Grow with me... For my Babes♥

Exploring my "Grow with me" play list for my babes...

Once Upon A Time...

Pure imagination...

On the wings of a dream...

I get to the be the one...

Live your story...

My wish for you...

Slow down...

Stay humble and kind...

The Glow...

The Climb...

Hand to hold...

What a wonderful world...

A million dreams...

I dream of you...

Go go grow...

How far I'll go...

Leave some hand prints on the wall...

So much more to explore... while you let them be little♥

Grow with me... For my Babes♥ 

 

Story time brought to you by our cutie in grade 1 ♥

Don't let that pigeon drive that big ol' bus ;)

As read by our sweet girl who wanted to share one of her favourite stories with her buds in quarantine ♥

 Click the link :)

Story time, our channel ♥

Worth returning to... Resources we love... not just online! :D

I've been editing our resource list and pondering the return to "normal".  I have enjoyed this edit to our resources and have been carrying the same "edit" to other parts of our lives.  Focusing down the list... what do we really love, enjoy, find contentment or passions in... what helps us reach our current and future goals... what fascinates, expands our understanding or helps us explore our interests... what gives our lives meaning and fulfillment?

Lots to ponder and "edit"!  Here is an updated list!

The resources my learners / explorers use! (being updated as I go) 

It is paired down and filled out with many sources of educational content but more so edited for the most meaningful content!  I wish resources to add enrichment to our lives and not be wasters, taking time from our years... again... sorry... so much to ponder and then again... not sorry... love to ponder and make more meaningful changes... lots of love♥

 

Pondering our mindfulness moments?

A mindful moment is time you take to show yourself love

Breathing meditation
Yoga or stretching

Nature walk in your own backyard
Add to your gratefulness jar or wishing jar
Try one of the exercise or yoga videos online 

Record your thoughts or feelings in your journal
Take a relaxing bath or shower

Catch up on your reading or read to someone

Start or continue to follow your interests or hobbies

Show yourself the love you show others and you'll be a happier, more content caregiver.  You'll be able to be more attentive and give more of yourself.  I am sharing these mindful moments with my little loves... showing them love... and self-love to take with them, wherever their journeys lead... let them lead in love.
❤️

Special Mother's Day Message♥

Happy Mother's Day

Here is a wonderfully lovely video from Explore.org!  They send me daily learning content by sharing live video feeds with us from around the world.  The kids are currently obsessed with the nests filled with babies and the caring mama's nurturing their littles!  Scroll down to their link for a special Mother's Day message...

We love, love, love their motto... Never Stop Learning!

Photo credit: Gooseberry Patch

"We ❤️ Moms"

"Moms make the world go 'round, and we see evidence of that every day on our nature and animal cams.

From panda mommas wrangling rascals to bald eagles who teach their young to be assertive with food, moms provide a vital foundation for all walks of life. Today we honor and recognize them with this compilation of touching mom moments, and hope you enjoy watching your favorite moms live on explore.org.

Never Stop Learning,

Your extended family at explore.org"

We Love Moms ~ Explore.org ~ One of our favourite live learning experiences ♥ 

 

My Gratitude Jar♥

We highly recommend "My Gratitude Jar"
by Kristin Wiens...

You can find the link listed below...

When we take time to be grateful we feel happier...

We challenge you to all make your own Gratitude Jars!

Please show us pictures of your finished jars ♥

You will need pieces of paper so that you can write all the things you are grateful for on the pieces.

Decorate your chosen jar and put the strips of paper with things you are grateful for inside.

When you need to remember what you are thankful for, you can pull the strips of paper out and remind yourself why you should be grateful.

Let us know things you are thankful for...

Wishing you all very hygge, bright blessings♥

Long Story Shortz - My Gratitude Jar - Written and Narrated by Kristin Wiens

Musings of Hope...♥

Just like you, we are still navigating our new normal.  We are doing our best to relax and think through the issues we are facing.  Morning meditation and reading have been calming and soothing, with a little Cosmic Kids yoga thrown in.  My kiddos have immersed themselves in the arts for a long portion of the day.  Their creations range from modeling clay pokemon figures to miniature family members to the fairy tea party pictured above.  My daughter was especially pleased with her modeling clay tea cups, saucers, dishes and fruit, all set up with her other loose parts... absolutely delighted and lost in her imaginary tales... pure bliss♥

I know it doesn't look like it but we too are suddenly home schooling again but this time it's due to the pandemic.  What I like to share with parents who haven't home schooled is... you don't want your home to be just like the institution you just left.  Don't try to recreate school at home.  Home is their safe place, their comfortable retreat from the world and where we can be love and be still.  We also don't focus on the pandemic but do add in a daily update and the new "normals" we need to accommodate and participate in.

We have been reading 'Ominous Campfire Adventures' that we started just before 'World Storytelling Day'.  Instead of saving it for our campfire adventures in summer, we decided to make up a makeshift campfire out of collected sticks, tissue paper, wool and sparkly pipe cleaner!  We added mini marshmallows on skewers to fully immerse in the experience of the Northern Ontario Canada campfire tales.  A special thanks to Grandma (my Mom), for the great series of short stories... a truly awesome Christmas gift!  After this, we will return after a brief intermission, to our morning readings of the screen play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  I read to the kids over our breakfast and tea in the mornings before school.  My kids are ages are 6, 10, 14 and 16.  They all enjoy this time we share in the mornings and the stories we read!

 

We still enjoy our time in nature especially since the wakening of spring.  So much to explore and discover in spring.  During this time, we have seen the closure of our favourite spaces to hike and explore, but as long as we all shelter in place and do our part to plank the curve, we will be exploring again in the near future.  I'd like to share one of our meditation poetry moments and wish you the peace that comes with stillness...
"Today I'm flying low and I'm not saying a word. I'm letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep. The world goes on as it must, the bees in the garden rumbling a little, the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten. And so forth. But I'm taking the day off. Quiet as a feather. I hardly move though really I'm traveling a terrific distance. Stillness. One of the doors into the temple."
~Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings

Today, we received the news with the rest of the province, that we will have another month of our home schooling endeavours but will also have to add in school led instruction time on computers.  This too will be incorporated but it will be added to keep them on track in their studies.  We will still embark on home school interests while we can... reading, art, meditation, yoga and exploring interests.  This time has been scary,  with horrible loss... make sure they have good memories too... Breathe, remind ourselves and them that we are all enough and doing enough.  “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ~WB Yeats... like the wonderful author Jean Pendziwol says, "don't worry about the pail, just keep the fires lit".  She also wrote this poignant poem about hope for these uncertain times...

I found hope in a cherry tree that places tiny buds

on shivering leaf-bare branches in autumn

knowing that shadows can disappear
and stories can howl like wolves
and snowflakes can be icy and sharp
and there is no way for the tree to be sure
that the buds will ever bloom

But the cherry tree knows it is hope in autumn

that brings flowers in spring

 ~Jean Pendziwol

Thanks so much for joining us... wishing you love, calm, peace and fortitude in these challenging and uncertain times, Sherry♥

Copious amounts of unfettered, unobstructed, unaltered, unbelievably joyful, FREE PLAY!

We are a mere 20 days from the start of summer and all the season brings...  

Here is an excerpt from Gary Direnfeld's musings, a social worker in Keswick Ontario... 

"Some parents are scrambling to find enough programs and activities to occupy their kids time...  Remember, that free time, time to explore, ride a bike, hike and be outside is also of value.  In free time kids learn to meet their needs, explore interests and learn to occupy themselves.  For so many kids, dependent upon structured activities, this is a lost skill. With the loss of this skill, away goes independence and self reliance, key skills for survival."  

Well put Gary:)

Bring on Summer and copious amounts of unfettered, unobstructed, unaltered, unbelievably joyful, FREE PLAY!  

Welcome to Summer♥

We Will...

There are 15 days until the Spring Equinox... 

My little ones will once again relish in the joys and freedom of mud and puddles...

They will run wild in the wakening forest to speak the language of trees...

They will create sweet music echoing the songs of the birds...

They will inhale deeply refreshed with a morning breeze filling their lungs...

They will help the busy bees pollinate a new season by letting dandelions grow...
They will happily dance along gathering wishes to scatter on the wind on a lazy evening...

They will sip the sweet syrup freshly made from the sap of the majestic maple...

They will treasure and revel in the blooming of each fresh new spring blossom...

They will dance in the rain and marvel at the power and beauty of nature...
They will bask in the light of millions of stars and blow a kiss to follow a wish...

They will be wrapped in the warm, loving glow and blessings of family and friends...
They will share in memories and values in this beautiful, hygge moment of spring renewal♥ 

~Sherry Johnson, 2019