First Friend Friday of the 2017-2018 School Year

For the last year, the kids and I have been meeting informally with a group of friends on Fridays – we call it "Friend Friday."

I'm not really sure how it started, and we don't always meet on Friday, but it has become a staple in our week, and the kids are always bummed when we miss out.

Sometimes we do educational trips – like going to see the Nina and the Pinta when they came to Chattanooga. Other times we go for short hikes. And still other times we just hang out and the kids play.  It's a great way for the kids to have fun together and it's a nice break for us mamas as well.

When we decided to homeschool, it made me feel good knowing we already had this group to do fun things with. Since we are homeschooling and our circle of people has gotten smaller, I have been working to extend our Friend Fridays to more of our homeschool friends.

So each Friday this year, we will be joining a group of friends to play and have fun, and also to learn. To kick off our very first official Homeschool Friend Friday, we decided to meet at Coolidge Park to play. The fountains were turned off for maintenance purposes, but we still had a fun day.

We each brought picnic food and blankets to sit in the shade. There were balls for playing in the field. And the kids spent some time climbing the giant magnolia trees under the Walnut Street Walking Bridge.

We ended our day by riding the carousel – Isaac was not a fan, and this photo pretty much sums up what he thinks about homeschool.

Overall, it was a wonderful way to kick off our Friend Fridays now that school is officially in session. Check back on Fridays to see our weekly outings.

Start of Kindergarten and our Homeschool Journey, 2017

Jack Jack. My sweet, strong, funny first born is starting his formal education. With our family vacation right at the end of summer, our first day of school snuck up on me.

We actually did a soft start the week after vacation and before school officially started, but to be honest our first official day didn't go as I hoped. Hopefully Jack will forget the awkwardness of a mommy who has no idea what she is doing.

I shared the following on Instagram about our first day of Homeschool Kindergarten:

"We got off to a rough start with our upstairs A/C flooding and leaking through the ceiling in Isaac's room last night which meant a late bedtime for the kids followed by Isaac waking me and Jack at 2:30am. Isaac was awake for two hours so we had a lot of tears (his) and frustration (me). Jack had a really good day, even if we didn't get to everything."

My blog is way behind (we are actually two weeks into school now) but better late than never! I have a ton to share – about our fantastic summer, about life in general, and updates on homeschool. Hopefully I will get my act together and start posting regularly again (for my own benefit as much as anyone elses!).


Morning Time includes the Pledge of Allegiance, Weather, Calendar, Feelings, a Bible verse or story, and a Poem.

Here is a little about Jack at the start of Kindergarten 2017:

My teacher this year is: I forgot. I mean, you.

I am: Five-and-a-half

I am: 45 inches tall and weigh 45 pounds

My best friend's name is: The friend I love the most is Carter. Also Audrey, Charlotte, Sammy, Annabelle, and Wyatt.

My favorite thing to play is: Probably Ninjas

My favorite color is: Green

My favorite book is: Otis and the Tornado

My favorite TV show is: Voltron, Slugterra and Battle Blades

My favorite food is: Cheese Pizza

When I grow up, I want to be: I don't know... different jobs... I want to be a policeman, fireman, builder.

Something I really like: Watch TV. Ride my bike. 

Something I don't like: When Isaac wakes me up in the morning (Isaac is currently waking up everyone at 6am) 

My favorite thing about myself is: Having strong muscles. 

Something I want to do this year: Make my treehouse.

Try, Try Again from the Children's Book of Virtues was the first poem we memorized this year.

A Look Back:
Start of Preschool 2014, 2s Class
Start of Preschool 2015, 3s Class
Start of Preschool 2016, 4s Class

Lock Flock Family Reunion, 2017

When I was growing up, my family didn't take vacations in the traditional sense. We never went to the beach. We never visited Disney World or Gatlinburg. There were no epic trips out west to visit a dude ranch or to go skiing.

But we did make a yearly pilgrimage to Canada every summer to visit my mom's family (and for the three years we lived in Canada, we drove the other direction to see my dad's mom). And those trips hold some of my fondest memories from growing up.

Since becoming an adult and getting married, I have made a number of trips to Canada, but the frequency has definitely been reduced. It's expensive and takes a lot of time to travel such a long distance (kudos to my folks for taking us so often!).

As our family has grown from just Daniel and I, we have felt the tug to connect with my extended family more frequently, regardless of the effort it takes to make it happen.

And with two kids under age six, and a dog, it's no little feat.

Last year we drove up to northern Ontario to attend my family reunion. We had missed several reunions over the course of the last five years and felt like it was time to reconnect. Daniel and I agreed that making the trip every 2-3 years seemed reasonable.

But being in Canada last year was so good for us. We reconnected with family, our kids bonded with my parents and aunts and uncles, and it just generally felt like we were supposed to be there.

We hadn't planned on returning again this year, but my nana's health hasn't been so great and she can no longer travel south to see us, as has been her custom. We really felt like we needed to return this summer to see her along with my extended family.

Also, Jack remembered our last trip and all he could talk about this year was that we needed to go to Uncle Mike's house for vacation. And so we did.

The kids really did amazingly well. On the way up, the 1,000 mile drive took us 20 hours and Isaac only fell apart at the 12-hour mark. And coming home, we managed to make it in 18.5 hours, and again they were good travelers with no meltdowns.

As for visiting family, it was something I was needing but hadn't realized. I had a chance to sit down one-on-one with my aunts and uncles and catch up, but also be encouraged by them. It dawned up me that I don't hear a lot of encouraging words in my day-to-day life and that I need to be more encouraging to my friends who are in the middle of raising families.

Having my family tell me things like, "You are a great mom," and "You and Daniel are doing a fantastic job with your kids," and "I know this was a tough trip to make, we appreciate you coming." And many other similar comments was encouragement that I hadn't realized I needed to hear. And I'm so grateful they took the time to pour into me in that way!

Also, I had a talk with one of my aunt's about the challenges of raising little ones. It's been a tough year with Daniel working more than either of us anticipated, and I have been burned out and letting resentment take root.

My aunt took the time to speak some truth into my life. Some of it was hard to hear, but it came from a place of love and understanding. She shared examples of her life when she had littles (30 years ago) and the things I am in the middle of are very similar things that she has already lived through.

It was good to hear I'm not alone and that silly fights over the minutia of daily life can be overcome. I have work to do in my own life, but I'm grateful for those conversations.

During the course of the two-day reunion, there was lots of visiting. And it wouldn't be a Lock reunion without a game or two happening.

We swam in the cold waters of Bass Lake...

built campfires and roasted s'mores while the mosquitoes feasted on us, and just enjoyed being together as a family.

Last year we had the chance to celebrate my parent's 40th anniversary and my aunt and uncle's 25th anniversary. This year, there were no big milestones, but we did celebrate my dad and uncle's respective birthdays.

My mom and her siblings had their yearly family meeting and were able to share a lot of personal stuff that needed to be shared. I respect them for making that a priority every year. It was a good visit.

Jack was a little disappointed that we were not spending the ENTIRE week with Uncle Mike and Aunt Barb, but we did manage to see them a couple more times during our vacation.

I am so grateful that my family took the time to pour into me, and also connect with my children. It means the world to me that we had that time together.

It looks like next year's reunion will be in the south. My cousin Andrew proposed to his girlfriend, Kayla, at Niagara Falls. They will be getting married in Tennessee next fall! Congratulations Andrew and Kayla!