Eco Wrap – My Family, Gardening, and Earthopoly

TGIF! Have an awesome weekend everyone!

I had a wonderful vacation in Florida recently. My family stayed at a resort right next to The Magic Kingdom. Of course we had fun at the Disney parks but I think the kids enjoyed Sea World and the just hanging out at the pool the most. I was really excited to get home though…Florida was HOT and dry. It really made me appreciate Ohio more. I was downright giddy when we pulled up to our house and it was cool and rainy.

I have been slow to blog lately…I have been gardening, spring cleaning, preparing for guests from Mexico next week, and doing a bit of fiction reading. I wrote about why I love being a work at home mom and the Twilight series of books I have read on some other blogs. I’ve also been organizing files and pictures and getting a new computer up and running which is always fun…not. But here is pic from vacation:

Okay….interesting links for the weekend.

First up I loved a post from The Good Human about planting a row for the needy. When I was making new year’s goals in January this was a goal I had…to plant extra and give the surplus to the needy. It is a truly awesome idea for helping out the needy in your community. It is incredibly easy to just plant a bit more than you need and then donate to food banks or shelters in your area. If all the small family gardens were to do this imagine how many mouths we could feed.

My garden is looking GOOD! I have plenty of lettuce and spinach ready to eat now. Still growing is cabbage, zucchini, cucumber, beans, tomatoes, squash, and watermelon. I still have a lot of planting I need to get done NOW.

The rest of the yard looks beautiful too. I LOVE spring!

I ran across a link to a cool game called Earthopoly. I think I need to buy this. Players become caretakers of a variety of global landmarks and charge other players carbon credits for landing on them. Convert the carbon credits into clean air and help the fight against global warming! The paper is recyclable and the printing is done with soy-based inks.

The game is full of plenty of helpful information and educational for players of all ages. The game won’t change the world, but it can help educate us all in ways in which we can. I especially love the game board pieces…things like a piece of wood, a Lima bean, a shell, etc. It looks like a great game for the family.

I am anxiously awaiting another eco game…more on that when we get a chance to play.

As I stated in my last post I am officially a homeschooling mom now. Woot! I pulled my son from public and notified the superintendent of my intentions. His teachers were actually excited for him and they gifted us with tons of reading books, workbooks, math books for the next few years, etc. This week I need to make a portfolio to keep track of his progress and meet state requirements. I am also hitting yard sales looking for fun learning items. This week I picked up books and a very well maintained flute. I am hoping that one or more of the kids will want lessons. Fun times ahead. This week we are hoping to visit a science museum, go to a National park, see a play, and visit some Indian caverns.

Homeschool link love for this week: A great post about learning outside with sidewalk chalk.

In other family news…I had a tragedy in my family…well it feels like one anyway. My last co-sleeping child has moved out of my bed and into her own. I can’t even tell you how depressed I have been about that. And people say attachment parenting and co-sleeping creates dependent children…hogwash! It creates dependent parents is what it does! LOL.

Oh well, another article I liked that natural moms should read this week is about vaccination and the future of the process…like aluminum toxicity, immunosupression, allergic and asthmatic Conditions, and future Pandemics/Epidemics.

And it is time for me to say goodbye for the weekend. I am seeing a movie this afternoon and my daughter is expecting her new big girl bed to be delivered. :(

So what is new with you?