This WonderFUL(L) Life

Wow, the weather is beautiful!  Summer up here in the north sure is a treat.  I'm not even going to complain about the mosquitoes lest I sound ungrateful for the sun and the warmth.  

This past week has been a mixture of processing some of the content of the homeschooling conference, feeding this crew, and keeping up with the sweetest baby in the world (I challenge you!!!) since she has decided that she is going to crawl (or if she's in a hurry "army-crawl").

So, about that conference.  I've gone in the past and really enjoyed it.  Because our summer is so full this year I talked myself out of going several times, but in the end decided to go for it.  I'm so glad I did.  I was able to stay with my friend, Margaret (whom I met at the conference a few years ago!).  Emma and Margaret's sweet Felicity (and the rest of her awesome crew) hung out for the weekend while we visited, checked out the vendors and listened to some great speakers.  The blogger's gathering was Friday night and we split the time between the used book sale and chatting with fellow bloggers.

I got to see my friend Heidi which was super fun, even though my friend, Meredith, who introduced us wasn't able to be there (insert sad face).  It was great seeing other friends too, but they don't have blogs so I can't be all fancy and link to them.

Lacy was one of the speakers and came to the bloggers gathering!  Super fun!  I was also able to catch one of her talks on Saturday and was really encouraged and inspired.  Her topic was "Keeping the Littles Busy".  When my house consisted of only or mostly "littles" I was great at providing simple, but fun activities. I'm afraid to admit that now that I have an older core of kids my tendency is to tell the little kids to "go play" while we are doing schoolwork.  Not exactly the way I want our home to be.  

But look, I'm already reformed:

A Pentecost craft that I stole from Lacy.  You should seriously check out her site.  Not only is she adorable and fun, but she has some excellent ideas!

So, to review.  Next year I hope to have more of the above and less of this:

No children were harmed in the taking of this picture.

I'm going to have a bit of time on my hands this summer so I plan to gather some materials and create some easy yet hopefully engaging activities for my littles and medium-sized girl(s). 

Speaking of engaging activities.  What do northern children do on a warm summer day?  They create a water park of their very own.  

And now, the most exciting idea that I've recently come across! Teaching from a state of rest!  Say what?  Sarah's book, "Teaching from Rest" has truly revolutionized the way I (hope to) approach our home/school.  I'm working on a whole post about it, and I can't wait to work out these ideas in this space.  I've done a quick read of the book because I intended to get a post up before the release date, oops.  That allows me more time to really dive in and dig out all of the gems that Sarah gives us.  Get the book!  Read it!  You'll thank me (or more likely, Sarah) later.  

I hope you're enjoying your summer.  I know we are.