Spring 2024 Favorites: Kids + Mama

We are nearing summer and I realized there are many things we are loving lately that I haven't shared, so I decided to do a little seasonal favorites post every season.  I consider the beginning of June summer, and since my birthday is June 3rd, I get to decide these things, right?!? 😜 So, as we near the end of spring, here are some of our kid and mom favorites from this spring season!

1. Bird Song Books: My 3 year old daughter has been obsessed with birds lately, always pointing out the cardinals, robins, woodpeckers, and mourning doves we see and hear on our walks. She found our Little Book of Backyard Bird Songs on the shelf a month or two ago and was looking at it and having us read it to her non-stop. She saw a picture for a similar book, Little Book of Woodland Bird Songs, on the back, so we bought it for her and she equally loves it now, too. These are perfect nature study companions!
2. Mud Kichen: Last year, we purchased two inexpensive garden potting benches into a large mud kitchen and it was a HUGE hit! I raised the lower shelf when putting them together and dug the legs into the ground so they would be more stable and would be child-height instead of adult-height. We uncovered it after the winter about a month ago, and the kids spend hours a day playing with it ever since!  I'll be doing a more detailed post about it soon!
3. Digital Microscope: My kids are obsessed with this digital microscope! Now that everything is green outside and flower are blooming everywhere we look, they like to take the microscope outside and look at nature up close. I'm amazed my how detailed the screen is and how sturdy the microscope is in little, not-so-gentle hands.
   
4. Bug Catcher: We got our girls a couple new bug catchers for Easter this year, and already they've caught a frog, a couple butterflies, and some bugs.  We often take them on walks and to the park, as they somehow always find some kind of creature they want to observe.
5. Yoto Mini: We have been HUGE fans of Yoto Players for a few years now and have spent soooooo many more hours listening to books than I ever could read aloud to my kids without them. My girls still continue to listen at bedtime, when they wake up before it's time to start the day, at lunch as a family, and during quiet time while doing other things. I've said many times, and I still stand by this statement, that if I could only have one toy or kid item, I would pick a Yoto Player every time!  The great news is the Yoto Minis are back in stock!
6. Tree Swings: We used to mainly play in our fenced backyard, but last year, my kids started playing more in our side yard where our garage is so they can ride their ride-on toys and play with neighbor friends. They started playing under and on our pine trees there, and so for Christmas this year, I added some tree swings to their lists. My parents bought them this rope swing and this ladder swing that we added to the trees a couple months ago and not a day goes by where they aren't swinging on them!
7. Journaling Bible: A little over a month ago, I purchased this beautiful leaf-printed journaling bible to use as our family bible.  We've been reading it every morning during our morning homeschool time and it's been such a blessing to our family!
8. Bubble Machine: One of my kids' favorite things I occasionally pull out during the warmer months is our bubble machine! Add it to water play and you have quite a magical experience!

1. Charlotte Mason Books: I read a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction, but try to read a few homeschooling-related books every year. For our local homeschool book club this semester, we read Consider This by Karen Glass. This book discusses why Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy was based upon the classical model and how the education if ultimately meant to create good character and to shape the hearts and consciences of the children to create good thinkers and moral people. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and discussing it! I also read The Living Page by Laurie Bestvater on my own, which is about notebooking in a Charlotte Mason homeschool.  This really opened my eyes to lots of things we could be adding to our homeschool and the purpose behind them.
2. Dazzle Dry Nail Polish Set: I have spent years trying different nail polishes, nail wraps, press-on nails, and poly gel nails, and I basically decided none of them are both easy to apply and long-lasting. They are usually one or the other, or neither.  I tried Dazzle Dry after reading rave reviews from multiple people online, and I was blown away! They lasted a full week without any chipping, which NEVER happens for me. Apparently I'm really hard on my nails. I will say, I had to take a break from it because it started to dry out my nails after a couple months of back to back manicures with no rest in between, and they started to crack, but now if I give them a break after a couple manicures for a week or two, it helps a lot. It's the easiest and longest-lasting at-home manicure I've found and I've tried a lot!
3. Journaling Bible: For Christmas, I bought myself a beautiful floral-covered journaling bible. It's a larger text bible with lots of space to journal. I have been using it during my morning time on my own before my kids get up, and I absolutely love the space I have to write and how easy it is on my eyes first thing in the morning.
4. Castor Oil: This one is kind of weird, but I somehow came across a woman on TikTok swearing by castor oil as a moisturizer at night.  Since I'm cheap, don't like to use lots of random products on my skin, and have never stuck with a skincare routine (plus I'm almost 35 and starting to actually think about aging), I decided to try it.  I love it! I mix it with my regular night time moisturizer (which changes based on what looks good at the time) and really rub it in. It takes a long time to fully sink in. I've noticed my skin being much more hydrated and it does seem a little brighter now that I've used it for a while.
5. Rolling Portable Crate: I used to have a fabric bag with a dolly that I would keep in our van for library trips, but after a couple years of use, it ended up ripping this winter. I decided to invest in a rolling portable crate that folds up small and flat to keep in our van. It works wonderfully for library books since we get so many at a time, but it's also great for things like park picnics, trips to the beach, pot lucks when we bring a lot, and other times we have a lot to cart somewhere that a bag is not convenient.
6. Mother's Ring: My grandma passed away this January, and after visiting her many times and holding her hand as she passed, I fell in love with how she wore her devotion to her family in her jewelry. She had a ring with 7 birthstones in it, one for each of her seven kids. She also had a pin with tons of little sillhouettes on them and the names of her grandkids engraved on each. In honor of her, I purchased a Mother's ring on etsy and I wear it on my right ring finger every day. It wasn't expensive, but it's a daily reminder of my devotional to my children and I absolutely love it and how it also reminds me of my grandma who I loved dearly.
7. Binding Machine: I recently printed our curricula for next year and bound it all in about an hour one night after the kids went to bed.  I was very happy I purchased this binding machine last year! I find printing my own curricula whenever I can saves a ton of money, but I don't like having to spend a ton of time binding it all.  I love how easy the binding machine is to use and how well our resources I bound last year have held up to daily use throughout an entire school year.
8. Earthley Tinctures: Last summer, I was on a hunt to find better quality vitamins and elderberry supplements for my kids that wouldn't break the bank. I had seen a lot of talk online about Earthley and decided to try their Nourish Her Naturally and Elderberry Elixer tinctures. We have been using them for almost a year now and honestly, we've been the healthiest we have ever been.  I myself have not gotten sick once this entire school year when normally I end up getting whatever the kids bring home. My husband, who doesn't take the tinctures, got sick a couple times when normally he is the one who avoids it, and I still didn't get sick! My daughters were sick a couple times but it was mainly a fever and then it went away after a day or two. I cannot say for certain that it was the Earthley tinctures that kept the sicknesses away, but it's the only thing we did differently. I honestly cannot believe the cost either since these are so concentrated, it just takes a few drops of each for my kids and a few more for me that we add to some sugar-free lemonade in a little ramekin at lunch time and it helps drown out the flavor. My kids call it their "juice." Compared to the cost of higher-quality vitamins or elderberry supplements, we actually are saving money since the bottles last us a few months at least! We also use their Feel Better Fast whenever we feel any illness coming on. 
9. Commonplace Journal: I have wanted to start a commonplace journal for quite some time, but didn't get around to it until this spring.  If you aren't aware, a commonplace journal is a journal where you write down quotes usually from books, but they could potentially be from media you consume.  I bought these beautiful brown journals and started by commonplace journal. I'm excited to fill it up over the years!

 

It is always fun to see what other people are loving throughout the year, so I hope you enjoyed this little look into our homeschool and my mom brain!