just be yourself.

i am doing a poor job of taking photos during our days. i forgot to take a picture of the "swamp" that they made in our backyard but it brought up some good conversations about habitats. :) we had a wonderful day at home (the first in a while) a couple of days ago...where we cleaned, played, practiced writing and then prepared for our book club the next morning by reading a Magic Treehouse book about Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. I am beginning to understand a little bit better about how things are going to roll around here. I popped Kodiak in the Moby, stood in the middle of the room while i swayed him to sleep at the same time I read the book to Journey and Asher. Moments like this, though seemingly insignificant, bring about a great sense of accomplishment during these days of craze and adjustment. :) Yesterday we met with our home school group for a little book club activity. It was so nice because we met at the big park in our neighborhood. I love not having to drive because sweet Kodiak isn't a big fan of the seat. On our little walk there, Asher took note of our surroundings and stated "Isn't it just so beautiful, mama? See the mountains over there. We live right by mountains! Isn't that beautiful?". It was a great gathering. The kids discussed the book and one of the moms had planned out a wonderful lesson where they identified Italy on a globe and had print outs of where Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii were. They played a counting game using Roman Numerals and then they made some volcanoes that "erupted". We have some pumice stone in our backyard and so later that day we talked a little bit more about pumice and did floating tests with it. Asher came up with some questions from the book. One of them was "How did some people survive when the volcano erupted?" and the other was "What happened to the top of the mountain when it blew off?". He always gets really involved in stuff that he can connect to his interests. I love witnessing that. Later in the day, we made brownies to contribute to a dinner for homeless people in the area. Journey helped me out with measuring and stirring and licking the spatula, of course. She also wanted to "make [her] horses magical" by putting star stickers all over their bums. ;) Love this girl.

I never, ever know what is going to come out of Journey's mouth. She is completely uninhibited. She both amazes and astounds me. ;) The other day she came into the room singing a song that she made up. The words that she kept singing over and over and over again were, "Don't be ashamed! Just be yourself!". It was awesome. I never want to forget that moment. I hope she doesn't either.

Today I overheard Asher explaining the cycle of water to his younger cousin. His excitement and enthusiasm over this knowledge always makes me smile. He is such a passionate learner. These children. They take me to my widths and breaths. They teach me more than I could probably ever offer them. I am so honored and humbled by their existence in my life. There are many times where I can let myself get worried about various aspects of education. There are times where I don't feel like enough for my children. During this time of experimenting with what works best for everyone as we sort through emotions and adjustments, it is easy to wonder what messages are coming through. This is a good practice for me in paying attention and in aligning our approach with our values and convictions. I am choosing to take rest in knowing that they are learning exactly what they need. They are learning to trust themselves, to know themselves and to find faith in their beauty.