Dec 30, 2019

Freeschoolin' 2020 Resolutions

Happy New Year!

We can make changes and goals any time of year, but it's fun to surf society's energy resolving new life paths around this time of year. Our Freeschoolin' family's 2020 Resolutions 1. Giving 2020 feels like a year for giving so I've begun to put resources aside just for charity and have plans for April to run a homeschool fundraiser under a new fundraising company I am starting to honour my late Son, Skylar. 2. Eat Seasonal & Local We've been eating organic for years now and it's made a world of difference in our health but there's still so many changes we want to make. This year we're going to put all our efforts into our garden producing as much of our food as possible and continue to find more locally sourced, organic/naturally grown products to sustain our family's diet. 3. Minimalism Ok. There. I've said it. I've been skirting around using this label for a year now as I wasn't sure I wanted it, nor that it fit our family. But as far as Jaze and I go? We are definitely minimalists at heart, though our home is far from reflecting that at first glance, at least in our opinion. We have worked the last year ridding our lives and country apartment of what no longer serves us but we have a long way to go and will be working more on that this year. Check out our video on our Kon Mari adventure a year ago. 4. Healthy Relationships Though this has always been a theme for our family through our Freeschoolin' lifestyle, we feel drawn to dive deeper into authentic connections and spend less time in social spaces that don't align with our values. We really want to build compassionate community not only for ourselves, but for others who are seeking something more than is commonly available.

This past 2 weeks As an empath, the more social media picked up, the more I felt inclined to step back. Thanks everyone for understanding. Jaze, Hope and I volunteered with some wonderful homeschool friends at a dinner for the less fortunate put on by FRIENDS OF THE HOMELESS LIVING IN BARRIE on Dec 21. The Mayor of Barrie stopped in with some goodies to hand out and Hope was eager to meet him and speak with him, so Jaze introduced them. We did holiday art projects like painting, decorating wrapping paper and making cards. Jaze baked organic spelt shortbread cookies from organic spelt made by our friends at Earth Valley Organics and we feasted on roast organic chicken from Nicholyn Farms. Unfortunately I couldn't film due to rec centre rules, but we did go swimming at a public pool that has a slide and a whirlpool area that we love. Hope absolutely loves the water! I got a second hand skirt ( I bought it myself but Hope wrapped it ) that fits me PERFECTLY and Jaze was excited to get a marvel Tshirt I found at a thrift store. Hope got some playmobile, a pocket microscope, a few stuffies she's been dying for, some art supplies and we all got goodies like socks and undies and organic candy in our stocking. Nothing huge but even so, it felt like a lot so we plan to reduce even more next year and have decided to celebrate the solstice on the 21st from now on. Dec 25th was our day to help out at Earth Valley Organics so we visited their beautiful barn and had a lovely holiday visit with the herd. River, our senior off the track thoroughbred we rescued 8 years ago, is doing great after some concern in the fall that he was dropping weight. It's normal with a senior horse to come across these issues but we're glad to have found a diet that works for our dear steed so he can continue to live a long and healthy life. Follow our page Hartland Ranch for updates. This past friday we hit up the movies (something we rarely do) with some awesome friends of ours who even brought Hope a gift; an elsa doll and we were going to see Frozen 2! We had a great experience and were so thankful to spend time with such great people.

Subjects Learned Large Animal Care Time Management Responsibility Compassion Generosity Meteorology Pop Culture Technology Art Bonding Socialization Math Reading Resource Management Social Studies Phys Ed Water Safety Body Care Problem Solving Skills Decision Making Design Body Language Celebrations Traditions Creative Thinking So Much More...