A Moment

Last night we had a moment of timeless joy around the dinner table. It was also a great illustration of what happens when two graduates of St. John's College get married and decide to homeschool.

This is us around the kitchen table eating cookies--but you get the idea...

We cracked out the Herodotus. AH!! Book 6 paragraphs 94-104. I was reading aloud, and stopping frequently to discuss who was leading the Persians on the trek down to Athens. John had a map of ancient Greece handy. Thalia had her "Famous Men of Greece" out for cross referencing all the personages of note.

It was so much fun!!! I hope SOMEONE among our offspring go to SJC just for the fun of re-reading these Great Books!!

(Just so you don't think it's all perfect, the resident teen asked "WHY are we reading this?" in a very put off tone. She soon left the room to browse facebook while we were in nerdy bliss...)

Making a beautiful home

I'm busy unpacking, but want to share bits of my successes. (and Sondra's, since she was doing a lot of the design work yesterday!)




Here is our reading/prayer nook in our bedroom. Don't you just want to sit and relax over the Bible, or the latest Atlantic, or Runner's World?!


This is the dining room just before dinner last night. NB the sideboard with food. We need to loose the ladder and vacuum, but the candles add ambience, no? Nice books too!

This was Sondra's Baby--artfully placed pitchers above the cupboards. She forced me to give up the big black hole garbage can that I was really enjoying for the more understated kitchen garbage can--oh well. It does look better.

And this is what happens when you are so busy unpacking that you leave an open jam jar on the table with a toddler.

Hey, Peter

Blaise: Come over here! My mom has this cupboard, and if we open it there are treats inside!

P: Really? Let's see. OOO here is that little brown bottle. It smells good, but Eli says it tastes yucky! What's in this bag?

B: Sand! White sand!! Let's poor it out and play in it.

P: My hands are sandy, I hate that--I'll lick them WOW!! This sand tastes GREAT!!!

B: You're right!! Be really really quiet. The Mom's will never know! Just keep licking!

Because I nee Distraction,

And storage. . .
My new brainchild idea. .
I have some college-ish interior design issues--the biggie is milk crates. I have at least a dozen holding books, a few more holding sewing fabric, several holding shoes in the mudroom, and a couple of empties lying around just in case.

But milk crates are not beautiful, and I desire beauty in my new house. I also need to maintain a semblance of order on a tight budget.
So I'm thinking of combining some creative storage ideas Like this


















With a not too hard sewing project like this.

I'd use a sturdy canvas for the shoe bound crates, something prettier but still strong for the books. Voila! Form and function!

Building Stress, and Building Relationships

My energies are taken up these day with more than just running a house of 8 with love and grace. We have a bit more than 4 weeks to get the house fully built and ready for the Bank to inspect it and say, yes, indeed, we may move in and begin paying the mortgage.

In God's infinite wisdom, He is asking John and I to put a bit more of ourselves into the job than we had anticipated when we began this journey. So I'm now lurking the Maine craigslist and the re-store looking for deals on appliances, kitchen cabinets, and other necessaries. I'm not low on cash, I'm an environmentalist!! Re-using someone else's stuff is really good for our carbon footprint, dontchknow!?

As I examine my conscious at the end of the day, I now spend more time distracted by "Are my beams sanded? are the walls painted?" than more appropriate questions about how I have impacted others, and brought a bit more love into the world.

At its worst this stress comes out sideways towards those I love most as impatience, inability to deal with the normal challenges of motherhood, and frankly, a messy house.

At its' best these times of extra effort show me more clearly who I am, and who those around me are. The husband who understands and does dinner dishes in the morning. The friends who give up beautiful summer days to work with paint, hammers, and wood. And the medium and big children who bring wood scraps to the burn pile, set the floor nails, put up stair banisters, and cut down miles of blackberry brambles. These are people I love, and I see clearly through their actions that they love me.

And within all of this I see and recognize the person closest to my soul. He loves me so much that he knows the challenges that will strengthen me, and the graces and consolations I will need to get through those challenges and come closer to heaven. I am so glad tomorrow is First Friday. I have a date at 11 that I would not miss for the world--or for my house!

Borrowed From the Ether

I Corinthians 13 for Home-schooling Moms*



Though I teach with the very best skills,

But do not have love,

I am just drawing attention to myself.

And if I have experience, and knowledge of all the best techniques, and test results proving my effectiveness

But do not have love,

I am wasting my time.

And if I work hard, sacrificing all my money, my time and my energy

But do not have love,

It adds up to nothing.



The loving teacher is patient with her children, allowing them to learn according to their God-given temperaments and developmental rates.

She is kind, treating her children respectfully.

She does not compare herself with others.

She does not brag about her accomplishments and is not smug about teaching her own children.

She does not try to be like anyone else, but acts appropriate to the way God made her.

She is not irritable and pushy and insistent upon making her children fit into her lesson plans.

She is more concerned with promoting truth and beauty than with criticizing those who don’t.

She perseveres in developing her own character, believing that God’s ways are always best. She is not a quitter.

Love never fails.



If there are creative ideas, they will be replaced.

If there are great curricula, they will be superseded.

If there are effective techniques they will be improved.

All that we know now is only a part.

Only later will God reveal education at its best.

When I was a child, I had unrealistic expectations.

As an adult, I know better.

Now abideth faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.



*And Dads

Easter !!!!

Mary Catherine's amazing cupcakes.

Lamb, garlic, herb roll-up! YUM.

Saturday night egg dying.

Crafty eggs.

Finished crafty eggs--onion skins and herbs.

Finished Bunnies! (midnight).

Bunny hand-out! This is before Weggie rejected his and we traded with Blaise, who didn't care either way.

Bunnies and babies--the teenager, and teenager's bunny are missing.

Easily pleased John--MC is trying to give him bunny ears, but she is too short. HAHA!

A whole new world, with chocolate in it!

YUM YUM.

Loving the baskets--this is at Lisa's house BTW.



Thaddeus on the egg hunt.

Egg hunt.

Brisk hunting!