Beach, Birthdays and Fun

We went to the beach in early April to visit my parents and to celebrate my Dad's birthday.  Look at the cute cupcake "cake" that Rebecca made for him!  

 Most of my kids with my Dad.

 Diving in ... literally!  LOL

 It was cooler when we arrived, but not so cool that we didn't head out to play on the beach!

 I had thought they might get a little wet and sandy, but not fully since we didn't bring swimsuits.

 Yeah, were you laughing at that thought?!   I should have known better.  They got soaked ... and loved every minute of it too!

 I just thought this was a sweet photo of Daniel.

 These three are such fun together.  Most of the time.

 Having a blast!

 Lets add some sand to the sopping wet jeans too.

 Isaiah starting on a sand castle.

 This is how very messy my little one got.  Maybe the greater the mess, the greater the fun?

 Trying to beat the tide.  A game played for centuries and not usually won.  Still fun though!

 More fun on the beach on the second day too.  I didn't have any other clothes options so this time we just planned to be soaked and sandy!

 Some aimed at sandy more than others.

Thanks Mom and Dad for having us!  We had a great time!

Love
Leslie

Abundance Foundation Field Trip

We visited The Abundance Foundation on one of our field trips in March.  Yes, still playing catch-up here!  LOL  This is a place that educates on sustainability and renewable energy.  We had a beautiful day for our tour and loved our time there.  We split into 2 groups - younger and older.  The younger kids started with the farming area.

We saw things growing outside and also in a greenhouse.

The fun part was actually sampling some of the things grown on the farm!

Everything was incredibly delicious - including a variety of greens!

One of the biggest surprises for most of us was how yummy the salad turnips tasted!  Now, I'm not a huge turnip fan, but these were delicious - raw and plain!

Doesn't my little girl look like a big girl tagging along with the other kids?!  

So many things were edible.

Including these flowers.

The kids were mostly adventurous in trying a variety of things too!

Can you see the snake hidden in the picture below?  He was big and tucked away in one of the green houses.    Not necessarily "on the tour" but the kids did enjoy getting a peek at him.

I love pictures from the back.  She is so tiny (still) and cute trying to keep up.

Can you tell what this is made from?  Take a guess and then read below for the answer.

 Strawbales.  Were you right?  This houses part of the biodiesel fuel operation. (Above) and another greenhouse picture below.  The plants are grown using hydroponic production.

 No matter what is on the tour, rocks are always a draw to so many children.  Eliana is no exception.

 Getting hands on learning with the vermiculture operation.

 Several of the kids were really hoping to take some worms home too!

 After the tours, we hung out and played and had a picnic lunch.

 The large chess set was fascinating for kids of all ages.  Some of them really used them to play a game of chess too!

 Picnics.  Sunny days.  Friends.  What a fun way to have school!

 Lots of space to run and play.

The staff was wonderful and we spent a delightful day here.  I heartily recommend this location for a field trip!

Blessings

Leslie

"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