By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , florida vacations , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
The wonderful weather beckons us to be outside! We met up with some friends for a day at Hontoon Island State Park. Come along with us to this hidden Florida gem. Hontoon Island sits along the St. John’s river in Volusia County. It is accessible only by boat. It is a treasure trove of […]
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By Holly Giles | DIY , Simple Living
Homemade Laundry Soap Making my own laundry soap was never on my radar of wanting to try. Then, I got caught up in a season of DIY and too many dirty clothes. I figured once I got started I might as well make some for our family too. Our tradition of gift-giving is from the […]
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By Holly Giles | homeschooling
Stepping out in faith can be hard to do, especially when you travel the road alone. This past weekend I was an exhibitor at a homeschool special needs/struggling learners conference. My expectations were high because of the investment my family made. What really happened was not what I had planned. Four days before the conference […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , homeschooling
Our homeschool co-op gathered today at our local VFW post to serve our troops by filling boxes. A veteran spoke to the children before we began and the profound sentence he said resonated with us all. “They need to know we care”. No matter your stance on politics or war, we have American citizens who serve […]
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By Holly Giles | Great Outdoors , Motherhood
This is our first season of playing a sport. Grant wanted to try soccer this season, so we joined our city’s league. I wish someone had told me about the secret soccer mom society before I showed up in my grungy shorts! Our whole family showed up for the first practice like it was the […]
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By Holly Giles | handicrafts , seasonal
I found a bag full of old wooden spools in my grandmother’s sewing box. A beautiful array of rich colors. I had an idea of how to bring them to life and re-purpose this necessity of the past. The deep pumpkin orange color caught my eye and I decided to make a necklace for the […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Great Outdoors , Recipes , Simple Living
You are invited to a Blueberry Pickin Party! The boys and I went to pick blueberries for the first time and invited a few of our friends along for the fun. In our area of Florida, there are scads of places to go, yet we never seemed to make it out during the season. It […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Great Outdoors
Taking a road trip with just one of my boys does not happen often. I took advantage of an opportunity to take Grayson to several state parks and to Alabama to see my grandmother and to reconnect with my firstborn. Whenever we hit the road, we have our Florida State Parks Passports in hand to […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study , Recipes
Our Field Study Part One was about a field trip to the strawberry fields. This season we used the strawberries to make Jam. Grayson and Grant can get overzealous when it comes to picking berries.They took off down the rows and came back with their shirts full. Before I knew it, we had $30 worth of […]
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