Are you planning to attend the CiRCE Pacific Northwest Regional Conference just outside of Seattle on May 8 and 9? Have you registered?
CiRCE says that space is limited and registration is nearly full. Don’t miss out! Register now! I’d love to see you there.
Sarah Robertson! [Check your email!]
Thank you so much for the kind comments on my blogiversary post. I’ve read them all through several times and treasure each one. Y’all know how to make my day! And I’m amazed by the number of years so many of you have been visiting Mt. Hope Chronicles!
Special shout-out to Christina Love. I don’t think I’ve ever been someone’s “who in the world would you have dinner with” answer! And I can think of a gazillion people who should be ahead of me on that list. [ha!]
Another shout-out to Jeana. Congratulations on your baby girl! Yes, I remember the early days with three boys and a baby girl, and how in love we were! There’s just nothing like it. I’m so happy for you.
So many of you said that my book posts are your favorites. Well, you’re in luck, because we’ll be talking books for the next two weeks! Books, books, and more books! Favorites, to-read list, reviews, picture books, chapter books, ooh la la!
If you are one of the many who commented on my links, be sure to follow the Mt. Hope Chronicles Facebook page. That’s where I share my inspirational and entertaining links in “real time,” including the ones that don’t make it into blog posts.
Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading and participating.
[This it totally off-topic, but my husband and I are celebrating 19 years of marriage today! There is no way we can possibly be that old. Ha! I shared our love story on the blog seven years ago if anyone is interested in reading my rambling narrative.]
Yes, it has been eight years since my very first Forever Home post in February of 2007. We had just moved into our little house in the country. Levi had just turned five. Luke was two. Leif was six months old.
Have we really come that far?
Some of you have been around for close to eight years. Many of you were here almost five years ago when I announced my pregnancy, and you have watched Lola grow up these past four years.
Thank you.
I say that sincerely.
I started this blog as a journal of our lives and our homeschooling, but it has become much more than that to me. It is community, and friendships, and encouragement. It is a place to share my writing and my photography as I grow and learn. It is a place for me to share my story.
Thank you for being my witness.
Nothing says Mt. Hope Chronicles celebration like an Amazon gift certificate giveaway, no?
So let’s do that, shall we?
I’m giving away a $50 Amazon gift certificate. Comment on this blog post for one entry, and visit the Mt. Hope Chronicles Facebook page for a second entry. Click on the Rafflecopter below to confirm your entries. The giveaway ends at midnight on February 23rd.
Giveaway is now closed!
While we’re waiting a week to find out the giveaway winner, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. I started my blog in 2007 with the basic Blogger header and just the title of my blog. [It’s a good thing blogging itself was a novel thing at the time, because the header was boring.]
By 2008, I’d gotten so tech savvy (ha!) that I was able to add the personalized header at the beginning of this post.
My photography took off that year and in 2009 I created this header:
It was time for something fresh in the spring of 2010:
Lola appeared in the header in November of 2010:
Spring 2011 (a favorite!):
December 2011:
Fall 2012 (another favorite!):
Fall 2013:
Fall 2014:
Hey, friends!
I know it has been a little quieter than normal here on the blog recently. I’m still here, just under the weather for the past five weeks. As the never-ending cough finally began to abate, I landed a nasty head cold and sinus headache which has left me with foggy brain. And I’ll admit that I am beginning to fantasize about summer. Is it just me, or are you feeling that way, too?
I have also spent some time making long-overdue improvements here on the blog. This month marks the EIGHT YEAR anniversary of Mt. Hope Chronicles! I figure that’s as good an occasion as any to spruce up the place. [grin] So you’ll notice changes happening over the course of the month, but I wanted to point out a few things to start with.
1. I have an “About” page! You can click on the tab just under the header at the top of the page to read about me, my family, and the blog. I’ll be adding more tabs for easier blog navigation, so be sure to check them out when they appear!
2. Did you know you can follow Mt. Hope Chronicles by email? Just enter your address over there on the side bar (where it says “follow by email”) and you won’t miss out on any excitement going on around here.
3. I finally have a Mt. Hope Chronicles Facebook page. [It’s about time.] I’ll be sharing interesting links, quotes, and blog posts there, so feel free to follow and join in the conversation! Just click “Like” in the Facebook box on the sidebar.
4. I’ve added an Amazon search bar (on the sidebar just below the Facebook box), so if you are interested in supporting Mt. Hope Chronicles in that way I’ve tried to make it easier for you to do so. (I receive a small commission on any Amazon purchases made through my links, whether or not you purchase the specific items I recommend.) I cannot adequately express my appreciation for those of you who purchase through my links! Thank you, thank you!
It is my intention to preserve the personal atmosphere of the blog, but I want to keep it fresh and easy to navigate. I know many of you have been faithful readers for years and years, and I hope you continue to enjoy visiting this little corner of the internet.
Be sure to check back next week for the anniversary party and giveaway!
My childhood was simple. Idyllic, really. And simple.
We lived in the country. Our social activities were school and church.
We rode bikes on our empty country road. We walked through the fields. We had sleepovers (sisters and friends) in the log cabin play house my dad made for us. We spent time gardening and preserving food (picking, snapping, husking, peeling, canning and freezing) during the summers. We read books. We didn’t watch much television, and only a rare movie (almost never in a theater).
We sat down as a family every evening to a home-cooked meal.
We camped. A lot. Tents, pump water, and outhouses. (In the rain more than once. After all, this is Oregon.) Backpacks and no pump water or outhouses a couple times.
We were a houseful of homebodies (other than the youngest—she was definitely outnumbered).
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
But my grandparents (my mom’s parents) lived in Southern California.
They drove to visit us often, and we loved their visits. They were fun, activity-driven, child-centered grandparents. My sisters and I always felt that they were our biggest fan club. They were unfailingly interested when we’d talk to them about what we were doing, what we were interested in and passionate about. They always wanted to make things happen for us, or at the very least be the loudest cheerleaders on the sidelines.
A handful of times during my childhood, we made the trip down to see them.
Grandma’s house. With Fruitloops. Grandpa’s house. With a big telescope for looking at the stars.
Grandma’s house. With a gazillion house plants that she had rescued from imminent death. Grandpa’s house. With a globe and science experiments.
Palm trees.
And Disneyland.
We would pack a picnic lunch. Grandma would pack snacks in her voluminous purse. And we’d all drive to Disneyland for the day.
It was magic.
All of us rode every ride. My grandparents seemed to have more fun than anyone. Grandma was always 20 feet ahead when we were walking to the next attraction, eager to see it all, as fast as possible.
Sunshine. Crowds. Excitement.
My sisters and I agree, Disneyland is one of our most favorite childhood memories.
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My boys have a childhood different from mine. Not completely—they live in the country just two miles from my childhood home where my parents still live—but the 5 other people in this household are extroverts, so I’m getting used to going and doing more than I did when I was little.
Still, when we manage to “vacation,” it’s a couple days in Bend, Oregon (camping, at a swim meet, or possibly playing in the snow), a day at the beach, a day (or a few) in the mountains (camping or not), an educational field trip or local sightseeing. When the boys were little, we took a couple road trips. Eventually, I’d love to take the kids on a cross-country sight-seeing trip, but at these ages more than enough loveliness exists right here in our back yard (or within a couple hours) to keep us busy.
Sometimes, just sometimes, mamma craves a purely pleasure-filled trip to Disneyland.
Six years ago, we took the boys, then 6, 4, and 2 years old. [photo above] We went just as I was coming out of a period of depression and anxiety, and the experience was, well, magical. We had a delightful time. Delightful. Let me repeat that. Delightful. And delightful was more than I could have asked for at that point in my life, and with the ages of our kids.
.
We haven’t taken a full family vacation, for purely pleasure, since then. For six years.
I’d say it was time.
It’ll still be quick. But we’re going to wring every hour of fun out of these few days.
See you on the other side.
[Grandpa, I’ll be thinking of you while we’re there, and wishing you could be there. I’ll take lots of pictures!]
:: Check out these fantastic videos of his essays illustrated/animated! [I can’t pick a favorite.]
:: C. S. Lewis: The Undragoning of Eustace @ Jennifer Neyhart [So beautiful. Check out her other C. S. Lewis posts, as well.]
:: Thanksgiving and Desire, Ordinary Time and Advent, and C. S. Lewis Week @ The Rabbit Room
It takes work to see the extraordinary things in “ordinary” time: to see a sunbeam shining through a cracked door into a dusty shed as a parable for the modern world; to see praise as “inner health made audible”; to see a world in a wardrobe.
:: The Legacy of C. S. Lewis @ The Imaginative Conservative
For in both his fiction and nonfiction Lewis, like Eliot, affirmed such norms as the rightness of order, not anarchy; the desirability of cultural change coming about slowly and organically; and the high value of custom, convention, and continuity. He also stressed the importance of individual responsibility for one’s decisions and actions; the necessity of recognizing man as a flawed creature, and of mistrusting the naked human ego and all utopian talk of men being like gods; and the overarching imperative of recognizing a transcendent order in the Person of God, the Author of Joy as revealed in the doctrines of orthodox Christianity.
:: What If Fairytales Weren’t Fairytales After All? @ Tates Creek Presbyterian Church [go read this one!]
What if our novels and films were both untrue and true? Untrue because they are figments of human imagination; true because they are portals into another reality, a greater reality of which our physical reality is a part not the whole.
What if we tell stories because we are made in the image of a God who Himself is telling a story that we are all a part of? We certainly cannot see this God anymore than Harry Potter can see J.K. Rowling, but there are signposts everywhere that we exist within a story written by an Author.
:: Redeeming Santa @ Tates Creek Presbyterian Church
Allowing our children to encounter and even believe (children don’t cognitively believe like we believe. They have an ability to get lost in fantasy without detaching from reality. Maybe that’s what Jesus means when He said, “Unless you become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom…”) in fantasy is one of the greatest ways to prepare them to believe in the true and better story to which all other stories point. To deprive them of fantasy is to reinforce the lie of our secular age that there is no fantasy.
:: I Saw Mommybloggers Dissing Santa Claus by Marc Hays @ Kuyperian Commentary
If myth “blurs the lines between fact and fantasy” to such a dangerous extent, why do we read stories to our children at all? And if we’ve decided to read them stories, then we would crush their imaginations by perpetually reminding them that this is not real. In fact, we read them stories because fiction is more real than not. Fiction is vicarious living, whether or not the protagonist has magical powers. Stories by humans will always teach us about what it means to be a human, and there are no stories that are not written by humans.
:: Why Music Theory? by Caleb Skogen @ Classical Conversations
Music theory…teaches how to communicate well through studies of order, harmony, relationships, ratios, dissonance, consonance, tension, and time. Within these studies, one is pushed passed the mere notes and ideas of a score to discover more of music’s grandiose purpose. Many of us do not generally think about music or the arts as means for understanding God, but studies in music theory can help one understand that form is important to our Creator and that it should be used in ways that reflect His character. This is an appropriate pursuit of the beauty that Plato wrote about.
:: How to Read a Brook: Some Notes on Creation-Literacy @ CiRCE. On Wordsworth, Augustine, and stopping reading to read well.
Books are mankind’s words about God and the world, but the world is God’s word about himself. As the Psalmist writes, the heavens “pour forth speech” and “reveal knowledge” which runs “to the end of the world.” The cosmos then is not full of unanswerable questions (as it would sometimes be convenient to imagine), but unquestionable answers—the visible, audible, tangible, smellable, tastable, altogether incontrovertible testimony of the Three-in-One.
:: The Wonder of Unexpected Supply @ CiRCE
Perhaps teaching itself is a poetic endeavor; or perhaps poetry, in it’s ability to work directly on the affections, is the purest form of education.
:: Off Stage by Tim McIntosh @ CiRCE Magazine [Read the rest of the CiRCE magazine here, or request the GORGEOUS print copy (pictured above).]
Yet the starkness of the stage highlights the incredible power of Hamlet’s yearnings. Richard Burton as Hamlet cries, “What should such fellows as I do, crawling between heaven and earth!” His longing leaps off the bare stage, an incandescent reminder that God has planted eternity in the hearts of men.
:: Your Adult Siblings May Be The Secret To A Long, Happy Life @ NPR
"The literature on sibling relationships shows that during middle age and old age, indicators of well-being — mood, health, morale, stress, depression, loneliness, life satisfaction — are tied to how you feel about your brothers and sisters."
:: The 3 Characteristics of an Educated Man @ The Art of Manliness [This is an older article, but I thought it was fantastic.]
The real test for the modern educated man is the ability to entertain himself when technology isn’t available or is not socially acceptable to whip out. Can you entertain yourself at a boring meeting, while camping, while conversing at a dinner party? The educated man can, and he does it, ironically enough, by retaining an important ability of his childhood—curiosity. The educated man is insatiably curious about the world around him and other people. In any situation, he sees something to learn, study, and observe. If he’s stuck somewhere with neither phone nor company, he uses the time to untangle a philosophical problem he’s been wrestling with; the mind of the educated man is a repository of ideas that he can pull out and examine to pass the time in any situation.
:: First Trailer for “The Little Prince” Movie Released @ The Reading Room
:: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 by Jeffrey Overstreet @ Letterboxd
"I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries — the realists of a larger reality.”
:: 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men @ The Art of Manliness
:: The Green Ember is here!
:: “…without literature pure theology cannot endure…” @ Story Warren
:: 3 Questions With Gregory Wolfe @ Sojourn
"Bobby Gilles: How would you respond to Christians who say, “Why would I read or watch anything that isn’t true?” or “Why read anything but the Bible?”
"Gregory Wolfe: You want me to answer these questions in how many words? If the Bible is a closed feedback loop - read me but read nothing else - then sign me up for another religion. I think it’s saying the opposite: read me faithfully and you will be equipped to read everything. If scripture doesn’t send you out into the world with curiosity and compassion, then it’s not from God. Also, since scripture itself warns us about reading the “letter” while missing the “spirit,” we have a perfect rationale for the truth that can be found in “fiction.” Great fiction enables us to encounter the spirit (which is truth) through artfully arranged letters."
:: This is your brain on Jane Austen, and Stanford researchers are taking notes @ Stanford
"In an innovative interdisciplinary study, neurobiological experts, radiologists and humanities scholars are working together to explore the relationship between reading, attention and distraction - by reading Jane Austen."
:: **OREGON FRIENDS!** Andrew Kern (of CiRCE Institute) is coming to Eugene in a couple weeks and speaking all day along with Tim McIntosh of Guttenberg College. I’d love to see you there! Let me know if you’re planning to attend so that I can say hello! (They will also be in Seattle the day before.)
:: I shared the trailer for the documentary The Address by Ken Burns over a week ago. A friend was asking how she could access the documentary, and I wanted to mention here also that it is currently available on both Netflix and Amazon streaming!
And then I came across this fabulous article:
:: Four score and seven reasons memorization is important @ WORLD Magazine. [I hope you can read it. I was able to read the whole article when I first clicked on it, but now it says I must be a member.]
:: Self Education @ Journey and Destination
"I believe that pure thinking will do more to educate a man than any other activity he can engage in. To afford sympathetic entertainment to abstract ideas, to let one idea beget another, and that another, till the mind teems with them; to compare one idea with others, to weigh, to consider, evaluate, approve, reject, correct, refine; to join thought with thought like an architect till a noble edifice has been created within the mind..." ~Tozer
:: Why Kids Should Learn Cursive (and Math Facts and Word Roots) @ TIME
:: It’s Columbus Day. Let’s talk about geography (and Ebola). @ The Washington Post
"Students usually come to college knowing American geography well, but few have ever been required to memorize a map of Africa. We require that students memorize the map because, when studying African politics, it essential that our students know where events happened and how they relate to one another."
Speaking of geography, how about:
:: States by Capital Quiz @ Mental Floss
:: The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See—Made by one guy in Oregon. @ Slate [6,000 hours. That’s serious passion.]
:: Undefended: Best Films For Children Age 5 to 8 @ Film Fisher
Some of our own favorites:
What’s on your favorite children’s movies list?
Speaking of movies:
:: Looking Closer at Left Behind - The Movie! by Jeffrey Overstreet @ Patheos
And art:
:: Virtuoso has grand plan to soothe the city streets @ The Age. Read. This. Story.
:: Lecrae: 'Christians Have Prostituted Art to Give Answers' @ The Atlantic
"We’ve limited Christianity to salvation and sanctification," he said. "Christianity is the truth about everything. If you say you have a Christian worldview, that means you see the world through that lens—not just how people get saved and what to stay away from."
:: Many of us are a little bit crazy, and hardly anyone is perfectly normal by Sally Clarkson. [LOVE]
Speaking of personalities:
:: Free Personality Test (Myers-Briggs). I scored ISFJ. As usual.
“The ISFJ personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. Though possessing the Feeling (F) trait, ISFJs have excellent analytical abilities; though Introverted (I), they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are a Judging (J) type, ISFJs are often receptive to change and new ideas.”
Well, I’m not sure about the change and new ideas, but the rest sounds flattering good to me. I’ve had people tell me (particularly after meeting me in a place where I’m comfortable) that they would have never guessed that I was an introvert. (Hint: I talk. A lot.) I’ve also had people assume that I’m an extrovert and my husband is an introvert—even when the opposite is true. (Hint: He’s not much of a small-talk kind of guy). And I do think my concrete-sequential nature (the S and J) balances out my strong emotions (the F). I’d also like to think that my husband’s polar opposite personality (ENTP) helps us be a balanced couple, but sometimes it’s not quite so glamorous as all that. [ha!]
And speaking of a little bit crazy:
Levi [as he comes through the front door dressed in black from head to toe]: "I'm dark and mysterious, unlike a polar bear who is white and mysterious."
:: Top 15 Things Your Middle School Kid Wishes You Knew @ Huffington Post. [Read this one, too.]
[Ignore Lola’s added signature.] Leif gave me a love note I will cherish forever: a grammar quiz. He marked the present participle and the past participle, but who can guess the third? [grin] [It’s a good thing he can be so adorable sometimes, because he makes wild pendulum swings to the obstinate side of things. Like at the mock swim meet last weekend when he was given the choice of diving off the blocks or starting in the water. He wanted to dive off the edge. So he hid under the bleachers and refused to swim any of his races. Fun stuff.]
:: “Let the Little Children Come to Me”: The Child’s Moral Imagination @ The Imaginative Conservative
“Children need to read, play, think, and ask questions, and in the process, form an active and eager imagination in which they process the questions and meaning of life. They need to escape to a pretend world in order to come back to reality with a more tangible understanding of the good and evil, the nature of man, and what it means to live the good life. Of course, they will not realize that they are learning these things, but they are, nonetheless. C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Ralph Moody’s Little Britches, and so many other children’s books cause young and old minds alike to abandon their own afflictions and imagine a different time and place in order to deepen their understanding of the true, the good, and the beautiful.”
:: 8 Reasons Why Fairy Tales Are Essential to Childhood @ Imagination Soup
Fairy tales show real life issues in a fantastical scenario where most often the hero triumphs…Children need to discover in a safe environment that bad things happen to everyone. Because guess what? No one in life is immune from challenges — so we need to build capacity in our children. Do we build emotional muscles so our children can hang on during tough times or do we shelter our kids, protecting them, leaving them so weak they can’t handle anything requiring strength?
:: The Power of Grace @ The Atlantic (Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead is one of the most haunting, exquisite books I’ve ever read. I got shivers reading this review of Lila, which I’ve pre-ordered.)
Robinson’s grace is all the things we don’t have names for: the immortal souls we may or may not have, a doll with rag limbs loved to tatters. It’s sweet wild berries eaten in a field after a man baptizes the woman he will someday marry. Grace is money for a boy who may have killed his father; it’s one wife restoring the roses on the grave of another. Grace here isn’t a refutation of loss but a way of granting sorrow and joy their respective deeds of title. It offers itself to the doomed and the blessed among us, which is to say all of us. “Pity us, yes, but we are brave,” Lila realizes, “and wild, more life in us than we can bear, the fire infolding itself in us.”
:: Henry James and the Great Y.A. Debate @ The New Yorker (As someone who loves Harry Potter, Hunger Games and, say, Gilead, I found much food for thought in this article. It’s long but worthy.)
Why is it, then, that we rightly recognize in James a maturity absent from so much of American culture not just today but a hundred years ago? It is, I think, in part because he treats the passage into adulthood as not just painful or costly but also as necessary, and he looks that necessity straight in the face. What’s more, he treats his reader as a fellow adult aware of this necessity. (In his magnificent story “The Author of Beltraffio,” the narrator asks the famous author whether young people should be allowed to read novels. “Good ones—certainly not!” he answers. Not that good novels are bad for young readers, he adds, “But very bad, I am afraid, for the novel.”)
:: Less internet - but more of what? @ The Art of Simple (I need to implement this one.)
I would like to suggest that you read poetry instead.
Why? Because really, you’re looking to replace a habit that is in the cracks and crevices of your day. Most of the time, this isn’t about replacing a 4 hour block of internet-ing with a dinner party. It’s about replacing 5 to 10 minute chunks when you’re standing in line, riding the bus home from work, or hanging out at the playground with your kids.
:: Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress @ The Wall Street Journal
The point of the club isn't to talk about literature, but to get away from pinging electronic devices and read, uninterrupted. The group calls itself the Slow Reading Club, and it is at the forefront of a movement populated by frazzled book lovers who miss old-school reading.
:: These Works of Art Truly Amazing. But Wait Til You Find Out Who the Artist Is & How He Made Them @ IJReview. (Astounding.)
:: How Many Famous Painters Can You Name? (quiz)
:: Love Is All You Need: Insights from the Longest Longitudinal Study on Men Ever Conducted @ The Art of Manliness (Fascinating reading.)
Nothing quite like the Grant Study has ever been attempted; as Vaillant puts it, this research represents “one of the first vantage points the world has ever had on which to stand and look prospectively at a man’s life from eighteen to ninety.” The mountains of data collected over more than seven decades has become a rich trove for examining what factors present in a man’s younger years best predict whether he will be successful and happy into old age.
…When Vaillant crunched the numbers, he discovered no significant relationship between a man’s level of flourishing and his IQ, his body type (mesomorph, ectomorph, endomorph), or the income and education level of his parents.
The factors that did loom large, and collectively predicted all ten Decathlon events, had one thing in common: relationships.
:: Give Them Swords @ Sharp Paynes
This world is full of so many portals-of-sin, so many gateways to a distraction from Jesus and the narrow way. They are in my own life and I hold them in my own hands. I fight them in my mind, and I only wrestle down strongholds of word and deed by His word and I need, I need, a protecting of my own. I need a Jesus-covering like a mother’s love and father’s affection.
I worry that they might make mistakes too big for me to fix, and therein lies so many problems of my own.
::The Two Key Traits Employers Need From Today's College Graduates @ Forbes
:: While India's girls are aborted, brides are wanted @ CNN
Decades of sex-selective abortion have created an acute lack of women in certain parts of India. Traffickers capitalize on the shortage by recruiting or kidnapping women ensnared in poverty to sell as brides. It's a cycle influenced by poverty and medical technologies, but one that ultimately is perpetuated by India's attitude towards women.
I read an article this evening that struck me as important in this age of social media and in my life as a blogger: Instagram Envy, Being Authentic on the Internet, and When It’s Time to Break Up with a Blog @ Carrots for Michaelmas. I encourage y’all to go read the whole thing, but a couple points jumped out at me. They might be obvious, and yet we I forget them all the time.
I compare my unedited life with someone else’s edited life when I browse the social media/blog world.
This goes one of two ways for me: 1.) the person is a great writer and can make even the worst struggles either beautifully poignant or absolutely hilarious or 2.) the person is a fantastic photographer.
What I need to remember is that both the writer and the photographer are artists, and their art is purposeful—edited to deliver a message. My life, the day-to-day nitty-gritty, is unedited. I see everything, warts and dirty dishes and failures and all. It’s not fair of me to compare the two.
Authenticity in my own blogging means that no one should meet the real me or see my real world and be surprised.
I try, I really do try to be authentic in this space. It’s very difficult for me to show that through photography, however, because as an artist I want my pictures to be beautiful. And life is not always, sometimes not at all, beautiful. And sometimes the un-beautiful is not my story to share. I must be respectful of those whose stories are woven with mine. I am also not the brilliant writer who can weave a story to make you cry or laugh.
Really, there is more to say, like the fact that we have responsibility as blog readers and social media browsers to be aware of our own weaknesses and aware of what brings us joy or builds us up, but I need sleep so I’ll end this quick post with some authentic friend-to-friend honesty:
This list could go on for a long time, but maybe this will help some of you have a more realistic idea of my unedited life. [wry grin]
And now I’m curious. If you read my blog and then met me in person, were you surprised? It is my sincere desire that this blog be an authentic space, and I want to work on that if I’m falling short.
Levi complete week 1 Challenge assignments (and get a head start on week 2, due to the short week) [Completed more math, geography, Latin, and more this week; hoping to make this double first week not quite so crazy.]
Organize independent work notebooks for Leif and Luke. [I guess I’ll work more on that this week.]
Organize filing system for books, completed paper, and supplies in kitchen and living room. [Still in progress.]
Organize independent reading selections (history, literature, science, art, math, etc…) for the first few weeks. [Nope.]
Get notebooks and supplies for Essentials ready.
Clean Lola’s room (purge toys and clothes). [Needs more work.]
Clean Boys’ room (purge toys and clothes). [Needs more work.]
Clean house. Catch up on all laundry. [As caught up on both as I’m ever going to be…]
Meal plan for September. Grocery shopping. [Grocery shopping done. Meal plan only through this week.]
Finish summer blog posts.
Quit drinking Dr. Pepper/Paleo-ish [Did well until today, Sunday. Back to the grindstone tomorrow.]
Hair cut for me.
Edit Kelley family photo session. [Halfway finished.]
A day in the mountains.
A day on the beach.
A day at an amusement park in Portland. [Decided not to go because of the hot weather.]
A date night. [Dinner and a movie! We watched The Hundred-Foot Journey at our favorite little vintage theater in town, and it was lovely.]
A birthday party.
Middle school church group pool party (Levi)
3 hours at the coffee shop engaged in phenomenal conversation with dear friends at book club #4 (me)
Backpacks, snack bags, lunches, and clothes out for Monday morning
:: Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt @ Momastery. [If you read nothing else from this quote and link list, read this one. Trust me.]
:: Mother as Student by Pam Barnhill @ Schole Sisters [Check out all the lovely articles on this fantastic new community!]
“The fact of the matter is that we are all at different stages of this journey towards the true, the good, and the beautiful. I have yet to make it to Augustine and Pieper — I’m still reading Lewis, Esolen, and Caldecott and that’s okay, because I am reading and learning. My journey has begun. We all bring different backgrounds, different expectations, and different educations. We also bring different experiences of classical education.”
:: Violinist Plays During Brain Surgery To Help Surgeons Find Exactly What’s Causing Tremor @ Elite Daily [Whoa, what an age we live in!]
:: 2014 Conference Recordings are up at Society for Classical Learning if you need some fresh inspiration as you head into a new school year.
:: If you’re in the mood for a quiz, try these 10 world history questions.
:: The Most Trying Part of Living a Good Story by Jeff Goins
“Good stories involve conflict, which is just a nice word for pain. People don’t become heroes without sacrifice, and as creatures of comfort, this is the last thing we want to endure.”
:: Ask the Headhunter: The sign of ignorance all employers hold against you @ PBS
“What’s a discussion about language doing in Ask The Headhunter? Poor spelling, incorrect grammar, lousy writing and poor oral presentation are all signs of illiteracy. I don’t care what field you work in, how much you earn, or whether you’re a production worker or a vice president. The way you use language reveals who you are, how you think, and how you work. And that will affect your career profoundly. You can pretend otherwise, but you can also walk around buck-naked believing you’re invisible because you’ve got your eyes closed."
:: We Miserable Sinners @ Christianity Today
"Movies and TV shows built to transfer particular abstract ideas wind up fitting the story to the ideas, instead of letting the story and characters breathe and live like real people, who are messy and inconsistent and confusing. Like you. ...Like me...
"Humans actually are pretty good at figuring out if someone is telling them a story in order to talk us into believing they're right. We hate it. But we also like seeing the results of our ideologies played out on screen in ways that are favorable to us."
:: What Do the Arts Have to Do with Evangelism? @ The BioLogos Forum (video)
:: And God Rested @ Story Warren
“All I know for certain is that, if a limitless God can call something good and sit down and rest and enjoy his work, who are we to battle long past the end of our strength or obsess over trivialities or hover anxiously over what ought to be released and laid aside?”
:: 25 Gifs That Teach You Math Concepts Better Than Your Teacher Did @ Distractify
:: Don’t Teach Math, Coach It @ New York Times
“Baseball is a game. And math, for kids, is a game, too. Everything for them is a game. That’s the great thing about being a kid. In Little League, you play hard and you play to win, but it doesn’t actually matter who wins. And good coaches get this. They don’t get mad and they don’t throw you off the team. They don’t tell you that you stink at baseball, even if you do — they tell you what you need to do to get better, which everybody can do.”
:: Peek into brain shows how kids learn math skills @ Daily Mail
If your brain doesn't have to work as hard on simple maths, it has more working memory free to process the teacher's brand-new lesson on more complex math…'So learning your addition and multiplication tables and having them in rote memory helps.'
Because we’re human.
Because living in community and fellowship with one another is a complicated, challenging task.
We want changes made. But we don’t like to change.
We want new and improved materials and resources. But we don’t want to pay for them.
We want authority as teachers/tutors/leaders/coaches. But we want control as parents (or individuals).
We don’t want to volunteer. But we don’t want to pay others for their contributions.
We don’t want anyone to work less than we do. But we are oblivious when others work more.
We expect others to show up and pay up (on time!) for commitments. But we want flexibility to bow out of ours.
We don’t want to follow. But we expect others to accept our leadership.
We don’t want to listen. But we sure like to talk.
We expect to receive grace for our humanness. But we struggle to give it to others.
We want passion and commitment. But we accuse others of “drinking the kool-aid.”
We want everyone (us) to be included in decision-making. But that doesn’t include the person sitting next to us who would make the opposite one.
(We want more support. We want more freedom. We want more science. We want more history. We want more discussion. We want more productivity. We want quality. We want quantity. We want rigorous. We want to slow down. We want depth. We want breadth. We want popcorn. Popcorn is for heathens. (That last one is for Pastor James.))
We avoid honest, grace-filled communication with our flesh-and-blood community. But we spew words at the faceless on social media.
We don’t like dialectic tension. We don’t like give and take.
[“We” in this post describes me, but by God’s grace I will grow and learn and practice being in community.]
P.S. I will return to pretty pictures tomorrow.
I used to be a dreamer. My childhood was filled to overflowing with ideas and lists. About the future, mostly. A few things were random or unrealistic (such as the pages and pages of notes I wrote about what I’d pack if I could only have one suitcase in addition to the clothes on my back and I was about to be dropped off to live on an uninhabited island, described in detail). Quite a few things were crazy plans for summer adventures, such as my “Sunshine Singers” concert (happened, with matching outfits and a costume change) or hosting my own Olympics (didn’t happen, but you should have seen my killer balance beam routine on the picnic bench). But most dreams were ideas for my life ahead.
I loved checking the mail, running down the gravel driveway in bare feet as soon as I caught a glimpse of the mailman. The mailbox was symbolic of mystery and possibility. The day the Sears catalog appeared was Christmas. I’d pour over it, cover to cover. When the new one arrived each year, I’d start the process of cutting up the old one. A toaster here. A maternity dress there. A coffee table. A wrench set. All the things my life would need. The paper baby toys found their way pasted into a notebook. Pages for each room of the house, each of my children (by name), my wardrobe, holiday decorations.
Later, I began a home design notebook in earnest. When all the other seventh grade girls had subscriptions to Seventeen and YM, I paid for my own subscriptions to HOME and Architectural Digest. By the early years of my marriage, the notebook had been purged, edited, updated, expanded, and improved. House plans drawn. Rooms designed in painstaking detail. Gardens, no, a veritable estate imagined in all its splendor. And, oh, the quiet days and glorious events that home would witness.
And, my, what a perfect mother I would be to my eight children. They had fantastic names, and even more fantastic hobbies and interests—each one quite unique. Who would need television, when adventures were calling? Just think of the road trips and museums. Backpacking across Europe. Visiting nursing homes. Serving in the soup kitchen. Performing in a family band called Blue Skies. (Our first song was going to be called “Open Road,” and the promotional poster featured a white ‘66 Mustang, a picturesque country road, blue skies, white cotton-ball clouds, an upright base, and the most stylish, fun-loving family you’ve ever seen.)
You are starting to be concerned about my mental state, I can sense it.
Early marriage, my plans and dreams included an interior design business. Then I started Poet’s Garden with my sisters and mom. Mostly for the fun of it, I drew detailed plans for a Poet’s Garden “complex.” A baby store. A coffee and tea shop. The garden shop. The interior design shop. (I even had plans for a restaurant, the B-24 Café with WWII memorabilia and menu items named after vintage aircraft.) My kids would have their own room for homeschooling, of course. A few highlights did occur during the Poet’s Garden years, including being featured in Victoria magazine—a lifetime dream. But my sister Shannon and my mom did the lion’s share of the work, particularly once I had Levi and completely once I had Luke.
About the time I started having kids, my planning took on a slightly different hue, with a “closer to home” tinge. I kept a notebook full of birthday party themes and ideas, complete with a schedule. Homeschooling ideas. Trips with kids ideas. “If I survive toddlerhood with the boys, we’ll do all these things when they are older” ideas. Healthy eating and exercising sprees. Organized home management and meal planning.
We moved into our “forever” home, and the home design notebook shuffled off to a top shelf where it forlornly gathers dust. But the property held possibility. Wouldn’t it be fun to create a walking/bike trail around the perimeter? And a veggie garden here? A magical children’s garden there? A bunkhouse over yonder?
Okay, so yard work isn’t our forte. Levi’s 1st-4th birthday parties, Luke’s 1st-2nd, and Leif’s 1st were pretty amazing. Since then? I’m doing well to plan a day ahead and bake a cake. Trips? These days, our sanity and financial reserves can’t handle a night away from home. Activities? Swim team, barely. Archery, prognosis—not good, and they’ve been to one class.
But blogging? And homeschooling? And imaginative, stylized photo sessions? I’ve got this. Oops, there goes photography.
We’ll talk about blogging and homeschooling in a minute, but here’s one point I was leading up to:
Dreaming was a tremendous source of joy for me. I didn’t really think I’d do many of those things, but they were possibilities. And I was full of passion for the creating and imagining process.
But I’ve full-on lost it. Every idea, every plan, every dream is a dreaded to-do list fraught with self-loathing. Reality has set in, and I understand that these things are not within the realm of possibility. Not even the simplest of plans. They all cost something, and I have no reserves.
I used to be able to convince myself that this time it will be different. I’ll be self-disciplined. I’ll follow through. I’ll find the time and energy. My kids will be different. I’ll be different. I just need to find a workable plan. Better inspiration.
I’ll get up earlier in the mornings. I’ll stick to the routine. I’ll fix better meals. I’ll exercise. I’ll get more accomplished during the day…
But it never happens.
So, I’m living life in the moment as it comes without expectations.
For the past few months, my family has been on and off (more on than off) sick. I feel like I’ve had a cold for 10 weeks straight, but this week I’ve felt awful, Lola is quite sick, and Leif is sick (after being on antibiotics last week). I always feel as if I’m about three days behind on the basics (laundry, basic house upkeep, current homeschool assignments, meals, paperwork) and about 20 big projects (each needing two childless weeks to accomplish) away from sanity. The extras (birthday parties, vacations, photo sessions, blogging ideas) seem completely out of grasp. Weeks like this? Ugh.
Parenting Lola is a 24-7 job. Homeschooling Levi is a 24-7 job. Luke, Leif, and basic housekeeping/meals take up another one or two full-time positions. (Just in case you’re wondering, Russ has about 3 full-time jobs, as well.)
Something’s gotta give. So the power button is pushed on the tv and ipad waaaay too often. Lola makes 3 days’ worth of mess in 15 unattended minutes. Pizza is dinner, over and over. Leif slips through the cracks. Russ and I have no time together. I look around the house and cringe at the piles and dishes and dirt. Every *fix* is time and energy that I don’t have, or another spoon-full of guilt (have the kids help? it’s harder to train them than to do it myself. that meal plan? it’ll last a week. morning quiet time? wouldn’t it be awesome if I could get myself out of bed.). Really, how hard can this be? I should be perfectly capable of pulling it together.
Blub. Blub. Blub. That’s the sound of me, in over my head.
A few months ago, I was smitten with a burst of inspiration. I had a theme for the coming year. Something that incorporated and integrated all the little elements of my practical day, my creative/dreamer side, my “reasonable” personal improvement goals, a couple big Heidi-stretching adventures, homeschooling, my passion for books and ideas, my faith, my family and friends, my health, and my blog. I have pages and pages of notes.
I don’t know how to make it happen. Not one bite at a time. Not nothin’.
One day at a time. That’s all I’ve got.
So I’m going to go snuggle with my kids, call it an early night. And do the best I can tomorrow. Next week will have to worry about itself.
P.S. I started this as a not-so-falling-apart sort-of post (believe it or not, it was going to be funny and inspiring), but in the interest of honesty, I’ll leave it as it stands. Maybe we’ll all be feeling better next week and I’ll recant.
P.P.S. On a positive note, after spending 11 of the past almost 12 years changing diapers, sometimes on more than one child, I am done. For.eh.vah. (Less positive, it looks like we’re done with naps, as well. #(%$#)
P.P.P.S. Homeschooling, while never easy or perfect, is not on the “gotta give” list.
As Levi and I are getting into the car, just the two of us (after hours of too much sensory input for this introvert and obviously not enough for my extroverted son):
Levi: What music are we going to listen to?
Me: You're driving with Mom. That means we get to drive in silence.
Levi: (With a disappointed sigh) Oh, I was looking forward to some Mom-Levi time.
Me: (Feeling remorse) What would you like to talk about, Levi?
Levi: I don't know. I was going to defer to your expert knowledge of chitchat subjects.
So, you see, I’m a chitchat expert.
Not really, but let’s pretend.
We had a decent day full of lessons today. Not completely up to speed, but close. (As the above pictures demonstrate, lessons at our house are done with flair.) We have another back-to-school event with our charter school on Thursday. The boys (Levi and Luke) started swim team practice again this week after a short break. I am planning on being up to full speed this coming week. The boys start choir on Monday, as well. I’m trying to decide whether to have Leif attend Awanas or whether that is just too much on the schedule.
I’m currently reading Gilead for my ChocLit Guild book club selection this month. Every sentence is a glorious masterpiece of profound simplicity. (How’s that for a glowing recommendation?) It reminds me of Peace Like a River, which is now on my all-time top 10 books list. (Also a book which made me thrilled to have a son named Leif.)
As an aside, thank you to whoever clicked on one of my Amazon affiliate links and ordered Gilead. First, whenever you click one of my links and then place items in your cart (even when you do not purchase items I have recommended), I receive a small commission which helps support my book habit. I am immensely grateful. Second, I find it fascinating to see what people order (I can see the items ordered, but not who ordered them). I occasionally click on the books out of curiosity, and Gilead was one such occasion. You have now blessed a whole book club. Grin.
A sentence diagramming challenge is coming up shortly. Get those pencils ready. (I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start.) (This one’s for you, Kellie.)
I’ll also be writing about using CC memory work at home without being a part of a CC community. (This one’s for you, Andrea.)
In other (Big, Mysterious) news, I’m working on something exciting. It is a sort of themed year-long life project with many interconnected facets that I’ll be launching in January here at Mt. Hope Chronicles. It has to do with my Billboards post that I reposted last week. I have many details to work out (and prep work to accomplish), but I’m full of anticipation. Can you believe that January is just over three months away? I’m hoping y’all are here to join me on the journey.
P.S. Lola turns three in two weeks. I am all astonishment. This is not possible.
Thanks, those of you who weighed in on the first question: “What is ‘the good life’?”
And now for the second question (which is obviously many questions in one):
When discussing and planning for life past high school (college, career, and beyond), do you talk with your kids about what ‘the good life’ is, and what it might look like for them (what they want out of life), and how they might best seek it or prepare for it? And, conversely, what might hinder them from living ‘the good life’? Does this figure at all into your discussions about college? Is college a necessary step to ‘the good life’? Is the point of college to have a career that will allow one to live ‘the good life’? Is a well-paying career a guarantee (a strong indicator? a helpful push in the right direction?) of ‘the good life’?
I’ve been having some great conversations with friends lately on the topic of “the good life.” And I’d like for you all to have a chance to weigh in on the discussion. I’ll start with a simple question. You can share a “big picture” answer or specifically list details (or examples, no matter how small or “trivial”). I want your definition—not society’s. I’d really like to read specifics beyond living within God’s will for your life (if that is your preeminent definition), because I believe we have so many personal choices to make within that framework. (And we’ll chat more about the subject in a couple days.)
What is “the good life”?
June. T’was a crazy month. We started out with Luke’s Minecraft birthday party, and we just kept partying. My niece’s last choir concert (so spectacular), our last-day-of-school party at the park with our charter school friends, a hurt foot that kept me limping for over a week, a day at the beach, a new run of our Book Detectives book club at our house, an afternoon with friends we hadn’t spent time with in forever, and a lot of time spent in preparation for speaking.
Then on Wednesday the 19th we met up with Texas friends for a day at Multnomah Falls. Thursday I tried to play catch up on my reading for another book club that evening (all 4.5 hours of fantastic chatting time with friends). On Friday I was supposed to spend the whole day finishing my prep for practicum. Instead I spent 6 hours taking Lola to the doctor and then to the pharmacy, trying to get her down for a nap (unsuccessfully), hanging out at the doctor myself and then back to the pharmacy… Sigh. Saturday was an all-day marathon of swim meet, straight to a birthday party with Lola, straight to a BBQ in my sister’s/parents’ garden to hang out with out-of-state friends (including a hilarious volleyball game and s’mores) until late. I spent all day Sunday finishing practicum prep, cleaning house, and making sure we had food for the week.
Monday started bright and early. Well, at least early. My sister and my niece shared the responsibility of caring for my kids and transporting them back and forth to VBS while Russ and I headed to Eugene Monday through Wednesday for the Classical Conversations Parent Practicum where I spoke all day for all three days! My awesome husband was there every minute as my chauffeur, technical assistant, and all-around support. I have no idea what I would have done without him!! And I am so thankful for all the people who were praying for me. It went smoothly, and I didn’t get an overwhelming case of the jitters. I spent Monday and Tuesday evening working on more prep for the following day, so I was absolutely exhausted by Wednesday evening. After Russ took me out for dinner, I crashed on the bed for the rest of the evening. Lola did manage to get a fairly nasty burn on her hand Monday evening and Luke put a hole through a window with a rock and a sling-shot, but other than that…
Thursday the kids had VBS again and I tried to catch up on reading for book club #3 of the month. We, the ChocLit Guild book club, spoiled ourselves rotten with a fancy evening at a local golf/event center, enjoying a chocolate fountain and discussing Oscar Wilde. (A big change from our more recent meetings at the café of a local bowling alley…)
Friday was the last day of VBS, afternoon swim practice, and then we headed over to my parents’ house for a lovely dinner in the garden with my grandparents who have just arrived from California to spend the month with us! (Just the day before, my Grandpa became a Knight (Chevalier) in the French Legion of Honor for his part in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII.)
Saturday my friend Tsh (Simple Mom) came over with her kids to hang out for the afternoon. We had such a relaxing time chatting. I didn’t even snap one picture, so I can’t prove it to you. Ha! By the way, have you seen her new book, Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World, that will be released in February of this next year? I can’t wait to read it! Isn’t the cover art lovely?
And then yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening at our friend Bob’s annual Independence Day BBQ at his house on Lake Oswego. (Tuesday it was cool and pouring down rain. Sunday was 98 degrees. That’s Oregon.) The boys and Lola enjoyed swimming in the lake (picture above). And the boys must have had plate after plate after plate of Bob’s famous ribs. YUM!!
Which brings us to today, July 1st. I have nothing on my schedule except for swim practice (which is Russ’s domain) and spending time with my grandparents. Wahooooooo!! We might even get some house chores and lessons completed. Oh, and maybe I’ll catch up on blog posts and pictures. But maybe that’s too ambitious. We’ll see.
I think July will not be quite so busy, though Russ has two out-of-state business trips, the boys have another VBS, we’ll be spending time with my grandparents, and I’m speaking at the Albany practicum on the last three days of the month. But I’m hoping to spend most of the time just enjoying summer.
It feels so great to be wrapping up our third year with Classical Conversations.
This is the time of year when many homeschooling parents feel as if they are finally getting a chance to come up for a breath of fresh air. So often during the school year we have our heads down, focusing on our daily tasks, the weekly lessons, the end of that math book, or the never-ending to-do list. But occasionally we need to grab a ladder and poke our heads out of the trenches. (Anyone with me?!)
That ladder could be a Classical Conversations Parent Practicum!
When we are in the trenches, we are only able to see what is right in front of us—the present moment or task. But a CC Parent Practicum ladder may allow us to see beyond the immediate by helping us…
1. View the big picture: What is the purpose of education? How does the classical, Christian educational model serve that purpose?
2. See where we’re headed: What is in the future for our students, and are we on the right road to get there?
3. Model a spirit of life-long learning: How do we pursue knowledge, understanding, and wisdom as adults? How can we cultivate a spirit of curiosity? How can we empathize with our students who are facing challenging tasks or subjects?
The heart of Classical Conversations is to equip parents to teach their children, and the Parent Practicums serve that mission.
Why math?
Math is one subject very likely to be compartmentalized and isolated. It is also a subject that is likely to provoke polarized reactions—many people (parents and students, alike) profess either to love or hate math! But it is also a fundamental, core subject!
The 3-day parent practicum events will present practical tools for studying and teaching math using the model of classical, Christian education.
1. We will focus each day on one of the three classical subjects (also called the trivium): grammar, dialectic/logic, and rhetoric. We will demonstrate how these subjects or tools of the trivium are applied to mathematics. We will practice these tools and engage in dialogue together during the course of the practicum.
2. We will understand how mathematics is integrated with other subjects, not isolated.
3. We will observe how mathematics is not merely a skill of computation, but it reflects the artistry of God. Both language and mathematics are part of God’s nature, and we are made in His image.
CC Parent Practicums are held all over the United States. They are made available at no cost to the local community, not only to Classical Conversations parents. Anyone interested in education may attend! Invite friends to come be inspired and encouraged!
[If you are a veteran homeschooling parent, particularly if you have attended previous CC Parent Practicums, consider attending to help mentor and support homeschooling parents who are just setting out on this road. The nature of the practicums allows much time for dialogue and interaction. (There are also many opportunities to serve and volunteer. Contact the practicum host for more information.)]
While you are learning, your children have the opportunity to learn, as well! Reasonably-priced student camps are available at each of the 3-day practicums. Nursery is available for children 0-2 years of age. Play Camp is designed for children ages 3-5. Students ages 6-8 attend a Geography/Drawing Camp, and various academic camps are scheduled for students ages 9-14 (click on the link below to see what academic camp is offered at your local practicum).
Click on this link to find events in your area and register. Pre-registration (for both the free parent practicum and the paid student camps) is required.
I would write a formal, intelligent, insightful post, but this is my brain (or what everything sounds like to my brain):
The busier I am, the more I have to post—and the less time. I haven’t posted my March education links and lists. I haven’t even posted pictures from Easter!! Ridiculous. And I want to talk about books! And sentence diagramming! And book clubs!
Let’s see if I can catch up a little.
We now have three, yes THREE, Memory Masters in the house. Levi and I finished our proofing and we’re official along with Luke. Whew, am I glad to have that over with. We spent a HUGE amount of time and energy on mastering the material. It was effort well-spent, but I’m thrilled to free up some of our time for other endeavors. (We are finished with our CC year, but we still have our end of the year celebration coming up.)
One of the biggies: I will be the speaker for the Albany, Oregon Classical Conversations Parent Practicum in July.
The speaker.
Gulp.
Do you remember this post? The one about Billboards and doing something big, something brave, facing fears, and living a good story? Yeah, well, this is BIG for me. This shy introvert will be speaking for three days. In front of people. About Classical education. The theme this year is mathematics. I have some serious prep work to do. And some serious praying. Because I can’t do this one on my own. More about this later, but consider attending a local CC parent practicum. They are held all over the United States.
I attended the speaker training two weekends ago, and tomorrow I am attending a workshop for The Lost Tools of Writing. I’m not sure how much more my brain can hold. Things are starting to leak.
And now I can’t even remember all the things I wanted to share. So here is one Easter picture until I get a chance to post the rest.
Local friends and readers, you are invited to drop by (or stay all day!) on April 4th for chatting and sharing. If you are close enough to be tempted to come, you are considered local. [grin] (By the way, I’m in Albany, Oregon—just in case you didn’t even know if you are local!)
I’ll have some snack foods available. If you would like to bring a finger food to share or your favorite curricula for others to look at, feel free but please don’t feel obligated!
Shoot me an email to let me know you are planning on coming (or even just thinking about it) so that I can give you directions. And so that I have a way to contact you if everything falls apart and my kids get the stomach flu the night before (oh, please, no!).
Now that I’ve thrown my hat over the fence, I’m starting to see all the projects that need to be done around here. Every surface needs to be painted. Every floor needs to be replaced. And, ewwww, those “flowerbeds” are awful. You know how it is. So don’t look too closely. But I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones!
I promise to post a virtual open house right afterward—while everything is clean(ish) and organized(ish).