“May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.” ~Irish blessing

I’d love to know what my grandbaby girl Khloe thinks when her mommy puts giant bows and butterfly wings on her head. 😉

I did week-end posts for a while and I loved them — but realistically, I’m no longer willing to put that much time into it every week. Then I did month-end posts, and I loved those even more but I sort of fell off the schedule wagon with that. So I’m going to see how it goes to resurrect them, or some version thereof.

{happenings}

Ken and I celebrated 12 years of marriage! We had dinner out the night of our anniversary at a fancy-pants restaurant, and it was lovely: the food, the company, leisurely conversation, a sunset view of the harbor, even our waiter. We continued the celebration the following day (a Saturday) by having lunch out and strolling around our favorite little town on a delightfully sunny day. Ten-thousand points to Kathryn for babysitting both times.

The biggest NEW thing for me this month is teaching a fitness class for active seniors at our local Rec Center. It’s so much fun! I stressed ridiculously about it for weeks beforehand. (Just ask my family!) Maybe it’s an introvert thing, but the thought of doing something new — and being responsible for other people enjoying it — terrifies me. But after the fact, I’m almost always glad I pushed beyond my comfort zone. My class is small, as we’re only in the first month and still getting the word out, but I think these mornings will end up being some of the highlights of my week.

Related: I’m also working on my new website for fitness training and running coaching! I’ll be offering in-person training, plus virtual run coaching and eventually online fitness training, too. If you’d like, subscribe to my monthly fitness newsletter to receive tips on healthy living and relevant info on running and fitness, and to stay up to date with any new offerings.

{homeschooling}

We have become more and more unschool-ish as the years go by. For Jem (8), I focus on math lessons and reading; everything else for him is completely unschooling. He still builds LEGOs nearly every day, plays outside often, and we enjoy our read-alouds. I’d like to add in more art days and maybe recruit Kathryn to find some fun science experiments to do with him occasionally.

Other than math (which she doesn’t love), most of Kathryn’s high school subjects are interest led, even if we use a curriculum. She has already completed this year’s Physical Science, as well as Latin 1, and is nearly finished with American Government. Literature is ongoing and consists primarily of reading good books. Her other interests, like astronomy, are always in the mix as well.

:: people to see, places to go

We started the month with a field trip to the NC Aquarium. (More photos from the day.)  We have a family membership and go at least every couple of months. Some exhibits change periodically, so that’s fun. Last year, there were animatronic dinosaurs in the outdoor garden; each summer, they have a butterfly pavilion we enjoy. This time, we saw mermaids! They were part of a traveling show from Weeki Wachee Springs.

Another day, we had our first wild+free meet-up with new friends. Through the wonders of social media, two previously online-only mom friends became real-life friends. I’m so delighted we’ll be making this a monthly gathering! (Find a wild+free group near you.)

The kids all had a blast, and the moms did too.

I’ve read good things about horses for therapy, so we decided to give horse-riding lessons a go for Scout. I’m not sure yet if we’ll continue past the three months we committed to; we’re about halfway through that and although she enjoys it, the same can be said of anything activity outside of the house. For now, though, it’s fun, and Jem goes along to play with the instructor’s little boy. They have a good time together, usually doing something very BOY like digging holes and chasing ducks.

Scout must’ve told her instructor that Jem has been talking and talking about how he has never ridden a horse. So at last weekend’s lesson, the instructor offered to let him ride — and I’ve heard all about it since then!

:: what’s working for us

Library days! About every other week, we head to the library for a new stash of books, and we always do it on a day when the weather is good enough to walk around by the waterfront. We hunt for sea glass, watch boats, climb an ancient tree, and occasionally treat ourselves to coffee/cocoa.

:: what we’ve been reading

• me: Beach Music by Pat Conroy; Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks; and To Dance with the White Dog by Terry Kay.
• Kathryn (age 16): A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle; Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis; and Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.
• read-alouds with Jem (age 8): The Talking Eggs by Robert San Souci; Thidwick the Big-hearted Moose by Dr Suess; and every Elephant and Piggie book we’ve found so far.

:: on the blog (in case you missed it)

• Half marathon: running for my dad ~ a recap of February’s difficult race
• Visual Latin curriculum review ~ with plenty of input from Kathryn

. . . . . .
I’ll be linking with iHN’s Homeschool Mother’s Journal, and Kris’ weekly wrap-up.

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »