Blog

I’m your average mom living in leggings and yoga pants, with shirts covered in spitup 75% of the time, trying to figure out this crazy life of motherhood and wifehood.

I discovered blogging in college and have done it on and off for almost 10 years now. A little baking. A little gardening. A little homeschooling. A dash of natural alternatives and essential oils. A book review now and again. It’s as much of a hodge podge as I am.

Creating Assignments

This has always been one of my most favorite parts of teaching. It keeps me up at night brainstorming and getting excited about projects. I often use Pinterest for general ideas or inspiration and run with it. But the core of creating assignments comes down to 4 major assessments:-Essay-Assessment-Creation-Presentation Why? I never understood why something… Continue reading Creating Assignments

Standardized Tests

In the last few decades, standardized testing has taken a front and center seat in the educational world. Some states require testing at certain grades for data, funding, and even as a graduation requirement. Nationally, most students are encouraged to take the SATs or ACTs, depending on their desired goals after they graduate. No matter… Continue reading Standardized Tests

Kindergarten

The time is upon us. I am starting Athena with Kindergarten. We’ve spent the last 2 years doing some preschool things and at this point, she is ready for some more intentional material. In Pennsylvania, Kindergarten is not compulsory, homeschooling is an age thing, but we are using this year to be an intentional and… Continue reading Kindergarten

Mud Kitchen Crib Repurpose

Eleanor has become a sheer escape artist. What was once a once every few montha occurrence became a daily- jumping out of her crib. We were still sharing a bedroom with her, so taking the front off daybed style to leave her exposed to the whole bedroom was not an option. Athena has already had… Continue reading Mud Kitchen Crib Repurpose

What’s On My Reading List

Currently, I have three different reading lists.Yes.3.My “what I need to read to teach” pile.My “what I consider fun” pile.And finally, my “homeschooling & growth” pile. The last few years my reading has been painfully almost non-existent. But as the girls are a bit more self-sufficient and “superviseable,” I’ve been able to sneak in some… Continue reading What’s On My Reading List

Easter Baskets 2022

In case you were unaware, I love a good theme! Whether it be for parties or gifts, I like to base them off of a central idea. It helps keep me focused because I have the gift, and problem, of gift giving. This year for the girls’ Easter Baskets, I wanted to do a W+F/1000… Continue reading Easter Baskets 2022

The 4 Es

Exposure Explore Experience Evaluate Over this school year, I have started really diving in to the concept, of what I call, “The 4 Es-Exposure Explore Experience Evaluate.” It came about from the response I provided to a question on Instagram, but then I really sat with it. I realized that I had been keenly aware… Continue reading The 4 Es

Growing a Rainbow 🌈

We grew a rainbow. Draw a rainbow on a paper towel, roll it up so the color is inside, put each end in a small cup of water. As it absorbs the colors grow and bleed to make a rainbow. Seriously. It is that easy my friends. Sit back, and allow your tiny humans to… Continue reading Growing a Rainbow 🌈

Snow Painting

Some days, getting out just isn’t going to work. Some days I just can’t justify 30min of bundling for 15min of outside time. Or in our case, the yard is mostly slush. And that’s when I started bringing the outside, IN. In a regular cake pan, I added some clean snow I was able to… Continue reading Snow Painting

2022-2023 Classes

I am once again SO excited to be teaching for True North Homeschool Academy for the 2022-2023 school year! However, this year, I’ll be teaching not one, not two, but THREE high school literature classes! I have been working on writing these class for the last 6 months and honestly can’t wait until August. Epics… Continue reading 2022-2023 Classes

Oh How {Delight}ful

It’s starting to feel a little cliche, but 6 years ago when I started picking a “word of the year,” it wasn’t the trend that it seems to be now. My 2022 word of the year came in, nearly, at the last hour. I was honestly stressing just a little because nothing was really clicking.… Continue reading Oh How {Delight}ful

1000 Hours Outside

It should surprise no one when I say I love outside. From mud pie cooking shows as a child, to summer camp, to our gardens now. I was instantly in love when I learned about 1000 Hours Outside last year and knew it would be one of my top goals for our year this year.… Continue reading 1000 Hours Outside

Potato Leek Soup

I am a super duper picky eater. But I’ve recently been trying to be better about integrating more foods and trying things. One such food is the leek. It’s a relative to: onion, garlic, shallot, scallion, and chive; all things I like, so I guessed correctly that I’d also like leeks. Double win is they… Continue reading Potato Leek Soup

Playing Catch Up

Like most, it has been a whirl wind the last few weeks. I am the typical mom who continuously says, “after this things will slow down.” Haha Though my teaching semester ended in mid December, I do backend administrative work that doesn’t stop. I’ve been absolutely LOVING writing my 3 classes for next year. Seriously.… Continue reading Playing Catch Up

If You Just Believe

Before anyone calls Joel Osteen, hang tight. Last year I chose “believe” as my word of the year.Funny enough I was believing in things but had no idea what it meant. Even as I wrote the words, I didn’t have any specifics in mind- but it felt right. I believe that 2021 is going to… Continue reading If You Just Believe

Pineapple Coconut Cake

My husband will tell you, this is one of his most favorite things that I’ve ever made. And as many of you know how often I bake/cook, in the last 7 years, he has had a LOT of my food, so this says something. I have a cake recipe that I use as a “base”… Continue reading Pineapple Coconut Cake

Choosing a Homeschool Evaluator

Being a homeschool evaluator myself, along with homeschooling my own children, I am on a number of local homeschool pages. I recently saw a parent searching for a homeschool evaluator. It was followed by evaluators commenting saying they didn’t need to worry about it until the end of the school year. As a chronic procrastinator,… Continue reading Choosing a Homeschool Evaluator

Samwise Declan

I will start with there are so many good dogs in rescues. Every single dog we have ever had has been a rescue. Our Pekingese, our Jack Russell, our Brittany- and every dog in between and after; rescued. We love our rescue dogs. Many rescues will not adopt to families with young children. Some animals… Continue reading Samwise Declan

Accidental Hiatus

As I sat down to do a little blog work tonight, I felt like it had been at LEAST 2 months, if not 3 since I’d been able to write a post and share it. Apparently, it’s only been since August 12th, which is just over a month. I’m fairly happy with that, but it… Continue reading Accidental Hiatus

How to Start- Part II

You have your list. You’ve identified how the sun moves in your yard. You’ve more or less decided where your beds are going to be! You have direction. You know if you’re doing a food plot, herb garden, flower garden, pollinator garden, etc. The dream has been dreamed! There is a saying that goes something… Continue reading How to Start- Part II

Saving the Seeds

I know this feels out of order with my gardening series, and you would be correct. But the thing is, we’ve been doing a LOT of seed saving the last few weeks. I have the pictures, and the info is fresh in my brain, so go with it. What started out as a way to… Continue reading Saving the Seeds

How to Start

When I walk outside, I see them. In my mind I construct pods, bean teepees, soft edges of marigolds and catmint, the hum of hummingbirds, the bzzzz of bees, the whisper of flapping butterfly wings. Did you know if you are absolutely quiet, you can hear a caterpillar munch? I see stalks of Foxglove, tangles… Continue reading How to Start

Steamer Mugs

Yes, it’s still summer. But we all know back to school shopping also means that fall is around the corner. And in case you’ve been living under a rock the last 19 months, there are *bugs* out in the world too. And sometimes, those *bugs* cause things like green goop to fall out of your… Continue reading Steamer Mugs

Toddler Bible Time

Part of homeschooling for us, includes Bible Time. I use this term loosely but stick with me. First, we are hitting the age where she is really learning songs and latching on to them. Not only does she ask for “Bible So” but when she plays with her animals and puts them to bed, she… Continue reading Toddler Bible Time

Italian Pork & Baby Led Feeding

As I was prepping dinner I realized that this was also a perfect opportunity to show an example of baby led weaning for us! Baby led weaning is more or less feeding your baby little bits of the same food you’re eating- obviously this should be done judicially based on their age and tooth count.… Continue reading Italian Pork & Baby Led Feeding

Battle of the Pits- Rematch

3 years ago when I first started wearing natural deodorant, it was still a “fringe” kinda thing. People were just starting to learn about what natural deodorant is and why they need to switch. There were fairly limited options, they were gritty, they were hard, often left greasy stains on clothes, and most of them… Continue reading Battle of the Pits- Rematch

What You Didn’t See

With both girls I was back in pre-baby clothes within a week of giving birth. Actually, if I’m really honest, I was wearing pre-baby clothes before that. I’d hear, “You’ve had 2 kids!?”“How lucky you snapped back so quick!”“You look great.” But amongst the comments on how I *looked* nobody knew that I was actually… Continue reading What You Didn’t See

Lord of the Rings Birthday

“When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.” J.R.R. Tolkein The Fellowship of the Ring This year, my dear sweet husband turned 30. Not only is he married to me, but he’s… Continue reading Lord of the Rings Birthday

Foxhole

We are deep in the trenches. I mean like, if the last 10 days had an equivalent, we’re about 15ft down in a foxhole in the midst of the Battle of the Bulge. Simultaneously: -Athena is getting molars-Eleanor is getting teeth-We more or less did not sleep from Monday through Saturday-We’ve all been slammed with… Continue reading Foxhole

🌈Fizzy Rainbow🌈

This month, our homeschool themes are Mom, Rainbows, and Butterflies. There’s a very good chance you have everything you need for this activity in your cupboard. It kept Athena entertained for a good half hour! If you know my kid, that is a LONG time. I am already planning to repeat this activity in variation… Continue reading 🌈Fizzy Rainbow🌈

True North

I’m sure most of us can sit down and pin point pivotal times in your life where you’ve had significant shifts in your season of life. April, was one of those months. I have known for quite some time that I would not be returning to teaching in public schools. I’ve known for just about… Continue reading True North

A New Level of Crunch

My husband needs prayer. God bless him, he’s married a crunchy woman. I’ve always been a nature kid. It’s only gotten worse (better) in recent years. From an academic standpoint, I LOVE learning. From a religious standpoint, I believe God created incredible and remarkable gifts in nature that go beyond visual beauty, and include multitude… Continue reading A New Level of Crunch

Backyard Nature Hunt

I don’t know if this activity could get any easier. What you’ll need:-Paints-Egg carton (12 or 18 count)-Nature Paint the egg carton slots various colors. I had an 18 count, so popular colors I duplicated. Go outside, and HUNT! Athena had a ton of fun looking around our yard for pieces of nature to put… Continue reading Backyard Nature Hunt

Dirt

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was… Continue reading Dirt

Der Ostereierbaum

No, I’m not trying to get fancy. The topic of this blog post is something known as Der Ostereierbaum. And unless you happen to have fairly extensive knowledge of German culture and language, this more or less translates to The Easter Tree. In Germany, during the Easter season, they decorate trees and/or bushes. It’s basically… Continue reading Der Ostereierbaum

Wound Care

Thorns, cuts, scrapes, slices, splinters, OH MY! With as much time as we spend outside, we see it all. So how do we take care of these wounds in our house? –Redmond Salt–Redmond Bentonite Clay–Patch Bandaids-CorrectX-*Optional* Boo-Boo Spray CorrectX is essentially a natural neosporin alternative! The oils blended into the ointment help support healing, fight… Continue reading Wound Care

Easter Baskets

Some people may think our Easter Baskets are a little extra, and they would be right. Athena’s birthday and Christmas are 5 days apart. That means in general, there’s no other “gifty” holiday during the year for her. It all happens at once. Easter is our parental opportunity to get some clothes in the next… Continue reading Easter Baskets

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mistress Mary, Quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells, And so my garden grows. Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book (1744) Will I ever take a before picture? Probably not. We aren’t totally in the clear as far as warm weather goes, but this killer week of 60° and above… Continue reading How Does Your Garden Grow?

Toddler Cake Decorating

Do you think I’m crazy? Before you go down that rabbit trail, I won’t lie, I’ve even impressed myself with this creativity. I saw a puffy paint recipe on Pinterest and I had a top 10 idea. I mentioned in the February Review how much Athena has been watching Kids Baking Championship. Let me reiterate.… Continue reading Toddler Cake Decorating

Valentines Day

I love making holidays special. I once heard a speaker say something along the lines of, “Give your children the memories you want your adult children to have.” I loved it so much. Pairing it with our Charlotte Mason education and my own special crazy, makes for some interesting days. Valentines Day was no exception.… Continue reading Valentines Day

February in Review

I keep thinking, “things will slow down.” And then they don’t. I’m going to attempt to avoid saying, “this month was crazy” every month, but well….it was. There are over 40 blog drafts typed up and everything. Have I had the time to sit down to finish formatting? No. So I’m just a wee touch… Continue reading February in Review

Monkey Bread

I have a slight cinnamon obsession. Cinnamon rolls. Monkey Bread. Anything of the like. We’ve been watching Kids Baking Championship and Athena has been very into baking. On a recent episode we watched they made monkey bread. I’ve been wanting to make cinnamon rolls so monkey bread was hardly a stretch. PTL my child took… Continue reading Monkey Bread

Canister Planter

My friend Alexa is a hardcore thrifter. Up there as a serious champ of thrifters honestly. She is a fairly consistent contributor to my blue & white obsession. We also are both “banned” by our husbands to buy more mugs, so we buy them for each other. It’s a nice win-win. 1000 years ago she… Continue reading Canister Planter

Sprouts

I got bags of dirt for my birthday. Some of you may think I’m kidding, but I honestly asked for dirt for my birthday.🤷🏻‍♀️ It was brutal waiting to get seeds in the dirt, especially after getting Cut Flowers. But I managed to stave off the urge until the end of January. Realistically, I’m not… Continue reading Sprouts

Why We Limit TV

I grew up in a great era of TV. Blues Clues. Gullah Gullah Island. Bear in the Big Blue House. Zoom. Crocodile Hunter. I don’t remember my mom ever “limiting” tv per say. I was the weird kid that wanted to watch Animal Planet anyway. Or happily made mud pies outside. My mom talks about… Continue reading Why We Limit TV

January in Review

January brought with it some cold, celebrating another trip around the sun for me, and a new attitude for Athena. We seemed to have turned 3 and hit the “three-nager” wall…. hard. We ask her to clean up, she says “no.” Honestly, it’s like living with the most extreme Sour Patch kid, because when she… Continue reading January in Review

Lady Eleanor

Considering I wrote a whole 3 part series on Athena, I think it’s fair to share about Eleanor some too! In all fairness, I have written about her Pregnancy, L&D, and our early experience working with an IBCLC and her lip/tongue tie revision. I really thought Athena was a happy baby, but Eleanor takes the… Continue reading Lady Eleanor

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