We are our worst enemy.

This morning I read an article on a very popular parenting site - the blogger had a friend who had just moved to a new town and a mom invited her and her daughter to a birthday party. The party had a dress up theme where the girls got a princess make over (which included make up) and were able to walk a red carpet laid out for them.  Instead of using this opportunity to meet new friends in her new town, the mom then turned around went to her friend and bashed the party theme, the mothers involved and of course the blogger decided to post it online.

Now, I am fully aware that not every little girl is into princess dresses and make up. My problem is -why do grown women feel the need to bash those that do? In a society where women empowerment is becoming a big movement, why do we put down the image of the "Girly girl"? Shouldn't all women be celebrated? Does make up and dresses somehow diminish a woman's worth? Shouldn't we teach our girls that make up and dresses are NOT what define a woman.

Exciting things are coming!

I have been missing for a few days- sadly, our house was hit with multiple cases of the stomach flu. Chloe got it the worst (of course!) poor baby couldn't even sit up long enough to put on a shirt at one point.

As you can see - there is a new look to the blog! I get bored of layouts fairly quickly, and I am currently loving the water color trend so this is perfect for right now. I, of course, say right now because I can't promise to not get bored of this one too.

Anyway, with the new school year coming up right this September - an extensive blog post will be coming up shortly on how I set up our Mother Goose supplies for the beginning of the school year. I will say that I have looked through the new September box and my level of excitement is absolutely off the charts. Mother Goose Time has always been great but they somehow found a way to take it to the next level!

Homeschool with limited space

I can't help but be a little bit jealous when I see people with dedicated homeschool rooms! Right now we use our dining room table. Also considering turning our Garage into a playroom/home school room.

Since our move, things just haven't been the same with the homeschooling. Chloe's old room was much larger which allowed for her dedicated space (below)

Outdoor school

I can't wait for summer to end. I don't like the heat...and even though winter for us here in Southern California means high 70s, I'll take whatever I can get. The one good thing about Summer is the long days, we are able to go outside after dinner and still enjoy plenty of daylight left. 

Day 2 of our Mother Goose Time August theme (Fables and Folktales) sent us outside to gather sticks. The point of the activity was to find sticks and have Chloe try to break as many as she could at once. Chloe wasn't very adventurous and the most she tried at once was 2 before her hand hurt. 

Tray Success!

Day 1 of "Fables and Folktales" is now behind us..and I know you are dying to find out how the trays worked out for me. The trays worked so wonderfully that I am prepared to call it a success after just one try. They made transitions between activities quick and extremely easy. As I suspected, they helped Chloe stay focused on the activity ahead since I didn't have a ton of other papers in front of her. I HIGHLY recommend these trays.

Anyway, let me tell you a little about our day. The theme started out with the "Lion and the Mouse" story - we were already familiar with this story so it was actually fun for us to go back and talk about it again. When I read the story overtime I said the word "LION" Chloe let out a big ROAR (see picture above) that made the story extra fun and she was listening to every word making sure she didn't miss an opportunity to be extra loud.

'Twas the night before a new theme

We are ready to start the August theme for Mother Goose Time; Fables and Folktales and I am super excited. From the moment I opened the box almost 3 weeks ago, I have been looking forward to this theme. As the name suggests this month we will be looking at Folktales that we all grew up with and from the looks of it, the most used tool this month will be IMAGINATION! Really looking forward to it - without even starting - I have a feeling this one might become my favorite theme to date.