A Much Needed Vacation...

It is not often that we get to break away and do things together with just our family. It was very much needed!

With my sis' little girl in the hospital, we were wondering if we would be able to even go. Family means everything to us and if my sister and her family needed our help, we were willing to postpone or even cancel our trip. 

Good news is, her little girl was able to come home the day before we were scheduled to go out of town. We didn't have a whole lot of time to pack and get things ready, but we managed and the next morning, we were out the door and in the car ready for our 10 hour long car ride to our destination.

Branson, Missouri

We had never been. I think I had been as a kid, but I don't remember anything.

Yes, those are icicles. 

We did the Dixie Stampede...I HIGHLY recommend this! It was wonderful. Very much worth every cent it costs to see it. And the food was delicious!

I wish I had more pictures, but no videos or photographs were allowed inside.

We also went to Silver Dollar City. It was nice. I was surprised the store/shop prices were rather reasonable.  The food prices were a bit on the high side (typical of any theme park), but it was all really good and lots of healthy options.

We had a nice time. The shows helped cut out the business of just hopping from ride to ride (and there were not very many rides to begin with).

The cave tour was lots of fun too!

I LOVED the fact that we came during the off-season...right after the Thanksgiving rush and right before the Christmas craziness. Everything was wide open...the streets for driving, the hotel, the restaurants, the lines for the rides, etc... The Christmas decor and festivities were a nice change. I do not think I would have enjoyed this trip if it was crowded and busy. 

5 days later and we were back home, present, but not really ready for the routine of life to start up again. We have 1 more week back to the grind of things, then another week off. My husband is *supposed* to take another week off, but things are kinda stressful where he works right now.

This time around, we have no plans...just to sit around the house and get a few things done here. I think it will be nice to just be here...nothing on the agenda, no places we have to be, nothing we have to do... 

I hope you are able to get a break from the craziness of life too...to just sit and enjoy the company of your family and to thank God for the gift of His son, Jesus Christ :-D

CtG Week 12 - plagues, projects, hospital visits, and Legos

Here are a few highlights from our week...

Art

We have been busy with the Legos!!! The kids are in a FREE online monthly Lego class offered by www.currclick.com. If your kids are interested in Legos, you should go check it out! They offer several other FREE online classes as well. My kids have loved participating in them :-D

Here is what my daughter made last month.

And this is what my son is working on this month. This project has been a little different. Instead of making it all in one class, it is more of an advent where they make a little each day.

For the History of Art, the kids painted rocks. Don't their little rabbits look cute?

History

We were able to catch up on a few of the activities we missed last week. We were really surprised at the accuracy of the Egyptian measuring tools.  

I know it is hard to see from the picture, but the sun dial shadow is cast toward the 2 o'clock position and it was about 2pm when we did this experiment.

We timed the water clock in 30 second increments. When we ran the water back through, sure enough, the increments still measured out at 30 seconds.

Science

We were also able to get in one of the activities we missed last week in science. It was pretty interesting to learn more about leaves and color changes.

We gathered up green leaves, cut and crushed them, then mixed in a little nail polish remover. 
Then, we cut up and hung a coffee filter piece into the mash and watched the different colors absorb up into the filter.

It's hard to see, but there is a lot of green and a little hint of red and yellow closer to the top.

Bible

As intelligent as the Egyptians were concerning measurements, time, seasons, writing, etc..., they were just plain dumb when it came to the things of God. My kids were baffled and somewhat amused at the ridiculous gods the Egyptians created and worshipped. My daughter read Romans 1:25, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served something created instead of the Creator..."Well, that's just dumb", she said and I'd have to agree.

On Wednesday, while the kids were outside playing during their morning break, I decorated their school areas with all sorts of frogs...ya know, for an added affect to the frog plague passages we had read earlier. They had a lot of fun with that.

On Thursday, I planned to do the same with the flies, except, my plan was to have them all in place before the kids woke up. This didn't really happen. 

Pediatric ICU

I got a distressing phone call from my sister early that morning when I was about half way through with the flies. My heart just sank. Her little 11 month old girl was not doing well and she was frantic. Neither of us really knew what was wrong with her. I am 2 hours away from her or else I would have rushed right over. My sis said her baby was just staring off into space not really responding and just not acting herself. Only one thing to do we decided....get that baby to the ER! 

While she was on her way there, I sent texts and called family members asking everyone to pray. I was upset and worried and crying on and off that I couldn't really concentrate on getting school lessons ready for the day. So....we scrapped school for that day (and the next) and we prayed for 'Chunky Monkey' (that is what we like to call my sis' little girl) and made preparations to make the trip over to the hospital. My husband took an early vacation from work and a few hours later, we were there helping in whatever way we could for the next few days.

A LOT has happened (too much to write here), but, in short, 4 terribly long days and sleepless nights later, 'Chunky Monkey' was released to come home. They have an MRI and other neurological appointments scheduled in the near future, but for now, they are thinking seizures of some sort.   

Good news is...'Chunky Monkey' is doing much better and is glad to be back home with mom, dad, and 2 little, but older brothers :-D