Skip to main content

Celebration in the Oaks

Last night our home school group was treated to a fabulous party by an anonymous donor with a really big heart. First we met at the cafeteria for pizza and cupcakes (and fruit and veggies for those so inclined). While we were there the president of the seminary spoke explaining that a certain Christian man threw this party for everyone along with a night out at Celebration in the Oaks at City Park which would include ice skating for everyone! That wasn't all, however, this anonymous donor also set up a $100,000 endowment fund for our home school group! On Christmas morning this donor's wife will open up a present from her husband and inside will be a scrapbook chronicling our night--his gift to us in her honor. I'm so thankful for generous hearts who love our Lord!

Check out our pictures!

Here Jathan and Ryland pose at the cafeteria after enjoying their pizza and cupcakes. Ryland took that candy cane for all it was worth, ha ha!



I tried to get them to sing but Ryland was too impressed with the man caroler. "Dada!" he said.



After that we were off to City Park for Celebration in the Oaks.



A magical unicorn greeted us at the entrance.



Jathan said hello to a random raccoon that wandered up.



We said hello to Mr. Bingle!



We walked through Storyland where Jathan tried out Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.



Ryland was quite alarmed to kind a wolf at Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house!



He totally loved the cow jumping over the moon!



Everyone slid down the big dragon slide a few times including Keeleigh. Here she is flying off the bottom!



And here she is with her friend, Hannah, looking like pretty princesses!



The kids got their picture made with Santa but we haven't received it yet (it's being emailed to me today). I can't wait to see it!

I think Keeleigh's favorite part of the night was getting to "ice" skate. Of course it wasn't really ice since we live in New Orleans and it was 70 degrees last night. But we pretended.



And I didn't even fall down!



But Jathan did. A lot. He said it was fun anyway!





And Keeleigh was pretty good at skating, which came as no surprise. She survived been slung across the "ice" without falling while many, many others fell.



Jackie and Piper decided to sit out ice skating. = )



After ice skating we went for a ride on the train--Ryland's favorite thing EVER! (He saw me putting these pictures up here and starting shouting excitedly, "CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO! Ha ha!)





We rode through a tunnel of lights...



and past lots of pretty lights that my camera wasn't quick enough to capture!



It was such a fun night! We'll get to visit Storyland and the Botanical Gardens as many times as we want over the next year because part of our gift was a season's pass--woo hoo! Many thanks to the angels on earth who made it possible. May God bless them many times over for their generosity!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Reasons I Should Stay Off Facebook

1. TMI So, I remember the weirdest things but one brief conversation I had over 10 years ago stands out to me. It was high school and like all high school girls I had friends, enemies, and frienemies. One of my then-frienemies (we've grown up since then!) was friends with one of my enemies. Standing by the lockers one day, frienemy walks up and says in reference to enemy something like, "She shares too much information. Sometimes it's almost like, 'Hey, guys. I just farted.'" Of course, at the time I ate this up and laughed at her expense but over the years it's been a little reminder that more often than not I need to shut up. Just shut up. I've often been tempted (and have too often given in to the temptation) to over share. I think the Internet feels far safer than it really is. I need to remember that. 2. Friends...or Stalkers? Speaking of "friends", I have 321 of them. I know that number is much higher for many of you, but ...
10 comments
Read more

I Turned Down a Large Sum of Money.

In Alaska there are lots of homeschooling options. The state has a statute which basically says that if you are a child’s parent or guardian you can educate them. The end. No other requirements, no tests, no reporting. You are their mama and in control (as it should be!) Along with having a private tutor or being a part of a religious private school, one option is to homeschool as a part of the public school system.  Because Alaska is so large and areas can be so remote, homeschooling used to be quite the neccessity. It meant schooling out of a box—correspondence school. Now things have changed and homeschoolers have an entire plethora of options. Here you can join a group (sort of extension of the public schools) and if you meet the requirements, you get money to support your students. A LOT of money. Around $2,000 a child.  I have only homeschooled in Louisiana and Alabama both of which give parents a good bit of freedom. I was nervous about joining a group in which I had to...
2 comments
Read more

Why We're Moving to ALASKA

8 years ago at around this time Jackie was graduating from seminary after 5 years of being in New Orleans. We were excited and full of hope. It felt like after years of preparation our lives were now going to REALLY begin!  The seminary had hosted a sort of ministry fair for students to meet with representatives from across the United States. Jackie talked to me about which state representatives he’d like to talk with as we planned our perfect life out in our heads (HA!). He mentioned Alaska which I quickly vetoed; we thought it would be lovely to live near the mountains somewhere out west—maybe Colorado? Montana? However, I went back and told him to talk to the Alaska guy if he wanted to because I didn’t think it was right that I should tell him no. I don’t remember all the states he inquired about that day. I remember him bringing home a memo pad that said West Virginia on it, and I remember him talking ALL ABOUT ALASKA.  Now when God speaks to me I unfortunately do not have...
1 comment
Read more