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I'm Sara, the voice behind Chasing Jupiter, wife to my best friend, and homeschool mom to our two young boys.
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  • Most of our “at home” learning is through play. Art, board games, experiments, rabbit trails of learning, and little DIY projects like this homemade “moon dough”. We spend hours outside (if it’s at least -5 and up... anything below that is just... nope 🥶) We read a lot of books that might look like school but not for my kids. LEGO building is a daily activity and yes we even play games on the tablet. —————————————— For two (sometimes three) hours during the day though we have official school work to complete. You know, all the subjects that go into the end of the year portfolio. Math, Language Arts, Geography, and Science. “Real school”... as someone called it the other day. 🙄 —————————————— It’s the “real school” portion of this homeschool life that I struggle with the most. The never ending bombardment of curriculum every time I scroll through Instagram. My indecisiveness when it comes to choosing books and then my constant second guessing when we’re halfway through said books. Does anyone else struggle with curriculum choices? 📚 —————————————— But then there are moments like this, watching the boys playing with the moon dough we made yesterday. I listened to their conversation as they played. My oldest asking for 1/2 of the sand while explaining to his little brother how to divide it correctly. My youngest one talking about how he was creating a “desert habitat” and my oldest said he was designing a “grasslands habitat”. They continued talking about which animals belonged where. —————————————— The unit study on habitats was months ago. It was also from a science curriculum I decided just wasn’t right. But somehow through the days they learn, and they continue that learning, not through testing and the perfect curriculum but through play. And as I watched them play I thought, “this is homeschool”, and for now I won’t be purchasing any more expensive curriculum. We’ll use the curriculum we already have and continue to play. 😉
  • “There are no dress rehearsals in parenthood (or life for that matter). No edits, cuts, or retakes. This is the live show. Unpredictable and dramatic. It’s a spectator sport with highs and lows and an audience ready to applaud or boo your efforts. We move on and try to do better tomorrow. But that first show, it will never be erased. Locked in a memory (or a picture… or a video on a smartphone) just another moment in time for the books.” - A Story of Anxiety, Bravery, and the Power of Understanding. Visit the link in my bio to read the rest of this post. If you have you have a moment pop back over and share your thoughts and maybe your own story. ❤️
  • “...And that’s life, in a nutshell, isn’t it? As children, we spend our days thinking if we just finish our school work, get the chores out of the way, we will finally be able to get back to what’s really “important”. The obstacle right in front of us is simply that, an obstacle. Something preventing us from our “real” life. Not much changes as we grow up. We quickly realize that life is still a series of interruptions and challenges. Our purpose becomes clouded as the monotony of our day grows. The big picture drops out of focus and out of reach.” (the rest of the post can be found on the blog!) ————————————— I wasn’t going to write a New Years blog post this year but my writing was influenced by a difficult week and it turned into a New Years post after all. Looking for a little bit of encouragement this week? I hope you can find some there, and if you have a moment let me know what you think! Link is in the bio! ❤️
  • Merry Christmas to you and yours. ❤️
  • One of these boys had a haircut yesterday. It’s ordinary. Simple. Boring even. For most people they get their hair cut every few months without a thought. In our house however, ordinary for most people isn’t quite so ordinary here. Simple activities become a subject of intense planning and preparation. Including a haircut. 🌿 ————————————— Even my husband and I need to prepare ourselves before we cut his hair. We prepare to be patient and practice empathy. We don’t understand why he reacts to haircuts the way he does, especially when he likes to keep his hair short. We don’t understand why nothing we say seems to get through to him in these moments. We just know that for him, it is hard. And for him to let someone cut his hair takes bravery, and every coping method he knows. But for now, this is what it is and I’ve always trusted that in time it will get easier. 🌿 —————————————— And yesterday was that time. He recently discovered a love of classical music. He asked if he could listen to something. I expected him to choose a quiet, calming song, because of course that’s what I would have chose. But really, I should know better by now. He chose Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. He closed his eyes and hummed along. By the time the song was over, his haircut was finished and our day went on as usual. 🌿 ————————————— I almost wanted to cry. I was so incredibly proud of him. He’s growing up before my eyes. He found his own way to cope with the discomfort of a haircut all without me by his side. And that’s our goal as parents right? For our children to grow up needing us less and less. Of course he’s only 7. He will still need me by his side for many years to come but these times remind me to keep going even when I can’t see the end result. I’ll hold on to this moment for the days I worry about the future and for the days I question my abilities to raise the these children God gave me. 🌿 ————————————— We all need stories of hope some times... even the ordinary stories. I hope this story encouraged and reminded you the work you do everyday as a parent matters whether you see the results or not. ❤️
  • “I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. -Charles Dickens 🎄 The most beautiful words I’ve read so far this Christmas season. ❤️
  • Baby, it’s cold outside. ❄️ #christmasincanada
  • Christmas books. 📚🎄 They are always my favourite part of our Christmas “decor”. Each year we add a new book to our holiday collection and I always pick up a few from the library. What books will you be reading over the Christmas season? 📖
  • “We should number our days not so we live fearfully but in order to live more faithfully. We count our days so we can make them count.” -Karen Ehman & Ruth Schwenk 🌿 ————————————— There are only three weeks left until Christmas but the boys want it to be Christmas yesterday. In their innocence time crawls by, but those of us with years behind us know better. This month will fly by and we’ll be left wondering where it went. Christmas will come and go. The excitement will fade. The world will slip back into ordinary. (To be honest I’m quite fond of “ordinary) 🌿 ————————————— Christmas on it’s very own is a gift. A gift of family, time, love, and magic. A season of togetherness, acceptance, and joy. Even without the presents, the perfectly planned parties, unique advent countdown, beautiful decorations, or the perfectly curated images on social media. 🌿 ————————————— Something pretty magical occurred all those years ago to bring everyone together in celebration. Both those that celebrate the reason for the season and those that do not. This season I am refusing to waste the gift that it is. I’ll put down the phone, the camera, and the busyness. I’ll choose to embrace the experience of the season fully with my family by remembering that every Yes is a No to something else and I’ll choose with intention. ✨

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