Life lately: May highlights
“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” ~ Hans Christian Andersen
May is the month of an explosion of hydrangeas in my backyard. I have pink, purple, and blue — and they make me all kinds of happy!
happenings & homeschooling
Sea turtle season has kicked off, and we already have nests! Because of our heavily damaged and partially rebuilt dunes after Hurricane Matthew last fall, it could be a weird season with the possibility of turtles nesting under beachfront homes.
I ran my third half-marathon about a week ago, which was hard and hot and felt every bit of those 13+ miles. But I got another gigantic medal for my efforts.
After spending all that time thinking I might grow out my hair, I finally decided that’s entirely impractical for my active lifestyle and how often I have to wash it. So I chopped it, and I love it. It’s more fun and just feels much more me.
We are winding down the official part of our homeschool year. Our summertime schedule mostly just means I won’t do sit-down schoolwork with Jem, Scout will be home every day, and Kathryn will be traveling a bit more to and from Georgia over the summer.
Jem keeps asking to run with me, so on a few very short runs I’ve let him. He has also come to class with me a few times this month, and he gets a kick out of helping set up and clean up. The folks in class get a kick out of him, too.
Jem has had a blast practicing math facts on CoolMath4Kids games online, and he’s loving the projects with gears in this LEGO Crazy Action Contraptions book. Actually, Kathryn has fun with it too, and helping him build them gives her an excuse to play with the contraptions AND get awesome-sister points in the process.
Sometimes Jem goes to the neighbors’ house to help them with their garden. I’m not sure how much actual help he is, but he’s eager and they’re awesome. Often, they send a little something home with him, but one day they sent him home with the biggest cabbage I’ve ever seen. Ken asked if there was a baby hiding under there!
what we’ve been reading
My faves this month:
A Life Intercepted by Charles Martin (one of my FAVORITE authors);
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce;
The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Whalen;
and Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich.
Kathryn (age 16):
The Help by Kathryn Stockett,
and The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket.
Read-alouds with Jem (age 8):
Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston,
and Something for James by Shirley Isherwood.
on the blog {in case you missed ’em}
- Interest-led nature study on the coast
- Half-marathon for ALS Awareness
- Parenting boys: looking ahead (and back) at the teen years
- one year ago: Advice on adopting a teen: Reader Q&A
- two years ago: Using Apologia’s Marine Biology in a relaxed homeschool
. . . . . .
I’ll be linking with iHN’s Homeschool Mother’s Journal, and Kris’ weekly wrap-up.
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 »
Love, love Hydrangeas! My husband was asking what I really want for my birthday this year, and I said, “Hydrangeas.. (all) colors, and a Cast Iron Dutch Oven!” You made a great choice of a pixie cut! No fuss hair and makeup is how I roll these days! Your little guy Jem is the cutest. Take all the help you can get. He looks pleased and proud, and there’s nothing wrong with that!? It’s such a good feeling for us moms when our older kids interact well with the younger ones, even for brief periods of times (gentle smiles). I… Read more »
I absolutely love your hair. It’s super cute. And just my style. I’m currently training for my first 5K for this November. I’ll be posting more about that next week on my blog. It’s good to meet you. I came from the Homeschool Mother’s Journal link up.
Thank you, I’m loving it! That’s exciting about your first 5K! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂