"My Ipad"

I was hoping to catch up some this week on posting, but our main computer seems to have a virus - or something - wrong with it.  It's where all of my pictures are loaded.  I'm hoping Roger can work some magic on it and get it up and running again soon.  I was pleased to find that I had loaded a few pictures though so I can share at least one thing.

Electronics.  Things change and move so quickly these days.  I can hardly keep up.  I can't begin to keep up with all that my children know!  It just tickles me that Eliana knows the difference between an ipad and an itouch.  And oh boy does she like them both!  Often when holding the ipad she will let us know that this is "my ipad".

We have found some fun and educational games for her which I am hoping will be helpful for her learning.  She also really likes watching Phineas and Ferb on there too.  LOL

Here are some of the apps that she likes.

First Words Deluxe - Great game for learning letters and spelling words.  The letters are written and light gray so the child is really matching and then hears the name of each letter and then the word.

Wheels on the Bus - Just a fun, interactive musical game.

Scouts ABCs - A fun game made by Leap Frog. 

I Write Words - Great for learning to write letters.  Will not let you progress with incorrect writing and guides the child on forming the letters correctly.


Other fun apps enjoyed by a wider audience.

Cookie Doodle - Pick a recipe, make the dough (crack eggs, sift flour, and more), roll the dough, select a cookie cutter shape, decorate it.  Just fun!

Cake Doodle - Similar to the one above, but just with cakes.

Boggle

Game of Life

Angry Birds

If you have found other great apps - for any age - I would love to hear about them!  I've done a better job finding things for younger than for the elementary ages and would love some help!  I've added some free math games which I hope will be fun, but haven't played them with the boys yet.

You are never too young for this fun new "toy".  It's not just Eliana - most of her friends also love the ipad!

Can I just say that it cracks me up to see her sitting like this with the ipad propped on her leg?

Hopefully more soon when I can get to our pictures!

Hope you are having a fabulous week!

Blessings

Leslie

One month

I'm not sure I'll make it far into this post.  It's an emotional topic for me.

One month.  That's it.  Just one month.  A month can seem like a long  period of time when you are waiting.  Or maybe when you are really young.  But really, it's not very long.

30 days.

When I look back over the last 18 years, I delight in so many memories.  I'm so very thankful for this time.

Because in just one month ...



I'll have a graduate.

I'm thankful for God placing the desire to homeschool in our hearts.  This has been an incredible blessing for our family.  I have loved the years of learning together and know that we'll still be able to share and learn from each other - just in new and different ways.

For now, I'm trying to relax even though I feel like there is still a lot left to be done in a month.  I want to enjoy this time.  Just like I have wanted to enjoy the time that preceded it.  Time is fleeting ... and precious.

So for just one more month, I'll be homeschooling my oldest.  And that's all I can write now.

I love you Christopher!

Blessings
Leslie

Rejoice!

There is still plenty to catch up on, but I just have to post something exciting and current.  Last week-end for Easter, we were visiting our dear friends in VA.  This has become a new tradition for our families since they moved several years ago.  Just prior to moving, Joshua attended a baptism class at our church.  He has been interested in doing this, but the timing has just not worked out for us.  Our church was having a baptisms on Easter week-end. (which we obviously missed).  On a fun note though, one of our dear friends was baptized in VA while we were there!!!  What a sweet thing to be a part of!

When we were in church on Sunday, our pastor said that in case there were people wanted to get baptized last week and for some reason didn't, that they were going to have baptisms again this week!  I told Joshua this when I picked him up from Sunday school.  He wanted to think about it as it was not something we had prepared for.  A little while later, Roger texted me from church with Joshua's message ...

I want to be baptized.

So after church we gathered in a field beside the church.  Joshua met with a counselor who talked with him about why he wanted to be baptized and what his understanding was of baptism.  They had clothes for people to change into since obviously nobody came prepared.

Joshua waited in line for his turn.  Then got into the baptismal pool.  Jason Gaston (student pastor) and J.D. Greear (lead pastor) talked with him and shared some of his story.

Then it was his turn.  What a sweet privilege for our family to see one more declare his love for and faith in Jesus!  Praising God and praying that his love for his savior will grow by leaps and bounds!

Joshua was pretty excited (even though it may not look like it with his "I can't see without my glasses and while looking in the sun" face).  I am too.  I wish that we could have shared this with more friends (but it was so spur of the moment).  Rejoice with us in the celebration of this sweet day!

We celebrated a bit more with the red plate for dinner.  He was excited about that too!  :-)

Wanted to share a video from our church about Easter week-end.

Easter Video 2011

Praying that God's blessings are evident and His love overwhelming to you today!

With love
Leslie

Living in a miracle

Psalm 27:13
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.


So many days, as I'm wandering through my day, I miss what God is doing.  I'm busy or lost in my own thoughts and fail to see the details that He has orchestrated just for me.  It's not that I don't want to see them, but just that I'm not looking or not listening.  It's a journey - learning to live my life in a way that fully embraces God.  There is just so much more that I have to learn!

Then there are other times when God's hand is visible.  When the details of a prayer are answered.  Sometimes they are answered even if you didn't utter the prayer.  Often it is a sweet reminder that He loves me, knows me and is there for me.

And then there are times that are big.   Times that just leave me speechless.  Times when I marvel at what He has done.  Times when I know that I've just been a part of a miracle.

Last week, was one of those times.

We were on a field trip to a local organic farm.  We split into 3 groups and I was with the group that started off on a hayride.

 We headed across the highway from the place we'd started and were touring a field when it started to rain.  It had been forecasted to be a beautiful, sunny and warm day.  So far it was overcast, cool and now this ... rain.  It wasn't on anyone's list of fun for the day, but it was light and nobody seemed to be minding it.

We stopped to see some rye in the field while the farmer told us about it.

He also told us about the red clover growing amongst the rye.  It helps to add nitrogen back to the soil.  After this learning pit stop, we continued through the field.  We went a bit further and then turned back into the field.  Within a minute, the peaceful scene would change.

My back was to the road, but the gals facing the road yelled and I turned to see a car flipping in the air.   Completely flipping into the air and land in the field.  We yelled at the farmer to alert him to what had happened as he couldn't hear anything above the noise of the tractor.  I called 911.  This was the one scene that we recall with humor.

I explained that we were on a hayride and had just witnessed an accident.  I was asked numerous questions.  How many people are in the car?  I couldn't see because we were in a field on a hay ride.  Could I get close to the vehicle?  No, I'm with 15 young children on a hay ride.

We drove back closer to the accident.  The farmer went to help and returned visibly shaken.  His words then are etched in my mind.

"The vehicle landed where we were stopped just moments before.  If I hadn't taken that detour ..."

This brings back tears just recalling the event.  The car had flipped 2-3 times in the air before landing.  It was really up in the air.

Oh thank you God for the rain that perhaps caused our detour.  Thank you God for moving us from that spot just in the nick of time.  Thank you God for sparing us from what would have most certainly been horrific.

Psalm 32:7
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 
Psalm 41:1-2
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

The rest of our group on the other side of the highway heard horrible noises - and the farmer's wife and other workers flew from the barns fearful of what they would find.  Fearful that the crunch of metal was the haywagon.  Fearful of finding a nightmare.  Thankfully the driver of the car was able to walk out!  All of us are safe.

From an eyewitness, the driver swerved in the road, over corrected and then hit the ditch.  This sent it flying into the air - turning and turning before coming to a stop at the edge of the field.

It was all many of us could talk about.  God saved our lives.  God protected us.  God was right there in that moment visible to us all.

I know He is always with us, but this time it was just surreal.  Even a week later as many of us gathered today for co-op, we reflected on that moment.  It's hard to explain to someone not there what a profound experience this was for all of us in that wagon.

And lest that not be enough, many of us again today saw God's hand.  While we were roasting marshmallows in a fire pit in my backyard, the winds started rising.  (We were expecting a storm and were prepared to get out of it as soon as need be.)  While we were all around the fire, a tree fell.  Not far from us and in the opposite direction from where we were gathered.  God's hand pushing it away from us.  Protecting us.

Thank you God for protecting all of us.  Thank you for this amazing opportunity to share with our children about your strength and provision and to point to the miracle that happened.

In some ways it is also hard to post this given the devastation that has occurred in our country with the tornadoes.  I know that there are times when horrible things happen.  Far too often.  I know that life often doesn't go the way that we hope or dream or expect.  Life is often not fair.  Even in the midst of hard times though, or maybe especially so, praise for the One who loves us completely is good for our heart and soul and mind.

Lord I praise you for you are powerful and mighty and good.  Thank you Lord for allowing us to see your hand at work in our lives.  Give us eyes to see more clearly the many ways you are moving and working in and around us every day.

In His Mighty Grip,
Leslie

Beyond Co-op: Boxcar Children #1

Oh, what a delightful day!  A fun way to start out new unit on The Boxcar Children!  We had beautiful weather and amazing teachers!  First we entered "the Bakery" to start our learning.

So many fun things to learn about ... wheat, grains, expressions related to bread and more!

A display of various grains and breads.  The children each had either a picture or a word and they went to match up their card with the actual item on the table.

They did pretty well too!

Can you read this list?  It's expressions or saying that relate to bread in some way.  An example is that wealthy people are sometimes referred to as "upper crust".  The story behind this is from several hundred years ago when wealthy people were served just the upper crust of the bread while the bottom of the bread which sometimes burned in the baking was reserved for the servants or poorer people.  

They learned about various grains and the scientific group/family to which they belonged.  Some are actually grasses.  All of this was very interesting to me as I'm learning about grains as we prepare to go gluten free most likely this summer.

A drawing of a piece of wheat and a discussion about it's various parts (and the difference between white and whole-wheat).

Next the children acted out the story - or the first several chapters of it.  They were each selected to act as one of the characters in the book might act.  (Older boys were Henry, younger boys were Benny, etc.)  Below is "Henry" carrying "Benny" at the beginning of the story as they leave the bakery.

Their travels took them all around the yard.

Stopping for some water at the "fountain".

Bread from the bakery.  (This was rice bread - gluten free.  I was not excited about how it tastes and neither were most of the kids.  LOL)

The found a boxcar which was just perfect for sleeping in!

Milk was kept cool in a nearby stream in the "refrigerator" that they made.

The last lesson was on nutrition.  They discussed the food pyramid and the importance of having items from each part of the pyramid.  They were then given things in order to make up a menu for their own restaurant.  What an awesome job they did with it too!  I loved seeing how hard they all worked to come up with menu items and some even listed prices!  They named their restaurants too!

They spread out all over the back yard to think, create and work.

A bountiful snack!  Some of the cookies were gluten free and they were amazing!!!  I was very excited about that possibility!  Thanks Lynn!

They were each given a pocket with the food pyramid on it.  Attached to the pocket was a ring with all of the items that they should be eating in a day.  As someone ordered from the menu, they would place the appropriate item in the pocket.  This allowed them to see how well they did in eating from all of the food groups.  Isn't this neat?!!!

This is a great tool that we'll be able to use again and again!

Thanks Lynn and Adele for an amazing day!  We learned a lot and had a great time too!  I love learning with friends.  

Blessings

Leslie

Field Trip - Oceans and You

One of the downsides to falling behind in blogging is that some of the details just fall out of my mind.  Does this happen to anyone else?  *sigh*  Just too much stuff in there some days and somethings have to move out to make room.  LOL

We planned a field trip last month to learn about oceans.  We had someone coming to teach us and we planned to meet at a park.  Unfortunately, the weather was a little uncooperative.  Thankfully, we were able to get space in our church at the last minute and learn some fun new things.

We split into 2 groups - an older and younger group.  As usual, I hung out with the younger group.  They talked about the world and the oceans in the world.  The teacher covered some basic facts on the ocean with the kids.

They then made "flinkers".  It is an object that is a mix of floating and sinking.  It was about half and half.  (What was the tie-in with this and the ocean theme?  I don't remember.  Can one of you other FIAR gals that was there help me?!)

Its hard to tell in this picture, but this cork is not completely floating or sinking.  Half of it is below the water line.

The kids each worked on making their own flinker.  They used nails and thumb tacks to try to make their cork float - and sink.  What a fun, wet project.  I did have one though that just didn't want to get wet - or participate.  Its hard on some days to figure out just what to do to help him jump in.

The kids were split into 4 groups so that they could learn and have fun together.

They also talked about water displacement and did an experiment with 2 sizes of empty coke bottles which they then filled with water.

Which is heavier?

Which requires more effort - holding up the water bottle or pushing it down into the water?

While we were there, we had to be careful of the painting project going on in the children's area.  This is a peek at the project.  Its finished now and looks so awesome!!!

While waiting for his group, Christopher decided to pitch in and help with the painting!

Making oceans in a bottle.  She had various kids assigned jobs such as adding glitter or food coloring, water or oil.

A group photo!

Now showing off their oceans!

While waiting for the other group, we had space to play and hang out.

The older students learned about pollution and its effects on the ocean.  The first project had to do with an oil spill.  I asked one of mine for details on this and I don't know whether to be encouraged or disappointed that the detail recollection is about as good as mine.  Hmm ... maybe neither of us was paying great attention that day.  I'll add in more details if I can get them from the other participant.

Here are more details from my sweet friend Rebecca (also in the comments, but added here for any who might not read the comments.)

The older kids group worked to contain an oil spill. They were given tools(straws, nylon, hair) and were to make a plan for clean up, not knowing when the spill would happen. Once the "disaster" hit, they scrambled to contain, filter, and protect the "wild life" in the area. Great class and lots of fun!

Various items that have been left in the ocean.  The students had to rank them based on how long they thought it would take each item to decompose.

We did go outside for a bit when the kids (ummm ... boys) needed space to be more active.  They took turns running races along the sidewalk.  My little miss had to get in on the fun too.

Hanging out with a friend is always fun.  Playing ring around the rosy adds laughter to the day!

Another fun day of learning - and adapting when things don't go as planned.  I've learned to relax more when my plans are changed and thats a good thing.  I'm really not in control anyway and it does not good to try to be, kwim?

Hopefully I'll be posting more tomorrow.  Going to try to post daily this week.  We'll see if I can do it!

Hope you are having a great week!

Blessings
Leslie