More pictures from last weeks park day

These won't be up long, but wanted to share with a friend!

















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Glorious homeschool park day!

It started out overcast but turned out fabulous. Jump rope, tug of war, making friends with kids they've never met, all the beauty of a homeschool park day. 4 hours of play during schoool hours just would not be possible in a traditional school day. My kids have learned more about "socialization" today with kids from ages 3-11 then they would sitting in rows with 25 kids their same age.
What a fun rejuvenating day for all involved!! I got some good mommy talk in. We just might make this a weekly occurrence!!











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Sunset over chesapeake bay after a fun day at Assateague Island

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Periodic table of life

This was just cool :)




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Consequences for putting popcorn all over freshly vacuumed carpet!

Learning life skills!












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LDS homeschooling conference

I'm looking forward to attending one day of a homeschooling conference. I have never been to one and am grateful that the LDS Eastern Home Educators conference is being held an hour from my house this year instead of the 3-4 hours away that it usually is. I'm also grateful to be able to hear Susan Wise Bauer speak and fill up my bucket with ideas tools and strategies. Have you been to a homeschool convention? What tips do you have for newbies? I'd love to hear!!
I hope you can find a way to fill your bucket, whether attending a homeschool conference or reading some motivating books, or getting together with some other homeschool moms and seeing what works for them. It's important to put ourselves in the list of people for whom we are caring. As mothers in general and especially stay at home homeschooling moms burn out is a real issue and by putting our own needs on the list to be cared for we help to avoid burn out. What do you do in your life to avoid the burn out that can so often occur when we are wearing so many hats??

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Happy birthday!

My youngest turned 3 this week, and as we celebrated with family and friends, it struck me how blessed I am and our family is. We have our health( with a few issues), we have a nice home to live in( with new havac unit and dishwasher the landlord installed!), we have a paid off van that runs decently and accommodates us all, my husband has a job, we have family a driveable distance away and most importantly we have our faith in Christ and the freedom to worship Him according to our conscience. That is a freedom that many is this world do not have and we often take if for granted.
I am grateful to live in this great country and for my wonderful(and imperfect) family.
We were able to spend time with extended family for a small birthday get together and it reminded me how precious family is. I am grateful to be able to spend the time while my kids are young with them. This time is precious and it goes to darn fast!!
Enjoy your family no matter the stage or age. I'm relearning that this is the only day we have to do something with right now. The future will come, soon, but if we are in the moment there is so much we can do!
What are you grateful for?

Willow