Sona Creidhe Homeschooling

For many years I have wanted my children to be a part of a group like Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts but without the Christian overtone and teaching. While I agree that both are good for kids they are also mostly only good for Christian children. Pagan, Atheist, Buddhist, and all other non-Christian children have pretty much been left out with nothing to call their own. Sure, they are invited to join GS and BS but they usually recite an oath that includes the word "God" when doing so.

Now personally I'm not against any religion or belief. I'm a very "to each his own" person but I do feel that people should feel comfortable while contributing to activities they love.  So when I heard about SpiralScouts I was tickled to find a neutral ground for my children to learn on. Of course, at the time we were living in South Georgia and there was no chance of finding a local chapter there. Once we moved, you can imagine my joy when I learned that our new town started a chapter just a few months ago and was still in the beginning stages. I joined their local yahoo group and found out that they were having their next meeting the following Monday and decided we would go. 

This past Monday we tried out a new (to us) playgroup and I am so glad that we did. One of the ladies had posted on a homeschooling group for our area about their playgroup so I decided to email her and ask if there might be any kids around Lil Man's age. Luckily she said there was a 4 year old boy who is a regular that was also in need of more kids his age. Knowing this was the perfect chance to possibly make a new friend for Lil Man, I emailed her back and told her we would be there.

When we first arrived it didn't look like anyone else was there and I wondered if we had the wrong park. As I sat on the bench looking around, Lil Man was going up and asking any and every little kid around his age if they were his "new friend". The poor guy was starting to get upset when a short redheaded lady goes "Are you Jo?" in this fabulous English accent. It was L who is the mother of Lil Man's new friend as well as a daughter a few years older. Lil Man was so excited and immediately started playing with both of them as if he'd known them forever.

Meanwhile L and I talked and got to know each other. She was absolutely lovely and everything I love about the English (funny, honest, blunt, and uninhibited). Soon K (the lady I had emailed with) showed up with her son and we all had a good time talking. K is actually a published author and has written several books that I've read over the years so it was pretty neat to get to spend time with her and meet the woman "behind the writer". LOL. She's very down to earth as well and has a great sense of humor.

Eventually a third mother, M, and her son (who has the most wonderful name I've heard in a long time) showed up with racquetballs and racquets. My oldest two, K's son, and M's son all ended up having a great time playing racquetball for awhile and then football. I was so glad M had brought the equipment because my two (and K's son as well) had never played racquetball before. So everyone got to try something new while making friends. Meanwhile the littles all played in the sand and on the playground equipment having a great time. L's two kids also had faces painted on their bellies which Lil Man thought was the neated thing he has ever seen and promptly informed me that HE needed a face on his belly too. LoL

We ended up staying almost three hours and had alot of fun. I am so glad we decided to check out the group because I honestly think we would have been missing out otherwise. So now we have two great groups (at least until June when I might jump ship on one when Meg leaves me. lol) for the kids to go to AND the Lil Man finally has kids to play with or as he says "new friends that are gweat". All three of my kids can't wait to see everyone again next Monday.

The only bad part of the whole day was my stupid self got another sunburn. Yep, I once again made sure to cover the kids but left myself ripe for the reddening. Both arms got thoroughly and completely burnt! I wonder if I will ever learn my lesson. Probably not!

I know, nice name for a first post but if you had gone on the hike we went on two weeks ago you would feel the same way. Trust me!

The oldest two kids and I decided to try our luck on the local Hawktrail. Supposedly this is a 1.5 mile uphill hike to a summit where twice a year (during migration) you can see over 100 hawks and raptors a day. My oldest son is studying raptors so we thought this sounded like a great way to get some exercise, spend time together, learn, and see some birds.

 So we gathered our gear (water, lunch, watch, phone, my injection kit, binoculars, camera, and extra meds) and drove out to the parking spot at the foot of the mountain. Before we started I covered both kids in sunscreen and dabbed a little on myself as well. It was a beautiful day and perfect for hikes or doing really anything outside.

So we were on our way and first of all, it is at least a quarter mile to the point where you even start on the hawktrail which isn't a big deal especially since it's flat ground but it would be nice to know ahead of time. Secondly, they rate the path as difficult which to me means long, possibly rocky, and uphill. What it obviously is suppose to mean is long, very narrow in most places, tons of lose dirt to slip on, cactus waiting for you to make even the slightest mistep, very rocky, and uphill doesn't even describe it! LOL.

It really was very hard to do but we honestly had a good time. We joked, talked, and encouraged each other to keep going. Sissy and I were panting and hacking like a couple of old biddys but Big B was hiking like a champ and constantly going ahead of us. In the end, he is the only one who finished the hike. We had already gone two miles (isn't that more than 1.5 miles? Yep I thought so too.) when a lady coming down the hill informed us that it was another half a mile straight up over some rocks to the top. I just couldn't do it (due to health issues not to laziness) and Sissy just wasn't having it either.

So Big B went on ahead and we decided that we would finish if it wasn't too much further. He came back shaking his head and shouting "Turn Around!!" which let us know that the uphill part of our hike was definately over. After he got back to us we had lunch on a little rock, talked about all the things we saw, and then started back down the mountain. We couldn't help but laugh because in some places you had to run down the hill in order to keep from slipping on the gravel and loose dirt. The funny part was seeing my big ole fanny actually running!

Afterwards we went and got ice cream to reward ourselves and went home where I proceeded to take a nap and feel like the living dead. All in all I consider it a success and we now look forward to more family hikes together. Before this the thought of US and HIKING just never really came in the same sentence. I'm glad we now have something new to do together.

To find out the other lovely little thing I got from the hike feel free to read here... Lessons "Burned"