"Involve me and I learn"

I can't believe we are almost done with the first year of homeschooling. Wow. Between working at BK and juggling homeschooling schedule, my day is incredibly full... and so as Frido's. I am pretty lucky if I get to bed by midnight and yes... I totally feel sleep deprived occasionally (especially in the late afternoon... and during kid's bedtime) But I am glad that we are making it happen through a process of trial and error.

Being on the east side of Los Angeles, we are finding that there are many kinds of homeschooling supports and groups and we are lucky to be in close knitted friends who also started their homeschooling journey as we did last year. I can't imagine our experience would be the same without them. We are at home learning few days a week and out and about on other days. Kids learn at home, on the road, during our field trips, with friends, and on their own... We took the concept of the weekend away from our family conversation because I work on Sundays and we consider Saturday and Sunday just another day to explore and learn. Sometimes our week feels too busy and chaotic and I take a note to myself to take few things off our plate in the next season. Other times I notice we can use more time with friends and a bigger circle of community and we seek out for the experience.

Few weeks ago, we took a learning field trip to The Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert with friends and it was magical. Kids got to really take in and experience the zoo and its environment in their own pace. They watched a cheetah catch a wild rabbit that happened to pop out of the ground when we were watching. We saw a warthog family come out of their barrel as morning got warmer. We found an empty patio/picnic table area right next to the camel exhibit and spread out to do some art while admiring how beautiful camels were. One of our highlight was to visit animal hospital on site and get a little tour from the main zoo veterinarian Kevin. The tour took about 30-40 minutes and kids were so focused, attentive and curious and it blew me away. After the tour, we spent the rest of the day at the zoo playground and they played with all their hearts in.

Every kid is different and they all have different ways of learning. I am seeing that our girls enjoy learning so much... especially if it's is mixed with play. They can focus on topics they are interested in as long as they have other time before and after to let loose and be kids. Satchi enjoys that she can choose to explore a topic as long as she is interested in and she is an integral part of how we decide the day/week/year to feel like for us.

Probably the most importantly... I am learning about Satchi and Coco so much through this experience and am reminded how wonderful they are as two growing human beings with big personalities and so much love to contribute to the world.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

― Benjamin Franklin

Metamorphosis: TSL Pen Holder Clip // New vs. 3 months

We just received a parcel from the Superior Labor and it included the BK original design "Pen Holder Clip"!!! This pen holder is really special to me and Frido since it's one of the ideas that came out from our meeting with the Superior Labor (last July!!). We went back and forth with an idea via email and few prototype samples were made by the team of TSL. I love how collaboration could happen even with the distance.

I have been using the final prototype for last few months and I am so in love with how it is aging. Especially when I hold my worn-in version next to the brand new one. The front part of the leather has patinaed just enough to match my TN Camel! It has a quite bit of scratch marks from clips of the fountain pens digging into the leather and I enjoy seeing them grow to be one of the kind.

The brass clip behind the leather is originally designed as a money clip so it grips well to the TN leather cover - an important feature so you don't accidentally lose your Pen Holder Clip with your favorite pens!!!

I can't wait to see how it looks like over many many more years.

Grow life in your favorite tin can!

After using the TN 10th Anniversary mini notebook to capture a special story, what do you do with the tin can left behind? Of course, you can use it to organize analogue goodies, letters, rubber stamps, etc.!!! Addition to those very awesomely functional ideas, we wanted to share few fun ways to incorporate this beautiful container in our everyday life.

First one is to turn it into a mini succulent planter. Succulents in our garden are growing quite wild this year with all the rain we had... so girls and I had a lot of fun clipping our favorites and arranging them. The tin can is wide enough to add multiple kinds of succulents and it will be a nice addition as a tabletop plant:)

How are you using your tin cans??

TN Mini for special stories

We adore how tiny the TN Anniversary Mini notebooks are!!!
Although TN Mini might be bit too small to use as an everyday journal as we are all used to..., there are so many different ways of incorporating them into your analogue world than just admiring how cute it is!

We love the idea of writing and documenting something that is truly personal and special in the TN Mini notebook and keeping it close to us as a charm. You can hang the TN Mini on your favorite bag, or pouch and have it always available to flip through.

If you would like to add mini pictures, you can print your favorite photos in 1"x1" size and they will fit perfectly on the Mini refill notebook!

How will you use your TN Mini??