Now, y’all know that I’m a math and science gal… I’m a registered nurse, I love logic and order, symmetry and patterns…. Modern art (really art in general) I may slightly appreciate, but I don’t “get” it. I LOVE reading, but I don’t often enjoy literature… that is… books that I actually have to sit and work to digest. Continue reading “The Old Virginian Literary Circle”
We LOVE to read! We are always reading or listening to a book on CD! My children get in trouble for reading instead of doing chores. Sometimes they get carsick for reading… but they continue to do it anyway. It’s like the WORST punishment if I go to the library and someone doesn’t get to come! Continue reading “Read Alouds”
A Long Way Home
By Saroo Brierley
A book review and a few thoughts on adoption…
WOW! For anyone who has watched Lion, this is the autobiography of Saroo, the main character in the movie. While the movie was amazing, the book is even better! Of course there has to be drama in the movie to make it appealing to the masses… but for me… real human life is exciting enough, much less a story like Saroo has to tell! Continue reading “Book Review {A Long Way Home} and Adoption”
Crickets here on the blog… crickets… It’s been so quiet! I’m sure some of you have wondered what in the world is going on and where I’ve gone… or maybe you haven’t noticed… and that’s ok too!
Lately our lives have been all about finding a house and getting a house ready to go on the market. It’s been a crazy amount of work and I fall into bed half dead each night. Moving is horrible and I never want to do it again! And this is ALL I’m doing. I’m not getting ready or preparing for school that’s supposed to be starting. I’m not getting my planning done on the Human Anatomy and Physiology class that I’m teaching in a few weeks. I’ve dropped all my friends. No one has been invited for dinner. We aren’t going to any of our summer concerts (we went to a few early in the summer). I’m not making it to my bootcamp workout class that I LOVE. And my poor kids have lost their summer. They thought we would get to visit some water parks, but we haven’t gotten to a single one… we’ve just been painting walls… again… cleaning windows, and scrubbing bathrooms and fixing the broken corners. Continue reading “Home for Sale”
It’s time for another one of those posts… thinking… Contemplation… philosophizing…. Although I can’t say my thoughts are really all that deep.
Lately our lives have really seemed to be turned upside down. Life is crazy with five kids in a 1000 sq foot townhouse. We have been wanting to move for the last 2 years and have been working in that direction although at a snail’s pace. I’ve felt half moved, half packed, half here and half somewhere else. Not settled. Not home. It’s caused me to feel anxious, not at peace, and a sense of urgency to get to where we are supposed to be. Continue reading “I’ve been thinking…”
We are getting ready to start school here in a few weeks. The last few weeks of summer we are going to milk and have as much summer fun as possible. The kids completed their summer reading program and now have coupons for all sorts of fun things like free put put, free camping, free boat ride, free ice cream, free tickets for the Potomac Nationals and the list could go on!
We are excited to do as many as we can, but even as I type this I’m starting to get a bit nervous for school next year. I’ve thought a lot about what we are going to do, I’ve planned, I’ve researched and I’ve listened to advice, but in the end I have to decide what I think is best for our family and what we feel God calling us to. There are SO many options that it can all be so overwhelming. Continue reading “School Plans 2018/2019”
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about grief… In some ways I think I’ve been moving out of that season and into a new one. Or maybe the current season is so full that I haven’t had time to realize that my heart is struggling. I haven’t taken a moment to do a heart check. To sit. Think. Be. I thought I was doing OK.
But am I?
How is it that I’m going through my day seemingly fine. Everything is normal. Life is it’s new normal. And then “Bam” it hits you like a punch in the gut. Something I saw, something I read, a scripture that comes to mind, or a photograph. And the day is over. It’s all I can do to hold myself together. I want to cry and yell. I want to scream and craw in a dark space all by myself. All in the same moment. Continue reading “The Tenacity of Grief”
The final installation or summary of our mini homeschool retreat is in! I’ve been thinking about this one. There is so much on my mind and so much to say or not to say… Homeschooling in the hard times is the subject of this talk by Elsie Ludicello at the Portland Wild + Free.
We had our own hard times in 2015 and I’m not sure I homeschooled well. I know my kids survived, I know we did what we could, and I know we made it through. But I also know I didn’t really take time to stop and intentionally try to plant some routines that would serve us well and help us get through the tough times. We did slip into some routines that were helpful and did work and were successful. Were they the best options? I’m not sure. Was there something better we could have been doing? I’m sure there was. Continue reading “Homeschool Retreat {Instillation #3}”
A continuation of our retreat, but really a different topic than the last post.
The following are questions from Terri Woods talk from Portland’s Wild + Free Conference:
Why are we homeschooling?
What is the end goal?
What is our family called to?
Such good questions to ask, and often questions I’ve asked and answered in the past, but shouldn’t I re-evaluated every year? Things change and our priorities change, or we start to change our schooling and wander from our goals. Both are normal, and can be the right changes, but sometimes asking these questions help provide clarity with what we are doing and why. Continue reading “Homeschool Retreat {Instillation #2}”
This past weekend a friend of mine scheduled a homeschool retreat for herself and four other homeschooling mamas! I was one of them! It was a WONDERFUL time for conversation, fellowship, encouragement, sharing of ideas and learning of new ideas! Part of what made it so wonderful is that we all have a similar homeschool philosophy. We want our kids to have a love of learning, read lots of amazing books, enjoy being outside and learning about nature, be self motivated, hard working and responsible. Continue reading “Homeschool Retreat {Instillation #1}”
Home of the Hymn of the Month Community
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Striving to preserve what we have graciously been given.
Green & Grateful 