Thursday, October 22, 2009

Field Trip - Historic Oak View County Park

Today was field trip day.  It was a beautiful, sunny day - just perfect for an outing with friends.  We visited Historic Oak View County Park.  This is a 19th century historic farmstead.  Our larger group was split in half and we then toured the grounds.  We viewed the home from the outside only.  The left side of the house is the original house (1855) and is built in Greek Revival style.  The right side of the house (Colonial Revival) was added on in the 1940s. 



There was a lovely gazebo in the front of the house.



We went into the kitchen, a separate building behind the house.  We talked about things that we used and done differently than today. 



The children helped start the making of butter by using cream in a jar.  (Much easier than using a churn, though mine have liked doing that in the past.) 



Next, we went outside and the children had the opportunity to try using a washboard to clean some clothes. 



Three children at a time were able to wash clothes.



Eliana loved this.  Of course, she loves anything with water!  Her wonderful big sister was helping her!





Just thought this was a fun picture of Isaiah and Joshua with their buddy Joe.



The cash crop for the plantation was cotton.  Until the boll weevils came through destroying cotton in the US.  They switched then to pecan trees.  The children were able to go into this  "field" of cotton and pick one. 

 

 

I know you can't see it, but I love the he wears a Down Syndrome Awareness bracelet on his right arm.  :-) 



Getting the seeds out is hard work.



I think this is a really pretty plant.  Feels so soft too!



Next we went into an old barn and learned more about cotton. 



The children twisted cotton to show how it strengthened the fibers. 





We saw an old gin,



a huge bale of cotton and even a boll weevil.  (It was much smaller than I had imagined.) 

 

Eliana loves hanging out with her friend!



The children learned about artifacts.  We were told that to be an artifact it had to meet these three criteria

*must be old

*must be made by humans

*must be used by humans.

The children were given several artifacts and then tried to figure out what they were used for - and it wasn't as easy as you might think!  Two of the items are in the next two pictures.  See if you can guess how they were used. 



 

After figuring it out, a spokesperson from each group shared with the rest of the group what the tools were used for.  Did you have a guess?



The first one is a tool used to remove the nails from horseshoes.  The second is to scrape away the hair and skin from a pig in order to have clean meat.  (yuck!)

We stayed for a picnic lunch.  There are large grassy areas (where the pecan trees are growing) that are an ideal spot to picnic and play.  Daniel loves hanging out with his friend Miss Lynn!



We played for a short time in the museum.  There is a really cute hands-on children's area.  Eliana loved the dress-up. 







A beautiful fun day.  I had fun hanging out with my children and my friends.  I'm so thankful I have the opportunity to do these fun things!

Blessings
Leslie

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Autumn Fun!

We are doing a really fun unit study this week and it's a free one too!  It's called Autumn Treasures (click on the link) and you can download it for free if you want to try it out yourselves!  It has a lot of great internet connections as well as lapbook components included. 

One of the things in the unit is to go on a daily Nature Hike.  My boys are loving this.  So am I!  I'm not always so good are taking time to specifically study nature - we are kind of sporadic about it.  Since nature cries out about God though - it is definitely worthy of being studied!



We are to notice and find things.  Leaves are an obvious choice this time of year.  We have found some very interesting and lovely ones too.



Isn't this leaf beautiful?  I love the colors and how it is changing.



They have also done a fair amount of drawing of various aspects of fall.  I love seeing the details that each boy adds in as it shows so much of their personality and interests.  Does this boy look proud of his work, or what?

 

One day we gathered leaves to do leaf rubbings.  Instead of going back in the house, I had an impromptu idea to go to the treehouse instead.  This was a lot of fun!  I loved hanging out with the boys up there - and know I need to do it more often.  (It helped that this was during Eliana's nap!)









The boys really enjoyed making the rubbings.  It made me wonder when was the last time we had done this?  It must have been awhile.



I like using this guide book to help identify trees and leaves.  You want to know what I like best about it?  It has trees that are here where we live!  Not trees we won't come across in our day to day wanderings.  It only cost a dollar or two and I bought it at one of our state parks.  Great resource if you live in North Carolina!



Here are just a few more photos that I enjoyed.  Eliana loves going down the slide!  It is even more fun with someone you love. 



She also loves to swing.



This is a fun chalk drawing the Rebecca made of some of our favorite things at the State Fair.  We were planning to go today, but one of our boys wasn't feeling well.  It was a good choice to stay home and we are hoping to go another day soon!



That's all for now.

Blessings

Leslie

Sunday, October 18, 2009

A Variety of Random Photos

One of the fun spots of our week is when Eliana has music/developmental therapy.  She loves it.  I love seeing her participating and having fun.  I did Kindermusik classes with my other children and she has missed out on this (no free mornings in our current schedule to do this).  I love that she has this opportunity. 

We learn songs and play instruments.  Is this one cute or what?



Eliana's favorite instrument is the cabasa.  A close second is this big drum which doubles as a fun ride. 



Isaiah received a pirate excavation kit for his birthday.  He loved it!



I love his focus on this project (and all the dust on his face!).



We've had a lovely fall so far and I really enjoy being outside this time of year (as opposed to the summer when it is just so hot).  We took advantage of one of our nice afternoons to go on a nature scavenger hunt in our backyard. 



We used a form I got from a recent field trip and went out to see what we could find.



They found most of the things on the list - including mushrooms.



This is a "natural" see-saw that they took turns on.

I love pictures from behind and in this one I love that the boys are looking all around in different places to see what treasures they can find.



We walked down to the small creek and of course a couple of them wanted to cross it. 



It was a fun way to spend some time and it's something I need to do more often.  Fall is my favorite season and I'm hoping we'll get out and do this more often!

We saw Eliana's ped recently at a visit and she requested a picture of Eliana and Joshua.  She is giving a talk about caring for kids with medical issues (her specialty is children with chronic and complex medical conditions).  She likes putting faces in front of people when she is talking.  She has used a pictures from Eliana's heart surgery in the past too.  I think she is right.  Hearing something and then adding a face to it certainly gets to your heart.  It makes it something that is happening to a person and not just medical facts.

Anyway, as I looked through my pics I realized that I didnt have any good ones of just these two, so I snapped a few and love what I got!





Blessings
Leslie

Friday, October 16, 2009

FIAR Co-op: Cowboy Charlie

It was time again for our co-op.  We are meeting every other week.  We go on field trips during the alternate weeks with our FIAR group.  So each week we look forward to this day as a fun hands-on day of learning with our friends.

Our book for this co-op was Cowboy Charlie.  It is a true story of an artist who painted beautiful pictures of the West.  The story tells of how he went out west, learned to be a cowboy and was friends with the Native American people. 

Our day was wet and cool, but that did not dampen the fun had by all.  Some of the children dressed up.



Can you see the teepee made from branches?  The circles on the photo are raindrops.



We read the story to start the day.



The children were then given passports of various historical characters. 



There were pictures and some facts on the front and more details on the back.



It was fun to hear the stories of the people from the past. 



Sometimes the characters were a really good match.  lol



They travelled around the yard and listened to stories about these people.



They came to a table filled with interesting things ... a turtle's shell, claws from a hawk and an owl, various bones, precious stones including fool's gold and amethyst.  My boys really loved seeing and touching these things!









Eliana and her friend Julianna always have fun playing together.



The children took turns trying to rope the steer. 



This was supposed to be our snack site complete with water to pour from the kettle, but the weather drove us inside. 



The children learned about the stars and God's story behind the constellations.  They each had a hands-on poster to work with as they were learning.



We finished the morning with a yummy snack from our sweet hostess! 



Thank you Lynn and Vivian for a wonderful morning!  I love this co-op and can't wait until we meet again.

Blessings
Leslie