this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.
Visit Soulemama to see more moments, and to share a link to your own!

beating winter blues part 2

the snow is coming down,
today we didn't really see the sun
but we are still on a mission to make the best of our indoor days.

Today I wanted to touch on excersise.
how can you get a work out when you can't go out.

I have one word for you.

DANCE

yes, that is it. that is all.
it is so simple.

the best part is anyone can do it, and if you are trying to find a way to work out at home dancing this is the way to go.
it is so versitile.
it can be done anytime, anywhere.
no time to excersise?
you can do other things while you dance (fold laundry, cook dinner, sweep floor).
if you are at home no one is watching, except maybe your kids, but they will LOVE to dance with you, ESPECIALLY if you are no good and they can teach you a thing or two!

have a baby? great! put them in your favorite carrier and go for it! it is a double work out if you can dance with a baby on your hip, or your back, or your front.
I usually have at least one strapped to me, someone hanging off my leg, someone holding my hand and someone teaching me their newest break dancing move!
do I work up a sweat? you bet!

so, that just leaves the music. good dancing music is essential to a good work out. make a great play list and a half an hour has passed before you know it!
some suggestions?
sure!
I got caught folding the laundry today to this
and we put this on to clean up after lunch
this guy has inspired my whole family to shuffle through the day
and this one my daughter and I have choreographed our own dance to.

working out does NOT have to be boring!
just KEEP MOVING!!!

beating winter blues

what do you do on a day when the weather (hello freezing rain!) keeps you from going out as planned to see friends, and when it isn't even that nice fluffy stuff keeping you home, so going outside to play isn't really an option either (no broken bones for me thanks).....?

Bring Spring Early of course!

thanks to a wonderful friend giving us some fabulous window crayons we were able to bring a little spring into the house.
the gorgeous "new life" over lapping the bare trees and piles of white snow is like a little day dream!
hope you are finding something fun to do today!

wondering

What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's
growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools,
but that it isn't a school at all. - John Holt


home schooling
unschooling

i wish there was a better term for it

to include the word "school" means it will always be compared.
i don't want to compare what we do to school

we are living.
home learning....still doesn't work...aren't we always learning....

a friend of mine has said they are doing "organic domestic education"

thoughts?

the new year

the year is still young enough to be doing a new year post right...?

a few things have been on my mind...

*learning...all the time...letting children be children

*great friends, the kind that you can share anything with, the kind that help you work through your "stuff" and let you laugh along the way

*talented sisters, I have many of them (check out Silken wrapped in the most gorgeous blanket from her amazing auntie! - below)

*reading, wishing i had more time for it and making time for it (enjoying a book club with my mother-in-law and her friends!)

*food, making and enjoying nourishing, real food ( my new years resolution was to make sourdough starter and bread - done and done! and it is yummy!)check out my first bear roast below, with apples and garlic, it was delish! praise God for generous friends!

*sleeping habits, bed time, the family bed - and what it all means

*winter. some days i go out....some days i stay in.

2012, welcome~

a weekend of art

this past weekend the kids attended a stage production of Aladdin with their dad. I didn't go, staying back with the little ones, but it is still the main topic of conversation in our house 4 days later. It was a children's cast and we knew 8 children (all home schooled)in the play. The kids have been singing the songs and recounting the evening over and over.
what a thrill!

Our little red head said that it was "the best play I have ever seen, 'cause it's the only play I have ever seen", quite impressing himself with his own wit(speaking of wit, don't ever ask your children to "clear the table into the dishwasher" lest you be challenged by your 9 year old- "wow, that's going to be hard...how do you think we can fit the table in there mom?")

back to the art-filled weekend...

we were also entertained by a steam punk art exhibit put on by a 15 year old home schooler. We didn't know this boy at all. His mother advertised on a homeschooling forum i am on that all were welcome to come and it seemed like a neat idea. We were expecting some paintings hung in a garage or some such thing - well, let me tell you...this talented young man had transformed his family's garage into a world! a hallway led us past a full wall mural of a Victorian street scene and we came around the corner into a laboratory full of candles illuminating sketches, bones, bugs, birds and beakers (that alliteration was unintended). nothing was grotesque or creepy, this wasn't a halloween haunted house, but rather a chance to go back in time, and to imagine. As we left the lab we found ourselves back out side where the artist had posted photos of the process and was waiting, leaning on a picnic table, to say hello and answer our questions. He explained that most of the wood was salvaged from skids and the walls built with old election signs. He was approachable and pleasant. Not at all a horribly awkward "home schooler". oh, and a red head to boot! we thanked him for sharing his talent with us and after a quick photo by the exit got our kids out of the cold. It was a great night. I loved that he had worked so hard, had such a creative vision, and had been given the time and support to pull it all off!
Yay for homeschooling/unschooling families.
and yay for the performing and visual arts! how they enrich our world!!

outside

today was one of those days...
the weather has been amazing (for November) and I knew I should be outside.
the kids spent a lot of time outside soaking up the incredible fall day, the gorgeous sun...
but I kept making excuses for not heading out.
even when they had lunch outside, I didn't join them. I felt I had too much to do.

finally, once my love was home from work, I knew it was my last chance, the sun was going down - fast!
so I slipped on my shoes and headed out.
my sweet girl joined me, and I am so glad she did.

we walked to the end of the street, not far, but just far enough to breath in the fresh air and get the restlessness out of my legs.

then, what a gift! at the end of the street where it becomes forrest was a gang of turkeys.
16 wild turkeys.
it was gorgeous!
This wasn't the first time we have seen them, they have wandered on to our property before, but it was the first time we got so close.
of course they didn't like us there nearly as much as we liked them, so it wasn't long before they gobbled off into the woods in a big long row.

the sun was warm on my face. We walked back holding hands, she and I.
I am so glad I forced my self outside today.