Wind, rain and invisible giraffees.....

We have been hibernating here over the past few weeks.  Winter has really hit with a bang, and we have had some amazing weather!  Thunderstorms like we haven't seen in years, numerous storms full of hail and torrential rain and even snow flurries - in Gulf Harbour!

It has been a lovely chance to spend some time indoors doing crafty stuff and school work...of course :)

Today, Hubby took the day off work and we set out on an adventure to Gibbs Sculpture Farm.    It was amazing!  The Sculptures are truly HUGE, and gave me a taste of what it would have felt like to be Gulliver in the land of the Lilliput.
The weather forecast was for a Cloudy day with possibility of the odd shower - which translated to RAIN, rain and drizzle!
Both kids were happy, they popped in and out of our pram (nice and snug in pram snuggle bags and a rain cover) when the weather allowed, but poor hubby and I were drenched!
We trudged through the freezing rain so Samantha could see the Giraffee she was so desperate to visit - and it was a no show!  Not counting the sculpture....which was not cutting the mustard for my girl!
After deciding that the Giraffee was indeed inside its house having a hot cocoa in front of a warm fire, we decided to take a short-cut back to the car.  Bad, bad decision.  Pushing a pram with two children through wet, soggy, freezing cold mud and grass, up a massive hill (which looked like nothing from the other side of the farm) is not my idea of a good time!
We will go back - in summer :)

Samantha came home and drew a picture of us at Gibbs Farm with the giant 'trumpet' :)

 

Bright side is that we had an adventure today.  The children got some culture in their lives, and hubby and I got some exercise :)  'sigh'.

**Just wanted to add, that I do know Giraffe is not spelt Giraffee, but in our house Giraffee is one of Samantha's loved stuffed animals, therefore all Giraffe's are referred to as such.** :)

Ponderings...

Goodness me, two months can fly by when you are homeschooling!

So much has changed for us in the past few months.  Our lives have gotten much busier but in a lovely way. 

A few months ago I made a pact with myself.  The pact was that if there was something that I wished was available for my children, that I wouldn't sit around and complain about the lack of it, I would do something about it.
So I started small.  An email.... just to see if there were others out there like me.   The result, an amazing group of Mums and Dads and lovely children.  Our homeschool group is an out and out success!  We now have weekly playgroups, art groups, craft groups and are starting to branch out to field trips.  SUCCESS!

Every week I look around at this amazing dedicated group of parents, and thank the lord that he has seen fit to send them in my path.
These parents are all from different backgrounds, and they all have different stories.  Some have horror stories of terrible school experiences, both for themselves and their children.  Some like us, never took the chance and have been homeschooling from the start.  It is such a pleasure to talk to these parents, not just to find out the amazing ideas on curriculum (which we all know is a hot button for us home schooling types), but also just to get to know them as parents, homeschoolers, people.
Even more thrilling is watching my shy daughter make real friends.  To see her run in and hug the girls, so excited to be there with them after only days apart.  These are children that I couldn't have hoped for.  In my wildest dreams to hope that my children would come into contact with these lovely, respectful, friendly kids.  Age groups don't matter, they all play.  In fact my darling boys favourite person there is nearly 9. 

To you ladies (and dads), I thank you.   For coming into our lives and making it better.  For making 'those' days seem normal and far more bearable.  And to see that this choice we have made for our children really works.  I couldn't have asked for more....

Sterryn