Weekend Work

We had a productive weekend! Friday evening Jeremy brought home a friend's dingo, and by Sunday evening we were finishing up our front walkway.

Christmas Pictures...

I love Christmas pictures. I mean, it's only the second most stressful thing, right? Ha!

A Honey-Do List for Upstairs

The kids need to move upstairs, y'all. Not only do they need their own rooms (all three are in one downstairs, and Noemi is in our room), but I need my own room! We need the space too. We're all tired of being cramped downstairs. So we've been working upstairs and it's progressing quickly on Jeremy's side of things and slowly (so, so slowly) on my side.

The Idealist without Ideals

Garden Eating ~ Eowyn's Scrambled Eggs

Eowyn is usually left inside with the two littles while Gideon and I head outside to milk the goats. Sometimes, she'll decide to make some breakfast. She likes cooking, and the littles will watch a Puffin Rock or Sarah and Duck on Netflix. Usually, it's simple. Like oatmeal, or boiled eggs. But then the other day, I told her she could make some scrambled eggs with onions and spinach from the garden. She loved this idea!

Simplifying House Chores

Chores outside are fun, and everyone in my house fights over who gets to do them, but indoor chores are not met with the same enthusiasm. Mostly because there aren't any crazy chickens trying to land on your shoulders while you're making the bed.

20 More Useful Christmas Gifts

The News Around Here...

Ah-ha! (That was said triumphantly, not like I just found something. Just wanted to be clear.) I'm back! And I survived school starting. Woohoo! We had a great first full week, loved it all and now we're spending the weekend resting and doing whatever it is we want to do.

Graceful Parenting

Sometimes I think I give my kids too much grace.

Or maybe I have a skewed understanding of grace. Maybe we all do.

Simplifying Kids' Clothes

Back story: About twice a year, my Mom and I head to the Christian Ministries here and buy the kids' seasonal clothes. It's only a $1 per item there. I also don't have to worry about those clothes, making sure the kids don't get them dirty, etc. Those $1 clothes are for playing and living, they don't have to be perfect.

A Homeschool Day in the Life

(This was an exceptional day, and it actually happened!)

Christmas 2014

Christmas is such a lovely symbol of what was and is to come. Santa is a symbol of God coming. He steals into our homes, like a thief in the night, but instead of taking, he gives. He gives gifts of grace, for our enjoyment, and gifts of mercy, for our use. He doesn't just give gifts to the deserving, but to the undeserving as well. (Even though there is a popular myth and song that insist he gives only to the good children.) Because, really, none of us deserve any gifts. But Santa gives anyway. Out of love for us, and out of love for our Savior. Giving gifts to children is Santa's way of announcing the Gospel. The gifts he brings are symbols of the gifts that Christ gives. And I bet coal was given, not to judge the children, but to remember the death that saved us.

Making Christmas

Santa comes to our house.

If you don't believe, he won't come, so we can't prove to you he's real.

But we believe, and he comes. Every year on Christmas Eve.

I believe more in him now than I did when I was a kid, actually.

Useful Christmas Gifts

Goat Wrangling

Twice in the past week, I've had to wrangle the goats back into their fence. Twice! They like to get out after they've eaten and while the chore person is looking the other way.

How to Prepare for Baby #4!

Only a little more than a week until my due date now! Wahoo!

Birds of a feather....

Our birds have begun calming down! At least, as far as 24 birds can calm down. They wander all over our front yard, and the guineas even wander in the horse pasture behind our house. But come evening time, when we walk out the front door, they all gather around and escort us to the garage-turned-barn. In the mornings, we let them out after the goats have finished eating. Otherwise, the chickens will jump on the goats' backs and try to get into their food bowl.

Our First Week of Homeschool

After our first day at Classical Conversations, it was time to begin our school work at home! Not everything went as planned, but that was mostly because we had a birthday during our first week, and we don't usually do school work on birthdays. We also are having a very busy month! The kids and I went from leaving the house 3 times a week, to leaving 7 times a week. Not exactly what I planned! I'd love to streamline the schedule, but I don't think that will happen until after the baby is born. Our gas bill is going to skyrocket!

How to Steal Honey...



Run really fast! Or send your 8 year old out to the hives looking like this:

Crowder Peas, please!

Grandma and Granddaddy went on an adventure one day and brought us back 10 pounds of crowder peas. Woohoo! But then we realized what came next....