Hello!

Its been a while……

I started out this “School” Year with a vision, an ambition, to document our Homeschool Journey through this Blog…. my expectations were set too high, and timing completely off- The purchase of our first house, move over the big blue, Holidays, painting and unpacking and settling into our new home, visiting with friends and family we hadnt seen in years, took over- It put me back into my place- Life happens, its a ship that has to allow movement with the waves, surrender to the seas and storms, and bask in the calm when it comes.

This year has been just that, us all riding the waves.

Andrew is deployed. We are in week 7 of this 7 month long stretch, and we miss him dearly. I am navigating daily emotions from the girls, as we move into this balance of just us once again, in this new place, back in America. Deployments affect the children more then I can describe, and more then they show- we are lucky to be able to video or talk with him everyday, that he is on land this go around, but the longing to hug him takes whole days over at times.

Our homeschool rhythm is finally stabilizing, pouring into books and art, history and folk tales and classics- Natural Science and pesky math lessons, and so much imaginative play. Each year, our Homeschool looks more and more like the vision I always wanted for their childhood, for our Nest. The girls devour books, write short stories and novels, play out and film different scripts they come up with! They are amazing story-tellers.

I have to say, aside from all of our reading by candlelight and classical or cottage or fantasy instrumental music, my favorite thing we do is the art projects! This past month we have been diving into Ostera- Spring. We planted some flowers, herbs and tomatoes, opening the house each morning to hear the birds sing while doing lessons, and study the season while lying in the grass with the dog. We have done many crafts, but I have been slacking on picking up my camera to document it! I would say here “I promise to do that more” but that wouldn’t be giving me much grace, as I usually do forget lately…..

This one however, I couldn’t resist…. We made paper mache lanterns…

We added in wild flowers and leaves from our front and back yard, then filled them with tea lights (battery powered however!)

Bird and Story felt like fairies twirling around with them, and it is a project they are very proud of…. (this was probably inspired by our current read of “A Mid-Summer Nights Dream )

As we move into the rest of our Spring/Summer season, we will be finishing up their 2nd and 7th grade year. It has been one for the books- We have slowly moved away from the “Adventure/Travel” schooling we did overseas, and finding that being at Home is just the right style for the moment. Slowing down the pace, settling in, allowing comfort. Its the joy of this lifestyle, the freedom to do what is right for the chapter, no pressure, just ease. As I sit here this morning, and sip my second cup of coffee, the girls are painting peg dolls at the table. The sun is peeking in the windows, Harvey at my feet, giggles mixing in with soft music—- all I can think is “this life is so beautiful.”

“In every child there is a seed of great potential. Plant love in their hearts, water them with wisdom, help them discover their unique voice, give them space to find their potential. This is how their inner seed blossoms.”

Till next time- xoxo