SUNSHINE - Day 22

One of my saving graces right now is being outside. I am thankful that we have a backyard to sit in. We brought school outside today. It was a much needed change of scenery. I have been struggling with the many different roles that all parents are being asked to play right now. It is kind of interesting though because I already teach at home, but now we have all 4 of the kids home, Josh working from home, and me working from home. I think we are starting to find the balance. The one thing I am realizing is we all need to give ourselves and our children grace. It is okay to be wherever you are right in this moment. It isn't always going to look perfect, but we will all get through it. I am pretty hard on myself and in turn pretty hard on our kids. I have high expectations and tend to push myself and our kids. I don't think that is a bad thing, but it does cause added stress. Right now I am working on loosening the reins and letting us all relax a little. I wish the sun and warm weather was here to stay, because I am telling you that is how I am surviving right now. I am very thankful it isn't winter for sure.

Today was a much needed day. We got all our learning done and spent plenty of time outside. I even got a little sun kissed. The kids did school work, played on the swing set, and even played in the sprinkler for a short time. We let the chickens roam, the guinea pigs out, and the dogs came out to play too. After the work day, Josh and I went on a LONG bike ride. I wasn't expecting it to the be the workout that it was, but with the wind and our route it was quite a workout. It felt SO GOOD to be out though. I definitely cherished our time together. We saw a snake and 2 beavers on our bike ride too. We came home and sat on the back patio for a bit before starting Taco Tuesday dinner.

We ate dinner outside for the first time today. That was super nice. We enjoyed our tacos and did our roses and thorns. It is nice to see what the kids are enjoying as well as what they miss. After dinner, we had a fire and s'mores. We also saw our resident bats out which was super cool. I really enjoyed sitting on the back porch and talking with Brayden and Josh. Brayden loves to talk about music and was also sharing what is going on in all his classes. It was nice to catch up. We headed in when the lightening rolled in, but it is still pretty far off. I hope everyone that was in our area was able to get out and enjoy the weather. We all need some SUNSHINE in our lives.