An April Day Book

Outside my window …

Cold and snowy. Can you believe it? It’s not unheard of for late April in Western New York, but it sure is annoying.

I’m thinking …

About lesson plans and laundry. I’m going to get back to “looping” our lessons, like Sarah does over at one of my favorite homeschooling blogs. I did this a bit in the beginning of the year when I was struggling with morning sickness, then got away from it when we got back to a season in life where I could schedule things. Now we’re in the throws of newborn life, and I know that looping will help us stay on “track” without leaving me feeling pressured and overwhelmed.

As for the laundry …. well. Yeah.

I am thankful …

That we live near most of our family. Sure, there are times when we want to run for the hills. But for the most part, we are surrounded with support. We may not always see eye to eye on things (I think we mostly don’t, actually), and we might just totally drive each other nuts, but I’d still rather be with all of them than away from them. I can’t imagine living in an area where we have no support system. Would we survive it? Yes. But I’m glad that (for now) God hasn’t called us to that.

In the school room …

We are LOVING (loving, loving, loving) The Green Ember by S.D. Smith. Yowzers. If you’re in a read-aloud lull and looking for something that kids and adults can enjoy, I can’t recommend this book enough. Seriously! It’s a story with depth, moral significance, and while it may be written for children, it doesn’t dumb stuff down. I really appreciate that. At the same time, it’s full of adventure and action. Stuff the boys especially like to sink their teeth into.

From the kitchen:

Cow tongue!

Kidding. That is actually a cow tongue, but it sure isn’t something we ate. It’s from the cow we had butchered last Spring. I finally had the guts to thaw it out (starting to clean house and make room in the freezer for THIS year’s cow and pig). We fed it to the dog, though. He loved it. Waste not, want not.

But seriously- I made this “Museum Pasta Salad” salad from The Prudent Homemaker’s website yesterday. I left out the chicken as I was serving it as a side dish. I added the balsamic vinegar into the dressing. What a great early Spring recipe! It was enjoyed by all …

From the garden …

Unfortunately, not much yet. With all the snow and all. But! The garlic I planted last fall is about 10 inches tall now. I remember making pesto with garlic scapes a couple of years ago and it was delicious. Can’t wait to do that again!

We did check prices on some fruit trees. Most places around here are rather expensive ($45 per tree), but we did find some semi-dwarf fruit trees at Lowe’s for $23. I’ll be going back next weekend to see if they have more variety. All they had last weekend was apples and pears. We already have 2 apple trees, and my mom has 2 pear trees in her backyard that we can pick from. I’d really like something else.

I am praying for …

– A newly pregnant friend.

– Another friend going through another miscarriage.

– A friend of the family recently diagnosed with Lymphoma.

– The Christians suffering in the Middle East.

I am working on …

We are wrapping up Story of the World, Vol. 1 and so I’m working on reading lists and plans for Volume 2.  I found these 3 websites really helpful in finding picture books to coordinate with the chapters in SOTW.

– smoothstoneacademy.blogspot.com

– abookintime.com

– the-best-childrens-books.org

I’m also getting together 3rd quarter reports to send in to the school district (one of NY’s requirements).

I am reading …

1. Sister Lucia: Apostle of Mary’s Immaculate Heart
2. He is My All: Living In the Truth of God’s Love for Me
3. A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family

I’m listening to …

The sounds of my sweet sleeping baby boy. The older kids are all either napping or having quiet time in their room, so it’s just me and the baby downstairs right now. It’ll be a sad day when there are no more baby sounds to be heard in our home anymore ….

Some plans for this coming week …

• Prune blackberry brambles.
• Plant onion starts (still haven’t gotten to this yet) and carrots.
• Our church is starting a new Migrant Ministry and they’re having an informational meeting on Tuesday. I’m going to go and see if it’s something I can handle adding to our schedules right now. We have a large migrant community that comes each year to work on the farms. I remember going to school with their children when I was young. I always had a heart for that community and tried to befriend them. I took 7 years of Spanish in school and college, and while I’m very (very) rusty these days, I’m wondering if maybe I can’t brush up on my Spanish and be of some use to this ministry.
•  A good friend of mine is coming to visit (!) this week. We’ve been friends since high school and live 20 minutes away from each other, but we only see each other 1-2 times a year. We both have such busy lives. I really value her friendship and her ability to remain unfailingly patient with me if I have to cancel our plans due to a sick child (or whatever).

I never want to forget …

Getting kids ready at night for family prayer time, and hearing my second oldest son reading something in the living room. My husband and I looked at each other and walked into the livingroom and found this. He was gathering his siblings and reading the Bible to them while they waited for us. He even set up his own little pulpit. His favorite book in the Bible is 1 John. Future priest, perhaps? 😉

And my oldest son used his birthday money to buy some Legos. He worked very diligently to follow the instructions and put them together the way they were meant to. Usually he gets frustrated after a while and just throws the new pieces in with all of his other Legos (which is fine). But this time he said he really wanted to “do it right.” I was very proud of him!

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