Co-op in Review: November 17, 2010

This week's co-op was bittersweet, as we said goodbye to our dear friends, the Reynolds. Mark, Jennifer, Jadon, Jonah and Julia will soon be moving to Oregon. We are excited for their new adventure, but sad to see this precious family leave our co-op! The Reynolds family will be dearly missed!! We presented Jennifer with a bouquet of flowers and a recipe book from the Tapestry of the Desert families. Afterwards, we had a little Thanksgiving/November birthday celebration. The kids decorated cupcakes with frosting, sprinkles and M&Ms. Yum! Then Mrs. Glazier read a special Thanksgiving story and talked to the kids about thankfulness. During our class time, both the Upper Grammar and Lower Grammar classes learned about the Israelites entry into the Promised Land, the faith of a woman named Rahab and the conquest of Jericho by a God-fearing and God-trusting man named Joshua. The Upper Grammar class made picture frames decorated with twelve stones, in the same vein the Israelites made a monument with twelve stones after they entered the Promised Land. The Lower Grammar class made models of Rahab's house out of cereal boxes, complete with a rope to lower the spies to the ground. The Five in a Row class read the story, "Down Down the Mountain." It's a charmingly illustrated tale of children living in the Blue Ridge of Appalachia. The kids then planted seeds in little pots to celebrate the green of this beautiful region of our country.

Travis Cottrell - In Christ Alone

Second Annual Art Show and Sale

On Thursday, November 11, Tapestry of the Desert hosted it's 2nd Annual Art Show and Sale. This year, we were blessed by the Olimb family. They allowed us to donate all of the proceeds to their family to help cover medical expenses. Jeremy and Rachel have a three year old son, Asher, who was born with Cystic Fibrosis. Asher will need treatment and care throughout his life. Asher will become a big brother in early 2011. His brother, Paxon, will also be born with Cystic Fibrosis. In addition, he faces the challenges of having a chromosome 4 deletion. It was a delight to honor this special family in a unique way. The kids enjoyed creating art masterpieces, which were displayed and offered for sale during the evening. There were scrumptious baked goods for sale as well. God is awesome and he provided abundantly. The evening netted over two thousand dollars for the Olimbs. To God be the glory!

Co-op in Review: November 10, 2010

This week in co-op, both the Upper Grammar and Lower Grammar classes studied the geography, people and culture of Ancient Greece. The classes came together to make beautiful plaster frescoes, which were then carefully painted. They also made wreaths for their heads out of olive branches and did a mapping project. Downstairs, the Five in a Row Class read the book "The Story of Ferdinand". Ferdinand is a bull that doesn't want to bullfight like he is expected to do. It's a great story about being true to yourself. The kids made cute bull puppets out of paper bags and acted out scenes from the book.

Superstition Dairy Field Trip

On Wednesday, November 3, Tapestry of the Desert took a field trip to the farm! It was a warm day to be outside, but we managed just fine and had a great time! Our adventure started in the barn where Farmer Jason taught us all about cows--what they eat, how they are milked and how they are given medicine when they are ill. After a brief presentation, we were off on a hayride around the dairy. We saw cows, cows and more cows! We even were able to see two baby calves that were born that morning. What a treat! Then it was time to get to work feeding the animals. The kids were able to hand feed goats, sheep, chickens and even a horse. The highlight of the afternoon was picking one of 12 flavors of milk and enjoying an ice cream sundae made with farm-fresh milk! Thanks to the Superstition Dairy in Mesa for hosting our group and giving us a great tour!