This blog is nearly extinct. My li'l profile bio is at least 3 years old. But I find myself writing again. I was the home-ed columnist for JUNO Magazine for about 5 years but found myself moving past that role and happy to pass it on to the next person. I'm not sure what I'll share here, probably random musings and sometimes photos, art, garden, family, hopes, dreams, struggles. My voice. Throat chakra activated. I have gained some wisdom and experiences since I last wrote, some of them hard-won. I've shed tears and created beauty, felt despair and unmitigated awe. I think I've maintaine ..read more

Even though I'm not blogging these days, I'm happy to keep the blog open with all of the archived posts. If you want to see what we're currently up to, I post from time to time on Insta as verde.mama The following photos are a quick overview of 2018. Enjoy!    PS At the very end of this post is a  'One Second Everyday' video for the whole year.  Check it out if you want to see our lives go by in a blur of  art, love, nature, animals, good food, giggles,  music, dancing, wrestling, playing, and learning.   ..read more

Here is the sweetened, condensed version of our unschooling lives from February and March. I've been using the free 1 Second Everyday app to record and compile a single second of every ordinary, messy, magical day of our lives. It all goes by so fast ..read more

Sometimes, on a moody Tuesday, you just know that getting out in nature and letting the children lead the way is a saving grace. "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost." ~J.R.R. Tolkien ..read more

Here's the year-in-review photos that I included in the photo albums for the grandparents this year. Oh, my heart is full. These kiddos bring me joy and challenge me to grow as a person, both of which contribute to a deep and worthy life for which I am ever grateful.              ..read more

I'm taking a temporary blogging break while life busy-ness ensues. I can be found over at instagram (or sometimes facebook) with li'l photo updates. Wishing you all a season of love and light. Cheers!  photo capture by Sylvi (10 years old ..read more

Some afternoons call for a batch of super-duper-stretchy-sparkly glitter slime.  Ingredients: clear school glue (We used Elmer's) tubes of glitter glue (or fine glitter) food coloring (optional)  baking soda contact solution For each batch of glitter slime, we poured a whole (5 oz) bottle of glue into a bowl and squeezed in a tube's worth of glitter glue. (You can see the size of the tubes of glitter glue in the first pic.) We added 3 drops of food coloring to some batches and left other batches completely clear. We then stirred it all together with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda u ..read more

Some days we wander in nature and some days we read tucked cozy in bed together. Some days we ask the big questions and dig deep for answers, other days we express our own creative natures. It's all a part of learning through life. All photos were taken October 10 - 15 in our unschooling life. a quiet moment to work on my home education column for Juno Magazine swingin' in the rain "Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." ~ John Muir "Nature is imperfectly perfect, filled with l ..read more

When I had only one child, I was sure that I had this parenting thing down. Not because she was an easy baby, she wasn't, but because I could either meet her needs or sympathize with her unhappiness if it wasn't something that I could fix. She cried and nursed a lot. We co-slept and cloth-diapered and carried her in a sling or wrap everywhere we went. She didn't like loud noises or bright lights or people in her face, but we just loved the heck out of her and made the best of things. When I had a second baby, things got a little dicier. I clearly remember one day at Whole Foods when the light ..read more

Colorful moments in our ordinary and wonderful life ~ autumn leaves, love, a muddy dog, a countryside view, student tile art from my library art workshops, carschooling, a new knitting project, happy painters, a thrift-store lion costume, meeting up with friends for hiphop class, a rainbow of veggies from the garden and Amish farm market, computer tangrams, "Beware of Librarian" pumpkin art, a kitchen project in progress, and more colorful tile art. That will do. Cheers! October 1 - 9 ..read more