The frustrations of tidying up
I set the timer for fifteen minutes. Surely in fifteen minutes, I thought, I can make a difference in this room. The room was mine. The mess was an assortment
3 min read
Homemaking Encouragement for Christian Moms
My favorite tools to make homemade bread
Homemade bread is so simple and cheap to make, and homemade bread is so much more tasty and healthy, that I rarely buy my bread. As Tracy explains in this
3 min read
Shakespeare for Kids: Hamlet Lesson Plans
We studied Hamlet in our homeschool last year – over 6 months ago – and the quotes still linger as part of our family culture. Last month I was headed out the
6 min read
Google Calendar for Menu Planning
Google Calendar is a great online tool. Of course there is the obvious use for calendars, but you can also set up calendars to use as journals, menu plans, blog
2 min read
Easy homemade bread (recipe + instructions)
by Tracy Grossman There’s something about fall that makes me want to put on some soup and bake homemade bread. We live in the middle of Iowa, where sultry
6 min read
On bad starts, good endings, and the muddle of the middle
Another week in the books. Whew! This weekend is our church’s women’s retreat, so I even get to skip town on Friday and leave the children with Dad
2 min read
Being Happy: Having an organized attitude
An organized attitude, scholé, and ordo amoris are all tightly connected, at least in my mind. The threads are coming together in the book Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the
3 min read
Budgeting time for rest and renewal
So, I’ve written about why time budgets are important and helpful and also shared the details of my own. It’s so easy to fill out that spreadsheet or
4 min read
Discipline & Doing the Right Next Thing
Last week I pulled up a quote from my favorite Elisabeth Elliot book, Disciple: The Glad Surrender. It has been several years since I’ve looked at it – my memory
2 min read
Teaching from Faithfulness, not Fear
Dr. Perrin, when he speaks of scholé, often uses the story of Mary and Martha to illustrate. It is easy to become the Martha – bustling and busy and distracted. More
4 min read
A "typical" homeschool week - my weekly time budget
I seem to be getting more and more “how do you do it all” questions lately. I think we’re all looking for the magic secret ingredient that will suddenly
3 min read
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
We really must begin with organizing our attitude before we organize anything else. We might think that making a plan and working a plan is all about the planner, the
5 min read