The gift of chocolate

Easy Pain au Chocolat recipe | Family Kitchen

Catching up...

2011 has been an incredible year. Our family was homeless for the first couple of months and stayed with relatives, then found a great old house with a huge backyard and nice landlords! We had a new baby (boy 5) in June who is doing well and growing like a sunflower! My father had a medical issue that had him in the hospital for nearly 2 months and it strenghtened my parents love and marriage going into year 45 together!!! And as we enter the month of September, I am reminded of how much the Fall does me good. Those first northern breezes that cool your skin and promise that summer is almost over. The boys have continued their life-schooling path and are pretty darn amazing! W9 is a wonderful self taught reader who loves math, the science of cooking and design. D8 is into math, science, current events and a bit of psychology. E6 has fallen in love with the 3 Stooges and Pink Panther cartoons and is the comedian of the family. J5 is the philosopher and never ceases to catch me off guard with the deepest of thoughts..."if God made the Earth with people on it, wouldn't he have made other planets with people on them, too?" Then there is A, 3 month old amazing baby, who has captured all of our hearts and smiles with his smile and charm. DH is still the main caretaker during the day while I work outside the home, but we plan and dream of the day when we can combine our talents to work together for ourselves. The chance make come sooner than we think as the university I work for is going through layoffs and we will find out next week who will still have a job. I am looking for the open window as I have made peace with the fact that there is a good chance that my job will be gone. But if that happens, I will spread my wings and jump out of the safety of the nest for the next adventure. The possibilities of life are limitless and the road leads in many directions. I trust in the Tao to allow me to choose the right path for this leg of the journey. We continue to teach and learn everyday from each other and our friends/family. My beatiful friend Kiawitl always inspires me with her life's journey - "so, as you may drudge through earth dramatics today -take the time to look at BEAUTY and then, reassess the situation- is it REALLY worth wasting energy on??? livelovelaughcry- LIFE is Going by us as we breathe....." thanks for the beautiful intentional inspiration, sistar! I intend on keeping up with this blog as a log of life and hopefully all of you will find something useful in these words! Peace & Blessings.

The cost of unschooling

Those of us that unschool our children do so because we love them. It is not to cloister them or keep them from the real world, but to have them LIVE in the world. We for the most part, do not have a lot of money and seek out those opportunities for our children that are free or at a low cost. Some folks are lucky enough to have a support system where you can barter and trade for services with other like-minded folk.

My husband and I live in an urban apartment setting with our sons (even though we dream of a house w/yard) contrary to the idea most people have of homeschooling families. As if only rural settings are conducive to allowing one the freedom to school your children yourself. I work during the day while my husband and the boys seek adventure and then in the evening, my husband ventures out to play his music. It is difficult for him sometimes as the artist in him wants to roam about freely and our sons are still at ages that require attention.

We have suffered some personal setbacks this year, but as a family we try to be honest about each situation and work together without pointing fingers at one another. Our boys are amazing people and have adjusted through all these situations. They have learned a great deal about money during these financially difficult times and have come up with hilarious and surprisingly well thought out ways to make money themselves.

One thing that we have all learned from these experiences is that it is not the amount of money that you have or that you spend, but the amount of love and effort that you put forth that shapes our children into the people they need to become. They are each unique and intelligent. It is our responsibility to give them the keys to the world, teach them respect for themselves and for their fellow beings, and let them know they are loved!

They will find their path...