Hello from the Mendiola Bernaldos!

We're a blended family of eight in a suburban home with cats, dogs and surrounded by all sorts of critters, creatures and everyday ordinary things. I'm Jasmine, and I'm a newly-minted full-time homeschooling, soon-to-be a homesteading homemaker Mom embarking on my dream to impact young minds through the art of teaching.

We were pandemic homeschoolers turned life-long learners and now on our fourth year of winging it. We combine elements of Charlotte Mason, Socratic Principles, a bit of Waldorf style of presentations and parent by Human Design, exposing our two youngest kids to classical living literary works, curiosities in nature and the arts. We take time to accommodate ideas and questions through meaningful discussions and designed our daily rhythm to include 2.5 hours of formal lessons and a lot of week-long breaks throughout a year-round "schooling" to allow us the freedom and flexibility to spend as much as time with our kids as we can afford amidst our ever-changing freelancing schedules. We do this by choosing a variety of easy and implementable experiences for our two youngest children as our older ones have began spreading their wings (a 24yo concert makeup artist, a 20yo Ateneo college future-filmmaker, a 19yo budding musician and a 12yo Claterian honor student). 

My husband, Paolo is a multi-talented musician, designer and hardworking director and contractor with restaurants and businesses under his entrepreneurial belt. I, on the other hand, had a previous life in fashion and beauty, working in strategic corporate roles for PR, training, product development and makeup artistry. We grew up in very different households and have had colorful lives before we connected and instantly found home in each other. So for the past 10 years, we have been building a vibrant life together one day at a time.

We love our children in different ways, too. But we have dedicated our life's work and our dreams to empowering our children to be whoever they want to be in the future. Our brand of homeschooling is eclectic and aims to inspire a love for learning. We're far from intellectuals (philosophers, perhaps -- kidding)! And so our basic goal is simply to nurture the minds, hearts, and souls of our children to choose a purposeful life according to God's design. We believe in being honest and open, even about our fears and insecurities, what we've learned from our mistakes, and especially about our hopes and dreams. We readily admit when we don't know the answers to their gazillion questions yet and join them in their excitement of discovering wonderments and creative solutions to their version of very real-for-a-child's-life problems. We also model to them how we do things afraid, armed with courage and grace (and the humility to admit when our saboteurs get the best of our overwhelming worries or nearly burned out from tiresomeness).

We emphasize the value of loving and accepting each other for who they already are and encourage growing in love, faith and kindness as they mature. We hope that as they look outside of our home, they will know their role and place in the world and get to maintain healthy boundaries, too so that when their life circumstances in the future spin out of their control, they can tap into a well of memories that hopefully have stocked up enough confidence in who they are and remember how much they are loved, that they are enough and worthy. Nothing brings more joy and fulfillment in our stewardship than doing everything in our most humanly possible best to celebrate their uniqueness and gifts because we believe each of our kids are special no matter how imperfect parents we are.

Homeschooling has blessed our home in so many ways and has been integral in strengthening our relationship as a family. We are able to talk about life's ups and downs always finding teachable moments in the most mundane opportunities! We encourage one another to savor and appreciate each moment while surrendering control over our challenges by trusting in a higher power. Our family's spirituality is unorthodox, carefully Catholic and healthily skeptic, but deep in gratitude and praise through our life's one big moving prayer.

This journal is our open and heartfelt collection of memories, ideas and conversations with our children to celebrate our extraordinary ordinary life, and so that they can look back and find inspiration, guidance, and encouragement as they navigate their own journeys of growth and self-discovery someday. 

Hopefully you find something you can take home with you 

as you journey with us, too.