Our Week: End of June catch-up

Another few weeks slips by quickly and I thought I'd give you an update.

Two weeks ago we join my sister and her family for an awesome afternoon.  We had a picnic at a location with a lake and splash park!!  So cute seeing all the cousins playing together.

Always lots of small world play going on here.  At the moment it's farms using a variety of different sets.

TJ loves to play house.  The boys were so cute using our baby items to take care of the dolls.  They are going to be amazing big brothers and are very excited about their new brother.  He is due around the end of July.

Yummy baking.  The boys are so good at measuring, following directions and helping in the kitchen.  Our veggie gardens are looking fantastic.  We've been harvesting rhubarb, lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, peas and a few strawberries.

As always we are out in the forest.  One time we gathered sticks to paint.  We have made some wonderful friends who enjoy being out in nature with us.  The boys have had a chance to visit lots of new natural locations around us too.  All our forest meet-ups will continue throughout the summer.

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Scott.  Everyone had a great time at Story Book Park in Owen Sound.

Skipping rocks in Georgian bay is always fun.  Rain doesn't slow these boys down a bit.

I already posted about MJ's birthday party.  

Father's Day was lovely.  We relaxed and hung around the house.  Grandma and Grandpa Jackson had come down for the party and stayed over.  The boys were so happy to have a visit.  TJ wanted to do something special to celebrate the first day of summer.  We had a BBQ and smores around a fire.

The boys had also received some money for their birthdays.  TJ was thrilled when daddy told him about a tent he could almost afford.  With a bit of help from family he got a new tent to play with in the yard.  He has also slept in it in the playroom a few nights already.

So what's up next?

We are taking care of a friend for the summer who has been in our daycare for years.  Loads of summer fun.  A new baby, new homeschool group adventures and our outdoor learning forest program.

What are you doing this summer???

Farm Birthday Party!!!

This week MJ turned 5 years old!  I just can't believe how fast time flies.  We celebrated on the day of his birthday by getting together with some friends in a forest (we brought some treats).  That evening we went out for dinner and ice cream.   We also gave MJ the Playmobil 123 farm which he absolutely loves.  He has taken apart every other Playmobil set, Lego, anything we give him.  This set has less removable parts, so hopefully it'll stay in intact for a while.

MJ has love anything to do with tractors and farms for several years now.  Everything he builds or creates is a tractor!  Of course I went Pintrest crazy on the farm theme for his party.  I'm probably going to downscale things a bit for next year... 

Some activities included a farm sensory bin in the water table (beans and farm toys), plant your own flower, pin the tractor on the scene, toss the animals into the barn, and knock over the barn with the tractor.  All of these had adorable signs I made stuck in the ground near by.

I also had out a playmat with farm toys, farm stickers and craft supplies.  As you can see the children enjoyed playing all the games, and our sandbox full of Tonka trucks.  Once the children discovered the trampoline they mostly abandoned the other activities.  Another huge hit was bubbles and out playroom.  It was a hot day and the children loved playing with all the boys toys inside.

Food was mostly snacks, chips, veggie tray, fruit, sprouted chick peas, animal crackers (I found some farm ones at the dollar store), mixed ceral (animal feed) and sausages in crescent rolls.  Again everything had adorable farm themed signs next to them.  Dessert was hay bales (rice krispie squares) and cake that MJ helped to bake and put the toys on.  To take home instead of loot bags the children could keep the bubbles we played with, plant their own flowers and they all got a farm/animal related book.

All the children played so nicely together while the parents got to chat.  It was a wonderful afternoon with family and friends.  MJ appreciates all the gifts he received and has played for hours with each one.

Our Week: Highlights since our last update

Wow we've done so much in the past two weeks.  I do post often on our Facebook page, so do go check that out.

After our last major purge we also reorganized all the toys.  We out some board games in the family room too.  The boys are really enjoying Junior Monopoly, Sorry and Checkers.  We all know of the math and logic skills they are working by playing, but I am most focusing on good sportsmanship.  It can be hard for a young child to loose a game.  The boy have been playing together without me and take turns winning some days.  I look forward to having board games coming out more often.

We went to the cottage.  The boys had fun floating on dock pieces while daddy helped to put in the dock.  MJ played a lot with his younger cousin.  We also did lots of fishing and did quite well (mostly sun fish).

I love that my boys often use something they've seen as a jumping off point for further exploration.  After watching Big Hero 6 for the millionth time in a few days, the boys made their own robot fighters.  MJ used our stencils to draw a lot of different robots.  TJ got to work gathering supplies to make a real moving robot.  We also watched some robot fights on You Tube.  Now they pretend to be characters from the movie when they play together.

We were very blessed to be given some wool longies for our little baby.  I decided to dye some of the pink ones to new colours.  I think it went pretty well for my first attempt.  The boys way me working on that and wanted to do something with the food colours.  They each made their own batch of playdough to colour as they wished.  Unfortunately something went a bit wrong with our recipe and the playdough didn't last as long as it should have.  But we still had fun.

We've been working a lot on our gardens.  We have a plot at home and a community plot up the street.  Our rhubarb is ready and delicious.  We have lost a few plants due to crazy weather, but we'll keep plugging away.  So much potential!!

I love the different colours that bloom throughout our gardens.

One day while at the grocery store the boys kept trying to convince me of all the reasons why they each needed a roll of toilet paper from the pack we bought.  It was soft so they wanted to sleep with it or something like that.  As soon as we got home they each made an alien friend.  MJ's was unrolled and spread all over the house, while TJ's is still around somewhere.

The boys and I just love our weekly forest meet-ups.  We have had the opportunity to check out many new parks and natural areas around us.  The boys and their friends use their imaginations, work together, climb and explore.  So much fun!!!

They boys are growing in so many wonderful ways.  TJ sometimes brings out our feeling cards.  He asks me to help his stuffies deal with tough situations and problems that come up.  Things like feeling left out and such.  We talk about the problem and play through it together.

MJ is a rather independent boy.  He has his own ideas and opinions!  We've ben talking a lot about eating more variety and things that work better for his sensitivities.  He has been helping prepare some meals and pick out what he'd like to eat.  

After one of our foret adventures I was in the mood for some painting.  The boys joined me.  Each of us had very different things in mind to paint.  I made a forest scene, TJ painted a house on the edge of a forest with oak trees, MJ experimented with painting he tractor wheels and also made some roads and farms.

TJ had been craving pancakes for dinner.  He wanted to make the whole meal himself.  So he read the recipe, doubled it and cooked the pancakes.  Very tasty!!  

We are very fortunate that there are so many homeschool groups in our are.  A great deal to the zoo made for an awesome day!  It rained most of the day but that didn't stop us.

So many amazing animals to see! 

What have you been up to?  I'd love to hear from you.

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I wrote a post all about trusting your children and learning to let go.  I do hope you'll head over to We Learn Naturally to check it out.

We Learn Naturally - Our Mission is to provide a supportive learning environment that helps individuals reach their full potential according to their innate rhythm and natural skill set. 

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Drop the labels and embrace your life!

Labels can be useful.  They can help us to define things, provide a starting point for further research, and allow for clearer explanations.  But, labels can also feel restricting, confining, narrow and stressful.

These days there are labels for explaining behaviour, parenting styles, educational methods and more.  And while I like that there is a name for the variety within each area, trying to fit in to a category or label can also be very limiting. 

Our favourite place to be is in nature.  This is where my boys come alive!

I’ll try to focus more on education although for me, this topic also applies to other areas of our lives such as parenting styles and understanding my children’s personalities etc.

We’d all agree that most parents want the best for their children.  They also want the best education for their kids too.  We are blessed in our country to have options.  Our kids could go to a public school, variety of private schools, some type of alternate education or homeschooling.  Each option has their own set of pros and cons.  There are excellent and not so great schools/teachers within each option available.  Since every family situation is different everyone has to make their own decision about what is best for their family.  Many factors come into play here such as the child’s needs, finances, location, faith, and more.  What bothers me is when people put down some of the options making us feel like their way is best.  Since we all want the best for the kids why can’t we all support and build each other up.  No matter what choice a person makes surely there is some way you can encourage, support, invest in, or build into that child/family.  We all have strong feelings and opinions but these many options for education aren’t going to disappear just because you (and many others) don’t feel they are the best way to learn.   Rather than disagreeing with their choice of educational location or institution maybe we should focus on building into the lives of kids any way we can.  Maybe that is going to see the play your niece’s school class is putting on, or sharing your love of painting with a homeschooled neighbour, or listening to the exiting adventures your grandkids have been reading about. 

TJ asked daddy to help him figure out how many letters were in the alphabet.  Then we made secret codes up for each other.

For our family we have chosen to homeschool our children.  It is a decision we consider regularly to see if that is still be best fit for our children and situation at the time.  When I first started researching about homeschooling methods I was rather surprised to find out that there are so many different methods, styles and pedagogy to choose from!!  I took my time to read about each one to find out what resonated best with me.  This is where all those labels came in handy.  It helped me to further my reading and distinguish one thing from another.  I could let go of that which didn’t fit with our family and pursue those that did. 

Where I went wrong was to try and pick one method that I felt was the best fit for my family and go all out.  I felt that if I strayed from being a purist (or as much as I could) in that method then I’d be doing it all wrong and not be as effective.  It became very stressful, expensive, and I didn’t like who I was becoming.  In my mind I felt our way was best, and I began to tolerate others but look down on them for not choosing the same way.  I narrowed my range of possible connections too.  When we did something with the children that wasn’t inline with what I thought I should do, I felt guilty, worried and tried to swing the other way to make up for it.  Eventually I would abandon that method entirely and try something else. Now most of this was all up in my head but still I really didn’t need that stress in my life.

Learning can happen any time any where.  It can also be just plain ol' fun!!

This year I decided to drop the labels and embrace what worked best from everything that I had read or tried in the past.  Again each method or pedagogy has its benefits otherwise so much time and effort wouldn’t have been put into developing it.  But since we are all different and complex I don’t feel one specific way is going to work for our whole family forever.  Since learning comes naturally let us also follow the rhythms of nature.  There is a time and a season for everything.  There are seasons of our life that we may be outside more, exploring, working on gross motor, and building.  Other times of our lives we are very interested in a project that engages most of our time.  Some days I have a mini panic attack and want to check in where my kids are at so we may do some workbooks.  For us winter brings us to inside a little more to books, board games, research projects, TV, documentaries, artistic pursuits and handiwork.  With the new baby coming this summer I am sure that our focus and attention will turn to caring for this new little one and welcoming him into our family for a while.  Now that I have stopped worrying so much about following a specific method or worrying about what others will say about it, we have found true joy in learning at home together.

When I dropped the labels and embraced learning as an organic flowing journey, I also began to accept, encourage and support others in their journey too.  We are all in this together so lets not put each other down or make them feel like they aren’t doing enough.  Stop comparing our children with each other.  They are going to be different even within one family.  I am not using the same educational model as you and that is okay.  Let us look for ways to build into the lives of our family, friends, neighbours and children.  What skills do you have that another could benefit from?  Do you have supplies you aren’t using that could be passed on?  Could you gather together to go on a field trip?  Is there a resource that your community of learners need?  Let us drop the labels and start living life more fully.

The boys and their homeschool friends directing their own play and negotiations

You may also enjoy reading about:
A day in our life
Learning Naturally
Homeschooling: Making it your own

Tell me what do you need right now?  How can I support you?

I’d love to hear your questions, worries, prayer requests, and thoughts. 

You can post them in the comments, our Facebook page, message me on Facebook or contact me by email.  All our contact info is in this post also.

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Our Week: Enjoying the spring weather

I figured it was time for an update!!  

I've cut back on my picture taking to be more engaged and enjoy being present with the kids.

We've been out into different natural locations several.  The boys adore being outside, climbing trees and such.  Resting is also awesome in the outdoors too.

TJ love all the wonderful thoughtful gifts he received for his birthday.  We've been spending lots of time using them and playing.

We were blessed to visit a new location with friends.  They explored, played and flourished!

Body painting is always a fun thing to do.  A bit chilly being washed off though...

My creative boys can make almost anything out of loose parts.  TJ ha made a ring toss game, and I'm not sure what MJ has made but they both love their creations.

We also got to celebrate Daddy's birthday.  MJ packed up a lot of his toys to give to his daddy.  TJ made the most thoughtful video talling dady all the reasons he loves him.  We added pictures and made a CD for him.

Another outing with friends to the forest.  This time the kids created the burr club, collecting all the burrs they could into this huge beehive shape.  We took it back with us the following week to add more!

We went to a fabulous Super Hero themed party for the boy's friends.  The bouncy castle kept them busy most of the time, but they also loved dying their own cape.  Back at home the capes were used as the ground in small world play.  They also rode around on bikes dressed as super heros.  So cute!!

We took advantage of the nicer weather to visit several different skate parks recently.  The boys have improved so much with their balance.  MJ is loving his new padding and practices falling just for fun to try them out.

We've also been caring for our flower beds, and planting vegetables in our gardens.

After organizing the playroom, we moved some board games to the family room.  So much math, learning, sportsmanship and family fun have happened around out coffee table.

Be sure to visit our Facebook Page for extra photos and videos.

Joyful Mud Puddles 

Where to put the new baby?... Musical rooms and another purge.

We have been extremely blessed with the coming of our new little boy, due at the end of July.  God has answered our prayers and helped to heal our wounded hearts (I had a miscarriage about a year and a half ago).

We have been blessed by many loving friends who have given us everything we need to welcome this little one into our family.  We had kept a few larger items and are constantly being blessed by the generosity of others.

As I was looking for a place to put some new items for baby a sudden panic hit me.  Where are we going to put the baby??

Our house is under current renovations but we are not in a position to rush and complete the work before our little one arrives.  We have plenty to work with if we are creative.  We have two bedrooms, a playroom, office, family room, kitchen, bathroom and front hall.  I'm trying not to put anything in the half that is being worked on as we also run our family business there too.  For storage there is a linen closet, one cupboard in the large bedroom, some space above the hall and shelves in the hallway.

Here are the bedrooms currently, mess and all.  In one room is a queen bed, two dressers and lots of baby stuff piling up. The larger one has bunk beds, a single bed, two bookcases and a dresser. Time for some musical rooms, creative organizing/storage and another purge!!!

Now every family is different and that is totally okay.  I don't expect everyone to agree with our sleeping arrangements as it is a very personal choice.  So I encourage you to go with what works best for your particular family and not worry about what others have chosen.  For us we have found that everyone in the house sleeps better (for the most part) when there is an adult with the kids. Some nights just until they fall asleep but we have the option of sleeping in their room too. MJ shared a bed with me for years and often does if he's having a rough night.  We plan to have baby and I share a room and daddy will be with the boys as he currently is.  Once baby arrives we'll get to see what kind of sleeper he is and may rearrange the beds again.

After doing some searches on Pintrest, I came across the idea of a family wardrobe.  Everyone's clothes all in one spot.  Totally ingenious!!!  I enthusiastically presented the idea to my husband and suggested getting rid of all the dressers and..... he was slightly hesitant.  He liked the concept but couldn't visualize how that would work in our particular house.  We had a very good discussion about clothes, sleeping arrangements, minimalism, our expectations and more.  It was very helpful and in the end we came up with an idea we both felt good about.

So the plan... move the boys clothes to a new spot and use more vertical space, then sell their dresser.  Move the boys' bookcases to the playroom and fix that up as a special play room for the two older boys.  The smaller bedroom will just be for sleeping with the bunk beds and a single bed.  The larger bedroom will have the queen bed and baby.  We'll keep our two dressers but make better use of the cupboard so that baby clothes can also fit into this room.

Boys clothes vertically in the hall (dress-up clothes beside it)

The next morning I woke up early (this awesome plan was on my mind) and I made space in the hall shelves for the boy's clothes.  Then I moved all their clothes to the new space, purging as I went.   They each have one shelf for pants, one for tops, a bin for socks & undies and their off season clothes are in a bin at the top. I still haven't organized the rest of the hall as you can see.  Half the dress-up clothes are in the playroom and some are in the photo.  After breakfast I couldn't wait to show the boys their new wardrobe location.  MJ didn't really care but TJ was very upset.  The change was big and I hadn't explained the whole plan.  I totally know this about him so I took the time to reassure him, listen to his concerns and explain the whole plan to him.   Well then he was totally on board and wanted to know when all the rooms were going to change.  I did explain that it would all take time so sometime that week.  It all depended on if I could get the time (the boys not fighting but helping etc.)...  TJ got right to work.  He was so excited about changing rooms that we all got on board and spent the morning moving furniture.

We never imagined fitting the three beds into one room, but when you take out the unnecessary and get creative, it all fits well.  Everyone has a special shelf for pictures and nicknacks.  The beds are in the room and the PJ's are in the night table.  Under the bunk beds are the boys tool boxes and a special robot that TJ made.  Under the single bed are the boy's toy strollers (we decided to keep those until our winter purge), and some smaller suitcases.  Everyone approves and loves the new space!!

The larger bedroom looks so huge.  We have two dressers, the bed (this looks rather small in this space), a bassinet, and a box of baby blankets and stuff.  As I settled into the new space I decided to go through all my maternity clothes and remove anything I never really wore.  I have a bag of clothes to sell.  Some clothes ended up in the closet and I now have an empty dresser drawer for baby gear. Then I went through all my normal clothes, this includes all seasons and variable sizes.  Again I chose to keep items that I know I wear often and love.  Everything fit into one large plastic tub that we put above the hall until the weather changes.  I'm still setting up the baby clothes but those will all fit nicely in the cupboard with bins for the next sizes up within reach.  We even had room to store some other items for the house on the top shelf!!

Please ignore the mess, we have a few things to put away.

It feels so good to be a little more prepared.  Now we aren't rushed to get extra rooms in the house done because we all fit comfortable in the space we are using.  We have a tone of items and furniture to donate/sell too. 2 bags of cloths, 1 bag of cloth diapers, 1 bag of towels etc, 1 box of random items, 2 dressers all not needed.

Our next plan is to figure out the playroom.  We moved the boys' bookcases full of toys and special items into that space.  It'll be a joint project to figure out how to arrange it and make it work.  The family room has a few shelves for toys, but will transition more to baby things down the road. After the playroom I'll be working on the hall shelves.

So do share, what areas of you home or life have you simplified recently??

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