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.

Summer Education

As a youth, summer was my favorite time of year when my days were my own. Being a parent now, summer is such a different animal especially as an unschooling homeschooler. We moved into a large apartment complex (new experience) in May before public school let out and were used to being the only family of school aged children roaming the neighborhood. Since the school year ended, it has been a non-stop onslaught of having every conversation I didn't think I was going to have to have with my boys until they were at least a few years older.

There is such a negative culture being instilled in our youth and it is a bit frightening to witness. I have heard some very uniformed conversations by teens and tweens and it is unfortunate that they do not have adults that they can talk with about serious issues. The younger children are enamoured by the teens and are taking what they say as gospel. So there have been lots of questions from my crew and I have had to tell the truth...a lot. And I have had conversations with neighboring youth about certain words they use and their origin. It hasn't stopped the words, but hopefully it will sink in. One day.

I do not look forward to sending bright eyed youth back to their public school fate, but I do look forward to the quiet the Fall brings.