Blow winds blow....

Spring showers bring May flowers....

I know, it's suppose to be "April" showers...I guess we could say that this year here in the Canadian Prairies! Normally snow melts in April not rain!

It has been a lovely spring. And the winds of change are blowing. Change geographically, change in work, so much change ahead....

The season is changing and we look foreword as the season of our lives also changes...

 

HomeSchool Year Reflections

 Sigh..............
I guess in many cases this would be the time of year when the school year is gathering a coming to a close. In our case we are probably only about half way through. We will continue to go at our laid back pace through the summer.

Oh, we shall take breaks - but honestly and whole two months of summer with young children and NO PLAN just seems to be a recipe for C H A O S!!!

We began to take a "Waldorf" approach one. By the time we started Gr. 2 officially, it was late fall 2011, and that's when baby number four arrived.

So, the juggling-dancing-act continued with schooling a creative, out-of-the-box-thinker 7 year old girl, pre-schooling 2 pre-schoolers, and caring for a newborn....we dance....not always so gracefully at times.

I want for my children to love learning....I want them to love natural things....to be filled with Awe and wonder at Creation and a Creative God....I want them to know that they themselves are powerful and can change the world for the better...that they are created in the image of a Creative God....I want them to know how to create with their hands....heal with green growing herbs....prepare wholefoods....This is some of the heartbeat of our homeschool.

Thank-you to Kristen, Allyson and Christy for inviting me to guest post this month! It was an honor and a privilege...as you can see I am a little more visual at communicating than I am at articulating through words...

The beauty in homeschooling, many homeschoolers will agree, is schooling Where Ever We Are...Life is the best school!

Giveaway Last Call

 Tomorrow I am parting with the two new books below...we are such book junkies in this house!

 So, besides the garbage bags and boxes that I will be bringing to good-will, I thought this giveaway might encourage my spring cleaning efforts....

 

If you would like these, please go here, and let us know your thoughts...you can see some of my own ugliness in that post :)

April....

 Feeling few of words these days...

 Eager to plant....

Eager to do some sewing for the kiddos...

 Reading and researching to start a red wriggler worm composter....

Enjoying our daily green slurp of spinach, coconut milk, nut butter, berries/fruit, cocoa, flax and other deliciousness....

If you haven't already, please check out my giveaway this month!

SpringCleaning::GiveAway::(NoCrySleepSolution&DiaperFree)

Whew...whatta week! Chicken pox is our currant battle this week, with some sweet relief from Chicken-pox-party-guests during our quarantine, but that is a whole other blog post in it's self!

I AM A Minimalist trapped inside of a pack rat....not too proud to admit that. One day I will be able to say that I conquered my pack-rat tendencies. So, it was a big deal when I cleaned out the front hall closet and brought some "rhyme and reason"!

Needless to say spring cleaning is on My Mind! I'm a little embarrassed to show you my project area...Please Help Me Tamara! (Whose project area IS Pinterest ready!) But here it is, my mess, my reality and my potential!

With spring cleaning on my mind, I am parting with 2 books. 

Books, books, and more books happen to be a little obsession in our home, one that I'm proud of, but one that does need some corralling. Speaking of corralling and givaways, dear Coralee is ALSO having a giveaway; checkout her LOVELY handmade here! 

So...I have 2 new books up for a spring cleaning giveaway: "The No Cry Sleep Solution" AND "Diaper Free"...you can guess what they are all about. Pictures to come....

To enter my spring cleaning giveaway Please leave a comment telling us one or more of the following:

1. Your best organizing advice.

2. Why you want or need these 2 books.

3.An ongoing struggle/obsession in the area of organization.

A winner will be chosen Friday April 26, so make sure you add some kind of contact info if you don't have a blog account. C'mon, let us hear it!

Happy Passover, Easter, Resurrection Weekend!

Wish we were tree-tapping....

Less than two weeks ago we drove for three hours through a blizzard that was a little unnerving...One week ago we watched people skating on our city's river...and within three days the river was all broken up...and today's weather like a blustery summer day.

What an interesting winter.

Well, here tapping trees is rare, because our Manitoba Maples that require about twice the amount of sap that regular Maples need to make that sweet maple syrup. Growing up in south-eastern Ontario we did tap Maples...I loved coming home after school to the maple smell steaming on the stove top.

A few weeks ago we had a couple of days where the snow fell soft and thick hour after hour. Remembering "Little House in the Big Woods"' sugar snow, we carefully collected some fluffy clean snow. Without the luxury of local maple syrup, we buy our 1 liters at the local supermarket. So we simmered maple syrup on the stove top with the bucket of fresh snow nearby.

Just like Laura's Grandma, we continued to try spooning it over a small bowl of fresh snow...as the syrup simmered....until it laced like a toffee. The children loved it....of course what child does like candy.

for sale....

 Thanks to a sweet friend, Coralee, for whipping this flier up for me:

:: For Sale tomorrow morning, sharing a table with other lovely ladies with their home baking and homespun goods...851 Panet Rd.

Lid art by 7yr. Selah.