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How to Bless a Mommy
Fact: The single most effective way to show love to and bless a weary, frumpy Homeschool Mom (or any mom, for that matter) is to love on her kids. My grandmother, aunt, and cousin made the arduous trek from Oregon this past week, to spend quality time with my little family. Each a fixture of my colorful…
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Simple Summer Fun: VBS Week
Vacation Bible School, how I love thee. Let me count the ways… 1) You teach my kids about Jesus. 100+ cheerful volunteers helping to sow seeds of faith into the hearts and minds of children? Yes please. 2) Socialization. My awkward homeschooled children got to be with old and new friends every single day. We loaded up the sexy minivan each morning…
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Summer Survival: Cooking For Your Family Without Actually Cooking Your Family
Welcome, Summer. Is it sweltering where you live? I know what you’re thinking: Montana = snow, but it actually gets quite hot here during the summer months. Factor in our current lack of air-conditioning and shade trees (trees here are like shrubs to this native Oregonian), and you might get a picture of just how sweaty we are. We’ve become a family of cave-dwellers–…
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Simple Summer Fun: Putting the Kids to Work
When our big kids recently asked if they could expand our suburban zoo by a pair of pet bunnies, we asked THEM how they would earn the money to make that happen… We choose not to pay our kids a traditional allowance, their household chores considered just part of being a family. If they want to earn money, they must…
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Simple Summer Fun: Egg Roulette
Thank you, Jimmy Fallon, for the fun idea… Materials: A carton of [cheap, non-organic, NOT farm fresh] eggs. Instructions: Hard boil some, and leave some raw (we hard-boiled eight of twelve), then allow your kids to discover which are which by cracking them over their heads– ala Ramona Quimby. We conducted our experiment: 1) outdoors, 2) before showers, and 3) in…
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My Thrifted Wardrobe
I started thrifting for clothes long before it was cool… scouring the Union Gospel Mission thrift shop Mackelmore-style with my bestie after middle-school, back when the ‘Grunge Look’ of the early 90’s was all the rage. (Though we modeled our look more after the likes of Janis Joplin & Stevie Nicks than Drew Barrymore & Courtney Love.) These days, I aim…
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Good Things
For years, my dear Auntie-in-law blessed me with a subscription to Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. As a bumbling new home-maker, I looked forward to it’s monthly arrival in my mailbox with eager anticipation. Without fail, the highlight of every issue was the 1-2 page collection of Good Things; abbreviated little excerpts, ideas, or items carefully curated for beauty, simplicity,…
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Summer School
Once again, we are continuing our home schooling through the summer months. For now, year-round school is a good fit for our family– since we are mostly home, anyway, and actually enjoy it. The kids complete an abbreviated workload and I seek out additional, creative ways to daily stretch and challenge their minds… … like regular trips to our…
