I started this blog almost a year ago and honestly had no idea what I was doing when I started. I just knew I wanted a way to record and share my family's homeschool and wellness journey. It's been an interesting ride. I've learned a lot about blogging and made some awesome connections with other homeschooling families. As the year comes to a close I thought it would be neat to look back and share my top 10 most popular posts of 2018. 10.  40 Things To Look At Under A Microscope - This post is exactly what it sounds like, a list of 40 things that are amazing to look at up close under a microscope. 9.  Why Don't Rivers Run Straight? - This is a fun hands on outdoor activity demonstrating why rivers tend to turn and bend rather than run straight.  8.  Why We Don't Do Bedtimes - In this post I share why my family skips the whole "bedtime fiasco". 7.  Homeschool Curriculum And Resources: My Top Picks - A look at my favorite homeschool curriculu...

We absolutely love STEM activities in our homeschool. They're a great way to develop problem solving skills and to incorporate more math, science, and engineering into our homeschool week.  What Is STEM Education? If your not familiar with the term, STEM stands for: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. A STEM activity is any hands on activity incorporating one or more of these areas of study. Often art is also included so you may see the acronym STEAM as well. STEM or STEAM activities often provide opportunities for kids to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Plus they're just fun! Here are 25 of our favorite STEM activities: 25 Awesome STEM Activities: - Water Cycle In A Bag  from Playdough To Plato - Make A Catapult  from Kids Activities  - Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit  from The Barefoot Mom - Why Is The Sky Blue?  from Rookie Parenting  - Make A Cloud In A Jar  from The Barefoot...

My kids always love a good STEM challenge, so I thought I would share a favorite one from my childhood. The Paperchain Challenge is really simple to put together, all you need is: construction paper, scissors, tape or glue, and a couple of kids. The Paper Chain STEM Challenge  This challenge is fun for kids of almost any age. As long as they're old enough to handle scissors and tape, they can participate. Start by handing each child a pair of scissors, some tape, and a single sheet of paper. I like to use colored construction paper so each child can have their own color, but any type of paper will work. Then challenge them to make the longest paper chain that they can with their single piece of paper. Then let them do their thing. When everyone is finished, get out measuring tapes and measure each chain.  Have a discussion about which chain was longest and why. Did chubby or skinny rings make a longer chain? What about short or long rings? A Lo...

I love essential oils, there are just so many awesome things they can used for. But as with any medicinal, they need to be used cautiously. Choosing a company that sells pure unadulterated oils is important. There are a lot of essential oil companies out there claiming to have the highest quality oils, so choosing the right company for your needs can be a bit confusing. In this post I share a few of the most important things to look for when choosing an essential oil company. 3rd Party Testing Choosing an oil company that is selling 100% pure unadulterated oils is the most important thing to look for. You don't want any nasty chemical additives in your essential oils. This can be confusing sometimes though because there are a lot of misleading marketing terms being used by some popular essential oil companies, like "certified therapeutic grade" or "medicinal grade". These terms mean very little in the aromatherapy world, as there is no governing board or ...

My kids love playing in the mud, and while it can be messy, I try to let them do it often. I remember the joy of making mud pies and sticking my bare toes in squishy puddles as a kid. Mud play is an amazing sensory adventure! And it turns out playing in the mud can be beneficial in many ways, especially for young children.  Benefits Of Mud Play Fine Motor Skills Play in general is essential for developing fine motor skills. Using a shovel, playing with kitchen utensils to make mud pies, scooping, and digging, all these actions help develop hand eye coordination and other fine motor skills. In order to have the proper coordination and muscle memory to accomplish things like holding a pencil properly, kids need opportunities to develop and practice using those muscles and skills.  Makes You Happy According to recent science, soil naturally contains Mycobaterium vaccae, a friendly bacterium that stimulates the immune system and increases serotonin production ( source ...

The California gold rush is one of my favorite historical periods to learn about. I grew up in an old gold mining town in the Sierra Nevada foothills in northern California. The rich history of the area instilled in me a deep interest of this period. In this post I share some fun activities and resources for learning about the California gold rush with your children.  A Little Gold Rush History: On January 24th, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in the Sacramento Valley in northern California. This event would inspire hundreds of thousands of people to move west in hopes of making their fortune. It was one of the largest mass migrations of people in modern history. People came to California from all over the world. Many came across the country in covered wagons. Others sailed on ships. Gold was pulled from rivers with gold pans, and sluice boxes. It was also mined from the mountains with explosives and hand tools. Most people who came to California seeking riches ...

November 8th started out like any other day. My husband left the house before 5am for work. The kids and I slept in until about 8am, and then got up and made cheesy egg sandwiches for breakfast. I had no idea that by this time the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history was already racing into town. The power company had issued a warning earlier in the week that they may cut power to the area that night if winds got as high as the meteorologists were predicting. High winds plus low humidity creates a high risk of fire.  But the power was still on despite the very high winds that had been gusting since the middle of the night. I figured that not cutting power was a good sign and didn't think much else about it. After breakfast, I started hearing what sounded like small explosions (I would later find out that this was people's propane tanks exploding across town and echoing across the canyon). Around this time I also noticed what I thought at first...