Around Here {February + March}

Anchors for a hectic month or two

(I’m back to writing again after a hectic month! Here’s what’s been happening.)

On The Page {Anything I’ve Read}

{Cookbooks}. My sweet husband is also a wonderful cook and frequently takes over cooking dinner to give me a break, but I decided recently that I wanted to take dinner off his plate all together. So I’ve been reading various cookbooks and trying to figure out how to be more organized about dinner. Meal planning has never been my strong suit, and if anyone has advice or resources to help me, please chime in. I would like to improve my cooking skills, which could be better, and organizational skills when it comes to meal prep is my biggest challenge right now.

{Anna Karenina}. One of my big reading goals for the year is to finish Anna Karenina. I have been very consistent about reading it nightly, and it is an easier read than I thought it would be. I was never interested in reading it, but recently saw it on this list of “Novels To Help You Be A Better Mom” - after reading some of it, I can see how that could be true by providing a contrast, since I can already see Anna is headed down a bad path.

In My Armchair {Projects I'm Working On}

{Making homemade cleaners}. A few years ago I went on an essential oil kick, and I gathered quite a collection of oils. In fact, I gathered too many just because I was curious about different scents, and now I am left trying to make sure I actually use all those oils. I’ve occasionally tried different DIY cleaner recipes with my oils, but most clean recipes use vinegar, and I don’t enjoy my house smelling like that. I recently came across this recipe that uses orange peels, and I have some cleaning concentrate brewing in my pantry right now. That still doesn’t help my essential oil issues though, so I found this recipe that uses Castile soap, and I’m going to give it a try as well.

In The Kitchen {Things We Made}

{Old standbys}. We’ve been in survival mode after a stressful couple months around here, so the old standbys are keeping us afloat. We’ve enjoyed comfort foods like homemade macaroni and cheese, my usual bread baking, and soups.

{Some new favorites}. I while back I downloaded and printed some recipes that were supposed to be good for kids to do on their own. I pinned them to my fridge and forgot about it, but a few weeks ago my oldest daughter found one for granola bars, and asked if she could make it. She’s made it a couple times now, and her granola bars are so chewy and satisfying! I also have been working out of a high-protein recipe book (this one), which prompted me to try a real balsamic glaze for chicken recently - it was so good, I don’t know why I’ve never used glazes before.

On My Person {Things I've Worn}

{Stuck in winter}. This is the time of year where I start to get the itch to start putting together outfits with a more springtime vibe. Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with my vibes, so my outfits are still stuck in winter.

(Every coat and jacket in these pictures, except one, brought to you courtesy of my favorite thrift store.)

In The Accounts Book {Money We Have Saved}

{Grocery shopping pickup}. I might have mentioned this already, but one way I try to save money each month is by doing my grocery shopping online. I can really see what I’m spending when I add each item to my cart and see the prices adding up, and I can make adjustments to make sure my total is what I want it to be. I can also check my pantry to make sure I actually need something before I buy it, which I can’t do in the store. When I go browsing in the store I sometimes end up adding things to my cart that I did not come in for, and shopping from my couch helps cut down on those impulse purchases because I have time to think everything through.

Out My Window {Beauty I Noticed}

{Flowers sprouting, maybe?}. Even though it is not truly spring in the mountains until May, this is the time of year when I go about looking for any little clues that spring is coming. I poked around in my flower pots from last year and spotted some tiny little sprouts of greenery…it snowed the next day, so who know if it will come to anything, but one can hope!

Out And About {Places We Went}

{Snowmobiling with my parents}. In their almost-retirement, my parents have reignited a hobby from their youth - snowmobiling! They go most weekends in the winter, and every year they take our family on a Saturday snowmobiling trip. We’ve been doing this for several years now, but this is the first year I felt like it took no time at all for me to get comfortable driving. My oldest was also able to ride on his own since he’s 14 now (the family age requirement). We had a blast - it’s always lovely spending time with family, and this is a special tradition that we are grateful for.

{Several Valentine’s Day parties}. Some years have been pretty slow around Valentine’s Day, but this year we had three different Valentine’s events to go to - two with homeschool groups, and a family party put on by my mom. The kids loved all of it! We love Valentine’s Day around our house, as an opportunity to show family and friends that we appreciate them.

On My Mind {Thoughts I Want To Share}

{Some homeschool thoughts}. After an interesting conversation recently, I have been reflecting on how we as homeschool moms tend to have an especially difficult struggle whether our kids are succeeding or struggling in any given academic area. Because we have taken on our kids’ education ourselves, we think “it’s all up to me” - if our kids are doing particularly well, the temptation is to attribute their success to our superior philosophy or efforts, and if they are struggling we bite our fingernails and think we must be doing something wrong. There’s pride on one side and some level of despair on the other. But in the end, it’s really all pride on both sides of the ditch.

The best thing is to walk in the middle, with a humble heart, recognizing that our kids’ strengths and weaknesses are a unique mix given to each of them by God…and our job is not to pat ourselves on the back or wring our hands over either strengths or weaknesses. We shouldn’t compare to what other kids/families are doing, or some vague idea of what “level” they are exceeding or failing to meet, but to recognize growth - comparing our kids only to themselves and how they’ve grown, and asking God for wisdom on how we can help them grow further. This has been a hard-fought lesson for me since my kids were little, and something I’m learning again as I think ahead to high school next year!

In My Heart {Things I'm Treasuring}

{1} Family and friends that I know will pray for me when I ask.

{2} Fresh blueberries, waiting in the fridge for me to make jam.

{3} Chocolate coconut macaroons.

{4} Going outside and hearing the birds greeting the morning once again.

{5} Kids that are so understanding and flexible when plans change.

{6} The urge to start researching curriculum for next year - I know they say not to indulge it before finishing the current homeschool year, but planning is so fun!

{7} Impromptu coffee dates with my husband.

{8} A thrift store that always has treasures hiding on the racks if I look hard enough.

{9} Snow and sunshine on rotation.

{10} Mud on our boots, the first sign of spring.