School Starting and Our Own Giving Tree

 Today was our official first day of school.

There were a few rough spots, but overall it was a great day!

I am excited to begin another year in our homeschool journey, with my now 6th, 8th, 9th, and 11th graders.

Time management seemed to be the biggest challenge today. I felt pulled in many directions. But we ate well, studied hard, and enjoyed good conversation together. I suppose I can't ask for more, can I?

Nola got a new desk over the summer and handed her old one down to Elsa. 

They are all independent learners at their own desks now. I have graduated from homeschooling small children at my elbow at the kitchen table. *sniff

But onward and upward, as they say! It's time to enjoy the higher grades. 

One way I plan to do that this school year is by tutoring a small group of high school juniors once a week. It's an exciting opportunity I've been studying and preparing for. I have a soft spot in my heart for homeschool families, so I look forward to the chance to bless and serve other homeschoolers. The fact that Roman, my own high school junior, will be in my "class" is icing on the cake!

Our schedule seemed a little haphazard today, but I trust we will settle into a doable routine as the weeks progress. 

I took the dog for an evening "walkie" to clear my head.

He loves running off leash on our trails. If he gets too far ahead of me he'll stop and look back until I catch up. He's done this since he was a puppy. I always tell him, "Thank you for waiting for me. What a gentleman you are!"

Something very sad was discovered on our property, though.

Our beloved tree was split in two, with the swing Micah built for me lying helpless and forlorn under a heavy branch. It must have happened in the last storm. 

This is the tree that helped raise my children. The tree we have come to in all seasons for sixteen years. A large chunk of our family story has been played out at this tree. We have picnicked here... climbed, napped, and read books here. We have sung songs together and had long conversations here. We have entertained friends here. Time and problems don't exist here. This tree has endured our family's noise and rambunctious play (as well as one wildly unsuccessful bird-luring experiment), but has also been a peaceful and stable presence to come to when quiet alone time is needed.

Seeing it break down brought me to tears, and reminded me so much of the famous book, "The Giving Tree," by Shel Silverstein. 

Maybe we've asked too much of it through the years. But from time to time I would offer up a prayer for this tree. I've asked God to keep it alive and well for us as long as we are still living here.

So I'm not sure what the future looks like for our faithful friend. I'm sure Micah can find a way to repair the swing and reattach it to a surviving branch. But I fear it will never be the same. There was just something so comforting and reassuring about nestling in on the swing after walking along the trails, and feeling enveloped in all the wide, strong branches. 

Is it silly to mourn a tree?

I suppose I should just be thankful for the memories.

"The trees you grew up with have not forgotten you." ~ Unknown 

🌳

~ Courtney 

LEAD 2025

 This was the fourth year our family participated in LEAD Wisconsin, which is a ministry of Wisconsin Family Council.

We are always so blessed by this camp, whose mission is to equip teens in becoming effective Godly leaders.

This year Roman participated in the media track, and Nola was in the Senate.

For Senators, their work begins Sunday night. They are assigned to a caucus and given two bills to work on - one to support and one to oppose.   

Throughout the week they hold a press conference, as well as attend public hearings and meetings chaired by real state legislators.

By Friday they vote and hold live debate on the Assembly floor in our beautiful State Capitol.

"Here you will rise to the challenge of amendments, decorum, and open debate." -Speaker of the House 

Nola is at the microphone, presenting one of the three speeches she wrote during the week.

We observed from the gallery above.

I really was paying attention...honest, I was! But I kept daydreaming about the meaning behind the large mural on the wall. It was so beautiful and interesting! 

It looked to me like an angel commanding an ancient goddess to leave, while a few Patriots, clutching our American flag, were bravely emerging onto the scene. 

Could the meaning have been our founding fathers saying goodbye to the antiquated government system in Europe to embrace the American spirit in the New World? 

My curiosity got the best of me... I looked it up.

According to the Historical Society's website, "A woman representing Wisconsin is surrounded by three women representing the three bodies of water surrounding the state." Wow, I was way off! And other than a few harsh warnings about tampering with the image, that was just about all the site had to say on this intriguing piece of art, simply titled, "Wisconsin."

Oh, well... it was still fun to ponder.

Meanwhile, Roman received a crash course on journalism and broadcasting. Here's a photo I snagged from their social media...

When we first arrived at the Capitol, (trying to catch our bearings and find our way around) who do we bump into right away?... Roman setting up equipment for an interview!

He and his team conducted interviews, toured a news station, published six newspapers and created three video broadcasts all by the end of the week.

I loved their clever catchphrase...

"News that leads the way."

After a long day at the Capitol, followed by a commissioning ceremony, we picked the kids up at their dorms and journeyed home. 

I reflected on my observations from the program and am convinced that we do not need to be afraid for today's teenagers. There is an army of bright young people being raised up! These kids love the Lord, think right thoughts, and persuade effectively.

We just are fortunate to be a part of it! 

"God presides over the great assembly. He renders judgment among the gods." -Psalm 82:1

~ Courtney

Beauty in Education

 According to Socrates, "The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful."

Sorting through the last of our papers and books to finalize our 2024-25 school year has reminded me of the vision I began our year with ~  Help my children see how God is anchored and woven into each of their subjects, and that God is the center of all knowledge.

I am currently reading Beauty for Truth's Sake, by Stratford Caldecott on the re-enchantment of education, and I'm quickly finding out, as lofty as my aim this past school year was, we barely scratched the surface.

Sure, we would discuss God's character as it is revealed in the mathematical concepts we studied, but to train their sense of beauty, nourish their imagination, and orient their hearts to (in Josef Piper's words) "that simple vision where truth offers itself like a landscape to the eye," is rapidly becoming my new vision for next school year. 

This was our second year dabbling in more of a classical style education, (compared to the Abeka books my kids used in the younger grades) and I'm humbly recognizing I have a lot to learn on this leap from a traditional curriculum to a classical one.

Is it a bottomless well? Or is this gnawing inside me true? ... That by the time I wrap my head around it and finally grasp it, my kids will all be graduated and I won't need the knowledge anymore.

Either way, I believe it is a worthwhile and exciting pursuit.

When my children were younger, Charlotte Mason's books and Booker T. Washington's autobiography shaped my homeschool ideals. They gave me a vision for incorporating nature and family meals, along with strong daily practices such as chores and hygiene into our routine. But now that my kids are getting older, I'm finding that (to use the apostle Paul's analogy of maturing from milk to solid food) I need to, "be open to the presence of meaning where the modern mind sees none... Developing an awareness of the totality of education through art, literature, music, mathematics, physics, biology, and history. Each subject having its own autonomy, but at its heart it connects with every other." - Stratford Caldecott

Reading this book has helped explain why my recent visit to Paris felt so rich and meaningful. The art, music, and math present in the cathedrals there were soul-stirring in a way that is absent in America. Somehow, the christians who built these churches a thousand years ago understood how to use beauty to refine the human spirit, and to inspire an ascent of the mind and heart toward God.

While discussing this with my older children, (and apologizing to them over an upbringing so starved of such beauty) one pointed out that we should be careful not to take this too far. Admiration of art and architecture, he cautioned, could lead to worship of the building, not of God, putting you at dangerous risk for idolatry.

(Rich discussions with my teenagers are the crowning moments in homeschooling. As we wrestle with ideas, I get to watch them become who God intends for them to be.)

In the meantime, I will continue this insightful book, pondering how I can train my children's character to reach for beauty as they seek to know God more... And remembering another homeschool mom's wise words who recently looked at me and profoundly said, "The point of all this is to marvel."

"As our own eyes reveal to us every day, the universe is beautiful. It has majesty, order, and loveliness; three types of beauty that scientists love to discover in the world." - Stratford Caldecott

~ Courtney 

The Last One

 It started with a $71 curriculum order and a leap of faith when my oldest, Roman, was due to begin first grade.

"Just take it one year at a time," my husband wisely counseled.

And so, with nothing more than a few good books and a kitchen table, we began our homeschool journey.

I fell in love with the care-free lifestyle quickly, almost daily pinching myself that this could be real life: No early busses to catch? No PTO meetings to attend? 

Our schedule is our very own?... to do with as we like?!....

As Booker T. Washington observed after the Emancipation and recorded in his autobiography, "Freedom was a more serious thing than they had expected to find it." 

I felt the same.

But we soon settled into a comfortable routine, where every morning consisted of chores, hygiene, and formal lessons, and every afternoon was some combination of outdoor play, baking or crafting, with the occasional play date or doctor's appointment thrown in.

Over the years I learned to conquer diagramming sentences, making equivalent fractions, and solving for x right along side my growing kids.

I learned to stick with the same curriculum year after year to build familiarity and mastery, so the next kid in line could benefit from a confident mother.

Each year bled into the next until homeschooling began to feel like the easiest, most natural thing in the world to us.

Then, in the blink of an eye, we came to this morning...

 I helped Elsa finish her final lesson in her 5th grade arithmetic book... the last one... and I realized this season of our family's homeschooling is shifting. My baby's done with 5th grade? That means we are officially through the elementary years! I now have all middle schoolers and high schoolers.

Uncertain if I should feel sad, sentimental, or proud of myself, I rummaged through the attic bins looking for room to pack away this year's books, and almost as Divine Acknowledgment, I uncovered Roman's first grade curriculum. The books that started it all. I hadn't seen them in years. 

With them in the bin was a completely filled notebook. I had written out this daily and weekly plan on the first page...

And the following pages, revealing his handwriting and mine, were made up of little assignments and quizzes I had created for him.

I thumbed through the pages carefully, pondering how my younger self hand wrote all these assignments... I was learning how to homeschool, I thought, nostalgically.

Never believing I was cut out for the job, but trusting in the Lord fully, I stuck to the work and now find our elementary years behind us.

(Nola's final illuminated letter in her cursive book...

 If you zoom you may see she creatively turned it into the phrase, The last one...)

"Being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

The other kids are officially done with their school year, too. Homeschooling in the upper grades has proven to be an enormous blessing, but I will have to write about that another time.

💐

~ Courtney 

Getting Through the Winter

 I once heard a homeschool mom pray, "Lord, please reveal to us what you have for us today." 

For some reason it struck me.

Sort of a Give us this day our daily bread prayer for homeschoolers.

I've since adopted this prayer for our homeschool mornings, and it's amazing how many times I open my Bible to read and see a connection to something we've been studying. 

For example, we recently made the jump from 2D to 3D in our geometry course. We've enjoyed taking a 2D image on paper, like a circle or square, and then comparing it to its 3D match, like a globe or a tissue box. We discuss what a difference it makes adding that third dimension - depth. The kids then practiced tracing complex geometric shapes like icosahedrons and dodecahedrons. (Who has ever heard of such shapes?!)

This morning in my quiet time, I read Romans 11:33, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgements, and His paths are beyond tracing out!"

I thought it was beautiful how I saw the kids' recent math assignments in God's Word. 

I read the verse to them, which then opened up a conversation... As hard as it's been for us to grasp some of these math concepts, we can at least trace over some of the more intricate shapes, causing us to become more familiar with them as we learn. But God's paths are beyond our tracing. To which one of my teenagers pointed out that humans are "bounded," and God is "unbounded" - another math concept from this week.

Homeschooling older kids has been a tremendous blessing in my life. They are capable of such profound discussions.

This winter has seemed extra difficult.

Combining prolonged sub-zero temps with a high maintenance puppy has been a challenge.

While our property is ideal for energetic kids and dogs, it's been too dangerously cold. So we've all felt a little cooped up.

Cash stole one of my mittens and tore it to shreds. It was a beautiful handmade mitten that Micah bought for me in Alaska probably twenty years ago! It had two layers, warm wool with a soft fleece lining. 

When I arrived to the crime scene, it was too late to save it. So I resigned to letting him finish the job. 

Giving its untouched pair to Nola so she could use the fabric for a craft, I sighed disappointedly, and muttered under my breath, This is why I'm a cat person....

Nola is a sensitive soul, always slipping me little notes and drawings whenever she senses I'm upset. Like this poem she wrote to cheer me up...

We'll be climbing up out of the negative temps over the weekend, though, which will be a welcome relief. I've been passing these cold winter days by going back and forth between quietly reading under my electric blanket, and passive-aggressively dropping hints to Micah that I wish to be taken to Paris next month for our anniversary.

Like randomly texting links to Paris hotels, or casually bringing up in conversation that I happened to come across my passport recently and it doesn't expire until 2027... in case he would need to know... *wink

I can't help that I'm fascinated by recent attempts to clean and restore Notre Dame Cathedral since the devastating fire. I've watched videos of the work that's been done, and it's just so cool. Using all volunteers, and original materials, (like iron) they've managed to bring it back to life and reopen to the public in only five years!

I'm obsessed with the thought of going to see it for myself... tres excitant!

Unlikely, I know. But a girl can dream, and in the meantime pray, "Lord, please reveal to us what you have for us today," to stay content in this hard winter.

😊

~ Courtney 

A Faithful Undergoing - Catechesis

 "Do not rush into a state of life where you have never thought of the inconveniences. If you have a call to marry, knowledge of the difficulties and duties will be necessary to your preparation and will be a faithful undergoing." - Richard Baxter, The Godly Home

A faithful undergoing makes me think of homeschooling.

I was fortunate early on to hear an older, experienced homeschool mom give the advice, "Protect your mornings."

I didn't realize it at the time, but that would become the backbone to how I structured our days, and the mantra I would repeat to myself when scheduling appointments. Mornings at home were meaningful to us, and when we accomplished the bulk of our work.

When my children were little, I would gather them around me each morning for something we began to call "Front Room Time" - the front room of our house being the preferred place to meet, since we began each session reciting The Pledge, and could clearly see the American Flag through our front window.

From there, we would recite our memory work and go through flash cards together.

As my children grew older, our Front Room Time progressed into more lengthy recitations and Bible reading, that it became more difficult to squeeze it into the schedule - meeting for The Pledge and recitations only a couple days per week. Ultimately, a few years ago, when my children became fairly independent with their studies, Front Room Time was abandoned altogether.

Then last summer, I was reading an interesting article on the great reformer Martin Luther. In it, he warned pastors and parents "never to presume that they have finished learning the catechism. Even if they know and understand it completely (which is impossible in this life), there are many benefits and fruits still to be obtained for those who daily read and practice it in thought and speech. Ongoing catechesis," Luther says, "gives us spiritual nourishment and weaponry against the devil. But mainly it gives us God Himself. In catechesis the Holy Spirt is present in the reading, repetition, and meditation, bestowing ever new light and devotion."

And just like that, the ignition to resurrect Front Room Time as Catechesis caught fire in my brain.

We began meeting each day around the dining room table with the agenda of - 

Recitations

Hymn sing

Cursive, illuminated letter

Devotions with our math curriculum 

Prayer

Examples of recitations include The Lord's Prayer, Psalm 23, Psalm 139, and excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, to name a few. We added Proverbs 25 and a paragraph from Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address as new memory work in our repertoire.

We own two identical copies of Baptist hymnals from our years on Abeka, so we've been singing through them page by page since the start of the school year. Roman can sight read well enough that each day we open to the next hymn in line, he plays for us, and we all sing along.

Daily practice in cursive reading and copy work, along with an illuminated letter, is included as well. Our cursive book is from a classical curriculum, so I like to play classical music quietly in the background as they work. Some of their illuminated letters have truly been pieces of art!

I have appreciated the devotions that have come with our math curriculum this year. It's impressive how they weave God's character into math concepts. So many times I have found myself saying, "I never would have thought of it that way!"

As we end our Catechesis hour in prayer, I realize how rich a time of worship this is for our family.

"That God is the founder and instituter of families is known by the light of nature itself; therefore the law of nature requires that families are to the upmost of their capacities devoted to God. Bowing to and confessing Christ voluntarily to God's glory is true worship. All must do this according to their capacities; therefore families must do this according to theirs."  - Richard Baxter, The Godly Home

To use Mr. Baxter's beautiful words, I am learning that to persevere in homeschooling through the upper grades requires a "faithful undergoing," growing in wisdom and knowledge "to our upmost capacities."

Daily catechesis has helped us in that aim.

"Where two or more are gathered together in My name, I am in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

~ Courtney 

Morning Enlightenment

 One factor that contributed to my accidental blogging hiatus was a verse I read during my morning reading time about living a quiet life and minding your own business. (1 Thess 4:11)

I'm never happier than when I'm puttering around the house, tending to chores and kids, with my phone out of sight and out of mind.

My life can get noisy enough with a husband, homeschooled kids, a large dog and a cat, that I don't need news from my phone clamoring for my attention.

I'm reminded of Jesus' words in Mark 6:31...

"Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest."

So my early morning quiet time, established years ago when my children were babies, has saved me and restored me daily.

I always sit here, by this window facing east, to watch the sun rise over the trees as I read.

I enjoy watching the sky lighten and turn a variety of stunning colors.

In the winter, I turn on my little heating pad and reading lamp, cover my legs with a blanket, and soak in the stillness and quiet.

(Summer mornings feel so different, don't they? The sun bright and sparkling; the birds boisterously singing...)

Because God's Word is "living and active," I always feel as though I start each day with fresh enlightenment.

"He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." Isaiah 50:4

Recently, I was reading about Jesus' miraculous feeding of thousands, and because we're on a math curriculum this school year that is training our minds to see math in God's character, I lingered over the numbers in Mark 8:19-20 looking for clues...

5 loaves for 5 thousand,

12 baskets leftover...

7 loaves for 4 thousand,

7 baskets leftover.

Hmmm...

I pondered for quite some time as to whether there could be a pattern, equation, or meaning.

This became the hot topic of conversation with my children as the day unfolded.

 

We decided to camp out on the numbers 12 and 7. Where else do we see these numbers in the Bible? In nature? In everyday living?

We discussed the obvious ones first: 

- Seven days of creation were divided into 12 hours.

- God established twelve tribes of Israel

- Jesus selected twelve disciples

- Twelve inches in a foot

But a little further research and deeper discussion uncovered many more:

- The Ark of the Covenant contained twelve sacred items

- After twelve generations, Solomon built the temple, which took seven years to complete

- The human body has twelve ribs on each side, connecting to the sternum in seven places

- The ocean has seven layers of ecosystems 

- Our calendar consists of twelve months in a year, seven days in a week

- Music has twelve notes, and harmony uses seven of them

- The diameter of the earth is 12,700km

Fascinating, isn't it?

I will forever be grateful for this homeschooling journey, and the beautiful truths we've learned together. But I am most thankful to my Lord for His faithfulness to meet me each morning.

"His mercies never fail, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:23

~ Courtney

School Photos

 

We made an impromptu visit to Kohler today, in celebration of completing another homeschool year.

We enjoy treating ourselves to ice cream in their beautiful Greenhouse Cafe, but the garden was in full bloom, so we were drawn to the courtyard.

 These kids make my heart swell with pride.

My firstborn, Roman, age fifteen, just completed his freshman year of high school. 

Nola Josette, age thirteen, just finished 7th grade.

Soren, twelve, finished 6th grade...

And my baby, Elsa, who's nine, just completed 4th grade.

I suppose this means I have officially been homeschooling for a decade now, but I feel like I've just begun. Every year seems to be better than the last.

As much as I miss the younger homeschool years of blowing bubbles, playing with blocks, and reading Corduroy eight times in a row, I am learning to embrace this new season of older kids and teens.

It can be just as exhausting and rewarding as the younger years. 

The Lord is teaching me to reject the dark cynicism of our culture, and move toward my teenagers with confident faith in our Redeemer.

They are unfinished products, their minds and character are still developing, so I endeavor to pour love and grace on them, with God's help, each day.

It's a joy watching my children grow into who God designed them to be.

They are God's children after all, and are here to bring Him glory, not me.

I'm just grateful to get to be a part of what God is doing in their lives.

💐

~ Courtney 

Home Life

 Facebook memories reminded me that we had snow two years ago...

And that Elsa and I went out to give the tulips and daffodils a word of encouragement.

I'm not sure if we were behind schedule that year, or ahead this year, but today the grass is green and my daffodils are in full bloom.

We are enjoying a lazy Saturday morning, keeping the house quiet and allowing the kids to sleep in.

Micah and I crossed paths in the kitchen and had our annual early spring conversation on plans for the gardens and orchard this year.

We stood at the kitchen window sipping coffee, making remarks on the yellow finches at the feeder, and establishing what we'll do with that empty, awkward spot in the flower bed.

A reasonable plan was confidently decided as we poured fresh coffee, made our way to the other window, and discussed the demise of a dwarf spruce that sadly didn't survive the winter.

We laughed at the house cat leaping at a red cardinal as a few children, one by one, made their way down the staircase and into the living room to watch vintage episodes of Bugs Bunny, a Saturday morning tradition.

After instructing Micah on what exactly I'd like hauled to the dump, starting a batch of laundry, and thinking about the two pounds of ground beef I've been thawing in the fridge for days but can't seem to find time to fry up, I realize how peaceful our home life is and how lucky I am.

I'm thankful I learned as a young wife how to accept people for who they are, instead of miserably trying to coerce family situations into my ideal.

Everything seems better when it's uncontrived, anyway.

The kids have been finishing up their school work for the year. The girls completed their Language Arts course this past week. To finish a book of lessons and assignments that we've been working on since August always feels like quite the accomplishment!

We're all so proud!

I'm looking forward to the completion of the school year, so I can move my attention and efforts to the gardens.

A beautifully mild, sunny day this past week required all my self-control not to zip over to the nursery down the road for plants and flowers.

Looking ahead at the weather tells me we still have a few nights below freezing approaching.

It's okay. I can be patient. I have a book to finish.

Lately I've been into reading children's books for my own enjoyment.

Before you laugh at me, remember C.S. Lewis said, "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good story in the slightest. No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally - and often far more - worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond."

It started with, Heidi, by Johanna Spyri.

That book was pure delight, and even changed the way I viewed the majestic row of pines that, now in my mind, stand knowingly and authoritatively on the other side of our meadow.

Then I read, The Good Master, by Kate Seredy.

I bought it for Nola a few years ago, so she read it first, but it, too, was bewitching.

Both stories possessed a striking similarity in that there was a sickly, spoiled, city character who moved out to the country and found healing. Of course, having lived out in the country myself for the past fifteen years, the idea of fresh air, sunshine, forests, streams, slow-living and privacy having a profound impact on a person is not lost on me.

"He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me." Psalm 18:19

I now find myself half way through the enthralling, Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls.

I have a vague memory of having to read this in sixth grade. But that was so long ago, the story seems fresh and new to me now.

I hope to be finished by the time my tulips are in bloom, then I'll pass it on to Soren to read.

The main character reminds me so much of him.

💐

~ Courtney 

Keeping Busy This Winter

 I'm still energized from a late night "out on the town" last night.

Roman and I went to see Les Miserables at a local theater with friends.

The teenagers sat together, and we mamas sat in the row behind them.

It was a little... ahem... expressive in spots. When the house lights came on at intermission we looked at each other, wide-eyed, and one mama said, "Racy!" Another said, "Do you think the kids caught on to any of that?" We all reassured each other that we were certain any suggestive implication went right over their heads. *wink 

I was nervous beforehand about how my hip would do, but was thrilled when the night was over and I realized I was comfortable the entire evening.

Getting back into these normal, pre-surgery activities comfortably is a huge relief for me!

It was a great night and a great show!

Back at home today we were too entranced with the bright sunshine and warmer air to be cooped up inside. So we finished our schoolwork quickly and drove down to our lovely, nearby park.

I've been wondering lately about the little stream that flows at the park. I hadn't been down there since last fall.

With this milder than normal winter, was it thawed and flowing? Was the water level low due to the small amount of snow we've received this season? Would there still be ice chunks and stagnant water in places?

We decided today was a good day to found out.

😎

I was looking forward to a peaceful amble along the water. As much as I am attached to my route on our own trails, sometimes I crave a change of scenery.

I was curious if the smell of earth could be detected in the air. You know, that glorious early spring smell of earth that smells like fresh, clean soil? I also wanted to listen to the birds. Unfortunately, the birdsong at the park was faint, and there was no fragrance. That was wishful thinking on my part. It is still technically winter. 

But on days like this the hope of spring can be sensed in the air, so I am grateful for that.

This past weekend was quite different - very windy and cold. Nola told me she was bored. She had used up her allotted "screen time," and the beads for a project she was working on had run out. I thought about the activities I busied myself with as a child on boring winter afternoons. I told both my girls that sometimes for fun I would look through my mother's magazines for a beautiful and inspiring photo,  then try to recreate it on a separate piece of paper. 

If my mother was throwing away old, used magazines, I would also like to sit by the fire with a scissors and cut out images to use later for various crafts. 

This seemed to appease them for a while. Elsa looked through an old magazine of mine; animals being the chosen theme. She tore a few pages out, then attempted to draw them all on a piece of sketch paper to make a zoo.

One thing led to another, as things like this tend to do, and the next thing we knew we were at Hobby Lobby looking at craft and art materials to keep the girls occupied for the rest of winter.

Thankfully, places like Hobby Lobby are inexpensive enough that the girls could each pick something out.

One selected a paint by numbers kit. The other a How-to-Draw notebook. A bracelet making kit was 50% off so we grabbed one of those, too, for them to share.

It's nice to have supplies on hand for down time in the winter months. They've been happily busy with these quiet, creative pursuits, and I'm happy they have something productive to turn to instead of screens.

💐

~ Courtney