(Part 4 of Family Vacation) Nacoochee Villiage

     Nacoochee Villiage is just 1/2 mile from Helen.  This was the first time I had ever heard or or been there.  I fell in love with this charming villiage.  We ended up visiting the villiage 3 different times!  Here are a few snapshots: 

Since I love making homemade bread, it was a must to visit Nora Mill's Granary. 

(We also spent a lot of time in the antique store pictured above.)

Here is my youngest son looking around the "general store" portion of the granary.

This is the water that powers the mill.  My fellas are checking out all the rainbow trout below.

I purchased some flour and vital wheat gluten.  Excited to try it out...look for that in another post!

 

Shopping for coffee at "Jumpin' Goat Coffee Roasters". 

Our sweet son bought my hubby and I a small package of Hazelnut.

YUM!

"UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN CAFFEINE AND A PUPPY!"

BEST Pizza we've ever eaten!!

(I think ours was called the "green" pizza...with pesto and fresh Georgia tomatoes...and I don't even like tomatoes!)

***This wraps up my posts on our vacations***

I was so glad to have this time with my family...to just simply enjoy one another.  What a blessing.

Vacation, Part 3--Helen, GA

Two of my FAVORITE things:

Hofer's German Bakery

(The cookie with 2 bites out of it was mine!...oh,my was it so good!)

Check it out here.

We spent 2 amazingly fun hours tubing down the Chattahoochee River.  I loved spending this time with my 3 most favorite people!  Best $5 you could spend!  I kept saying, "This is better way than any theme park ride!" 

Doesn't this look like fun?

Hiking on Vacation X3 (Part 2)

One of my favorite things to do is to hike, and I got to do it three different times on our vacation!  (Thankfully, the rest of my family enjoys it as much as I do.)

Stone Mountain

We hiked Stone Mountain. (Well, I hiked it ALMOST to the top...) 

 Here are my boys coming down the mountain.

I did make it this far!  A great view of Atlanta.  Afterward, we met family, had a picnic and watched the famous light show!

Unicoi State Park

We stayed a few days at Unicoi State Park in Helen, GA.

We took the Frog Pond Nature Trail. 

A perfect day for admiring God's creation! 

Anna Ruby Falls

I think we saved the best for last. 

Isn't she gorgeous?

My youngest looking at the bottom of the falls.

At the end of our hike, my oldest son spotted some fletchlings.   He and the ranger have gone to check it out!

Our Summer Vacation--Part 1 (errr...I mean Our Field Trip to Passages!)

Our first stop was to the Passages Bible Exhibit in Atlanta, GA.  My preacher husband and I had received free tickets at a pastor's conference we attended.  We were so glad to find out about such a wonderful traveling exhibit, and didn't want to miss out on such a great opportunity for us and our children.  (And yes, I did count it as a school day!) 

 

The kids were so excited to have their very own headset and ipod.  We all loved the ipods; you could simply type in the # of a specific exhibit, and you would hear commentary about it.   They also had "scavenger hunt" type questions to find/figure out along the way. 

 

At the entrance, learning how to use the ipods. 

Checking our answers.  The boys both received prizes.  :)

We had a great time...spent about 3-4 hours here...still not enough time to see it all.  One of my most important parts was the Gutenburg Gress exhibit.  We all got a copy of scripture from the press.  What fun to see the press at work!  A quote that moved me (especially after experiencing the prior exhibits where men copied the Bible by hand):

"It's only a press, but a press from which will flow a constant stream.  Through it, God will spread His Word.  A spring of truth will flow from it.  Like a new star it will scatter the darkness of ignorance and cause an unknown light to shine for all.

---Johannes Gutenburg

We were not allowed to take pictures inside, so here is a link to their website.  If this traveling exhibit comes to a city near you, I hope you and your family will go.  It is more than just a museum...it will move you--to think about all that had to happen to bring us God's Word as we have it today.  Very humbling.

Whatever Wednesday #4

Whatever Wednesday

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God's glory." 1 Corinthians 10:31

 

What I have found to be true.....That spiritual renewal almost always goes hand in hand with physical exhaustion. 

What God is doing in/through our ministry...This week our church has hosted the community revival in our town.  It has been such a great week.  I love going to church everynight with fellow believers.  We have not been in bed until 11:00 most nights, but it has been such a joy to see God move in His church.

What surprised me...I have learned that you truly never know what a day or a week will bring.  God surprised me this week with a new friend--and new friends for my kids to boot!

 

What has moved me...Last night, the revival pastor ended the service  by asking those who wanted to, to stand and say, "Jesus is my Lord."   It was a powerful experience for us to have together with our church/fellow believers in the Lord.  

What I discovered...I do not have to use a rolling pin when rolling out dough for my bread.  I can just stretch it into a rectangular shape.  I know this is okay, because I say Martha do it!  ;)

What blessed me...Having a "front row seat" to see what God is doing in others' lives!

 

FUN(ny) Friday #2

A quote from my youngest son as he was explaining to some of our homeschool friends that the reason his big brother couldn't come and play was because he was at home finishing some of his schoolwork: 

"Algebra is so hard, it's not even math."

:)

I Have Two Poets and Didn't Even Know It

     For the last two weeks of "school" (we finished yesterday...woohoo!), we have been working on poetry.  The last two days have been spent writing "apostrophes".  (When the poet speaks to an object, animal, etc.)  We read and studied "The Lamb" and "The Tiger" by William Blake (who was homeschooled, by the way!).  Both of these poems are apostrophes, though they each have a  different tone.  The assignment for B&B was to write two apostrophes, one with a tone like "The Lamb" and one similar to "The Tiger". 
     I'm excited to share their poems with you.  First of all, I hope you will enjoy them.  Secondly, I wanted to "publish" them on my blog, because I believe it is important (whenever possible) to have an audience for your (child's) writing.  It gives purpose to all the editing, creativity, etc.   (It's pretty boring for any student to only write for their teacher, or just to get a grade.)



Here are their poems:

Otter

To the otter as he ran down to the shore:

What is more to love?

And what is more to adore?

It is fun to see it leaping;

Also more of a pleasure than a dove,

As he goes on sleeping.

Why no worries when curled?

Of no creeping hunter with a gun?

The otter said, "What's better than to love the world?"

B., age 11

Adder

In the withering deep

I found an adder.

Down and dirty you creep;

Through the alders you slither.

Pointless things you say in sleep--

The avenger with two fangs.

Traversing and crawling through the deep;

Your scales stand up as you feel a thing behind you with your     tongue.

You gather your coils in a heap.

Why do you fear? When actually we fear those dread fangs?

B., age 11

Clever

Clever Chipmunk on the wall,

Who taught you to stash your seeds in fall?

Where in the trees to you hide your food?

In what hole does live your brood?

When you spot me, away you scamper,

When with your home I wouldn't tamper?

How do you store within your cheeks

A larderful would last you weeks?

Who placed the wisdom in your heart,

Underneath a golden coat of art?

God placed the urge in your "soul",

To hide your nuts inside a hole. 

B., Age 13

Eagle

Soaring Eagle, above you fly.

What see you with your golden eye?

What strength resides within your maw?

What power commands your ruling claw?

Your noble head, you hold it proud,

What can you spot above the cloud?

What demands you as you sing?

What might holds up your iron wing?

B., age 13



Tesselation!

     I think the "tesselation" unit is my favorite so far of any math I have taught my children.  Maybe because I never learned anything like it while in school.  I love the way it makes your brain think! 

Here, my son is tesselating shapes in his Singapore 5 math book. 

Some shapes can tesselate; some cannot.  ("Tesselate" basically means that a shape can

fit together over and over again with no gaps in between.) Sometimes, there is more than one way to tesselate--that is what he's discovering here. 

Now to the REALLY fun part: When math and art collide!

My son started with a rectangle, cut a part from the back, added it to the front; then the same for the bottom and top.  Do you see the fish?

They tesselate!

He made each fish unique.

Colorful Tesselation!

This was the assignment suggested in our Singapore Math book. (Which we just love!)

It is meant to resemble M.C. Escher's art. 



(My View from the Fourth Pew) "Leave a Margin"



     Remember back in our school days when the teacher would tell us, "Don't write in the margins."?  You had to be careful to not start a long word before coming to that red line, or a least had to be proficient at using hyphens.  Who knew that life was like this piece of notebook paper?

       Last week, while my family and I were on a church retreat, we visited a church near our camp.   The sermon was very good...but the point I remember most was when he said, "We need to leave a margin."  That really resonated with me.   We fill our lives with a lot of "busy", and usually don't have a lot of margin. 

     I told my preacher husband last week I was going to blog about leaving a margin.  He laughed...we both knew we needed to do better in this area.  I thought about it throughout the week-- about what "leaving a margin" meant for me and my family.
     There are practical applications.  I think of this especially when it comes to raising children/teenagers.  They need to be bored sometimes.  This is a glorious thing.  It means they are not over-stimulated or too busy.  They have time to think and to dream.  I was proud that I may have accomplished this...just the other day one of my boys was outside staring at the dirt.  He had some margin in his life. 

     "Leaving a margin" has great spiritual implications.  We need to leave a margin so that we are quiet and unhurried enough to hear from God.  I'm not really referring to having our daily quiet times (which are vital).  I'm talking more about having empty space on our calendar and in our head.  Time where we can sit and gaze at the lake, or watch our children run through the yard.  Time to just take it all in, and to hear that still, small voice of God.

    

"After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.  When evening came, he was there alone..."   Matthew 14:23

Just Pitching My Tent,

(In a world that is not my home)

Letha