Field trip to kidscommons

On Monday, my Mom & I took the kids to the kidscommons in Columbus, IN. It is a neat place. It has 3 floors of activities for the kids to participate in.

Jessica is getting ready to pet a cockroach. She did it several times that day.

This play area was a favorite of Jessica & David.

This room was one of Jamie's favorites.

She loved making things run.

David liked the robotic arm.

Behind the bookcase is a maze that takes them up to the next floor.

The giant toilet.

Jamie even went down it!

2 ways to get to the light room.

The light room.

This is where you end up when you go down the toilet.

A giant bubble!

I

David was bubble bending!

Jessica amazed at Jamie's bubble bending skills.

Both girls bubble bending!

Jessica playing Twinkle Twinkle.

The exercise room.

David making sure I saw him exercising!

Jamie was pretty good at the cup stacking.

Jamie jumping rope.

Mom watching them play checkers.

Jessica building pyramids.

They're still playing.

Now a giant pyramid!

Time to rock climb!

David waiting for me to take a pic!

Jessica just rang the bell.

David being a spy!

Jessica the monkey.

David was scared to go too high but I was proud of him for trying.

Jessica was a monkey. This time her challenge was to climb blindfolded. She made it 3/4 way up with it on.

David in the Japanese house.

Jessica playing.

Jamie back in the Power Outlet.

Jessica made friends with one of the volunteers.

Jamie coloring with melting crayons.

Jessica's tree.

David painting.

The kids had a great time. I highly recommend that you check out the kidscommons if you are anywhere near Columbus, IN. You can find out more at: http://www.kidscommons.org/

 

 

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Innocence Lost

I'm sure you know this world is corrupt. I'm sure you know we have an enemy, Satan, who lurks about deceiving people & blinding them to the truth. He also tries to hurt God's children & cause them to fear life & turn from God. Many times our life moves along so smoothly that we forget our enemy is there. But I'm here to tell you that he is real. He wants to destroy families, pervert the innocent & cause us to blame God.

But, (I love that word!), God is bigger & stronger & has already won the war! God is truth! And the truth will prevail. Even when we face our biggest fear, God is with us! And if He is with us, who can stand against us? As we face our fear, we can already praise God & thank Him for standing with us through it!

If you saw your children playing like this, wouldn't you be a proud parent. Your kids love each other & are getting along. They even tell each other "I love you."

Now, add to that a bad attempt at a wedgie. Totally inappropriate especially in public, but totally innocent, right?

But when seen by a man who doesn't know you or your family dynamic, it turns into your worst nightmare. He saw this all as perverted. He called the police!

What followed was a very stressful evening of waiting followed by CPS & police interviews. Thanks to prayers, the truth was seen & the case closed. God was so merciful & provided us with very skilled & professional men to deal with who protected our kids' innocence.

I'm thankful for this incident because it opened our eyes to how unsafe the world is & how foreign & rare a loving family is these days. It also reaffirmed what an Awesome God we serve who comforts us & answers prayers.

I also pray that God will use this situation to bring glory to Himself and use it to maybe help some other family.

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Homeschooling away from Home

This week is International Homeschool Spirit Week. Today was Homeschool Away From Home Day! For us, schooling away from home has dominated our lives over the last several years. So I thought I would do a post reminiscing about all the places we've visited in our travels.

We started our travels in 2008 when Hubby took a traveling job. Here we are at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was the kids first visit to the ocean.

We also got to visit Washington, D.C. on this trip. It was so cool to share our nation's capital with our kids.

In December of 2008, we took a trip to The Creation Museum in Hebron, KY.

In April 2009, we took a rode trip to Tampa Bay, Florida so Hubby could do a test teach for a new client.

We were very blessed to be able to take the kids to Walt Disney World on that trip.

In August of 2009, we visited Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

In August 2009, we visited The Creation Museum again.

In December of 2009, we spent lots of time in Cincinnati, OH.

In April 2010, we visited Wright Patterson Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

 

In May 2011, we visited Toledo, Ohio.

In October 2011, we visited Apple Works in Trafalgar, Indiana with my parents.

In January of this year, we started several months of visits to Tennessee. We started at Fort Donelson in Dover, Tennessee.

In January, we also visited The Don Platt Museum dedicated to the 101st Airborne.

We also visited Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

And Fort Defiance in Clarksville, Tennessee.

And the Cumberland River in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee.

In February, we visited Mammoth Cave National Park in Cave City, Kentucky.

We took 2 cave tours both times we visited Mammoth Caves in February.

In mid-February, we witnessed the surrender at the Dover Hotel. We even got to meet General Grant.

We also got to visit a Union encampment at Fort Donelson.

The next weekend we met General Grant again at Fort Defiance in Clarksville, TN.

At the end of February, we visited Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, Tennessee.

In March, we visited my hometown of Hope, Indiana where David was mustered into the Union Army during the Hope Civil War Days.

At the end of March, we returned to Stones River National Battlefield for another reenactment. We got to see canons fired this time.

We also visited Corinth Interpretive Center in Corinth, Mississippi.

And we visited The Tennessee River Museum in Savannah, Tennessee.

In June, all 3 kids embarked on their own adventures, a week at Springhill Camp near Seymour, Indiana.

Finally, in August, we made our way to Tawas City, Michigan on the banks of Lake Huron.

We visited Footesite Park on the AuSable River.

And we visited the Lumberman's Monument, also on the AuSable River.

As you can see, we have been blessed to travel a lot over the last 4 years. Thanks to homeschooling, we have been able to pick up & go with Hubby when he travels. We are all looking forward to continuing our adventures on the road.

 

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