I don’t know about you but I, too often, find myself lost in the whirlwind of life… not that being a wife, homeschooler, mompreneur, friend, sisterhood tribe facilitator, woman, and the hundreds of other hats that many of us wear could, at all, be categorized as a whirlwind… ever. *insert sarcastic laugh* *snort*

Well, in that whirlwind I find that many of those beautiful, simple things that I value and desire to do tend to drop by the wayside. I have to be intentional and purposeful in prioritizing those things… an ongoing process.

Taking time to do nature study is one of those things that I adore but, for too many years (yes, years), has fallen to the sidelines. Last Fall, I discovered a community that shares a love for nature, beauty, simplicity, and community. I even attended a retreat that they were having semi-local to me and I fell in love with this growing group of people, as my heart was connected to their hearts. This community was Wild & Free. <– check it out!

After being inspired and recharged, I was eager to start a group local to me! And after a mere 9 months (*insert sarcastic laugh, again*), we have begun! 🙂

Today was our first gathering and it was wonderful to see the interest and interaction of the children and the moms!

It was simple, informal, and natural. We explored, noticed beautiful and curious things, shared our findings, sketched some of them, and even explored more before running off to play at the playground. It was time well spent and it was a delight to see how relationships were being formed … with each other, with nature, and with learning.

I may have mentioned this in the past 18 years of doing it but it’s worth repeating…

I love homeschooling.

…Oh! And no bug bites. Yep. Lovin’ our oils!