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room refresh (by amie).
Last year I began to dream of repainting my room. It already needed a fresh coat of paint and so I decided to go headed and paint it a different color than light gray. One day Mom and I were looking through Homebody, by Joanna Gaines, for inspiration for our house. We saw this adorable home with rooms painted a dark navy. I was instantly obsessed, and after much thought I decided it could look amazing in my room, especially with all my natural light. So I was ready to paint! Little did I know it would take forever to actually get started on this big project. Dad pronounced that…
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reflections on 10 years of homeschooling.
This week on the Read-Aloud Revival Premium membership, I listened to Sarah McKenzie’s Monday podcast for mamas. She spoke of God’s grace, which is given in the exact moment we need it. Not a minute before. It’s the grace that enables us to do things we previously thought impossible. When we need to be ready to do something, God makes us ready. When our kids need to be ready to do something, God makes them ready. I think her words are a fitting way to sum up ten years of homeschooling my children (eleven, if you count 4K). Quite simply, my journey of homeschooling is a journey of “I could…
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gabe turns 12 (by david).
Gabe turned 12 this weekend. He’s the kindest person I know. A math and Latin whiz, he loves doing Rubix cubes, Sudoku, and Calcudoku (don’t ask). He’s a voracious reader. He is our resident splinter remover and has even removed stitches for me (YouTube). His heart is tender toward Jesus. He sheds tears over his sin and over his friends who don’t know Jesus. He is a generous forgiver. Happiest of birthdays my son.
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what i learned this spring.
Happy Memorial Day and (for us) Happy Summer, dear blog friends! By way of catching up, I thought I’d share with you some bits and pieces of what I’m learning right now. I’ve learned that I spend a lot of time in the van. It’s the season, of life, I know. What blows my mind is that we played no sports this spring and my kids aren’t in traditional school, my mother-in-law helped me one day a week with various drop-offs, and I still felt like I spent gobs of time in the van all school year. I seriously don’t know how you do it, who juggle multiple sports…
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we are eight.
On April 24th, we celebrated 8 years as a family of six. Actually to be quite honest, we haven’t celebrated yet. David and I both had meetings that night so we all vowed to do something special together another time. A week and a day later, we’re still trying to find that time! In the last few months, we had two “come full circle” moments that I wanted to share with you. Firstly, after our family trip to the mountains at the end of December, we stopped in Greenville at the exact Barnes & Noble where David and I met our boys for the very first time. So I talked…
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homeschool convention, 2023.
Can you believe I’m about to complete my tenth year of homeschooling? I sure can’t. I don’t often attend homeschool conferences and hadn’t planned on it this year, but our friends, the Franklins, decided to drive down from Pennsylvania to attend one in Greenville, and so David and I made a sort of last-minute decision that Judah, Amie, and I would join them. When I calculated how often I’ve attended a homeschool convention I realized that I’m on an every-five-year schedule. I went to one at the very beginning, one five years ago — both of those with my cousin Liz — and one this spring. So three total across…
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emma m. lion.
Before I write about the homeschool conference I need to tell you about a grand event we had in March: an Emma Lion tea. What on earth is that, you ask? Well, I’ve known for several months I needed to devote an entire blog post to my new favorite author: Beth Brower. My mother-in-law, Linda, discovered her novels through a friend, and they are the best sort of virus that has spread among our friends and family. By now I’ve read nearly all the novels she’s written (see the photo below), but we began with The Selected Journals of Emma M. Lion, and I think they remain the group’s collective…
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march 2023.
Happily, March was book-ended by trips. The first weekend, David and I spent a night at Lake Keowee (near Clemson) so he could help perform a wedding. He’d returned from Israel two days before, so the two of us were delighted for a little road trip to catch up from 10 days apart. It apparently takes a community to get me dressed up for any event, especially a black tie wedding. I borrowed a dress from my friend Maxine, and McKensie came over the night before I left to give me a make-up tutorial (she was horrified to learn that I never use toner or overnight facial moisturizer, so I…
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february 2023.
February is probably my least favorite month (January being a close second); the Dark Month, as I’m liable to call it. But there were plenty of sweet things that happened in spite of the cold weather. That’s what I love about this blog. It always, always reminds me of the good in spite of hard seasons of life. For instance, we held our second annual Louise Penny breakfast at Small Sugar, to discuss her latest novel. Why do we choose Small Sugar? First of all, have you ever eaten there? It’s incredible! (and the owner is nominated for a James Beard for her three restaurants. We are so proud). Secondly,…
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a year of kira.
This may sound ridiculous, but February 11th was truly one of the happiest days of my life. It was the day I met our pup, Kira. Don’t ask me how I transformed from a “We will never own a dog” person to an “I just really want a dog” person in just a few months; I think it baffles my husband to this day. At the risk of over-thinking the matter, I really believe it was the year-and-a-half of counseling we did, starting in summer 2021. I healed in some ways, discovered things about myself I hadn’t known. Like I think I’m in fact be an Enneagram 2 instead of…
