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{December Gratitudes}

On December 31, 2018June 6, 2019 By JessicaIn Gratitude Journal

Gratitudes December 2018 | The Open Home — For seasons greetings and a cosy, quiet Christmas.

December Gratitudes 2018 | The Open Home — For my Moana moment and stepping outside of my comfort zone.

Gratitudes December 2018 | The Open Home — For a whole new world of imagination.

Gratitudes December 2018 | The Open Home — For simple pleasures and the blessing of age.

Gratitudes December 2018 | The Open Home — For faith, hope and trust (and little bit of pixie dust!).

Gratitudes December 2018 | The Open Home — For my intrepid explorers and the lifestyle we love.

These are the inserts from our gratitude journal during December, reminding us that God is good and we are blessed.

What have you been thankful for lately?

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Welcome

Hello, I’m Jessica. A minimalist homeschooling mother of two living on the British island of Guernsey. I’m also a nature lover, letter writer and journal keeper that wants to to live life with an open heart. Welcome to my blog.

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Blossom, age 4, circa. Autumn 2017. . . The only thing she seems to miss from her brief spell of school is the frubes she sometimes got in her lunch box. 😂 I’m not so fancy these days. . . #thegirardgirls #girardhomeschool #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoollife

This year we’ve signed up for the #rspbwildchallenge as a family and are currently working towards our bronze award. To complete each award you need to complete three “Experience Nature” activities and three “Help Nature” activities. We started with an experience nature activity today and hunted for signs of spring in our favourite weekly nature spot, Candie Gardens. . . We spotted new buds and bulbs, sniffed sweet blossoms, counted petals, compared leaves, listened to birdsong and hunted for bugs, bees and frogs. We had a fun time. . . Up next? We plan to do a help nature activity next and make some home made bird feeders for the garden this weekend. The big project this spring will be to make a container pond out of the old belfast sink that’s been lurking in our garden unused for far too long. . . #thegirardgirls #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #girardhomeschool #homeschool #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonuk #naturestudy #naturewalk

Another of our read alouds from January. This one was gifted to my eldest for Christmas and she thoroughly enjoyed it. . . The book is very different to the movie in many ways. Disney added to the story quite a bit, leaving out a few characters and making others much more prominent. I can see why P.L Travers was initially hesitant to let Disney make a movie of it, but we enjoy both. . My eldest was particularly pleased to hear there are another 7 books in the series which she is now keen to read. . This particular edition illustrated by Lauren Child is particularly lovely too. Another great intro to chapter books for young ones with pictures on most pages, recommended by me from age 4. . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #girardhomeschool #homeschooling #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemasoneducation #livingbooks #childrensbooks #childrensclassics

This one went out to Poland last month. 🇵🇱 My first piece of mail using some of the Maps stickers and labels set from @pepinpress that I got for Christmas. . . #snailmail #happymail #outgoingmail #showandmail #mailart #letterwriting #penpal #sendmoremail #keeplettersalive #postallove #pepinpress

Looks like my birthday present has been claimed by someone else! Keep finding her like this every evening after putting my youngest to bed. “It’s just soooo comfy, Mummy!” It really is. Makes bedtime stories all the more snuggly. . . #thegirardgirls #raisinggirls #bedtime #winddown #snuggles #theraline #birthdaypresent

Current chalkboard sporting our current hymn. Not sure which we’ll do next. 🤔 . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #girardhomeschool #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool #hymnstudy #itiswellwithmysoul #chalkboardart #chalkboard #chalklettering #lettering #thepastorage

Happy Valentines Day! We celebrated early as a family with a few sweet treats yesterday, because love is for life, not just for Valentines Day. 😉 . . #valentinesday #valentines #celebratelife #celebratetheseasons #sweettreats #familylove #jammiedodgers #lindor #lindorchocolate #haribohearts #fruitella

I spotted this book at the little gift shop in Gloucester Cathedral Back in October and thought it may make a nice addition to our morning devotions. We were on the start of our road trip at this point so I didn’t feel I could buy it and log it all the way up to the English Lake District and back so instead I suggested my mum gift one to the girls for Christmas. . . We now use it daily in our morning book baskets. There are sections of prayers for all sorts of things such as family, grief, animals, seasons, forgiveness, the world, etc. We’re mostly using the prayers for the very young at the moment as there are a couple in there that help my girls to get their wiggles out and then be ready to sit quietly to pray. We’ve also found appropriate prayers elsewhere in the book though on those days when we need a little help to forgive or stop being grumpy - me included! . . I personally think it’s a good resource and find it helpful to read a prayer before launching into my own. It kind of calms the soul and directs the mind in preparation, if you know what I mean! Plus it’s a book we’ll be able to use for years and years to come. Just as appropriate for use with tweens and teens as it is for the very young. If you’re a praying, Christian family then this may be one book you want to check out. I’ll share a couple of sneak peeks inside in my stories today. . Tell me, what books and resources do you use for devotions with young kids? . . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #girardhomeschool #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasonhomeschool #charlottemasoneducation #childrensbooks #childrensprayers #1000prayersforchildren #devotions

We gifted my youngest a copy of Peter Pan & Wendy for Christmas. She saw the Disney movie a couple of years back and has been enchanted by the magical Neverland ever since. . I first picked this copy up at our local library to skim read it before buying as I’d heard mixed reviews on the actual book in some home ed circles, mostly due to racism. . Yes, the book uses stereotypes and terms for Native Americans that we know not to use today and yes, at one point John refers to his sister Wendy as being “just a girl.” But rather than scrap a well written piece of classic children’s literature purely based on this I decided I’d use it as a teaching opportunity to explain that this book was written a long time ago and the racial terms, stereotypical images and sexist remarks are sadly a product of their time. I made it clear that these terms were rude, inaccurate and insensitive and should not be used today. The girls completely got this and it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the story. . The rest of the book is pure literary gold and the girls absolutely loved it, reading it twice in January alone, once with me and once with Granny. . . This beautiful edition that I originally found at the @gylibrary is illustrated by Shirley Hughes the author and illustrator of the Alfie picture books and the award winning, Dogger. I’m a big fan of her work so wanted to buy the same edition. Unfortunately this hardback edition is no longer in print, only a paperback version so I searched online until I found a used copy in very good condition to gift to my girl. I’m so pleased I did, she loves it and it’s officially now one of her favourite books. . What classic children’s books do you love? . . #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #girardhomeschool #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool #livingbooks #childrensbooks #peterpanandwendy #shirleyhughes

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