exhausted yet fulfilled
exhausted yet fulfilled

By about 1:30 today I was feeling pretty exhausted. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on a lot of things trying to get caught up and doing my best to put my full energy and heart into our homeschool (along with all the other regular life stuff). I think we're doing pretty well, but boy, it's no small effort! That's why at around 1:30 I was scooting the boys out the door so they could play a while and run around in the backyard while I could sit down and take a break for a few minutes!

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Homeschool, Life I LoveElizabeth Rileyhomeschoolfamily, home educating, deliberatemotherhood, homeschool, homeschoolfieldtripComment
alaska part ii
alaska part ii

Here are more Alaska pictures.  I have so many that I could not fit them all into one post!  We had so many adventures there.  My sweet mother-in-law is an angel and took the boys so Jeremiah and I could spend time out.  It was a blast!  We did a ton of exploring.  Some moments cannot be adequately captured with a camera--so these pictures may not do justice to the experience.  But they are fun to look back on and remember!

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Life I LoveElizabeth Rileyalaska, familyComment
alaska part i
alaska part i

I fell in love with Alaska during our trip there in August.  I've been there a couple of times; Jeremiah proposed to me there on his family's land overlooking the bay.  And then we went up there the following winter when I was expecting Matthew.  For the record, winter there is an amazing experience.  The sky is the bluest blue.  The snow is pristine, and the air is clear and salty with the wonderful refreshment the ocean brings.  I enjoyed both times so very much.  But this time was different.

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Life I LoveElizabeth Rileyfamily, alaska, dreams, videoComment
beginnings
beginnings

We just finished our first week of school! This year is different from last year because I've added purchased curriculum to our day. Last year Matthew was 4, and we did a lot of child-led learning, reading, and exploring which was a wonderful, beautiful experience. It was a year I will treasure always. This year I felt it was time to increase some structured learning while still maintaining the outdoor time and reading, creative time and child-led approach. I think figuring out curriculum and planning is a balancing act that looks a little different for each family, and maybe even different from year-to-year and from child-to-child. So far I'm very happy with what we're doing. Still working out the kinks, still trying to figure out how to do things better (I'm sure we'll always be trying to do that).

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HomeschoolElizabeth Rileyhomeschool, homeschooling, homeschoollife Comments
believe in good things to come
believe in good things to come

2016 has been filled with unexpected things for our family.  Some so incredibly good!  And some hard things too.  I hope wherever you are, whatever your circumstance, you know you can trust God always.  Nothing is to hard or too complex for Him.  With Him we can have hope. A dear friend shared this video with me, and I wanted to share it with you.  Love to each of you no matter what you're going through.  xo

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Life I LoveElizabeth RileyComment