girls golf: year three

We've had a few rounds of Girls Golf this summer, and as always, this is one of my very favorite parts of summertime. It feels so good to have an event on the calendar that is a set playtime just for the mama's. We're outside. We talk through each others drives. We stop stories while we walk to our balls and pick up those stories when we meet up again on the green. And we laugh so hard. I have to figure out the equivalent of Girls Golf for the 9 months in between because it's so good to be active, with friends and without kiddos. (No offense to the kiddos!) Any suggestions?

Lake Pepin overnight

I'm going to write out our itinerary for our 30 hours away because it went so smoothly and definitely should be duplicated. Rory and I are getting to know this area really well which also makes for easy planning, and helps the time away feel like actual vacation. Basically we had a Minnesota day, followed by a Wisconsin day.

We met at the park in Lake City right by the marina at 11:30. I brought a greek salad, grapes and chips and we bought fried chicken at the grocery store across the street. We had our picnic right away and then played at the park. But most exciting was Ivar getting to use the remote control car he got from Papa a few Christmas' ago. We had hid it in the laundry room until he was old enough not to break it and I found it while painting the laundry room. Turns out 5 1/2 years old is the perfect remote control car age. (Later Ivar told us this was his very favorite part of the weekend...driving his car in that parking lot.)

After a while we loaded up and drove to Kellogg, where we visited Lark Toys and rode the hand-carved carousel. And Mimi showed us all her very impressive hula-hoop skills. She's really, really good!

And we all got ice cream at Lark Toys too. But then Hattie was ready for her nap, so we drove back to the AmericInn in Wabasha and checked in so that Hattie could sleep. While she slept, Papa and I took Ivar and Elsie swimming at the hotel pool.

A bit before 4:00 we drove to the National Eagle Center. We spent a little over an hour there (it closed at 5) and then walked along the river and scoped out Fun 'n the Sun Family Houseboats for a future family vacation. Rory's family had a houseboat in this area for part of Rory's childhood so they know the river really well. We thought it would be so fun to bring the whole clan for a few nights next summer to play on the river all together. We ate at a restaurant in Wabasha and watched big ships go by. And then Ivar got a fever and said he wanted to go to bed! So we turned in really early. But Madison went back and found a great jazz band concert under the bridge and enjoyed the evening for all of us.

The next morning we ate our breakfast at the hotel and I must say this is a handy part of traveling all together. Rory and his dad were able to take the kids to breakfast while Marlene and I got ready and packed up the rooms. I loved the extra kid help! We visited the Anderson House Bed and Breakfast and then drove across the bridge to Wisconsin. My kids were thrilled to be entering another state! Ha!

We drove right to Pepin and found Laura and Mary's Little House in the Big Woods. Elsie and Hattie wore their bonnets with pride and we took lots of pictures. 

On our way back we stopped at the Country Stop, ate lunch at The Pickle Factory in Pepin and then went over to the beach in Pepin to skip rocks, or as Elsie showed us, sit right in the water with clothes on. The weather was spectacular and the white sail boats were beautiful on the blue water. 

We got Elsie changed and then drove to Nelson to the Creamery for ice cream cones. We sat on their back patio and decided we'd like to come back for lunch sometime. And then we parted ways and drove back home. It really was incredible how much we packed into 29 hours...which included the drive time! If you're looking for a little summer fun to squeeze in, I can't recommend this trip enough. We are hopeful to head back in that area this fall for another visit to the mighty Mississippi. 

30 hour vacation

We spent Friday night in Wabasha with Rory's folks for a little summer getaway. And it was awesome. It felt like a quality vacation and we still can't quite figure out how we fit so much in and how it felt so restorative. I'll give a full rundown in the next post, but for now I just want to say that I need to remember that a simple overnight is totally worth it. I think I may have believed that I'd need more than one night for a getaway to feel worthwhile, but this one felt great. We played hard and I came home feeling sad that it was over, but tired enough that I was glad to be home.

And we got to see Laura and Mary's Little House in the Big Woods. Which was very exciting for Ivar and Elsie who are very big fans of Laura and Mary.

home school and home making

Last week I started organizing all of my home school materials. I cleared out a few shelves in the laundry room and lined up all of the books I have purchased or found at garage sales, or was given as home school hand-me-downs. And I started to get really excited. Something about seeing it all lined up and beginning to think through our "routine" sparked a vision I had yet to see.

I have been so consumed with what others might think of our decision to home school that I had sort of forgotten one key factor: I am going to LOVE this. I was made for this! I went to college for this! I played school my entire childhood. I taught Sunday school for a decade and was a Bible camp program director. My mind is organized in lesson plans!  My brain thinks in educational objectives! 

So the next day I went to the ABC Toy Zone with a little list of things I'd like to include in our home schooling. And I about died of excitement. I wandered the aisles with my list and the nice lady helping me find everything and felt dizzy with math manipulatives happiness.

The fun part about this year is that it is Kindergarten. And our actual formal lesson time will likely last only about an hour each day. That will include math and reading. There are some incredible curriculums to choose from that were created for home school families, and the approach that resonates the most with me are the teaching ideas of Charlotte Mason. I plan to write a post on her but her thoughts on education sort of boil down to: read to your kids books that connect their hearts to people and places and time periods (ie: not text books, but good stories) and get your kids outside in God's creation as much as possible. Explore poetry, music and fine arts. Create good habits in the home, put the emphasis on quality the first time around, and focus on building self-motivated, disciplined, life-long learners. 

I may have just botched that explanation, but from what I've read so far, that's what has inspired me the most. The truth is, Rory and I are excited for Life School. All that our kids see us do each day is learn new things. They'll hear us talk about maybe getting goats, listen to us ask God about getting goats, and then watch us research all we can about caring for goats. Finally they will find themselves in their car seats as we go to pick up our new goats and test all the things we learned on paper until we learn what works for us. We learn by doing, by building, by trying, by failing, by trying again, by dreaming things up and then accomplishing those dreams. That's likely our greatest goal for our kids in Life School: This first year we want our kids to learn to love learning. 

So Kindergarten will include 45 minutes of math and reading, Bible lessons at bedtime and then each week or two we will have a different unit study. And that may look like any sort of combination of library books, art projects, map study, field trips or dramatic play. Can you imagine how fun this is going to be?!!

***

Another funny thing began to happen as I began gathering up my teaching supplies. I started thinking through my entire "typical" day as a home educator. And as a mother of a baby. And as a home maker. And as the lunch lady. And dinner cook. And laundress. And dish girl. And maid. And involved community member. 

And I started to get a little panicked. 

Soon I was googling, "organizing your home" and "time management for a new home school mom" and "menu planning." One of my biggest goals for this first year of home school is simply to get a rhythm and routine and structure to our days. I have told Rory many times that I will be my biggest challenge to overcome as I learn the self discipline it will take to keep all these plates spinning. The years of having all little kids are truly a haze of keeping everyone alive and fed and relatively clean. I feel like this next season might be the one where I surface a bit. Maybe not all the time because little kids come with so many unexpected daily demands, but maybe there will be some gained order over my days. Maybe. At least I'm feeling a teeny bit hopeful...

So with all this excited (home school) and nervous (home making) energy I ended up on Fly Lady's website. Over the years I have had many friends recommend her site though nothing seemed to gel. But something is different this time. I feel open to any suggestion, and if keeping my kitchen sink shining is the key to my tidy house, I'll try it! (that's her first lesson...)

Then my sister came over and I showed her my home school cupboards and told her of my plan to take the next two weeks to go room by room in my house and purge, organize and systematize the daylights out of every drawer, cupboard and, well, anything. I asked her if she wanted to join me and she lit up like a light bulb. As she left and I told her, "we are starting with the bathrooms! when you get home take a picture of your bathroom and send it to me. Then purge every drawer and cabinet, deep clean that baby so every inch shines and send me an after picture!" 

You have never seen two women more enthused to clean their bathrooms. And though that spirit waned in the process, I do have one sparkling and organized bathroom to show for it. The next morning we talked and decided we were on to the fridge! This meant the outside had to be organized and washed down (even the dusty top) and inside every surface was to be cleaned. I even cleaned my oven as a bonus. It's actually all very addictive. Over the weekend I hit the garage and it was so clean you could eat off the floor. (Which was immediately proven by the chipmunk breakfast the cats were eating as I took the trash out the next morning. No kidding.)

And today I painted my laundry room! We have lived here for four years and somehow last night was the night I felt inspired to buy the paint and tape up the walls. Today I gave it two coats and I cannot believe it took me four years just to do it! And now that I know I can paint a room in a day, no wall is safe.

Tomorrow I am heading to Annika's to tackle her Paper Organization. We're going to create some sort of "office space" for her...maybe in her basement, maybe in a little nook, maybe just on a few book shelves. We both have homes that are short on spare rooms so we're going to get clever. And I know something awesome will come of it. 

All this to say, Jump On In! We are on a roll. September is right around the corner and life is going to pick up real fast. So pick a room a day. Or pick a problem area. Or go read some Fly Lady and join me as I wear my tennis shoes each day (her second lesson) and shine my sink. It feels good and is contagious. Send me a picture of your before and after. This is going to be fun!

three is company

Hattie is so proud to play with the big kids! They are so great with her.

Today we were outside sitting in camping chairs under the oak tree and I asked the kids what their favorite part of the farm was. I said, "Lately my favorite part has been the fireflies at night." Elsie said, "My favorite part is those bushes by the chickens with the hearts on them." (bleeding hearts) Ivar said, "My favorite part of the farm is Legos (the rooster) and the goats, and the barn." And then we tried to guess Hattie's favorite part of the farm and at that moment we watched Canvas the cat climb nearly to the top of our tallest Ash tree. And as we watched we decided that the cats are Hattie's favorite part of the farm. We'll confirm this with her when she is able to talk.