I love being away but there’s nothing like coming HOME.  It was so great to snuggle up with all my girls yesterday (including Bo Jangles the dog who cannot contain her excitement when we come home from anywhere…even a trip to the mailbox to pick up the mail 🙂

I got to go to curriculum night at Lucy’s school last night.  I loved sitting amidst that sea of fifth-grade parents asking all sorts of questions about their children’s education.  I think we have to do so much to help with that education these days.  Interesting things are happening in education.  I love Lucy’s teacher.  After the big group meeting we went to individual classrooms and I got to write Lucy a note in her writing notebook.  I found this note there that made me so happy.  I loved to see the empathy pouring out of that girl in that letter to her teacher.

And yes, she misses Max so much.  She adores that brother of hers.  What’s going to happen when he gets home and he’s not everything she’s built him up to be for two years?  At this point she thinks he can pretty much walk on water.  I hope he doesn’t disappoint.  HA! 
My girls’ hair is green.  Really green.

That picture really does not do it justice, but the tint is quite strong.  I don’t know if our pool is causing it or the other pools they frequent, but we need to pull out the good old tomato paste and try to get rid of that tint again…any other great ideas to remedy green hair out there?

We are curious over here about Taylor Swift’s new album.  Will it all be angry?  My girls are funny, they have listened to that new song a bunch already but are a little creeped out by it and their eyes got wide that she says the old Taylor Swift is dead.  
The eclipse.

(photo from abc chicago)

How incredible was that?  My brother and one of my best friends (unbeknownst to each other) both went up and camped in different parts of Jackson Hole to see it and felt that it was one of the most amazing and even spiritual things they had seen.  A couple of my sisters got to see it too…one in Ashton, Idaho in the “path of totality” and one through clouds that worked as good filters in Northern California.  I loved seeing all the excitement on social media and loved that so many people posted so much because while everyone rigged up cool glasses to see that amazing thing, Elle and I were stuck in a passport office hours away from home hoping our guts out that we could fix Elle’s passport issue before our flight took off.  (We missed that flight by minutes but Dave was able to work his magic to get us all on a later crazy-connection flight but we were so grateful we got to go!)  The light was so cool when we came out of that passport office as it happened to be right at the tail end of that grand {partial} eclipse from where we were.

I have talked many times on this blog about how much I adore Joy School.  (one post is back HERE)

It is one of my very favorite mothering things I’ve done with my children. Being their teacher and learning together is the best.  So I just wanted to be sure everyone is aware of that great program and it’s not too late to get going on it!

Click HERE for more details.

Also, my parents worked a deal with their publisher so they can sell their seven latest books at half price.

If you click HERE and enter “Shawnifriend” you can get that special offer.

I’m a little biased, but I think they write some pretty great stuff 😉

8 Comments

  1. Fairy Tales has a swim shampoo that worked for us-I think they sell it at Target. A hairdresser friend told me that if they get their hair wet before swimming it won't turn green-so that's a thought too!

  2. Whenever I'm in the US my hair gets a green tint, too. But it's so easy to get rid of it with Malibu Shampoo (I got mine off of amazon) or a big bottle of ketchup in the shower… 🙂
    Love from Germany xxx

  3. I know you mentioned previously you were thinking about supplementing/homeschooling so that your kids could get some extra writing help. I know that you've mentioned The Brave Writer (We use her too and she is awesome) but your post made me think of another curriculum. It is called The Good and the Beautiful. It is so wonderful. We love it so much. I share it because they have a really awesome creative writing book that your younger girls would probably love. It is bright and colorful and just so good. It was actually your mention of Taylor Swift that made me think of it. With a name like "The Good and the Beautiful" it obviously focuses on good and beautiful things. (Another stray thought: The language arts is really focused on art as is the handwriting. Your mother would love it!)Back to my main point–the curriculum begins by telling children to look for lighthouse things. Things that bring light and goodness into their life. I have always sought after good things myself (music, literature, movies ect…) but I've noticed lately that even as an adult it helps me to weed out the things that seemed innocent and perhaps once were but aren't lighthouse things. I am not going to judge good old Tay Tay's charactor, or her music skills, nor do I want to offend any major fans. All I can say is her latest stuff feels not so lighthouse like.

  4. I second The Good and Beautiful. I use it as a supplement to public school for my 6th grade daughter who has some learning disabilities. I use the language arts and history. She loves it too and has made some major academic improvements. I love it:)

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