March*

(a very ordinary moment. asher building letters with mini marshmallows and toothpicks)

March was a fun-filled month and the weather was so perfect for enjoying as much time as we could outside, from what I remember. In fact, there were several evenings where the kids wanted to eat our dinner outside on that patio. I remember one of those evenings, it ended up snowing in parts of the east valley, and we could see snow on the Superstition Mountains from our backyard. Our dinner didn't stay warm for very long that night. :) It was also during this month and April where we started harvesting creosote together as we went on our weekly hikes. So much beauty in the desert around this time of year.

Tia came into town for her spring break and got to stay with us one of the nights she was here. We got up the next morning and took a hike together. We were supposed to meet up with one of the homeschool groups we are a part of, but we were running late (ahem) and missed the hike. So, we just took our own and the kids had a lot of fun hiking with Tia.

We also tried to visit the arboretum as much as possible with the beautiful weather around. We became members last year and the kids really love exploring the grounds. It is probably our favorite place to visit when things aren't so hot.

(exploring rocks and minerals at the arboretum)

(journey feeling good with the breeze on her face)

(their favorite tree stump, roots exposed)

For St. Patty's day, we have made it a tradition to go to Fountain Hills for their celebration. The kids love seeing the huge fountain turn dark green. The night before, we set up a little leprechaun "trap" to see if we could trick any little green folk. No such luck, but we did get a note...teasing us for our attempt. ;)

asher looking out at the fountain

(my very own little leprechaun)

(looking through the basket of spring books)

At the end of the month, we took a trip with our homeschool group to go camping at Kartchner Caverns. We took a tour of the caves together which was such an incredible experience. I can't wait to go back again sometime soon! It was a weekend of exploration and...lizards! There were lizards everywhere. Asher's kind of place. (a lone trek through the desert) my lover of reptiles

catching up! Febraury*

As it turns out, babies do not contribute well to reviving old blogs. ;) I am an extremely neglectful blogger. I admit to this. It is very difficult to create the time to document our moments when life (and hands) are so very FULL. As time goes on, I realize how much I would like to have something to look back on every once in a while and also how much I would love a place to record all the brilliant things my beautiful babes are saying and doing (because they really are brilliant to this mama). I know that the most important thing is to be fully alive in the moment...but there has to be some way that I can get into a groove of writing down the bits and pieces that settle into my heart, so that I can share them with the children later down the road if they are ever interested. I also have a few friends and family who have asked about how I can keep them updated on what we are doing from time to time. Grandpa GG has told all of his grandchildren how much he misses reading our blogs and seeing what his great-grandchildren are up to. So, with that I am going to make more effort to show up, with little blurbs here and there on moments that make up our days.

Since I have pictures that I would like to add here, I am just going to catch us up as best I can with a few memories since the last time we wrote, starting with the remainder of February.

journey, teaching kodiak about JFK

a little obama love.

The kids went to a play this month with Nonnie and Papa that I bought tickets for. It was called "Unstoppable Me" based on a book written by Dr. Wayne Dyer that encourages self-esteem among kids. It was a musical and from what I heard, the kids enjoyed it. Although they probably liked the ice cream they got after the show a little bit more than anything, I suppose. Journey also started a dance class with the city this month. Her teacher was fantastic and Journey really loved going every Thursday. Here are a few pictures I took of her on the very last day of class, where the kids all put on a small performance for the families. Oh my goodness! I wasn't prepared for how awesome it was! My eyes fill up with tears just thinking about how sweet it was to watch my babe do something she feels happy doing. :)

she sticks out her tongue when she concentrates on something :) having fun with her classmates!

year of the rabbit*

On Sunday, we went to the Chinese Cultural Center to check out the festival they were holding in celebration of the Year of the Rabbit. It was somewhat of a photographer's dream with all of the visual stimuli and the color! We had a good time soaking in the sights and sounds. There were some amazing performers. We've come down to this center to go to the Chinese Market before and to eat dinner at one of the yummy restaurants. I asked Asher and Journey to share about what they remember from the day.

*Asher* I remember the biggest dragon. There is all different kinds. The biggest one was red and the smallest one was a little smaller than the first dragon we saw. And, I remember the first dragon that we saw. I remember the Ferris wheel. I was playing with some friends on the ferris wheel saying "hello there, hello there, hello there!" and they were laughing. The Chinese Cultural Center is the best. It was awesome. It is the best place to be because it has ice cream. There was two ponds in the gardens. There was one pond with two goldfish and there was a giant pond that just had tiny fish and a coral. It wasn't really colorful because it had algae all over it. There was a rocky place that was like an area where koi fish can live. They can live next to bamboo. They can live next to rocky parts with water. And guess what these fish eat? They eat the algae. Guess what I did? I put the algae in my hand and threw it in the water. And guess what they did? They were nibbling it! The fish also ate dead lily pads. Also, I was fishing for fish with my hands. I loved them. The buildings where we were were really cool. They looked just like the Chinese buildings. I also liked watching the guys do the karate stuff. I felt happy about the day.

*Journey* This is what Journey remembers about the day: riding the pony* having fun* jumping in the bounce house* sitting down and watching the shows* having some ice cream* playing*

It was also like 80 degrees when we were out there. Seriously. 80 degrees, in February. Oh my.

where the days pass like minutes*

i'm not sure how it has been well over a week since i last posted. i am choosing to look at that as a good sign that life is full, and we are busy living. ;) i'll treat this post as an attempt to catch up with what we have done in the past week and a half.

the day after i wrote, we had a trip planned to Biosphere 2. asher has been really wanting to visit here after we talked with him about it several months ago. he was asking about it at least once week and so we planned a trip out there with a group of friends. josh was able to take the day off to join us, which was a huge help. trips out into environments like that, with all three is still proving to be difficult for me. so, the extra pair of hands is always helpful and appreciated! it was interesting. the tour held asher's attention for the most part. he soaked in a lot and was surprised that a group of people had lived there before. in the beginning, the guide asked how many of us would be willing to stay inside the Biosphere for two years. i thought to myself, " two years of peace and quiet and gardening? where do i sign up?". ha! asher really liked the sections where we talked about the air pressure, the fog desert and the "ocean". journey loved running around with her pals.

a lot of our time has been filled up with the regular stuff. helping dad make muffins...measuring, taking turns stirring, learning about why muffins rise when they cook.

reading...exploring our interests. this is one of my favorite sights of all time. when the house falls silent, i know that either 1) i am about to walk into some type of disaster, or 2) they are both completely enthralled in books. this vision always, always brings a smile to my face.

exploring shapes, creative energy, letters, and imagination through our wooden blocks and sticks...

the weekend brought a couple of parties. yummy food, good company...and then repeat. sunday we had earth scouts in the morning. i just caught the tail end of things because i ran an errand to give kodiak a decent nap in the car. the kids are earning a peace and non-violence badge and so they did a lesson on peace, where they read a book and made a peace tree and then took a walk around the preserve. we packed a picnic and stayed in the park for lunch. it was beautiful out. after lunch we went to the recreation center where asher could climb the rock wall. he LOVES to climb. journey is itchin' to go too...but she has to wait until she is 5. she keeps asking me when she will turn 5. that number holds some kind of crazy magic to her.

monday brought a lesson date with some of our friends. we covered the days of the week...playing games, singing songs and enjoying the afternoon together. after that, we started preparing for an early valentine's day party we decided to host last minute this week. we made some decorations

some valentines for our loved friends

and some totally indulgent and delicious whoopie pies. journey helped measure, pour, stir, mix, bake and lick. ;)

the party was wonderful. the kids did a heart hunt game where they each got to find 5 hearts that were hid around the house. they played a heart dart game and exchanged valentines with each other. they also tried a craft and then had some lunch (heart shaped sandwiches, fruit, and other crafty snackies). and then they played for hours and it was perfect. other than that, we have just been exploring through art and song and reading. it takes up most of our time, really...the exploration.

we had a really great day of making some medicine with a dear friend on friday, and that has brought up a lot of conversations about medicine from the earth. asher is wanting to make a tincture or salve from the roots of the mallow in our backyard. hopefully i will have something to post on that soon. :) this weekend has been another busy one...i will save all that for tomorrow. better yet, i think i will ask asher and journey to write the post. their words and summary would probably be much more inspiring. :)

dig it.

we had a lovely weekend. i felt very weary and tired by friday evening and woke up saturday feeling totally sick. luckily, josh took the babe when we woke up early in the morning and let me sleep in. my body is in some serious need for rest. i am slowly catching up on the weekends as much as possible. this weekend was pretty slow, which was very healing. mmmmmmmm. i was doing my best to clean up the backyard by saturday afternoon. the dirt. oh, the dirt! my kids are outside a LOT these days with this amazing, beautiful "winter" weather. which means my house is filled with dirt. our backyard is all dirt. totally wonderful for the senses...but it requires a lot of broom action indoors. my kids walk around like "Pig-Pen" from Peanuts. seriously. asher waked in the house today, COMPLETELY covered in dirt and said "I was just in a dust storm". he had shut himself in the hot house and started throwing dirt around, trying to see if it would all stay inside without the outside air blowing it around. :) needless to say. i vacuum and sweep what feels like a ridiculous amount. over the weekend, josh also helped asher with a pretty cool project. they created a dig site in our backyard. asher helped with turning the soil, measuring the site, determining how many stakes would be needed for the site, and then hammering the stakes and roping them off. next up...we are going to bury his fossil collection within the dig site where he can dig up fossils, brush them off and record them in details in his very own fossil log. he will be able to record what the fossil looks like and where he found it within his site. it was wonderful to see josh so active in a project with one of his children. yum. :)

asher, showing me a trick with his shovel. :)

tonight, asher went to a lab night for the local paleontological society. :) he is such a fossil lover. they meet once a month and he has joined them for the past 3 months or so. he digs it (no pun intended) and has a wonderful time getting the hands on experience with fossils. the first night he went, he got to take home his very own fossil. he has that in his room, displayed with all of his other fossil finds. tonight, they were searching for pieces of egg shell within mounds of dirt, i guess. i have yet to go with asher to one of these meetings. josh takes him and i stay with journey and babe while they are away at lab night. :) i guess they are looking for what is believed to be the first eggshells ever found in AZ. asher thought he saw a piece of eggshell in a chunk of dirt and was diligently working away on a certain rock with his microscopic goggles and tooth brush. asher, the paleontologist.

monday was fairly challenging.... but with that came one of the most powerful conversations i have had with asher in a long while. i like to think that i have evolved enough to know that the hard stuff helps me recognize the flow when it happens. like when journey wakes me up with an excited "it is morning, mama! see the light? can i go outside and blow my bubbles? it is a GOOD day for bubbles!". and then i say yes. that is flow. that is good. that is worth all of it.

digging in.

the day started early, as usual. kodiak woke us all up with his love for the mornings. i wish we could all wake up so hopeful and renewed as a new baby. they are in complete love with being alive. so refreshing. we had a quick breakfast and headed out to art class. the kids are really enjoying this new class. i have been so amazed at journey's attention span and asher's effort with drawing. good, good stuff they are exploring here. we trekked home and decided to plant some seeds because the outdoors were calling us. as soon as we stepped outside, we noticed the wind was rustling the dried leaves in our neighbors backyard. a big gust sent something swirling over the back of our fence. i am not kidding you...it was an abandoned planting pot of the plastic variety. how is that for a message from the universe? asher told me he wanted to use the pot that "the universe gave us" to plant his seeds. we thought it was a really cool gift. we planted some calendula and basil and some wild flowers. we are also going to try to grow a cotton plant after we visited a cotton field and harvested a couple of pods to bring home.

we aren't anticipating any low drops in temperature, but we are using the hot house that papa built us just because. :) he intended it to be our chicken coop but then we found out that our neighborhood doesn't allow backyard chickens. so many rules... but we like our hot house and i am hoping to start some tomato plants in there this weekend. any other ideas on what we should grow in there? i am really wanting to have a community garden planting party in my backyard for part of my 30th birthday celebration in April, so i am wanting to get some things started to transplant by then.

of course, the watering of the plants led to other things... this is a picture of asher's creation. a lake, a river, a delta, the ocean and a swamp. after talking a little bit about deltas, he wanted to go do some "research" on prehistoric animals that lived in deltas. googling videos on this eventually led us to some clips of "River Monster's Unhooked" which just so happens to be his favorite show ever, right now. in fact, since checking out a River Monster's Unhooked DVD from the library last week, this show has been a part of our daily rhythm. ;)

Journey loves to get muddy. She even likes to do it while wearing pearls.

We got washed up and took Asher to gymnastics, where he is having a blast and learning more about what his body is capable of doing. He is a total natural at the core strength type stuff. I love watching his skills increase and his confidence slowly creep forward in regards to accomplishing new tricks that he has put some effort into practicing. Before he started practice, I asked him if he wanted some water to drink. He said "no. i just swallow my spit. that is how i am able to survive long periods of time without water." cool. there were a couple of thoughts today that made me smile. on the way to gymnastics, journey saw a herd of cows moving in the same direction as they grazed. journey: "look! cows that are migrating!" asher: "uh, journ. those cows can't be migrating because, uh, there's a fence there." good thoughts at breakfast... asher: "mama, guess what? the earth is more than just where we live and it is more than just another planet. guess what else it is?" me: "what else?" asher (in passionate tone): "it is a big ball of LIFE". and then, while driving to gymnastics... asher: "mama, guess what?" me: "what my love"? asher: "the earth is always changing" me: "yes, it is!" asher: "and so is the ocean. and sometimes, they change at the same time." me: "mmmhmmm" then he went on to explain to me how islands are formed ( "like Hawaii") from volcanoes that erupt under the sea. asher: "do you know where i learned that from?" me: "nope, i'm not sure. where?" asher: "from ms. frizzle. she knows EVERYTHING!" journey: "but YOU don't know everything, mama". me: "nope! you got that right!" :) asher: "well a lot of people know a lot about a lot of different things, so those people probably actually helped make the film with ms. frizzle in it". ha! up next...we just might try our hand at film making. ;)

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.

life.

It just so happened that our computer was struck down with a nasty virus the day after I wrote my last post. So, it was a week of no computer. No e-mails. No facebook. No bloggity blogging. No googling random things that we are curious about. None of it. And it was a FULL week of adventures and planned outing and meet ups and parks and craziness. By the weekend, I was in desperate need of some down time...and a chance to check my e-mail. It was a big realization of how much we use our computer for connecting and communicating and making plans and getting information on what is taking place in the valley for people doing home education. and can we talk about that term? i always struggle with how to label what we do. i like to call it life learning, because right now, my children don't separate learning from life. the earth is our teacher, we teach each other, the community teaches us, people throughout our lives teach us, the world, essentially, is our classroom. we go through periods of staying close to home and we go through periods of venturing out as much as possible. we aren't following a set curriculum at this point and we are exploring how best to approach writing and reading for each individual. but mostly, we explore what we are interested in. we let those topics take us on a ride and we collect information and inspiration along the way. community has become a big thing for me for the past several years on this journey. we have established connections with various groups that practice unschooling, earth schooling, homeschooling, etc. right now, during this time of big transition...i am doing my best to maintain a steady and healthy rhythm with these three in my care. but really, this time is a lot more about survival than anything else. we are all adjusting and learning and then re-adjusting and making space for high emotions and strong love. this past week, i realized how deeply i was trying to keep my older two busy, busy, busy by scheduling way too much for our little family in the midst of still absorbing the dynamics of what it means to be out and about FULLY (because there is no other way for my children) with mama and three littles. my body, in so many different ways, is telling me to slow down...to build rhythm in our home, to pay attention to the important lessons of this experience. right now, the lessons are in sharing our lives with another human being. and discovering the power of being positive. and exploring our big feelings in an effective way. it is life stuff. important stuff. the kind of stuff that reminds me of how much emphasis i think there should be on building the emotional and mental health of our little ones in this society. the kind of stuff that shows me how much can be learned from having FUN and playing and exploring freely. i don't underestimate the value of these lessons we are learning during this time of high transition. i take notice, i honor and appreciate this time and i see the beauty in what we are learning without even knowing it. the rhythms will change, they always do and we will always do our best to follow their lead. Since that last post, we have filled up our days with rock climbing, a library visit, art classes, the first couple of gymnastics classes for Asher, the first dance class for Journey, a day of exploring at the Arboretum, a yummy meet up day at the train park with dear friends, a trip to a local Aquarium with our homeschooling group, Asher's adventure to go see a National Geographic Live show about the Mars' rovers...and the more typical ins and outs of daily livin', growin' and lovin' around here. Not to mention a couple of parties along the way. Life is full. We are always growing.

revived!

i've decided to give new life to this old blog. i have been twirling around the idea of documenting our days through life learning for quite some time now. it is a HUGE part of where my energy lies and i would really love to be able to look back at these years and be able to *see* some of the growth through pictures and words. i am currently a very negligent blogger and so, the very idea of adding another blog to my realm of things to keep track of is somewhat insane. but hey! that is the way we roll. i will be working on reviving this space little by little. ideally, i'd love to bring it up to date by doing one big post about what we have done for the past several months. but, who knows if that will happen. ;) the past year hasn't been one where blogging held great priority. and a LOT has happened within that time. a lot of learning, a lot of growing, a lot of hurt and healing, a lot of work, a lot of love, a lot of change...a move, a baby. a lot of adventure. hopefully, i will be determined enough to post a little something quite regularly. we'll see what comes of it all. right now, the intent is to have a place to record and build up a library of adventuring. my hopes are that it will serve as a place for the kids to practice writing as well. :) at the very least, i'd love to post some images of our adventures and the every day things that take place in our world that help us evolve. the photo above is one of those. it is starting to become a regular scene in this home. in the mornings, as often as possible, we lay out on the floor for a little yoga session. i gave the kids new mats for winter solstice this year. it is something that is proving to be a really wonderful thing in our rhythm, when it happens. although asher will try to convince everyone that he doesn't like yoga...his mama knows better. he will watch from afar, practicing the poses quietly by himself and then, still whining about it, will come participate. by the end of the session, i see him having FUN. or, at the very least, i see that he has reached a place of calm that he doesn't often visit. i sneak peaks at him throughout the session. sometimes i catch him smiling and other times i see him with eyes closed...at rest. this isn't a sight i behold often with him. and so i know, the resistance probably comes from feeling like when he practices yoga, he visits a space within that is kind of different...kind of peaceful...kind of new. i have been hoping to instill within him an understanding that this can be a tool when dealing with the very BIG emotions that he does. it can be something he uses when needing to work through all of that passion coursing through his being. alright, baby is howling. until next time...

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