Joyfully Weary

A morning exploring The Art Institute and an afternoon at Maggie Daley Park is one my favorite ways to spend a day in Chicago with my kiddos. They are just across the street from each other, so I only have to park once and there are no complaints about aching feet. It's also an inexpensive day out. The Art Institute is always free for children under the age of 14 and if you register it's also always free for teachers - if you homeschool you'll just need to show a co-op id. Our favorite place to park is the Millennium Lakeside Garage - there is a stroller friendly elevator that takes your right up to one of the entrances to Maggie Daley Park. We always use Spot Hero and park for the day for around $15. We went last week and had such a good time. I need to make more of an effort to visit Chicago more often....it always feels like such a big task (it's the hour in traffic that get me) to do solo but once we are in the city we have so much fun.  We are curr...

It doesn't always go smoothly and it's hardly ever quiet, but starting each day with morning time has become my favorite part of our homeschool routine. I have hopes that someday there will be less spills and less interruptions, but right now, I'm just enjoying the little bit of goodness we get to dive into each morning...even if that goodness only lasts for five minutes.  Originally, my plan was to study a new composer, artist, and poet each month but that just wasn't giving us enough time. While I'm not expecting any sort of mastery; I want my kiddos to feel a familiarity with these greats - to almost start to think of them as friends.  Rembrandt was our artist. The prints are from Simply Charlotte Mason . You can also get lesson plans to go with them, but I just order the prints and read a couple biographies. The biographies  we read were  Rembrandt (Masterpieces: Artists and Their Works)   and What Makes A Rembrandt a Rembrandt . The later  w...

I'm such a lucky momma. My older three kiddos, with the help of Jeremy, surprised me with breakfast in bed yesterday. Jeremy made sure I knew to stay in my room and they all headed  downstairs early to make me bacon, eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes. It was so much fun hearing their happy chatter as they prepared their surprise.  Big Buddy is so past giving kisses to his Mama, but he knows is makes me happy so once in awhile he will amuse me. 💓 They day before they also worked together to make this spinning Lego heart. I love that they are such a team! The breakfast and the heart were wonderful, but them working together is what makes me beam with joy.  BabyZ gave his own gift and slept in super late! He didn't wake up until after my breakfast was served...and then he helped me eat some of my chocolate chip pancakes 😉 He was convinced that all the candles meant it was somebodies birthday and started to sing "Happy Birthday". The old...