On Hindrances and Interruptions

I think I find most help in trying to look on all the interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one's work. Then one can feel that perhaps one's true work - one's work for God - consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one's day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day - the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to finish it will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it.

- Annie Keary, 1825-1879 (from Elisabeth Elliot's Keep a Quiet Heart)

Spicy Egg Salad Salad

Just in case someone might need a kick in the pants the day after Easter (too many mini Snickers, or is that just me?)

Take the leftover salad from Easter lunch - it has a little bit of everything in it.

Take two hardboiled eggs, the ones that you meant to color with the kids last week, but forgot to so they are still in the fridge. (Also, make note to buy more eggs.)

Smash them in a small bowl with a tablespoon of your preferred brand of mayo and about a teaspoon of mustard (I used a spicy one with horseradish).

Then, add about a tablespoon of Sweet Baby Ray's Buffalo Wing Sauce.



Mix your spicy egg salad concoction straight into your salad and enjoy. A perfect post-Easter lunch that was needed after the chocolate-y goodness of the weekend.

Reading Aloud ::: Henry Reed, Inc.

I just finished reading one of my favorite childhood books with the girls. Henry Reed, Inc. As if you couldn't tell by the cover, this book is pretty dated. Set in the sixties, it tells the story of a military kid, 14 year old Henry Reed. Henry has lived all over the world with his parents but has spent little to no time in the United States. He gets the opportunity to spend the summer with his uncle and aunt in rural Grover's Corner, New Jersey. With the assistance of his neighbor, 12 year old Midge Glass, he runs Henry Reed Research, Inc. and goes into business for himself. They find all sorts of ways to make a few dollars around the neighborhood and keep themselves entertained ... along with getting into an innocent scrape or two along the way.

This book was so fun to share with my girls. While most of the books that we read are not set in the current day and age, it was fun to read about these kids who entertained themselves outside most of the day, looked up information in books if they were interested in something, and got around primarily by walking, riding bikes or, on the rare occasion, using the riding tractor to get around the neighborhood. My girls loved the story and laughed aloud over the situations that Henry and Midge got themselves into. It also was a fun book to read as we are nearing the end of our school year and we are thinking of ways to fill our days this summer - it's possible to do so without the aid of screens or electronic devices! : )

We give a hearty recommendation to this book if you aren't familiar with Henry Reed. There are several books in this series ... I blogged another of my favorites in this series, Henry Reed's Journey several years ago and you can read that review here.

Keeping Things Simple

I recently did a personality test online ... I've known for some time that I probably fall into the introvert camp, but I was interested to see what an actual test would conclude. Yes, still introvert. HUGE introvert. I thrive on routine, structure, organization, and time alone to recharge when I've had to expend a lot of energy being social and with people.

Basically, the exact opposite of my day as a homeschooling mama.

I know full well, and have recently had it reconfirmed through some thinkerly type moments and conversations that homeschooling is the path for our family and is the place that God wants me spending my time and energy. (Not that I was questioning it, but it's always comforting to have it confirmed and be refreshed in that goal). However, I need to give a bit more thought as to how I can keep myself from burning out time and time again in this place. Being available for these amazing little people who I get to learn and love alongside of is a such a gift. But the mama that is continually overextended or not making a priority to manage her time and possessions (i.e., keep things picked up!) is no blessing to the family around her.

Just a few thoughts that have been percolating of late. The last few weeks have been some of our best this year as I have narrowed my focus as much as I can to two goals for my day: keeping up with the housework (which entails anything that falls under my homemaker umbrella) and homeschooling the children. Anything that doesn't clearly fall under those two categories get some serious thinking about before I say yes or add one more thing to the calendar. This line that my husband and I have come up with for me has been such a huge help in pushing back the feeling of being overwhelmed. Maybe it's too simple, but sometimes simple keeps it just that ... simple.

What Monday Calls For

Sometimes a Monday calls for a batch of yummy cookies to make it through the rest of the day.

Recipe is Pioneer Woman's Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies. Adding malted milk powder to my go-to chocolate chip recipe? Game changer.

The cookbook is called Cookie Friday and sold by Marta. Pretty sure that our summer bucket list will have the goal of baking our way through this little book one recipe at at time.

No affiliate links here - I just like to support mamas that want to stay home with their kids when it fits my budget and my needs. Not that I really need a cookie recipe book. : )

Around Here

Snowing.



Chilling.



Watching.



Snuggling.



Learning.


Lunching.



Listening.

Reading to Know March Bookclub :: The Little White Horse

My intro post to the March Reading to Know book club is up on Carrie's blog. We are reading The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge - hope you will read along with us!

40 Days

I need Lent this year.

There has been a lot of complaining. (You probably have not heard it but it's there).

There has been stewing over situations and letting frustrations fester.

There has been the trying-to-do-all-the-stuff to the point that none of the stuff gets done.

40 days. I need this season. A season that isn't talked about much in the circles that I generally run in, but one that I want to learn more about and benefit from. I do not, under any circumstances, profess to be an expert on Lent. But a season of reflection in the 40 days until Easter, to think about the sacrifice that Jesus faced on the cross for me and the victory that He won. And to think about why he made that sacrifice.

Me. My sin. My shame.

Time to reflect on what he has done for me when I was so underserving.

Resources / books that I'm gathering:
Lent Journal from Naptime Diaries
Journey to the Cross Devotional from The Gospel Coalition
Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliott

These Happy Golden Years :: A Read-Aloud Thursday / Reading to Know Bookclub Post

World's longest title ever.



In a last-day-of-the-month push, we finished our recent read aloud - These Happy Golden Years. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking my girls on this literary journey, (re)introducing them to some of my favorite people of all time, the Ingalls family. We have deliberately spaced the books out instead of reading them in one right after the other and decided to jump back into the series in conjunction with the February Reading to Know bookclub (who actually read Little House on the Prairie).

This one was a delight to reread. For those that might not remember, this volume tells the story of the sweet and simple courtship of Laura and Almonzo, and the growing relationship that lasted over three years before they finally got married. My girls (now 10, 8 and 6 1/2) were finally old enough to "get" this book in the series and my 8-year-old would repeatedly ask me "are they or are they not going to get married in this book?!?!" To her utter frustration, I wouldn't tell her. : ) That came back to get me as said 8-year old is now quite a fluent reader, so she snagged the chapter book at bedtime and just happened to read ahead a few chapters to satisfy her curiosity before turning out her light one night. We have now instituted a "no reading ahead" rule in our house - one that we haven't had a need for before!

As the mama, what struck me this go round was how few material belongings Laura had. When she would travel to teach in the little one room Brewster schoolhouse, or when she packed her trunk at the end of the book to move to live with Almonzo, all her possessions could either be carried in a small carpet bag or small trunk. Such a contrast to this day in age where the message from media is more!, bigger!, better! I think this all is striking me as we are nearing the season of Lent and Easter and I'm spending time in the book of John. I'm hearing the message of what it means to love one another. What it looks like to serve another. How that might not fit with the American quest to buy! more! stuff! My thoughts are still choppy about this topic, and I'm still processing but that struck me. She was so happy to go and marry Almonzo. Completely satisfied with her tiny house that he built her with his own hands. Felt there was not a single thing that they needed in the world. My, times have changed.

All-in-all, a delightful return trip with the Ingalls and one that I enjoyed sharing with my girls this February.

Past Little House reviews:
The Long Winter
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House on the Prairie

Belatedly linking up with Read Aloud Thursday and the February Reading to Know linkup.

February Slump

Considering that we only have two more days of February, I think I've done pretty well on making it through the month without my annual slump. The one that I get when we haven't been able to go outside and burn off energy. The thing is, I love winter. I love the cold and being bundled in my sweatshirts. I love the chance of flurries and the possibility of slick roads so we have to stay home. But living where we do, we don't typically have months of this kind of cold. Tennessee is good for a 60 degree day to pop in every few weeks for a bit of a reprieve that helps one endure winter with a bit more ease.



When I feel the slump coming on, it's time for an easy day.

• We did lessons this morning and I switched them up so I lots of time to work individually with everyone first thing (getting any schoolwork battles out of the way instead of saving them until later when I would be tired and might give in too easy).
• We saved our favorite things until after lunch - reading aloud from Story of the World (volume 2) and These Happy Golden Years ("are Almonzo and Laura going to get married or not in this book?!?" ... and I won't answer the question). : )
• We delivered a meal to a friend this afternoon and the boy and I took a small detour to swing by Grandpa and Grandma's where he got to deliver some cookies to them. So fun to be able to surprise your grandparents when you are a 3 year old boy.
• We came home and since it was way too cold to play outside, we got a snack, curled up under blankets and watched the first Toy Story movie.

Tonight's Awana so while the kids spend time with other adults that love them and they get a hearty dose of God's word, I'm going to go shop for a one of the girls' little friend's birthday and quite possibly pick up something warm to drink. Back home with kids in jammies, maybe a little more Laura and Almonzo to read if we're lucky, and then everyone tucked into bed with me not far behind after a little hanging out with my favorite person in the world.

A slow day is sometimes the best antidote to the winter slump no matter what the reason on when the season.



PS. One of my favorite homeschooling books of all time is Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss. This book is out of print, but this winter, she has taken the time to turn a few of my favorite chapters into a six week workshop on both avoiding as well as battling back from burnout for the homeschool mom. I'm very much hoping to participate in this!

Sunday Quotes

"Food is a language of care, the thing we do when traditional language fails us, when we don't know what to say, when there are no words to say ... But it isn't about perfection, and it isn't about performance. You'll miss the richest moments in life - the sacred moments when we feel God's grace and presence through the actual faces and hands of the people we love - if you are too scared or too ashamed to open the door."

"The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. Its about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment. Part of that, then, is honoring the way God made our bodies, and feeding them in the way they need to be fed."

-- Bread and Wine, Shauna Niequist

Photo: my next book in my current food memoir reading bent. Free printable from here.

Sunday Quotes: a quote from something I read that I marked in a book, worthy of remembering and sharing.