You guys, I cannot believe that this is the fifth year of Our Living Homeschool, Charlotte Mason homeschool planner!

It feels like yesterday that we pulled my oldest son out of kindergarten and started our journey to homeschool. It definitely doesn’t feel like five years since we’ve made the switch from using the My Father’s World curriculum to homeschooling with Charlotte Mason and A Delectable Education!

I’m excited to share with you that the calendar year 2020-2021 of Our Living Homeschool, Charlotte Mason Homeschool planner is ready for download!

Check it out on my Etsy shop by clicking here!

This year, I’ve decided to package the planner a little bit differently. There are components of the planner that can be reused from year to year. Most notably, the weekly and daily lesson plan pages. New this year, I’ve updated the lesson plan pages, fixed some minor glitches, and have designed it in a way that it does not need further updating.

The design of the weekly and daily lesson plan pages from here on out, will not change. I did “tidy” up the editable regions this year, so it would be a good time to make sure to have this latest version as it’s the up to date version without glitches.

From here on out you’ll have the options to purchase …

1. Large Bundle Package. This includes the new “theme” of the year, updated year at a glance and monthly calendar pages, lesson plan pages, scheduling pages for ADE scheduling cards, and wall art. All of this for just $14.99!
2. Small Bundle Package. This includes the new “theme” of the year, updated year at a glance and monthly calendar pages, and wall art. All of this for just $9.99! This is where you’ll save money each year! I would encourage you to purchase the new daily and weekly lesson plan pages this year as it’s up to date with fixed glitches. In the following years, you won’t need to purchase it again. You can use it again and again!
3. Updated year at a glance and monthly calendar pages for just $4.99
4. Scheduling pages for ADE scheduling cards for just $4.99

Creating the lesson plan pages takes a lot of time so from here on out, I’ll have more time to design new themes and wall art! You’ll now have more theme options to choose from each year!

This year, I’ve created an autumnal illustrated theme that incorporates flowers and butterflies. For the monthly calendar pages, I’ve included an inspirational quote by Charlotte Mason to encourage you in your homeschool journey.

Check it out on my Etsy shop by clicking here!

The 90-page, “mostly editable” large bundle package includes …

• A beautifully designed, Our Living Homeschool, cover page
• Academic, year at a glance calendar
• Attendance calendar
• Charlotte Mason wall art
• Scripture wall art
• A variety of book lists to suit your needs
• Terms 1-3 arts and literature pages
• Afternoon occupations page
• Weekly and term overview pages
• Exam page
• Exam notes page
• Weekly notes (with and without titles)
• Notes page
• Mother culture page
• Our weekly schedule page (overview of schedule)
• Weekly lesson plan pages (one page and a two-page spread)
• Daily lesson plan pages for 1-6 students.
• 12-page monthly calendar featuring quotes by Charlotte Mason

Also included …

A weekly schedule with 10-minute time increments that correspond with scheduling cards. After you’ve figured out your Charlotte Mason Homeschool schedule using the scheduling cards, you can easily transfer that information to this spreadsheet. I’ve created a schedule for one, two, three, and four students. This way you can easily see each of your student’s schedules side-by-side.

All title areas are customizable. You can pick your font and font size! I’ll explain how this works in the upcoming screencast video.

Bonus!

As a FREE bonus for purchasing the 2020-2021, Our Living Homeschool, Charlotte Mason homeschool planner, included is a scriptural psalm that you can print and hang in your schoolroom.

Check it out on my Etsy shop by clicking here!

Giveaway and Discount Code!

In celebration of rolling into our fifth year of creating and helping hundreds of Charlotte Mason homeschool moms plan their school years, I’m giving away 5 large bundle packages of 2020-2021, Our Living Homeschool, Charlotte Mason homeschool planner!! It includes everything listed above!!

With nearly 100 five star reviews, I feel you’ll agree with many homeschool moms that using this planner helps them simplify their school days and makes planning simply delightful!

To enter …

That’s it, friends! I’ll be drawing five winners on Friday, June 12, 2020.

Coupon Code!

For those of you that would like to head over and grab your copy now, I am offering a 10% off coupon code on my Etsy Shop by clicking on this link or using the coupon code, MHK10! The coupon code is good from now until the end of June! Grab your copy today!!

Thank you so much for your support and encouraging words over the years! I truly appreciate every comment and review!

God bless you, friends!

Talk soon,
Diana

It’s spring, darling, it’s spring! After a long cold winter, my spirit is enlivined in this season. It fills me with joy to wake each morning to the chirping of birds, singing me a melody before the sun even rises. I leave my window open so that I can hear them busy about their morning, gathering twigs and bits of string to build their nests.

As busy as the birds are in this season, I find my cup overflowing as well.

All good things.

Homeschooling, starting seedlings indoors, raising new chickens, garden sowing, and a lot of preparation for the growing season ahead.

Although it’s been a lot of work, it’s good because there have been sleeveless days, bare feet in the sun, dirt under fingernails, muck boots, and mud.

As you can see, a lot of good things … and beautiful reasons to glory in Him!

Friends, I’d like to share these things with you. In this season of my life, I’ve found the easiest way to share with you is on YouTube.

I have cleaned up my channel and started sharing new videos on YouTube.

My Humble Kitchen on YouTube

My hope in adding content to YouTube is that I can share more regularly with you on topics that are near and dear to my heart – food, faith, and family.

Click on over to my YouTube channel to subscribe now!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve added some new videos.

1. What’s Growing, Fostering Children, Chickens, and Hopes for a High Potato Yield {VLOG} NEWEST VIDEO
2. How To Overcome Anxiety | My Testimony and Quick Tips on How to Start Feeling Better Now
3. Starting Vegetable Garden Seeds Indoors | Urban Homesteading
4. How to Start Spring Seeds in Ground | Tips for Your Urban Homestead
5. Starting Our Spring Garden, Spring 2020 {VLOG}

As you can see, in this season of my life, sharing on YouTube is a lot easier for me. One thing that you can do to help me along is to subscribe.

Click here to subscribe and make sure to click the bell symbol which will alert you each time I publish a new video.

I do hope you can join me on YouTube and be a part of the My Humble Kitchen community there. For now, I’m headed back outdoors to plant annuals into my front porch container garden. If you follow me on Instagram, I’ll make sure to post some photos there!

Talk soon,

Diana

How are you doing? I’d love for you to share what’s growing in your garden or how your spring is going. Leave a comment below!

My family has been enjoying our season in Advent. Once again, we’ve set aside a lot of our bookwork to simmer in Jesus.

During this time of year, I often struggle to find a good balance between schoolwork and Advent activities. I am a scheduler at heart – I’ve even created and sell a Charlotte Mason homeschool planner. I enjoy keeping to a schedule and checking off subjects as they’re completed, but man, once we get into the Advent season, it’s hard for me to stick to it. Not because we’re fighting against our will to complete our schoolwork but because I know how rich the season can be for all of us when we submerge ourselves in Jesus and serving others.

In this season, I’ve been praying that the Holy Spirit would bring me the fruits of patience, gentleness, and peace. That I would cast my worry of getting behind in our schoolwork onto Him and instead, focus on what truly matters in this season.

Him.

Daily, we’re completing our math, language arts, and history lessons. In lieu of our other subjects, we’ve been spending our time observing our Lord as we commemorate His birth and anticipate His second coming.

Early in the morning, the boys like to run into the living room to spark the fireplace and set the Advent candles on fire. Once Little Mama makes her way downstairs to join us, we gather under warm blankets on the couch and catch up on, The Jesus Storybook Bible’s, Advent calendar readings. After our reading, the boys rush to turn on the TV; Yes, the TV!

New this year, we’ve been watching the Netflix dramatized Bible reading entitled, The Gospel of Luke. It’s brilliantly made and has allowed each of us to see Jesus in a more intimate way. There are 24 chapters in the book of Luke so we’ve been watching one chapter a day while I follow along in my Bible so that I know where to stop and resume the next day. It has led to some really good conversations.

After watching a chapter in, The Gospel of Luke, we have continued our family tradition of unwrapping one Christmas themed picture book a day. We find such joy unwrapping a book to read and discuss as a family, many of which have become treasured friends. Our schoolwork then begins and we end our school day by making presents, baking treats to share and gift, or participating in seasonal activities with our Charlotte Mason homeschool community.

As you can see, our days are more relaxed but intentional. One afternoon, My Little Mama and I wanted to make a Christmas themed treat. Since the kids love plain yogurt with granola and honey, we decided to make Christmas granola!

Honey Sweetened Christmas Granola with Candy Canes and Chocolate Chips

This honey-sweetened Christmas granola is gently sweetened with honey. To give it a bit of Christmas cheer we added organic candy canes we purchased at Natural Grocers and allergen-free chocolate chips!

It was delightful! Gently sweetened with just the right amount of sugar and spice. We shared our Christmas granola with our homeschool co-op and everyone, kiddos and mamas alike, enjoyed it!

We’re going to make a few more batches as it comes together so quickly. We’ll seal them in classic Wick or Ball jars to gift our family and friends for Christmas. Below is the recipe so that you can make it too!

Print

Honey-Sweetened Christmas Granola

Christmas Granola is a tasty Christmas treat. It's gently sweetened with honey, chocolate chips, and spiced with organic Christmas candy canes. It's a healthy treat approved by mamas and kids alike!

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups gluten-free, quick-cooking oats
• 3 candy canes crushed
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, mix together the oats, crushed candy canes, chocolate chips, and salt. Pour in the honey, coconut oil, and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated.
• Using a large spoon or baking spatula, spread the granola in an even layer on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake at 350F for 20-24 minutes or until the oats are golden brown. Once cooked, remove the granola from the oven and allow it to cool as it will harden and crisp up. Once cooled, using a spoon, break up the granola into your favorite sized pieces.
• Eat as is (it's so yummy!) or serve topped on plain yogurt and drizzled with raw honey.

How do you balance homeschool and the Advent season? I’d love to hear how you and your family celebrate the Advent season. Share with us in the comments below.

“And as Heidi stood gazing around her at all this splendor the tears ran down her cheeks for very delight and happiness, and impulsively she thanked God aloud for having brought her home, thanked Him that everything was as beautiful as ever, more beautiful even than she had thought, and that it was all hers again once more. And she was so overflowing with joy and thankfulness that she could not find words to thank Him enough.”

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

This past October marked two years since my Mami went home to be with Jesus. A lot has happened in my life since then. I wish I would have been more consistent in writing on this blog so that I could have shared regularly with you how gracious the Lord has been to me and my family.

We have seen some big changes in our lives over these past two years. Soon after losing my Mami, my family started attending a new church. This wasn’t an easy decision for us as we were a part of our previous church body for over 20 years. It was a difficult decision to make, one steeped in prayer. However, when the Lord clearly directed us to move, we obeyed.

Let me tell you, it was hard. Really hard.

I think some would argue that it was a crazy time to make such a transition. The grief over the loss of my Mami already hung like a dark cloud over our heads. With the accompanying loss of our home fellowship, the cloud felt thick and oftentimes, too heavy to bear.

But God. It was His timing.

As I’m able to look back and reflect on the past two years, I can clearly see that it was Him who directed our path to a place of solace; a new church body that was able to pour out Jesus into our lives through our grief and sorrow.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
~Ecclesiastes 3:11

In these two years, the Lord has shown my family what true unity within the body of Christ looks like. We have been very happy to be a part of this beautiful community of Christ-focused people with genuine love and zeal for His Word and each other (Romans 12:9-21).

Change is never easy but when led by God, it is good.

This change wasn’t easy. No, in fact, it took over a year to feel at home in our new church. Even with the outpouring of love, gathering for meals, intimate studies with women and small groups, it was hard pressing forward having left a piece of our life behind, especially when there were good people we had to say good-bye to.

However, through that change, God opened more doors for our family.

Our new church has embraced our homeschool co-op with open arms. They’ve allowed our group to use their building and even changed their schedules around to accommodate ours.

You see, at my church, home education is seen as important missional work. From the teaching elders to the body, a large percentage of our church families have committed their lives to homeschool. It’s unlike anything I have ever seen before. We have multi-generational homeschool families – mothers and fathers that carry out the duty to lay up His words in the hearts of their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

It’s inspirational!

Here’s where it gets even more beautiful and brings tears to my eyes. This year our homeschool co-op has been blessed to have two seasoned homeschool mothers from our church (you know, before the internet and Facebook groups) to serve as mentoring moms. They’ve come alongside each of our co-op families to encourage and equip us on our homeschool journeys. Its been a beautiful testimony to Titus 2.

How good is our God?!

Also this year, another sweet sister in Christ from our church volunteered to lead and plan all of our co-op events. Again and again, God has been so gracious. I am planning on sharing a post specifically on our Charlotte Mason based homeschool cooperative soon.

Besides a new church home, exciting growth and changes in our homeschool co-op, we also moved. I told ya, lots of change!

It wasn’t a move we were planning but once again, one led by the Lord. We moved two houses away from my sister and Papi in a town I wasn’t exactly stoked about living in. However, I knew once my Mami passed, I needed to be by them. Grieving for a lost parent is hard; however, seeing my father grieve his lost flesh has been even harder (that’s another post all on its own). In the depth of my soul, I wanted to be near my Papi to be able to walk alongside him as he struggled in grief and sorrow, never in despair.

Again, through this new change, the Lord was gracious to me. The first week that we moved into our new home, I met my next-door neighbor who was tending her large in-ground garden. It was early morning, I was with my younger sister making plans for my own garden beds. We met at our fence that divides our lawns and introduced ourselves. She asked me if I homeschool my children since my kids were playing outdoors as well. I told her yes, that we did. As soon as I mentioned that we use the Charlotte Mason method of education, she started to cry. She also homeschools using the Charlotte Mason method and was praying for Godly new neighbors. She told me that God answered her prayers and gave her more than she had even asked for.

When I think back to this conversation, It brings me to my knees in gratitude and praise. He heard our cries and gave us both so much more than we even asked for. Our next-door neighbors have since become dear friends.

Through every change, as difficult as they have been, God has been good.

Losing my Mami was difficult and continues to be so. After all, as a wise woman shared with me, we were created to be eternal. I still battle PTSD and waves of grief that come and go but over these past two years, I’ve drawn nearer to the Lord than I ever have before. In doing so, there is joy and as Heidi shared so eloquently above, overflowing thankfulness.

I haven’t heard from many of you in a long time. I encourage you to take a few minutes to catch me up on what has been happening in your life. How have you been? Any new changes you would like to share with this community? Please do so in the comments below.

I’ll be back soon with a new muffin recipe.

Talk soon,
Diana

It’s been too long, hasn’t it? I always feel so refreshed when I’m able to set a bit of time for myself and share a good recipe with you. My life is still filled in homeschooling responsibilities, so any time I get to pen my thoughts on screen makes me happy.

Oh, friends, It’s the beginning of a new year and I’m excited, I’m sure as all of you are, to begin anew. I have a few things I’ll be working on to help myself over this coming year. No, I’m not one to set high goals in fitness and diets, but I am starting a new program to help restore my core and pelvic floor. It’s called Restore Your Core. It should help me heal my diastasis recti (split abdominals) and some pelvic floor issues I have from childbirth. Yay! If you’d like to follow me along on my Restore Your Core journey, make sure to follow me on Instagram. I’ll be sharing my progress on Instagram Stories over the next few months.

Besides a fresh new program for my physical health, I am also excited about my new gardening plans for the year. This will be my family’s first spring in our new home. I’m still finalizing plans on our new urban-homestead but they will include vegetable gardens, fruit trees, herbs, bushes to attract songbirds, butterflies, and more. How exciting, right?!

As you can see I have a lot to share so hopefully, I’ll get my schedule coordinated in a way that I can get more writing done this year on the blog, however, if it’s slow-going, do follow my Instagram account because another blogging goal this year is to share more micro-blogs on my Instagram feed and Stories!

I’m rejoicing this year and I’d love for you to rejoice with me!

So, as usual, let’s talk about some good, nourishing food!

A Simple Beef and Barley Stew

Guys, I love good food!

Food that makes you shake your head and dance a little jig, food that brings about good feelings of warmth, comfort, and safety, and food that brings about healing too.

All of it … good, nourishing food. So, that’s what I’m going to keep on bringing you guys!

After a couple of weeks of unseasonably warm weather, the cold temperatures finally started to set in and I craved a good hearty stew. Of course, I didn’t have a pastured roast set out to chop into meaty cubes to brown and braise for a good stew so instead, I used ground beef.

Let me tell you, it turned out wonderful. This is one of those economical stews I can imagine mothers of old cooking to get by. Ones that are simple enough to make and evoke comforting memories of family.

It was all of that, hearty and comforting. I like to add greens to most of my stews. Greens are expert detoxifiers and oh, so much more. Every week I purchase spinach, arugula, swiss chard or Lacinato kale, and two heads of romaine lettuce. Did I mention I love greens?

To get some greens into my family’s tummies, once the stew was finished, I added swiss chard to wilt in the stews own heat. Perfect!

Next time you’re needing to warm up, give this beef and barley stew a try.

Beef and Barley Stew, have you made it? Share with us in the comments below your favorite stew to eat on a chilly day.

I don’t believe there are many things that taste as good as a freshly baked loaf of bread, slicing into its blistered crackling crust, warm from the oven, and then smothering it with golden butter. Love. That’s what it is. I absolutely love bread but as I’ve grown older, I’ve found that I don’t digest it as well as I used to.

Bummer, right?

That is why I stick to using einkorn flour, an ancient grain, in my home. I’ve found that if I stick to using einkorn flour either sprouted, fermented, or plain ol’ all-purpose, I digest it well. Naturally, since einkorn flour is what I do best with, I use it in all of my cooking and baking for my family.

As of recently, however, I’ve had to put my middle son on a gluten-free diet. That’s changed our tempo a bit, nothing melancholy, just a skip in our beat.

I’ve had to start experimenting using gluten-free grains, coconut, almond, and cassava flours.

I’ve found that I enjoy using all of these flours for different purposes. I enjoy using Jovial’s gluten-free grain bread flours for baking bread, making buns, or heartier waffles.

I enjoy baking muffins, donuts, or other pastries with almond and coconut flour and I’ve been using cassava flour to make tortillas or pizza crusts. My son has definitely noticed a difference in flavor from our beloved einkorn, but he’s grown to enjoy these new flavors as well.

What has been a tremendous help to me is being able to purchase quality gluten-free foods at my local grocery stores. At Costco, I purchase almond flour, Simple Mills crackers, Birch Benders Paleo Pancake and Waffle Mix, and Lotus Foods Millet and Brown Rice Ramen. At Natural Grocers I purchase Capello’s Naked Crust Pizza and Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bread. Having these products on hand allows me to put quality food on the table for my son on our busy homeschool days.

One thing that I’ve had to learn is to be prepared when we eat outside of our home. I’ve learned that when visiting friends and family, it’s always good to take along some gluten-free foods with me. Usually taking a hamburger bun, crackers, and a treat will help my boy get through the outing without feeling left out.

Gluten-Free, Almond Flour Fudge Brownies

I made these gluten-free, almond flour fudge brownies on such an outing. We were headed out to a potluck so I decided to make a batch of brownies to contribute and be a treat my son could eat. Get this, my entire family loved them, so much so that I want to share the recipe with you!

They are simple to put together and I really enjoy that besides the almond flour, the rest of the ingredients you will more than likely find in your pantry. They are gently sweetened with dark chocolate chips and honey making for a fudgy center you’ll enjoy.

“Living without expectations is hard but, when you can do it, good. Living without hope is harder, and that is bad. You have got to have hope, and mustn’t shirk it. Love, after all, “hopeth all things.” But maybe you must learn, and it is hard learning, not to hope out loud, especially for other people. You must not let your hope turn into expectation.”

– Hannah Coulter, a novel by Wendell Berry

I’ve been itching to write to you, dear readers. I ponder on many thoughts throughout my day and question which I should share and which are best left to the wind.

As a homeschooling mama, I’m in a slower season of life. Although quieter on my end, I’ve been growing in many ways. I’ve found it life-giving to be learning alongside my children as we Follow the Drinking Gourd on a rugged path to freedom, take another look at the beginning starting in Genesis while pausing to examine rocks and minerals, explore what it means for one group of people to gain their freedom while we strip it away, lawlessly, from those that claimed this land before us. Reading from living books has given my children many thoughts to think about, me too.

Besides reading with my children, I’ve also been spending time in mother culture, reading books for myself that I may further my own education. I’ve been reading novels, biographies, and volumes from Charlotte Mason’s series on home education. I read just a bit each day which allows me to finish a book in 2 to 3 weeks.

Spiritually, I’ve been diving deeper into the word of God than I have in a long time. I’m seeing things that I haven’t seen in the Word of God before. Thanks to people coming alongside me from my home church, I’m growing and learning who God is and who I am not. Oh, the joy it brings me to be living life alongside believers that not only know the word of God but live it and teach it well.

As you can see, with all of these living ideas ruminating through my mind each day, I have many things I’d like to share but unfortunately find myself with just a bit of time to spare. Yes, I’m still very much keeping up to date with nutrition and developing good recipes along the way. One of which I’ll be sharing with you in just a couple of days. A gluten-free fudge brownie recipe you’re going to love!

Before I share the recipe, however, I wanted to share with you a bit about our first month back in homeschool.

We’re into the fifth week of our new year in a Charlotte Mason education. We’ve finally hit our sweet spot. It’s taken a bit of time to get here though. In all honesty, the first couple of weeks were very difficult for me.

This year Little Mama has begun her formal studies alongside her brothers. Trying to figure out her timetables while at the same time coordinating my older boys’ timetables and trying to finish it all by noon was hard. My boys are not completely independent, nor are they ready just yet, so trying to work with them individually on certain subjects was taking a lot out of me.

I spent the first couple of weeks revising our schedule again and again. Finally, what I realized is that I needed to combine some of our subjects. For now, I’ve combined geography and am doing nature lore for Little Mama during our morning time which all three of my children are enjoying very much. These changes have made a world of difference in our homeschool and I’m feeling less stress and more peace throughout our day. The last thing I’m starting to look at is combining our history studies. I’m still up in the air about it and plan to reevaluate during our break week.

Friends, often times, many images and words you see online seem beautiful, good, and lovely. If you spend time on Instagram and follow Charlotte Mason homeschoolers you will have probably seen many beautiful images streaming down your feed portraying lovely, peace-filled days.

Can I share a bit of reality with you? It’s not always that romantic.

I spent many days this past month dwelling on my children’s education. I found myself questioning if they were doing well enough in school and if I wasn’t doing them more detriment than good.

I’ve found that in the deep of my worries I end up placing expectations upon my children. When I read the quote I shared at the beginning of this post from Wendell Berry’s book, Hannah Coulter, I started weeping. Halfway through reading this novel, I still wasn’t sure what I thought about it but upon finishing it I realized that it was just what I needed to read. It’s a book about the seasons of life. Its joys and its sorrows, how quickly it fades, and how it should be savored, day to day.

After reading the passage above, I realized I was placing too many expectations on my children and that was taking our joy away. I want to be able to hope for my children and help them achieve good things but I do not want to turn that hope into my expectations for who they are or who they should become.

I feel I was drifting there.

In a Charlotte Mason education, Charlotte Mason writes, again and again, to simply deliver the feast of living ideas, to not hinder their minds, and to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work of education.

I think what hinders me the most is the noise, the distractions of how to perfectly execute her methods at home. In my own mind, I’ve created an illusion of how my children should respond to living lessons and how they should behave and act throughout the day.

I can easily forget Charlotte Mason’s number one principal, children are born persons.

I seem to forget that each child is an individual with a different character and learning style. Goodness, some days, they just have bad days. Sometimes, my kids just need a hug or five extra minutes on the trampoline. For me, I’ve been building the habit of patience, through much prayer, that I may be able to better understand my children and where they are at. I want to be able to help and encourage my children through challenging times in lessons, this thing called puberty (oh man), or if they just need a hug because they’re having a bad day (yes, we are all still grieving).

What has helped me over the past two weeks is to turn off a lot of the noise. I am very appreciative of the many resources that help in educating using the Charlotte Mason method at home but I’m confident in my knowledge of her principles and am choosing to deliver them according to what works best for my family.

That, my friends, has brought rest and peace into my home. 

As we ended our fourth week, we were all able to say, “that was a good week.” That meant the world to me! Now that we’re halfway into our fifth week, our days are truly filled in truth, beauty, and goodness.

Since my heart has been happy, I enjoy baking and cooking for my family. So stop on by this Friday for a honey-sweetened, gluten-free, almond fudge brownie recipe. My family loves it and I’m sure yours will too!

In His Name,

Diana

Oh, by the way, I’m excited to share with you that my eldest son Nehemiah will be joining me on the blog this school year. He’ll be cooking, photographing, and writing up two recipe posts per month. How cool, right?! To start, he’s chosen a Spanish recipe, beef cooked in red wine or carne adobada y guisada en vino tinto. It’s a recipe from his Abuela’s cookbook that he’s eager to cook for you.

How about you? Have you started your homeschool year? How’s it going? Any hardships or successes you’d like to share? Please comment below!

{This post is sponsored by Jovial Foods. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support My Humble Kitchen.}

I just returned from a trip to California with my Papi, daughter, niece, and nephew. After traveling for close to two weeks, my tummy has been aching for vegetables.

A lot of vegetables.

While on our travels, although we did the best we could to eat well, we still ended up eating too many goodies that we normally wouldn’t at home. Ahem, a few too many conchas for me (but it was a vacation, right?).

Now that I’m back at home and settling into a good real food routine, I’ve decided to forego gluten for a bit and load up on healthy foods including a lot of veg. One of my favorite ways to load up on vegetables is by making a flavorful vegetable curry.

A curry is a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices that include turmeric. Together, they create deep, bold, intense flavors. What I really enjoy about a good curry is that you can adapt a recipe to include spices that suit your flavor profile. Also, it’s a great way to use up extra vegetables you may have lingering in the fridge. You can add just about any vegetable you’d like.

For this vegetable curry, I used Jovial’s crushed tomatoes and jarred chickpeas.

The only jarred tomatoes and beans I use at home are from Jovial. They’re grown organically and packed in glass in Italy. I’ve been using these products for years at my home. Being an organic gardener, I know what fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes should taste like. Jovial’s jarred tomatoes taste just like that – Fresh and filled in juicy flavor! It’s what a good tomato should taste like.

Besides the flavor, I appreciate that they use time-honored methods to prepare and pack their tomatoes and beans for optimal health. Below is some information from Jovial and why I love their products!

“Not only is glass naturally BPA free it does not transfer off-flavors to the product inside. We traditionally prepare both our tomatoes and beans using time-honored methods. Our organic Italian tomatoes are not hybrids, so they ripen in stages. We harvest and hand sort the tomatoes and pack them in less than 24 hours. Our tomatoes are grown within miles of the packing facility on very small farms on the coast of Tuscany. They are so fresh there is no need to use additives like citric acid or calcium chloride.

We love to work in Italy because our manufacturers are large enough to supply our market but small enough to do things the right way.  Our beans are grown in Piemonte and are sorted by hand before being soaked for 24 hours.  The process of cooking is similar to a pressure cooker, which significantly reduces lectins in beans. We add nothing to our beans and cook them in the purest spring water.”

Jovial’s fresh flavor profile leads to amazing dishes like this vegetable curry.

A Healthy Vegetable Curry

For the curry sauce, I used a mixture of spices including turmeric, cardamom, cumin, garam masala, and ceylon cinnamon. I also added ginger and garlic for some added spice and brightness. For the vegetables, I used potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, green beans, and peas. For extra protein, I added chickpeas. Feel free to add or omit vegetables to your liking.

This recipe is simple enough to make and you’ll find that as the flavors develop, this dish tastes even better heated up and served the next day.

As soon as you start experimenting with curries, you’ll find yourself making them regularly at home.

Yep, you can’t beat a good curry!

Good news, friends. July’s featured product on Jovial is their Italian organic tomatoes. You can get 20% off plus FREE shipping by using the coupon code, JULYFEATURE2018.

If you prefer to shop for Jovial products at your favorite local store, click here to grab a coupon and save $1.00 on any Jovial tomatoes or beans.

Grab some jars and let me know what you think! I’m sure you’ll love them just as much as I do.

{This post is sponsored by Jovial Foods. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support My Humble Kitchen.}

Do you make curry dishes in your home? Please share your favorite curry recipe in the comments below.

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson

The poem above brought about many tears this past school year as my children would recite it and store it to memory deep within their hearts. This is a post I have been wanting to write for a while now. Although this school season was met with many difficulties, my family has grown in ways that wouldn’t have been possible without the challenges we have endured.

My family follows the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education. For the past few years, I’ve been consulting with A Delectable Education for our course outline and book lists.

We started the 2017-18 academic school year well. My kids were on a great schedule. Each morning we were waking at 7 am, eating breakfast together by 8 am, and starting our studies promptly at 8:30 am. I started my family’s homeschool day by spending the first half hour teaching Little Mama her alphabet using the Peaceful Preschool curriculum by Peaceful Press. We pretty much went over the letters of the alphabet, one per week, painted, and read great picture books together. Little Mama and I really enjoyed this time together.

Once I finished up with Little Mama, I’d then begin the feast with her brothers, subject by subject, checking them off as we completed our lessons and narrations. We’d then eat a quick lunch and head into nature for the early afternoon. On Friday, we gathered as a group for our homeschool co-op. We had just restructured our co-op to follow a Charlotte Mason philosophy which allowed us to spread our feast into our co-op days while maintaining the friendships that are dear to us.

Really, things were going great.

And then, I had to say goodbye to my Mami. Really the month following up to that is when our lives were turned upside down. For over a month, we spent most of our days by my Mami’s side, up until the day she went home to be with Jesus.

Once she passed, the grief was overwhelming.

Days can still be very difficult but the first 4 months or so after her passing were excruciating. Not just for myself but for the children as well. They loved their Abuela so much. They spent a lot of time with her so this loss was just as painful for them.

There were days when we would start our Bible lessons with swollen eyes after a tear-filled evening and a mere 10 minutes into our lesson, one of the boys would break down crying again. That inevitably would lead more of us to tears. We’d then spend time consoling one another, praying, and spending the rest of the day visiting Papa or one of my sisters. It was a hard time.

There were days filled in sadness and days filled in anger.

And, somehow, life was still moving forward.

We still had co-op to attend and checkboxes to check so we pushed through the grief by putting on fake smiles to cover the deep hurt within.

To make matters more difficult, shortly after my Mami’s passing, my husband and I made the decision to leave our home church that we had been a part of for over twenty years. This wasn’t a spontaneous act but one we prayed over for two years. It was time and we knew it, however, this brought about more hardship as we transitioned to a new church home while still deep in grief.

With all these new changes in our life and grief still weighing heavy within, we then decided to shake things up a bit more and move from a home we had barely lived in for a year and a half.

Not to the country where my husband and I always felt our final move would be to, but three homes away from my Papi and sister in a suburb of Des Moines. This was definitely not in our plans but it was in His.

It was too difficult for me being a half hour away from my sister and Papi. Seeing my Mami pass away was one of the most difficult times I have had to go through, however, having to see my Papi lose his flesh, to see him literally half dead has been, at times, just as difficult. I knew I wanted to be closer to him to be more of a help and comfort.

Once my sister announced that she was carrying her sixth child, the Holy Spirit made it clear that I needed to be near them to help as needed. One day I shared with my Papi that it would be nice to be closer to them and the very next day a home came up for sale just three houses away on a corner lot with a big enough yard to do a lot of gardening. I knew that would be our home when my husband was obliged to move for me. He is my constant support!

So in March, we put up our home up for sale and by mid-May, we were packed and moving.

Homeschooling Through Difficult Seasons

In one school year, we lost Abuela, we changed churches, and then moved to a new home. I suppose you may think that we quit schooling all together but we didn’t.

Following Charlotte Mason’s method of education allowed us to grieve while being able to relate and learn from those before us that have endured the same pain and hardships in life. With living books by our side, we didn’t feel alone in our grieving. Her 12th principle, “Education is the Science of Relations,” came into play as we traveled side-by-side with Abraham Lincoln when he lost his mother as a young boy. Or with Amos Fortune, an African slave who lost not just one, but two wives and still found a way to devote himself to the Lord as He sought His guidance and direction.

Reading these living books for our school lessons allowed us to recognize that others have traveled the same road and those that surrendered their grief to the Lord found a way to smile in spite of their sadness.

We did not complete every subject on our list, but we learned a lot in the subject of real life and what truly matters; God, the hope He has given us in Jesus Christ, and sharing in His love with family and friends.

My kids and I are ready for summer to begin so that we can lay aside our responsibilities for a time, rest, and stand on His promise that He will renew our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. As we’ve been winding down our homeschool, I’ve been able to reflect on the past school year and have found joy in some of our accomplishments that my children have achieved while we traveled through a difficult season in life. Below are a few things that allowed us to homeschool in spite of the challenges.

Keep it Simple

I had to set aside a lot of my own expectations and allow myself to be flexible. I had to stop listening to podcasts, set aside Facebook groups for a while, and set my focus on my family and doing what was best for us at the time. As long as we finished Bible, math, reading, and dictation, I was okay with letting things go depending on how I needed to meet my children emotionally throughout the day. Honestly, a lot of it depended on my own emotions or if my Papi stopped by to cry. We took each day, one day at a time and focused on serving each other as needed.

Get Out

It’s so easy to wallow in one’s own grief and not realize what a sinkhole that can be. When the kids and I just couldn’t focus on what was in front of us, or there were too many tears to dry, I called it a nature day. We bundled up and hit the woods to be in His presence amidst His creation. It allowed us a respite from the grief as we listened to the wind rustling through the barren trees or stood still long enough to watch the eagles circle around their pray above the rippling waters. It allowed us to feel alive. Usually, after an outing like this, it brought us a bit of joy to be able to finish up a history or geography lesson in the late afternoon.

Be in Community

I think one of the biggest life-giving lessons we’ve learned this year is that community is essential to one’s health and well-being. It was important for me to continue in our homeschool co-op, even though I was ready to call it quits for the year. For my children, their friendships at co-op mean the world to them and it brought them happiness and a time to escape the chaos at home for a bit. For a little while, they could escape from their own grief and so we pressed on.

Look Back and Recognize Progress

I would be lying if I said I didn’t worry about my children’s education this past year but in looking back I was able to see consistent progress. Big Brother has come a long way in his reading and spelling and for that, I am very happy. The boys did great in their final exams for history, geography, and literature. We completed enough science this year to call it a success and the characters my children have shown this year in kindness, empathy, and love has allowed me to call this past year a smashing success.

Recognize progress, mama, and give yourself some grace.

I’m sure others of you have traveled more difficult roads than I which reminded me why I started homeschooling in the first place – to show our children, as best we can, that God is real and alive.

I feel our homeschool mission came to life this year. Year by year, my children are seeing God in a more tangible way and I pray that as they grow they will continue to deepen their love for the one who gives and takes away.

Now that we’re in our new home next to my Papi and sister, I do pray (and would covet your prayers) that we could settle down a bit and enjoy this summer resting in Him.

In His Love,

Diana

Have you homeschooled through a difficult season? I’d love for you to share with us how you were able to move forward under difficult circumstances.

Friends, I’m excited to share with you that the new Charlotte Mason homeschool planner for the 2018-2019 academic school year is complete and ready for you to download!

To purchase the planner, please visit my Etsy shop by clicking here.

I completed the Charlotte Mason homeschool planner a month ago but due to my family closing on a house and moving this past month as well, I’m a little late in sharing the news. Sorry about that – the past couple of months have been a whirlwind!

Now that life is starting to trickle into place, let’s talk about the planner.

Our Living Homeschool

Now in its third year, Our Living Homeschool, homeschool planner is both aesthetically pleasing and practical, some have called it an inspiring work of art that makes planning your homeschool year delightful.

This year, Our Living Homeschool is made up of 72 pages featuring botanical illustrations. Many of these new pages were created using your feedback!

This “mostly” editable Charlotte Mason homeschool planner includes …

• A beautifully designed, Our Living Homeschool, cover page
• Academic, year at a glance calendar
• Attendance calendar
• Charlotte Mason wall art
• Book List
• Terms 1-3 arts and literature pages
• Reader selection page
• Afternoon occupations page
• Weekly and term overview pages
• Exams page
• Weekly notes (with and without titles)
• Notes page
• Mother culture page
• Our weekly schedule page (overview of schedule)
• Weekly lesson plan pages (one page and a two-page spread)
• Daily lesson plan pages for one, two, three, and four students. Three and Four student daily lesson plan pages are on 2-page spreads. Included are five daily lesson plan pages for 1-4 students!
• 12-page monthly calendar featuring botanical illustrations. I’ve included two calendars for you to choose from! One is blank and the other contains an area for you to include inspiration for that month. Maybe a quote, scripture verse, or a commonplace journal entry. A bit of mother culture

To purchase the planner, please visit my Etsy shop by clicking here.

NEW This Year!

I’ve created a weekly schedule with 10-minute time increments that correspond with scheduling cards. After you’ve figured out your Charlotte Mason Homeschool schedule using the scheduling cards, you can easily transfer that information to this spreadsheet. I’ve created a schedule for one, two, three, and four students. This way you can easily see each of your student’s schedules side-by-side.

To purchase the planner, please visit my Etsy shop by clicking here.

Video Screencast

To help you see how each component of the planner works, I created a video screencast that shows you how to edit each page.

FREE GIFT

As a free gift for being a My Humble Kitchen reader, I’d love to gift you The Great Recognition wall art I designed last year! Sign up for my email list in the contact form below and once confirmed, you’ll be sent to a page on my website to download the wall art for free!

Thanks again for your patience, friends. I hope this resource brings you joy in planning your new homeschool year!