Beyond FIAR co-op: Saturdays 3

For our third meeting of The Saturdays, we focused on chapters 5 and 6.  The subject of Shakespeare was the topic of the day.  We started the day with a devotion.  

The students were each given some information on Shakespeare or the time period to share with the group.

Trying to match up the information that they were given with a picture that corresponds with the facts.

Here is an example of the fact sheet and the picture that went with it on actors.  Only men were allowed to be actors so they played both the male and female parts.  This profession was not one held in high esteem during this time period.

Pictures of the Globe Theater.  This was a fun way to share information.

Next it was time to learn more about one specific play.  Macbeth.

We watched some short clips of the story Macbeth from a production called "this is macbeth".  They use minimal props and costuming.  We watched some of the scenes in part on youtube.  You can go here for more information.

www.thisismacbeth.com

Next the children split into 3 groups to perform 3 different scenes.  Each child was given a role to play.

They spent some time reading and learning their roles, practicing and then sharing it with the rest of the group.

Group 1 did the banquet scene.

The second group did a scene with Lady Macbeth and her doctor and a servant.

They all really seemed to enjoy doing this!  It was a lot more fun than I anticipated it being as well.

And the third group had one of the final scenes.

Complete with a sword fight.

Anyone know what the ball is?  Probably only if you are familiar with the play.

It was fun seeing them get into their roles and have fun with it!

As always our "snack" ends up being a meal and is a fun way to finish the day.

Bottled drinks are a treat.

Our own banquet scene.  What a fun group!

Thankful for this hands-on way of learning with a fabulous group of friends!

Blessings
Leslie

Krispy Kreme Race

The Krispy Kreme Challenge.  Its a well known race in the area and in the world of runners due to its unique set-up.  Run 2.5 miles.  Eat 1 dozen doughnuts.  Run 2.5 miles.

Sounds crazy doesn't it?  Its all for a great cause though.  All of the money raised goes to North Carolina Children's Hospital.  One that we have personally been to and most grateful for.  

Christopher has run in this race for 4 years.  Roger for 3 and this year Joshua also joined in this year.  (Yeah, for those that know him, he didn't quite do it all as described above.  Not a great plan for one with diabetes.)  

We met them at the half-way point (Krispy Kreme doughnut store) with extra water bottles.  They have tables and tables filled with doughnuts and there are thousands of people standing around trying to eat a box full of doughnuts.  

I don't think I mentioned that this race sells out every year.  

We enjoy coming and seeing many of the runners in silly costumes.  It is quite entertaining.

The race is a challenge not due to the length, but due to the difficulty of eating the doughnuts in the midst of the run.  Some do it with relative ease.  

Many struggle but manage to get it done.

Some don't even try to finish.  

And others wish that they didn't. 

My children like being there to experience it all (well, almost all of it).  It is fun to see their family and friends.

And the younger ones are hoping to get a few doughnuts out of it.

Not a sight that you see too often at this race I would imagine.  Joshua is checking his blood sugar.  Even though he started the morning low and ate a low-carb, high protein breakfast, his numbers have risen.  Its a stubborn and difficult disease.  He eats 2 of the doughnuts before taking off again.

Roger with one of his friends.

At the end, the volunteers have much work to do in cleaning up.  This is where the racers toss their empty box before they set off to finish the race.  (Some run as "casual runners" who aren't required to finish the box before completing the race.)

As the runners leave, we head for home.  It was fun to see them and support them.  And to cheer them on in raising money for a great cause!

Hope your day is a sweet one.

Blessings
Leslie

Spring Break!

I can hardly believe that it is already March!  Where has this year gone?  It seems so quick for some reason.  Christopher is home for a week from school and his siblings are so excited to have him here.  They are busy trying to plan all of the fun things that they can squeeze into the week!  LOL  Its always wonderful to have him here.

I'll post more about our week - probably at the end of the week (or later given my track record lately).  I'm hoping to play a little catch up this week on the blog so I'm not posting cold weather things when its turning warm.  We'll see.

This post is just a random assortment of some things we have been doing over the last month.

Dinner after spending some time with the book The Story About Ping which takes place in China.  Fun eating new/different foods and in an unusual way.

Eliana doesn't realize how fortunate she is to have a big sister who is willing to fix her hair in such pretty ways - and dress her up cute too!

I bought more clay after the boys had so much fun with it at co-op.  Great entertainment and nice to have the electronics off.

Finally got the princess to work on her craft from Before co-op.  Its an adorable snowman!  She just did NOT want to make it while we were there.

I knew that she would enjoy glueing and sticking and not sure why she doesn't want to work in that environment.

A new haircut.  Looking handsome!

Fun foods for the Super Bowl.  (Yes, I'm that far behind)

We have had a variety of medical appointments in the last month or so - and more to come.  Its just NOT fun at all with Eliana.  She is scared and uncooperative.  We are fortunate to have a great team of medical professionals who are very patient with her.  This is before going to see the dentist.  Thankfully her teeth look great and there is no need for any further work!

The boys are enjoying doing more cooking and like when they can be independent.  Their favorite thing to make is nachos.  Yes, not a huge amount of cooking, but it make everyone happy.

We went to the consignment sale this month and found mostly things for the girls.  Yes, girls.  Rebecca found a lot of things this year!  I even found a new skirt.  :-)  And not surprising, Eliana was the big winner.  She is the one who needed the most as she has had a growth spurt.  The boys have a lot of things that still fit them well.  I ended up earning at lot this year too which is encouraging since it is a lot of work to get things ready.  I try to price things to sell and think that has worked well for me.

Whenever it is sunny or nice, this is where my boys like to hang out.  Christopher introduced them to the Eno life and they have embraced it fully.

I'm having fun with my new phone.  This is one of the apps that turned a photo into a card.  Just fun!

We are enjoying a fun week and I'll play more catch up in a what's going on post like this soon!  Hope your week is going well too.

Blessings

Leslie

Marbles

One of our cold winter outings was a split field trip.  We don't do this often, but this one worked out beautifully.  We chose 2 outings both in downtown Raleigh.  The older kids (10 and up) went to Artspace.  They toured the facilities and then had an opportunity to create their own batik art.  I have no pictures from this outing though since I wasn't there.

We were blessed from the start with this day by having free parking!  I decided to park close to limit our walking and was willing to pay for it.  They were having problems though with the pay machine so we all parked free!  

The younger children went to Marbles children's museum.  What a fabulous place to play!  There are soooo many fun areas to explore.  Most of the museum is set up in themes such as this place near the grocery store.  

This was a stage where the children could put on their own performances.  There were costumes to wear and seating out front for the audience.  

Upstairs we spent quite a bit of time in Moneypalooza.  Isn't my little girl getting big?  (She thinks she is big and independent too!)

Inside there is a lemonade stand where you can sell and also help to make the lemonade.  There are all of these fun balls to work with too!

This contraption takes them up to the second level.  The boys work to quickly load it up.

You can also  carry buckets of balls upstairs to dump them into one of the chutes or catch them coming out.

I think my favorite are in here is the pizza parlor.  They have adorable felt pieces to use for making your own pizza and an oven to cook them in.  Daniel and Kyle had a blast playing together all morning!

TIme to deliver a pizza.  It can be delivered by bicycle.

Or hand delivered.

Also upstairs is a sports/games area including balls, skating/hockey, soccer and more!  I love how they have made fun areas for small and larger children too!

Muscle workout for these strong guys!

This is a neat chair that you can raise while sitting on it while using your arms to pull on a rope.

Balancing is fun too!

Woo hoo!  Look at my strong girl!   I love seeing her pretending more and more!  

Also upstairs is a building and construction area.  Eliana didn't want to stay here too long.  Honestly, I spent much of my day running after her.  We are working on that, but at the moment she does just bolt at times.  

Daniel liked building some cars to race on this track.

Back downstairs again and the guys had fun in the laboratory.  (I love the dress up clothes!  Who gets tired of dressing up?  And its not just fun for girls either!)

There is also a pirate ship you can board and swab the decks or serve as a lookout.  There is even a plank to force someone to walk if needed.

Oh, and the water play area.  This just delighted Eliana!  I'm glad that they had these aprons to wear as she would have been drenched otherwise.

She loved scooping and pouring and watching the water.  I need to do more of this in the cold months.  This kept her happy for quite some time.

Can't you just see that she is enthralled?

Playing a little ball just before we left.  The things they are sitting on have wheels and slide around.  Neat way to make this game more challenging and also get more exercise.

We went out to lunch afterwords with some friends.  We chose Mellow Mushroom since they have gluten free options.  (And really yummy pizza!)

It was a fun ending to our day and a great time with friends.

We love our field trip days!  I think hands-on time of learning is some of the best!  I'm thankful we are close to so many neat things to explore!

Blessings
Leslie