An Animal Surprise

On our ride home from vacation last Friday, it was cloudy and rainy. It would have been a dismal day if we had not had some surprises along the way. Our favorite was a little petting zoo just off the interstate that we had never noticed before. Shortly after going through Macon, we were in need of a stretch break and saw a sign. The rain had stopped, so we pulled up by the gas station, paid a $1.00 entry fee, got food for the animals and took some time to enjoy more of God's creation.

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Jump Back to June

We opened the pool in June and enjoyed some jumping and diving. I worked on teaching Tboy how to swim and float.

Then, while he was at camp, we bought a City Pass and visited . . .

 

                                            CNN Center

 

                              Georgia Aquarium

                               World of Coke

                                   Zoo Atlanta

                                   and

                                      Fernbank Science Museum.

Whew! Theron had taken the week off so we could spend some time together as a family. I did get sick with a bad cold before we made it to Fernbank. We ended up going the following week and taking a family friend.

Also in June, we had our FCFE End of Year Celebration.
It was also our last month with Tboy. After his return from camp, he moved back to his previous foster family who wish to adopt him.



Remembering March

In March, we took a memorable trip to Explorations in Antiquity. We "went back in time" and learned about life in a tent during Abraham's day, sheep keeping, burials, oil pressing, and mill stones. In was a chilly day, but the kids enjoyed walking through a piece of Jerusalem as it was during Jesus' time and sitting in a slice of a Roman coliseum.

Also in March, we had another important birthday. Josiah turned 9. He woke to pancakes and turkey bacon. We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese and at Grandfather's.

 He enjoyed putting animal cookies on his cake and trekking through the Paulding County wilderness.

































Our home group joined us for a Welcome Party for our foster boy. He enjoyed helping to make the decorations.

Toward the end of the month, I took Hannah and Josiah to a program at the library about birds of prey. With Hannah's interest in owls, it was a must see. I believe the owl in the picture is a European Eagle Owl and the bird on the bottom is a falcon (it has a mask on to keep it calm). They are part of the Medieval Times Show. The ladies who brought them did a great job and it was very educational.

Vacation 2012 - Part Seven

This is the final entry, I think. On the last day of our vacation, on the way home, we went to Fort Pulaski National Monument.
Hope you enjoy this little bit of history. I know Theron did. Some things that I did not get in pictures were the firing of the cannons and the muskets, and the fish jumping in the moat.
Sorry, I was either too slow or had my hands over my ears at the time.

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Passages 2012

On June 16th, we met some friends at the Passages Exhibit. It was really very interesting and covers the history of the written Word. The kids wore headsets that explained the artifacts to them, so they did not have to read everything. There were also videos throughout of people in history (portrayed by actors of course) speaking to you about their involvement with scripture, as well as lifelike moving figures that "talked" to you.
No photography was allowed inside the museum, so all of the pictures in the Smilebox were taken before we went in, during our lunch break, and in an area off the gift shop where I practiced being a modern day scribe.
If I wondered about it being worth it to go before, I have no doubt now that it was definitely a meaningful thing for our family to experience. It was very well done. When you entered each section, there was a wall map that highlighted what part of the world and what time period the exhibit displayed. There was also a fun aspect for the kids. They were on a mission to find Louis the Lion and his paw prints and listen to him on the IPOD when they entered the number on the paw print. He would give them two riddles to solve - one serious and one silly. Josiah loved that part.
Would you believe, our Latin word for Monday following this trip was 'liber'. It means book. I did not know that before. Maybe you did. It thrilled me, because I had seen that word so many times at the exhibit on the Latin manuscripts and was unsure of it's meaning.

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FCFE Field Trip - May 11th

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Field Trip to Tellus

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Spelling Bees, Read Alouds, and Bowling Balls

. . . that is what homeschoolers are made of.
No, not really. But that is some of the stuff we've been involved in lately.

Spelling Bees

Last Friday, Hannah participated in her first spelling bee. I give her an A for courage. This is not here strongest subject even though, she has a passion for writing. Go figure.
We had a great panel of judges and a remarkable pronouncer.

Also an organized organizer. You gotta have that!

And a great group of spellers.

Hannah did not place, but she got a certificate of participation. She was happy.

"Were we all suppose to wear purple?"

Read Alouds

We just finished this one about a young man named Onesimus. Another good book by Patricia St. John that had us on the edge of our seats waiting for the next chapter. Not a boring read, there were twists and turns and surprises in this story based on Biblical characters. If you are not sure you know who Onesimus is, I would recommend you don't look it up in your Bible until after you've read this book, since it might ruin some of the suspense and give away the ending.

Bowling Balls

Our home school group had a fun field trip and tour at the bowling lanes today. They got to play two rounds (Is that what you call it?) and took a behind the lanes tour to see how the balls and pins are retrieved. Pretty cool! There are actually two sets of pins, plus one, in each lane, so there is always a set ready to go. The kids had a great time and Josiah even scored 95 in one game (with the help of bumper guards).

Corn Dawgs Field Trip

Today we enjoyed a trip to Corn Dawgs with some of our homeschool friends. It was a beautiful day and there was lots to do. The kids all had a blast.

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Hannah's 10th and Chocolate Factory Tour

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My Father's World - Nature Study

Before the weather got too chilly, we gathered on the deck and made nature journals. Using needle and thread we sewed together brown packing paper (recycling).

We read about trees and identified some of the trees in our yard.

Josiah really enjoyed doing this.

















Hannah had picked up a Junior Ranger book when we went to the Indian Mounds and has been doing some of the activities in it.

She began entering things in her nature journal right away.












Then we had the opportunity to go on a field trip with an expert. The weather had turned colder, but we headed out anyway.

She taught the kids how to identify trees by their shape, bark, leaves and fruit. They learned about conifers, animal homes, and got to play a game.

Josiah has to get to know the tree while blindfolded, then find the tree again after taking off the blindfold. It's harder than it looks. Then the kids gathered leaves to identify using field guides.

All of the kids seemed to like the cottonwood leaf. It was big and almost heart shaped. The second most chosen was the sweet gum, probably for its star shape.

On our walk, Josiah spotted these bugs on a pine tree. Do you know what they are?

Next we made plaster casts of tree bark, starting with pressing
clay into the bark.

The edges of the clay were turned up and plaster was poured in. We took it home to let it harden and then we peeled the clay away. Alot of fun things for a nature study day!