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About once a day the kids go poking through my art supply cabinets in the kitchen and pull out paper and supplies for a self-styled project.

Watercolor painting is their favorite. They spread their canvases out on the floor, grab some cups of water, and go for it.

Nutmeg is the most prolific artist so far. On this day, she had a line of about ten pages spread out:

“This is you when you were a kid, Mom,” she told me.

I asked her what the red dot was.

“It’s your belly button.”

I had a very distinctive belly button as a baby, apparently.

“And this is you when you were grown up!”

“Why is my hair green?”

“Because you have kids.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

Boo was pleased that she had (more…)

No one can say that this squinty-eyed cowgirl is afraid to dig her hands in the dirt! Grasshopper wrangling’s her favorite thing.

Oh my…

She has good company, and it (more…)

An unexpected rainstorm dumped a half inch of rain on our place… has it been over a week ago?! This was the storm whose violent lightning shut down our internet for five days. It also blew out the control box for our electric livestock fencing. Powerful. But all too short.

Afterward, it looked like a different world outside, with the dust washed away and the sky still half grey. I stole a minute to play.

The sparkles of sun on the raindrops were captured the same way as Christmas light sparkles: by closing down the aperture. These were taken at apertures between f/9 to f/18.

I need more practice. We need more rain.

The fields and livestock could use it, too.

Seriously, the drought is taking quite a toll. We pray for rain.

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We spent a day at a local organic farm recently.

There were games on the lawn…

a hay rack ride… (more…)

My internet was down for five days – one of those blessings in disguise. I discovered, while I had a chance to gather my thoughts, that I have a backlog of farm pictures. I’ll post several of them next week.

But I’ll start today with these:

My son picked carrots in the sweltering heat with his dad, never mind the sweat and grime (or overdue haircut… what kind of mom does this kid have, anyway?! 🙂 ).

This is uncomplicated, wholesome goodness.

The same goes for freckles – just pure goodness.

This is the stuff that makes my heart so full it hurts.

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The kids are begging to learn to sew, so I’ve been hunting around for children’s beginner sewing crafts that are easy enough for the earliest learners. I was inspired by some crafts that use felt, pinking shears, and embroidery floss. We tried a very simple version as a 4th of July sewing project.

We made our flag pencil toppers out of rectangles of red and white felt. Sparkly blue felt provided a background for star buttons. After we had the buttons sewn on and the felt squares almost sewed together, the younger kids enjoyed putting stuffing into the flags. Then I sewed up the opening – leaving room for a pencil, of course.

With leftover felt, we completed a bigger pillow craft:

We might try some similar easy sewing projects in upcoming holidays, for more practice. I hope you have a happy 4th of July!

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We celebrated several childhood milestones in the past month-ish.

I can’t make them stop growing up. 🙁

First 100-piece puzzle (of course it’s a cat):

First phonics reader (we love Nora Gaydos):

First time riding without training wheels (with Grandpa cheering on):

First – and only – time turning 2 (sob!):

First time in five years feeling like there’s no “baby” in the house. Happy Birthday, little Man!

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Beginning to homeschool can be nerve-wracking. In these early phases of gathering information and finding our homeschooling style, it has been helpful to gather people around who have “been there, done that.”

I started counting the BTDT families around me (though not necessarily physically nearby). I’m blessed with at least nine or ten families who can field my questions! I hope that number will grow as we get involved in the homeschool community here.

Below is a Q&A that I conducted with my mom in a week when my confidence needed boosting. Her responses made me laugh at loud – and then breathe a sigh of relief. This might turn out (more…)

It’s always a treat when Annie comes to our house! Man, can my sister ever cook! Usually, Annie likes to make things up as she goes, but when it comes to baking… well, sometimes she still makes things up as she goes. For this angel food cake recipe, though, she followed every step exactly. And it turned out… heavenly.

The recipe is from Glenda, a woman in Annie’s church. She has shared it with the congregation over the years, and she was delighted to pass it along here. (Recipes at the end.)

Step 1: Gather an admiring audience. Done!

Next, sift flour and powdered sugar together three times. Set aside.

At low speed, start beating egg whites.

Let your admiring audience give it a try.

Add cream of tartar, salt, vanilla, and almond extract. Turn to high and beat until soft peak stage.

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