The New Year!!!!

Another year has gone by. Wow....it seems strange. The days flew by so quickly. We are all a year older and have another year of experiences.

What will my new years resolutions be? That is a good question.

Hmmmmm......I'll need to give this some thought.

Sunshine home school co-op and holiday pictures...

We had a wonderful fall with our co-op. Sadly we won't be continuing it, but it shows you that when you make a commitment to home school, and raise your family your way, opportunities present themselves. They may be unordinary opportunities, but they do present themselves.

Hugs and enjoy the pictures...the world is our classroom.

Tracey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holidays....my favorite time of the year......

Here we are again in another holiday season. My favorite time of the year. School for myself and the kids ended last week. Whew....this past year has been challenging. I'm going to begin writing about how we live a life that goes against everything that's considered normal.

What do we do that's completely going against the grain of societal norms? What is normal anyway?

I've worked nights for the past three years to be able to home school my children. I fight against putting them in school regularly. Every time I think of the options of public school I find a way to make things happen.

Like now I'm trying to work days so that I can be home during the day. So how does someone work days and home school? I'll bet you all would like to know. First, you make a commitment that you are going to home school and you make it work. Whatever that means.

Just recently a few friends and myself had a co-op for three months. Although, we opted not to continue to co-op it was a solution for a few months. That's something I have had to get used to....not being in control of how this is going to work. Just letting go and seeing what happens.

I stopped and had my favorite chai tea soy latte at Starbucks today. Delicious!!!

Hugs to all,
Tracey

Pictures of my Retreat in Ojai, California....

It's all connected...how we are doing on the inside to what's happening in our lives on the outside.

I've just spent a week in California with 11 other women all who either have kids, don't have kids, have PHD's and/or have never graduated from high school, etc...

We were represented by every religion and no religion.

What we all have in common is that we are humans and we are women. Women who have pain in their lives, failures, success, disappointments, celebrations, etc...

What a joy it was to experience this gathering of women and to watch what each of us found by having the courage to go inside of ourselves and find our own inner truths.

What I saw every time was that what is going on outside of ourselves is representative of what is going on inside of ourselves. Now that is amazing. Absolutely 100% of the time that is where it all can be found; on the inside.

So do we dare say yes to life and all that it shows us...about ourselves? The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the courageous, etc...

I say YES!!!

I'm opening a new business. It's www.GetandKeepaMan.com I will be doing love and relationship coaching. Go to my website for more information.

If you know of anyone needed my services please let me know.

Love and hugs,
Tracey Huguley

A quote about rhythm

"As I watched the seagulls, I thought: That's the road to take: find the absolute rhythm and follow it with absolute trust."

Nikos Kazantzakis

We are getting back into our rhythm for the school year after a fabulous summer of having fun and letting go!!!

Can't wait to see some of you at our local home school get togethers.

Hugs,
Tracey

Summer 08 Update....

We are having a blast even though Austin is having record heat and some days I don't want to step outside.

We have gone swimming a lot. We have been busy gearing up for next year's home schooling. We've been signing up for our local Waldorf home school communities classes. The kids haven't been reading a lot but I have.

A teenager friend of mine introduced me to Stephenie Meyer's books....ok they are great....if you haven't had the chance to read them check them out.

We're excited to get back into the swing of things this fall. Our rhythm at home has been gone with staying up late and sleeping in....but that's ok because I've been working until 12 am 5 days a week this summer to earn some extra money for the family.

I'm really enjoying having these lazy summer days.

Brooke and Britney went to Austin Museum of Art's Art Camp last week. They had so much fun. I will post pictures of what they created soon. Interesting to say the least.

Brandon will be going next week. He's taking Anime Studio. He loves making stop motion video movies and he really wants to learn animation. Maybe he'll be another Steven Spielberg....wouldn't that be nice. I'm happy he's found something he really loves.

I'll post some pictures soon.

Enjoy your summer and stay cool.

Hugs,
Tracey Huguley

Our school year coming to an end and our new year beginning....

Our school year is coming to an end. We will be finished with our official home schooling next week.

I keep a spiral bound notebook for the school year to document what I'm doing throughout the year.

If we have a bad day or week, I can glance at my notebook, and know right where I need to pick up.

It's nice at the end of the year because I can go back and look at everything we've done. I include all our field trips (including play groups, etc...) in my notebook. When I go back and look at everything we've done for the year I feel very good. I see that I actually did something.

Sometimes I don't feel like I've done much, but this shows me I've done a lot.

Summer is here in Texas and we are so happy to get out and enjoy the pools, parks, etc...

Austin is a great place. There is so much to do and we love our home school community here.

The summer for us is a time to celebrate our past year and enjoy ourselves. It marks the beginning of a new year for us. So we will be out celebrating and we hope to see some of you.

Hope you have a wonderful summer.

Hugs,
Tracey

***Britney took the pictures below. Who says we have to be boring and glum? We are actually quite silly!!!

Britney's photo's and our silliness......

Inks Lake Photos

We had a blast at Inks Lake. The kids saw all kinds of wildlife which helps with our natural sciences studies this year.

We saw ducks, birds, insects, deer, squirrels, fish, and hawks.

We found a duck nest with eggs in it. After the storms on Tuesday night we found a baby mockingbird and handed it over to the park ranger to rescue.

The kids and I canoed for 2 and half hours on Wednesday. We explored the lake and the kids each took turns paddling.

Enjoy the pictures.....Spring has definately arrived!!!!

Here is my Joy!!!

Funny I went to a "Release and Renew Retreat" with Kate Bares-Johnson at The Center for Well Being in Austin, Texas. I went with a girlfriend and we really released and renewed some long over due emotional baggage in our lives.

There were about 15 of us trying to become more whole emotionally, spiritually and mentally (physically). Kate has a wonderful program that helped us dig deep to uncover the aspects of ourselves that were not our authentic selves.

Aspects of ourselves that no longer serve us. I faced some fears and the pain that was attached to that.

It was amazing doing this in a community of others who we're willing to dig deep. I felt very supported and loved.

When I left one of the participants handed me a $2.00 bill and said he wanted to buy my "W". I went into the weekend with the mantra of "Where is my Joy"?

I left with the lesson "Here is my Joy". The participant I shared the weekend with bought my "W" in "where" so now I have "here".

I'm continuing on my journey to wholeness and healing. It's with humility that I stand in awe of this process.

"Here is my Joy"
Tracey Huguley

Our knitting and other Spring projects....