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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Swimming and clogged ears...

Just a quick post with a bit of helpful info if you and your family enjoy swimming as a summertime activity. Our family has been swimming a lot this week and my husband and I have doing morning laps for exercise - that's a good way to get sore in areas you didn't know existed! After a good long swim yesterday morning, I found myself rather miserable with very clogged ears. I used the old alcohol in the ear trick to no avail - my ears would not clear. As is sometimes the case, I found that my clogged ears caused me to feel cruddy overall with a little dizziness. I have used Purification many times for maladies of the ear and thus grabbed for my pink bottle and liberally smeared a couple drops behind each ear. I repeated this regimen twice in about a 30 minute time frame. It came as no surprise that my ears quickly cleared and I was able to go on happily with my day. Purification is definitely an oil you don't want to be without this summer!

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and cannot diagnose, cure or treat any illness or malady. All oils discussed on this blog refer to Young Living Essential oils only.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Last Day of School...

It always amazes me when our school year comes to a  close. Where has the year gone? Of course there are many times during the year, particularly in those last weeks, that I long for a break and some summer days! This year was no exception. We finished out our year yesterday, May 1st - the earliest we have ever been done. Skipping spring break was totally worth it! We had a great year - the first half was trying, stressful, difficult...for a number of different reasons - but the second half was fabulous. We finished out strong...with my sweet Kindergardener reading and my 3rd grader pulling A's in math, his least favorite and dreaded subject. Our final day of school was delightful and I am so thankful for the opportunity and privilege to teach these precious boys. Though I am thrilled at the beautiful spring and summer days ahead, I can't help but get excited for next year:-)

We started off our morning with Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Doughnuts...not only a breakfast treat for our final day but also to remind us of the letter "O" as we are working on a study of the habit/character trait of Obendience. I bought a book called "Laying Down the Rails" at the homeschool conference this year - it focuses on Charlotte Mason's ideas and teachings on building habits and strong character. I am loving it and we are working hard on the habit of obedience right now. I chose to use the Kids of Integrity materials along with this book and it's been a good first week in this study as we have completed our academic year. The boys made "obedience jars" as the ending project to our week.

Similar to our "Back to School Interviews" that we do at the start of the year, we did "End of School Interviews". Such a fun way to see what things stood out to the boys over the course of the year. 









I like to present the boys with a certificate of completion at the conclusion of our school year and I generally give them a little gift to congratulate their accomplishments. This year I found some great used books that I bundled along with their certificates.

Frank was in Washington DC all week for a business trip and arrived in time for lunch which was a fabulous addition to our day. We took a trip to the zoon in the afternoon and Keith had his day made when he was chosen as the volunteer during the bird show. He got to have a Rock Dove (ie. a pigeon) land on his gloved hand! It was an exciting high point in our outing.

We concluded our day with daddy and the boys and daddy playing some basketball in the beautiful weather while I made dinner. The boys requested a "breakfast dinner" and movie night so I made fruit burritos - tortillas filled with honey-vanilla homemade vegan yogurt, pineapple and blackberries and topped with bananas, pecans, and toasted coconut whilst watching "Mr. Peabody and Sherman". The evening was made complete with a little dessert of vegan tapioca (inspired by my sweet friend who made it a few days before and shared it with us on a field trip - unfortunately mine didn't turn out quite as delicious!) topped with fruit. 

And now on to summer fun...football and swim team and vacations and family time and enjoying the gorgeous days in Kansas City with these sweet boys who are growing up far too fast. Blessed beyond measure!