Jamestown!!!

Our little clan enjoying a day of sight seeing!
The weather has cooled down which allows time outside to be more pleasant!

It was such a treat for us to be able to go out sight seeing as a family. We didn't know what exactly what to expect and were maybe a tad bit hesitant when it looked like it was mostly a fancy indoor museum which isn't what we had in mind for the twins and J. We LOVE museums but we were looking forward to a day out. We ended up not disappointed! There was so much hands-on things to do and soooo much to see.

As we got to the boats, everyone headed up the plank to the boat and somehow I got talking to an older lady sitting on a bench. She was a friendly lady and we had a nice chat. Toward the end she said "Are you Christian?" She said it in an unusual way NOT saying she was one too but inquisitive). I said "Yes" She said "How did I know?" and then said that it was because "You have a nice family." Praise the Lord. How strange that someone that did not seem to identify with Christ should recognize His children in a positive light?

 Replica of a Powhatan Village

Big C with a fish net in the making at the indian village.

 "J" told me he was "making peanut butter and jelly":-)

Lady making a basket with a bone needle at the indian village.

 Jamestown Fort

 The kids got to play colonial games.

 Baby C with Daddy just outside the Fort

 The kids really enjoyed the hands on things. They got a kick out of this way of carrying water!! The buckets did have water in them!

Ready for an attack on Jamestown! 

 Ready, Aim, Fire!! The Lysne troops are ready!

 "R" preaching at the Jamestown Church!!:-)

 The kids really enjoyed watching the shooting of a matchlock gun!!

This was a highlight for the kids. I was very surprised that the twins weren't bothered by the noise!

 The lady in the background is smiling on as "R" helps

Big C put on the water buckets!

"A" now has an iPad (from Grandma and Grandpa J) to take pictures and video with!

The boys also really enjoyed exploring the ship. Ross maybe a bit to much as you see below:-)

 Boys:-)

Boys again . . . J making shooting noises.

Big C standing with the statue of Captain John Smith that he had just learned about in school!!!

 This is from Historic Jamestown which is the actual location of Jamestown.

Historic Jamestown

Historic Jamestown

Historic Jamestown. Beautiful.

 Baby B really enjoyed being carried by big sister like this!!

Big C wanted me to take a picture of where Jamestown was which is the picture above. We also learned 

about Jamestown in Kindergarten recently. He has the most amazing Kindergarten social studies book. It is very old. I'll have to blog on that another time. Big C has continued to be so excited about school. Friday night as he was about to get ready for bed he asked me "was my outfit nice for school?" He had picked out a very plain pair of cotton shorts and on ordinary t-shirt but he was wanting to look nice. I assured him that he did look nice:-) He wants to see the pictures taken at Jamestown tomorrow during school time:-) Passion for learning is so important. I am thankful  He has that!

Logic and Fallacies

Clip above: Monty Python "The Witch"

This is the clip G got such a kick out of in Logic class.

I was going to write more about G and how school is going for him. Today he just completed his second week and I want to know how my son could change so fast (for the better!). Before school today I went up to his room to tell him to move quickly and he was doing a certain aspect of grooming that we had previously had to often remind him to do but now he said he did not want to go to school without it getting completed because the other boys did it. Happy Mommy!! Love positive peer pressure! Also, I am AMAZED at how he has taken on his homework. At times he feels overwhelmed but lots of the time he is on top of it and seems to enjoy it?!!! He LOVES LOVES LOVES school and his classes (except composition-he never talks badly about. It just is not a favorite). He tells me that everyone at school is nice. This reminds me of when he was in school in Kindergarten and 1st grade he sees the best in people and that is a gift of his.

I have only been in the school one time and at the time a very distinguished lady came up to me and said "He is quite the student." I found out later she and her husband are from New York city and the ones that founded the school. The high school was recently named as one of the top 50 best Christian high schools in America.

Then I went to pick him up from school one day and a lady said that the omnibus (ancient history) teacher is SOOO impressed with G. Praise the Lord, for truly in Him "we live and breathe and have breathe" to do anything. It has thrilled my heart to see how God has given the children gifts and that they are finding them out recently!

G talks and talks about school. Just from what I hear him saying I think his two favorite classes are Logic and Latin. He seems to just eat them up. He is now analyzing as he goes out and about town for fallacies in advertising. Yesterday he came home and had to tell us about a funny video he watched in Logic class and really hit his funny bone. It is funny!!!! The clip above is what he watched in Logic class.

Next week G leaves very early in the morning on Tuesday for a upper school retreat in Lancaster, PA. He is VERY excited about this. We heard that last year one of the foreign exchange students came to a saving knowledge of Christ during this time . . . nothing better than that.

First Day of School!

Sissy trying to help G with his tie.

 G ready to walk out the door for his 1st day of Jr. High.

Brother R helping him get his tie on. R is a snappy dresser and understands these things more than G does.

G ready for school orientation.

Yah, we're in the groove for school.

 First day of school at home too!

 R and his little helpers.;-)

 Babies C and B spent a lot of the morning in Grandpa's daycare. They seemed to have a wonderful time!

 Well, everyone else seems to be taking up books

so we will too. J LOVES LOVES books. He reminds us a lot of G.

Grandma J working with A on her school work.

 Big C working away at one of his worksheets.

He is an excellent student and worked so hard and so 

carefully.

I was ready for school to start. The fact that I am typing those words shocks me but also tells me I felt I got a sufficient break from school. Big C was so excited for school to start and after we got going he asked me if I would home school him until he was done with school. I don't know about that but Big C did a tremendous job and worked so carefully and cheerfully. I am so excited to see his growth curve by the end of the year. It is a joy to teach him. I love it.

Let me first say I am NOT one of those amazing home school moms that do it all. This year my oldest is off to regular school and 2 out of the 3 kids that are home do video school. I only hands on teach one child. I am surrounded by amazing people and that tends to cause me more respect than I deserve. Right now my mom is here to help out for a month. My mom is a former elementary school teacher and her insight and ideas help me out SOOOOO Much!! My husband is an amazing helper also and does soo much.   

The first day of school seemed SOOO easy! I knew the fact that my dad who was watching the 3 youngest kiddos and my mom who was over seeing the older kids was causing that EASY DAY feeling. Thankfully my mom and dad didn't leave at the same time. My dad left in the middle of the week and sure enough when we had to do school without him the girls cried and fussed.:-) We made it through though.

G had a great first week in Jr. High. He had a few tense moments of finding out what is expected but by the end of the week he was coming home wanting to tell about the good day he had at school!! One boy he talked to had hiked some of the Appallacian Trail and enjoyed his experience. Gabriel enjoys all his classes except Composition. He is still learning organization and bringing things home for school work but is doing a great job.

He was having a hard time organizing his locker so I told him I would come in with him the next morning and work at organizing it. I got it all organized and he was SOOOOO thankful and so sweet and thanking me. He wasn't embarrassed about his mom being there, etc. I walked out and almost felt like crying watching G in that type of school setting. He was so polite and kind so thankful to his Mommy for coming to help him. I am thankful for him:-)

It was a big week for him because he also went to his first youth group Wednesday night this week. He was SOOO nervous about this definitely more nervous than school. G is a good swimmer but is not an athlete in typical sports and he was very nervous about youth group and playing games like basketball, etc. I told him usually it is not athletic games that are played but things like dodge ball. He came home and he LOVED it! He was telling me about the Bible message and what it was about and the story it was taught from and that it was good. He told me they played dodge ball ( I made him say to me "you were right";-) He said he got out pretty quick but it didn't seem to bother him. He met a girl (nothing goofy in this he just had a great time talking to her) whose dad is a Navy Seal and so understands military life AND she is a military history buff! He enjoyed talking with her.

The younger kids went to a group called Master's Club and they loved that! J will get to go next year since they have a group for 3 year olds.

"A" this week started piano with her new teacher here. I had never met the lady in person so was not sure how it would be but when "A" was done with her class the teacher said that she and "A" were going to get along with each other. "A" felt very comfortable and good about the pick so that is very good.

It felt like a successful week.