🎂 Hope is 11! 🎁

Our little girl is growing up!

Hope turned 11 on Sunday, May 23rd! This was the first birthday that didn't focus on toys because she's been asking for something that isn't one.

So if we were going to have a play filled birthday like she loves, we had to get creative.

HERE'S WHAT WE DID...

Decorations

We are a frugal, eco-minded family AND we're on lockdown (party supplies are not essential), so there was no buying decorations. Fortunately I reuse my decorations so there was plenty available to spruce up the place especially for Hope. We opt out of balloons as they are extremely toxic for the environment so we do a lot of stick on decorations, some homemade, some printed out. Hope had NO idea it was her birthday when she woke up ( her choice ) so she was indeed surprised to see the house all decked out for her special day

Pokemon Capture Challenge

Jaze and I designed a fun game for Hope involving one of her favorite things, Pokemon! Ash Ketchum came to deliver an invitation to the official Pokemon Capture Challenge for her Birthday! With her Pokeball in hand, Hope had to make her way around our land using the map provided and find and capture as many Pokemon as she could along the way! Jaze rolled dice to see if Pokemon were captured or not and I played an antagonist character that competed against her and eventually made friends at the end. The challenge ended at the tent, which we had set up, and she got to claim her prize: A brand new tablet for her to do digital drawing on!

Dinner & Dessert

Sarah came over to join us for a dinner (Kevin was working) of organic hot dogs Jaze cooked over the fire wrapped in organic buns they'd baked days before and froze. Jaze also made raw, organic vanilla ice cream and an organic chocolate cake which I iced and decorated. It was delicious AND healthy!

Hope asked to leave the decorations up as they make her feel special so they are still up today as I type. We couldn't have a big party like we did in 2019 but we sure made it a great day full of surprises and fun.

I was worried about Hope enjoying her birthday for no reason. She is growing into the most lovely human being that I am so grateful to be around every day.

THIS WEEK

During Hope's Pokemon Capture Challenge, we headed to the barn. When we got half way there, we observed River, our 25 yr old rescue horse, peacefully grazing in the field outside his paddock. Much to our shock! Jaze had accidentally left the paddock door open and River decided he was not passing up on all that fresh green grass. We just quietly walked over to him with a halter and put it on so we could lead him back into his paddock while we finished the rest of Hope's Pokemon Challenge. It's never a dull moment at our farm! The week of Hope's Birthday we had a heatwave! To our local beach we fled, though the water was too cold for more than a dip. Most of our time was spent at the playground swinging and climbing, enjoying the refreshing lake air. Our favorite chick Voldemort fell ill and died from the same condition our last chic, Torchic succumbed to. We took it pretty hard but we're doing ok and understand this is part of farm life. We're certain our care was not the cause of our 2 chick deaths. They were both half the size of the rest of the flock from 1-2 months old, indicating something was wrong from early on, though there were no signs of ill health otherwise. We buried Voldemort with Torchic and thanked her for coming to be with us for her short life. RIP Voldemort. Our cat, Tananger, brought a baby squirrel that had fallen from it's nest to our door, unharmed. She was licking it like a kitten. We did our best to leave it in a cool, safe place for it's mama to come get him but after a whole day waiting, it was literally screaming for help from the cold, still were we'd left it. We brought it inside and kept it under a brooder that night but it passed, as we had suspected it might. We were glad we'd intervened so it didn't have to suffer so before it died. Baby birds took over our barn! There were a bunch of fledgling baby Robins fluttering around our barn so every time we'd come to give River hay, they'd fly around us. Gosh we love Spring. Our chicks are officially living outdoors! We finished the coop and our flock of 4 are enjoying their home. They put themselves in the house at night; we just shut the door and make sure they have food and water for the night.

SUBJECTS: Animal Husbandry, Life Cycles, Seasons, Math, Environmental Studies, Death, Bonding, Resource Management, Energy Regulation, Emotional Intelligence, Respectful Relationships, Water Safety, Phys Ed, Risk Assessment, Decision Making, Nature, Celebrations, Reading, Mapping, Nutrition, Science, Wildlife Studies, Art, Task Management, Goal Setting, Seed Saving, Food Security, So Much More...

VIDEO

HOPE BLOWING OUT HER BIRTHDAY CANDLES

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Thanks for following our unschool journey. You don't know how much it means! We'd love to connect with you in our free support group Freeschoolin' Community!

Much Love Always,

Wendy

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About the Author

Wendy Elizabeth Hart - Author, Illustrator, is a radical unschooling, homesteading Mom of 2 amazing kids and wife of more than 12 years to her bff, Jaze. Together with their daughter Hope, 11, they live a life of daily discovery in rural Ontario, Canada and share it with the world to connect with and support other families in the unschooling community.