By admin, on May 17th, 2010%
I forget sometimes that I’m on a mission. I get caught up in meals to be cooked, being angry that some of my children don’t seem to understand the difference between dirty and clean clothes and where they go, and wondering when the rut will end — the day in and day out checking off chores and lessons from our list of things that have to be done.
Yesterday afternoon, as six of us moms sat around an outside table at Guglhupf, watching dark clouds roll closer, bringing the rain that would dominate today, one of the moms asked if any of us had a mission statement for our homes and our families. Over our coffees and desserts, we talked.
Oh, it was just the questionI needed! I do have a mission statement. I made one a couple of years ago when I decided to bring Michaela home to homeschool. I felt I had to have one because it’s not an easy thing to work and homeschool. Both are huge commitments and require my full attention at times, and I am often left feeling like there’s no room for me. It is so easy to get caught up in the mechanics of it all — checking off lessons, dragging myself to my desk with a lack of joy, robotically preparing for the next fieldtrip…
A lively discussion began about our children’s hearts being the most important thing — the reason all of us are doing what we are doing. Stories were exchanged about how easy it is to get into a military-type mode of, “do your math sheet, do you math sheet,” yet forgetting that our children’s hearts must be nurtured, protected, fed, searched, and so much more. If what we started out to accomplish is on the back burner, as we lifelessly check things off of a list, then why are we doing what we’re doing? Goodness knows it’s not an easy job no matter why you’re doing it!
I was encouraged to dig out my mission statement, and sometime this week sit down with my husband and children and talk together about what everyone believes the mission of this family to be.
By admin, on April 12th, 2010%
Would you care for another walk this beautiful Monday morning?
It is a beautiful Monday morning here! I’ve had several walks this morning, gathering greens for the bunnies.
The little bunnies ate, and ate, and ATE. You should have heard the little crunchy munchy sounds from this group!
Our little triplet brown bunnies (they look like their Grandma Coco) all lined up together, as if they knew they were exactly the same color.
The little twin black bunnies flanked them on either side.
My one large azalea is in bloom. I cannot really take a picture to do it justice.
This bunny is free from cages and human-gathered greens. He runs around the garden at night, doing what he wants and gathering what he will. He’s always very still during the day, however.
The walkways are adorned with creeping jenny and thyme. I have so many garden chores. And there’s never enough thyme. (I crack myself up.)
Our beloved stone garden maiden, Sarah Elizabeth Gramble (Joseph named her when he was about 8). She stands with an apron full or petals, an arch of rose buds hanging overhead. I love the purple money plants that surround her.
Let’s stand under the arbor where the Lady Banks rose is planted.
And this is the Lady Banks in yellow bloom. Maybe if we stand under the arbor long enough, and stand still enough, my supervisor will forget that I have to work today. Do you think?
The purple-blooming ajuga is out everywhere! It makes a great ground cover.
The columbines are starting to bloom too. There’s just so much this time of year! I could stay out all day long and not want to go in.
My Knock Out roses are starting to bloom. They are easy, easy, easy and so pretty all the gardening season.
The carpenter man’s favorite flower: old fashioned purple iris. He dug these up for me years ago from an old homeplace. In fact, we planted these the first year or two that we were in our house, so we’ve been watching these bloom together for about 21 years.
One of my favorite trees is in bloom. No, it’s not the crepe myrtle which is just starting to get its leaves, but a tree that was growing on my mother’s property. She dug up some shoots for me and now I have two of them. They have lovely white blooms this time of year.
The bleeding hearts are in bloom. Aren’t they just so pretty?
Get over here! I said we were hiding under the arbor so I can get out of work, and there you’ve wandered off to the bunny cage. Well, I guess you’re right that I probably should get my work done. Michaela will be working alongside me, moving on with her Saxon math and researching whether or not carpenter bees can sting. (She asked yesterday, so doesn’t is just make good sense for her to find out for us?)
I hope you have a beautiful day!
By admin, on April 10th, 2010%
I’ve been working on brooch pins, but there’s so much else going on, they have been slightly on the back burner.
This one, Whatsoever is Lovely, is in the shop.
“Wonder,’ reminding me ever so much of Alice in Wonderland, is a keeper (not that I don’t want to keep them all). She’s in my jewelry box. They are both from pages from an old Degas artbook.
Working today, but enjoying the bright sun, hot coffee with vanilla coffee beans from my antique grinder (it’s the fun of it, you know), and trying to focus on just how quickly it’ll be the end of the day and I’ll be off tomorrow.
By admin, on March 29th, 2010%
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” ~Alice, Through The Looking Glass
I don’t really work. My desk is merely a means to an end: a decoy, if you will. When I’m sitting still and quiet and seeming to be preoccupied, the garden fairies come out from under their mushrooms and out of their little rabbit holes (only they’re not rabbits) and make their plans. From the corner of my eye I can see them through my large office window.
Oh, but garden fairies have the finest clothes! They are spun, after all, from the leftover silk from cocoons, their sashes being lashes of saffron or the finest fibers of hemp or flax. It is with the most tedious ease that I sit and wait. Today, especially, will be a day of wonder! Every green thing is heavy with fat raindrops, which means the fairies will be carrying their bright umbrellas. You do know, don’t you, what fairy umbrellas are made of?
By admin, on February 26th, 2010%
But I didn’t mean to. I would never do that to you on purpose. I said we’d have daffodils in February, but here we are two days from March and the little daffodil blooms are still scrunched up, showing only a hint of the yellow to come, and it’s very, very cold out today. Maybe hubby was serious about this being a long winter after all.
This, my favorite mosaic birdbath, has suffered a lot of wear this winter. She’ll need repairs once the weather warms, but even the wearing itself is a beautiful process in the garden: a little bird sits on the tiled shore of an icy pond.
I’m okay, though. Really. I’m fine. Really. I’ll be okay. (Spring? Spring, where are you?) Yes, I have a menagerie of warm little birds in my office, nestled in and around my plants. They can sing to me while I work today. (Really, I’ll be okay.)
I worked on pins last night, at the end of a long, productive day. We had another amazing FIAR co-op at the EPA in Research Triangle Park. Then home again, home again, jiggety jog, to work on budgeting, grocery lists, filling up Michaela’s cereal boxes, and bill-paying, all before settling into my desk this Friday morning.
I love the pins I’m working on now. It’s my “women of the world series.” As soon as they’re ready, I’ll put them in the shop.
Michaela and a sweet friend discuss what they’re looking at on a worksheet, where they have to try and label pictures taken from electron microscopy.
We also learned about pH, environmentally friendly architecture, and a few other amazing tidbits.
Have a lovely Friday!
By admin, on February 13th, 2010%
I must admit, the snow is awfully pretty. It is so unusual for us to keep getting snow like this. The children are always happy if we get one snow during the winter, but now we’ve had…three, is it?
This snow is not that deep, but it is a beautiful snow that swirls down from the trees when the wind blows.
It’s the kind of snow that sits easily heaped up on every little thing, and I so enjoyed my little morning stroll through the garden.
The sky was extremely gray this morning, making it seem as if the snow would start pouring out of the sky all over again. By the time my walk was over, however, the sun was shining brightly. This snow is not expected to hang around for very long.
The dead stalks topped with snow reminded me so much of cotton plants. Have you ever seen cotton in a field? It is a beautiful plant. It is a powerful plant, full of wonder and history that makes one laugh and cry inside, all at the same time.
Today is a work day for me, but I just wanted to stop in and say a snowy good morning. Each day, I look for the things I have to be happy about. I hope to have a little time tonight to work on pins. I like adding the charms and I have new clay, ready to be worked with.
By admin, on February 9th, 2010%
It’s a gray day here, and I’m finding myself feeling a bit gray as well. Perhaps it’s been the thyroid all over again, seeing how the Levoxyl 75 mcg brought on palpitations and sleepless nights, then skipping medicine altogether for two days (on the doctor’s orders) made me a bit sluggish again, and now I’m leveling out again on 50 mcg. I think it’s akin to jet lag.  Only I don’t have a fabulous T-shirt from anywhere. Just a messy house.
To brighten my day, I’ve worked on a few pins. I like this one, but what do you think? Michaela thought it seemed a little long until she saw it pinned to a black velvet dress. Then she said, “I do like it.” I’ll try to get a picture of it actually pinned to a black dress when the sun shines again.
I have visited all my house plants to see if they had anything to say to me that might cheer me up. The spider plant in the hallway is blooming right now. That was a huge help. (Mom, if you’re reading this, I love this plant. Thank you so much. Oh, and Oreo loves it too.)
I feel a bit out of control with scheduling these days. I have had more errands and appointments than I can count lately. A tire on the van decided to go bad the same day as I got my oil changed, so I spent two days visiting the garage last week. This week I have two vet appointments, one dentist appointment and the usual stuff. I’m not complaining, but when you work and homeschool, time off is precious with a capital P. It goes by fast. I must get grocery shopping done on those off days. I must also plan errands on my days off. And I consider my days off our big school days. It can be done, but if I let my scheduling fall by the wayside, then much goes by the wayside.
So this evening, supper will be easy. My boys all pitched in last night to straighten their rooms a little better and put their clothes away. (No, they don’t always put all their clothes away immediately and it drives me crazy.)
I’m about to sit down with my home notebook and my Charlotte Mason notebook and my bible and just try to wrap my mind around what I should be doing each day, and how. One of my prayers is often that the Lord would help me to order my days, because I don’t do such a great job of it when I wing it based on my own wants.
Michaela is working on a project for an art show this week, so I have to lend a bit of my focus to making sure she has what she needs for that today. And here it is 4:31 p.m. Where do the days go?
Anyway, I just knew that if I sat down for 15 minutes and told all of you about this that you’d understand.
Thank you.
By admin, on January 14th, 2010%
I never know what to say about how I feel on Thursday evenings. I don’t know if I’m winding down after three straight days off work, or winding up to work for two straight days. I guess it always depends on how the week went.
This afternoon was actually warm enough to go to the park and play for an hour. Michaela and a friend wanted to just get outside and run, I think. It was fun watching them on the swings and, believe me, these two always have plenty of ideas going on in their minds about adventures and what not, so I doubt they were just swinging without there being some fantastic imagined scenario clouding the swingset.
I sat on a bench, reading mesmerized by the most current issue of Victoria magazine. (Hey, I noticed on their website that they are offering a trial issue right now.) I could sit and look at the pictures in this issue over and over and over again. I know, ’cause that’s what I’ve been doing. On the way out the door to the park, I reached for a magazine. I almost grabbed something I hadn’t looked at recently, and then I said, “Nah, I’ll just look at that Victoria again.” I had prepared a thermos of piping hot Guayaki Mate Chocolatte tea and I was wrapped in a warm shawl, so I was fine on that park bench for an hour. Yes indeed.
Once I got home, I fixed a quick supper — breakfast casserole with venison sausage, some black-eyed peas that had been simmering all afternoon, and a big pot of noodles with cheese. It was one of those thrown-together meals that turned out yummy after all. Then I worked on some pins and a couple of other new things for my Etsy shop, which I am having way too much fun with, by the way.
Well, I better wrap things up and go to bed. I better wind down. Or I better wind up. Whichever thing it is that I’m trying to do.
I probably won’t post in the morning, as I’ll be at my desk all day, then tomorrow night is karate night, so Fridays are crazy busy, but I’m thankful to be able to enjoy a crazy-busy day.
By admin, on January 4th, 2010%
Ahhh, the school bell is ringing this morning. Yes, it is. The past two weeks have been full of fun and relaxation, and plenty of food and family and friends, but it’s time to put our thinking caps on once again. I don’t know about you, but mine feels a little loose this morning. Uh…
As one of my brooches says, I believe that we’ll get back into our school groove.
The brooch pins are coming along nicely. We are working, working, and Michaela has found her own little niche, but more about that later. I’ll let her post when she’s ready. In the meantime, I am working on something special for my Etsy shop for Valentine’s Day. When the Etsy shop is ready, I’ll be sure and post a link here.
For lessons today, the following is on tap:
- Ambleside Reading — will all be independent today, as I have to work
- Practice harmonica
- Math – Saxon next lesson
- Work on further training Annie
- Grammar will be copywork from Snowflake Bentley
- Review Snowflake Bentley as we have a co-op built around that book this week
- Science - Bug review sheet from a previous field trip
- Nature Study – More copywork – write the definition of metamorphosis and then glue pictures of butterfly life cycle onto cardstock for notebook – label. (The pictures are lovely pictures from our garden from this past summer. I think Charlotte Mason would approve.)
- Work on craft project
- Practice sketching
- Review Raphael prints for Ambleside art
I do hope you have a wonderful Monday. Mondays are work days for me, and they are sort of hard for me — a real transition after being off with my family on Sundays. But it is okay. It really is. I try my best every morning to smile out at the world and focus on everything that’s lovely and pure and of good report. I believe God gives us grace when we really want to have a right spirit for His sake.
By admin, on December 29th, 2009%
I’m off work today. (Big happy sigh.) It’s hard to understand what a feeling that is unless you work. Yesterday was a work day, but look who kept me company.
Annie sometimes sits in my lap while I type, but most often she snuggles up behind me, so that I have to scoot up in my chair. I don’t mind sharing my chair, though, because — like I said — she’s keeping me company. That’s a treasure.
I also don’t really mind working. My job is such a blessing to our family.
I was out early yesterday morning feeding the bunnies (my little walk before work starts) and I tried to get a picture of Boomerang for you, but the sun was just too bright. After seeing the picture, I though you might just enjoy seeing the bright morning sun on our shoulders.
Basil likes to chew on pieces of what appears to be Timothy hay growing around the cage. I suppose that’s what it is. We now have a lot of bunny droppings and some accidentally spilled seeds all around the cages. I have noticed bright green patches of a grass growing which I have never seen before. It looks like the Timothy hay, only not dry.  Anyway, the bunnies love it.
Poor Midnight can hardly open his (her?) eyes, the sun is so bright. You can see just how black Midnight and Boomerang are. Coco looks so small now that her babies are getting bigger.
One of my favorite things to read about on other blogs is when people share their ideas for feminine dress. What do you reach for to put on in the mornings? I love to grab a dress and then layer something pretty over it, if it’s cold. I usually put on an apron and tights or leggings and try to find some pretty way to put my hair up for the day. Lately I’ve been test-driving the brooches that Michaela and I are making.
Today is cold but bright again. I hope to get some lesson planning done today. We simply must start back to school in earnest next week. We’ve really been slacking off the last few weeks. Hopefully I can work on a few more pins as well. I also need to get out into the garden and remove some dead, unsightly potted plants left over from the summer. Enjoy your day.
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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