Nature Walks

This morning we enjoyed a nature walk around one of our local lakes. It is a favorite lake of mine because I released my pet snapping turtle there in 2003. I had raised him from a hatchling. When I found he was about the size of a quarter, by the time he went to live at the lake his carapace was the size of a dinner plate! Every time we visit I hope he is still alive and well. There is a good chance he is as snapping turtles are believed to live thirty or more years in the wild.

The weather was perfect for our walk, warm but not too warm. The nights have been cooler lately and fall is starting to come in. My daughter enjoyed counting fish in the lake and admired the Queen Anne's Lace growing along the paths. She also looked high and low for the perfect pinecone to bring home. She loves collecting things. Rocks, shells and flowers are often brought home to add to her treasure box and be played with later.

When we returned to our house we hung up the new alphabet letters she selected for our school area. They each measure an impressive 8" x 10" and really brightened up the room. The cards can be found here on Amazon: Eeboo Fairies in the Garden Wall Cards.

A Visit To The Art Museum

On Friday our family went to the Yale Center For British Art. It is a gem of an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut devoted to the study of British art and culture. It was presented to Yale University by Paul Mellon. He was quite the philanthropist and an owner of thoroughbred racehorses. It is no surprise then that he became a collector of George Stubbs, an English artist well known for his paintings of horses. Stubbs painted other animals and people as well, but most people still think of horses first when they hear his name.

Children are often drawn to the paintings of George Stubbs because many of his subjects were animals. My daughter immediately chose his Zebra painting as her favorite at the museum. We purchased both a postcard and a 14" x 10" print of the Zebra in the museum shop. Back at home, my daughter was allowed to choose where the larger print should be hung in our house. She later spent some time with the postcard propped up so she could draw her own zebra.

Zebra by George Stubbs, 1763

It is important that children learn about art even at a young age. My goal is to pick a new artist every twelve weeks for us to study. Each week there will be a new print of one of that artist's paintings -or sculptures- on display in our home. Over the weeks the children will be able to recognize each artist's style and use of color and lines. My daughter is only four, so I keep our art lessons simple. For my son, who is nine, I want him to be more familar with the artist and know a bit about their life and influences. For both of them my hope is that the art we study inspires their minds and souls.

For the first tweleve weeks we will study the art of George Stubbs. We are fortunate to be able to see so many of his paintings at the museum. I think they have at least 32 Stubbs paintings in their collection, as well as many sketches and watercolors. We have a book of his art on the way for study: George Stubbs 1724-1806.

During our visit yesterday they were installing new carpet in the room which houses most of his paintings and thus were not able to see them up close. When we return in a few weeks for another visit we will be able to take better photos and enjoy his work more.

A Lion Attacking A Horse by George Stubbs, 1762

 This was one of my favorites at the museum. The photo is at an angle because it was taken from a floor above the painting.

On Education



There are many things I love about raising my children. One of my favorites is making sure they each receive a solid and well rounded education. As their mother I am their primary teacher. I don't believe learning should only take place in the classroom. Each new day is full of opportunities to grow and learn in many ways.

I am fortunate that I have been able to be a stay at home mom at this point in our children's lives. This allows me to focus more on them. I am not running them to daycare or a babysitter so I can work a busy day and then pick them up afterwards only to make a rushed dinner. What a blessing to be able to take life more slowly and savor the quiet moments together! There is time for reading a story -or five- and going to the playground. For enjoying a quiet walk in the woods or a visit to our local library.

There has never been a better time to be a homeschool teacher. There are many curriculums to choose from and countless resources that can be used. I like to take pieces from several curriculums and round it out with books I find at our library or on Amazon. I incorporate the philosophies of both Charlotte Mason and Maria Montessori in my teaching. (More on them in later posts.)

I greatly enjoyed teaching Brendan the year before he went to school. When he was ready for kindergarten we enrolled him in a Catholic school I went to years ago. He has done well there and is now in the fourth grade. Even though he goes to school we still work together at home. There have been many happy hours spent together reading books aloud or learning more about art, history and science. Brendan is very good at math and likes to practice extra problems. He also keeps his mind busy by doing crosswords, word searches and playing chess with his father and myself.

My daughter starts kindergarten in a year so there will be many posts to come about what she is learning at home. The preschool years are a lot of fun. My next post will be about our visit to the Yale Center for Bristish Art tomorrow.

About Our Family

I've always wanted to have a blog but never quite got around to starting one. I finally decided to write one about our family. It will be about day to day life, homeschooling, recipes, soccer, nature walks...basically a little of everything.

Every family is unique and ours certainly started out in a unique fashion. In the summer of 2002 I graduated from high school in North Carolina. Shortly before I moved to Connecticut to start college I became pregnant. I had always looked forward to the day I would become a mother, but I never expected it to happen so soon. I was happy when I found out but also concerned for the future. Would I still be able to go to college? How could I raise a baby on my own? Most parents learn to put their differences aside to raise their children and I was willing to do that. Yet I knew I would be a single mom because the father would not want to be involved.  He was not in the right place to be a parent so I was on my own.

I gave birth to Brendan my freshmen year of college and took the summer off to be with him. Going back to school full time with a baby was hard. Breastfeeding is something I feel strongly about and I wanted to nurse him the first year. That meant I had to bring an extra bag with ice packs to school so I could pump milk between classes. My college years were spent waking up early, taking my son to daycare, going to class and studying, picking him up from daycare, making dinner, playing with my son, giving him a bath and story, putting him to bed and staying up late studying and working on papers. I was exhausted by the time I fell asleep but I still had to get up multiple times each night to change a diaper or nurse him. There were a couple times he was sick and I was up with him most of the night, but I still had to go to class and take an exam the next day. It would have been so easy to drop out of school and get a full time job, but without a college degree I would have had a hard time making enough money to support myself and my son. Quitting is not an option when you are an only parent. There is no one else to help you if you want to take a break, fail or quit. So you forge ahead and give it your all: all day, every day. I'm proud of my college years. They made me the strong and confident woman I am today. I studied hard and made good grades and my son was happy and healthy through it all. I was determined that when he was older he would be proud of me for being a good mom despite the circumstances.

My junior year of college I met Arick. Neither of us were looking to date at that point but we became best friends and fell in love. In 2007 he moved from California to Connecticut to be with us. We both found full time jobs and I finished up the last classes I needed for my degree. We married that summer after I graduated from college with a BS in biology. After we married we moved in together and I stopped working when I was 5 months pregnant. I spent the year preparing Brendan for kindergarten. In 2008 my daughter Aricka was born. She is 4 years and 10 months younger than Brendan, but they were close from her first days. He loved to hold her and played well with her even when she was a baby. She always had the brightest smiles for her big brother. I am really blessed that my children are still close friends and that I have a husband who is such a great father to them.

Besides my faith, marriage and motherhood are the two most important things in my life. I know that I am living the best years of my life right now. I love taking care of my husband and children and making our home a happy one. It has not always been easy, but it has been good. I can't wait to see what the next years hold for us.