Catholic Wife and Mother

2022 Books Read

2023-01-01T14:49:00.003-07:00

I've finally updated my Goodreads account, so you are welcome to find me there, too.

Compared to other years, this was a fairly light year for reading for me. I kept up with my Well Read Mom book club. I did read aloud a couple of books to my kids. I finished the Wingfeather Saga, at the request of my daughter. I was glad I did. After getting past the silliness of the first book, I was able to really enjoy the rest of the series. I read a couple of the early books from my high schoolers Socratic book club. And I read a couple of books I really wanted to read outside of have to's, and I really enjoyed them.

January

The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O'Conner (WRM)

He did not believe that he himself was formed in the image and likeness of God but that Bishop was he had no doubt. -p. 113

February

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Re-read, WRM)

She had looked her duty courageously in the face and found it a friend -- as duty ever is when we meet it frankly. - p. 362

March

A Memory for Wonders by Mother Veronica Namoyo (WRM)

And at the same time, with a cry of wonder in my heart, I knew that all this beauty was created. I knew God. -p. 30

April

A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge

A bookseller...is the link between mind and mind, the feeder of the hungry, very often the binder up of wounds. - p. 118

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis

For in grief nothing 'stays put'. One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I am on a spiral? - p. 680

June

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (WRM)

But it dimly occurred to the mother that in her anguish and sorrow and love, each time the fruit of sin had ripened to sorrow, that was when her earthbound and willful soul managed to capture a trace of the heavenly light. -p. 1068

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott (Read Aloud)

Leaf by Niggle by JRR Tolkien (Read Aloud)

North or be Eaten: Wingfeather 2 by Andrew Peterson

He moved through the days in peace and wonder, for his whole story had been told for the first time, and he found that he was still loved. -p. 323

July

The Monster in the Hollows: Wingfeather 3 by Andrew Peterson

Your borders may be fortified, your Durgans may be ruthless, and your precious fruit may be safe, but your fear has left you as twisted as that beast on the floor... I tell you, today you lost your love for truth and fled into the arms of fear. -p. 283

The Warden and the Wolf King: Wingfeather 4 by Andrew Peterson

Sometimes a story is the only way back from the darkness. - p. 255

When you run out of hope, everything is backward. Your heart wants the opposite of what it needs. -p. 477

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (WRM, Socratic)

The Faith, in that wild frontier, is like a buried treasure; they guard it, but they do not know how to use it to their soul's salvation. -p. 207

A Man Cleansed by God by John E. Beahn

If Rome's legionnaires could not destroy the Church by crucifying Jesus, Patrick, these barbarians cannot do it by destroying Christians or their churches. -p. 144

September

Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin (Socratic)

That is the true nature of home -- it is the place of Peace; the shelter, not only from all injury, but from all terror, doubt, and division. -p. 77

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

November

A Book of Angels by Marigold Hunt (Read Aloud)

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (WRM)

If it be the will of God that we should sow in tears now, it is only that we may rep in joy hereafter. -p. 274

Phillipians: Bible (Read Aloud)

Two Old Men by Leo Tolstoy (WRM)

But he now understood that the best way to keep one's vows to God and to do His will, is for each man while he lives to show love and do good to others. -p. 145

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (WRM)

Where Do I Put All The Books?!

2021-07-21T09:16:00.002-07:00

I've been asked several times about how I arrange all of our books. We have A LOT of books. Several years ago, I collapsed on the floor of our school room (at that time we had space for one, alas no longer) because I couldn't find a book I needed right then, the baby had pulled a couple of shelves of books onto the floor, and it had otherwise been a rough day. I knew at that point I needed a system.

(Note that I took these pictures in real time. I did not clean up things for you, or in anyway make them look pretty. It was either a less than perfect blog post or none at all.)

Here are our kids/homeschool bookshelves. They are the Billy bookshelves with extender from Ikea and I love them. (Click on any picture to enlarge and see detail.)

I decided to use those colored dots, that are sometimes used at yard sales, on the spines of the different genres of our books. That way I could easily see if a book was on the wrong shelf. So what follows is my system and it is so simple that it works and is easy to keep up with.

First up are our religion books. We use pink dots for those. One shelf is chapter books, and one shelf is picture books.

Science is yellow and has three shelves. (And wow, my boys are not great at reshelving books!)

Board books are light blue, and really don't need dots, but I was on a roll.

Green are our liturgical year books. These only get pulled out for the book basket when it's time.

Orange are chapter books. I briefly did another color for those in a series, but they really should all just be orange. I shelve those in a series next to each other. I am running out of room for these books and they are taking over another shelf.

Poetry is blue, which is the same color for folk and fairy tales, because they used to be on the same shelf. I should have given them their own color to start with.

History is red.

Again, folk and fairy tales are blue. I keep them separate from other picture books, because I sometimes am specifically looking for one of these books.

Picture books are purple. I try to group like books together (Little Golden Books, Beatrix Potter), but they don't always stay that way. As long as they are on the right shelf, it's not too hard to find what I'm looking for.

I also keep a shelf for our music type books (I have another shelf in our front room that I'll show in a minute). Another shelf is for readers and (what I call) Nature Lore. Up above are art portfolios, Mommy's It's a Renoir, and other randomness.

School books not in use, plus dictionaries and my Collier Junior Classics.

More homeschool books....

Because we do Morning Time at our dining table, I like to keep those books close to me. I store them in this hutch (which I did not clean up for you, this is real life people!).

I keep Morning Time Binders next to it, and just had my dear, wonderful husband install my new white board above it all. He loves me. :)

My little boys keep their school books out on this shelf in our living room. Our book basket is there too. They each have a desk in the main rooms where they do school and I can keep watch over them.

Each of the big kids has their own book shelf in their room, where they have personal books, as well as their school books. They do school in their rooms, where it's not so distracting.

...And because I know you are curious what's on Fritter's shelf, my book loving friends. :)

These are the shelves in the girls room. They keep the craft books in their room as well, as well as their crafting supplies close by. (This just got cleaned up, which is why it looks so organized. It almost never looks this good!)

The girls' school books.

And more books on their shelves.

Here are the shelves in our front room, where we keep the more "grown up" books (although my kids read things off of these shelves as well). The bottom left shelf has more music books.

I hope that is helpful to see how I organize our books! Happy shelving!!

Homeschool Book Stacks 2020-2021

2021-05-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

For reference, this year my kids completed 8th, 6th, 4th, and 2nd grade, along with a preschooler and a toddler. This has been a year of so many challenges and I'm so proud of my kids for all of the hard work that they've put in. And just look at these book stacks! (Click on the pictures to get a more detailed look at the books they've read this year.)

In addition to these book stacks, they've each worked on their timeline books, history narration books, geography narration books, and religion/bible narration books.

We've also done a fair amount of read alouds, as well as completing Election Lapbooks, doing a study of Leonardo da'Vinci and Chopin, and Story of Civilization the Ancient World.

Not listed are all the audio books we've listened to, including:

Ember Rising by SD Smith

Ember's End by SD Smith

The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum

The Young Carthagian by GA Henty

It's so nice to see all of this and makes me realize we did much more than I thought we did. I'm so grateful for what homeschooling affords us, especially all the time we get to spend learning together.

Holy Week and Easter

2021-04-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

We had a lovely Holy Week and Easter this year. After last year, I am so grateful to belong to the parish we do and that we had the opportunity to spend so much time there this past week, especially when so many across the country (and world!) have been unable to.

We spent the first part of the week deep cleaning the home and purging those things we do not need. I also did the dreaded big clothing swap for all of us and made lists of clothing that must be purchased. I reminded the kids to make lots of sacrifices to fill up the bean jar (they did a good job!). In the evenings, we watched The Ten Commandments as a family, finishing it on Easter Sunday.

I also did quite a bit of cooking and prep for our traditional Holy Thursday dinner and Easter. I tried my hand at Chocolate Babka and it's just as amazing as it sounds.

The girls even put their Calico Critters to work cleaning up the doll house.

Holy Thursday we had an early dinner, did our family feet washing, and sent Dad off to Mass with the older kids. Ladybug made and decorated this year's lamb cake. The girls (along with their girls group) were asked to throw rose petals during the Eucharistic Procession.

We spent quite a bit of time in the church this past week, between extra altar serving practices and Masses. Again, the girls' Calico Critters reflected what was going on in the family. The girls made vestments for their Critters, and torches and St. Stephen Guild medals for the "altar servers".

I signed up for a middle of the night adoration shift and brought my girls along. It was very moving to spend such time with Our Lord on such a holy night.

Very early Good Friday, my husband and Fritter had an adoration hour, my hubby had Porter duty to help guard the church afterwards, and Fritter had altar server training after that. Then I took the older kids to Stations of the Cross and the Good Friday liturgy where Fritter served.

Early Saturday morning (before sunrise) I was blessed to attend the Tenebrae service. I had never attended one before, so when, at the end, everyone began banging their books and pews to show the earthquake and Christ's descent into hell, I was brought to tears. Our faith is such a beautiful thing, I'm so very grateful for it.

When my hubby left Saturday evening with Sunflower for the Vigil Mass, the rest of us turned our home from Lent to Easter! Purple cloths were exchanged for white, candles were refreshed, the statues were all uncovered, and after the kids were in bed, the baskets were set out, and the bean jar was emptied and filled with jelly beans. I didn't manage to pick up flowers for our prayer table in time, but thankfully Easter lasts 50 days and I have plenty of time!

Easter morning, the kids were up early (even Sunflower, who had gotten home at 2am!) and we prepared our simple but yummy Easter breakfast. Egg casserole, berries, and Ukrainian Poppy-seed Cake were gladly feasted on. Afterwards, baskets were gone through, and then we raced to get everyone ready for Easter morning Mass.

The Church was just so beautiful, with all the flowers arranged just so, the joyous Easter songs sung, and everyone in their best.

Happy Easter from our family to yours! He is truly risen as he said! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Books Read in 2019

2021-01-23T09:43:00.002-07:00

After posting my Book Read in 2020 post, I realized I never did a Books Read in 2019.

January

The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander**

February

Hard Time by Charles Dickens**

April

The Great Divorce by CS Lewis (Re-read)**

May

Made for This: The Catholic Mom's Guide to Birth by Mary Haseltine

July

The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

August

Lion in the Gateway by Mary Renault

Big John's Secret by Eleanore M Jewett (Family Read Aloud)

Saint Louis de Montfort by Mary Fabyan Windeatt

September

Wit by Margaret Edson**

Rain, Hail, Sleet, and Snow by Nancy Larrick

The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton**

Integrity 2: Raising Your Children

October

The Irish Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins (Family Read Aloud)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde**

On Fairy Stories by JRR Tolkien**

Leaf by Niggle by JRR Tolkien**

December

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen**

**Well Read Mom

Books Read in 2020

2021-01-23T09:07:00.002-07:00

Ah, 2020. At least I can say I read a lot this past year.

January

Joy to the World by Scott Hahn

The saints have called this the "marvelous exchange". God assumed our human nature in order to give us his divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4). - From p. 151

February

John*

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hueston**

They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God. - From p. 160

Henry V by William Shakespeare

Acts of the Apostles*

March

Romans*

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we ma also be glorified with him. - Romans 8:14-17

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott**

"Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty." - Marmee to girls From p. 121

Ember Falls by SD Smith (Audio)

The House on Pooh Corner (Audio)

April

1 Corinthians*

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all tings, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophesies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13

The Burgess Bird Book by Thornton Burgess (Family Read Aloud)

May

Angel of Repose by Wallace Stegner**

One result of throwing away all the maps of human experience and the guides to conduct that a tradition offers, and flying by the seat of your moral and social pants, is that you fly into situations that are absurd or pitiful, depending on how indulgently one looks at them. - From p. 569

Middlemarch by George Eliot (Audio)**

2 Corinthians*

Galatians*

June

Ephesians*

Philippians*

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. - Philippians 4:8

Mary Poppins by PL Travers (Family Read Aloud)

Song of the Lark by Willa Cathers**

Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is. - From p. 421

Colossians*

The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson (Re-read)

My success in life or in motherhood or as a Christian is not dependent on my being perfect, but on allowing God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, to work through me to accomplish his purposes. - From p. 132

July

1 Thessalonians*

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers**

2 Thessalonians*

Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler (Family Read Aloud)

Theology of Home by Carrie Gress

The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home. - Quoting Confucius p. 161

1 Timothy*

2 Timothy*

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee**

"...before I can live with other folks I've got to live with yself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." - From p. 120

August

Titus*

September

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (Family Read Aloud)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

October

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (Re-read)

We often combine frustrating skill-learning techniques with sawdust books. Try instead this other, Christian approach. Expect high standards, but let them be appropriate to the individual who is progressing at his own rate of development. Make the lesson a short one, so that inattention does not become a habit. Follow the "skill lessons" with a varied diet of mind food. - From p. 36

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen** (Re-read)

Antigone by Sophocles**

It wasn't Zeus, not in the least, who made this proclamation -- not to me. Nor did that Justice, dwelling with the gods beneath the earth, ordain such laws for men. Nor did I think your edict had such force that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods, the great unwritten, unshakeable traditions. - Lines 499-505

December

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (Family Read Aloud)

I Saw Three Ships by Elizabeth Goudge (Family Read Aloud)

Ember Rising by SD Smith (Audio)

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

But the mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief either. - From p. 296

*Bible

**Well Read Mom

#TeamMakeYourBed

2021-01-23T07:41:00.002-07:00

There's a hashtag floating around the inter-webs lately that I had to jump on the bandwagon. #teammakeyourbed

Some days are hard. The weight of the world seems to push me down flat and it can be hard for me to put one foot in front of the other. The very idea of my to-do list that is miles long is daunting. Homeschooling, housekeeping, errands, taxi driver...it can seem like too much. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about any of it. I am extremely blessed to even have the option to stay home and care for my family. It is my vocation and I take it very seriously. I also know that it is here, at home, that has the power to change the world. But the mental block I encounter now and then can seem impossible to get through.

And that's why I make my bed every morning. If I can coach myself to just go get dressed in the morning, when I come into my bedroom, I know that making my bed will immediately make me feel better. There is just something about a made bed that lets me know that in this moment, everything is ok. It's a promise to myself that no matter what happens that day, I will eventually get to come back here and climb under the heavy blanket and close my eyes. It's an invitation to retreat during the day when I need just a minute to breath. Sometimes I will have my homemade essential oil linen spray nearby and I will spritz the sheets and pillows as well.

It's funny how that made bed spills over into the rest of my morning. It keeps me going. It makes me look for the beauty and goodness in my day. After all, my bed is made. All is well in the world.

The other morning was a particularly hard one. After making my bed, I went into the bathroom to put my hair in a not-so-flattering-but-functional ponytail. Inside the basket where my hairbrush is, I found a little empty satchel. And I remembered the dried lavender from this summer that was still sitting on my window sill in the kitchen. I filled the bag, sprinkled a couple of drops of lavender EO to refreshen it, and stuck it in my pajama drawer. Another promise to myself.

While I was at it, I filled my bedroom and living room diffusers with Peace and Calming. The hint of rose or whatever it is makes me smile.

Then I refilled my coffee, because there was no way I was going to get through the day without plenty of that. And while I was there, I decided to shine my sink, Fly Lady style. So satisfying. It only stays clean for a little while, but it's nice while it lasts.

We were running a little late to start school, but I decided to let them have a bit longer recess outside so I could have breakfast. A hungry mommy does not make a good teacher. While I was at it, I drank a big glass of water and took my vitamins as well.

It was then that I saw the little bible verse my daughter had colored and placed on our hutch. I prayed a small prayer, put my dish away, and started our Morning Time Song.

It's funny how the small act of making my bed changed my whole morning.

When The Boys Are Camping...

2020-10-16T23:23:00.006-07:00

...the girls have a tea party!

With my Great Grandma's china tea set of course!

Putting It All Together - Part 2

2020-10-03T15:02:00.001-07:00

I have hesitated writing this final post in my homeschool series for several reasons. First, everyone thinks and therefore plans differently. So how I do it may not really work for you. You really have to figure out how you think and how your family functions, as well as play with things until it all works for you. Second (but probably the biggest reason), is that this school year has not gone as planned for us so far. And so I feel a little preachy showing you how we do it, and really what we are doing now is a bit different.

But! That's part of what makes all of this homeschooling life work. Challenges come and we deal with them and face them and emerge stronger because of it. Our schedule, our plan, all of it is built with flexibility and our own unique family in mind.

So I will write the post. And if it helps someone, even just to see how it can be done, then it has done its job. Even if you go off and do it completely different, but it works for your family and this post has helped you think through that, great.

A quick recap:

We've talked about some general thoughts about what a homeschool day can look like.

We've talked about Morning Time.

We've talked about curriculum for each grade.

We've talked about Book Baskets as a way to get things going, as well as living the liturgical year.

Today (and finally), we'll talk about how I lay our plans out and get things from a general idea to what we do each day.

Once I've ordered my curriculum and it begins to come in, I sit down with my calendar and map out our school terms. We plan for 32 weeks of official school. Each term is 5-6 weeks with a week of prep in between. Our school year generally begins in July, we take a very long break for Christmas, and we are generally done in May. This plan allows for flexibility in case of sickness, or visiting family, or vacation. I can just move our prep weeks around, we can start earlier in the year, or end later. It's flexible because life is often messy.

(Click each picture to enlarge.)

Next, I open up an excel spreadsheet to map out our Morning Time (don't let me lose you here. You don't have to use spreadsheets or the computer at all. I plan well this way, but pen and paper, or Word or whatever else can work just as well.). I always start with Morning Time because it determines what happens for the rest of our school day. Each week looks something like the sheet below, for 32 sheets/weeks on Excel. In generally Monday through Wednesday are heavy school days for us, including a full Morning Time, with Thursday as a light day with very little to no Morning Time, and Fridays are bare minimum as I set aside that day for time with dad (he has every other Friday off from work) or chores/errands. Life is school as well and so we try to bake that in.

Once I know my Morning Time plan, I make an excel spreadsheet plan for each school age child. I decide how much time each child should spend on a given subject per week and then fill in assignments from there. Most "school" books are easily divided into weeks, and for those that don't you just divide the number of pages in the book by the number of weeks and ta-da! you have the number of pages in the book per week.

I try to tie in their assignments with what we are doing in Morning Time. I group as many of the subjects as possible as well. I know our family schedule, I try to know what days we have outside classes, and I plan around that. But I don't know everything, and so as the school year goes on I have to adjust the plan a bit.

A really great breakdown of time for each subject and how to decide all of this (and frankly where I learned how to plan) is Sabbath Mood Homeschooling's My Matrix (check out all of her planning posts!) and Brandy Vencel's Planning Posts. This planning takes a lot of time, I admit, but every year, I thank myself for doing this. Because once it's done, I know weekly what we are going to be doing and I don't ever have to guess or make things up. And I can still be flexible with it all, as I'll explain soon.

So I consider that my big planning. It does take a lot of time, but I view it as I either spend the time planning up front and then I'm mostly done, or I do it each week. I know myself and know I can be very undisciplined and that we would end up in a pickle if I didn't do this big planning.

Now comes the implementation. I do not just hand one of these spreadsheets to my kids. They would get overwhelmed immediately. These sheets are for me only. Each week, either Thursday or Friday (or Sunday night or Monday morning if I've gotten behind) I sit down with my planners and my kids' planners and hand write out their assignments. Some years I've used Sarah MacKenzie's idea of notebooks, some years I've pre-printed out checklists and filled in the blanks. This is how I'm doing it this year. My planner and the kids' planners all came from The Catholic Daily Planner.

My planner has the school planner add on, and here I write out the week's Morning Time plan. Why do I write it out each week when I already have it printed on the spreadsheet? Because of flexibility! Some weeks we may have missed something or gotten ahead on something, or our days are a bit different and so we need to move things around. This way, I can write out a plan that will actually work for us that week, check off the things as they are done on both my weekly list and my spreadsheet and just keep going if we miss things. No worries if we didn't get to lesson 3 day 2 on Tuesday of week 3. We can do it on Monday of week 4. Or maybe we already talked about whatever it is somewhere else and I feel we can skip it. Remember, the curriculum and the plan works for you, not you for the plan!

Again, after Morning Time is planned, I can plan the kids' individual work. I hand write this out in their planners, including whatever I have to work through with them towards the bottom of the list so it is clear to me. Then when it's each kids turn for lessons with mom, they bring me their list, and the books we need for the plan and we can just begin. I know I'm not missing things or adding in too much. The plan has already been thought out and we can roll with it. As they complete things independently, they check it off, set their completed work on our hutch in the dining room for me to check and then they move on to the next thing.

A younger child will need mom through more of these steps, and an older child can be pretty independent. You know your kids! Work with that and it will work.

An example of another way to do this is below. I've had to experiment a bit with different forms for one of my children. Currently I am printing out a form I made on Word and then I just fill in the blanks. The planning on my side is definitely easier each week and this child has more freedom to do lessons when they choose (or I can take the list myself if they get overwhelmed and tell them what to work on next.)

During our "Prep Week" I sit down with my checklists and see what prep I need to do for the upcoming month, refill Book Baskets, etc.

I also will have to periodically update our Average Day plan with whatever new schedules we have for activities. I use all of this as a guide and not a law. Actually I'm pretty terrible at following a schedule as written, but it brings us all peace knowing how our days are structured and keeps me from trying to cram in too much.

If I've not lost you completely, I hope something here helps you plan your own homeschool days for your individual family.

Happy Fall

2020-09-22T10:48:00.002-07:00

We put out some of our fall decorations this morning. The sky is dark and cloudy (actual clouds, not just smoke!) I'm on my third cup of coffee this morning trying to map out our next term of school (more on that another day, but we're fighting burnout over here) and we needed a bit of a break to get our home (and everything else) back in order. So the kids have cleaned their rooms, the front stoop and walk have been swept, the back yard has been cleaned up...overall a pretty good morning.

Our scarecrow family.

Why yes, that is last year's candle. It has been blessed though, so that's a win!

We call him Sully. He's my kitchen window buddy.

Even our prayer table has a bit of fall color added to it. I need to have the children pick some flowers for Blessed Mother!

I went out back to check on things (my excuse for getting fresh air!) and I was surprised by a few drops of rain. It has been so dry this year, that this little bit feels like a downpour. We'll take whatever blessings we can get!

Our chicks have grown into chickens. Now if we can just get some eggs from these girls, I'll be a happy woman.

Mrs. Muggins and Mrs. Potts...curious little chicks.

Our garden is really doing well. At the bottom of the picture you can see our watermelon has sort of taken over that part of the garden. No fruit yet though. The lettuce is keeping my table well supplied with greens, the basil is tall and fragrant. And that pumpkin! Seriously, it's gone crazy!

Look closely and you may spy a pumpkin growing (it currently looks more like a zucchini). Only one so far...

This little corner of the world is a haven for us right now in the ever growing darkness. When we look back on these troubling times, I hope we remember more of our family banding together and praying together, and searching out our little community, and less of the troubles and anxiety that threaten to take over the peace. And I pray that we are made stronger because of it all; stronger in our faith, in our convictions, as a family.

Home

by Fanny Crosby

'Tis whispered in the ear of God,

'Tis murmured through our tears;

'Tis linked with happy childhood days,

And blessed in riper years.

That hallowed word is ne'er forgot,

No matter where we roam,

The purest feelings of the heart,

Still cluster round our home.

Dear resting-place, where weary thought,

May dream away its care,

Love's gentle star unveils her light,

And shines in beauty there.

Fall Term Book Basket - Or Putting It All Together Part 1

2020-08-18T10:20:00.003-07:00

The other posts in the How We Homeschool Series Are:

2020-2021 Morning Time Plans

2020-2021 School Plans

Each term (a term for us is 5-6 weeks with a week break in between), I fill a basket full of books for our next term. The basket sits out in our family room for free reading (and some assigned reading) for the family. I choose books for the term based on what we are studying in history and science, as well as where we are in the liturgical year. I also choose a selection of books based on where we are in our reading lists for "Preschool".

It used to be that I would plan to read that day's saint book aloud. Since the children have grown older (and more numerous) I find it very hard to keep up with that. So I began to put all those books, along with other living books in a term book basket and it makes it much easier for me to implement, and takes away any guilt I might have for not getting to a certain book on a certain day. If it gets read during the term (either aloud by me or independently by them), I'm happy.

Liturgical Books

I have a good sized collection of picture books relating to saints and the liturgical year that I have been slowly adding to over the years. Many of these books have been given as gifts to the children. Books always make great gifts!

Preschool Books

I use several book lists organized by theme to pull a selection of books from our shelves for the term book basket for the preschoolers (although many a big kid can be found reading these books as well). Little Saints Catholic Preschool is one of them, as well as A Year of Tales. This term we are talking about colors. Even if I never get to any crafts (and that's pretty likely) we will get to read many wonderful books!

We are currently enjoying Mother Goose as well as Arnold Lobel's Fables. And we are continuing to enjoy our Treasure Box Books. These tie in with the liturgical year as well, since St. Therese's feast day is coming up, as well as the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

Science

We are studying the human body this year, and this term we will be looking at muscles, the digestive system, and the respiratory system. I shopped our shelves and pulled these out:

History

This term in history we will be studying Peoples of the Levant, The God of Israel, The Kingdom of David, The Bearded Kings of the North, The Splendor of Babylon, and The Rise of Persia (chapters 6-11 in The Story of Civilization). I plan to read aloud King David and His Songs. The rest of these books will be assigned to various children.

A term book basket is a very easy way to pull resources together and make reading good books happen in your family!

2020-2021 School Plans (8th, 6th, 4th, 2nd grades)

2020-08-12T18:33:00.001-07:00

This is part 2 of How We Homeschool.

Part 1 - Morning Time Plans

The big thing I try to keep in mind while planning for our school year is that these are JUST PLANS. The school year will not look exactly as I have it planned out. We will not get to everything on our lists. And one of my favorite things to remember is from Sarah Mackenzie. My curriculum works for me, I don't work for my curriculum. Once the materials have done their job, we are done with them. And if the curriculum does not do it's job (for us), then I may need to move on to something else. The planning stage is all my best guesses. So while reading this post (and it's probably going to be long), please keep that in mind.

Also note: I am a fairly eclectic, classical homeschooler. I follow Charlotte Mason's principles (at least how I interpret them. I'm always afraid someone will see something we are doing and shake their heads and say that this is exactly what Charlotte said not to do. :) ), and I use a little of this and a little of that. I get most of my ideas from Mother of Divine Grace, Ambleside, and Mater Amabilis. Homeschooling for this many years has taught me my strengths and weaknesses (of which there are many) as a teacher, and the strengths and weaknesses of my children. I generally know our learning and teaching styles. But this has taken lots of trial and lots of error, and what works for our family may not work for yours. Ok. Moving on.

Fritter -8th Grade

Math

Saxon Algebra 1

Composition

IEW Structure & Style for Students Level B

Various reports, written narrations, and notebooking.

Science

Apologia Physical Science

Religion

(Here's an example of how change works in our homeschool. We started the year planning to go through the second half of Highway to God together. However, I quickly found Fritter needs less of me, not more of me. So the following plans are what we are doing now.)

Fall semester - MS Homeschool Connections Old Testament Bible Class

Spring semester - MS Homeschool Connections Gospels Class

Citadel of God by Louis de Wohl

Joyful Beggar by Louis de Wohl

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

A Man for All Seasons Movie

Young People's Book of Saints

History

Story of Civilization - The Ancient World (up until Ancient Greece)

Mother of Divine Grace Medieval History plans

Various historical fiction and other reading which I will list in a separate post.

Geography

Map Quizzes for Egypt, Middle East, and Europe

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

The Long Walk: The True Story of A Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz

Maps Charts and Graphs G

Grammar/Spelling

IEW Fix It: Frog Prince or Just Desserts

Spelling You See C & D

Nature Lore

Chemical History of a Candle (book and lectures)

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Nature Notebooking

Literature

Shakespeare: Macbeth and Merchant of Venice

Westward Ho by Charles Kingsley

Father Brown Stories by GK Chesterton

Poetry

Various poems by Shakespeare and GK Chesterton

Music

Piano Lessons

Alfred Music Theory

Language

Ouino Spanish

Latin Mass Practice

Ladybug - 6th Grade

Composition

IEW Structure & Style for Students Level B

Various reports, narrations, and notebooking

Math

Saxon 7/6

Geography

Map Quizzes Egypt and Middle East

Book of Marvels: The Occident

Book of Discovery

Maps Charts and Graphs F

Religion

Gospel Study of Mark and Luke

Baltimore Catechism 2

St. John Bosco

St. Bernadette

57 Saints

Grammar/Spelling

IEW Fix It: Nose Tree

Spelling You See C & D

Nature Lore

Secret of Everyday Things

Nature Notebooking

History

Story of Civilization: The Ancient World

Various Literature posted in another post.

Poetry

Robert Frost

Literature

A Selection of a few of the books Ladybug will be enjoying this year:

Anne of Green Gables

Tanglewood Tales

Little Women

Von Trapp Family Singers

Science

Apologia Exploring Creation: Human Anatomy and Physiology

Music

Violin Lessons

Alfred Music Theory

Sunflower - 4th Grade

Language Arts

Intermediate Language Lessons

Copybook Cursive 2

Spelling You See C and D

Math

Saxon 5/4

Geography

Minn of the Mississippi

Maps Charts and Graphs D

Map Quiz North America

Religion

Last year was supposed to be Sunflower's Confirmation year, but while she did receive First Holy Communion (praise God!), Confirmation for her is now this year. Pray for her!

Bible History

Baltimore Catechism 1

Lang Saints and Heroes

St. Ignatius

St. Vincent de Paul

Dangerous Journey

Music

Piano Lessons

Alfred Music Theory

History

Story of Civilization: The Ancient World

Various Literature posted in another post.

Nature Lore

Storybook of Science

Nature Notebooking

Science

Apologia Exploring Creation: Human Anatomy and Physiology

Literature

Here are a few of the books Sunflower will be enjoying this year:

D'Aulaires Greek Myths

Homer Price

Hans Brinkler and the Silver Skates

Sherlock Holmes

Black Stallion

Jungle Book

Poetry

Emily Dickinson

Froggy - 2nd Grade

Music

Recorder lessons from mom :)

Math

Abeka 2

Language Arts

Sound Beginnings then...

Spelling You See B

Copybook 2

New American Cursive 1

History

Story of Civilization: The Ancient World

Various Literature posted in another post.

Geography

Minn of the Mississippi

State by State Coloring Book

State Capital Flash Cards

Family Tree

Religion

This is Froggy's Confirmation Year. Pray for him, please!

Baltimore Catechism 1

Around the Year Saints

7 Sacrament Lapbook

Confirmation Saint Lapbook

King of the Golden City

St. Imelda

Science

Apologia Exploring Creation: Human Anatomy and Physiology

Nature Lore

Seaside and Wayside Book 1 & 2

Nature Notebooking

Literature

Here are a few of the books Froggy will be enjoying this year:

American Tall Tales

Folk Tales

Childhood of Famous Americans

Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans

My Side of the Mountain

Poetry

Christina Rossetti

Next up: Putting it all together. Stay tuned!

2020-2021 Morning Time Plans

2020-07-31T10:30:00.007-07:00

I'm planning on listing out our school plans for this year soon, but thought I'd do a separate post just for our Morning Time. If you are new to homeschooling, there are many places where you can learn more about the why's and how's. My favorite resources for getting started with Morning Time are:

Pam Barnhill

Sarah MacKenzie

Mystie Winkler

Over the years, our Morning Time has gone through various format changes, time changes, and location changes. This year, we are doing Morning Time at the dining room table, usually three times per week. We began the year (we are currently finishing week 3) doing it during Cricket's and Bear's afternoon naptimes, but found, for this year anyway, during Cricket's morning nap is better and Bear joins us. So currently Morning Time starts at 9am, and I call the kids in from outside recess with a song (Little Boy Heart Alive).

Our Morning Time schedule looks like this:

Memory Work Binders (15 minutes)

Activity Loop (30 minutes)

Skill Drills (15 minutes)

Group Subjects (30-45 minutes)

This is quite a bit of content, and Morning Time can last us anywhere from 1.5-2 hours Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursdays we do not do Memory Work or Activity Loop (and sometimes not Drills either) but still do group subjects, so it often only lasts 30-45 minutes. However, because we are doing so much together, it lightens the individual study work.

Memory Work Binders

Inside our binders is all of our memory work for the year. Each term (a term for us is 5-6 weeks and we have six of them) gets a focus and then we move the tab and move on. I don't require word for word memory for anything, but I do encourage it (with chocolate chips as ~~bribes~~ rewards now and then). I find this method encourages memory though and works so much better for us then the drilling and repeating method. It's also more fun. Each child also has a quality coloring book or drawing book that they are working through when others are doing their individual poems. Our tabs are divided into Hymns, Folk Songs, Poetry, Bible, Catechism, Latin/Spanish, History/Geography, and Science.

Hymns - We have been using Traditional Catholic Living's Hymn Study. We are doing the Year 3 hymns this year.

Folk Songs - We use Ambleside's Folk Song suggestions and are doing the 2019-2020 list.

Poetry - Each child has their own selections of poetry to memorize. I use Mother of Divine Grace's suggestion, along with one or two poems of their own choosing from the poet they are studying this year (more on that when I do the post on our individual work plans.

Bible - This has changed over the years. One year we did whole sections of the Gospels. Another year we did Psalms. This year we are doing the memory verses from Our 24 Family Ways (which is our current morning prayer devotional) along with memorizing the Theological and Cardinal Virtues and definitions.

Catechism - We use the questions and answers from the Baltimore Catechism 1 and I've divided it into thirds. This year we have a 2nd grader and 4th grader, so we are memorizing the first and last thirds. We do a chapter from the first third and a chapter from the last third and move on every couple of weeks.

Latin/Spanish - We are memorizing various Latin prayers and mottos this year. For Spanish we are using the songs from Learning Spanish with Grace as memory work.

History/Geography - We are still working through the Greek and Roman history timeline from last year, and when we are done with that we will move on to the Ancient timeline. I've taken various geography facts from Designing Your Own Classical Catholic Curriculum and Living Memory and we just work our way through that.

Science - We are working our way through various science facts from Living Memory.

Activity Loop

During our Activity Loop, we loop our way through various subjects each term.

Folk Dancing - This year we are learning Country Line Dancing using Brooke and Company Volume 1 DVD. I have a dream of planning a folk dance with our homeschool group, but I haven't managed to do that just yet. In the meantime we are learning the dances together and it is so much fun.

Nature Journaling - Each week the kids do their own nature journaling, but once per term we take a week to work through the lessons in Nature Drawing and Journaling.

Artist Study - We are studying the works of Da Vinci using Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolios. We study one picture per term. After studying the picture we display it on top of our piano for the rest of the term.

Composer Study - This year we are studying Chopin. We listened to the Music Masters CD for the story of his life and I picked six of his works to listen to throughout the year. We focus on one work during Chopin week and then I play it at various times throughout that term.

Art - We love Meet the Master's for art so much! This year we are working through Track D. In past years we have created some very fun works.

Geography - We are continuing working through Mapping the World with Art from last year. One chapter per term.

Skill Drills

Spelling - My three oldest are using Spelling You See C all together (we have a couple of poor spellers and one excellent speller, so they are all in the same level).

Math Drill - We do our timed math speed drills during this time. Fritter no longer has math speed drills (much to his relief!), so he usually works on his drawing while he waits, or he is excused from Morning Time at this time if he is not participating in that particular group subject that is coming next.

Group Subjects

Spanish - As mentioned above, we are working through Learn Spanish with Grace. We are moving pretty slowly, one page or activity once per week. This includes Ladybug, Sunflower, and Froggy (Bear if he has stuck around this long).

History - We are loving Story of Civilization - The Ancients. We do one chapter per week. Monday I read the chapter aloud while the children color the page in their workbooks. Tuesday we do oral narrations and review questions (and then for independent work the older kids do a written narration in their history notebooks). Wednesday we watch the videos and do any map activity in our workbooks. Thursday we work on our Book of Centuries and timelines. Fridays we (sometimes) do a suggested activity. All of the children participate. The school age kids also have independent books to read that correspond with a particular time period (maybe I'll include the list in another post). You can see my full review of this program here.

We keep our notes for the week on our family message board. It also includes helpful bible verses, an extra chores list for children that need them, and a shopping list. :)

Science - We are continue with our Apologia study. This year we are studying the Human Body using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. Ladybug and Sunflower have the Notebooking Journal and Froggy has the Junior Notebooking Journal (although as a young second grader, some of the activities are too much for him, so I just have him skip those). We do two lessons per week and they do the notebooking activities on their own. We do include some of the experiments (if they are simple), but not all.

Citizenship - We are studying two Lives from Plutarch (Aristides and Themistocles) and two Apostles (St. Peter and St. Andrew) using Pope Benedict's beautifully illustrated book The Apostles. We read through the story slowly, once per week, a little at a time and then do an oral narration. When we have completed each life, we will do written narrations and add them to our timelines. Everyone is included for this subject.

Geography - Sunflower and Froggy are studying Minn of the Mississippi, including map and notebooking activities from Beautiful Feet Books.

We are really loving our Morning Time this year. One reason we homeschool is to build close family relationships, and Morning Time is one of the tools we use to do just that!

Boys' Room Redo Plus A Big Win

2020-07-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on Instagram, you already have seen the big overhaul we did to the boys room.

The three little boys live in a big addition that was added on to the house before we bought it. I think it was meant for a game room, because it does not have a closet, and it has a door leading to the backyard (we've blocked the door off). This room has needed love for a very long time. We never painted it when we moved in 11 years ago, and so the walls still had the same flat white paint that cannot be cleaned. Flat white paint + little boys = big mess.

Here are the before pictures. I started to take books out of the shelves before realizing I should take a picture first.

In process. This was a very big project!

Years ago, I painted these little butterflies on the wall in here, because Ladybug was in this room and I wanted to do something to make it pretty. I couldn't bring myself to paint over them, so the boys get to have butterflies on their wall. :)

I can't quite bring myself to say we have too many books. But I got close during this project. :)

And here is the after. One side of the room for sleeping and dressing and the other side is for playing.

Notice in this picture on the far wall the stacks of things on top of the filing cabinet? I left them there because they were all pictures the kids had done that needed put away, but I didn't have any energy left to do it then. It really was it's own project.

I don't have a close up of the before over here, because I didn't really plan to do this today. But I managed to find some extra time (you know, just lying around as it does) and so I tackled it. It may not look like much, but this is a huge win for me.

These three binders are all that remain of the "to be dealt with" pile. The pink binder is from Ladybug's days in Little Flowers and she really wants to keep the pages. The blue and green binders are Fritter's and Ladybug's Book of Centuries up through 5th grade. In 6th grade my kids transition to a composition book for their BOC's. My thought is that I will get these all spiral bound so they can be flipped through now and them.

We have had this filing cabinet lying around since early in our marriage. I've used it for various things but for the past couple of years it has just been taking up room. Meanwhile, I had been keeping all of the kids pictures they make in binders that took up precious book shelf space (and it's obvious I really need that space!). Today I repurposed the top drawer for the kids things, and checked a big to-do off my list.

Each kid has a set of hanging folders that are separated as PK-K, 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, 7th-8th, and high school.

And now I have a real space to keep treasures such as this from my Ladybug from years ago.

I also have a spot to keep the kids' completed narration notebooks. There's so much good work in these, I couldn't possibly throw them away.

This filing cabinet was painted the same time the butterflies on the walls were, and makes an ugly piece of furniture a little prettier.

It may not seem like much, but it's a big win for me.

For the New Homeschooling Parent

2020-07-15T08:42:00.002-07:00

My husband was recently asked by a coworker for his thoughts on how to homeschool their third grader since school re-openings are so much up in the air. I thought I would post my response and recommendations to them here, in case it helps anyone. Note that since their religion is unknown, I kept my recommendations mostly secular. If a family desires to include religion as a subject (as we do in a Catholic homeschool) a quick google search would most likely lead them to something helpful. I will post our school plans soon (we are in our first week of school) and perhaps that will be helpful to some as well. Also note that these are ideas to get someone started who has never homeschooled before. If a person really wanted to dig deeper and become a long term homeschooler, I would direct them towards Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online.

And the very first step anyone should do is check out the Home School Legal Defense Agency to find out the homeschooling laws in their state. It is also a good idea to become a member of HSLDA for added protection.

~~~

Here are my thoughts and ideas for homeschooling a 3rd grader. I've included links to the books I recommend. Note that there are MANY options for each subject. Cathy Duffy Reviews is a good place to read about different curriculum choices.

Math

Here are two common texts.

Singapore Math

MCP Math

Language Arts

A combined writing and grammar book at this level is helpful.

Primary Language Lessons

It doesn't cover spelling, so a separate book is needed there. Spelling You See is a very good one and easy to use.

Many people really like the Spalding Method, so here is a program for homeschoolers.

The Writing Road to Reading

A good list of books for both reading aloud and for independent reading can be found in a lot of places. A good place to start is the 1000 good books list.

Memoria Press has the best handwriting books

History and Geography

It really depends on how and what they want to teach. A simple thing would be American History using Stories From Great Americans for Little Americans

Well Trained Mind uses Story of the World

There are lists upon lists of historical fiction that can be added in to bring history to life. A quick Google search can bring up many ideas.

Maps Charts and Graphs are very thorough Geography workbooks that are easy to teach.

Science

At this age it's best to keep it simple. Keeping around experiment books and doing them with the kids is fun (and messy :) ).

A guide to understanding the world around them is very good, and Memoria Press has several options

The other option is the classic science textbook (just not as much fun) Harcourt Science

There are many curriculum places where a parent can purchase an entire boxed curriculum as well if that seems easier.

Now comes the meat of homeschooling. A good routine goes a long way, balancing sedentary activities with physical movement. A quiet rest time in the middle of the day where everyone settles down with a book, alone is key. This gives the parent/teacher a rest as well, and a chance to get their own things done.

Including the kids in housework makes everyone part of a team. Even a 4 year old can make their bed and put their dish in the sink.

Time spent outside everyday is very important.

Most curriculums are built around a 4 day school week, with one day off for errands or playdates or park days or other fun. If the school work starts at 9am (after house chores are done), then a third grader will most likely be done with school by lunchtime. Afternoons are kept free for play, free reading, chores, music lessons and practice, service oriented work, board games, and any hobby type things the child is interested in doing. Getting them to work with their hands is important. Even the uncrafty parent can encourage this. Soap carving is simple and fun and could lead into wood carving. Crochet, sewing, embroidery, gardening, leather working are all things kids this age can try. Encouraging them to make things that are useful and beautiful instead of just crazy glittery is helpful for everyone. (Although sometimes there can be a place for those sorts of crafts.) For older kids there is Craftsman Crate.

In general, live life with your kids. Bring them into whatever you are doing and they will be learning. You may find after a bit that your family life becomes closer and you have more satisfying relationships. This is a little talked about, but very wonderful, reality.

I hope something here helps. Reach out to a local veteran homeschooler as a mentor. Most are willing to help if asked.

Independence Day

2020-07-07T15:46:00.001-07:00

My country 'tis of thee

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died

Land of the Pilgrims' pride

From every mountainside

Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free

Thy name I love.

I love thy rocks and rills

Thy woods and templed hills

My heart with rapture thrills

Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze

And ring from all the trees

Sweet freedom's song.

Let mortal tongues awake

Let all that breathe partake

Let rocks their silence break

The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to thee,

Author of liberty

To thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright

With freedom's holy light

Protect us by thy might

Great God, our King.

~"America" by Samuel Francis Smith

An Engagement Story

2020-07-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

How We Met is here.

A Dating Story is here.

November 20, 2004. We were celebrating our one year dating anniversary. The plan was to drive down to the Denver Museum of Natural History and have dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, Panzano's. We both had dressed up for the occasion (he wore his Navy Peacoat), so we looked all fancy going through the museum.

I just knew somehow that he was going to ask me that day, but when it wasn't happening, I thought maybe I was wrong. Needless to say, I didn't pay much attention to the museum, and he seemed very distracted.

We got to a part of the museum that overlooks a lake and he suggested we go outside for a walk. The ground was covered in fresh snow, the lake was not yet frozen over, and then a flock of geese landed in the lake. It was like a movie. I turned to look at him and he had turned an ashy grey color and I thought he was going to be sick. Instead he fumbled in his coat pocket for a ring, got down on one knee and said, "Candice (my full name here), will you marry me?" I could only manage to squeak out "Mmm-hmmm!"

We walked back to his car (what was a museum after this experience?!) and sat in the museum parking garage and talked over our plans. And then he tuned to me and said, "You still haven't said yes." "Yes! Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" I said, probably very red faced.

We drove to Panzano's for dinner, but neither of us really tasted our food, so instead of hanging around Denver, we decided to start the 2.5 hour drive home. The snow was really starting to come down and the highway was slick. And then we hit a couch. Yes, a couch, just like the one I'm currently sitting on. It was just sitting in the middle of the highway and thankfully had been hit before, because otherwise it probably would have been bad for us. But as it was, we just went right through it.

The road was closed to take the direct route home, so we decided to try going through another way which would take us over a mountain pass. Of course, once there we found that was closed as well (this was before smart phones). So we ended up on my aunt's door step to ask her if she would take us in for the night until the road hopefully opened in the morning. This is not what either of us wanted to do, but we had no choice. Honestly, we both just wanted to get away from each other so we could process the fact that we were going to be spending our lives together. :)

It was at this point that everything really clicked and all the struggles and worries and hardships of our dating time was over. We were meant for each other.

A Dating Story

2020-07-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

I realized recently that I never did finish up with the Friday Introduction: A Love Story. I did post over on Instagram, but not here.

How We Met is here.

Picking up where we left off...

When we started dating I knew he was the one I wanted to marry. If he'd have asked me right then, the night we stated dating, I would have said yes. But he is more practical than that. He knew we should probably spend more time together (and of course he was right). And we did. Every moment we could, we were together. It helped that we had classes together, of course. We spent much of our time just being with each other. Talking, learning, growing together, being silly (as is the case with these cheese puffs, a gag gift from my aunt).

He was going though a reversion, and so we started to go to Mass together at Wyoming's beautiful little cathedral. We went to University football games and basketball games. He took me home to meet his parents. He had such a love for his home, for his state. I had only ever wanted to get out, get away. But now I was seeing my home state for the beautiful place it was.

It was time for me to graduate from community college and go to university. I had thought about going to Florida. He was going to Wyoming. I finally began to understand and love my state and decided on Wyoming, partially to be with him, but partially because it just made sense. I was an engineering major and Wyoming has a good program (and you can't beat instate tuition).

So the summer of 2004, we both headed to the University. We took summer classes to get a head start, and because we were majoring in different engineering disciplines (he was mechanical, I was structural), it would be the last time we would have classes together.

That first night in my little apartment was the loneliest of my life. His dad was helping him move over to his apartment, and they were spending the evening together. My stuff was dropped off at my apartment with little more than a farewell, and just like that I was alone and away from my family for the first time. But I was determined that I was going to make it. I had to do this for me, and not just because of the cute guy I had fallen in love with.

We started going to Mass at the cutest little Catholic church in town, and I started in their RCIA program. I finally settled into a routine of sorts, and eventually a good friend of mine from home came to university and we got an apartment together. Not that I was there much. But it eased some of the loneliness.

And then the moment I had dreaded came. He felt we needed a break. He needed to figure some things out. It was only a week, but it was the longest week of my life. I shouldn't have worried, he was spending his time in prayer, discerning if I was the one. I spent the time studying for my classes and leaning on God. I had to prove to myself that I was there doing what I needed to do for me, and not for him. That I was learning about the faith and becoming Catholic because I wanted to and not for him. That I was at University doing what I needed to do. Looking back, that time was a blessing, but it took me years to see it. And when the week was over, I knew and he knew that we had gone through a test of sorts and passed. And I also knew, somehow that it was only a matter of time before we were engaged.

More next time.

Sunflower and Froggy First Communion

2020-07-01T09:03:00.002-07:00

After a long delay, both Sunflower AND Froggy were able to receive their First Communion on the feast of Corpus Christi. To make a long story short, Sunflower was set to receive First Communion and Confirmation at our old parish. However, like most everywhere else, sacraments were postponed. When the priest and RE director decided to allow sacraments to proceed, we were told only four people would be allowed in the church (including Sunflower and the priest), everyone would be required to wear a mask, and (this is the clincher) she would be REQUIRED to receive Our Lord on the hand. Just. No. So, we called the priest at our "new" parish (we've actually been there for a year and a half) and he graciously allowed Sunflower to join their First Communion class. Because this is an FSSP parish, only the bishop is able to do Confirmation, and he only does it here every other year. We were also told that she would be required to pass a catechism test. Since my Froggy has studied from the catechism this year for school, we decided to have him tested as well, expecting that he could at least have his First Penance. They both passed the test and so both were able to receive their First Communion this year!

It was such a beautiful day. I am so glad to be at this parish, with these priests, in this community.

Smile...Or Not

2020-04-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

My view this morning when I gave up. The sign below the clock says "Smile."

Some days are just hard. Honestly, if there wasn't the anxiety about whether or not we'll get Coronavirus or if the food supply will give out or if we'll ever get to go to Mass again, I could do this stay home thing for a very long time. That's just my personality.

But those extra anxieties are catching up with me. There are days like today where I have nothing to give and everyone needs something. Where even when I throw my hands up in frustration and give up and tell everyone I'm off limits for a bit, the reality is that I am still needed. And at some point, I will have to make dinner.

My mind battles with itself. "Get it together! They need you to be cheerful and present!" "Yes, but you can't be cheerful and present right now and you are crashing everyone's day. Find a place to be alone so you can get it together." " There is no place to be alone! They will find you no matter where you hide (so true). So you might as well just stubbornly plow through the day to get to the end."

And even when I do finally settle the argument in my head (in favor of giving in because I truly can't today), I'm left with the frustration that we only have four weeks left of this school year and if we take today off it will be another day we'll need to finish. And we were going to do an art project!

I don't have any smart help for anyone on this post. Only a raw, honest look at how somedays are hard, and if you are having a hard day, maybe there's some solidarity for you. Tomorrow likely will not be as rough (perhaps the baby will sleep tonight. That could help and explain some of today's problem). I have yet to understand how to redeem days like today. My own immaturity means I can't get out of my own way.

I think for the rest of today I'll reread an old post from Leila on bad days, have the kids do their independent school work (because we all know that if I stick them just in front of the tv or set them free to do as they will, it will backfire), read my book that I was supposed to have finished last month, perhaps crochet a bit while listening to an audiobook. In the midst of my fit, after sending certain bickering children to their rooms, I read this from Sally Clarkson. Yes, that's another hard thing about lockdown. I would really like to disappear into a coffee shop and the adoration chapel for a couple of hours. I really, really miss that.

Sacraments Delayed

2020-04-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be her day. She was supposed to have received her first Holy Communion and been Confirmed today. We've done ok staying up-beat with this Coronavirus thing. She's been strong and trying hard to offer it up for a special intention, but today was hard. If you are reading this would you say a little prayer for her? Thank you!

Updated daily routine

2020-03-21T10:06:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

Can I suggest something Mama's? Sit down for an hour with a cup of something warm and hammer out a daily routine for your family. Even if you already have one, things have changed and you'll need to be intentional about work and play. This applies whether you are home all the time, homeschooling, but especially if you are not used to everyone being home all the time. So much of home anxiety comes from not knowing the right next time to do.

Sprinkle prayer throughout the day. Watch a daily Mass from your living room, take your freed evenings and reintroduce the family rosary. It doesn't have to be picture perfect. Especially if it's something new, it's not going to look pretty. But you will be building your family up in a time of great anxiety. Read a book out loud together. Listen to an audiobook. Make sure to build in plenty of outside time. Put in a quiet afternoon time where everyone must go somewhere alone to read or think or work with their hands (no screens! This is time to really breath!). Bonus if you can figure out how to do quiet time outside.

Make one of the weekdays slightly different. An extra craft a few more chores, whatever. Make Saturdays a day of real housework, where everyone helps. I make a list of chores and assign some and have volunteers sign up for the rest.

Take back your Sundays. Be sure to watch Mass. Maybe even get dressed up for it. Have a special meal (but don't over do it, our pantries are limited). Play a family game or watch a family movie. Limit screen time, but, I would argue, allow it at the right times. It's a relief to get your mind off the world and each other for a little while. Not even everyday, but a well timed movie can be balm. Remember Mama's, you are in charge of the atmosphere of your home. And it needs you now more than ever. ❤️

St. Patrick's Day on Lock Down

2020-03-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

My little leprechauns. We'll have Lucky Charms for breakfast and corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread for dinner. The kids are breaking their screen fast with the CCC St. Patrick video. We'll cut out clovers and talk about the trinity and copy St. Patrick's Breast Plate. We'll read every book we have that has a slight Irish feel to it, and tonight after Rosary we'll watch the Quiet Man.

We are on lock down. The Mass has been closed to the public. The world is a crazy, scary place right now. But here, in this little home, we have each other and we have our faith. We'll get through it together.

Friday Introduction: How We Met

2020-02-09T12:06:00.002-07:00

I first posted this on Instagram, but thought I'd cross post it here for the record book.

It was 2003. I was beginning my 4th year of junior college. I had just switched my major (again) to engineering. I was sitting in the front row in physics class with my nerdy little glasses and my "don't mess with me face" (as my hubby calls it). I had colored pens and planned to color coordinate my notes. I was one of two girls in the class. He walked in and didn't want to be "that guy" so he sat one seat away instead of right next to me. His friends were willing to be "those guys" and sat on either side of me. I ignored them all. (Except from the corner of my eye.)

Our teacher, Dr. Ben, had various things for us to try to explain different aspects of physics, including pushing his little car through the parking lot and using a hose to show projectiles. I hung back, too unsure of myself to participate and really good at making myself disappear, so I thought. But I kept the corner of my eye on "the cute, cocky guy". He was way out of my league for sure.

We became friends, mostly from studying for our ridiculously hard classes together (Statics and Dynamics anyone?!) He was competitive, and I was very good at taking tests and doing the math and balance of forces, and I beat him in every test, both in time and score. Not that I really understood why I was doing any of it.

I had been beating around the bush that I liked him, but I was too shy to admit it, and like I said, he was way too good for me. One evening, I was waiting for some girlfriends to have a late dinner with. He knew I was going to be there, so he came before they did. He asked me straight forward if I liked him. I said I did and probably turned as red as a tomato. We decided to date.

He was coming back to his faith and I was curious about it. He knew what he wanted out of life. He was strong and cute, and I knew I could be safe with him. I was head over heels from the beginning. He says he knew I wasn't manipulative and he could trust me with his heart.

1 year later we were engaged, 9 months later we were married. And now, almost 15 years and 6 kids later we couldn't be happier.

Tune in next week for A Dating Story.

The Story of Civilization - The Ancient World

2020-01-30T15:25:00.002-07:00

I have found the history curriculum I have been dreaming about! Tan Books has published the most wonderful curriculum I could have ever wanted called The Story of Civilization. There are four volumes (The Ancient World, The Medieval World, The Making of the Modern World, The History of the United States) but this review will focus on the first volume, The Ancient World.

The complete set comes with the text book, an activity book, a teachers manual, a test book, the dramatized audio book, access to the video lecture series and a wall timeline. The series is meant for use through eighth grade. We will be using it with 8th, 6th, 4th, and 2nd grade this coming school year.

This program is completely open and go, making life easy for mom. Our plan for each week will be to read the chapter (or listen to the audio book and have the kids read along in the text) while coloring the page from the activity book. The next day we will do narrations and the questions for review from the teachers manual. Day three we will watch the video lecture and do our map activities from the activity book. On day four we will enter dates into our personal timelines, do any craft projects I feel we can get to, and the older kids will take the test from the test book.

The text is well written and is truly a "living" book (as Charlotte Mason would call it). Author Phillip Campbell is knowledgeable and obviously excited about the subject of history, and that excitement and interest comes through in the book. Included in the book is also small bits of historical fiction to really bring the subject alive, and the text clearly states when that transition happens. The dramatized audio book is well produced and I can see us listening to it many times over. You can hear a sample at Tan Books. The video lecture is definitely worth purchasing, as Mr. Campbell not only reviews the text, but adds other interesting information as well as showing maps and other images as appropriate. Each video is about ten minutes long. The activity book has maps, crafts, coloring pages, mazes and other puzzles. It's a great companion to the text. You will need the teacher's manual to use the activity book.

The only thing I wish could have been included is a book list for further reading. It's easy enough to pull one together though, and that is my plan for the coming year. The Ancient World covers "from the dawn of history to the conversion of Constantine". Ancient Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans, and the early Church are all included. Because of this, and depending on ages of the kids using it and other books added in for further reading, I could see spreading this course out for two years. We are planning on trying to do it in one, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm very grateful to Tan Books for sending me a complete copy of the program for an honest review. I'm thrilled with it and excited to use it as well as the other volumes in future years. Pick up your copy here.