Spring Break Fun with Family!

We loved having Christopher home for a week in March while he was on break.  It was fun hanging out with him.  We had a campfire in the backyard one night.

Daniel made a meal from one of our FIAR books - and one of Christopher's favorites.  It was Italian food - marinara sauce over pasta and a ricotta cake for dessert.  

Daniel loves to cook (as have his older siblings) and I love that we have made these great memories with our meals which tie into the books we are reading.  

An early birthday gift.  Like the fun "wrapping"?

Wearing his birthday gift from his sister.  :-)  And dining with the red plate!

Biking at Lake Crabtree.  While they were biking I took Eliana to get fitted for glasses.  Let's just say that they had a better time than she did.  It was a bumpy mountain bike trail and not one I could have taken her on.

We did come back and meet them down by the lake.

They had hung up the Enos to enjoy the end of the day.

Relaxing after the ride.

Beautiful spot!

Children are so creative - and able to make fun wherever they are!  Isaiah giving Eliana rides.  And she loves it!

Brothers playing chess.

Visiting a near by  Polish deli.  We have been meaning to go here since studying Marie Curie and finally made it there.  Lots of yummy foods!

Another bike ride later in the week that included Eliana this time.  This is on the American Tobacco Trail.

An early morning fire where Roger cooks up a delicious breakfast for everyone.

Time to rest and time to play.  I love having fun with my family.  I'm thankful for our time together too. Its a sweet gift and one I thank God for daily!

Blessings
Leslie

Field Trip to Defy Gravity

This was such an amazing field trip.  I was excited when I first heard about it and we have been waiting eagerly for our turn to go!  I wasn't sure if Eliana would be comfortable going by herself, so I signed up for a Mom and Me time with her.  Well, I did bounce with her some, but she LOVED it!

 It was a fun place to hang out with friends.

 And even spending some time bouncing solo.

 Eliana eagerly moves from place to place with no fear at all!

 Great exercise.

 Lots of room for lots of people.  We weren't the only ones there, but since it was a school day, we mostly had the place to ourselves.

 There was a bouncy slide on one end.  (You can kind of see it in the above picture.)

 And a room with mesh walls where they played tag with some balls.

I loved the blur of Daniel moving so quickly in this photo.

 And a pit filled with lots of foam blocks.  Perfect for jumping into!

 And some of the braver (and more agile) did flips into the pit!

What a fabulous place!  And great for all ages!  

If you are local, you can visit Defy Gravity and benefit a friend's adoption fund at the same time!  Here are the details.

Date:  Wed April 10
Time:  7-9pm
Cost:  $20
Friends who are doing the fundraiser:  http://www.jennandchrisandkpr.blogspot.com/

You will need to complete a waiver and can do that online before you go.

http://www.defygravity.us/

If you have questions about this site or the fundraiser, please ask!

Have a great day!

Blessings
Leslie

Beyond Co-op: The Saturdays 4

For our final meeting of our study of The Saturdays, we studied birds.  We began by looking at pictures of birds and seeing how many we could identify.  

Then we heard bird calls to see if we could match up the calls with the birds.

Isn't this a beautiful program that one of our talented moms and her dh made for us?

Next we went outside to try out our knowledge in finding/listening to real birds.

They loved exploring and listening.

And were able to identify quite a few.

Some worked in pairs or groups while others were alone.

After a short time, we gathered to hear about what the others had heard.

In the second part of our morning, we talked about flight.  This was a fun follow-up to our most recent co-op as some of the topics were similar and it is always great to build on what you have just learned.

This was an experiment on Newton's Laws of motion.  They tried to see how fast they could run past the balloons.

Next they were to see how fast they could run and touch each balloon.

Lastly, they tried to see how fast they could move if there were going to pop each balloon.

All of this was tied into flight.  Our instructor today was an older sibling taking over for a sick mama.  And what a fabulous job she did.  She talked with them about some of the principles of flight while building their own planes.  They also discussed Bernoulli's principle.

They used paper and straws and were able to construct their own designs.

I'm not sure why I didn't get any more pictures of our food.  LOL  There were apples, chocolate covered sunflower seeds (yum), pretzels, and little cupcakes.  There were more foods I'm sure, but at this point I don't remember what.  LOL

I do remember that food sparked a conversation with the mama's on this day.  We talked about health and how foods contributed to our own health.  And as our conversation wound around, we talked about juicing and decided to try this out together.  It has been a great experiment and I will share more on it soon.  I love that learning is not confined but something that is shared and continues on at each step of our lives.

Thankful!
Leslie

Miscellaneous happenings in Feb

I thought I'd do a quick peek at some of the February happenings that I didn't blog about.  A peek into some of the fun and silliness and other happenings around our home.

Our tradition for Valentines day has always been pizza - usually a heart shaped one with the words I love you written on it in pepperoni.  We made 2 gluten free pizzas this year with a crust of cream cheese and cheese.  It is yummy.  It takes some prep time though so isn't something to do at the last minute.  I made heart shaped pepperonis for one and our words for the other.

 Shot of most of the family.

 Tried to cut the carrots into hearts, but I think they look more like Pac-man.

 Some cute little treat packages that I made.  :-)

Isaiah started his science experiment.  He is comparing a fast food hamburger and fries to home cooked to see what happens to each over time.  Here is day one with the fast food.  Will post more on this in April when the experiment ends.

 The weather has been so variable - from week to week and sometimes even from day to day.  We have had a small amount of snow - very small.  Here you can see the start of it one day.  We have not had any that stuck this year.

 We have also had lots of gorgeous, hang out int he sun type of days!  The Eno (hammock) was a gift from Christopher and the boys love it!

 We have been attending Awana on Sunday nights.  Eliana loves when her name is called for a new badge for her vest.  She loves standing on the stage.

 Daniel is a bit more serious on stage.  But then his award was a big one.

 Daniel earns his Sparky Award.  I know I already posted, but this is a good one to share again.  :-)

We share smiles and laughter while playing games and just being together.  (Pretty, pretty princess is a hit around here.)

We are sometimes silly.  Laughter is good for the soul!

 With sadness, our family gathers to honor the memory of my uncle who passed away.  He served his country as a Marine, and also served his family and community for many years.  It was wonderful to see so many of my relatives that I had not seen for a long time.  Its a sad reason to gather, but I'm thankful for my uncle's life and legacy.

Our legacy is such an important thing.  Are we investing our time and talents where it matters most?  Are we using the gifts God has given us for His good and His glory?  

 I'm thankful for all the gifts God has given me and though I fall often, I seek to follow Him.

Praying for you that God would bless and encourage your heart today.

In His love
Leslie