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{December Gratitudes}

On December 31, 2019 By JessicaIn Gratitude Journal

Gratitudes December 2019 | The Open Home — For the last days of autumn and the joy of the outdoors.

Gratitudes December 2019 | The Open Home — For advent mail and conversations that never end.

Gratitudes December 2019 | The Open Home — For family fun and fabulous faces.

Gratitudes December 2019 | The Open Home — For sweet family traditions and legacies that live on.

Gratitudes December 2019 | The Open Home — For family fondue and memories in the making.

Gratitudes December 2019 | The Open Home — For friends and family and simple festivities.

These are the inserts from our gratitude journal in 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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It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to! 😂 some quick but fun birthday mail from last month sent to a fabulous friend in the U.K. . . #happymail #snailmail #birthdaymail #outgoingmail #showandmail #mailart #lettering #rubberstamps #guernseystamps #penpals #letterwriting

We ended 2019 with a 5th birthday party for this sweetheart, a Stone Age theme with a mammoth cake, as requested. She sure loves mammoths and I particularly love that our homeschool has inspired new interests for her. . More pics from this little birthday tea party are now up on the blog. Link in bio. 👆🏽 . . #thegirardgirls #theopenhomeblog #birthday #birthdaygirl #birthdayparty #birthdaycake #stoneage #iceage #teaparty #partytheme #childrensparty #5thbirthday #homeed #homeeduk #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #homeschool #homeschooling

Hello! 👋🏽 It’s the first Friday of the new year so I thought I’d join in and do my first ever #fridayintroductions as there are quite a few new followers around here since I started sharing more about our homeschool last autumn. . So here are 10 random and possibly interesting facts about me. . . • I’m British but not English and live on the tiny little island of Guernsey (yep, the potato peel pie one) which is located in the English Channel just off the coast of France. • Before becoming a mother and a home educator I used to work in social work and before that occupational therapy. I still work part time in social care for a local Guernsey charity. • I met my Husby at 15 years old and married him when I was 19 years old. We’ve officially spent over half of our lives together! • I’m a vegetarian and have been since I was 11 years old. My two girls are also being raised vegetarian. • My girls are not actually called Blossom and Bubbles! Those are just pseudonyms I use for them online. • I’m neither a dog person nor a cat person. I’m a rabbit person as are my girls who are super keen to get one but shall have to wait until they’re a little older and can take more responsibility for its care. • I dislike sports and yet am married to the biggest sports lover ever! I do my best to remember the names of tennis players and golfers, snooker players and the like but still do not understand how any of these sports are scored. • I love a good murder mystery. Nothing too chilling or gory, something suitable for daytime TV like Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Murder She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder. . • I had my first pen pal at 7 years old and have been writing to pen pals and friends ever since. . • Oh and I don’t usually look this put together! My lovely sister-in-law did my hair and make up for me on a night out a little while ago now, but as I’m terrible at being in front of the camera I have nothing more recent to share! 🤦🏽‍♀️ . . #hello #introductions #thisisme #thegirardgirls #guernseygirl #homeschoolmom #theopenhomeblog

One of my goals for 2020 is to get through this stack of books that I have sitting around the house but I haven’t yet read through. I knocked about 7 off this pile in 2019 but I’m hoping to get through the rest this year. . Here’s the full list from top to bottom: . • An Utterly Exsaperated History of Britain by John O’Farrell (I’ve started this and it’s very funny!) • When Daisy Met Tommy by Jules Belle (recommenced for foster carers/adopters) . • To the Letter by Simon Garfield (Letter geekery for snail mail enthusiasts) • For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (A must for all Charlotte Mason homeschoolers) • Raising Girls by Steve Biddulph (just finishing this off and I highly recommend it to parents of girls) • Triggers: Exchanging Parents’ Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses by Amber Lia & Wendy Speake (Reading through this a chapter a week with the Husby) • Written in History by Simon Sebag Montefiore (for history lovers and Letter lovers alike) • Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver (highly recommended by and borrowed from a friend) • Love & Respect by Dr Emerson Eggerichs (a marriage book I’ve been meaning to read for a while) • Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers (need to finish this off) • Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola (another must for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers) • Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (Reading this classic through with the Husby) . . If I get through this stash I’ll be very pleased with myself. It’ll be quite an achievement for me as although I enjoy reading I find it hard to dedicate time to it in this stage of life. Wish me luck and let me know what you plan to read this year! 📚 . . #2020 #2020goals #goals #bookgoals #bookpile #bookworm #booklover #selfcare #downtime #motherculture #homeschoolmom

This beauty turns five today!! FIVE!! 🎉 She is loud but tender, feisty but sweet, a fabulous combination of love and laughter in our lives. #thegirardgirls . . Blog post in honour of my little limpet is now up on the blog; “Bubbles Turns Five!” - link in profile. 👆🏽#theopenhomeblog . . . #birthday #birthdaygirl #fithbirthday #fivetoday #raisinggirls

We’re in official celebration mode over at the Girard household. We have Christmas Eve all to ourselves and our traditions include; . • watching A Snowy Day based on the book by Ezra Jack Keats (available on Amazon) • chocolate fondue • a couple of family board games • reading The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie dePaola • macaroni cheese for dinner . • reading The Night Before Christmas • hanging our stockings, and; • opening one special gift . . Once the girls are tucked up in bed the Husby and I then watch The Muppets Christmas Carol. We’ve done this on Christmas Eve evening for at least 15 years. It’s a favourite of ours. . . What are your Christmas Eve traditions? . . #christmas #christmaseve #christmaschalkboard #chalkboardart #chalkboard #chalklettering #christmastraditions #wonderfulcounselor #mightygod #everlastingfather #princeofpeace #rememberthereasonfortheseason #rememberthereason

I don’t usually send out letters during advent but this red robin mail art just had to be sent. ❤️ . . #snailmail #happymail #mailart #showandmail #sendmoremail #outgoingmail #keeplettersalive #letterwriting #penpals #penpal #postagestamps #guernseystamps

It may almost be Christmas but we’re still in homeschool mode in many ways over here, even if it’s a scaled back advent version. Our table time work seems to have stopped earlier this week (mainly due to my bad back making sitting at the table too painful) but the chores and books always seem to be part of our daily rhythm along with lots of free play. Last week on the blog I shared about our homeschool rhythm, as we do enjoy having a general flow to our school day and today I’ve shared a more detailed “Day in the Life” post for those of you who are interested in seeing what a homeschool day with a 6 & 4 year old looks like for us. The link to my blog is in my IG profile and you can also subscribe to my blog posts over on the site - I’m planning on doing a lot more home ed posts in 2020 for those of you who may be interested. 👍🏽 . . #theopenhomeblog #thegirardgirls #homeed #homeeducation #homeeducationuk #homeeducationguernsey #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemason #charlottemasonuk #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonhomeschool #homeschoolrhythm #dayinthelife #choresforkids

“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic Gods giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.” - St. Nicholas of Myra . Yesterday was St. Nicholas Day. Did you mark it in any way? We did. I love this little tradition of ours, it’s so simple. Boots filled with chocolate coins plus a golden @lindt bear and mini St. Nick, followed by a reading of Just Nicholas. . . I highly recommend this book for families who like us don’t really do the Santa thing for Christmas. We still enjoy books and movies and parties that include the big red guy and his fantasy world but he is not the focus of the season for us. The girls don’t write him letters, they don’t ask for what they want, they know we get their Christmas gifts and yet Christmas is still magical for them and still special for us. Plus I love that it makes the message of the real St. Nick feel all the stronger for us and the meaning of the first Christmas all the more poignant. . . #advent #activityadvent #stnicholasday #saintnicholas #stnick #saintnick #stnicholas #saintnicholas #justnicholas #anniekratzsch #tessajanes #christmas #christmastraditions

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