BC Museum

During our trip to Victoria we went to the museum which turned out to be an awesome field trip!

 I always have such a hard time coming up with good Native studies and this fit the bill

 

 HUGE HGE HUGE totem poles. I couldn't fit them into my picture they were so tall. I even learned a lot on this trip. I had no clue a totem polls were an animal that they believe is their sacred ancestor. And that they believe they guard and protect their homes and villages each carved figure has a story behind it.

 They had a life size Plateau. An underground pit that is covered with spruce and heaps of dirt. There is a hole in the roof that is a place for ventilation and a doorway. Inside it has a notched ladder to get in an out. As many as 50 people would live in these in the winter.

This was a life size wooly mammoth. This area had sounds coming through big speakers. It surprised me but Presley just wanted to get out of there and move on.

 Jude standing by a life size seal. There was a speaker explaining how Inuit groups could harpoon through the winter. The seals were used as food, oil for king heat and cooking. Walrus and whales were also hunted and used for clothing.
There is so much I could share about this trip, I read almost every plaque to the kids as we walked around. They had an excellent photo gallery of animals around the world. I wish there had been more hours in the day to take it all in again. Defiantly somewhere id like to take them again.

 

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd ever have to hand my baby to a surgeon and completely let go. My heart has never ached so bad.   Chris snapped this picture minutes before I walked him down to the OR. Whispers of desperation.   Nothing prepares you for this, nothing prepares you for what it does to you after.   The pain etched so deep inside your soul. The sadness of the pain your baby has to endure.  Yet, thankful God chose me to be his mother. That God saw me as his perfect fit. 

Real Life Homeschooling - Trip to Victoria

 

We realized the majority of our children have never been on a ferry, so we decided to do a big field trip. School as in "book work" hasn't  been a priority this year but I can guarantee the Brown children have gained a huge education. 
We recently watched the documentary on Netflix called Blackfish this ended up rolling into our aboriginal studies about Orcas. We learned that the Native Symbol Orca or Killer Whales symbolizes family, romance, harmony, travel, community and protection. But more on Native studies later.....

 

We took the kids to the parliament buildings in Victoria. I hadn't been there in years, and oh my goodness is it every beautiful!  We learned random fact all together.  Some of the best times together is when Mom and Dad are learning too.

 

       The construction of the BC Parliament Buildings in 1893 was led by a 25 year old architect by the name of Francis Rattenbury. It was in 1897, during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, that the construction was deemed complete.

Real Life Homeschooling - The Ocean

 

     Two weeks ago there was a nice break in the weather so Chris took the children on a trip to Stanley Park.  The plan was to see the beach and it was a beautiful day for it.  They had anticipated to go on a search for sea shells and different aquatic life, however they did not have to search at all, as the beach is littered with thousands upon thousands of shells.  It was a perfect way to show how the sand was actually made up all these broken shells.  The majority of the shells were blue mussel shells, mostly empty.  They found a number attached in clumps to rocks, still alive.  All the while giant cargo ships were coming in and out of the bay. There was a spot where as far as you could see was ocean, Dad pulled up a map on the phone and showed the kids that even though it looked like endless ocean, it was actually a small passage of water between the mainland and Vancouver Island.  It was an amazing picture of how big the ocean really is.  And truly a nice break from the walls of the hospital.

Stronger than I ever knew

 
 I'd love to find the time to blog this last month, and I am sure in the quiet evenings I will. Right now I am in awe of the miracle God has done. In September we prayed as a family that God would move  in a HUGE way. We prayed expecting him to show himself.  Never and I mean NEVER would I have chose this path to walk. Never did I think my heat could be so broken before HIM. Never did I think my prayers would become ones of tears and desperation.  We all are still soaking up this month.  God is SO Good! When you pray heartfelt  prayers to see him move in mighty ways GET READY!  I am in awe of how many people God has brought into our lives, how many that SEE our family lives differently, SEES my children's love for each other. As hard as this month has been God has made sure they were poured on with love by people.  More later...