Field Trip to Mordecai House

This was one of our April field trips - when the weather was crazy and it was a cold morning.  It was a beautiful day and a great time to be on a field trip!

We visited the Mordecai House in Raleigh which is a former plantation and the oldest house in the city on its original foundation.  Several other buildings have been moved to this site including the home which is the site of the birthplace of Andrew Johnson, President of the United  States.

At one time this house was on one of the largest farms in the area - over 5000 acres.  Part of the original land was sold in 1792 to the city of Raleigh as the site of the new capital city.

You can read more about the history of the house here.

 As is often the case, we split into 3 groups based on age.  Due to need for a chaperone in the middle age group, Eliana and I were able to tag along with this group!  We did 3 different things while on site and each group just rotated through things.

These are some of the buildings that have been moved to the site.  I was able to go into one of them because Eliana went to check it out and let herself in!  I thought it would be locked and didn't bother to stop her from going to the door.  I think she is going to continue to open doors for me in ways that I don't expect!  :-)

We visited the small green building on the left.

We went into the home that was the birthplace of Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States.  We learned more about him from his boyhood to his time in office.

 I enjoy hearing stories about people as that is what makes  history really come alive!

 The house is a very modest one.

 We were able to go inside and look at some period artifacts as we listened to the stories about President Johnson.

 The next activity was so much fun!  This was a new event for our group - a trolley tour of Raleigh!

 We are all ready for a ride!

 Again, we heard LOTS of stories - things from distant as well as more recent past.  From Sir Walter Raleigh to the performing arts center.  I loved later talking to my older boys as they wanted to compare stories about what we had seen and learned about.  I remain convinced that stories are a great way to learn!

 After our trolley tour, it was time to tour the house.  It is a beautiful home!

 The group of "middles" in front of the house.

 The library/family room of the house.  We looked at artifacts in each of the rooms and tried to figure out what they were.  The children were able to figure out some of them!  And they were excited too when they did!

 The wide  hallway where you can see evidences (in person) of where an addition was made to the house.

 Formal dining room.

 Sitting in one of the bedrooms.  It was warming up by  now and I was wearing a coat and holding Eliana so that she didn't wander where she shouldn't.  And she fell asleep!  What a heavy load she is now too!

 One of the upstairs bedrooms.

 Isaiah looking through an old fashioned "view master".  I can't remember the correct name of it.  (I should go look in the old Samantha books as I'm pretty sure that she had one of these.)

 Another bedroom.  With the "bathtub" in the middle of the floor!  Certainly seeing historic sites gives you reasons to give thanks for modern conveniences.

 Eliana liked having "Perry" on the tour with us.

 While outside we toured some of the grounds and gardens and learned about what had been planted on this homestead.  Eliana woke up for this which was great timing!

 This bell was connected to the dining room so that it could be rung when something was needed from the kitchen.

 While in the kitchen we learned more about the home and people that lived and worked there.  This is an actual photograph of the home and one of the slaves standing in front to it.

 The kitchen was in a separate building behind the house (to help prevent fires).  We learned about some of the tools used.  For example, on the far left of this picture is something that was used to press the bread dough which helped them to make better breads.  (We had all guessed some type of iron or press.)

 The activity was an archeological hunt.  Each child had a box, paint brush and popsicle stick.  The latter two items were their tools to be used in trying to unearth artifacts.

 They were told to look for 3 items that then try to determine to whom each item belonged.

 This was a great activity for ALL ages!

 Inside the boxes were a chipped piece of a plate (plantation owner), a cowrie shell (slave) and a coin (plantation owner).

 The goal was to dig gently with the popsicle stick and then use the brush to get the sand off of the item.  You can see the coin peeking out in the box below.

After our tour, we stayed and had a picnic on the beautiful grounds.  It was such a lovely day!  

It was a wonderful tour and the guides did an excellent job!!!  Highly recommend this site!

Blessings
Leslie

Changes ...

Changes can sometimes be challenges.  Some are small and can be easily sorted out.  I logged in this week to find that Blogger (the hosting site for this blog) has changed things.  Nothing looks the same.  Now to a reader, I would imagine that it doesn't look any different, but as I'm here writing, I find that all of it has been redesigned  to make it "better and easier".  We'll see.  While I wish it were still the same, (I'm happy with the familiar) I recognize that this is small and I will adjust.

Other changes are dramatic and can hit you upside the head.  These can often be painful and unexpected.  Times when our faith is challenged and we must cling tightly to God.  Hearing the news of a close relative with cancer is one of those.  Thankfully, further testing shows that it has not spread and treatment options look very promising!

Still other changes come slowly and are a part of just moving through life.  It doesn't mean that it isn't sometimes hard, but at least it is something that you can try to prepare for.  One of those was having Eliana move in to share a room with Rebecca.  Can I just say that I think it is so sweet that Rebecca wants to share a room with her sister?!

The girls went out shopping for new bedding.

It was fun seeing her look at things.  So many fun things to choose from.  Love this little girl pointing out her selection.  

She wanted to carry her bedding in the front of the cart.  LOL  She picked out Tangled sheets in case you can't tell.  She likes the "princess".

 This is our little cutie napping the next day.  Yes, she is asleep with her leg crossed like that.

This change has mostly been easy.  I will say that I miss having her in our room.  (She has a bed in there.)  I liked checking on her while she was sleeping and hearing her get up in the morning.  This is a good change, though I'm not always ready for my little ones to grow up.

The transition of Christopher going to college was another one of those that was planned.  To be honest, the anticipation of it was very hard for me.  This was a huge change for our family.  The reality though has been mostly sweet.  I've watched him grow and learn in so many neat ways.  I've delighted as I've seen him grow in his faith!  I've enjoyed getting to know his friends.  I'm thankful that we are able to spend time with him more often than we might have had he chosen a different college.

This week, Christopher came home with 13 of his friends for dinner.  It was a house full and it was so much fun!!!  All of us enjoyed having them here!

Some were so sweet to help me in the kitchen (I had not planned well and could not  have done it without their help!).

I love seeing others able to relax and enjoy being in our home.

Outside for volleyball, walking on the slack line, basketball, tag and more.

Later in the evening we played games ... King Mau, Sequence and Egyptian Rat.  (Not sure if I spelled or got all of those right.)

I also had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Christopher's girlfriend talking about her upcoming missions trip to Argentina and many other things.  We talked and laughed and prayed together.  It was very sweet.  I'm so thankful that we had this time together.  I'm excited to be praying for her as she leaves soon on a missions trip.  I took this trip to Argentina 25 years ago.  (I wish I had gotten a picture.  I forgot my camera!)

As I spent time with these wonderful young people, it really hit me that I'm in the midst of another change.  I'm not even sure if I can explain this well, but I'll try.  I have friends of many ages and stages of life.  Most are adults who call me Leslie and many of the others are my friend's children or children that I work with at church to whom I am "Miss Leslie".  (Southern tradition that I'm very comfortable with.)  Spending time with these students though is different in some ways - they are adults, but also the age of my child.  To many of them I am Mrs. Nelsen.  That has always seemed to be a title for an older person that I'm not, kwim?  Its always been my MIL.  And now, its me.

So though I don't yet feel "old", I am moving into a different stage of life now.  Having an adult child.  Or maybe it just feels different because I'm still in several different stages of life.  Having a broad age range of children does that.  My relationships with these wonderful young people will be different from those I've known.  As I talk with them, I wonder at times what my role is.  I want God to use me to encourage them and love on them.  Its not been hard at all because I just enjoy being with them.  I love spending time with them, learning about their lives and hopefully encouraging them.

I've been working on this post for several days and even as I write this, there have been changes.

Change in our lives can bring up so many emotions - ranging from excitement to despair.

At times, I'm not sure why change is so hard.  Sometimes, change can mean that something that I am comfortable with - or love - is gone.  It leaves a hole.  Its an opportunity to look to God to fill that hole.  I'm not always good at turning to Him first.  There is always more to learn.

Sometimes it is abundantly obvious why change is hard.  Some change just hurts.  It is in those times that I know God is the only one who can bring healing.  He often uses these times to draw me closer to Him and teach me more about Him.  Things that may not seem good at first can often end up being blessings.

There are also times that change is sweet from the start.  A blessing.  A new adventure.  Is it all in how we face things?  Can I seek to change my perspective by looking more to Him and less at my circumstances?  I don't know the answers.  I'm thankful that I know the one that does.

Blessings
Leslie

Book Club - Kisses From Katie

Well, I've really been neglectful over the past week.  Its just that life has been really busy and I just haven't made time to post.  I'm working on correcting that now with the next post coming with lots of photos and sharing about our week.  In the meantime, I wanted to post about one of our recent book club meetings.  We read the book Kisses from Katie.  

I loved this book!  Its a true story about a young woman who goes to Africa and falls in love with the people there.  The book is her story and yet it is so much more.  It is the story of Jesus and how He cares for each of us.  The book is filled with so many images - things that will make you laugh and others that will make you weep.  Katie's heart just pours out through her words and her love for the people of Africa is clearly given to her by a loving Father who lavished His love on all of us.  It is a beautiful story and one that has touched my heart deeply.  I highly recommend this book.  You can read more about Katie on her blog here.  

After discussing the book, we had a variety of goodies to enjoy eating.  Rebecca made an African bean dish (bottom) to be eaten over rice.  We served pineapple, banana chips (fruits native to the area),  chocolate peanut butter cups  and ginger ale.  We also had white chocolate treats to represent the "Pearl of African" (nickname of Uganda).

As always, it was fun to spend time talking and learning with our friends.  

More coming soon - hopefully tomorrow.

Blessings

Leslie