Our CFHE Corn Maize field trip on October 18th was well-attended and fun. There were three different mazes for the kids to navigate, with check points where they could hole punch their cards. Kids bunched together with their friends and tried to find their way out of each maze. The corn stalks were taller than we were, and we could hear giggling and squeals the entire hour.

Some of us also shot the corn cannon, which was a homemade gun that fired corn cobs at targets. My kids loved it! Pumpkin patches were also available for people who wanted to pick pumpkins.

Where can homeschool moms find encouragement all summer long while their kids climb trees, run around on the splash pad, and chat with their friends? Where can homeschooled kids find friends over the summer? Park Day!

Every Wednesday this summer, homeschool families from our group have been meeting at Millwood Park from 11:30am to 2pm. On July 3rd, we had record numbers, with around 27 homeschool families represented. The sun has been shining beautifully all summer, with a nice breeze under the trees where we eat a picnic lunch we each bring.

Many homeschool mothers have asked me what I do to help my children cultivate friendships so that they will not be lonely. Park Day is the main way for my children to see their friends over the summer. With a couple of hours once a week to cultivate or begin a new friendship, it's easier to continue the friendship over the course of the school year because a strong friendship has already been established.

What are some other ways to find friendships for your homeschooled children?

• Invite a homeschool family over to dinner at your house. When the kids play for several hours together, the next time they see each other, they feel at home with the other family.
  
• Invite a child to go with your family to an event. When we zoomed around in go-carts as a family, we picked up a homeschooled kid and paid his way to spend the day with us, so that my son could spend time with his best friend.
• Some people are involved in co-ops for the friendships.
• Forge friendships with people from your church, and be involved in programs like AWANA. Kids can see each other once a week and establish friendships this way.
  
• Attend events from our group. We will be starting up field trips in the fall, as well as family events. Or you can start your own club, and let us know, so that we can put it in the newsletter!
  

Great things are happening! Watch the blog regularly!

It is so easy, in the midst of parenting, educating, and discipling our children, to lose sight of how precious they really are. We can take for granted the gift that we call life. We can assume that our children will be around forever, always available for us to snuggle with, read to, or laugh and make memories with. But we must not! Life is precious, and the time we have with our children is short - very, very short.

Today, as I type this, a family is grieving for their seventeen year old daughter, whose lungs were destroyed by pneumonia. Another is waiting anxiously by the bedside of their critically ill daughter, hoping they can get her home before she dies. Neither one expected to face this tragedy, or could have imagined the possibility of burying a child. But, as the bombing in Boston or the fertilizer plant explosion in Texas have reminded us; life is full of what we don't expect.

So, as you educate your children today, don't lose heart. The road is long, the battle can be wearying. But try to treasure the moments (both precious and not so much) with your child now, because (as many parents in CFHE know) you may not have tomorrow!