our dozen beautiful feet

When our kids were small, we began the tradition of observing Advent as a family. Neither Paul nor I grew up observing Advent or Lent, or celebrated things like Ash Wednesday. But a mentor friend of mine had given me a set of Jesse Tree ornaments, and a devotional guide for the Advent season to go along with it, and we began to do this every year for our children. As we've returned to the US and found ourselves most at home in a Presbyterian church, we have been introduced to the celebrations of Lent and Ash Wednesday.  These were very unknown things to us a year ago, and I will always remember vividly my first Ash Wednesday service last year!  This year, I wanted to be much more intentional to embrace this season of anticipation. I'm learning a lot about and hope to grow through it these next six weeks, as well as lead my kids to some self-flection. Here are some resources we'll be using to help us navigate this season as newbies: I found this article that is a grea...

After all the food had been eaten and all the playing had been accomplished and all the dishes had been washed, Paul and I sat down in a quiet, lamplit home and gave our kids a few minutes to write a list of things they were thankful for.  Some of them chose to write a list based on the alphabet. Others went for a free-form list. :) Here's what our kids are thankful for this year! Luke, age 12 Apples Books Charlie Dad Eggs Family God Holy Bible India Jazz music Kiryn Levi Mom, Meryn Nerf guns Oxygen Playing Quarters Running Snakes Trees Uncles Work Zoo Kiryn, age 11: Aubrey Baths Charlie Dogs Einstein Food Good-lookin' Dad Hedgehogs Itch ointment Jesus Kaylee Laughter Mom Nadia (pen pal) Other People People Riley Sister Tristan Umbrellas Violin Winter Yogurt Levi, age 7: Mom Dad Papa Grammy Outside Brothers Sisters Aunts Uncles Music Animals Cousins Great Grandma Great Grandpa Dogs Cats Bunnies Life Jesus...

I always find other people's daily routines fascinating and helpful for me. I've gotten some great and lasting habits from posts like this: Morning Time, chore cards, reading aloud.  I love how the homeschool community inspires each other! So it is in that spirit which I write a post about a typical day in our home. 7:00 - I wake up to a quiet house. I sit in my favorite place reading until 7:30. My husband works from home, and some days, he's here all day. This morning though, he left a couple of hours before I woke up. About three mornings a week I get up and go for a nice long walk while I listen to a podcast. Starting my day with a walk or reading time in this chair is good for my soul. 7:30: Shower time for me. Some of the kids are now stirring, laying in bed reading themselves, quietly playing in their rooms. 8:15: Breakfast. This is one of those rare days that I made breakfast the night before: banana bread. So we quickly gather around the table and get to ...

Often over the last two months, I've wondered what it would feel like to sit down to close on a house and feel a sense of accomplishment and finality. Because at ours, it was like someone just handed us a permission slip to start working. :)  When we closed, there was not much anticipation of moving, settling, nesting. It was all plans for what to get started on first. Through the closing process, I had found a contractor that I really gelled with and trusted, though for no apparent reason. :)  I just liked him because his bid was incredibly detailed on a massive spreadsheet with prices, taxes, product names and everything. I knew we would get along. So once I had seen what all each project would cost, we were able to narrow down what we could do ourselves and what we needed the professional to do.  Let's start with the top floor. Upstairs has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms are larger than average, and one is a pretty normal size. :) There wasn...