3 hours ago
Showing posts with label Around Here Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Around Here Series. Show all posts
My husband looked at me last week and told me he thought I should seriously consider taking another week of summer before starting our homeschool year. He said he’s never seen me this stressed out going into a school year, and he thought I should take just one more week to do nothing, except whatever would feel inspiring or restful.
Of course I had objections…but then we will have to go another week into May! What if we struggle to get into a homeschool routine before our fall trip to visit friends in a couple weeks? What if we get behind?!
But there was a part of me that knows he knows me best out of anyone. So if he sees that I am a little unhinged right now, he’s probably right. I’d be wise to take his advice.
Instead of breaking out the schedule and books this morning, I slept in, finished reading a book I’ve had in progress for a while, and sat down to write something. You can thank my husband for the existence of this post.
On The Page {Anything I’ve Read}
I’ve been struggling to finish several books this summer, so first on my relaxation to-do list this week is reading those! I just completed this book about personal style, this book on Chernobyl, and I have plans to wrap up this book in the next day or two. For blogs, I’m enjoying old-school posts, and also one with encouragement for homeschooling high school and one warning homeschoolers about vouchers - all linked below.
They Won’t Ban Homeschooling - They’ll Control It Instead
A 2025 Pioneer Woman Writes In Her Diary About July
August’s Letters From The Hearth
I have also been working on having reading time with each of my kids individually, which is no small feat when there are five of them! The consistency is never as good as I want, but it’s a habit I will work on establishing. We’re reading The Hobbit, Little Women, The Swamp Robber, Winnie The Pooh, and The Complete Brambly Hedge.
In My Armchair {Projects I’m Working On}
So many of my personal projects have fallen by the wayside, as we have been running from one activity to another and somehow keeping the house decent and the kids fed in between. However, I did make these adorable beaded fish with my kids this month. They are double-sided, and so much more satisfying to hold than they look.
In The Kitchen {Things We’ve Made}
This has been the summer of me trying to keep my kitchen stocked with fresh fruit - some of which has gone bad because we tried to save it too long, but most of which has been gobbled up almost immediately.
I haven’t done a ton of baking, but my kids have. My daughter has started making chocolate chip cookies (hers are somehow better than mine, though we are using the same recipe). My son has perfected baked oatmeal, and has been preparing breakfast for his siblings every day this week. It’s such a blessing to eat something warm from the oven that I didn’t have to make myself!
I did, however, make pumpkin muffins with fresh-milled grains, and the bags are stored and waiting to be pulled out of the freezer on a busy morning. We also had a “shark week”, and shark cupcakes were in order.
On My Person {Things I’ve Worn}
My heart is starting to turn toward fall fashion, but it’s far too hot outside still. It’s good for me to look through my photos of outfits I enjoyed this summer, since I’ll probably be wearing them for a little while yet!
Despite the temperature, I can’t help eyeing my fall fashion inspiration board. I just finished reading Wear It Well, which talks about picking three words to describe and hone your style - I am analyzing the outfits I’ve pinned and mulling over what my three words should be.
In The Accounts {Money We’ve Saved}
After a July weekend trip, our car started having electrical problems. We took it to the dealership for diagnostic tests, thinking they would have more precise equipment to find the issue. A day later, they gave us a list of fixes that would cost more than we paid for the car! After a little bit of panic, we kept our heads, and took it back to our own mechanic. He replaced one wire, and we replaced the battery, and that seemed to fix the problem. So we “saved” several thousand dollars by not taking the dealership recommendations!
Other than that, I have been saving money by just…not buying things. Instead of doing fall clothes shopping, as I’m always tempted to do in the late summer, I pinned outfits I intend to recreate with my own clothes. I also took my girls window shopping so we could see what the styles are this year, but I didn’t buy anything and thought instead about how I could get the same vibe with clothes I already own.
Out My Window {Beauty I’ve Noticed}
Late summer is such a beautiful time in the mountains. I’m sitting on the porch typing this, and birds are singing all around and hummingbirds keep whizzing past my chair. The sun is shining on the grass, making it turn gold, and puffy clouds float past in a bright blue sky.
I’m especially noticing and appreciating how healthy and full our pine trees look. I’ve noticed alot of beetle kill popping up in surrounding neighborhoods, and I’m so anxious about the health of our trees. We will be keeping a close eye for signs of those nasty pine beetles, but right now our trees look glorious and I’m praying they stay that way.
Out And About {Places We Went}
Yellowstone - We did a camping trip near Yellowstone National Park over the 4th of July! It was a wonderful place to spend the 4th and make memories as a family. There is something special about waking up in a tent.
My grandparent’s cabin - We try to visit my grandparents each summer at their cabin, and it’s always so restful. We just play cards and enjoy their company.
Lots of swimming - The pools have finally closed, but we squeezed in so many swimming days this summer, I feel we really made the most of it!
State Fair - My boys qualified for the shooting competition at the State Fair, and my girls had projects that also qualified. We didn’t go to the actual fair, but we traveled for the competition.
On My Mind {Thoughts To Share}
I sat here for a few minutes trying to decide what to say here. This year has been a difficult one for us, in ways I don’t feel comfortable sharing, and has underscored for us how important the body of Christ is. Nothing we’ve been going through has been worthy of a meal train or more serious help, but we have found encouragement from other believers, in our extended family and our church family. The past few months have also affirmed to us how we ourselves are important in encouraging our local body of believers and building them up. This verse has been a theme this year:
“…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Colossians 2:2-3
Paul is expressing his hope for the church at Laodicea, but these verses have become a refrain for our relationships, both within our house and in our local church family. We want to be “knit together in love” with one another, as our hearts are encouraged in pursuing the wisdom and knowledge of Christ, together. That should be the theme of our attitudes and words toward others - love and encouragement to pursue the knowledge of Christ. So I’ve been mulling over how to do that better in the midst of a stressful season.
In My Heart {Things I’m Treasuring}
-Laughter coming from the playhouse, where my little girls claim they are taking a nap.
-A Joe Diffy song (think old-school country) playing on our record player while my big kids work on crafts.
-The way my flowers perk up after a little watering.
-Thunder in the distance, the promise of rain.
-Lighting a cinnamon candle my husband bought for me on a whim.
-Warm laundry straight out of the dryer.
-Trees swaying in the wind.
-The feeling of turning the last page of a satisfying book.
-My oldest quietly settling next to me on a porch chair, cup of tea and Bible in hand.
On The Page {Anything I’ve Read}
{Bits of many books.} I’ve finished a decent number of books in the last month, and the end is in sight for several more…and none of them have been reviewed or shared yet! Despite my best intentions of sharing books more often in 2025, it just hasn’t worked out that way. Keep an eye out for a reading wrap-up coming soon, but I’ll briefly mention that My Dear Hemlock will be making this year’s favorites list.
In My Armchair {Projects I'm Working On}
{Writing more again.} More on this further down the page, but after months in survival mode, it is time to develop my writing habit again. I miss blogging, but I also have an urge to experiment with other types of writing. I have no solid projects to report, it’s just something I’m thinking about.
{Sorting through clothes.} We are fast approaching the time of year when I need to switch out the kids’ winter clothes, and it’s always a ridiculously large project. I have been putting off donating some of the kids’ cast-offs, so that will be happening in the next couple weeks.
{Pushing ahead in our math books.} Alot of my extra energy lately has been spent on pushing my kids to finish their math books early. Math has truly been the bane of my existence this spring, and I’m ready for us all to be done with it. We can hopefully use our extra homeschool time on art projects or something before summer break. Final math exams will hopefully happen this week!
In The Kitchen {Things We Made}
{Sourdough starter in my fridge.} Technically, I haven’t actually made any sourdough yet, but a friend from church gave me some of her starter, and it is waiting in my fridge until I do something with it this week. I’m not going to lie, I’m scared! But I’m also excited to see if sourdough is something I can add to my repertoire. I’m not expecting immediate success, because baking at high altitude creates a lot of variables.
On My Person {Things I've Worn}
{Spring-ish outfits.} Spring outfits are always a special challenge to me, since it could be 70 degrees and sunny one day, and six inches of snow the next. Here are some recent outfits.
In The Accounts Book {Money We Have Saved}
{Things I didn’t buy.} I don’t have anything amazing to report here this month, except perhaps a brief list of things I was tempted to buy but didn’t:
-Countless books I resisted (for school and otherwise).
-A swimsuit I added to my cart but never purchased.
-Multiple dresses and shirts I admired in the store without feeling an urge to even try them on.
-Jumpsuits and sweaters and pants I tried on, and then talked myself out of.
-Candles I smelled and then put back on the shelf.
I’d also like to give honorable mention to the self-restraint I showed when checking out Forever 21’s going-out-of-business sale - I bought things that my kids or I would actually use or wear, without going overboard just because an item was only going to ring up to $1.10.
Out My Window {Beauty I Noticed}
{Blooming trees and other signs of spring.} The flowers decorating the trees are really all I can think about this time of year…I find excuses to go to town so we can enjoy them. Up in higher elevations we don’t have flowers yet, but the grass has been poking through, the birds are loudly back, and we’ve spotted several robins pulling worms from our dusty ground. We actually need a few more snows or rainy days to avoid fire risk later, so I’m hoping to see some gloom in the forecast, but the sunshine has been truly glorious.
Out And About {Places We Went}
{Sheep Camp 2025}. The most exciting outing lately has been going to Sheep Camp at our friends’ ranch! I’m going to share more details and photos in a different post, so I’ll just include a couple here. The kids were each assigned a sheep to take care of during the two days we were there, and it was a lovely glimpse of what ranch life is really like. It was hard work, but satisfying for them, and full of more than a usual share of fun too!
{Homeschool Day At The Capitol.} I took a couple of my kids to a homeschool event at the state capitol. We had never been before, and it was pretty amazing to get to see the opening of a legislative session, explore our capitol building, and make our faces seen and voices heard to our representatives.
On My Mind {Thoughts I Want To Share}
{On taking a break from writing.} I feel the need to address the elephant in the room (at least it’s an elephant for me) - I have not been writing very much this year.
Our family has been going through alot that I am not comfortable sharing online, and while I know this season will pass, it has sucked all the creative inspiration out of me. I have found myself increasingly disconnecting from the online sphere and anchoring myself more to the real, physical world around me. Chores like vacuuming or folding laundry have a rhythmic comfort to them, batches of sugary cookies or warm loaves of bread help release the tension from my shoulders, sitting in the sunshine does wonders for my mood, and encouragement from friends or family members in a coffee shop or over the phone has been the refreshment I really needed.
So I’m not exactly apologizing for prioritizing those things over my blog, because time spent on the real world is never wasted. But I am sad to be so rusty in my writing habit, and I do miss some of my online connections - which actually are real too when there is a real person who cares to read on the other side. I can’t promise to have alot of high-quality writing at the moment, but I can say that I will get back to at least writing something regularly again, and that is, after all, half the battle.
In My Heart {Things I'm Treasuring}
{1} Snuggly dachshunds, forever puppies.
{2} The end of the homeschool year in sight.
{3} Finally having peace to make some summer plans.
{4} A trip on the horizon to visit dear friends.
{5} My mom, who took me out for coffee and a good talk when I was feeling overwhelmed.
{6} No real car troubles right now (we have been getting car troubles ever spring for several years now, so this feels like a reprieve).
{7} Woodpeckers - they sound like a jackhammer every morning, and they are causing damage to our house, but the fact that they are back is a signal of spring.
{8} Church friends to share encouragement - and gardening tips, and deals on produce, and sourdough starter.
{9} The right to homeschool, representatives who support us, and advocates who keep a watch over legislation.
{10} Resurrection hymns and songs on our speakers this week, as we look ahead to Sunday.
(Note: Affiliate links are used for the books in this post. Thanks for supporting my book habit.)
On The Page {Anything I Read}
{Old-school blogs} I'm trying to get back into reading blogs this month. I've been thinking about that fact that sometimes the only reading we tend to count are books, but many other types of reading are valuable. Shouldn't I be able to count an interesting magazine article, or a short story as part of my reading for the year? And yes, perhaps even blogs? There are other forms of writing we can learn from, be challenged by, and find encouragement within, and I want to honor the time I spend on reading those sorts of things as well. I've especially enjoyed reading The Big White Farmhouse blog, and her "This Week Around The Farmhouse" posts have prompted me to try this new format. I would like to write more in 2025, and sometimes amidst this busier season of life, I make writing too hard on myself. A set format helps.
In My Armchair {Projects I'm Working On}
{Wrapping presents} I actually finished most of my wrapping before December began, but we have a few straggling presents that need to be finished.
{Birthday cards} I started out 2024 very strong on sending out birthday cards to my friends and family, and then I totally dropped the ball over the last 2-3 months. I already sent out my Christmas cards this year, but I would like to attempt to catch up on birthday cards.
In The Kitchen {Things We Made}
{Cinnamon rolls} I made cinnamon rolls from scratch recently, from the recipe in "the red book" as a friend once called it. This is the third time I've made cinnamon rolls - the first time they turned out amazing, the second time they were heavy and dense, the third time was a success again. I have no explanation for this.
{Canning apple butter and apple syrup} A friend from church taught me how to water-bath can this summer, and this is the third time I've tried it. All my jar lids popped within seconds of taking them out of the canner, and I took that as a sign that I am getting better at this. I was fairly freaked out the first time I tried canning, but I'm becoming more and more comfortable with it! Pick up this book if you want to learn how to can preserves safely - it is so helpful, will help you understand the process, and set your mind at ease
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In The Accounts Book {Money We Have Saved}
{Less coffees out} At the end of November, I dropped my kids off at Awana and decided to grab a Starbucks and do a little browsing. I pulled up to the drive through window, and the barista announced the total. It was seven dollars, for a medium-sized coffee. I think the realization suddenly hit me that this is way too many dollars to be dropping on coffee. I could buy a book with seven dollars! I could make the same thing at home for less than a dollar! We've bought far less coffee since.
{Using old wrapping paper} I used to buy new Christmas wrapping paper each year, until I realized that the half-used rolls of wrapping paper were starting to pile up. I decided to not buy any new wrapping paper until I used up our “scraps” - we are now on the third year of wrapping paper scraps! And I think we honestly could get another year out of the wrapping paper we already have. I’m honestly getting a little sick of the same wrapping paper every year. This is what I get for always buying the rolls with the highest square footage, but monotony aside, it does save us money.
Out My Window {Beauty I Noticed}
{Crunchy snow in the trees} We've had more snow than usual this fall, and alot of crunch snow is hanging on back in the trees. Sometimes the "brown months" feel dreary, but it's amazing how even a few patches of snow can make the entire landscape feel cozier.
On My Person {Things I've Worn}
{All the sweaters} Winter is probably my favorite season to dress for - I'm just a sweaters and boots and cozy coats type of girl. These are just a couple outfits I've worn this month - the Santa sweater was for a Christmas sweater contest with my family! I knew I wouldn't win, because my Christmas sweater isn't crazy enough. I first purchased it for a crazy sweater party we hosted years ago, and I thought the Santa's on it were so outrageous back then...but as I get older, I look at that sweater and think, "Is this actually kind of...cute?" My dad says that's a sure sign I'm getting old. But I do kind of like it. I might wear it non-ironically one of these days
Out And About {Places We Went}
{Christmas lights drive-through} We always see this huge Christmas light display on the side of the interstate, and this year we decided to check it out. I let the kids open new Christmas jammies, and after they changed we all piled in the car with some hot chocolate and drove through the display (for a fee). The music that the lights were synced to was nearly unbearable, but it was still pretty cool. We played our own music and enjoyed the experience. I was sure I would get a migraine from all the flashing lights, but I'm happy to report that I didn't.
{Trail of lights} Every year we go to a Christmas "trail of lights" with my family for my dad's birthday, and this year we all wore ugly Christmas sweaters for fun. It was a great time as always. I was appreciating recently how in-sync we are with our extended family - it is a blessing to not have to stress about serious conflict when we get together because we all think alike on so many things
On My Mind {Thoughts I Want To Share}
{A Christmas tradition} I have to mention a tradition we just started a couple years ago. We were in a Christmas picture book phase, and we picked up a book my aunt gave us years ago called "The Last Straw" - it's story about a family that draws names to do special things for each other in secret. My kids decided we needed to try this, so every week of Advent we drew names, and we had a "secret pal" for a week. We each had to do something nice for our secret pal each day (though we nearly always figured out who our secret person was before the week ended). I thought this would be a one-year activity, but my kids have not let us forget it. Every December they look forward to drawing names and secretly doing things for each other. It brings a smile to my face every time I find a cup of hot chocolate precariously balanced on my bed, a baggy of pretzels on my nightstand, or a plate of toast covertly left where I normally sit with my coffee (yes, there is a general trend toward food gifts). I might say that it teaches my kids to appreciate the joy of giving or something, but I'm not going to make it so didactic. It's just a fun little thing we do.
In My Heart {Things I'm Treasuring}
{1} The glow of the Christmas trees, with pajama-clad sillouettes staring up at the branches.
{2} The warmth coming from the wood stove.
{3} Little dogs that must always sit right down next to me.
{4} Christmas packages from friends.
{5} The way the light shines in our windows first thing in the morning.
{6} A healthy amount of outside commitments.
{7} Time just to be.
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