I Love the Christmas Season!!!

Today which is the day after Alexis’ birthday, we had our Keepers Christmas Party.  Since I had Book Club at my house yesterday, and a get together for Alexis later in the evening, I was grateful and thankful that I did not have to plan this party.  One of our wonderful Moms did.    I know she worked hard planning the party, and everything turned out great!  The room looked very festive with red and green tablecloths and centerpieces on each table. 

This year we have our biggest group of girls ever.  !!!25!!!  Each one of our Moms has truly been a blessing to the group, and I am thankful for all of them.

We held our party at our church. What a huge blessing it is that our church lets us use the facilities to hold all of our meetings and events.  Each mom brought a dish to share.  I enjoy doing this, as I love tasting other peoples recipes.  The Mom who was in charge of the party made a delicious eggnog trifle dessert.  It was so good that I just had to ask her for the recipe.   I plan to serve it at our Christmas meal. I don’t know what else we’re having yet, but the important part of the meal is now planned. 

Each year as a Thank You to our church staff, several of the Moms and their girls bake Christmas cookies to give to them.   After our luncheon, some of the moms took the girls around the church to pass the cookies out to everyone. 

A Cookie Stop at our Church Office

While a few of the moms took all the girls on the cookie round, some of us stayed behind and cleaned up - to get everything set for the girl's craft extravaganza.  Our sweet mom who planned the party had many activities waiting for the girls when they returned.

Making Chocolate Dipped Spoons

This was the chocolate spoon dipping station.  After crushing some candy canes with the bottoms of their mugs, the girls dipped several spoons into melted chocolate and sprinkled candy cane pieces onto the spoons.  Then they wrapped them up to give as gifts, although I suspect that some of the girls made a snack out of them later that afternoon.

Painting Salt Dough Ornaments

Mitten Bookmarks

I wish I had taken a photo of the last craft station, but somehow I missed it.  The girls made swirl painted Christmas ornaments.  (The kind where you pour a couple of acrylic paints into a clear round glass ornament.)  Alexis' turned out beautiful, and is hanging on our tree now.

After the food and crafts - it was on to the award ceremony...

Each of the girls earned badges for Plastic Canvas, Special Needs, and Soap Making.  Soem worked on additional badges at home with their moms.

After the awards were passed out, the girls had a book exchange.  They all left the party with their arms full.  I am sure they had a wonderful time – I am so thankful for my sweet friend who worked very hard to make all of our Keeper Girls happy. 

I am looking forward to the 2nd half of our Keepers year.  It has been tremendous fun so far!!! 

My Baby Turned 10 Today!

I can hardly believe how fast the years have flown!  Alexis is our 3rd, and youngest child - our bonus baby!  She is 7 & 8 years younger than her siblings.  The Lord had had a plan, and knew what He was doing when He brought her into this family.  I remember the day she was born.  She was quiet!  She didn't cry, but instead looked around the room as if to say - What are you all doing?  I must be missing out on something, and I'll soon find out what it is!  She certainly has stayed observant!

Alexis asks lots of deep questions.  She wants to understand everything!  She challenges me almost every day when we read the Bible.  When she was really young, she asked why God let Adam name all the animals, and did not save any for her to name.  Too funny!!!  A couple of her recent questions were, "Where is the Garden of Eden."  and "Why  asked where the Garden of Eden is located, and Why did God put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden in the first place?" and those are her easier questions!  Alexis is my social butterfly.

Somewhere between the ages of 1 and 2, before she could really speak, Alexis decided that she wanted to go bye bye.  Where?  I have no clue!  She could not verbally tell me, but she did her best to communicate her sentiment to me anyway!  She got my shoes and tried to put them on my feet.  After I got that message and obeyed her by putting them on myself, she pushed me to the door in my kitchen that led into the garage, (where the car was parked.)  I asked her is she wanted to go bye bye, and she nodded her head yes.  I will never know where she wanted to go, maybe she just didn't care - as long as we got out of the house...  She is still like that today!  Alexis is not content unless she has gone somewhere, or had friends over.

A few weeks ago, my husband's car had to be put in the shop so he needed to use mine for work.  Alexis and I did not go anywhere during that time.  She was sure to let me know that we were home waaay too long - and thought it was one of the longest weeks of her life.  The car was only in the shop for 2 1/2 days, but that's our on the go girl!  Most of the time she does get constant on the go time.  Piano lessons, acro and jazz lessons, book club, co-op, Keeper's AWANA, Sunday School, lots of field trips, and play dates with friends keep us running.  If she were enrolled in formal school, I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to get enough social time!!!  lol!!!  

Alexis enjoys playing the piano and practices without being told.  We call her Tigger because she is extremely active ~ so tumbling, twirling, bouncing, and rolling during acro fit well with her personality.  She loves spending time with friends, and looks forward to seeing them as often as possible.  Alexis loves the Lord and works hard at memorizing Bible verses for AWANA and Sunday School.  Alexis has a quick wit.  She has a strong continence, she's amazingly generous, tenderhearted, and kind to friends.  She is also caring toward her family.  When I am sick, she wants to nurse me back to health.  She'll bring me a tray with water, medicine, crackers, or whatever else she thinks I'll need to get better.  She is always sure to add a homemade get well card to go with it.

Alexis is extremely loving to her Grandparents.  Last week we were scheduled to take my in-laws to the doctor and my mother-in-law called to ask if we could come over early because my father-in-law was feeling weak.  She thought that he may need the wheel chair at the doctors office.  We left promptly, and as soon as Alexis and i got to their house, she hopped out of the van and went inside while I put the wheel chair in the trunk.  I planned to go inside to help my father-in-law to the van after that, but as I was closing the trunk, I looked up and there was Alexis guiding her Granddaddy out of the house and marching him to the van.  I cannot tell you how relieved I was that she was able to do this.  With him having Alzheimer's Disease, it is sometimes incredibly difficult to get him to follow directions.  Alexis saw that a job had to be done, and just comfortably took care of it.  I love her take charge attitude!  I also love to spend time with her, and feel blessed to be her teacher and her mother.

I am sooo not wishing the time away, but I am looking forward to seeing what the Lord will bring her way in the next 10 years.

Alexis made the cake, I made the frosting and spread it for her.  Then she decorated it all by herself.  Can you tell?  She was quite proud of her cake decorating techniques!

Alexis' Book Club friends celebrated her birthday with her.  We hosted and she chose some fun "Revolutionary War" era crafts to do as a go along with the book Toliver's Secret.

Alexis waited patiently until the end of the day to open her presents from family.  She still had enough energy to be really excited!  I love her enthusiasm!!!

My Most Favorite Co-op Day of the Year...

Christmas Craft Day

Maybe it’s because I love Christmas… or maybe it is because I love to see the look on each child’s face when they get ready to take their craft home.  Probably a little of both – but each year I truly look forward to this day.     

First I get to plan out what the students are going to make.  Then I get up early on the Friday after Thanksgiving – yes! – Black Friday – and do my shopping for it.  Sounds crazy… but that is the day that Michael’s and JoAnn’s give you 20%-25% off of your entire order – even on sale items.  After I buy my bargains, I go home and spend a few hours trying to find a place in my house for about 15 bags full of craft supplies.  My husband just shakes his head and says, "Here we go again!’   He says this because he knows that there will be something he has to do to help me make this happen. 

This year 18 of our 3rd -5th graders made Snowmen!   Not just any old snowmen, but candy dish snowmen. 

We used fish or ivy bowls that can be bought at any craft store.  My dear husband sprayed each of them with a matt base spray paint so that the children could paint them with acrylic paint and it would adhere to the glass.  (See my husband was right… he knew he would be helping with this project.)  He also helped with the hats.  They are made out of craft foam.  You can’t see it, but I used fancy scissors to cut the brims of the hats.  I used a salad plate to make the pattern.  Then I cut a tight hole in the center.  If it is too loose, the hat will flop.  From there, I cut straight strips of foam that would encircle the tops of the bowls.  I found another object in my house smaller than the salad plate to make a circle pattern for the top of the hat.  Then my husband wrapped the strips around the circles and stapled the strips so that the circle/tops could later be placed just inside the top of the circle/strip (to be used as a lid.)

We had the students use cut up kitchen sponges to paint a white acrylic textured pattern on the snowman.  The noses are actually wooden spruce trees – found at Michaels.  After the children painted their bowls, we had them paint the trees orange to turn them into carrot noses! 

While the bowls and carrots were drying, we started our sock snowmen.  (More on that later.)  Once they were mostly dry – about 20 minutes – the children worked on the faces.  For time sake, I found sticky googly eyes at JoAnns to use.  The eyes could easily be painted on though.  It is just that we had 2 projects to complete in 50 minutes with 18 students.  Time was of the essence!  Even though the eyes had sticky backs, they still needed reinforcing with a little extra glue.  While gluing the eyes, they also glued the  noses to the bowl.  [I found this great glue at Joann's called Beacon's 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue.  It drys super fast and works as good as hot glue.  It is waterproof though so be careful.]  After gluing, the children made their pink circle cheeks with some round paint brushes.  Finally they finished their part by using the back point of a paintbrush to paint dots of black for the mouths.  This was the suggestion of my daughter Amanda – who has quite a knack for coming up with great easy helpful hints when it comes to arts and crafts.   After the students placed their snowmen on some wax paper outside, two moms completed the projects by spraying high gloss finish on them and then sprinkling some sparkly glitter over it for a cute finish.  

As I was saying… They also made sock snowmen. 

We have 3 because Alexis enjoyed this project so much that she came home and made more!  Thankfully I tried making a demo of this before our craft day.  I used suggestions off of the internet, but had great problems combining rice with  fiberfill.  I also had problems keeping it steady using just rice.  I almost scrapped this project, but then went on the internet one last time to see if I could find one more idea to help keep the sock snowmen supported.  The Lord is good!!!  I found an idea that worked!  Wide mouth canning jar dome lids – this size worked well using men's ankle socks.  First place the lid down into the sock before you add the rice  Next add 2 cups of rice to the bottom of the snowman.  Straighten and adjust as needed, then place a rubber band around the sock.  After that we added 1 cup of rice and then last, another rubber band.  To finish, you just pull the remaining part of the sock down over the head of the snowman to make it look like they have ski type hats on.  The children decorated them by gluing buttons on the body, and wrapping a scarf around the neck.  They also used fabric markers to create their faces.  Some children used googly eyes, some drew their own eyes.  Some decorated the hats with pom-poms too.

As each child came back to my room at the end of the afternoon to pick up their snowmen, they seemed so pleased with their work.  I was pleased too, that their projects turned out so well.  I love working with homeschooled children.  We are so blessed to have a great group of them in our co-op.  We are blessed too, that our church allows our co-op the opportunity to use the facilities for fun times such as these.  Above all, we are blessed that God sent His only Son down to us, so that we can have eternal life – and a Christmas to celebrate each year.

How to Make a 9 Year Old Girl Happy!

Sewing!

At Least This 9 Year Old!!!

             
This is not the best picture, but I had to share it  because Alexis absolutely loved making this scarecrow.  I am so proud of her efforts.  I think she did a great job!  This is the 1st time that I let her use the sewing machine mostly unsupervised.  If you can see the details, you can tell this is definitely a 1st for that.  (She actually has used a sewing machine before - our Keeper's girls made wall hanging quilts a few years ago, but it involved straight lines and much supervision.)  The scarecrow is the fruit of a 3 week unit study on Seamstress and Sewing Machines.  (See earlier post.)  Alexis learned all the necessary parts of the machine, and enjoyed her time running it.  We did not get to the hand stitching that I had hoped to work on with her.  Hopefully we will have some time for that during the Christmas holiday.

The Good:  The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids was a wonderful starting point.  I gave my pre-trying out opinion in an earlier post, but I have to say it was a big hit with my sweet daughter.  I photocopied all the allowable sewing practice pages and she went to town using the machine with no thread.  The author has several fun learning activities included in the book as well.  It also includes a few small cute project for students to do.

In Their Own Words:  Betsy Ross - This was an easy reader.  That worked out well because it gave Alexis more time to sew.  An added bonus; since we visited Philadelphia over the summer, her memory was quite fresh of many of the locations mentioned in the book.  

The Bad:  Three weeks went by way too fast.  I felt terrible putting the sewing machine away.  However, we had to get ready for our Thanksgiving guests...

The Ugly:  Well, I would have to say it was reading about Isaac Singer.  I knew that he led a colorful life, but had no idea just how much so until we read a short biography.  Wow!  That is all I can say.  I don't think I'll ever quite look at sewing machines the same...

Anyway- again, it was a fun 3 weeks, and we are now moving onto The Jesse Tree and notebooking our state history!

My Father-in-Law

A Man Who Is Commendable Before The Lord 

One of the biggest blessings our family of 5 has is our extended family.  At this time, my thoughts are especially reflecting on my father-in-law.  You see, he is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease.  Only the Lord knows for sure, but these upcoming holidays may be the last that he is able to spend in our home.  That is extremely painful to say.  So, it is with a heavy heart that I write a few of my thoughts about how blessed we all are to have him a part of our lives. 

After first meeting my Father-In-Law, I walked away with the impression that he is a man with quiet strength.  He did not speak much, but had a quick wit, and came across as a true gentleman who is extremely devoted to the Lord, my mother-in-law, and his two sons.

 

As time passed, I could plainly see that he is a man who "walks the walk" of his Christian faith.  With so many outstanding qualities, there is much good that can be said about him.  If ever there was a real life hero, he is that to me.  I can not emphasize enough what a gift he has been to us all. 

As a husband, he loves, honors, and cherishes his wife.  They stood united always.  If he disagreed with her in anything, it must have been done it in private – he never disagreed with her in front of us – including (to my knowledge) my husband when growing up.  His love for her was very evident.  They were and still are, best friends.

He led his sons by example to show them how Christ wants us to live. He has given them sound advice, and has been a witness to them on how a man should love his wife.  Whatever situation one of them was in, he was quick to say, "What can I do to help?"  From the time David and I started our family, his parents were always there to celebrate holidays and birthdays with us.  In addition, whenever we needed them, they would travel almost 5 hours to help us out.  When at our home, my father-in-law would just look around and see what needed to be done – then do it.  Hedges trimmed, trees cut back, repairs to the house – he was a tremendous help and support to us. 

I am writing this before Thanksgiving because it is a holiday in which we reflect on what we are thankful for.  The Lord has blessed me with a my father-in-law's son, a wonderful husband and his 3 beautiful grand-children.  I am so thankful that He chose them all to be a part of my life.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned a life so rich and full as the one I am living.  I can only give the credit for this to my Savior.

What has touched my heart the most about my father in law is that he is a remarkable Granddaddy.  He play wrestled with our son when he was little, played checkers with our middle daughter, and taught all 3 of our children how to play pool on a child sized pool table.  How many grandfathers out there would let their grandchildren clip Legos together in their hair until his head was covered?  He did.  When they were babies he held them when they were sleeping, and strapped them carefully in their car seats to take them to the grocery store.  When they were older, he spoon fed them their dinner when they got fussy, and took them fishing in our back yard.   My children have been given a priceless gift from their grandfather – the gift of his time and loving attention.
           
He was active in his Baptist church as a deacon, and volunteered for numerous charitable events along the way.  All the while he kept a good balance so that he could be attentive to his family’s needs. 

He was a good son and son-in-law.  When I met my husband his parents were in the beginning stages of caring for their parents.   Without reservation or complaint, my father-in-law did everything he could to meet the needs of their parents.  This included 7+ hour trips to North Carolina – sometimes close to 20 per year.  He kept up their finances, combed their hair, trimmed their nails, worked on their houses, and did anything else for them that needed to be done.

There are 2 things I never heard come out of his mouth, a complaint or an unkind word.

 

As I read back over some of what I wrote, I feel a sting of pain in my heart because the reality of Alzheimer’s disease makes it so he physically and mentally can no longer be who he loved to be.  This disease prevents him from continuing to do what he did best, serve others.  For the remainder of his time on earth , my father-in-law’s life will be much different than the one he led up to a few short years ago. I take great comfort in the knowledge that this does not apply spiritually; his soul will forever be the same dignified Christian man.  But for right now, it has changed the dynamics of relationships within the family.  Once this strong vibrant man helped us all, now we help him.  My husband helps with repairs around his house and much more.  He and our older children work in his yard.  My youngest daughter buckles him carefully in the car so we can take him on errands.   My mother-in-law combs his hair, trims his nails, and continues to love him and be his best friend.

 

The biggest blessing I can say that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving season is that my father-in-law’s legacy ~ the gift of giving has been passed on.  Truly that is something to be thankful for.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the opportunity to know this precious son of yours, my father-in-law.  Through the love that he has shown his family, we are able to see a glimpse of how much Your Son loves us.  Through his kindness, we are able to comprehend a glimmer of how much Your Son cares for us.  Through his quiet strength we can better understand how to be more like Your Son.  I thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of his life as his mind deteriorates from this disease.  Please help us all to be a comfort to him, and help us to honor You by honoring him until you call him home.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

 

Seamstresses and Sewing Machine Unit Study

It’s Fun-ucational 

We are taking a break from Sonlight through the holidays.  We did this last year, and having some flex time during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons worked well for us.

So, for a little "fun-ucational" activity, I let Alexis choose whatever she wanted to study about.  She chose Sewing Machines.  She had an ulterior motive.  She is dieing to get at my sewing machine.  From a time-line perspective, this could not have worked out better.  We are right in the thick of the industrial revolution era with Sonlight.

Because Isaac Singer is so "colorful" I decided that it would be a smart idea to add Seamstresses to the mix of studies.  A good read about Betsy Ross may be just the thing to counter the character of Singer.  Also, hand stitching is always a good skill to concentrate on, and may help slow down Alexis’ urge to be at the sewing machine.  One plan I have is to do a comparison on clothing availability in the Revolutionary War vs. clothing in the Civil War.  We will also do a timed test on stitches (machine vs. hand stitching) and then test the 2 products for endurance.

These are books that we are reading now:

We are doing this unit study "Lapbook" style and will include some fun activities from a great book that I ordered through Keepers At Home called The  Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids.  It has all types of activities included in the book, from puzzles to sewing exercises to naming the parts of a sewing machine to spelling and more.  I highly recommend this book for beginning sewing instructions for children.  

I am happy that my 4th grader will enjoy this busy time of year with some fun things to look forward to.  I will add some photos of Alexis sewing and the Lapbook as we progress more into the unit study. 

Live, Grow, Learn

Keepers At Home

Alexis and I love our Keeper’s Club.  This is our 4th year involved with it.  Last year I became co-leader of the group.  I work along side one of my very good friend.  We enjoy organizing it, and look forward to seeing what talents and gifts these great bunch of moms will bring to the girls each year. 

This year we began with the Plastic Canvas Badge.  The girls enjoyed making picture frames, and then crosses that could be used as magnets or bookmarks.  Our girls ages range from 5-15 and it is very interesting to watch the skills of each age level.

A mom who is new to our group this year took on our next badge – Special Needs.  She did an outstanding job helping the girls to understand the special needs of people – particularly children with Down Syndrome.  This mom has a precious little girl who has DS.  I wish I could have spent more time listening to everything that she was teaching, but I was busy with lots of pizza orders.  However, I did have a chance to hear part of a great conversation that she had with the girls and I was quite impressed at how much the girls were picking up.  This terrific mom spoke about the natural make up of people born with DS and how it affects their bodies and learning abilities.  She also took some time to listen to the girls to find out about family members with special needs.  She read 2 book to them, Painting the Octopus Red and My Friend Isabella.

One of the exercises that our Keepers mom did was something to help make the girls aware of what it may feel like to paint while blind.  During the first week of working on the badge, she asked the girls to randomly glue yarn to paper.  The next week she blind folded the girls and giving them instructions of where their paints were located, and had them paint the paper feeling the yarn as their guide.  It was quite interesting to see how the different age groups reacted to the challenge of this task.  The older girls were very concerned with getting inside the lines of the yarn, while the younger girls were much more uninhibited and willing to take risks in where they placed their paint.       

I believe our Keepers mom did an amazing job of giving our girls a new awareness of people who need extra TLC.  I feel extremely blessed to be able to see the Lord working through these wonderful moms.    

Food, Fun, and Friends

Young Chef's Academy

This is something new to us…  A place that provides Cooking Classes for Kids!   Alexis’ first field trip of the year with our homeschool group was to Young Chefs’ Academy.  The students were divided into 2 groups and worked in separate kitchens.  With the assistance of 1chef in each kitchen, the students ranging from K-8th grade were given guidance and instruction on how to made Bear Claws and an Apple Almond Soufflé.  I got to try a bite of the Bear Claw and had a serving of the Apple Almond Souffle.  They were both fabulous!  A special part of this field trip was the fellowship that the students were able to share after having spent much of the summer apart.

What is it like taking your first child to college? 
Are you ready to experience a gamut of emotions?

Pride – Yes, yes, that’s MY son.  He was a National Honor Society member.  He played on his school sports team.  He followed the Lord and gave us much to be thankful for.     Fear - My son?  Off to college, all by himself?  What!!!  Are you kidding?  He forgets to load a dishwasher.  How will he remember to turn in his term papers?!?  Who will take care of him when he is sick????  Sorrow - my baby going away to collage that far?  Doesn't he still need me?  I NEED him!!!  Just to hear his voice, see his face, and know that he is alright.  Wasn't it just a few moments ago that I rocked him in a rocking chair, and he loved my singing voice?  Time is fleeting.  Couldn't we read just one more storybook together?   Humbleness - Wow!  Thank you Lord!  You lonand our precious son to us allowing us to raise him.  Even though we messed up as parents - countless times, you continued to watch over him as he grew up to be a fine Christian young man.  You heard our prayers, and took care of him.  You kept him safe when he played sports, when he learned to drive a car.  Now, you have chosen for him to go away to college.  We can accept this ONLY because we trust You.  We believe with both our hearts that You, Lord, know what is best for our son.  Thank you, precious Savior for giving us the benefit of watching your plans unfold in our son's life.  It is our continued prayer Dear Jesus, that he always live a life that is honoring and pleasing to you.

Family Memories

Our Incredible Sonlight Cores 3 & 4 Inspired Vacation

Alexis and the Liberty Bell.  Where's the crack?

We left for another whirlwind adventure in July.  It was the 1st time our children had been to PA.  We put on our tourist hats in the city of Brotherly Love.  What an interesting city!  The birth of our nation began to take shape in Philadelphia.  It was exciting to see where our Founding Fathers sat while doing the tough jobs of constructing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  We saw quite a bit in our short 2 days there, I am looking forward to going back one day to see more.

On day 1, we began at the National Constitution Center. From there we toured Independence Hall.  As a proud American, it was truly stirring to see the location  of where George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted, where the design of the American flag was agreed upon – and so much more!  From there we went over to see the Liberty Bell. 

On our 2nd day, we took a tour of the U.S. Mint.  Next, we headed to Christ Church.  Located on the premises is Ben Franklin’s grave site – and 4 other Declaration of Independence signers are buried there as well.  Next we visited The Betsy Ross House.  We loved hearing  the storytellers share her history.  From there we had hoped to take a tour with a National Park Ranger on "The Steps of Benjamin Franklin."  However, there was a major heat wave at the time, so the park service was not doing a full tour.  It was fun listening to the Park Ranger as he reviewed much of Sonlight’s Core 3 history of Benjamin Franklin.  It was extremely rewarding to see how much our 3rd grader had retained from the curriculum!  While there, we saw a replica of Ben’s printing press, and toured the underground museum.  To end our day, we visited the National Liberty Museum.  I have to say, it was not what we expected at all.  They have a lot of modern works of art displayed.  I suppose we were expecting historical pieces.  

It was marvelous adding a new dimension to our Sonlight Curriculum with 2 weeks worth of history!    Shhhh!  Don’t tell the kids.  They thought we were on vacation! 

I can not fail to mention a very unique (to us) place where we ate lunch on our 2nd day.  It is called Reading Terminal Market.   There you can find an unbelievable assortment of fresh baked Amish goods, produce direct from the field, unusual spices, free range meats and poultry, flowers, ethnic foods, and much more.  I could have spend the day there just looking the oodles of unique items.  So what did we eat?  Well, we did not go exotic...  Instead we chose to stay true to the culture of the city and ate Philly Cheese-steak sandwiches, of course!  Yum!!! 

Valley Forge, PA – Cabin Anyone???  It sleeps 8!  

The next morning we woke up and left for Valley Forge.  It is a fairly quick drive from Philadelphia.  Being a person who appreciates American history, I was truly looking forward to this part of our trip.  I was hoping our children would value this experience as well.  Maybe they would have.. however, the heat index that day topped well over 100 degrees.  The 5 mile hike that we had hoped to take with a Park Ranger was off.  We instead took a driving tour.  It went well at first… But as the day heated up, the children began to feel a great lack of enthusiasm.  (That is an understatement!)  So, we shortened our tour.  We did not leave without visiting Washington’s Headquarters – the home where George Washington lived while encamped there.  Our last stop was Washington Memorial Chapel.  I could not get anyone out of the van to go see it with me.  (At this point they had all refused to leave the air conditioner.)  I planned to just go in and quickly take a look around to see what the chapel was like on the inside.  It was truly quite moving to see where this great and godly man once worshiped.  However, I found something that was truly thrilling to me.  After I walked out of the chapel, I noticed the walls surrounding the inside entry way of the chapel had plaques on them that were dedicated by the Daughter’s of the American Revolution.  These plaques were for different war eras with names of military men who participated in these wars.  Well, don’t you know I possibly found my Grandfather’s name on the plaque that was dedicated to WWI.   I also possibly found a name that may have been one of my ancestors from the Revolutionary War!  Sadly, everyone in my family who could give me an accurate answer about these plaques is dead.  I will soon try to contact the DAR to see what I can find out.  I feel this is a strong possibility because my grandmother was a member of the DAR.  As we left Valley Forge, I felt like I had just been on my own personal history journey.

Hershey, PA – Oh Girls they just want to have fun!!!! 

With a quick stop in Lancaster for some incredibly delicious Mennonite home cooked food, and a few moments at a beautiful craft shop, we were off to Hershey Park.   Prior to this trip, I had been there twice; once with my 6th grade class, and the 2nd time with my Dad and Step-Mother.  I will never forget that second visit, because it was the day that President Nixon resigned.  It's so funny, I mentioned this to my my children, and they wanted to know how we could have heard the news???  (No cell phones.)  They must have thought it was pre-speaker systems or before amplifiers existed… Anyway, I'm here to tell you that back in 1974, Hershey Park was technologically sophisticated enough to play this now historic event throughout the park on their loud speakers.  

Hershey Park has changed a lot since my childhood.  There are lots more rides, including a water park, and a zoo too!  It was so much fun!  We bought 2 day passes and got to ride and do most everything we wanted to.  Our girls seem to have no fear – especially Amanda.  She was up for any ride anyone wanted to go on.  She and Alexis went on The Claw (see above)  I got dizzy just watching them.  And if that wasn’t enough, Amanda talked her Dad into going on a crazy roller coaster called Storm Runner.  It goes from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds!  I can attest to that, because the only photo I could get of them was a still before the ride took off.  It lasted for less than 1 minute!  She loved it, and rode it the next day with her brother. 

On our 2nd day at Hershey, we went on several water rides, and ended the day on The Comet.  I am sure this roller coaster was there when I was a little girl.  I remember the name!  It is old, rickety and wooden.  Boy do I mean rickety too!  As I was riding it, I was thinking back to my childhood and realized that my Dad was the same age that I am now when we went to Hershey Park.  I talked my Dad into going on that roller coaster with me.  If he were still alive, I think I would apologize to him for making him do that.  Old bones (yes I can say this about him, because I am speaking about myself as well,) just do not have the shock absorbers that young bones have!  Ahh, to have young bones again!  

Gettysburg, PA – What are they thinking?

Everyone was impressed with Gettysburg.  We drove to the area the night before, and spent 1 day at Gettysburg National Military Park.  We were there from early morning until early evening.  We saw a lot considering our lack of time there, but not nearly all that we would liked to have seen.  First we went to the visitor center and looked at the many Civil War museum items on display.  Then we went inside the theater and watched a lighted map of the area while we listened to an audio of the strategies of the Confederates and the Union.  From there, we chose to take a car tour with a cassette tape.  By then, we were tired and needed to go at our own pace.  The tape comes in a cd too, and is well worth the money if you do not plan to take a bus tour.  We were able to go on a 3 hour tour with the tape as it reenacted many of the battles.  It was truly interesting.

Afterwards, we went back by the visitor center and took a tour with a Park Ranger through the National Cemetery.  It was a full day, and I look forward to going back to this great historic destination.  I also am looking forward to Sonlight Core 4 with Alexis.  I think everything will connect better when learning about the Civil War now that we have been here.

Niagara Falls - America’s Falls, Canada’s view!

We took the scenic way through the mountains from Gettysburg to Niagara, NY.  What a beautiful drive!  We arrived early in the evening and got some rest that night.  We awoke to a gorgeous day!  A cool front had come in, and we enjoyed high 60-mid 70 temperatures.  Wow!  We felt extremely renewed and blessed!  It is said that Niagara Falls is never without a rainbow.  After arriving in the park that morning, we first went to a viewing area of Horseshoe Falls… What did we see?

A beautiful rainbow.

And another Rainbow! 

After taking rainbow pics the wind shifted and water from the falls began to blow our way so we had to put our cameras away.

The first attraction we went to was Cave of the Winds.  They gave everyone a poncho and sandals to wear.  Since this was the 1st time that our family all had matching shoes, we of course had to take a picture of one of each of our feet in a circle.  Then, off we went down an elevator to a boardwalk that led us toward an astonishing amount of wind force!  We were within 20′ of Bridal Veil Falls. It was mesmerizing to watch the flow of the water.  Being that close to the falls was spectacular.  What a breathtaking site!

Wanting to go on Maid of the Mist next, we saw a long line and decided it was time to walk to Canada instead.  With our birth certificates and drivers licenses in hand, off we went.  I visited Canada before, but it was British Columbia that I saw.  This was our children’s first visit to another country and they were excited.  We crossed through the gate and as we crossed the bridge, it had such amazing views, that we had to force ourselves to stop taking pictures and walk on in to Canada.  Our neighbors to the north are lovely!  I will say that Niagara Canada is more touristy than I had expected.  When looking at the main street that runs parallel with the Niagara River, it was almost impossible to keep your eyes still.  We ate lunch while there, then looked in some shops.

That night and the next, we stayed in Lockport.  (Wish I knew then what I know now about Lockport!  More on that in a moment...)  We stayed all the way in Lockport (about 30 miles from Niagara) because we had a few free hotel nights to use up, so we felt that it was worth the drive.  David who had his wisdom teeth cut out about a month prior to our trip, began having problems with his mouth that morning.  We cut the day short and left for Lockport to see if we could find an emergency care facility to help him.  The girls and I stayed at the hotel, while Dad and David went to the ER.  The folks there were very kind, and gave my son antibiotics and pain medicine.  They also gave our 2 men a locals tip letting them know we should tour the Erie Canal, while in Lockport.  They said that we would be shown where the locks are… etc.   Well, I am embarrassed to admit this, but because Alexis and I were not yet finished our Sonlight Core 3, I was unimpressed when David (husband) came back from the ER mentioning the Dr.’s tourist recommendation.  Having lived in South FL for many years, canals just did not impress us enough to tour one, so we passed on the opportunity that we had in Lockport and did not visit the Erie Canal.  Imagine Alexis’ and my surprise when we got back home and read "The Erie Canal" by Stein.  If only we had read this book first!  We would have understood that seeing the Erie Canal (locks and all,) would have been a historically impressive thing to see!

When David woke up feeling better the next day, we drove to Canada that morning.  We rode around for a little while, then ate a very nice lunch.  Afterwards, we went on the Whirlpool Aero- Car.

Butterflies were in my stomach as we took off!

At first I thought this would be scary, but it was a sturdy and smooth ride.  We took many pictures of the whirlpools below.  Afterwards, we shopped, then left Canada with some good family memories.

Next we went back to the Maid of the Mist in the U.S.

It was a beautiful boat ride!

It takes you as close as you can get to Horseshoe Falls, with views of smaller falls along the way.

Different Cameras, different look...

You can feel so small and insignificant when you are next to something so mammoth in size.  Somehow, in situations like this, I feel like I get a glimpse of how great our Lord is.  This was my favorite of all the attractions we experienced in Niagara.  We ended our day taking our last photos of Niagara at Observation Tower.

From the tower- 

We have some great pictures and a lot of great times to look back upon.

"O Canada"  First Visit Eh?

We traveled some new roads and saw fantastic scenery through the mountains of NY, PA, and WV on our way home.  We also stopped and visited Savannah GA, a place that David, (husband,) had been wanting to take us for a very long time.  I spent my birthday there!  We were happy to get home, but did take some time to go and enjoy a day at Magic Kingdom before everybody went back to work.