Our moments matter. I look out the window to check on the garden and anticipate its blooms for the day, making a plan for the early hours of the day. Opening the window, I think of the potential cross breeze now that our bed is pulled away from the window
The world reopened but then it shut down again. The smoke cleared but then came another hazy day. The heat dissipated but then came another high-temperature, red flag warning wave. Are you in the camp who continues to think, “It will pass. It will pass”? When it passes, do you
What a long week it was. It was alarming but not life-altering for my family when the shutdown began in March. When the smoke billowed into the San Joaquin/Central Valley, that changed our lives for the time being. We had just bunked the four older children in one room to
It is September. Online I observe sighs of relief as decor and craft enthusiasts bring out the pumpkins, the harvest colors, and scents of the season. Like Christmas time, autumn is filled with sensory triggers that invite us to take a moment just to be. How does this work? Our
For me it is, right now. How do I know? This week, the baby decided nighttime sleep was overrated. As a result, my mental capacity for homeschool management waned. In this limited state, I called upon one of the overlooked benefits of schooling multiple children at home – making use
The setting A fifth-grader, third-grader, first grader and preschooler began their school year in my house August 17. The fifth-grader dove into the myriad of subjects, well-rested from a summer of exploring the fields, imagining stories of fine and heroic ladies, horseback riding and adding braces and glasses to her
The Setting I write this on Thursday, four days after the lightening siege, the aftermath of which we are still witness to. Yesterday, a red sun rose as ash slowly sifted through the air landing on our flowers, our furniture and our concerns. I called my aunt to see if
Set the scene There is a scene in “The Gilmore Girls” in which Rory at Yale finds the perfect study tree. It fits her back perfectly with an atmosphere or not too loud and not to quiet. In the end, she is willing even to pay someone to vacate its
Within a span of thirty minutes, each child needed something on demand, urgently and time-consuming. What’s next? I wondered. After lacing my tennis shoes, I walked out to the garden and observed the powdery mildew spreading among my plants wondering if I spread it myself when I thought maybe they
Routine is Beauty “Routine is Beauty,” Mark Berchum, founder of NET Ministries told his trainees before they begin a year-long work as missionaries around the country. For the length of a school year, the 8-11 young adults compiling a variety of teams were given the keys to a van, a
