Homeschool Funk Solutions

December 30, 2015

So I decided part of our homeschool funk since the move was that we were never getting out of the house to do anything hands on and fun. Well that is all about to change. I am stepping out of my comfort zone once again and planning field trips and outings for the rest of the school year.  Since I am brand new to the area and don't know where to begin when it comes to finding places to go for field trips I bought a book to help me.  And for those living in the Utah area is has been the best book for finding kid friendly places to go and things to do that I would not have come up with or thought of on my own.

It is broken up into sections like Historic sites, gardens and outdoors, playgrounds and parks, hikes and nature walks etc.  Purchased on a whim off a book store shelf because I needed guidance to get us out of the house this has been a wonderful little find and we now have field trips to get us out and exploring the area we live in from now until the end of the school year planned and on the calendar.  And let's be honest as a homeschooling mom if it isn't on the schedule it most likely gets forgotten and missed out on.  It is amazing how a little fun planned into things can make everything else just a little more energizing and fun. I am now actually looking forward to starting school again with the kids when our winter break is over.

Yoga With a Sumo Wrestling 2 Year Old

December 2015

Well, I tried Yoga this morning. I lasted a whole five minutes before the kids joined me. Nice because we can count it for PE today. Not nice because I only made it about seven minutes into the forty-five minute workout before it was too hard and I couldn't do it anymore.

Plus who can exercise with a two year old jumping all over you like a sumo wrestler? It's seven minutes more then yesterday. And that means I can last at least seven minutes tomorrow right?  Well maybe I expect that will all depend on whether sumo baby is in attendance as well.

Snow and the Kids Want to Know

December 14, 2015

My kids have grown up in the southern desert of Arizona up until now and this is our first year experiencing snow in the winter time.  So you can bet your boots I cancelled our morning school work when it started to snow and all the kids wanted to go outside and play.  Especially when they cancelled public school for Jeremiah too.

It started snowing last night and has continued on and still is snowing lightly presently. The kids are all outside having a snowball fight for their lunch break from school work.

One of the first things my kids did was only last about ten minutes before they had to come inside to get a second pair of socks on their feet and a second set of gloves for their hands so they could go back outside and keep playing.

Winter clothes such as snow shoes, scarves, mittens, gloves, coats and ear muffs what are those?  Things I have never before needed to purchase in my life and now I find myself in need to quickly go and outfit a family of seven properly for a snow and cold filled winter.

It's so funny because all morning I keep getting asked if we are going to have a "white christmas" like in the movies. We've got at least 4 inches maybe more.  It was so fun to sip hot chocolate this morning and watch from the windows as my kids discovered the joys of the winter season.

Joy's I remember getting a fleeting taste of when we visited my grandparents around December for the family Christmas party and there never quite being enough snow for more then a 12 inch tall snowman scrapped together with the sprinkling of snow on the hoods of the cars in the driveway.  Or one year when Showlow really got a lot the weekend we visited and we got to go sledding with my Aunt and have a proper snowball fight.

I am grateful for this moment for my children and for the memories it gives.  And I count my blessings today.