14 hours ago
Showing posts with label Update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Update. Show all posts
Birds are squawking from a pine tree above my head right now. I hear more than see hummingbirds whizzing around my back porch, and I spotted a robin shaking the branches of a bush before alighting on a rock and peering toward me, the mountains behind, blue in the distance.
Every morning that I can I try to start my day with reading my Bible and various other books on my porch. The sun doesn’t hit it directly in the morning, thanks to a leaning ponderosa pine, and so it stays comfortable and cool for several hours. Still, I enjoy it a little later in the morning when the porch becomes too hot to walk on with bare feet. It doesn’t feel like summer until I’ve spent at least some time doing absolutely nothing while soaking up the warmth of the sun.
Here’s what I’ve been doing in the real world so far this summer.
Visiting friends in Idaho. Our friends live on a lake, so they took us kayaking and tubing while we were there! It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip over a long weekend. I also read this book on the way there, and this book on the way back, and both were delightful.
Going to our first airshow in Washington. Our friends suggested we go, and I’m so glad they did, because the whole family loved it. We got to walk inside a cargo plane, we saw several historic planes fly, including one WW2 plane that is the last of it’s kind that still flies in the world (I think maybe it was a P-38?). We watched a daredevil hanging out of a prop plane before skydiving to the ground, we watched a trick plane do loops that seemed impossible. And it was all topped off by flyovers by F-16s that made the ground vibrate.
Attended a homeschool conference. Every year I wonder if I should go to the homeschool conference or not, since at this point I feel like I’ve heard everything there is to say about homeschooling. But every year I go and I’m glad I did. This year I heard this speaker who was new to me, and I so appreciated his perspective on apologetics since he voiced some issues I’ve had with some approaches. Maybe I’ll write more about that sometime.
Our Kentucky friends came into town. We spent almost every day hanging out with our friends while they were here! We went to the pool, went to parks, hung around our house, and just enjoyed spending time together. I’m so thankful for friendships that are solid enough to thrive even long-distance.
Finished up biology dissections. My oldest took biology last school year (this curriculum), and we ended up with some formaldehyde-soaked critters for free because of a shipping error. So we had some friends over to do dissections and just hang out.
Celebrated 4th of July at a baseball game. We were racking our brains for something special to do for America’s 250th birthday. We toyed with the idea of taking a trip somewhere, but we also knew we’d be exhausted after such a busy June, so we opted for a baseball game. It was the right choice - not only was it one of the only places around to see real fireworks this year (because of a high fire risk in the mountains), it was also so fun and patriotic. The crowd was dressed in red, white, and blue garb, we got to sing the national anthem (obviously) and also “God Bless America” at the 7th inning stretch. Then we listened to patriotic music while watching the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen, with a hyped-up crowd cheering all around. 10 out of 10, highly recommend.
Movie nights on the porch. In the summer, every chance we get, we drag out kitchen bench out to the porch, set up our tv on top of it, and settle in with sleeping bags and blankets to enjoy a movie night outside. So far we have watched The Great Awakening - I was skeptical at first but ended up loving it - and the classic, The Sandlot.
Got my hair highlighted and colored. Summer is always the season for a hair refresh for me.
Visiting my grandma for a weekend. I feel so lucky that the kids get to know their great-grandparents - I never got to know mine, and it’s a special thing.
Went to see several movies. We saw The Breadwinner (funny), Toy Story 5 (I enjoyed it), and Young Washington(spectacular). Next on the list is The Brink Of War in August - I love all these historical movies that are coming out lately!
Started a flag quilt. I have not sewn anything in years, but I got it in my head to make a flag quilt like this in honor of the 250th. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to finish it before Independence Day, but the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by most of the delegates on August 2nd, so that’s my new target date.
Rescued a hummingbird that got trapped in our house. Our house is on a very bird-friendly piece of property, so we get quite a lot of hummingbirds each year, and occasionally one will accidentally fly through an open door and get trapped in our house. I cannot tell you how stressful this is, because I have an abiding love of hummingbirds, and I would hate to see one die. This bird exhausted itself trying to get out our skylight, and then eventually landed on our floor, where my husband was able to grab it and take it outside. We gave him a round of applause for saving the bird!
What is not happening right now: any homeschool planning whatsoever. By the end of each homeschool year I am usually thoroughly exhausted, but unfortunately each summer starts with more homeschool stuff because of the conference. Then my mind runs in circles trying to make decisions about curriculum and thinking through my co-op class for the upcoming year, and if I’m not careful I never actually get a break from homeschooling. So I’ve banned myself from doing any planning or buying any curriculum until the beginning of August. July is about doing all the things I never have time for, taking care of my house, going to the pool, and generally just remembering how to be a normal person apart from the “homeschool mom” label. Some homeschool articles may be coming as we approach fall, but not until then.
Upcoming summer fun:
Lots of pool days
Hiking and fishing
Backyard camping in our tent
A bubble festival
Dragon boat races
More movie nights
Lots of reading on the porch
Editing and sorting through photos that have been sitting in my phone
Canning project- probably blueberry jam and apple butter
Baking sourdough again
Painting mugs, and other crafts
Finishing a quilt or two
I’m terrible at ending these chatty posts, so I’ll just ask - what is something that you do in the summer that is just for you? I hope you are hitting just the right balance of summer fun and slowness, as I am trying to!
The sun is shining bright on my face as I walk on a Saturday morning. Birds are chirping in the trees, and the ground is a bit soft after the foot of snow we got three days ago, but aside from that clue you would never guess at the swing from winter back to spring.
Birds are chirping and the breeze sways new buds on the aspen trees as I sit on a bench outside our library and eat a banana. The library opens in a few minutes, and I intend to claim the best table and set up with my laptop and homemade iced coffee.
My husband left the house with the kids this morning. He was out of town all week, and when he arrived home and I burst into tears, he recognized I was falling apart and needed some recovery time. I cried this morning when they left for a hike, feeling left out, but it only took me thirty minutes to remember that this is just what I needed. A day to recover, not just from this week, but from the whole school year. According to my husband, I get like this a little bit at the end of every homeschool year. I pour myself out all year long until there is nothing left. Time is needed to find my footing again.
Writing for my blog is my whole intention for this library visit, but I look at my drafts folder and realize I need to just write, not struggle through editing a rough draft or try to piece together a half-written post into something worthwhile. There will be time for that later, but today, we’re just going to see where this post takes us.
Spring Intention #1: Take time for recovery. Summer is coming, and I want it to be full of fun and memories, and for that I need to build my energy back up. And the only way to do that is to rest. My rules for this unexpected day to myself are:
Do not clean anything.
Spend time in the sun.
No listening to podcasts.
Enjoy the quiet.
Try to move my body a little bit.
Consume (books) and produce (a blog post, maybe a watercolor)
We had our last day of homeschool co-op yesterday, which was a field day. I was in charge of organizing the races, and I think they went quite well! We had potato (grain) sack races, three-legged races, egg-and-spoon races, water balloon toss, back-to-back races, and a blindfold race. The three groups were K-4th, 5th-8th, and high school. I think 5th-8th grade are ideal ages for this kind of thing, at least in this group of sweet, un-self-conscious homeschool kids; the younger group struggled with some of the races but had a grand time anyway, and the high schoolers were a mix of competitive and silly, and hard to organize because they were having too good a time together. But the middle schoolers took the races seriously, organized themselves promptly, and laughed whether they won or lost. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was still fun.
This year I was invited to join the board of our co-op, so this spring has been a flurry of interviews and planning meetings. I have become a pretty organized person over the last several years as my kids have gotten older with homeschooling, but trying to figure out what needs to happen with the co-op, and especially what we need to organize before the fall, has been a challenge. I’m already seeing glimmers of a lesson brewing: being organized is good, but I can’t control everything. Sometimes it’s good to just sit back and see how things shake out.
Spring Intention #2: Let some things go. Do what is required of you, but trust other people to do what needs to be done too. It’s best not to put everything on my own plate, which I am sometimes apt to do. This can lead to a crash-and-burn, and I know that from experience, but it’s easy to forget sometimes. For me this will look like:
Remembering that it’s okay for the house to be messy.
Saying no to some things.
Dropping some of our last lingering homeschool subjects. We’re on the home stretch.
Finishing a little homeschool planning (including a conference in June) - but then putting all thoughts of homeschooling and co-op on hold for a couple months. It’ll keep.
This spring has been rather bizarre when it comes to weather. In March we had multiple weeks of 70+ degree days, which is unheard of in the mountains. April was also quite warm, but then in the last two weeks we have had rain and snow multiple times. I am not sorry at all, because I will take some snow days over a bad wildfire season!
In April we walked around a lake in summer-like weather and got nearly eaten by mosquitos. But it was so nice to be outside and get some sunshine.
Snow in May will be just fine, because it will green up all our grass (which is already looking quite long for this early in the year). But I am so looking forward to more warm days.
Spring Intention #3: Get outside. I have been struggling with some health things this spring, and my energy levels have been non-existent, but whether I’m walking or just sitting, fresh air is invigorating. In the next few weeks before spring blooms into summer, I’d like to:
Take a walk every day.
Read on my porch.
Take the kids to a park.
Throw out some fresh grass and wildflower seeds.
Go on a picnic lunch.
Start some sort of nature journaling.
Buy some bird seed and a new feeder.
Spring is usually a high-energy time of cleaning things out and planning for the summer. I’m shushing that voice that is whispering that I’m getting behind, because it’s okay for spring to not be filled with tasks. This year spring needs to be restful, and quiet, and restorative. So that’s what I’m going to try to make it - before the pools open!
What are your plans for the rest of this spring?
In the old days of blogging, this sort of year-end summary was ubiquitous, and I think we need to bring it back. It’s a great way to share highlights and ideas! My old blog buddy, Michelle, borrowed this format recently, and I am borrowing it from her.
(Photos courtesy of our New Year’s Day winter hike.)
BEST ADVENTURE:
Our travel this year was almost entirely to see friends, and I can’t choose between those trips, so I’m going to say my favorite was our camping trip to Wyoming. We saw 4th of July fireworks in Cody (which were very good for such a small town); visited Yellowstone National Park; walked through geyser pathways with a death-grip on our clumsy kids’ hands; shook our heads at tourists we saw chasing down bears and buffaloes for a picture; almost entirely skipped the Grand Tetons because the traffic was absolutely nuts; had an electrical glitch in our van in Jackson, and held our breaths for the entire ten-hour drive home, but we made it.
BEST MILESTONE:
I have five kids with all their own milestones, but this year we officially have a high schooler. I am a mom to a high schooler. He could technically start driving within about a year on a learner’s permit. It is hard to wrap my mind around it.
BEST FAITH GROWER:
As I’ve mentioned vaguely many times, the beginning of this year was taken up with a health scare. I would like to say I reacted in a perfect, faith-filled way, but I didn’t. I mostly dealt to the anxiety by zoning out with meaningless podcasts or videos, and completely failed in my Bible reading plan. I didn’t pray nearly enough. I couldn’t see my own mismanagement of the situation until I started reflecting on the year over the last month or so, and realized this whole thing was one big spiritual attack, and it was working! The Lord really opened my eyes to the fact that I had been letting go of the most important things, and that was hurting me more than the health issue and anxiety. It has been really humbling, and has reminded me how gracious God is to give me eyes to see anew how much I need Him.
FAVORITE BLOG POSTS WRITTEN:
These were my best posts, in my opinion:
BEST TREND YOU TRIED:
I actually have been trying hard to disconnect my style from trends this year. One thing that is trendy right now, but that I am trying to make more of a normal thing for myself, is to thrift for more of my clothes instead of buying new. I am looking for clothes that are harmonious with my own style (not driven by trends), and that are made with more high-quality fibers, because I would like my clothes to feel less disposable. I have found a “good” thrift store, and I always find something there!
One “trendy” thing that I have been purchasing new is western-style boots - and I have given myself a looser hand with this trend precisely because it is NOT a trend to me! I live in a western state, one of the defining words of my style is “mountain-ish”, and cowboy boots are never out of style here.
BEST BEAUTY PURCHASES:
A couple years ago I actually put myself on a makeup buying ban, because I had a stockpile from various sales already. I finally broke the ban this year and bought a few new non-essential makeup items. These are the ones that have been the best:
This blush has the perfect amount of pigment and looks really natural! Just blend it properly. It’s also a great price!
I rediscovered how a good highlighter can give such a refreshed look. I like these Grinch-themed highlighters - there is a subtle pink one, and a goldfish-white one.
My old standby foundation, and I am on my last tube, so I will be buying more soon. It’s the most precise match I have found for my very-pale skin, and I like the “illumination” variety best.
I am picky about face sunscreens, because if I pick the wrong one I will get acne. This sunscreen is a great base for makeup and not oily!
BEST HABIT YOU CREATED:
This year I started making sourdough bread, which is somewhat of a habit - I can’t let the starter languish too long. A habit I have struggled with and re-established, and which I highly recommend to homeschool/stay-at-home moms, is waking up well before your kids for a cup of coffee and Bible.
BEST NEW RECIPE:
This Christmas I combined this sourdough cookie recipe with this frosting recipe, and added some lemon flavoring to both, and it got great feedback from kids and adults alike! And for the sake of not losing recipes…every year I make thisjalapeño bacon cheeseball for Christmas (my family would stage a mutiny is I didn’t), and this marshmallow frosting-filling recipe is the most perfect one for any variety of sandwich cookies.
BEST LIFE HACK:
I can lay no claim to this hack, as I was actually the beneficiary of it, and it’s not technically a “hack” since it doesn’t make life nicer for yourself but for someone else. But here it is: I think we have lost the art of hostess gifts, and we should make an attempt to bring them back.
I invited a friend’s boys over to our house this fall for an afternoon, and she actually sent them with sunflowers. Just for a little playdate, that I suggested! Then I hosted a last-minute cookies and cocoa event for our co-op because we couldn’t have the party at the church where we usually meet - and this same friend brought me a jar of homemade raspberry jam! In our casual mountain community I’ve never encountered someone who brings hostess gifts, and never thought to bring one myself. While I would never expect a gift as a hostess, it was such a lovely surprise. It made me want to make it a habit to bless others the same way when they host.
BEST NEW TRADITION:
It’s hard to say whether something is a tradition until you’ve done it a few years, and then it isn’t “new” anymore - but I think I can say with confidence that a new tradition this year is having all the kids stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. This is the first year all my kids made it to midnight without falling asleep!
BEST LITTLE LUXURY YOU’VE ENJOYED:
I have been enjoying wearing earrings every day, and the more sparkly the better. I always have worn earrings, but over the last couple years I have added more sparkly earrings to my collection. They instantly make any outfit just a little fancier, and I feel more put together with a little sparkle.
BEST BOOKS:
My top five books would be:
-My Dear Hemlock by Tilly Delahay
-The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
-Everest, Inc. by Will Cockrell
-Every Believer Confident by Mark Farnham
-The Road To Roswell by Connie Willis
I have three book review posts to share in the next couple weeks to finish off all my 2025 books, so watch for those!
BEST MOVIES:
I didn’t see many new movies, but remembered again how much we like these.
Eagle Eye (Re-watched with the kids.)
Jurassic Park (The kids were introduced this year.)
Single On The 25th (A well-done Hallmark movie).
Carry-on (A Netflix thriller that was pretty good).
Oklahoma (Introduced to the kids, and now we all have “Poor Judd Is Dead” stuck in our heads.)
BEST TV SHOWS:
All Creatures Great And Small (Watching with the kids and enjoying it.)
Downtown Abbey (A re-watch).
Shark Tank (Another one of our family shows.)
Outlast (A survival competition show that alternated between fascinating and infuriating us.)
Deal Or No Deal Island (A spin on the old game show. We watched with the kids, and all enjoyed it together.)
BEST ALBUM OR SONG:
Farther Along by Josh Garrels was the top song for me this year, because I found the mood and message comforting after a tough year and sad events this fall.
Here are my top five:
BEST DAY OUT:
My husband booked tickets for my girls and me to see the Nutcracker performed by a big city ballet. I have seen amateur productions before, but seeing a professional performance was a whole other experience! It was worth the ticket prices. I also got into a whole conversation with an older lady while waiting in line, and she told us all about how she has been taking her daughters to the Nutcracker since they were babies. It was neat to be surrounded by so many people who loved the Nutcracker and have made it a tradition, and it was a perfect festive outing for the girls. (My sons got to do a boys camping trip with my husband in the summer, so I didn’t feel bad leaving them out on this one.)
BEST FAMILY MEMORY:
We had alot of good family memories this year. I was going to say the hike we took on New Year’s Day, but then realized that would be a 2026 memory, so instead I’ll say the hikes we took this fall. All hikes are highlights for me for similar reasons. It feels so good to get outside and enjoy the beautiful colors and scenery. I felt driven to get out into nature more than in years past, and there is something healing about the brisk air and sunshine on our faces. We listen to modern hymns and favorite songs on the drive, we find some really pretty hidden glades and meadows together, and we top it off with candy or hot chocolate. The best memories are sometimes the simplest ones.
What were your “bests” of 2025?
The living room is sparkling with Christmas lights and candles, we have polished off the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, and the temperature outside has plummeted. African peanut stew (this recipe) is on our menu tonight, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the season that has just passed before jumping fully into Christmas.
What We Did This Fall
Our fall weekdays were unusually busy, and our weekends were unusually quiet. We started fall fresh off a trip to Idaho. Our church friends recently moved there, and we went to visit them. I’ve never driven that far north before and was so fascinated by how different the forests were from home. The tree were taller, the needles were different, and even though it was quite dry the air felt more humid. We stayed on a lake, and my children learned how to kayak, and it was a wonderful way to end the summer
.On the way home from Idaho we made a detour to Glacier National Park. My husband has wanted to go there for years, but it was always too far out of the way, so this was our chance! It was a really interesting park to visit - very forested, very mountainous. If you are approaching from the west, you will drive through Kalispell, and Flathead Lake is absolutely huge and breathtaking in itself. Entering the park itself doesn’t feel very impressive at first, but you should definitely try to get a time slot for Going-To-The-Sun road, because it is absolutely worth the drive. The road winds through all these sharp mountains, up a mountain pass with gorgeous views, and beside two beautiful lakes. You can access some pretty cool hiking trails along the road too - we only had time for one, but it was to a waterfall.
Once we arrived home I was immediately thrown back into our homeschool co-op, and I am teaching the middle and high school history for the first time this year. We are learning ancient history, and I think it’s going pretty well. As I type this I am pushing down some anxiety in the back of my mind about the fact that I need to create the fall exam before the kids have to take it on Friday, but it will get done.'
My middle daughter turned ten this fall, and we always throw a friend birthday party for the kids when they turn ten. I chose the easy option and made it a harvest theme, which my daughter was perfectly happy with. We have cupcakes with leaf toppers, leaf scratch art, and beaded corn crafts from Hobby Lobby. I served chili, pickle chips, and pumpkin dip with apples, and we had a campfire with s’mores even though it was sprinkling rain.
We did take some time to go to our local corn maze this fall after skipping it last year, and it was worth the ridiculously high admission. We all came away with pumpkins from the patch, sore feet from walking all through the maze, and the contented type of tired from a fun day together. It was especially delightful for me to see how seriously my older kids took the maze this year.
October was a flurry of chopping wood for the winter and hunting seasons. My husband got a deer and my son got his first elk. Our freezer is pretty full and I am grateful.
We offered to host Thanksgiving for my husband’s parents this year. It was only my second time making a turkey, and my first time making the entire meal myself. I found the trickiest part was getting and keeping everything hot at the same time - the sweet potatoes could have used a little microwaving, but overall it was a success.
Here I am going to explain how I brined the turkey, because I forgot how I did it last time and I want to remember for next time. After defrosting the turkey, remove the neck and innards. Soak it in a solution of water and salt - about half a cup of salt to a gallon of water. Throw some thyme, rosemary, lemon, and cranberries in the brine too (I’m not sure the cranberries did much, but they made it look pretty). Let it soak overnight, up to 24 hours. Remove the turkey from the brine, rub the skin with butter, put a sliced apple and half an onion inside it. Fill the bottom of the turkey bag with carrots, celery, and onion to act as a rack, then put the turkey in. Seal the bag according to the package directions, cook for four hours at 350 degrees, and presto! Flavorful, not-dry turkey.
As we gathered around the table, the Christmas lights already twinkling in the background because we set up our tree the weekend before Thanksgiving, my middle son cheerfully suggested we should all say something we were thankful for. None of us could cover every gift we have received of course. My son chimed in with “I’m thankful for everything!” and that is the closest anyone could come to expressing everything that needs to be said, even if it might feel a little bit like cheating. Everything we have is a gift from God, and we are thankful.
Fall 2025 Favorites:
Beverage: Coffee, just plain coffee,
Meal: Chicken noodle soup, with Grandma noodles of course.
Show: All Creature Great And Small with the kids.
Movie: You’ve Got Mail, we watch it almost every fall and I love it every time.
Activity: Fall hikes in our mountains, and we took several this year.
Book I Read: The Vanishing At Castle Moreau by Jamie Jo Wright - delightfully creepy, but it all turned out alright.
Read-aloud: Anne Of The Island by L. M. Montgomery. We always start a new Anne book in the fall. I’m not sure if we’ll continue into the next books after Anne is all grown up, but we might. I find several of the situations in which Anne finds herself in this current volume are instructive for the teenage years.
Looking Forward To In December:
Family Gatherings: Particularly a “trail of lights” we do with my family every year, and seeing my grandmother in a couple weeks.
Christmas Crafts: I purchased clay snowmen to make, cups to paint, and ornament supplies.
Singing Hymns: I’ve been attempting to learn an old, but new-to-us, hymn with the kids each year. A couple years ago we did “Good Christian Men, Rejoice”, which I think every family should learn because it’s a very enthusiastic song for the younger crowd. Last year we learned “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”, which is more somber, but the lyrics really convey the gravity of what Jesus did in becoming a baby. This year we will learn “Gently Mary Laid Her Child”.
Christmas School: We will lighten up on some of our subjects and fill in the gaps with some more festive activities, or put a Christmas spin on some things. I’m still in the planning stages. This Christmas booklist will be used heavily with my little girls.
Sunday School Christmas Party: We still attend a good ol’ fashioned Sunday School, and we will be caroling at our Christmas party this year. I have very fond memories of caroling as a child. If you have never caroled, I hope you get the opportunity someday. The way the door slowly cracks open, and a look of suspicion turns to happy surprise (and sometimes even tears) is something to behold. I hope that some of those memories of giving unexpected joy to a stranger will be formed for my kids this year.
What was your favorite part of fall, and what are you looking forward to in December?
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