The Long Year...

Looking at last years pictures it looked like I was having a great time! Until it all came crashing down...

So dramatic, but not really. We got extremely busy with our real business that I had to put some hobbies aside and sadly writing & photography were 2 of them.

If you have followed me on Instagram the past few months you have had a glimpse of our world as we are trying to balance all the blessings God has put before us.

Gardening has been going well, I have a million & one projects including remodeling the home, we are getting ready for the new school year, & we are finally in a season of life where I can start making time for me (I hope) :)
Gardening
Art
Photography
Yoga

Bike riding
Cooking great food from the garden
And eating lots of said food

Can't wait to share all of our adventures!

A Lot of Content, Broken Computer

Man I have been creating & photographing SO much content for months now. I have so much to share about our recent craft night
Decor, food, friends, crafts...
I  have a bunch on schooling
Art, curriculum, more art, activities...
I  have even more about food, gardening, God, love, parenting, life...
I am excited to share all these things with all of you but be patient, my computer is on the fritz and time is very precious when you wear so many hats :)
Enjoy these pics of up coming posts for now & I will post about them soon...

Summer Homeschool Test Run

I have always had a love for teaching and learning. Passing on knowledge that I have to others is such a joy and watching kids grow and learn is awesome. That is why I started Garden 118!

After school ended for Allison, I mentioned to my husband that I would like to try homeschooling. I figured that summer would be the best time to give it a test run and see if I would like it and if the kids would enjoy learning at home.

I decided to create a work box for each kid containing everything they need for assignments. They each grab their work boxes and baskets (what's in the baskets will be posted next week) and sit down a the table ready to learn. 

Scotty's starting preschool. His box contains just a few basic things to get him excited about being in school.

Allison is moving into first grade. Her work box is a little more advanced, with a bit more mathy things and a real chapter book!

Here is a dissected look at Scotty's preschool work box. It contains a composition book, markers, colored pencils, a paint palette, and an envelope for the smaller items. 

The envelope contains small and large pencil, beads for counting, scissors, glue stick, letter/animal tiles for his game.

Allison's work box is very similar with the composition book, markers, colored pencils, paint palette and envelope for the small stuff. The only difference is the addition of a ruler (the mathy thing) and her chapter book. 

In the envelope is the small and large pencil, glue stick, scissors, letter/number tiles for her game and a rogue craft stick.

 I kept the schedule very laid back and fun and we spent most of the time outside exploring and LOTS of time doing science experiments. I have really enjoyed this time with them. Watching them learn and figure out how things work is SO fulfilling.

In a few weeks, my Allison will head back to school starting first grade. My heart is heavy letting her be in someone else's care for the better part of the day, bored with sitting inside most of the time, and not a lot of hands on stuff to explore. But she is excited to get back and see her friends. 

Tomorrow though, she has already announced the school assignments she wants them to do, I will enjoy the time  learning with her and Scotty. And if school doesn't go as planned I am ready to take on home school!

Learning About Flowers

On Tuesday I hosted our Beneficial Flowers class. I had so much fun preparing for it, I finally put my art skills to use!

I am pretty frugal when it comes to teaching supplies (more time than money) so I grabbed a few sheets of poster board at the Dollar Tree and drew a picture of a flower.

 Here it is all colored and pretty. It was fun having the kids label all the parts of a flower as I described how each part worked.

 I ended up hosting the class out in the backyard surrounded by our gardens and chickens. It was a nice over cast day so the temps stayed rather cool.

 We took a flower  walk through the main garden and around the back to identify flowers and see bees hard at work pollinating flowers.

 When we were finished it was time for our craft. The kids planted a beneficial flower for them to take home. They had a choice of sunflower, borage, or Dukat dill. They also got to taste some bee pollen that I picked up from the Bordain's at the farmers market. 

I also laid out a few books that were about seeds and plants that the kids could look through.

It was a fun time for all! I can't wait until next Tuesday for the compost class. I just love compost!

If you would like to join us for our garden classes on Tuesday, please email me 

heathergc@yahoo.com.