Home

This weekend I got my dining room all set up at my house.  My new blogging station:

This is also our homeschool area. 

Talk about multi-tasking.

Some may call it small.

I would call it just right. 

The next room I hope to finish is the living room:

So cozy. 

The entry way is almost done, packed with books, just the way I like it.

Now, I am off to wash windows. 

I love how my old house feels new again, in that exciting way, but not in that "doesn't-feel-like-home-yet" way. 

Have a wonderful day!

What a Great View

I like it when I can look out the window and see this beautiful sight:

Seeing my kids happy and enjoying each other just makes me feel this weird and overwhelming sense of well-being.

It gives me the encouragement I need to press on.  Just like working outside the home, being at home full time has its struggles:

loneliness and isolation.

A feeling that everything you do today, you have done before, and will need to do again tomorrow. 

The fear that no one notices or values what you do all day.

The guilt of not getting it all done, thus proving your worth.

The need for being self-motivated, self-governing, and balancing it all with a huge amount of God's grace and direction.

But this makes it all worth it.

This reminds me that the value I have in their lives is unable to be measured by clean floors, huge stockpiles of home-canned goods, and perfectly filled out homeschool worksheets.

Those things are wonderful, even fulfilling at times.  But home is more than a house where I keep busy all day.  Homeschooling is more than worksheets and tests.  Life is more than an endless list of things to achieve. 

Home is where I make my kids feel safe and loved by letting them be themselves and enjoying them in the process. 

Homeschooling is learning through life AND books.

And life has one central gaze point:

to glorify God, not myself.

I Have to GET UP!

I have been struggling to get in my workout time lately.  It is really important to me that I stay physically active because without daily exercise, I struggle with depression, anxiety and weight problems.  Like everyone else, I have 24 hours in a day, and some of them are more full than others.  Some of them are more productive than others as well!  I used to exercise from 9:00 to 10:00 AM, Monday through Friday.  I kept this schedule for about three years.  When I moved, it became harder, not just because I lived out of town, but because life was crazy!  I can see the results of this crazy life and not enough exercise, and it isn't pretty.  With homeschooling, etc. how can I fit it in? 

One savvy blogger came up with the challenge to "Maximize Your Mornings."  This means working toward getting up early enough to have workout, Bible study, and planning for the day done by the time the kids get up.  Difficult, yes; impossible, no.  Totally worth it!

My wonderful Mother-in-law has been maximizing her mornings for years.  She gets up super early to get to work two hours before everyone else, just to get things done before the day gets busy and people need her.  So diligent :) 

Why can't I bring the same concept to being a stay-at-home-mom and homeschooler? 

So, in the words of Charlotte Mason:

"I AM.

I CAN.

I OUGHT.

I WILL."

This is day two for me.  I have succeeded thus far in having a workout, Bible study, planning time and breakfast before the little ladies awaken.  I am working toward getting up at 5:00 AM so that I can go to the gym again and be home before The Husband leaves for work, as the gym will only be a couple of blocks from my house when I move it two weeks.

I am tired. 

But, oh, so proud.

For more information on "Maximize Your Mornings," click here.

Changes...

My sisters, my brother-in-law, and my niece are currently in El Salvador on a mission trip.  They travel with an organization that digs wells in impoverished communities, teach health and hygiene information, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people.  It is such a wonderful project!  For more information, see here.
So, with my younger sister out of town, I have been enjoying this face for two days:

Oh, Roo, how I love you.

I have also been in charge of harvesting tomatoes from the Amazon garden.

That just says "summer," no?

All while collecting free stuff from Walgreens.

I don't know how Nivea makes money...I get stuff free from that company all the time!

In my free time, (as if...) I have been packing. 

My family and I will be moving back to our own home at the end of the month.  Brother will be here by himself for about two months until Mom and Dad come home for good!  I will be coming over to clean for him and generally make sure he doesn't die/mold/starve/cry.  This arrangement should make for some interesting blog material.  Please watch for future blog posts titled "Brother, why..."

Meanwhile, I will be happily making a home out of our house again, eagerly anticipating my parents' move back to the good old United States. 

Happy days are yet to come :)

I Don't Iron

Well, I didn't iron.  For all of our married life, the husband has been a plumber.  His job requires that he wear jeans with glue stuck all over them, t-shirts with no sleeves, flannel (when necessary), and steel-toed boots.  And a belt...because, you know.   With his recent big news came a new work wardrobe.  He is still in the same field, just in a different capacity.  This is true for me also, as I am now in charge of ironing his collared shirts and nice pants.  I don't know how to iron.  At all.  But, Cheryl Mendelson does, and I am reading up on the "Ironing" section of her book today.  Ms. Mendelson is just as domestic as Martha Stewart, but less smug.  (Sorry, Martha.)  I have enjoyed her book immensely, as I love books that treat homemaking with the importance and fascination it deserves. 
Check it out! 

Join me tomorrow for a vacation recap...

Life Work

After a weekend of family fun and strict observation of a Sabbath "day of rest" (aka--not doing dishes after every meal and not walking around picking up stuff and putting it away), Monday morning dawned on a very messy house.  I knew I needed to stay home and get things shaped up for the week.  But, I was struggling with "homeschooling mother guilt," which is of another species than the usual forms of mother guilt. 

If I am good at home management today, I will be bad at homeschooling. 

I can only be good at one thing a day. 

I don't know how to overcome this phenomenon. 

Except that my kids will homeschool themselves. 

Science happened in the form of Curlyjo and Tiny Love finding no less than six snails in the back yard and creating a habitat for them:

In between vacuuming, laundry, and cleaning out kitchen cabinets, we looked up some information in our trusty nature guide:

We identified the snails and found out what they need to survive in the habitat.

Later, Tiny Love ran into the house to begin another science lesson with her latest find:

We discussed it's beauty, the amazing precision with which it was crafted, and the mighty God who could created creatures who just knew how to do such intricate and wonderful things.

And then we talked about bird lice.

So, science, health, and theology.  Done.

After they cleaned the garage and their room (life skills), they went outside to play have PE:

At lunch, we had a little reading time:

I didn't want Brother to miss out on all the fun, so I made him a little to do list, you know, to help him focus. 

It has nothing to do with the fact that he doesn't seem to hear me when I talk.

Yes, he wrote, "Can't do it!" on the bottom of the page.  But you know what?  He did do it.  All of it!

What a productive day. 

Maybe homeschooling really is a lifestyle. 

Maybe it really doesn't need to be a source of guilt, but one of joy and wonder. 

Maybe, but I think I will err on the side of seat work tomorrow.