3 hours ago
A hummingbird just whirred past my window - I can't see it, but there is no mistaking that characteristic sound of summer. We just got back from a Memorial Day barbecue with some friends from church, the first day this year that I've actually felt like we needed some sunscreen. There is a rhythmic beating sound outside my window and laughter as the kids practice their fledgling basketball skills. I have a La Croix next to me, coconut of course, as I sit on my couch in a messy room, but it can wait because I haven't written an update post in forever.
We finished the homeschool year a couple weeks ago, and the last couple weeks have been about catching up on all the house projects that have fallen by the wayside. I switched out all the kids' clothes last week (a full day project, if you include laundering time), I cleaned out all the school cabinets and packed away curriculum that we won't need for next year, and I've washed all the linens, which was overdue. The kids cleaned out their toy boxes and closets, I dropped off a bunch of stuff at goodwill, we bought flowers and vegetables and got most of them in the ground. We brought out all the summer outdoor cushions for the chairs, put up the umbrella over our porch table, and hung up the hummingbird feeders. I've been making lists of items that need to be bought for summer crafts and summer treats, freezing Koolaid cubes for those hot summer days, overseeding the lawn, and putting together a "summer binder" (full of 'I'm bored' lists, chore lists, etc).
It's been a busy couple of weeks!
In between all that, I've been carving out a little time for fun projects that I haven't had time to do during the school year. I finished a couple books that I've been working on for a while, I tried a scone recipe (fail), I've gotten back to the gym after a months-long break, and I made some clay earrings (just for fun, and to give to family and friends). These little watermelons and flowers were fun to make, and I think clay earrings may be an interesting creative outlet for me in the months to come.
I'm looking forward to the summer, but to be honest the real relaxation of summer doesn't truly start until June is over. The next two weeks will be full of homeschool planning and window shopping before the homeschool conference we have every year in June. The homeschool conference is exhausting but worth it - you can read some reasons why I think you should attend a homeschool conference, if you get the chance, here. We've also got a couple weekend trips in there, a whole week of VBS, and a library book sale, and several playdates in June. And oh, my birthday. I'm not sure why, but everything always gets scheduled in June, and July is the time for kiddie pools and serious summer reading.
Speaking of reading, I made a whole stack of books I want to read in the next couple months, and it's a little out of control, as always. There are several summer releases that I'm hoping come in from the library soon, a friend and I are reading The Hiding Place together, and I'm planning to read Everyone Brave Is Forgiven with my penpal and friend, Felicia. Then I want to participate in a Youtube read-along (on this channel) of Moby Dick. Ever since I found out that R. C. Sproul's favorite book was Moby Dick, I've wanted to read it, but it's a doorstop for sure. I'm hoping to find a copy at the aforementioned library sale.
Other happenings around our house: Derek built an office for himself in a corner of our garage this spring. Ever since Covid - so THREE YEARS ago now - he has been working in nooks and crannies around our house. He actually started out in our walk-in closet, but that was too cramped, so he moved to a corner of our room, then to the loft. After three years of us trying to be quiet for him and not quite succeeding, we finally decided this work-at-home thing was hear to stay, and we needed a more permanent solution. We had some wide shelving in a corner of the garage, and a window, so he just tore down some of the shelving, put up a couple walls, laid down a carpet remnant, and voila - a beautiful, perfect little office. I honestly don't know why we didn't think of this sooner! The kids don't have to be as quiet (or not) anymore, and the whole family still gets to benefit from Derek's two-second commute. Win, win.
For the next six weeks or so, Derek is going to do weekly basketball lessons with the kids. My sister is going to bring her kids over for lessons too, and I think everyone is looking forward to it. I'm also hoping we have time for some swimming lessons for the younger kids this summer, which we mostly do ourselves because it's more cost-effective that way. Our oldest is attempting to grow some vegetables in straw bales this summer. I never knew this could be done, but he discovered it in a book he found at the library, and we decided this may be a way that we can actually grow some things in our rather arid corner of the mountains. I'm optimistic! My dad reports that his mom grew green beans and carrots up here back in the day, but she had a significantly greener thumb than me.
It feels like I'm cutting this post short, but it's nearly dinner time and I think I need to wrap this up so we can enjoy the last bit of this long weekend as a family. I have plans to pop on here more often this summer, but no promises for June! June is the same as December around here, chock full of exhausting fun.
Hope you all are having a lovely start to the summer too, and my there be ore summer relaxation in your near future than mine!
This spring has been quite a good reading season for me. I've read 15+ books, and I've quite enjoyed almost all of them! I'm going to attempt to catch up in a two-part series over the next couple weeks - these are my Spring Reads, round one.
A Strange Habit Of Mind by Andrew Klaven - This was the second book in Klavan's series about a professor named Winter as he investigates the death of a former student and finds himself caught up in exposing the secrets of a dangerous billionaire. I really am enjoying this series, but this particular book had an adult scene that was a little too explicit for me personally (though pretty mild compared to other books I've had to quit on). I'll probably read the next book in the series, but I'll be a little cautious in recommending it because of that.
Counterfeit Kingdom by Holly Piveck - This is a book about the New Apostolic Reformation - it gives the history of the movement, and a thorough look at their false doctrines with biblical refutation and warnings. Highly recommend if you've ever wondered what is exactly wrong with Bethel-type churches or found yourself hurt by this troubling branch of the Charismatic Movement.
100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson - This story is a middle grade fantasy. Henry goes to visit his cousins, and finds himself in an attic room with a wall of mysterious cupboards. Soon he and his cousin Henrietta discover that each cupboard leads into a different world - and they accidentally unleash an evil witch in the process. Really imaginative and interesting tale, but I probably would save this for the older end of the middle grade age range because the peril and evil of the villain was pretty palpable. The narrator on the audio version is also amazing.
Honey For A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt - I listened to this all in one day that included alot of driving and cleaning - I thought she had some wonderful thoughts on sharing books with children and making it a meaningful part of family life. Listening to it was the way to go for me - I don't think I would have finished it in a physical format. However, I do have the ebook version so I can consult her book lists as well!
The Cure For Unjust Anger by John Downame - This is a book by a Puritan author about righteous and unrighteous anger, how to tell the difference, different causes of unjust anger, and how to overcome them. I think this is one of the most helpful books I've read on anger. Instead of suggestions of controlling the environment or eliminating "triggers", this book goes right to the heart of unjust anger and offers biblical encouragement to fix our eyes on Christ. Very good.
The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace - This was a highly practical and helpful book on how to be a better wife by submitting in a biblical way. Submission is a touchy subject for alot of women, and many might find some of Martha Peace's suggestions offensive, but she backs everything up with Scripture which makes her advice hard to ignore. I think this book has already had a positive impact on my marriage, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again.
The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier - I started this on vacation last fall, and just realized I never finished it - in the middle of a personal identity crisis, the main character happens to run into a man who looks exactly like him - and before we know it, the rogue has knocked him out and switched places with him. As the protagonist takes Jean Pierre's place in his privileged life, he soon discovers that the mysterious stranger has problems much worse than his own. The ending was not exactly happy, but you get the feeling everyone's going to be okay, and I quite enjoyed it. This is the third of Du Maurier's novels that I've read, and she is masterful at painting that gothic atmosphere in her books.
Skeletons On The Zahara by Dean King - This is the story of men in the 19th century who were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, and found themselves enslaved and trekking across the desert with a group of nomads, before finally being sold back to an associate and therefore rescued. This story was fascinating, and it's amazing how much the men suffered without dying - extreme thirst and starvation while traveling across the Sahara desert. It was also interesting to read about how the nomadic tribes survived in such a harsh environment. I thought the last quarter of the book became a little bit slow and hard to follow as the men were split up, encountered and sold to different groups, etc, but I'd recommend it if you are interested in harrowing survival and travel stories.
I think that it enough books for one post! Most of these I read in February and March, so I'll get to my recent reads in the next post. There are quite a few more books to share, so stay tuned!
Picture books have a way of bringing all the unique elements of each season to life, so that after enjoying a season through books, you tend to notice the changes around you a little more. Books can bring a season to life in vivid color and add to our memories of different times of the year.
Spring has never been my favorite season, because where I live it tends to be mostly mud and brown. But we dived into spring picture books this year, and I think these picture books have added to my appreciation of spring. Maybe it is mostly mud and brown in the spring, but eventually, little bits of green do start to poke through - and that’s really the fun of spring, isn't it? It's like a treasure hunt.
Here are some of the books that have brought spring to life for us this year! I may add more to this post as I find more springtime books.
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Annie And The Wild Animals by Jan Brett - Annie's cat disappears, and she tries to attract a new pet with food at the edge of the woods...but ends up attracting a bunch of wild animals! Thankfully her cat, Taffy, reappears after having her kittens in the spring. This book captures that transition between snowy winter and spring.
Cozy by Jan Brett - This is a story about a bunch of animals that hide from the winter wind in a muskox's fur until spring. This is a nice winter-to-spring transition book.
And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano - I love this book, because it perfectly captures that awful waiting for all the brown to turn to green!
An Egg Is Quiet/ A Nest Is Noisy/ A Seed Is Sleepy by Diana Aston - All three of these books are nature-journaling style, with gorgeous illustrations of different specimens and text diving deeper into each topic. They are all three perfect for spring!
Worm Weather by Jean Taft - This book has particularly cute illustrations, following two kids through rainy weather - “worm weather” - along the sidewalk, to a pizza shop, and to a playground after the rain starts to lighten.
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart - This book follows a young girl who must temporarily move to the city to help with her uncle's bakery - but she loves gardening, and finds a way to grow things in the city too. The story is told through a series of letters to her parents and grandmother, and it's very sweet.
Spring Is Here by Will Hillenbrand - Mole is trying to tell Bear that spring is here, but Bear won't wake up - so Mole makes him a stack of pancakes. I thought the illustrations in this were really cute. The vocabulary is simple, so I'd recommend it for the younger crowd especially.
Fletcher And The Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson - A little fox misunderstands the seasons in this book series - in this spring book, Fletcher mistakes springtime blossoms for snow. My littler girls (5 and 7) especially like these books.
I'm A Duck by Eve Bunting - The story of a little duck who must overcome his fear of water. It's adorably illustrated!
The Biggest Puddle In The World by Mark Lee - Two kids go to stay with their grandparents, but it rains for days. When they leave the house they go on an adventure to find the biggest puddle in the world. This would be a great book for a jumping off point in discussing the water cycle.
Watersong by Tim McCanna - This book has beautiful, colorful illustrations, and is very sparse on words. It's fun for younger kids, but also interesting if you use it to discuss onomatopoeia with older kids, since most of the words are sounds of water during a rainstorm.
The Song Of Spring by Hendrik Jonas - A tiny bird forgets his spring song, and accidentally summons a host of animal friends until he finally gets it right! This is a cute one for the younger crowd.
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak - This is part of a series of books that really capture the transition time between seasons!
A Packet Of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson - In this book, a family moves to the prairie, but the mother finds herself depressed with a new baby while being away from her family and friends. Her kids come up with a plan to help her by planting a garden. Really sweet story, and beautiful illustrations!
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney - This book is a classic, but I hadn't actually read it before this year. Miss Rumphius wants to do two things - travel the world, and then settle down by the sea - but her grandfather tells her she also needs to do one more thing - make the world a little more beautiful. Flowers are involved and it feels very springy.
Sheep In A Jeep by Nancy Shaw - The illustrations in this book make it feel spring appropriate, because there are pictures of soft grass, dirt roads, and mud. This one made my kids laugh with it's funny illustrations and simple, short poem.
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss - Another simple classic for the younger crowd. A little boy plants some carrot seeds and tends his garden faithfully even when nothing comes up.
In The Garden With Dr. Carver by Susan Grigsby - A great spring book with a little history tie-in. A group of children meet George Washington Carver and he teaches them about all the things that help a garden to flourish.
Tops And Bottoms by Janet Stevens - We read this book for the first time this year, and my kids loved it! Hare hoodwinks Bear into letting him grow crops on Bear's land. The tricks are fun, but this is also a story about being willing to work hard to reap a reward.
The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown - An imaginative story about digging a tunnel under a mountain. This book is a fun one if you have any kids interested in construction equipment, since digging equipment has a big feature in the story.
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton - This story spans all the seasons as it follows the life of a little house in the country as the city builds up around her. This book feels like a good one for the season since it starts and ends with spring.
My Nana's Garden by Dawn Casey - A story about a girl's memories in her Nana's garden. After her grandmother is gone, she grows up but still brings her child to the garden. Really sweet book about growth and loss and change, with lovely illustrations.
Spring Parade by Camelia Kay - This is a really pretty spring book, all about the "firsts" of Spring.
Planting A Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith - All about how seeds are spread and planted naturally throughout nature, but it starts with a vegetable garden and I think it's an interesting topic to discuss at this time of year.
Mossy by Jan Brett - This is the story of a turtle that grows a beautiful garden on her shell, but unfortunately that ends up taking her away from her turtle love and lands her in a museum. A really cute book, and it's fun to read a non-wintery book from Jan Brett!
Sylvester And the Magic Pebble by William Steig - A wacky story about a donkey who finds a magic pebble and accidentally turns himself into a rock...until his parents have a spring picnic and accidentally help him turn back into a donkey! This one is imaginative and fun, with a little spring tie-in.
Washday by Eve Bunting - In this book, a girl visits her grandmother when her mom is about to have a baby, and helps her grandmother with the laundry. This is an interesting look at the old-fashioned way of doing laundry, and it ends with a tea party.
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown - This book is a classic, about a little bunny that wants to run away - but no matter where he goes, his mother will follow him. It definitely has a spring vibe.
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring! by Kazuo Iwamura - Mick, Mack, and Molly follow the melting snow down a stream and into a big lake, until they are rescued by ducks and have a spring picnic with their parents. Cute story!
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting - A little girl carries a "garden" from the grocery store and plants it into a flower box for her mother's birthday.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown - This book was inspired by an old elevated railway in New York that has been somewhat taken over by plants - the author imagines what it would be like if plants were cultivated in more out-of-the-way places in the city. This book is colorful and imaginative!
Water Is Water by Miranda Paul - This book goes through all the different forms water takes as the seasons change. I love the illustrations in this one!
Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall - A farmhouse sees all the phases of a family of twelve kids, before it is abandoned and starts to decay. The author of this book based it off an actual old farmhouse she explored, including actual scraps of fabric and paper from the farmhouse in her illustrations, in an attempt to honor everything this old house must have witnessed before it was torn down. This book is a little bittersweet, but it's full of family life and plants and memories, and we enjoyed it alot.
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For convenience, I created a printable list of all the books in this post! You can click here to access the file.*
Enjoy! And Happy Spring!
*You may print off copies for your family's use. No redistribution allowed in print or digital format.
Sharpening Shares is a long-neglected series on the blog in which I share various Christian resources I have found spiritually edifying lately. These are some of our family's recent favorites!
Paul Washer's Studies In Proverbs Lessons - Paul Washer leads a proverbs Bible study for children and young adults and up through this podcast - there are 89 lessons covering the first four chapters of Proverbs (at least so far). These lessons are so thorough and offer so much wisdom to my kids - and me too! I would recommend this as especially helpful starting in 4th grade, but my younger kids listen in with some Bible verse coloring sheets. You can also watch video versions here, and I was excited to see that Paul Washer just recently started recording lessons again starting in Chapter 5!
Catechism Music from Brian Sauve - The kids and I have been working on memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism for years now (it's a marathon, not a sprint). We recently starting listening to Sauve's catechism songs on Spotify, and I like how easy these are to listen to - they'd even be nice to just play in the background around the house.
Chapel Library - I was recently made aware of Chapel Library, a ministry that will send you FREE Christian literature each month. You just sign up for an account, select which books or pamphlets you want them to send to you, and checkout for free! I tried them out last month and selected several tracts, some catechism booklets for my kids, and a few pamphlets from authors such as Charles Spurgeon, A. W. Pink, and J. C. Ryle. They have a whole lot more available to request and also a great free app where you can listen to audio versions of alot of the literature!
Loving The Lost Prayer Guide - A friend of mine from our church recently made me aware of this handy little booklet from the International Mission Board. This guide gives information and prayer prompts for 52 unreached people groups around the world. We use a curriculum that teaches world history and geography with an emphasis on praying for different countries around the world, and it's been a really meaningful part of our homeschool lessons. I love that this prayer guide is so compact and will hopefully help us continue that habit through the summer months! Also, I forgot to mention, you can order the booklet for free.
To Seek And To Save by Sinclair Ferguson - This is a devotional for the weeks leading up to Easter, and I am enjoying it - each day has reflections on Jesus's own travels toward Jerusalem leading up to His sacrifice on the cross for us. Ferguson pulls out great points of personal reflection, but I really appreciate how this devotional concentrates on pointing us to Jesus, not ourselves. I'm sure it'll make an appearance when I eventually write an April book roundup, as I'm on track to finish it by Easter Sunday! Bookmark it for next year.
Facing The Cross: A Homeschool Morning Time And Family Worship Guide For Holy Week - Since we are currently in Holy Week, let me remind you of this free guide to reflect on the cross and the Resurrection this week as a family! We haven't worked through this before, but I'm planning on using it with my kids this week.
As someone who watched the Duggars way back in the day, I was curious when I saw Jinger on Allie Beth Stuckey's podcast recently, talking about why she now disagrees with the teachings of Bill Gothard that her family followed growing up. I had never even heard of Bill Gothard, so I was interested to read what she had to say.
I was hoping for a couple things from this book. First, I hoped to see a biblical examination of the teachings of this Gothard guy. Second, I was keeping an eye out to see if Jinger was going to be throwing her parents under the bus, which I hoped she wouldn't do, since I do think that even as adults we are called to honor our parents, albeit in a different way than when we are children.
I thought this book lived up to my hopes in alot of important ways, and didn't in a few small areas. Though I think Jinger did give a good amount of scripture in addressing why she now disagrees with alot of Gothard's teachings, in some areas she did not do a thorough job of it, or her current positions didn't seem well thought-out.
The best example of this is in Chapter 3. Gothard's most infamous teaching is against any type of preventing of pregnancy, and the "quiver full" verse in Psalms 127:5 is often quoted to support this. Jinger briefly says that "not everyone's quiver is the same size, therefore birth control is a gift from God to wisely regulate the size of your family". I put that in quotes because that is almost exactly what she said, though there may be a slight variation because I had to type it out while listening to the audiobook - please excuse any slight mistake.
I think that phrase I italicized above is definitely a jump. I wouldn't necessarily agree that birth control in general is a gift from God, and I can't think of anything in the Bible to support that statement. The morality of the birth control pill and IUDs in particular is questionable at best. The pill's affects on society have been quite mixed. If we are talking about trying to wisely plan the size of a family by abstaining, natural family planning, barriers, etc, I don't personally see anything wrong with that biblically, but hormonal, abortifacient birth control is quite a different story. Jinger makes no distinction in what she means by "birth control". Unlike most of the book, this is one position she takes that she really doesn't explain scripturally at all, which makes it seem like more of a reaction against Gothard and the way this teaching has harmed people, rather than a well researched position. I agree with Jinger that Gothard’s stance that people should have as many babies as possible is not what the Bible indicates, but it doesn’t follow that all birth control is automatically good. These are tricky issues that can’t be reduced to one statement. The section on this in her book was very short. Perhaps she will clarify in future books.
Aside from the few issues that I feel she should have explained more or clarified better, I thought this book did a pretty good job of explaining why alot of Gothard's teaching are false biblically. Alot of this was addressed in the context of Jinger's own memories and experiences, so I wouldn't call it a thorough or systematic addressing of the problems with Gothard, but it was interesting nonetheless. As someone who used to watch the show, I appreciated getting an inside look at Jinger's process of escaping a legalistic mindset to finding freedom to rest in Christ and His righteousness.
As far as whether Jinger throws her parents under the bus, I can say that the answer is a resounding "no". I thought she did a great job of talking about some of the problems she sees with Gothard without portraying her parents in a negative light. Every story she shares about her parents is a positive one, and though they may likely disagree with some of the stances she takes in this book, she takes extra care to honor the positive impact they have had on her life and not air any dirty laundry. It was very well-done on that front, and a great example of still choosing to honor her parents into adulthood with how she speaks about them.
One thing that Jinger does very well in this book is explain the subtleties of a legalistic mindset as opposed to obeying out of love for Jesus. It was sweet to read about her relationship with her husband and how he helped to gently point her away from her religious to-do lists and toward Christ. Even though Jinger does know that alot of nonbeliever's are going to be picking up this book, she does not shy away from taking a strong stance on the authority of God's Word over man's word and sharing the true gospel throughout.
So much of her story she uses to point to Christ and His work to save us on the cross, and encouraging others to rest in that. I also appreciated that she seemed to be gearing parts of the book toward people she knows who are still entrapped in Gothard's teaching and relying on their own works to be pleasing to God. She appeals to them to look to Jesus and find their rest in the salvation that He offers through His sacrificial death and resurrection. I think that was very encouraging and well-done. I also had to appreciate that Jinger says herself that she is still in the process of sorting through her own false beliefs and grounding them in Scripture instead, so it will be interesting to see how this ends up looking for her in the future.
Definitely an interesting book if you were ever a Duggar viewer, and overall this was a book that points to Christ. Even though it seems like alot of Jinger's journey out of legalism is very fresh and still in process, it was nice to read this book and see that she hasn't abandoned her faith and seems to be on a biblically sound track.
Note: I can provide more information on the problems with the birth control pill and it's abortifacient effects upon request, but you can also read this post from WAY back in the day for more information to get you started if you want to research it on your own.
Happy Spring!
It's been a difficult start to spring for our family because my grandfather passed away three weeks ago. I don't want to write alot about it here, but that's what's been going on. He was a wonderful grandpa, and I miss him very much.
It's felt weird to write anything on here with so much sadness the last few weeks. I'm just going to ease back in with a Wednesday Five today.
A Quote
"This is strength - this is peace - to feel, in entering on every day, that all it's duties and trials have been committed to the Lord Jesus - that, come what may, He will use us for His glory and our own real good!"
-John Paton
A Book
I've been slowly working my way through several larger books, so I haven't read as many books this month. I did, however, order a new one called 32 Christians Who Changed Their World by Glenn S. Sunshine. This one looked interesting to me because it's supposed to be short biographies about more ordinary Christians in history that made an impact.
I've also started reading the Sacketts Series by Louis L'amour. It's a nice time to be starting this series, because my grandpa read many Louis L'amour books over the years and it reminds me of him.
A Bit Of Nature
We honestly have not been out in nature much this spring so far, but the sunrise this morning was so interesting...there is moisture in the air, and instead of a blazing sky, it was as if all the air outside had turned a luminous pink.
A Recommendation
If you are reading this before Thursday, I want to recommend that you sign up for this three-day, online webinar from Generations curriculum - they are giving away a free PDF resource to all the live Zoom attenders each day! Yesterday I got this book for free, which is a resource I was thinking about buying for my second grader next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what the freebies are today! (Also note, the Generations website has a deal to get a free read aloud - usually $15-20 - with every order of any amount! I might have taken advantage of that deal yesterday too.)
For a really random recommendation, also check out this mascara, which has long been my favorite and was an asset this month - it really stretches out my lashes and makes them look so long! I prefer the waterproof kind - I can confirm it doesn't run at all.
A Moment Of Happiness
My moments of happiness this month are all related to losing my grandpa - from getting time to reminisce about him with my family while looking through old photos, to Derek giving grandpa a touching tribute at his memorial, to all my friends who have sent such comforting texts and notes or just checked up on me when they knew I was grieving. I've felt very cared for all around this month.
One of my blog friends, Bella at Over The Teacups, is doing a linkup called "If We Met For Coffee (or Tea)", and it's just a chatty-post linkup - I think that's right up my alley!
Today if we met for coffee, I'd tell you that my kids are finally (hopefully!) going to do their Awana Grand Prix tonight. It was cancelled last week for snow, and they've were so disappointed. They spent alot of time designing and painting their wooden cars for the Derby race. One of my little girls has a cardboard box car all ready for the "pineapple derby", where all the smaller kids sit in their cardboard boxes and watch a movie. It's all very cute. It's the event of the spring for them, but it seems to get cancelled every year at least once because of snow.
Today if we met for coffee, I'd mention something about how there is a tiny glimmer of spring when I go outside lately. March is always that transition month between winter and "spring", if what we have in the mountains can be called a spring season. I expect lots more snow this month, but also brighter evenings, more songbird twittering, and maybe even a crocus or two before it's time to write one of these posts again.
Today if we met for coffee, I'd tell you that I have Friday marked off in my calendar as the end of the current school term. I've been trying to split up the semesters into 8-10 week terms, and make a fresh school plan at the beginning of each new term. It is a time to look through all the curriculum, count up the weeks, and figure out if we are on track to finish on time. I'm very much hoping that we are able to finish a few subjects early, because there are some extras I want to sneak in before the end of the year - things like more art study, extra science lessons, and maybe a dabbling of civics. We will see how things appear on Friday.
Today if we met for coffee, I am sure that books would come up at some point, and I would be thrilled to report that I've finished 7 books in February, and almost all of them books that I can recommend! I have resolved to only spend time on books that I anticipate being able to recommend, which has honestly weeded alot of junk out of my reading. If a book has too much objectionable content in it, I have no qualms about quitting it, and if I'm not enjoying it I don't feel obligated to power through. Life is too short to read books that aren't worthwhile. I'd also probably mention that I decided this month to try to read a book by a Puritan every month for the rest of the year. Puritan writings are meaty, so that may be too ambitious of a goal. I've developed a fondness for the Puritans over the last couple years - say what you want about them, but it can't be denied that they were completely dedicated to doing everything to the glory of God. I'd much rather read a Puritan's advice about anything over any modern self-help book you could name.
Today if we met for coffee, I might mention that tomorrow is my monthly grocery shopping day. I've been skimping on purchases that last couple months and must stock up on a few things. Inflation is killing us here, and I'm worried about how much everything is going to cost - every time I go to the grocery store these days, the total ends up being 20-30% more than I thought it was going to be! I'm going to spend some time today taking inventory and making a meal plan for the next month, because counting every cost is important right now.
Today if we met for coffee, I'd have a bit of excitement in my voice when I talk about going to a one-day retreat for homeschool moms on Saturday. One of our state organizations is putting it on. The retreat is particularly timely this year, and I'm hoping for some great motivation for the home stretch of the school year!
Today if we met for coffee, I'd ask you how you are doing. I'd ask if you are getting any glimmers of spring, if you've read anything good lately. I'd ask if you find yourself slipping into a slump in March like I sometimes do, and how you stay motivated during these weird spring days. And you would give me all your updates and all your advice, and we'd sip our coffee (or tea!), and we might talk over each other, and we'd laugh, and at the end we would leave feeling refreshed.
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