April - with a lot of photos!

This is going to be another whirlwind type of post with LOTS of pictures.  I had some trouble loading this post and after copying and pasting and deleting photos, I'm hoping this will work.   :D  This is a quick look at our April.   Enjoy the photos!

We signed up Eliana for a special needs sports team.  They played t-ball and soccer.  She tried a little t-ball, but mostly wanted to just "kick a ball".  They had a song for the group and every time I played the cd, Eliana very happily said, "I kick a ball!".  It was a great group and we enjoyed being a part of it.  I hope we'll be able to do more with them in the future.

 My two beautiful daughters looking a little bit like twins.  I love how Rebecca spends time fixing Eliana's hair so beautifully.  Everyone will certainly notice the change when she is gone in the fall.

 One of our field trips this month was to Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm.  We had a beautiful and cool day for our outing.  What a fun place to meet up with our friends!

 We loaded up into a big wagon for our tour of the farm.

 We were a little tight on space, so some of the boys volunteered to ride in the back of the pick-up.

 We learned a lot about this powerful animal.  Its really a bison and not a buffalo.

The animals are raised and eventually sold for meat.  I'm not telling him that though.

After our tour, we were able to buy meat and spend time picnicking with our friends.  This is a really fun visit if you are local.  The kids had a great time playing.  

We made a quick visit to see my Mom and Dad.  Its always good to be there with them.

 Fun group photo.

Playing some with the settings on my camera.  Eliana loving on her big brother!

 Here is another one.  I like the color in this one - and of course I love the cute girl.

Our book club read this month was The Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki.  An interesting book of historical fiction about Benedict Arnold's wife and the role she played in his actions.  Its based on some true accounts and certainly gives much food for thought as to how this might have really happened.  

 Our co-op studying Robin Hood spent one of our meeting times learning about archery.  Also a fun way to spend the morning!

Our FIAR group hosted a Geography Fair this year for the first time.  It was a big hit and we plan to repeat it next year!  Each child/family/friend group chose a country and then was able to present information about their country in any way that they chose.  We met in this beautiful outdoor/covered setting.

I loved watching my children become fascinated with a country and working to learn more about it.  So, from the pictures, can you figure out which country these guys did?  You can guess or peek at the answer at the end of this post.)  

Most of the presentations included poster boards in addition to other items from that country.  If there was a FIAR book related to the country, that was included too.  Can you see them in the picture below?

After all the presentations, it was time to eat.  Each family brought food from the country that they shared about.  It was a feast!  I'm not sure the picture really shows ALL the food that was there.  It was so very yummy!

And desserts too!  This was a delightful day.  I love it when a new idea comes together and really works!  Looking forward to next year too!

Our co-op group also got together for a pottery lesson.  Each child was able to make several pieces.

They were each able to throw a piece on the wheel.  (Harder than it looks!)

And make a piece by hand (or several).

Rebecca attended a homeschool dance with some of her friends.  Aren't they lovely?

TIme for Easter pics.  We travelled to VA to spend Easter with our friends.  This has been a fun tradition for many years.  This year, we brought Emily (Christopher's girlfriend) with us.  She is a delight!  She and her mom made this treat for us!  Isn't this great?!  We love deviled eggs in my family and what a treat to have them in such fun colors.  Oh, and they were yummy too.

While we were there, we played.  We brough KanJam which is always a hit.

 Aren't they cute?

We also attended a carnival type event at their church.  Do you see this ride?  It was a kind of fast barrel ride and my big girl rode in the last car all by herself!

There was a massive egg hunt.  

Bounce house, snacks and more.  Fun morning!

 In the afternoon, some of us went for a hike while others rested.  They found a neat cave.

Places to conquer ...

 and explore.

The hike was fun and there were pretty flowers and a creek nearby too.

 The rare photo of the moms.  Catherine and I have been dear friends for over 20 years!  (22 to be exact)  I'm thankful for her and just wish she didn't live so far away now.  Thankful that we can still visit!

 This isn't a great picture, but I wanted to share our fun activity with the teens.  Flashlight egg hunt.  Its so much fun and is a great way to involve those that are too old for a traditional hunt, but still like a challenge and candy.  :)

 After church on Sunday, it was time for some pictures.  Everyone under 22 in this one.  :)

We did family photos.  My heart swells with these people I love.  :)

 Christopher and Emily.

Just wanted to show off this little cutie in her Easter dress.

 We got one of the girls, but not the guys.

 Roger and I even got one.  I know about the sunglasses, but I could not see at all by this point.

One more egg hunt for the younger ones that did not join in on the night hunt.

 Love this picture of Joshua helping Eliana get to a hard to reach egg.  We had a wonderful time with our friends and also celebrating the resurrection of our Savior!  He is risen!

 Krispy Kreme doughnut day!  I was in Cary and met up with them for a late night snack.  :)

Tired yet of reading all of these and looking at so many pictures?  Bless you if you have hung in this long.  :)  Hope you enjoyed them.  Yes, she is tired - and fully asleep.  She crawled into the chair beside me and fell fast asleep.

More soon on some of our FIAR co-ops in April and then it will be on to May.  :)  Really wanting to share some superhero party pictures soon!

Hope you are having a great summer.

Blessings
Leslie

Answer:  Lichtenstein

Before FIAR: The Runaway Bunny

This post is to share some of our fun with the book The Runaway Bunny.  A sweet story of a mother's love for her little bunny and the lengths to which she is willing to go for him.  

We started with a reading of the story and a Bible devotion.  

 The little bunny was a fun prop that they all enjoyed.

 After reading the story, they worked to remember the sequence from the book and were helped by large illustrations placed around the house.

 With each place, it was time to remember what the little bunny became and what his mom turned into in order to find him.  They did a great job with these.  And did I mention that they liked the little bunnies?

 Part of the rabbit snack included grapes and bunny snacks.  My girl would not eat some of the other healthy options offered.

 Enjoying the bunnies along with her trusty friend George.

 More sequencing.  This is a great memory exercise at all ages.  In this activity, they worked on the ordinal number sequencing with numerals and words.  Additionally, they worked on remembering the order of the story and which object came next.  You can find the printables for these at homeschoolshare.  (As well as other fun things to do at home with this story!)

 Craft time.  They worked on bunny masks (Oriental Trading Co kit).  There were sticker pieces you could add to the ears and  and face.

 My girl did her own thing.  (Which is pretty typical!  LOL)

 Outside play activity that required listening and following directions.  I can't tell you more because I was either not listening or I just don't remember.

This wraps up March!  Tomorrow is going to be (hopefully) a quick fly through the month of April.  Off to go through some photos.

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Blessings
Leslie

FIAR vol 4: Grass Sandals

This is another co-op where I don't have many photos.  I think its hard for me to get them when I'm teaching.   Oh well, I'll share what I can and hopefully it is helpful and encouraging.

We started with talking about Japan and I asked them some questions to see what they knew about the country.  For example, do you know that Japan is comprised of many islands?  Do you know how many?  There are 4 large islands and over 3000 small islands.  This is a site you can explore to learn more.

I enjoy using this site (Operation World) to learn more about the people of a country and how we can best pray for them.  We did a devotion chosen from the ones in the manual.

Our next lesson was on writing.  We discussed some of the differences in the Japanese style of writing (see the manual).   I found a site that would translate your name into Japanese.  I did this for each of the children.

 They then spent time either trying to write their names or draw one of the characters from the story.

 This is a matching/concentration style game made from the characters in the book.  I copied two of each and made the cards.

 Our last activity was to paint a hat.  The man in the story writes on his hat.  Some wrote characters and others their name.

 I didn't get a photo of them all finished.

Our snack was some of the foods from the book - banana, eggs, rice, soup and gummies.

Another fun afternoon of learning with our friends.  :)

Blessings
Leslie

FIAR Vol 4 co-op: Albert

I'm continuing our March wrap-up.  I fell behind this week as we travelled to Virginia for Rebecca's college orientation.  We also celebrated Daniel's 10th birthday!  More on both of those soon!

Our next book in FIAR volume 4 was Albert.  A very sweet and funny story about a bird and the man who is forced to stop and spend time with them.  

All of this study on birds has really kindled an interest in Daniel to learn more about birds.  He has spent time watching them at the feeder (and taking pictures and videos).  As well as feeding them and listening for them outside.  I love that he is beginning to be able to identify their sounds!  I've never been very good at that.  

 During our co-op, the kids learned about cardinals.  They colored and labelled a picture.

 And listened to a neat video.  (See link below.)

This video explains how cardinals make music using 2 sets of tubes coming from the lungs in order to make 2 different sounds!  An amazing look at the intricate design of the Creator.

 Next, they each got a bowl of berries and crushed them up as best they could.

 Then strained them to get a nice (and not lumpy) liquid.  Now it was time to paint.

 I loved seeing their creations and isn't this a great painting that Daniel made?

 Our snack was obviously berries.  For some reason, they weren't interested in trying some of the other foods that the birds in the story ate ... like bugs.  Can't blame them there!

I don't have many pictures from this one, but we still enjoyed our time with this delightful book!

Blessings
Leslie