Lost in Transition...

Letter of Intent is in the mail!

Today marks the end of one educational adventure and the "beginning" of one that is not exactly new to us. My oldest daughter has been attending an alternative school part-time all year. Today is her last day. While there are some things we will certainly miss (the people) there are several reasons we are very excited to be unschooling again. The most important reason, in my eyes, is that we will, once again, have the freedom to do exactly as we wish on a daily basis. We can be more spontaneous with our days or hang out at home and hunker down on a cold winter morning instead of having to brave single-digit temps to make it across town to school.

So I'm spending my evenings reading lots of past issues of Life Learning and Growing Without Schooling and reading about other ways to live more simply and more mindfully (more about that later!). I'm learning to navigate my new community and have stayed in touch with my past community of homeschool families. I'm excited for what lies ahead and the girls (and Dave!) seem to be too! One thing is certain... we can only move forward.

Dreaming...

Thanks to Sarah, who recommended The River Cottage Family Cookbook. I haven't been able to stop dreaming about it and it will be joining our unschooling adventures very soon (as will some child sized cooking tools from Montessori Services.)

Lemonade!

Blue and I made lemonade this afternoon... Our first batch of the year was tried out yesterday and was so delicious we drank the entire pitcher. I'm making it my mission to spend a couple of days in the kitchen with her each week, cooking. She adores making "concoctions" but is starting to have an appreciation for the kind you can actually consume. This is, most likely, thanks to her Papa who cooks pancakes with her every weekend. Boil 1 C. of sugar & 1 C. of water for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Hand squeeze 1 C. of lemon juice. After sugar/water mixture cools down a bit add lemon juice and stir well. Transfer to pitcher and add water to taste. We love to add some ice cubes to cool it down quicker!rrently our favorite children's cookbooks are... •Fanny At Chez Panisse by Alice Waters •Kids Cook 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold •Look And Cook by Tina Davis •Honest Pretzels by Molly Katzen

The Traveling Gnome!

I was contacted a year ago about being involved in the Travelling Gnome Project. I wholeheartedly agreed as I adore Rosa Pomar's work. Noah, is traveling the world and we were blessed to have him for a visit!

"Noah" spent quite awhile with us... hanging out with some new found friends, playing at the beach, etc.

Thank you *so much* to Saloia for getting this fun project started!!

Conversations With Blue : Pt. 3

Our neighbor's dog (Ironically named Blue) died recently. This morning while looking out my bedroom window at the neighbor's house this conversation ensued.

Blue: Why did Blue die?

Me: He had cancer.

Blue: How did he get cancer?

Me. I don't know.

Blue: Did he smoke cigarettes? (laughing at her own question)

Me: (laughing)

Blue: Or maybe he ate cigarettes?