sorted...

For now... We've been making space for our Garden to grow. This weekend is all about making as much as we can to add to our shop, so I'm sewing and assembling some Owlet favourites.

An organised work space has been vital to getting orders out faster and finding all the bits and pieces I need for sewing. Huz has been rather awesome taking on much of the daytime parenting this weekend. So far it's been pretty productive!

Best of all, we have a mini-showroom, should peeps want to shop by appointment. There's a spot for everything. And we finally put the cot to good use! The sides make fantastic fabric storage. Visible, accessible and out of the way. Now on with creating!

Mini mei tai revisited

The most popular post I've written here is a tutorial to make mei tai doll carriers. When I made that tutorial, Little owlet was almost two and loved carrying her baby on her back... Now Tiny is almost two, the mini mei tai has been dragged out and is a mainstay of Tiny's wardrobe. Some days it's the only thing she wears. She's also very insistent that she spends time on my back in my mei tai carrier. It's a thing right now. She sees how awesome babywearing is. Snuggly and practical all at once. I love that modelling that for her has made it normal.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd post some new pics and share the tutorial again, as I never got terrific photos of Little Owlet wearing her babies. And I'm planning to whip up some mini mei tais for Spiral Garden tomorrow. So, if you feel like a project, there's a pattern to follow, and if you'd rather buy something ready made, there will be an option for that too. Your owlets could have a carrier just like Tiny's. Happy owlets everywhere!

unschool monday :: abundance

This week we ate from our garden. One cauliflower that fed us for a week. We spent a day or two in our garden, reconnecting with nature, making new plans. We played, dug, mowed, climbed trees, sat in the sun. We spent time rather than money and life was simple, full and good.



Sometimes the best opportunities we have for learning and enjoying life happen when we just slow right down. We connect with each other and the world around us and everything seems clearer. Questions and conversation flow and our lives feel very full. In a week where I lost my wallet and our single-income budget was stretched to it's limit, simple abundance was a welcome change.



The change of season almost always brings with it the urge to remember to slow down and enjoy nature. Spring brings with it re-connections with friends and a long out-breath after a long winter hibernation... It's not so much that we haven't seen friends over the winter, but suddenly, this week, our social calendar is full. Full of new and old friends, and the promise of a spring and summer full of fun.

I bumped into a woman I've known for a few years, when we were at the library on Friday. Our owlets were at kindergarten together in what feels like another lifetime. She's a teacher, and so finds our unschooling life rather fascinating. She's always a little sceptical of this abundance we seem to talk of. Many people are. I suspect that most people think we sit around the table all day, books open, learning stuff. It seems like a very austere way of living and learning when it is so different from what you know. I answered the usual questions...

"Yes, we are still home educating."
"No, we don't have school holidays."
"Yes, the owlets are happy."



And then this last question, asked, leaning in, with a concerned look towards big owlet, who had run off to play chess with a friend...

"But don't they miss their peers? Don't they miss spending time with friends?"

I gestured towards the other children in the library. All except her own children were home educated. "These are our friends and the owlets' peers. They are all home educated. We spend time together most weeks..."

"Oh". She picked her jaw up off the floor and may have had her stereotypical view of home education altered at that time. Or she may not. But what she noticed, as did I in that moment, is that our life is full, happy, challenging, interesting, busy and abundant in more ways than one. Whether at home together, just playing in the garden, or out and about with friends, it is full and rich and exciting. And for that I am very glad.
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Thanks for reading along with Unschool Monday. If you have a question for me, or one of the other participants on the linkup, ask away! I'm happy to try and answer here next time. If you feel like linking up, it'd be lovely to have you on board and see how unschooling happens at your nest. xx

sunday snippets

{sunday snippets} A collection of photos from your week.  No need for words.  Let the picture tell your story. Joining in with {tinniegirl} 

chaos and the kitchen sink

Life in our nest seems to have found a happy kind of jumbled chaos. The kind of chaos one would expect with three owlets home all day and a mama and papa working every spare minute on their new lovely adventure. There is seldom time to scratch and we are working every day to try and find some order, flow and rhythm to our days. I can deal with the chaos being there, I accept it, but too much and my head is jumbled. I can't think to create or hold a concise conversation, or blog... *note the long week of bloggy silence here*... There is always love and lots of fun in our nest, but somehow, these days, there is always a tiny bit of chaos... It may or may not come mostly in the form of two toddler kittens and one Tiny Owlet...

This week, we've managed to get things done by making use of the kitchen sink. The realisation came the day after it took me five hours to clean our small art supply cupboard and Huz arrived home to an explosion of art materials in the dining room, crayon all over the couch and texta all over the baby. Some days, in order to get things done, I need an extra set of hands, or a delightful distraction for Tiny. Water is always my go-to when chaos takes hold.

I remember when my sister bathed in the kitchen sink. I remember when Big Owlet bathed in the kitchen sink and the joy that came from splashing in the room that is heart of our home... I'm super glad that our new kitchen sink is huge enough that Tiny can bathe in there for a while to come. Because gosh it's great to have a moment to pause the Tiny whirlwind, but delight in her delight at the same time!

This month I'm about making lists.
I'm about clearing my head.
I'm about sorting a gentle family rhythm that works for us.
I'm about spring cleaning... the house, and myself.
I'm about setting aside some more time to dream... I haven't read a book in about two years.
I'm about finishing some projects that aren't business related.
I'm about making time for friends again.
I'm about remembering to send gifts.
I'm about remembering...

I'm incredibly ambitious. I may need to hire an au pair, or give up sleep... I've moved on from lamenting the absence of nearby family, or a village in my neighbourhood. I've given up wishing that society was designed in such a way that we were more supported in our choices. I've stopped wishing for a slower pace of life and I'm at the realisation that it's just time to roll up my sleeves and work hard.

But I'm also realising that I'm not super human, so just making a chip at the lists will be enough. My reality involves children at home all day, and they require me to be with them, connected, working alongside them. And that's a full-time job in itself. One thing each day will be ok. And if I can find simple ways to get things sorted, while delighting in the gorgeous, simple stuff like baths in the kitchen, I reckon I'll be half way there...

How do you cope with chaos in your home? Do you embrace it? 
Do you have support, or do you have to just get on with things?
How do you keep a clear head amongst the day to day lovely jumble of life?

unschool monday :: childhood

I'm feeling so grateful that we have the priveledge to preserve and honour our owlets' childhoods...



That we have the time that they can spend hour after hour in Spring's first sunshine exploring and creating...



Dreaming and playing...



Experimenting and puddling around in mud and leaves and flowers...



I'm grateful that my nine year old still finds it as much fun as her toddler sister does and that she sees play as a vital part of her day.



And that our days can slow down so that the owlets can immerse themselves in play to the point that the valuable lessons play can teach are absorbed. They are biologists, archaeologists, geologists, hydrologists, mathematicians, artists, poets and chefs...



Their play is work and the world stops for them as they explore that moment they are in, as only children can...



They take great pride in their play and their work and what lessons they have learnt for themselves. They present their learnings to me and recount them through the shower door and I'm so grateful that they have the opportunity to just be children for as long as they need.

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Thanks for reading along with Unschool Monday. If you have a question for me, or one of the other participants on the linkup, ask away! I'm happy to try and answer here next time. If you feel like linking up, it'd be lovely to have you on board and see how unschooling happens at your nest. xx

sunday snippets

{sunday snippets} A collection of photos from your week. No need for words. Let the pictures tell your story. More here.