Valley Of Blessing Family Retreat 2015

We were finally able to work it out to be able to go in the Family Retreat with VoB this year. We'd missed the last couple of years because of Rebecca's schedule, but this year, we planned ahead so she had the time off.

 We stayed at a center called Higher Ground Christian Retreat near Ararat, Virginia about 10 miles north of Fancy Gap along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The center sits on a ridge that offers a spectacular view of Pilot Mountain and the surrounding area to the south. If you look carefully on a clear day, you can even see the tall buildings of downtown Winston-Salem.

The center had 3 different houses, some offering hotel-style rooms and one with several rooms with bunk beds. Despite the amenities, we took advantage of the stunningly good weather and camped out in our portable 3-room condo.

 Sunset was pretty the first night.

 There was a fun playground that reminded me that the kids might need tetanus boosters...;)

 We went up on Friday, a day earlier than most folks, to help get things set up and arranged. Since we were not at the community center for service with everyone else, we had a morning devotional/service with the few folks who were there. We read the Torah portion for that week and had a very lively and deep discussion about it.

 Once everyone else got there after lunch, the fun really started. We officially opened the retreat with a short service to go over the ground rules and the theme for this retreat which was Unity.

 On Sunday, we briefly celebrated Irene's birthday with some strawberry muffins with strawberry butter.

 We couldn't quite get her to put up two fingers, tho...

 Later that day, we rode out to a creek for Olivia's baptism. While our kids normally all flock to the water like ducks, Emma would have nothing to do with that icy cold creek.

The rest of them? Not so picky. It was freezing cold, but the other 4 got in without too much hesitation.

 That afternoon, we had a challenge where we had 5 minutes to get to know someone and then we had to present that person, speaking as if we were them. It was pretty difficult because we were't supposed to stick to the simple things: job, family, pets. Israel wanted us to figure out the person's passions and dreams from the stuff they told us in conversation and present that. 

To pair up, we had to make a chain. The way you attached to the chain was by announcing something that you enjoy (reading books, fishing, etc). Then a person from the crowd who shared that interest would come and link with you and then announce a different thing they liked. it went on until everyone was part of the chain, then we were paired up and sent off to talk. 

 One of the funniest pairings was Duncan, who is 13, with Nanny, who is 96! Duncan didn't glean much from the conversation, but Nanny displayed her spunk and clear mind by laying out a great presentation of Duncan.

 One of the teenagers, Ashlyn, entertained our littles while we did the activity.

 Sunset that evening was pretty as well.

 While we were off resting after dinner, some of the kids went and had a water balloon fight. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the balloons breaking and with who got targeted. Ezra came to us to express his disappointment in his most expressive fashion and I couldn't resist documenting his lament. :)

That evening, we had a bonfire and made smores! :)

It so happened that Sunday was the feast of Shavuot, which marks the time when G-d gave the Hebrews the Torah and when the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples after Yeshua's resurrection and ascension. To mark the occasion, we blew the shofar just as G-d did on Mount Sinai on the day he gave the Torah.

The next morning at 5:45, we got the kids up and took them on a tractor ride around the grounds. At various places, there were meditation stations that had some of the things Yeshua referred to himself as in the Gospel of John, like I am the vine, I am the good shepherd, and I am the light of the world.

Byron, one of the folks that helps maintain the center, and Kevin, one of our VoB members, took turn talking about the various things Yeshua talked about and why.

The kids all had a great time, but it was very early for them to be up. :)

We are so glad we were able to go this year and hopefully we will be able to arrange it for future years, as well!

Artwork - April & May

For Art this term we've done more work with printing along with stamps, interior scenes and bodies in motion. 

So first, we learned a bit about Rembrandt who, along with painting, also did pieces for stamp printing illustrations into books. The kids cut out various shapes and letters and made their own stamps.

 Then they did some relief printing by drawing onto a foam block, putting ink on it and pressing the paper onto the block.

Then the kids learned about Johannes Vermeer, who excelled at interior scenes. The third kind of printing they tried is called collagraph printing. They cut out foam shapes and glued them onto cardboard to create a scene. Then they rolled a lightly-inked roller over a piece of paper laid over the scene. This was the result:

 Birthday party

Playing ball in the yard and a chicken catching a worm.

 Still studying Vermeer, they made their own interior scenes using oil pastels. 

Ezra's depiction of a birthday party.

 Olivia's drawing of someone reading a book in our dining room.

 ...I can't quite remember what Gabe's was...

 When they studied Fragonard (whom I have never heard of...) they drew bodies in motion.

 Mom playing with a ball by Ezra

 A person jumping rope by Gabe

Someone going for a swim by Olivia. 

Strawberry Picking

I took the kids to pick strawberries at Rudd Farm and we were just in time. The season was nearly at an end. This is the third or fourth year we've done it and this year everyone was very helpful. the older 4 picked while Irene carried the bucket. She was pretty proud of herself for picking up a full bucket. :)

 To keep the other kids picking Olivia instituted a rule that you have to put five strawberries in the bucket before you can eat one strawberry. It was pretty effective.

Sadly, I forgot my camera, so I had to take pictures on my phone and therefore missed a few great opportunities for pictures. By the end, we'd picked our 4 gallons and probably eaten an additional one alone the way. :)

Olivia's First Sleepover Camp

We shipped our oldest daughter off to a summer camp for the first time! 

Some friends of ours recommended Mountain Top Youth Camp because their kids have gone there for the last several years and it seemed like a great opportunity for her to spend some time on her own with her friends. She was a little nervous about leaving home for a week, but it wasn't because she would be homesick... It was because she was worried how we'd fare without her around to help with the other kids! :) To be fair, the last time we let her go away for a couple of night to stay with Grandma and Grandpa, I was lucky to survive the ordeal without her. 

MTYC is located outside Pinnacle, NC and really is at the top of a mountain. 

The view from the fellowship hall was just beautiful! 

Olivia was assigned to a cabin with several sets of bunks in it, so she was staying with about 15 other girls. 

They spent time that week playing games, having a devotional time each day, climbing the rest of the way to the top of the mountain and tons of activities. She even wrote us a letter! (It got to us about 10 days after she got home :)

 The rest of the gang was sad to see her go, but they soldiered on and made it through the week.

We all survived quite well without her despite her fear of our inability to handle the other 4 kiddos. :) However, we were certainly glad to have her home!

Olivia's Recital - Spring 2015

Olivia continues to amaze us with how much she improves on the piano each season. This particular piece took a long time for her to master, but she did it! Her teacher, Ms. Lamb, gave her the option of just doing the first movement, but Olivia was determined to do them both. 

She worked really hard at it and it all came together. We couldn't be more proud of her drive. :)

Our beautiful musician with her flowers from Nana and Pop-Pop, who came to support her as always! :)

Boys School - Winter Term 2015

Olivia isn't the only one doing more and harder work. Gabe and Ezra are working their little butts off learning new math, reading and writing. 

 Ezra is doing a curriculum by Confessions of a Homeschooler called K4, which involves sight words, puzzles, numbers and even some basic math. He's getting pretty good at it, though some days he tends to overreact if he makes a mistake. :)

 Ezra's also doing the next book in the Rod and Staff A-B-C Series called Counting With Numbers. It gives him practice counting and writing numbers while learning concepts like "before", "after", and "between".

 We also found some printable LEGO ABC cards for the boys to do. Most of the time, they're pretty excited about making the letters because it lets them play with the Legos while they're doing schoolwork.

Gabe still working his way through the second book of Math Lessons for a Living Education. He's learning how to carry and borrow and recognize fractions. He's particularly good at word problems, which surprised me a little since he struggled for so long with reading.

As far as his reading goes, he's doing much better now. Occasionally he'll get ahead of himself and guess at a word without really reading it, but he's able to catch himself and correct it pretty quickly.

They both still do a daily calendar that keeps track of the day, date, time and weather.