School is DONE time for FUN!

That's it! We're all done for the year! Onto our wonderful summer, detoxing from regular school and heading to home school. Week in review: Class parties at the community pool, pizza party, year book signings and fun field days then saying good bye to a few great teachers and getting phone numbers to stay in contact with friends! It was a good end of the year week and both kids had fun!

Our family took a Lake Trip to relax for the day and there's going to be plenty of these kinds of trips this summer! Snacks, raft time, relax time, sun time- FUN time!!

This weekend...our daughter went to a birthday sleepover and our son is recouping on the couch- he's caught a cold. It's been a cooler weekend so we've tackled some yard work and house work while the kids rest up!

Playing Blog Catch Up! Life just happend...

A no blogging stint going on here! I don't know what happened...oh yes I do...crazy life! Just when you think things are calm and settled..boom!

Catch up...
School is coming to an end...next week is the last week for the kids and we are over joyed- they are finally coming back home to home school!!

I've been busy trying to re work my schedule and land some admin work from home so I don't have to be out of the house and CAN school them. It's coming along. I was pretty stressed out for a few weeks and now things seem to be falling together. I've been meditating, talking with family & friends and praying on it. I just have to be patient and I know God has an amazing plan for our family.

We've still been going to the library weekly. The kids can't seem to get enough, well and neither can I- but I really have to limit how many books I get. I have the best intentions and never get around to every book I pick out! We have been getting everything from books to books on CD, and videos too.

I'm reading:
I would highly recommend One Thousand Gifts, 'A Dare to Live fully, right where you are' by Ann Voskamp- I'm nearly half way through and just loving it. I cried the first whole chapter and here and there throughout the book- it is emotional, spiritual, so deep. The other two I saw recommends on another blog- I can't wait to read them!

Our 7yr old son is reading:
Charlotte's Web is our family reading book- I read it to the kids and they were both interested in the Spanish/English dictionary- guess I'd better brush up on my Spanish so I know what they are saying...I see a foreign language in our schooling future!

Our 11yr old daughter is reading: Theme?? American Girl of course!

We picked up our wonderful basket this weekend- and what a blessing- everything was items the kids love and will eat:

Hubbie and his Dad have been working hard for weeks to get hard wood floors installed in our home- the front room is finally finished and painted, they did fantastic work!

Mother's Day didn't go un-noticed! I feel very loved, my son first thing when he woke up came and hugged me telling me Happy Mother's day and excitedly got a card from his backpack, giving it to me- hand made from school. Hubbie also gave me a card and lovely flowers.

 A few vegan meals for the week:  Pasta with Asparagus, Tomatoes and Zucchini and Artichokes

 Hubbie made awesome Vegan Shepard's Pie w/Vegan 'meat' crumbles

I finally got some organization going on...weekend project to organize the craft supplies to be easily accessible to the kids- with the exception of two 'Ask Mom' drawers that have the paints and other need supervision things (mainly for the 7yr old!).  The kids love it!

Last but not least....a few pup pics- Rusty with the new Cavy- giving her kisses- and Sadie loving on her new bear toy!

This week should be eventful with the kids both having pool parties and end of the year classroom parties, year book signing days and a lot of fun saying good bye to school! Then its all FUN...a few weeks later we head to Cali for our daughters 12th birthday! We are looking forward to what the summer will bring!

Just Play....Library, Park, Vegan Dinner

Spring Break for the kids...a little late compared to everyone else I know...the countdown begins...3 weeks left of public school- I'm giddy!!! :) And I can tell the kids are getting excited too....

Today we went out to breakfast with hubbie and Grandpa then worked on family chores- animals and laundry and packed some snacks and headed to the Library and Park before dinner....Dinner time then a family movie before bed and some bedtime stories to top off our day together. 

Awesome Moments of the Day...

*Big hugs from my pre-teen girlie and a 'thank you' for helping her with her animals
*A wonderful fix it husband who saved my morning and made my coffee maker work!!
*As I 'pretended' with my son on the playground and we made stories how we were on a ship out at sea and as I climbed through the tunnels my daughter rolled those big eyes at me saying 'Mom' (you know the tone)....then 5 minutes later she put down the book she was reading and joined in telling her little brother she was riding a swimming guinea pig in the sea...as she laughed running towards us!! See even pre-teens can have fun and play!
*And I got big belly laughs from both the kids when instead of saying it was time to go home after the park...I told them we needed to quickly swim off and get into the silver submarine and navigate it home! No eye rolls this time!
*Library trips are always awesome! New books..new stories..love seeing the kids get excited over what new things they come across.
*Getting my work done all before the kids even woke up...felt accomplished to start the day and relax!
*Our kids both telling each other over dinner what they are 'really' interested in....daughter stating animals, ballet, american girl dolls and reading....our son stating math, reading, 'anything living' and sea creatures.

Dinner! Zucchini Lemon Pasta....well it was Chicken when we ate meat but now being Vegan, it's Zucchini! Dunked the Zucchini in homemade apple/pear sauce then breaded in flour/salt/pepper/garlic and cooked them...added lemon juice, vegetable broth and capers, some pasta and we were ready to eat! This is our little guy's favorite meal!

Trip to the Library...Here is what Mom is reading:

And what our 7 yr old is reading:

And what our 11yr old is reading:

And finally what hubbie is reading:

Can't play everyday...but we can sure try!! Today was awesome, I had the day off- tomorrow and the next day I work all day so the kids will be having fun with hubbie during his time off then I get them towards the end of the week again! Spring Break we plan on getting a ton of time outdoors- enjoying the water and parks as well as spending some time at home doing some 'spring' cleaning and taking one step at a time going through stuff so it will be easier to move come the end of summer!

It was a great day! Thankful for all the special moments I have with my family.

Veggies, Horses & Ice Cream...Homeschooling

Weekend Review:
We love our co-op for fresh fruits and veggies! It's always fun to see what we get then to plan our weekly meals around the items. Looking forward as it gets warmer to see a change in our items! We currently attempt to order organic each week- unless we order late and they are out then we opt for a regular basket.

 We steamed the Swiss Chard and made a Lentil/Chard Soup with it for dinner. Loving the color of the big leaves!

Other meals in store for the week include: 

Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Baked Potatoes, Beans, Broccoli & Corn Bread

Tortellini with Spinach & Salad

It was such great weather we ventured to our 4H groups horse competition to support them and hang out with friends! Then headed off to the feed store and pet store to shop for more bunny supplies...

Splurged and let the kids pick out ice cream while grocery shopping...I can't even remember the last time we bought treats! Italian ice- dairy free :) with special flavored spoons...kids loved them!

Then spent the day at the river lounging...kids made sand castles and floated while hubby and I read books, chatted and enjoyed the relaxation time watching the kids play. Some lunch, an afternoon movie as we all vegged out on the couches was the perfect peaceful day together!

On the homeschooling front....
Our daughter is helping me put together a book list of books we'd love to get for our family home library. We plan on thrifting when we vaca this summer and hunt down some new additions for our shelves!
Our son is more and more interested in reading and growing with more confidence with every book. He's also been really into audio books.  We are 'listening' to the Magic Tree House on CD in the car and both kids love the stories.
Our daughter continues to pursue designing and sewing doll clothes and her own clothing and has now begun her first outfit for her guinea pig.
We have begun discussions about me, Mom teaching the kids piano- We have a full size keyboard but I'd love a real piano :) We are just waiting for public school to let out and give us the freedom for more activities.
Our family work is really beginning to show signs of joy rather than disgust. The children are both more helpful. Our son has even asked for extra jobs on several occasions. Working along side each other has given my daughter and I more moments for meaningful conversations.

River, Prescott, AZ & Blue Dutch

Weekend Review: What a whirlwind!
Saturday our daughter went to a friends house to go swim for the day and it was just me and my boy. He seemed to not know what to do with himself without his sister around! It's not like we haven't had days alone before...I took him to the river to play at the playground and the water then we picked up some fresh veggies at the farm stand and headed home. He did find a few other kids to play with but mentioned several times his sister would really have had fun if she came :) He does love her!

 Meatless Meals: Asparagus / Tomatoes over Pasta - yumm Asparagus has got to be my favorite veggie!

 And then Cauliflower Fritters with Corn on the Cob and Tator Tots for a quick meal.

It's funny when you catch your kids in a great moment...I was chatting with my mom on the phone and heard an immense burst of laughter- real, great laughter coming from the backyard...they were sitting on a table giggling as they took turns 'misting' each other in the face - too cute.

So, ownership papers are due for our daughter for 4H...which means if she's going to get a new rabbit, she has to now otherwise no new animals for the remainder of the year and unfortunately with the passing of her Netherland, she doesn't have a showmanship rabbit...so we searched high and low in our area and came up empty handed until we ran across a Blue Dutch Rabbit for sale in Prescott...I mapped it...oh my 3 1/2 hours away. Do-able but long. So after chatting with hubbie about it...we were on our way!

Road Trip to Prescott!

Flinn Park- big grassy area, nice playground, swings and peaceful!

A little Subway picnic for lunch!

 Relax and Swing!

 My girl anxious to go get bunny!

 Better than the play structure! They found a log!

 Beautiful and Peaceful...could have spent all day there!

Off to Downtown!

AZ flags lining the walkway to the courthouse...there was an awesome painted 'timeline' of AZ on the ground...the kids thought it was awesome and were telling daddy 'facts' when we got home! They said they want to go back...I smell homeschool road trip in our future? :)

Watson Lake

Sail Boats, Great rock formations...wanting to go hiking around next time!

And lastly before heading home...we picked up 'Zeke' the newest addition to our family. 

He is a Blue Dutch, just turned 3 years old and so sweet, mellow and cuddly. 

My boy just had to snuggle him up when we got home!

A whirlwind of fun this weekend!