The Second Half of March

 The second half of March was filled with so many exciting activities, friends, visits, and trips. We soaked it all in. 

Katherine celebrated Kyla's 8th birthday with the sweetest party with all her little buddies. They're the sweetest group of little friends. I can't wait to watch them all grow up together. 

Thursdays at co-op are our favorite. Lunchtimeis always a highlight. 

Spring Break means cousin visits, and we always look forward to it. These girls were so happy to be reunited. 

Their visit fell on Anna's birthday this year, and we celebrated with this beautiful cake. I was so impressed with Reasor's cakes!

We spent the time together playing lots of board games, eating Mexican, and late nights of Jack Box. 

These kids are following in their parents' footsteps and playing hours long board games during their visits. 

We said goodbye late on Monday night with plans to visit them in Iowa in June. 

The next day, Elisabeth and I drove to Springfield for the Homeschool National Basketball Tournament. We had to grab a drink for the road. 

The trip to Springfield ended up being a very eventful trip. As I was driving Elisabeth and her teammate to her first game on Tuesday evening, the car suddenly broke down. I was able to call a friend and hitch a ride to her game thankfully, but Matt had to come rescue us that evening and take care of having the car repaired. It was unexpected but a reminder of the blessings of friends to bum rides off of, the finances to repair our car, and a husband who always jumps in to save the day. 

Matt was able to stay and watch one of her games before heading back home. Poor Katherine was not feeling well during the trip and slept a lot of the time. 

One afternoon, Elisabeth's coach took all the girls (and the boys' team he coached) out for bowling, laser tag, and pizza. Elisabeth had the best time. 

We also spent a lot of time hanging with friends at the hotel in between games. 

The girls won their second game which meant an afternoon game the next day instead of an early morning game. To celebrate we invited Eden to spend the night in our hotel room. 

The girls ended up losing the Copper Championship game which was really disappointing to Elisabeth. She played so hard and really wanted that win. I was so proud of how hard she played even though you can see the disappointment in her face at the end of the last game. 

Nathan made the best highlight reel of her time at the tournament. She played so well overall! She's looking forward to next season. 

We came home one day to find Bella had just made herself at home on Elisabeth's chair. We love that dog!

While Elisabeth and I were gone in Springfield, Nathan and Matt painted his room. It looks so nice!

We came home from Springfield on Friday morning and were greeted with the Evetts who came up to visit and drop their kids off for the week. We spent Friday night and most of Saturday together with their family and the Millers.n 

Saturday afternoon, Brandon, Mindy, and Addalie left for Addalie's school trip to Washington D.C. and Carter and Langley spent the week with us. 

These boys were excited to spend a whole week together. They played a lot of Minecraft and did some 3-D printing. 

One evening they asked to bike to McDonalds after dinner for ice cream. Having a McDonalds within biking distance has been such a treat for the kids. They feel of big and independent biking over there for a snack.

Our middle school group hosted a craft day. The girls had a lot of fun painting together. 

After such a busy season of robotics meets and basketball games, our schedule opened up at the end of March, and we found ourselves with a free Saturday! Matt decided to pack a picnic lunch and spend some time at the Gathering Place. It was such a great idea. We had a really fun family day. 

The kids ended up rolling down this big hill over and over. 

We ended our day with some slides. 

It was a great day to end such a full but fun month!

Rose Hill Schoolhouse

 

Several years ago, we were invited to spend a day at Rose Hill Schoolhouse, a 1910 one room schoolhouse experience. My older kids had the best memories of that day and had been asking to return. I called and scheduled a day and asked several families if they'd like to join us. It made me really grateful for such a rich community of friends to have these experiences with. In preparation for our visit, I invited all the kiddos over for an afternoon to prepare copybooks and learn some about the time period and what our day at Rose Hill would include. 

It was such a fun day. I asked some of the older kids to facilitate old fashioned games for the younger kids. Nathan led the indoor games. 

All the kids prepared a copybook to be used for their penmanship practice at Rose Hill. 

A couple of the older girls led outdoor games. The kids had so much fun playing with their friends. 

Finally, the morning arrived and we traveled to Perry for our day at Rose Hill. 

Of course, we had to dress like we were in 1910. That's half the fun.

Katherine was so excited to spend the day with all her friends. 

At the beginning of the day, all the kids line up and they cross over the "time bridge" which represents traveling back in time to 1910.

Once we arrived at the school, we took a class picture. The teacher reminded the students that smiling for pictures was considered foolish. 

Then the school day began with the Pledge of Allegiance and singing a patriotic song. 

Afterward, the kids practiced their penmanship using a quill and inkwell. 

After penmanship, the kids started their reading lesson out of the McGuffy's Reader. 

Then after a quick math lesson on their slates, it was time for lunch and recess. We all packed time period appropriate lunches. 

The Flying Jenny was a highlight of recess. 

The kids also got to play with stilts and a stick and hoop set. 

After lunch, they filed back into the classroom for their afternoon lessons. 

One of Elisabeth's favorite parts of the last day at Rose Hill was the example of student discipline in 1910. She asked the teacher if she could be a part of the example. 

The highlight of the afternoon was a spelling bee. Katherine was especially excited because she beat her brothers. Elisabeth struggles with spelling and she studied so hard for the spelling bee. She didn't win, but she did really well. I was proud of her hard work and dedication to study so hard. 

The school day ended with a game of hide the thimble. It truly was such a wonderful day. We all had so much fun and learned a lot about what life was like back in 1910. And the best part was experiencing it all with so many of our friends. 

The Rose Hill Schoolhouse experience was certainly a core memory for all of us. I'm so thankful to create such special memories with my family and our awesome group of friends.