Joyfully Weary

The weather this September has been so odd. We thought for awhile fall weather had arrived; Little Lady begged me to get her fall/winter clothes down for the attic and then all the sudden we had a couple weeks with 80°-90° days. I tend to enjoy all the seasons and the clothing it brings, but this unexpected hot weather in September has been a bit rough. It is very hard to teach school when I  keep thinking about how blissful the beach would be. I picked up the skirt below at a Goodwill. It was in rural southern IL and the prices were crazy cheap - $3 for skirts! I'm pretty sure it's a vintage homemade piece. I was drawn to because of the bright green color and the fun golf flag detail on the pocket.   I wore this on one of the rare cooler days we've had this month. This dress is from eShakti but I picked it up thrifting. I have a few eShakti dress and I'm always amazed at their quality, This is a  slightly bigger size then what I normally wear but f

I could on and on about how wonderful our library is. Their collection is amazing. There is no limit to the number of books I can check out. I can renew books online - I still end up paying late fees but it's not nearly what it could be. They also put on amazing programs and events. This past week they held a celebration for Hermione Granger's birthday. This worked out perfectly for our family because our older three kiddos have started to fall in love with Harry Potter... the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree . In fact, spoiler alert, we are all going to be HP book characters for Halloween.  Little Lady is going to be Hermione, and she has started to see her as a bit of a role model. It's kind of a great fit. Not only does Little Lady share some of her physical features but their personalizes are also quite similar. Like Hermione, Little Lady could easily be a Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor. She is smart as a whip. Even though she won't turn 7 unt

Earlier in the month we went on a field trip with another home school family to Old World Wisconsin . I was obsessed with Little House as a girl so I love visiting outdoor pioneer/settlement museums . Anytime, there is a chance to visit one I'm on board. Luckily, my kiddos seem to enjoy them too. I was super impressed with Old World Wisconsin . I would say it's our favorite pioneer museum we've visited. There were a ton of hands-on-activities. I love walking around and looking at too old and too rare antiques but with a bunch of kiddos that can get old pretty fast. Old World Wisconsin had plenty of don't touch treasures, but they also had lots of things kids could put their hands on and try.  Little Lady is similar to how I was as a little girl and loved every bit of the museum. If she could she'd go back in time and be a pioneer. Her favorite activities were combing wool and visiting the school house. She was excited to try everything though. I found

  A couple weeks ago Mini Man turned eight. To say he is a joy is an understatement. Mini Man has always been an extrovert and seems to thrive off people. There is something more to him, though,  that is harder to put in to words...the best way I can think to describe it is that he is extremely empathetic. He's always been this way. He seems to have a sense for what others are feeling. He will frequently describe the motives or feelings behind someone's actions.  I think because of this he is quick to forgive.  Mini Man also seems to have the ability to put people at ease and make them feel welcome. We hardly ever go anywhere that he doesn't make a new a friend. Jeremy and I joke that he must be magnetic. He'll step outside to play and the next thing you know 1/2 dozen neighborhood kids have joined him in our yard.  Recently, he's been telling me that he is shy. I haven't been able to pinpoint why he's started to identify this way; he's ju