Heya Reader.

Last week I shared some of our weekly family rituals (like pastry Saturdays - a Europe favorite!) and I forgot to mention one that we are just getting back into.

I have a goal to invite friends to dinner each Sunday. In New Zealand, some of our best friends from the U.S. moved nearby us (wild right?) and we took turns going to each other's houses for dinner on Sundays. It was a lovely way to not cook one day (🤪) and a special way to end the weekend.

In Ireland we were starting from scratch in the friend department and I'd gotten out of the habit. But we've had friends over the last few weekends again and I forgot how much I enjoy it! Some of my favorite Sunday dinners to share are this lasagna or my husband makes a mean pizza using his Ooni pizza oven.

This Sunday our friends invited us to meet them at the beach for a picnic dinner instead! We brought a camp stove to fry up some sausages which we ate with sauteed onion and bell pepper, cheese and avocado and each family brought sides and dessert. The kids played while adults chatted on picnic blankets. And in true Ireland fashion, the night ended when all of a sudden it started to rain.

Field Notes

Our adventures this week were beautifully close to home and filled with friendship. A friend took us to a new park where our 5 kids played wild hunters fueled by this bow and arrow set and I think one of these documentaries? My 7 year old found deer poop and established that since it was hard on the outside but soft on the inside, it must be a bit old but not too old. They foraged wild blackberries and looked for animal tracks while I chatted with a good friend.

We also ventured to a nearby forest where I sat at a picnic table (again with my favorite chair and snack boxes) and chatted with a friend while our kids built this surprisingly cool shelter (pictured below).

While I love to move and hike, my kids find so much value in having some freedom to play in one place outside for hours. And since they play so freely, it almost feels like a break from parenting for me too.

Homeschool

I've realized that one of my own little homeschool traps is acquiring things instead of using the things I already have. So one of the little ways I'm trying to leave the earth well for my children is this: Instead of finding joy (and dopamine) in buying things - even thrifted things - I'm working on finding that same joy in using up the things we already have.

Over the years, I've thrifted or been given by friends a lot of homeschool resources. Workbooks, curriculums, craft kits. I don't know about you, but I have this tendency to save things like that for some magical day when it will be time to use them? A day that will probably never come.

As a Type B homeschool mom, its been a useful practice for me to just pull a few things off the shelf when the day calls for it and it has indeed felt really good to complete workbooks that have been sitting partially finished on our shelves for ages. Anyone relate?

Plus we do have the occasional planned out lesson day that looks like this.​

Our current read aloud chapter book is The Secret Garden. One of the joys of homeschool for me is catching up on so many classics I never read as a kid. We just got to an exciting part last night - have you read The Secret Garden??

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Lastly, in great humor based on this reel (😂) I shared in my Stories recently that I've been doing this gross thing where I wake up before my kids and I... actually like it. It's something I've never, ever, EVER done before in my life. But I've been using the time to work on some of my many partially done projects (lol).

You guys, I wrote a children's book. I'm really excited about how it turned out and I have a super talented friend who's going to illustrate it. The story of how I met her is super fun and I'll share next week ;) But should I give you a little sneak peek of the book?

May you enjoy wee adventures close to home. May you enjoy using up the things you already have. And may you find peace and sunshine sitting on a picnic blanket with friends while the kids play. Thats where some of my favorite projects started.

Thanks friends.

Hugs and high fives,

Bailey