{A simple, green, homeschooling family of six learning to thrive with less on a modern-day Iowa homestead.}
One of the things I learned at my recent blogger’s conference was to be authentic. Being authentic is something I have tried to do since I first started blogging, but sometimes I think I let it get in the way of my posts. Take Mother’s Day for instance. If I were on top of things, [...]
Yesterday was not a stellar day in my mom world. My kids were at each other’s throats {and mine}. They didn’t want to cooperate with anyone. And yelling seemed to be the order of business at our house. I swear, if someone had happened by our house during one of my “moments,” that person may [...]
Earlier I shared some of the reasons we homeschool and in this post I’m sharing what we’re doing in our first grade homeschool and some of my favorite resources. I’m always curious how other people homeschool, so I will share our method! We just finished the first half of our homeschool year and I am [...]
Yesterday, the kids and I went bowling with our homeschooling group and I asked one of the mothers what math curriculum she uses as I’m trying to decide what to use for Ben next year. We chatted for a while and then she asked me why I homeschool. I hedged a bit, as sometimes I [...]
I don’t know about your kids, but my kiddos made out like bandits at Christmas last week. Between our immediate family, two sets of very generous grandparents, great grandparents, and loving aunts and uncles, they brought home a HUGE loot. The amount of stuff is really overwhelming to me. I strive each year to make [...]
Happy Winter Solstice! I am so excited this day has finally arrived. While the Solstice officially marks the first day of Winter, it really means to me that the days will start getting longer again. I am ready for it to be light past 5:00 pm each day! I look forward to planning my next [...]
As a homeschooling mama to 4 kids {one’s in public school…} I’m always interested to try out new ways to teach kids basic skills. I’ve heard a lot lately about Cypher so I was really excited to give it a try myself {um…I mean let my kids use it - yeah that’s right}. If you [...]
This week marks 4 years in a row that we have taken our kiddos to the Galvin Fine Arts Center at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Each year around this time, their theater group performs an amazing play, and this year was no exception. It was a beautiful day. Past years have been so [...]
Here’s my weekly frugal update… Last week I braved Black Friday with my mom – on our own terms. We slept in, had a nice breakfast, and headed out. We spent most of our time at Salvation Army, where I bought a mountain of clothes for $30. All clothing was 50% off- my favorite day [...]
Earlier this week, we took a trip to the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. We had a great time looking at the amazing art collections and creating our own art, too. It was our first time to visit that museum and I would love to go back. One of the reasons I enjoy homeschooling [...]
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
