Shannon

This guy turned 11 and we celebrated in ways that were unique to the person he continues to be. No cake, no candles instead handmade almond roca from a treasured Uncle who's a pastry chef. Food of choice was Thai food, Gram's famous breakfast and a week of poutine. The party was getting to his cousin an 8 month old who he has deep connections with. He knows himself well and I love this journey were he states his dreams and we all work to make them come true. It's a good life indeed.

Tabitha

I'm a bookworm, and I LOVE the library.  My first son loved books both
for information and stories.  So when my second was born, I had
visions of snuggling my newborn while reading to my eldest.  It never
really happened, because for some reason the baby would fuss!  And, he
didn't grow out of it.  As he got older, he still just didn't enjoy
books, although he loved clearing shelves.  Thankfully I had found
unschooling, so I trusted.  I trusted that if I didn't force it, he
would either one day like books, or not (and be just fine.)  Here we
are six years later, and this is SOME of Baelin's haul from the
library.  He brings books to his father and I at any time of the day
to read to him, and he's loving going to the library for more.  Maybe
this will grow into a life long love of books, maybe it will fizzle
out, maybe something other than those two options.  Anyway, it's all
good :)

Kelly

Frankie declined the opportunity to go to the beach on this weather perfect day. After reminding me just how much she hates the beach, she put on her swimsuit and spent the afternoon lying on her towel on the lawn, stating, "This is where I like to be."

Helen

This guy is always there to pick up the slack,

And when I'm sad and under the weather, as I was this week,

He's good for hugs and a dose of understanding,

He's great at cracking a joke and making me laugh

And he reminds me so often, how we are in this together.
(And this is not even on a gushy day)

Rachel

At our homeschool park day on Wednesday, the boys ran off with a couple of friends, exploring the woods, the paths, the park. I sat happily on a blanket with Lilli and chatted with other moms. This may sound pretty ordinary, but for us, it was a first. The boys have hardly ever left my sight during a park day (not by my request, but because Max has always had a strong need to frequently check in with me). But they ran off for almost the entire two hours, and when they came back, they were discussing their plans for a "band meeting" that night, via Facebook message chat. I didn't even know Max knew how to do that. They had apparently formed a band in the last couple of hours, taken this photo of themselves as their album cover, and discussed their mission statement as a band: playing hand made instruments, mostly percussion based. They call themselves "The Handmade." Sure enough, at 8 that night on the dot, all four boys were excitedly messaging each other, and they set up a rehearsal for Friday afternoon. On Friday, they met and recorded their first single and now have big plans to make a video for it at their next rehearsal (already in the calendar). Watching this all unfold was so surprising and breathtaking and delightful. It is cliche to say they grow up so fast, but this didn't feel that way, it felt like they grew up suddenly, in almost one afternoon, without much warning. But I suppose that is exactly what growing up is like.