I have been striving to find more joy, happiness and overall bliss in my and my families lives. I realized not that long ago, that me and the kids weren't doing many fun things any more. I did take them to the park every so often and we do go to events in town. But the extras like painting for the fun of it or getting every art supply out at one time and creating whatever we wanted, well, its been a while. We weren't even going on many explorations into nature, which if you know me well, you would know that this is quite a shock! Every day practically became the same thing over and over, and not very much outlet for creativity, which I am realizing we need. Plus, I really enjoyed doing those things. Its the reason I am home with the kids and one of the reasons we homeschool.
Making a very long story short, I realized that by going back to blogging I could probably solve this. When I blogged I was kept accountable. I know it may sound bad, but making sure we did something so I could bog about it, actually made me do things! I know...It sounds horrible, but I'm not afraid to say it. Plus I had this wonderful community of like-minded people who would share and comment and then give me even more ideas. I need that. I need that spark to help my creative juices flow.
So what's different this time.
1. Opposite to what you may think after reading the above, I am not planning activities simply so I can blog about them. I am planning activities so that my children can have a creative outlet, so I can make memories, so their worlds can be expanded. The Blog will just keep me accountable to this. Hopefully I can keep it this way and not be come a slave to it.
2. I want to use this space to reflect on my days. Try to find the things to be thankful for. Grateful for. And find the things I want to change to make me and my home into what I want it to be.
3. Due to a shift in our families eating routine, you will see more recipes and more about gardening/preserving.
What will be the same
1. I will still share our homeschool doings.
2. I plan on reinstating Young Explorers. I am not ready to formally reinstate it, but I will be sharing our outdoor adventures until I am ready.
3. I will keep it as real as I can. I want to share the real me, my real kids and our real life, no matter how messy or silly it may be :)
That's it in a nutshell. I am looking forward to a great future.
Welcome back, Jen! I've soooo missed you! and so happy to see you and your little ones (and how they have grown!!!). So excited to see you do Nature Explorers again, however informal that may be. You were such an inspiration to me!
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you are saying about blogging. I don't *do* just to blog, but I love the encouragement and accountability that it brings! It's like the saying for Project Life - cultivate a good life and record it. Often because of recording my life, I try to find ways to cultivate an even better life, because I am always thinking about our quality of life. It's a wonderful circle, if you can keep it balanced! =)
Michelle, I am so glad you are still out there. I have missed you as well. I am glad that my thoughts on using blogging to keep accountable aren't too far out there.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any ideas or topics you would like to see for Young Explorers let me know. I am in the process of putting things together for the future.
We are studying ants right now, then bees and then flowers. I am growing sunflowers, so thought I would re-do the Flower to Seed study that we did for nature explorers! Will be looking forward to seeing whatever you pull together!
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