text: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
  Tuesday, October 29, 2024
  Here's a tip that's been working well for me.
  Keep a to-do list.
  When something comes to your attention and it needs to be done, write it down!
  Don't necessarily do the thing right then.
  Just write it down.
  I write everything down all day long!
  It all goes on the same list on my phone.
  That way, I don't have the burden of remembering anything/ everything that I have to do, because it's all written out.
  I can move on with my regular routine and refer to my list later when I have more time.
  Next, as I go through my day and refer to my list, I naturally sort the list, moving the things I really want or really need to do next to the top of my list, and letting the other stuff that can wait fall to the bottom.
  The sorting happens as I delete, add, and refer to my list a few times everyday.
  I can refer to this list when there's free time throughout the day and the decision about what to do next has already been sorted out.
  Today, the main goals that had risen to the top of my list included:
  Call the lab back and pay my bill
  Read the next debate chapter with Avril
  Make bone broth
  Refill the soap container in the downstairs bath
  Clean the bird cage and bird perch
  Now, I've done about one million other things today in addition to these half-dozen things. I'm constantly doing all the usual stuff like dishes and laundry and all the usual homeschool...
  but these were the things that came to mind, that weighed me down, that I really needed to remember to do and needed some help to deliberately focus on getting done and/ or fitting into all the in-between moments.
  As I complete an item on the list, it gets deleted, and that's an awesome feeling, watching the top of the list disappear.
  Now that I'm done with the extra stuff I decided to do today, I'm putting my feet up and enjoying the feeling of accomplishment.
  The things I decided to do today are all done!
  Obviously, there's more regular work to do today like dinner prep and clean-up and more laundry, but that's all the regular stuff.
  More items are being added to the list all the time...
  But I've decided that all those items can wait until tomorrow or even the next day.
  Note: Another major benefit of keeping and constantly sorting your to-do list is that over time with more and more experience, you learn what you actually can and can't reasonably do in one day.
  I've learned to give myself a break for all the stuff that amounts to "too much" and can't be helped until tomorrow.
  So sort your to-do list.
  It's a mental and emotional game-changer.
  Sunday, October 27, 2024
  Avril painted the leaves surrounding the October quote. Adele made the mosaic of fall leaves. These are currently being displayed on one of the floating shelves in our homeschool classroom. They make me so glad I live in a home where there are artistic daughters.
  Saturday, October 26, 2024
  Music has been an essential part of our homeschool curriculum for many years. I make it a priority to ensure that girls have time to practice piano and/or guitar every single homeschool day. They may not be doing Latin their whole life, but they'll probably be playing music and singing forever. At this point, they are both on the church worship teams. Sometimes they are even assigned together on the same week. They often practice together, and this always brings me joy.
  Friday, October 25, 2024
  Coconut Chicken Curry Recipe
  (This recipe has been adapted from Sally Fallon's Coconut Chicken Curry. At this point, I make it without referring to the recipe. And as long as the chicken is thawed, it comes together in about thirty minutes.)
  One half onion, sliced into long pieces
  Two large chicken breasts, sliced in half and then sliced into pieces (Note: This serves my family of five with some leftovers)
  Two carrots, peeled and chopped
  One can of diced tomatoes
  Chicken broth (1/2 to 1 cup)
  One can of unsweetened coconut milk
  One-two cups of frozen peas
  1 cup of fresh spinach or kale, chopped up
  Cooked basmati rice
  1. Spray or drizzle olive oil into a large pot. Saute the onions, carrots, and chicken in the oil for a few minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink.
  2. Next, add a little (1/2 cup-1 cup) of chicken broth to the pot, and then add the spices. I do not measure at this point. I just sprinkle and stir and smell. But if you need to know where to start, I suggest adding 1 Tbs. of curry and turmeric each, 1 tsp of salt and onion powder each, a sprinkle of coriander, and just a pinch of jalapeño powder. After you have made it a few times, you will know how much of each spice to add to suit yourself and your family.
  3. Then add the can 1/2 can or the whole can of coconut milk. Drain the diced tomatoes and then add those. Let this simmer on low while the rice cooks.
  4. To make the rice: I use another medium sized pot with four cups of water. I bring that to a boil. Then I add two cups of basmati rice and stir and cover and turn the rice down to simmer for approximately. 15-20 minutes. Stir the rice once or twice to see how much water is left and gauge when the rice will be done.
  5. When there is just a few minutes left before the rice is done, add the frozen carrots, stir, and turn the stove top off. Let the curry sit and thaw the frozen peas as the soup also cools a little. At this point, you can also add chopped spinach or kale to this curry, too. It will also soften as the curry sits on the stovetop. The curry can sit from up to ten minutes and still be warm/ hot.
  6. Turn off the rice when there's no more water in the bottom when you stir, and it's done. Serve the curry over the cooked rice in shallow bowls.
  Wednesday, October 23, 2024
  I heard her laugh to herself several times today as she read The Secret Garden silently to herself. I stopped the quiet work I was doing and said prayer of thanks and snapped a picture. This is one of the primary reasons we homeschool- to provide access to great books and time to simply read them.
  Tuesday, October 22, 2024
  We decided not to be a part of our beloved CC community this year, but I still wanted my teen to learn debate. So how would we do debate without a homeschool community? After all, one of the major benefits of CC community was that it kept us accountable to do all the things that we weren't naturally bent to do like debate, and Latin, and logic... This had been true for years, so would we find a way to do debate on our own?
  I did some research on debate curriculums, then previewed, and finally purchased the NCFCA handbook for Value Debate and my tenth grader and are working through it together. We have chosen our own issue to debate and work through both sides of it, learning as we go.
  We definitely need to practice self-discipline and do this ourselves without the support (and compulsion) that community provided. But it's working. We work through the lessons together, reading aloud, and taking time to talk everything through. We research and discuss ideas and research some more...
  It's nice not to be rushed. In previous years, we were working on a community schedule rather than our own. Debate was always a hectic pain. So it's nice not to have my teen stressed out about debate. She used to consider my questions and advice an imposition, delay, or hinderance to getting all her work done in time for community, etc. Now that I'm my daughter's only debate partner and teacher, and now that her work doesn't have to be done by a certain day next week, we are both relaxing, embracing and even enjoying the time spent wrestling through the issue mind to mind and heart to heart.
  The NCFCA handbooks are amazing resources, and I wish I had found them years ago instead of struggling through debates in previous years with the resources we had then. I thought we all just hated debate for years, but I think we just hated being asked to do something without enough information.
  Obviously, without a community to join in debate, my daughter may never have the opportunity to debate another student live. But I'm not sure I consider that I huge loss. My major goals for doing debate are to practice seeking truth, thinking through both sides of an issue, researching, organizing thoughts, and applying what we find out to our own hearts and minds first, and all that is happening on a deeper level now.
  I trust that this authentic practice in debate will bear fruit, and when my daughter finds it necessary to stand up and speak up, she'll have what it takes.
  Now, we practice debate simply for its own sake, and we are finding it truly worthwhile.
  Sunday, October 20, 2024
  Saturday, October 19, 2024
  Friday, October 18, 2024
  Since the girls are old enough to work independently and make their own lunches, we don't always eat lunch together. But when we do, we usually listen to a podcast or an audio book. We started listening to Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson the other day.
  The girls are in a few art classes through Delightful Art Co., and I find that adding so much art to their lives is breathing life and meaning into all the more academic work they do. So they are constantly making new art, and naturally, it usually always applies directly or indirectly to something they are learning in another subject. I've put these floating shelves in the classroom. They serve a dual purpose- their art has a place to rest and dry, but it can also be displayed and enjoyed for a few days at a time.
  Here she is drawing a map step by step with the help of "How to Draw -" by Kristin Draeger on the iPad. She's learning to draw all the countries of the world by memory.
  These images certainly don't represent everything they do.
  There aren't any pictures of the girls doing their Latin, Math, Logic, Writing... but that happens almost daily, too.
  I hope these images demonstrate that school doesn't have to look anything like traditional school.
  And learning can be done anywhere for its own sake and as a way of life.
  Tuesday, October 15, 2024
  Monday, October 14, 2024
  Thursday, October 10, 2024
  Wednesday, October 9, 2024
  Adele is currently drawing Michelangelo's Pieta.
  These are the kinds of things that I walk in to the room to find my daughters doing, and it takes my breath away.
  And then I give glory to God for the beauty that fills my life.
  This image means a lot to me, personally.
  I was a high school freshman, a year older than Adele is now, when I saw a photo of the Pieta in my history textbook.
  We were studying the Middle Ages and even though the textbook called it the Dark Ages and had a decidedly negative view of that period, the age had a radiance that couldn't be suppressed, and my imagination was set aflame!
  The photo of the Pieta in the textbook was grainy, black and white, and tiny- maybe two inches wide and an inch high.
  Right there in history class with my head bent low over the text.
  I don't remember being embarrassed.
  Interestingly, I remember that it was like I was hardly there to be seen.
  I understand now why I was so affected.
  I was beauty-starved back then.
  I was a typical modern teen who spent more time at the mall than in museums.
  That masterpiece was a tiny window into the transcendent world.
  It was inches wide but large enough for God to reach through and touch my heart.
  I should say that the photo Adele has of the Pieta is large.
  The figures are so sharp, they appear to be breathing.
  He fills my life with good things.
  He fills my life with Himself.
  Tuesday, October 8, 2024
  Sunday, October 6, 2024
  I took Norah to see Hadestown for her twentieth birthday gift. for both of us, it's the third time we've seen it. Neither of us are bored of it. It's our absolute favorite. And we can and do talk about it for hours. And it just makes it more interesting to compare and contrast the differences in how one actor or pair or group plays it. She read CS Lewis's "Myth Became Fact" aloud to me on the way. Both of us see Christ in Orpheus, our own souls in Eurydice, and our love and appreciation for what Christ accomplished for our souls is deepened by watching this beautiful myth on stage.
  Tuesday, October 1, 2024
  "'Why should women want to know about Aristotle?' The answer is NOT that all women would be better for knowing Aristotle... but simply, what women want as a class is irrelevant. I want to know about Aristotle." -From Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers
  That's the only way I can describe how it feels to read Aristotle for graduate school.
  It is pure joy.
  The joy is a gift and a confirmation I am on the right path.
  It's also the hardest content I've ever encountered, but it is, without doubt, the most worthwhile and fulfilling (next to Scripture, of course).
  I sense the Lord urging me on.
  All truth is His.
  Through Christ, everything that's His is mine.
  God sits enthroned over all the earth- even Parnassus.