Friday, September 6, 2013

Field Trip Friday

I declared today our First Official Field Trip Friday!  We have lived here several months and there is just so much to explore... I decided today is the day to start!
Our first stop was Campbell's Covered Bridge"Constructed in 1909 Campbell’s Covered Bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in the State of South Carolina. The 38 foot long, 12 foot wide pine structure that spans Beaverdam Creek was built by Charles Irwin Willis. Locals believe that the bridge was named for Lafayette Campbell, who at the time of the bridge’s construction owned 194 acres in the immediate area. The bridge and surrounding acreage is presently owned by the Greenville County Recreation District and has been transformed into a passive park where visitors can picnic, explore the foundations of the old grist mill and home site, wet their feet on a hot summer day in Beaverdam Creek, and learn about the area through interpretive signage." 
So my friend, Laurie, told us about this place.  She said there was a creek the children could play in so we were prepared.  Or not.  LOL.  I thought 'Crocs and roll up their jeans and they can wade'... tsk tsk... I know better!  They had so much fun and it's just water, right?  ;)














Finally a picture of the covered bridge!  It was really interesting to see the construction and to know how long this bridge has been standing!

We went on a hike too!  Hey, does that count as "PE"?


Icing on the cake... the nice owner asked the boys if they wanted their picture taken with his car.  It's a 65 Impala ;)




As we were pulling out of the parking area we saw a sign for Poinsett Bridge,

and, of course, being on an Adventure we decided to go there too!  This is a gorgeous area and we can't wait to go back when the leaves are changing.  The boys mostly skipped rocks... since they were kinda dry from the other creek I wanted them to stay dry.  LOL
"Poinsett Bridge is part of the 120 acre Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve and owned by the State of South Carolina. The Recreation District manages the preserve along with SCDNR. . Constructed in 1820, it is believed to be the oldest surviving bridge in the state. Named after Joel Poinsett, a prominent early resident of Greenville and a U.S. ambassador to Mexico, the bridge was part of the State Road that connected Charleston and Columbia with the North Carolina mountain communities into Tennessee. It is a 14 foot Gothic arch stone structure and stretches 130 feet over Little Gap Creek. Historians believe that is was designed by Robert Mills, architect of the Washington Monument" 


 All photography courtesy of the lovely and talented Molly Lewis.


Saturday, August 24, 2013

It's Island Time... Finis!

Here it is... in all it's lovely usefulness... happy sigh... I love it!






Saturday, August 17, 2013

It's Island Time!

LOL

We decided when we first looked at this house that it needed an island in the kitchen.  There is not nearly enough counter or storage space for us.  I have schemed and dreamed up several styles but nothing just *clicked* for me.  It seemed one of those 'one day when we have extra money' dreams...
I woke up yesterday morning and said "today we are building an island" ... I had been working on a plan using scraps we had in the basement and it all came together in my mind yesterday morning.
This is made using mdf pieces from the Jr triple bunk we built in FL, some 2x4 pieces and some 1x4 and 1x2 scraps and leftover pieces.
Put together with screws, nails and brackets... just using what we had ;)






Made the bottom shelf to accommodate wheat berry buckets and the top to fit roaster ovens and crock pots.

And the base is all done!
The wood strips are just laid on top.  That is today's project -- attach the wood strips and sand well.  Tony bought beadboard for the ends and front and it will be painted... you guessed it... red. The side facing the refrigerator will be open.
We are not furniture builders but I am pleased to have something functional in place!  I am proud of my crew for making my vision a reality.  :)


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

And the 2013/14 School Year Officially Begins!















A genius idea from my friends Erin and Mary... use stickers to put the correct answers!  This helps with manual dexterity, it helps the pages to go so much faster as he knows the answers but it still very slow with correct form with the numbers.  We practice numbers with our handwriting but I want math to be math and not writing practice! 


Friday, August 9, 2013

"Teenagers"

Excellent article about 'teenagers'...   click the link to read it.  Some great thoughts here, wow...  It's nice to see my thoughts in someone else's words ;)

Please read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. 

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Nehemiah's First (Official) Day of Kindy

Nehemiah did some Kindy work last year but this is his first official year of Kindy... and, actually, he doesn't have to 'officially' attend K until next year because of his October birthday.  Anyway... this child is ready for school and has been asking all week when school is starting.  We haven't started yet but he did school today and I snapped some pics to share :)

Drawing 'frees' is hard work!
"YES!!!"  He did it!
Concentration...
Oops... glue on the fingers!

I didn't think to take pics until he had finished Math already.  ;)  And we do Science and Social Studies as a group class so he didn't do those today either. 

He is growing up so fast... the time flies by, that's for sure!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Our New Library and School Room

Phase 1... we will come back and add drop ceilings sometime in the future... 

View from the library into the Family Room, which is partially done.
Let me find a 'before' picture...
Standing in the Family Room looking toward the Library

Family Room area

I know it's hard to picture without a floor plan but basically, if you were looking down from above, you could divide it into six areas.
Top left: exercise area, bottom left:  library
Top middle:  storage, future kitchenette, future bathroom, future laundry area
Staircase
Bottom middle:  family room
Top right:  workshop
Bottom right:  storage

Does that even make sense?  LOL

We are enjoying being able to design the space to fit our needs.  Y'all know how much we enjoy home remodeling projects anyway!

Now, come see us sometime!  We love company!!