A Look Back at Spring

Well, it seems that it is time for me to make more time for keeping memories and taking some time to savor the moments and blogging is a wonderful way to do that...so here we go {again}.
It was a wonderful (although pretty wet) spring and the summer is beautiful too!
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to the past few months.  Lots of time in nature taking wildflower walks, cheering at Little League games and play rehearsals.  My boys were involved in *two* plays that had performances a week apart.
We've been pretty busy and life has been filled with blessings and grace :)

Clicking Around...

Wow, this was a fast week that actually went by so slowly in my mind.  Hope that makes some sense ;)  My two oldest sons went to Boy Scout camp and *loved* it.  While they were gone I had grand plans of planning school, a little purging in the small library that I have created over the years {yes, books are my weakness} and just getting things a little more in order.

Well, let's just say...the best laid plans.....
My youngest son had other ideas which were WAY more fun than mine.  We played lots of Clue, chess, Uno and some Mario Kart.  We went mini golfing, out to lunch and roasted marshmallows.  It was a little too hot and humid for my tastes, but, we managed to have a great time. 

Although I missed the oldest two {ALOT}, the quiet time here was nice!  There is always a difference once you take one son {does not matter which one} out of the mix.  There is no sibling feuding and sniping that tends to happen with kids close in age.

It was quite relaxing :-)  A sort of staycation of sorts.

Anyway...here are some wonderful articles I happened upon in the past week or so that I wanted to share.

While reading Celeste's post about her commonplace, I found a wonderful link to Anthony Esolen's "Reform and Renewal Starts With Us".  
Always love what Esolen has to say and this piece pretty much sums it up pretty concisely!

Just Like That...just about made me cry and pretty much tells what is on my heart lately about my oldest son 

Sarah's piece about I Am Not An Airplane was a sort of relief to read.  Nice to know that I am not the only one trying to do it all!

And of course I have been working on my school plans and am thanking Brandy profusely for sharing all of her plans!

That's it for now...off to have some fun!

Have a great weekend!


 

Top Five Reasons Gardening Is Good for the Soul

1.  It promotes Diligence.

Nobody likes to weed.  Admit it, if you had a choice you probably would chose not to weed a garden.  Weeding is like anything else that promotes good habits...exercising, losing weight, eating right, raising kids...you need to get in there and not be afraid to do the work and get dirty!

2.  It promotes Leisure.

While you are in there with your hands filled with dirt {which by the way is one of the best feelings in the world}, you have plenty of time to contemplate and give thanks for all of the beauty and blessings around you.  If you take the time to do this, I promise the rewards are many!

 

3.  It promotes Serenity.

How can you not feel better with being outside on a gorgeous summer afternoon and just soaking in all of the fresh air and sunshine!  It's all good and that is the way that God intended it to be!

 

4.  It promotes Forgiveness. 

Gardens are very fickle at times and if we are not on top of our game, we may not have much fruit when it comes harvest time!  I have learned over the years that if something is not thriving, it is time to cut our losses and pick up that hoe cause it's gotta go!  I have spent more than one season trying to revive something that is just not meant to be.  Instead, now I realize that it is not meant to grow at this time, make peace with that and in a way repent for the mistake made.  Gardening is definitely a learned hobby that over time and with each year I learn a bit more.

5.  It promotes Humility.

How can you go outside and take time to carefully observe nature and not know that you are in the midst of something amazing and bigger than you are?  It is at times like stepping into Wonderland as Alice did.  The sights, smells and sounds of summer are truly distinct from any other season and make you feel wonderful!

I try to get out to my garden every night after dinner and take a little time to make it better.  There are a thousand other things that I probably should be doing, but, this is a little piece of my day that I carve out to spend with nature, my garden and God and love every minute of it.  I make the garden better and being in nature more makes me a better person too :-)

 

 

 

 

Some of My Favorite Homeschool Goodies

1000 GOOD *Classical* BOOKS
50 *BEST* books for boys and young men 

Favorite Boy Read Alouds

Bible Story Printables

Classical Conversations at Home

Fun Printables and Worksheets

Five in a Row 

GREAT audio on "Why Homeschool"

Half a Hundred Acre Wood

Morning Time Moms...It's a Liturgy

National Geographic Interactive Mapmaker

Natl Geographic Bird Site

Stellarium Planetarium

That Artist Woman

Worldbook Course of Study
Worldbook Course of Study 

Happy Mother's Day, Mommas!

Here are a few of my favorite sentiments about motherhood...

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."
~ Rudyard Kipling

 I hope you are all wrapped in the love of your children and enjoying a very blessed Mother's Day!

Because I'm Happy!

Love, love, love this song from Despicable Me 2:

Here's the original video, which should make you want to get up and dance :-)

And here is a cute one with the minions!

Just listening to this song makes me HaPpY!

So with HaPpInEsS, comes grace and JOY and more reasons to give thanks to God for the many, many blessings in my life:

Reasons 100-105

100.  The song HaPpY

101.  Gentle spring breezes after a long, hard winter

102.  Listening to my youngest child read aloud to me (this    one makes me especially HaPpY)

103.  Birds working together making nests for coming babies

104.  Watching sweet, sleeping children

105.  Daffodils 

So, go grab YOUR minions and get HaPpY!

An April Daybook {the Happy Birthday to Me edition}

Outside my window…

The birds are singing and the wind is blowing lightly.  Hoping for more glorious sunshine today!

Giving thanks…

For spring and all of the loveliness that is blooming around me!

I am thinking about…

How very blessed I am and how this coming year is going to be amazing.  Trying not to take any of this for granted and to stay in the moment as much as possible without mentally hopping on to the next thing.

In the Schoolroom…

Wrapping up our school year in the next few weeks.  I am really not in any rush to complete our work this year.  I have been re-thinking things and realize that there is no need to do “it all” just to have it all done.  Slow, steady appreciation of beauty soothes and nourishes the soul better.  I am actively choosing quality over quantity and resting in Him.
We'll take a little time off when we are done, and then I have some fun things planned for the summer including a nature study and learning Latin.

 

From the kitchen…

Nothing from me at the moment, but, I can hear little people baking a birthday cake for me.

I am creating…

A sweet little baby blanket for my niece’s baby due in a few months.
I remember when I was creating sweet little babies...seems so long ago.

 

I don’t ever want to forget…

The way Lovey Dovey loves to read to me!  He just grabs his book and we snuggle up and I just look at him and soak in all of the love that just pours out of this boy.  Right now we are working our way through The Early Reader's Bible and he just cannot get enough!

  

 I am working on…

Planning our garden for this year.  We are going to try Square Foot Gardening this year and I am SO excited about it!  We just purchased our seeds from and will plant in a few weeks.

I am reading…

Many different books:
 For myself, I am reading a few books simultaneously.
-The All New Square Foot Gardening
-Hold on to Your Kids
-The 4:8 Principle The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life
-The Living Page

With my little people we are reading:
-Amon’s Adventures
-On the Banks of Plum Creek
-The Horse and His Boy

all.great.reads :-)

I am praying…

For my brothers, my sons, my husband and myself {I tend to forget that last one at times}

I am struggling…

To find complete and total rest in Him and hand over the reigns and just follow His lead.
Baby steps…one day at a time :-)

I am hearing…

Podcasts and audio lectures!  Love, love, love  :-)

Here are a few that should not be missed!

--Teaching From a State of Rest audio lecture with Andrew Kern.  Fantastic and well worth listening to!
--RAR #1  Sarah @amongstlovelythings has been working very hard on creating a community to nourish the momma heart.  She just made her first podcast chatting with Andrew Pudewa from IEW and it was AWESOME!
--Nurturing  Competent Communicators with Andrew Pudewa.  Some very good information  and well worth listening to more than once.

 

Clicking around…

• Handbook of Nature Study
• Inspiring Children
• 31 Days to Morning Time

Around the house…

Books everywhere. Trying to revamp, regroup and reorganize the school room as well as the rest of our home.

One of my favorite things…

Finding JOY in all of the little things in every day life.

I swear, once you do it and make it a habit, it is SO addicting and you find yourself happier and more filled with grace and joy for your efforts.  So much of our noise that fills our days is negative thinking and outside influence.  Once we realize that only positive thoughts come from God we begin creating a virtuous cycle which is a JOY to live!

A few plans for the next week…

Eating a little birthday cake and spending as much time outside as possible soaking in the sunshine.