So you want to become a Pirate?

Ahoy there, scurvy dogs! This week our reading adventure mingled with a super fun field trip…The Midlands Pirate Festival! All week our kids were talking pirate speak and daddy sat down to read the littles the very famous How I Became a Pirate by our beloved author David Shannon in which a little boy discovers [...]

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Spiritual Weeding

I’ve been meaning to do a post about the act of spiritual weeding for over a year now. The draft has been sitting in my dashboard and occasionally I sit down and try to pen my heart on this issue. It is such a rich discussion and I think of it everytime I am in [...]

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Roommates

Meet our new roommates…. Squirmy and Fred, our monarch caterpillars… and Dooky (don’t ask!), our salt marsh caterpillar. I was so excited to finally find some Monarch caterpillars. So looking forward to the exquisite jade green and gold chrysalis they make. By far my favorite caterpillar to keep and feed! Thank you, God, for the [...]

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Less Screen Time

So I have in my head this great weekly wrap up on the rocks and minerals unit study we are doing right now. (Sorry, you’ll have to check back next week! But instead I spent much more time doing this… and this… and much less time on my computer. Life is good!

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Small Town Hospitality in Swedeburg, Nebraska

This past Sunday I got a true taste of small town life in the country! What to do when someone invites you to a church picnic of a church you’ve never attended? Go, partake, and enjoy small town hospitality! It was a beautiful day. The smell of pulled pork tantalized the senses. And the music [...]

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Learning the Bible ~ When It’s NOT Boring!!!

Do you ever sit in Sunday School (do they still do that?) and yawn as you listen to the teacher drone on about stories that you’ve hear a million, bijillion times??? Do you ever wonder if there are other stories in the Bible? Stories about cool things and weird things and people God was using [...]

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Ode to 16 Years…

A Romantic Ode to the One I Love!!!   You went in to work at six in the morn just as if this special day had never been born. No love weekend get-aways to Maine or to Spain… In fact, dishes are waiting me still in the drain.   It’s been sixteen years since you [...]

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Living Math: Dominoes

My budding learners are loving using Math Lessons for a Living Education book. They enthusiastically complete the worksheets and are ready to move on to the next story. But I’m not ready for them to. I notice that while they complete the sheets correctly they have yet to grasp the concept of true number recognition. [...]

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Read Aloud Thursday: Kevin Henkes

I was invited last week to participate in Amy’s Read Aloud Thursday’s at Hope Is The Word. Time ran away from me but I decided this week I would give it a go. I love reading other’s reviews of books. They are always so helpful in my library selections. So I am excited to share in [...]

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Sometimes it’s in the little things…

Sometimes life is crazy. I can’t help but look around and feel overwhelmed…overstimulated…overworked. The list goes on. And sometimes I just need to focus. My life this week has been crazy. Good crazy…filled with wonderful people crazy. When I know my littles need my attention on them and not on the million house tasks I [...]

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Take the $5 Challenge

This showed up in my email today: I want to eat healthy, local food but I have no time, not much money and no clue how to pull it off. What can I do?” – pretty much everyone Yes..yes…have heard this SO many times, often from my own mouth. I’ve done A LOT in the [...]

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Camping in the front yard…

Sounds like a good idea, right? Ahhh…memories of my childhood…running around the backyard with friends until 3 in the morning…practical jokes that weren’t so funny to some…eating junk food by the bucketfuls. Glad to pass on the tradition. The kids were super excited tired and in pajamas, ready for bed by 6:30…amazing! Music by the [...]

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To Test or Not to Test…Should I Test My Homeschooler?

Many homeschoolers must test due to state regulations. Many homeschoolers choose to test to track progress and fill in educational gaps. Many homeschoolers educate at home precisely to avoid testing. Which is right? As with many hot topics in the homeschooling community, I don’t know if there is a right or wrong answer. Our state [...]

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My Cherry Vampire Princess

I vant to suck your blood…” Pale skin, glassy eyes, fresh cherry juice dripping from the chin… Claudia from Interview with a Vampire has nothing on this little girl! My little Cherry Vampire Princess!

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In Which Literature Captures Us and We Read Great Classics…

This week has seen a flourish of literature. As we study Mark Twain in the historical sense of post Civil-War and the invention of steamboats and the Mississippi River, we couldn’t very well not read Tom Sawyer! Gabe has been reading it on his own and we listened to parts of it out loud on [...]

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Charlotte Mason Grammar ~ Free Language Lessons

Looking for a Charlotte Mason Grammar book that’s gentle yet thorough? Something with substance yet delightful to look at? A book that  you can curl on the couch and read conversationally? Well, then do I have some gems for you! Today my oldest daughter (7) came to me requesting the grammar books we used to [...]

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Farm Fresh

The first sweet corn of the year off the farm in Nebraska. Thank you Matt at Melia Valley Gardens! Oh how lovely…shiny silk threads beckon…come…partake!!! My kids feasted in happiness, butter dripping down their chins. I literally had to hoard one piece away to save for the hubby when he got home from work. The [...]

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