, Joshua had his plate on the counter and someone thought it was the serving plate due to the number of eggs on it!  LOL  He does enjoy the things that are "free" and those are much kinder to his body as well.

 I missed some of the explanation of this one so hopefully one of my friends will correct me if I mess this one up.  They talked about how electricity was conducted and demonstrated it by passing paper balls along a chain of kids.

 The last part of the class was a project that our sweet teen was doing for Civil Air Patrol.  She led the kids in making small cars from Styrofoam.  

 They used balloons as a means of propulsion.  They loved seeing these move along the driveway!

As always, another fun day!

Please see my other post below this one if you are local!!!  We have a play this week-end that we would love to have you attend!  It's going to be a lot of fun!

Blessings
Leslie

The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood

This is what has occupied our week.  It is a really fun play!  I hope some of you will be able to come!

Springs Christian Theatre Presents . . .

THE SOMEWHAT TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD

by Mary Lynn Dobson

A comedy about humility, loyalty and true friendship.

Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois

Friday, April 15, 3 PM & 7 PM

Saturday, April 16, 1 PM and 5 PM

to be held at Colonial Baptist Church in Colonial Corners 

6051 Tryon Road

Cary, NC 27518-9316

Over 40 local homeschooled students grades K-12 perform this two act play

Tickets on sale through the Colonial Baptist Church website on a first-come, first-served basis, Wednesday March 30 through Friday, April 15 at noon.  Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door, cash only.

Purchase Your Tickets HERE: http://goo.gl/t1ahR

Girls Week-end Part 2

We started the second morning again with an enjoyable breakfast in the hotel lobby.  (I love the all you can eat breakfasts that come with hotel rooms!)  We then headed to downtown Wilmington to spend the day.

We started the day with a trolley tour through the historic area of  Wilmington.  I love hearing the stories, the people and the history behind the buildings and places.  It makes a place so much more interesting to know a little more about it.  

 One of the stories was about this rooster on top of a church.  It became important when a professional sports franchise came to town looking for a mascot for the new team.  They saw this and decided to name the team after it.  (Port City Roosters - a minor league baseball team.)

 We spent time walking along the riverfront.  Lots of fun shops.  Rebecca loved the neat jewelry shops.  It was fun shopping with her (even though shopping isn't really something I tend to do often - she loves it).  Again, we had a beautiful day!

 A friend recommended this store for a meal.  (Wish we had known about this when we were here before with the boys!  We'll know for next time.)  They serve hotdogs -  in many different ways.

 We took our food out back to eat on the open deck.

 This was our view.  Can you see the Battleship North Carolina in the background?

 These are the courhouse steps.  This was often used as a scene in the old tv series Matlock.  Wilmington is a thriving film production area!

 More shopping.

 We found a cupcake shop too!  (Coastal Cupcakes)  Mine was oreo cheesecake (yum!).  Rebecca had angel food with raspberry filling (also yum!).

 We went out to eat at Carrabas.  It was very busy - and after eating, I could understand why.  The food was delicious.  Mostly though, I enjoyed hanging out with Rebecca.

 Some of the goodies purchased on our trip.

 We debated what to do on our last day there.  We needed to leave by lunchtime.  We decided to just relax.  We had a Bible study together.  Ate breakfast.  Went back to the riverfront.  We walked some.  Found an outdoor jewelry vendor.  Then headed home.

 I'm so glad we had this time.  I hope we'll have many more such week-ends.

I enjoyed the one on one time with Rebecca.  She is a beautiful young lady and I'm blessed to be her mother.

Reminds me to get back to our time of spending one on one time with each of our children.  Its fun to focus on just one of them sometimes.  

I have so many things to be thankful for.  God is good!

Blessings

Leslie

Girl's Week-end - Part 1

Sorry for taking so long to post about our fun week-end away.  I am not sure where the time has gone.  Busy, but not any more so than usual.  Trying to play catch-up some this week.  We'll see how it goes.  Thanks for those of you that have asked about me after not seeing anything.  All is well here.  :-)

Rebecca and I left on a Thursday afternoon after co-op.  We made a stop at Panera and then started our adventure.

It was then that Rebecca learned where we were going ... Wilmington!  We spent some of our time away having discussions and sharing time that was personal - mother/daughter time.  I'm thankful to have this time together.  We also spent time doing some fun things!  I'm going to share some about the first half of our trip.

We arrived in Wilmington, checked into our nice hotel and then decided to get something to eat.  We chose Olive Garden.  It was yummy!

We were up early the next morning and awoke to a beautiful day!  We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out.  To catch a ferry.

 It was a cool morning and we were both glad for our jackets.  The ride out to the island was uncrowded ... and oh, so peaceful!

 I was delighted to see one of the NC ligihthouses that we had not yet seen!  We visited most of them with our NC History group - except for 2.  One of them was Oak Island (below).

 The other was Bald Head Island lighthouse - the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina!

 There are no cars on the island and no high rise buildings.  It is an incredibly serene and lovely place!

 Welcome to Bald Head Island!

 We went first to see "Old Baldy".  It used to be all white.  It looks patched now because, well, its been patched.  Its been that way for many years now.

Entrance to the lighthouse.

 View at the top.  There is a ladder through a hole in the floor to get into the top.  The views are beautiful!

 Just liked this photo of the entrance to the lighthouse.  Can you believe how thick the walls are?!

 Isn't the sky an amazing shade of blue?  I love lighthouses.  I'm thankful for the many people that work to preserve them.

 Part of the island has salt water marshes.  This is a view overlooking them.

 There weren't many people around and we took many shots of ourselves.  I don't like most of them though so you won't see too many.  LOL

 We had 2 options for getting around the island - renting a golf cart or renting bicycles.  You can see what we chose.  Its been a long time since I've ridden a bike - especially for any distance.  It was fun!

 We headed out by the beaches.  We only saw 1 runner.

Then we headed inland for lunch at a little cafe/market.  Afterwards we rode to the Maritime Forest Preserve.   We hiked around a shorter trail.  

 We rode to the end of the island and saw where there was once another lighthouse.  All that is left are the foundation pieces.  It was deemed unsafe and thus taken down.  (It was a metal structure and not nearly as lovely as Old Baldy)

 Some views from the end of the island.  Tranquil, stunning, truly evidence of the hand of the Creator.

 I snapped this photo on our way back across the island.  Just loved the color of the sky showing through the trees.  It was the perfect day to spend on an island.

 Headed back the mainland and saying good-bye to a fun day.  I'm thankful for memories that I'll hold dear of time spent here with my precious daughter!

More (hopefully) tomorrow.

Blessings
Leslie

It's Official!

After prayer, discussion and more ... a decision has been made!  (This is when I want an emoticon - happy face or clapping would go well here.)

It was funny, when Christopher decided, I asked if I could announce it, he seemed surprised.  I told  him that people asked me all the time if he had made a decision yet.  Overhearing this conversation, Rebecca added in that she was also asked frequently if he had made a decision yet.  I know he was surprised to hear this from both of us.

It is a huge decision.  It will affect so many other decisions.  We prayed for wisdom.  We trust God's hand in Christopher's life.  We are excited that he has made a decision!

So, are you ready to hear it yet?

Remember this?

In case that isn't clear.  Here is where Christopher will be in the fall.



I'm happy for him that the decision is made.  I personally will love having him not too far from home.  Close enough to come home for laundry, food (though the meal plan there looks really good!) and to hang out with family.  Close enough to stay involved in our church.  I love seeing how involved he has gotten in our church and know this will continue to impact him in big ways.

Christopher. I'm proud of you and love you more than I can express.  I'm praying for you now and will continue for as long as I'm able.  I'm specifically praying this verse for you.

1 Corinthians 16:13 

 ¹³ Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Praying that this experience will be one that draws you closer to God!

I love you!  Mom


Friends and Family - Thanks for sharing in our excitement.

Blessings
Leslie