My Mother-in-Law died this past week after over a decade of struggling with Alzheimer’s Disease. We all miss her. A final goodbye is still difficult, even when we’ve seen it coming for a long time.
Watching her succumb to dementia over the years, I feel like we not only said this last goodbye, we’ve also said 100 little goodbyes along the way. … Continue reading
Through the eyes of a child, everything is magic and full of fun. Even waiting in a parking lot.
As we waiting for a friend who was running late, my boys had a great time exploring a dirt and weed filled parking-lot island. They took what could have been 20 minutes of simply waiting (or lots of complaining), and turned it into an outdoor adventure.… Continue reading
With the school year just beginning, people seem to be especially curious about how and why our family homeschools. Questions regarding our motives, our practices, our most- and least-favorite parts of homeschooling, and more seem to come daily.
In an effort to answer some of these questions, I decided to put up periodic pieces that give a peek into our homeschooling lives. … Continue reading
It’s always good to know when to take a break (see HERE). Over the last week or so, several factors have come together to let me know that this is the time.
Last week my computer died. One morning it was working fine. The next time I went to turn it on, it simply wouldn’t start. It suffered from a major hardware failure, and was completely done.… Continue reading
Last weekend I traveled across the country for a memorial (see HERE). It was an emotional weekend, but in the midst of it my heart was happy to be reminded of the kindness of strangers.
I prepared for a weekend of travel. I was traveling by myself, and prepared myself for all sorts of possibilities (I’m a planner in that way).… Continue reading
I was preparing to fly out of town for a memorial. In and of itself, that made my trip last weekend feel like an emotionally big trip. To add to the feelings, this was the first time I had left either of my boys over night. While my husband travels frequently on his own, I don’t.
The latter factor felt both liberating and a trifle worrying.… Continue reading
We returned earlier this week from our second big road trip of the summer (see HERE). The trip went well. We had a great time visiting my extended family. We celebrated my brother’s marriage with his fabulous wedding party. It was a good trip.
We drove home and made it from Southern California through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and through part of Colorado.… Continue reading
Taking time to relax, to step away from day-to-day demands, is important. We all need white space in our lives. Time that is unscheduled. Time to think. Time to dream. Time to simply be.
While I work hard to create moments of quiet in my day-to-day life, as truly we all need to have downtime daily, it’s definitely a challenge to accomplish this while homeschooling two young, active boys.… Continue reading
We’re getting ready to head off to Michigan to visit my in-laws. This week I’m focusing on planning and packing.
I keep a Master Packing List [you can find a version of it from a previous trip HERE], which makes packing so much easier. Each time we have a trip planned, I pull out our master list and modify it as needed for the particular time of year and circumstances under which we’re traveling. … Continue reading
My boys and I have watched several different types of insects move through their life cycles. In past years, we’ve watched ants make amazing tunnels. We’ve observed as tiny caterpillars grew large, secreted a chrysalis, and emerged as butterflies (see HERE). We’ve seen ladybugs transform from larvae, to pupa, and then into the adult ladybugs we all recognize.
This week, we watched over a hundred praying mantis nymphs emerge from a single egg. … Continue reading