“By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer.”
~Helen Hunt Jackson

The calendar says it’s autumn, but we still have plenty of warm days ahead. I adore this time of year because midday feels like summer but the mornings are deliciously cool and perfect for a bit of porch-sitting with a cup of tea.

happenings

Thankfully, the insanity of this hurricane season skirted around us, but we preemptively took down the enormous oak in our back yard. I adored that tree from the moment I first saw this house online, but it had started dropping huge limbs every time the wind blew and it was only a matter of time before one landed on our house. The tree was at least three times taller than our house. Watching it come down was a bit of nail-biting excitement.

After eons of wimpdom, I get mightily excited when I do something formerly in the category of never-gonna-happen. This month, that looked like handstands and dead-lifting 95 pounds!

In my own continuing education, I did an all day kettlebell workshop. That’s 8 hours of exhausting fun! I’ve also started a pre-and-postnatal fitness certification that will probably take me a few months of studying to complete. I began teaching a new higher-intensity fitness class, too!

homeschool highlights

I spent half a day this week researching and planning field trips! We love field trips as a fabulous way to learn in the unschoolish style we love, but we didn’t do nearly as many as I’d hoped last year — or the past couple of years. Although I am busier now with work, I do still have plenty of time for field trips as long as I plan ahead. I think I’ve found plenty both the third grader and high schooler (and mom) will enjoy, so I’m really excited!

Kathryn and I volunteered again this summer as sea turtle nest parent trainees. The season is now over and we didn’t get to put in as much time as we’d hoped, but as long as we continue next summer, we’ll be able to graduate next year to being actual nest parents!

For her birthday Kathryn took a glass-blowing class with her father, who shares her birthday. She absolutely loved it! {Also: my first child and only baby is now 17. Hold me.}

Jem has started attending fitness classes for kids twice a week. He’s having a great time with it, and I love that it’s something he wants to do because fitness is such a normal part of our lives. His enthusiasm inspired me to offer a fitness class for homeschool teens since there’s currently nothing for that age range. I’ll start it as a trial run next month and I hope to have enough attendance to continue.

what we’ve been reading: our faves

My faves this month:
The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth;
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue;
Time of Fog and Fire by Rhys Bowen;
Dreamers by Angela Hunt.

Kathryn (age 17):
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snickett;
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater.

Read-alouds with Jem (age 8):
Who wants a cheap Rhinoceros by Shel Silverstein;
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary;
and Ranger Rick Magazine!
His favorite of all from the library this month was The Lego Book. Not a read-aloud, but it got a lot of use as inspiration to build things!

on the blog {in case you missed ’em}

• Hope for when your child walks away: a personal story of hope
• A day in the life: one random Monday for a peek into our lives
• Total body Interval Workout: you can do this one at home with little or no equipment.

. . . . . .
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 »