Nature Day

Some days are just too beautiful to stay cooped up in the house. This was one such day. The girls and I got out and walked, visited the animals, worked on our nature journals, read and breathed in the fresh air. What a special, simple time.

Sweet Sisters

It does my heart good to see my girls having fun together and loving each other. I realize they can't always get along so I cherish the moments like this one. Grace and Emma had a nice hot bubble bath. Then Grace massaged Emma's hands and feet and painted her nails. They also did oatmeal and honey facials (I'd recommend doing these before the bath. LOL) Later Grace gave Emma this little poem she had written:

When I'm feeling down
And there's no sunshine around,
Emma's my light and
She turns things back around.

I love my girls!

Our Neighbors

Isn't it nice how God just sprinkles little blessing around to surprise you? When we bought our property, we did so because of how beautiful we thought it was-all the oak and dogwood trees along with the quiet little creek. It wasn't until the last couple of years that we met our neighbors. He happens to be someone I went to high school with. They haven't actually built down here yet but they've already moved their 'babies' over here. Yesterday they called to see if we wanted to come meet the newest additions-some chicks and baby goats.

They were just the sweetest things ever! We hated to put them down.
Not only do they have goats, but also Jenny the donkey, 2 cows and many chickens. It's so much fun to go visit all the animals and love on them. These 2 cow actually came over to our property and 'visited' one day too. LOL! The best part though is having Kim and Tommy as neighbors. They're so kind and giving-always ready to help. I love talking with the two of them and getting to know them better. I'm looking forward to them living down her permanently. Hopefully we'll be able to bless them like they've blessed us.

A glimpse into our life

Not sure...

Well we've moved in-that was the easy part. Decorating is what has me stumped! The girls rooms are coming along. That is all except Grace's lamp shades. Just a little thing but boy does it bother me. LOL! We had ordered matching shades with the lamps but the company sent the wrong color. We've had so many problems with this certain company that I decided not to try reordering the right color shade. Instead I bought some plain white ones with the idea that I'd decorate them. 2 1/2 months later we still have plain white shades. Not that I didn't try. I glued ribbon horizontally around the top and bottom...didn't like it. Then I took another ribbon and glued it vertically...didn't like it. So, my last attempt was fabric. I thought I'd make a kind of skirt-elastic at the top and a bit flared at the bottom. Super easy, right? Not so much for me. :)
Funny thing is, I was talking with a group of moms just the other day. 2 of the moms never use patterns to sew or recipes to cook. The other mom and I admitted to having to have both. I'm for sure a pattern girl when it comes to sewing. If not a pattern I at least need a tutorial! Something! Don't just send me out on my own. Unfortunately that's what happened with these shades.
On the positive side-they're not plain white anymore. Grace said she "loves" them. She's the kind of girl who would never say anything different. As for me...I'm still not sure....

Taking Another Path

Those of you who know me personally, know I'm crazy about schedules for homeschooling. We have a weekly schedule that I print from Ambleside. I then make a daily schedule from this.
I save these each year as a part of our school records. Now, first of all, don't think we follow these to the letter. With our extra-curricular schedule sometimes there's no way to get it all done. I really just like knowing where we are and being able to see what's left to accomplish and the approximate amount of time it will take to get it done. This school year, with traveling, moving, etc we've gotten behind. We have a very heavy reading load anyway-to get behind is to fall into a deep hole! LOL! Lately we've been pushing to get caught up, slowly but surely.

In the midst of this we found out one of our daughters has a heart arrhythmia. Nothing life threatening or serious but something the docs say she won't outgrow. When this happened I was trying to explain to all the girls what was going on with Grace's heart. I realized that they don't know a whole lot about the heart or the circulatory system. That led me to one of our favorite places...the library. I came home with all of these:
We took one whole school day to read through all the books and discuss them. Then we watched a DVD on the circulatory system. Afterward I had the girls draw/trace the heart and label it.
Now we're in the process of working through a DVD on CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. This is all stuff that with me being a nurse, I'm crazy about. I think the girls might have enjoyed it too. I know for a fact that they learned a lot.

I'm glad now that I broke away from the trusty schedule for a day. Isn't that what homeschooling is all about-being flexible, following your interests and having the freedom to take another path? It works for us.