Slices of Life

The assignment was to set a timer for 15 minutes and write a list of everything I am grateful for in my life or that happened in my life this year. My husband My boys My health That my grandmother (and last surviving grandparent) is still alive For my whole family Our Myrtle Beach vacation and all that we did on it Watching Alec tackle the most difficult courses at the adventure park Getting a "new" to me car Having a wonderful Christmas with the family Going to the beach so much Hiking Mount Monadnock (even if I did complain the whole time!) For my house Seeing the sunrises and sunsets that are so colorful Watching the three bald eagles soaring over the lake Taking family kayak trips Watching Evan read a chapter book Figuring out what was upsetting Evan's stomach That Ian's wrist was NOT fractured this summer like we first thought. Homeschooling and learning beside my boys Going on the science boat trip and learning about marine animals Our tri...

For the past two years I take time in late December/ early January to look back at our year and see what new things we've done. My goal is to expose my kids to new experiences each and every week. Of course some weeks we don't do anything new but other weeks we might do a few new things.  There are always new recipes we try out, new board games to play new parks to visit, and new movies to watch but when I talk about 52 brand new I really mean new classes we've tried out, new field trip or vacation spots, and new skills we've learned. Not all skills, classes or trips apply to every one of my boys and I have to admit it was much harder coming up with 52 things this year! 1.   Trip to Beardsley Zoo -- we took the younger boys to Beardsley zoo; a new zoo!  We got to see so many new plants and animals. 2.  We planted a container garden- - We had gotten some vegetable seed packets and tried our hand at growing food.  Out of everything we pla...