Morning Medicine

We have a few challenges awaiting us this June...

Some unique experiences that Micah and I have yet to face in life.

I put it all out of my head in May and hoped that if I don't think of it, maybe June would forget to come.

But here it is... June 1st already!

(Have you ever noticed that even through attempts to forget Time, Time will not forget you!)

I am sure everything will work out well and I'll realize I worried for nothing, but I still can't help feeling a little anxious.

 Time for my Morning Medicine...

"The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Once again the world has awakened, and seems to almost call for me each morning...

"Come out here! Hear the birdsong! See what's new!"

Of course I am always curious to see what has changed since yesterday, so after my fill of hot coffee I put on my "garden shoes" and meander about...

This is medicine for my soul.

A time to clear my head, pray over the day's agenda, and decide to be content and grateful.

Mornings outside are quiet... contemplative... and full of hope for a brand new day!

"Good morning, sky;

Good morning, sun;

Good morning little winds that run!

Good morning, birds;

Good morning, trees;

And creeping grass, and brownie bees!

How did you find out it was day?

Who told you night had gone away?

I'm wide awake;

I'm up now, too.

I'll be right out to play with you!"

- Jean Buchanan

I say, "good morning" to the chickens...

Then check on the garden...

Micah planted these Bleeding Hearts a few years ago after I had mentioned that my grandmother's garden had Bleeding Hearts when I was young.

They've done really well here next to the Irises.

In fact, they spend all day laughing and gossiping together.

They are good friends.

Nola painted and set up this darling birdhouse among the Ferns and Hostas...

Notice her attempt to entice the birds into the house with a generous helping of seeds!

Sometimes a walk out to the orchard is necessary, too...

Because you know, plants and trees need a good "checking on."

"Just seeing how everyone's doing!" I say...

Plants and trees seem to look different every day!

I don't know how they do it!

Yesterday I planted these two ladies...

I couldn't just bring one home, for fear she would become lonely.

So the pair went in the ground together right here by my old and worn farmhouse fence.

We had a pounding rain last night so I made sure to check on them this morning, too.

So tall and skinny, I was afraid they had snapped over in the storm.

I was happy to see they had done well!

"All the names I know from nurse,

Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,

Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,

And the Lady Hollyhock."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

My mother and I both thought this was Hollyhock, until I read the tag while planting them...

It said "Foxglove."

I am still learning.

My medicine is working. The fresh air is making me feel so much better!

"Few of us get air enough, and yet air is free to everyone and does not cost a cent. The poorest person who ever lived can have all the air there is, if only willing to take the trouble to get it. If you live in a crowded city, it is not as easy to get fresh air as if you live out in the country. But even in the city, houses have doors and windows, and all who can walk can go out into the parks, where good pure air can always be found. Sick people need a great deal of fresh air; the more they get, the quicker they are likely to be well again."

- H. A. Gerber

I watched an interesting special on PBS last night called, "10 Parks that Changed America."

While interviewing a landscape architect who helped design one of the parks, I learned that European  parks many years ago used to be owned either by royalty or the extremely wealthy.

A chance to visit a park was unlikely and came to you by invitation only.

Over the course of time parks in America were created and became open to the public.

Now anybody can meander through nature and reap the benefits!

What was once thought of as a luxury, is now considered a basic human need.

I cannot agree more!

God has given us His creation to enjoy.

"Let the heavens rejoice,

Let the earth be glad;

Let the sea resound,

And all that is in it.

Let the fields be jubilant,

And everything in them;

Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy!"

- Psalm 96:11-12

(The lime green tree in the background is a Honey Locust tree. Micah planted it because I said I thought some bright green might look nice next to the purple lilacs... He spoils me. *smile )

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Staying When it's Hard

Some people have a niche.

A thing they identify with.

A thing that's their gig... or their jam, as the kids say.

The older I get and the more I experience life, the more I realize that I stay in hard things.

I haven't figured out if that's good or bad.

I just stay in hard things.

Even when it hurts me, I'll stay in it.

Even when it no longer makes sense, I'll stay in it.

Even when the people around me urge me to make a change and move on, I'll still stay in it.

There have been times over the years when I've wondered if I was doing the right thing.

So I would search out a truth-telling friend to give me some reassurance.

The problem is, we live in a culture that is saturated with selfish messages.

So often I was given feedback like,

Do what makes you happy...

Pursue your dreams...

You deserve better...

Cut off negative and toxic people from your life...

etc..

All of that sounds good, but there's a problem with it.

It is a "me-centered" attitude.

I suppose if one's highest ambition in life is happiness, then this would be good advice.

But once a person becomes a Christian, they are no longer living for themselves.

Each Christian is plucked out, set on a higher plane, and given Kingdom work to do.

They are noble assignments meant for the edification of other believers, and for the glory of God.

Once I had a handle of that concept, I was able to get my eyes off myself and see the bigger picture.

(This is probably the reason why I stay in hard things. I guess I assume that wherever I am is exactly where God wants me to be.)

So.... since a truth-telling friend has been difficult for me to find, I will preach to myself...

I will give myself the encouragement that I need.

Here it goes...

....................................

I am in a hard situation right now.

I hate it.

It is burdening my heart.

It is haunting my thoughts.

The worst part? I can do nothing about any of it!

Decisions are being made that are out of my control.

And I just sit by silently, watching it all unravel.

Sure, I could jump ship.

That option is always there.

Somebody actually just asked Micah and I when we are going to move on from this situation that has been so hard on us.

That seems to be the solution most people settle on.

Once something no longer pleases us, meets our needs, or makes us happy, we should move on from it, right?

I am sure there are cases where that is totally appropriate.

However, it has seemed to me that that has not been God's will for my life.

I've been through hard things before, and I've watched the Lord work in it and get me through it.

"The Lord stood at my side and strengthened me."

- 2 Tim. 4:17

 I learned that though jumping ship may offer me initial relief, I would forfeit these blessings:

~ A chance to mature and grow, and to rely on the Lord's strength.

~ A chance to deepen my understanding of the people involved and hopefully bond with them in a richer way.

~ And finally, a chance to watch God redeem it!

It still doesn't make it fun in the meantime.

And it still doesn't mean that I haven't pleaded with the Lord for a way out.

I have buried my face in my hands to sob more than once, and each time the Holy Spirit has ministered to my heart the same words...

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

- 2 Cor. 12:9

My heart would cry,"But God, this feels like a curse! This feels like you've taken your hand off us! Have I sinned? Have I done something wrong that I should be experiencing this with no relief in sight?" 

During the time I was battling this, God sent someone to me who said, "Maybe God is testing you. Maybe He wants to see if you'll remain faithful."

???

That makes me think of another blessing I would forfeit if I jumped ship - The chance to set an example of faithfulness for others, and hopefully leave a legacy of faithfulness for my children.

I want them to see what happens when you choose to commit to something and see it through to the very end, even when it gets hard along the way.

I want them to see that you can stay in hard things!

Just because something's hard doesn't mean it's bad for you and you shouldn't do it.

Anything that's worth doing will come with its set of challenges and even heartbreaks.

Just stay in it!

Watch what God will do!

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!"

John 16:33

This is what I'm preaching to myself, and I'm sticking to it!

"Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed."

- Mary Oliver

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Family Field Trips

Hello friends!

I sure hope you all are happy and well!

I thought I'd share a few pictures from a short trip we were just on with the kids.

The weather lately has been beautiful, and we never took a spring break, so we thought we'd arrange for a little get-away...

(Our family in Chicago, May, 2019.)

We like short little excursions close to home, so we can get back to our beds as quickly as possible.

Besides, there's so much to see and enjoy right in our own backyard!

Last year this time we drove the kids down to Madison, to tour our State Capital building...

(May, 2018)

And this past winter we took them to Milwaukee to visit the Museum of History...

(March, 2019)

My favorite exhibit was their beautiful butterfly room! 

The butterfly room is a warm and sunny greenhouse that felt like heaven at the end of a long winter!

It's humid and bright, with hundreds of butterflies flying all around.

But our most recent trip was to the Milwaukee zoo, then a day in Chicago after that.

(Our family ~ May, 2019)

Micah's sister lives in Milwaukee and she let us stay in her home for the night.

She made things very nice and comfortable for us...

The way to pack for an overnight trip with multiple kids, is to line up everyone's suitcases like this...

Then I gather all the children around for their packing instructions.

I'll say something like, "I want you to go to your dressers and find your nicest jeans and bring them to me."

They all run off to their rooms and hurry to find the item I've called out, because I think to them it is some sort of race, haha. 

When they return I inspect it, then they place the approved item in their suitcase.

Then I say, "Next, go to your dressers and find two pairs of socks and two pairs of underwear and bring them to me."

And so on and so forth.

Everyone gets packed in a reasonable amount of time and under mama's watchful eye without me having to pack each of them individually.

This system has worked great for us!

I decided to make up a little map for the kids so they could visualize where we'd be going.

It is helpful for kids to know what lies ahead and what to expect.

I taped it to the wall above their suitcases so they could look at it while they packed.

I should point out that when we were looking ahead at the weather, it looked like rain. So we thought we'd do a museum in Milwaukee, which is why "museum" is on the map.

But the day before we left the rainy forecast had changed, and they were just calling for clouds instead.

We made the decision to switch to the zoo.

It was a great day for it!

The kids and I have been to the Milwaukee zoo before, but new things can be spotted at every visit!

The hot pink flamingos were my favorite!

The next morning we drove to Chicago to spend the day at the Aquarium.

We had never been there before and we really enjoyed it!

We saw the dolphin show and touched starfish and sturgeon.

The kids thought that was really neat! 

They all agreed that a starfish feels scratchy and bumpy, whereas a sturgeon's back feels almost like velvet! 

The underwater world is so complex and diverse that we couldn't help but repeat over and over again how creative God is!

We noticed a heavy Save the Planet message while we were there.

I remember this message from when I was in school in the 80s and 90s, but it has become a lot more militant.

One tour guide at the aquarium even got a little teary-eyed while talking about efforts to clean up the oceans.

The message on this sign reveals the attitude...

(I don't know what Roman's pose here is supposed to be, haha...)

"Earth, we're on it."

Micah and I pondered it as we passed by.

"It must be such a frantic and panicky way of life for people who don't know the Lord." I said while we walked.

They feel the weight of the world on their shoulders! But for the Christian there is such peace... We know God is in control of all things and He surely knows how to care for His creation.

"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it."

- Psalm 24:1

Of course it is wise to be good stewards of the home God has created for us, but we just don't need to worry, that's all.

*smile

We found a great little pizzeria on our walk back to the car and stopped for supper before heading home.

Chicago is such a fun and energetic city!

Micah and I were so happy to give the kids a day of experiences there.

If you're a homeschool mama, where do you take your kids on field trips?

Mention it in the comments to give me some new ideas!

Take care sweet friends,

xo,

~ Courtney ~

My Favorite Tree

~ I'm glad the sky is painted blue,

And the earth is painted green,

With such a lot of nice fresh air

All sandwiched in between. ~

- Anonymous 

After a long, harsh winter we are finally seeing blue skies and green earth once again!

It's like medicine for my soul to get out on our trails in early spring.

It feels like I'm reuniting with an old friend.

"Hellloooo!!! How was your winter? It's good to see you again!" I whisper as I walk along.

I have the same route and the same destination each time...

From out the kitchen door I head toward the barn and pass by the orchard...

(Our fruit trees are beginning to bud!)

Then I cross over to the main trail and head down the hill until I see my favorite spot... My favorite tree!

In only a couple of short months my tree will be full of lush green leaves, ready at any moment to shade me perfectly while I sit in my swing.

(Notice the little swing in the bottom corner of this poem. *smile)

I wonder if it gives the trees as much pleasure to delight us, as the delight we receive from our trees?

I can't be the only one who has a bond with a tree! So, I've been busy trying to find all the poems and stories I can find about trees.

This one is lovely...

"But only God can make a tree." Isn't that a sweet poem?

 I recently found this precious little book in an antique shop...

It's about a boy and his tree.

It reminds me of how my children have been growing up on this tree...

~ "Up into the cherry tree

Who should climb but little me?

I held the trunk with both my hands

And looked abroad on foreign lands. ~

- Robert Louis Stevenson

The kids will climb and play here for hours! And as I sit and swing, I watch them... or I read... or we sing and talk.

Micah built our tree swing for me for my birthday a few summers ago.

I love it!

While looking up poems and stories about trees, I noticed a lot of swings in the illustrations.

I think people love swings!

It's very enjoyable and relaxing to swing!

I remember I loved to swing on the playground as a child.

I would pump my legs to take me as high as I could go, then I'd launch myself out into the air. Haha!

I felt like I was flying! 

The harsh, abrupt landing was worth the thrill of jumping out of the swing.

(My knees wouldn't tolerate anything of this sort now, but I remember how fun that once was!)

"That it will never come again

is what makes life so sweet."

- Emily Dickinson

Do you have a favorite tree?

A favorite route you take on your nature walk each day?

Do you have a swing?

It's the little things in life, isn't it?

Such joy and contentment can be found in the simpleness of home.

(Poems and illustrations in this post are from my collection of Little Golden Books, as well as Two Hundred Best Poems for Boys and Girls by Marjorie Barrows.)

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful spring weather, friends!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

xo,

~ Courtney ~

My Daily Schedule

Winter came back for us last week.

Hopefully this will be the last time he stomps around, pitching a fit.

The Irises are just trying to mind their own business and do their thing.

He is very bossy to poor little Spring, and seems to always demand the final word every April.

But the daffodils are standing up to him.

"Excuse us, please. You've had your turn. Out of the way!" they seem to say.

We all know they will eventually win...

~ "Oh, the green things growing

The green things growing,

The faint sweet smell of the green things growing!" ~

- Dinah Mulock Craik

I can't wait!!! Can you?

Speaking of you, how have you been?

I think about you all often and pray you are happy and well.

SO many of you have been so kind to me over the years I've been blogging...

Some of you text me, some of you comment here, and some of you tell me in person that you read this blog and enjoy it.

It always makes my heart burst with joy!

I never expected much to come from creating this blog.

I've never cared about gaining followers or becoming popular.

I just wanted to write about my experiences with home living.

Then the next thing I knew you were telling me my blog encourages you, and when there's a lull in my writing you text me to ask when there will be a new post up!

I love it!

I've even made a few friends because of this blog!

In fact, I was chatting with a friend recently about the daily schedule I shared in one of my last posts about homeschooling.

She said, "I didn't know you were a runner!"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "I'm no runner!" I corrected her.

She said, "But you have 'morning run' on your schedule!"

"OH!" I laughed. "That's my children's schedule! I send them out for a morning run. I do not run."

She laughed at me and said, "I can just picture you sitting in your house drinking coffee while your children are outside running."

We laughed together and I realized, I should really share MY daily schedule with you!

I haven't done that since my kids were babies and toddlers, and you know how life can change! 

This is my daily at-home schedule...

It is comfortable and low-key, yet I still feel like I work hard in my home.

I guess over the years I've settled into a routine that feels good to me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00 I wake up.

I do not set an alarm, so it's a bit different everyday.

After splashing some water on my face and brushing my teeth, I shuffle down to the kitchen for coffee.

My children are almost always up. Elsa is under my feet, wanting to be everywhere I am, doing everything I'm doing. Roman is usually at the kitchen table doing his arithmetic, and the others like to watch PBS kids.

I have my morning quiet time, reading my Bible and sipping coffee up in my front room.

It's a cheerful room that receives morning sunlight, so sitting up there is a lovely way to start the day.

I like to have several things accomplished by the time I start breakfast. So I take my coffee mug around with me and do the following chores...

~ Open blinds

~ Skincare regimen

~ Get dressed

~ Make bed

~ Start a load of laundry

At 8:00 I am in my kitchen ready to begin our first meal of the day.

I freshen up my coffee and turn on some uplifting music.

Elsa helps me unload the dishwasher and put the clean dishes away.

Usually by the time I start cooking, Roman or Nola is coming up the kitchen stairs with fresh brown eggs from the coop.

I make some combination of eggs, toast, and fruit every morning. Sometimes I will make sausage, too, which my kids think is a real treat!

After breakfast, I excuse everyone and holler out the same instructions...

"Morning routine! Morning chores!" I yell. And they all scatter about, taking to their "Posts".

They all have different jobs to accomplish, (chores like sweeping the kitchen, taking the trash out, switching the laundry over to the dryer, etc.) and I am busy doing the breakfast dishes at this time.

I do not leave until the kitchen is perfect.

(Fresh towels, counters wiped clean, dishwasher happily humming.)

Then I go up to my bathroom to do hair and makeup.

Nola has emptied the washer of the first load I had started earlier, so I start up my second load at this time.

I also like to go around and do "room inspections", making sure the kids have stayed on track with their morning routine.

Once everything looks good, (all beds are made, no laundry is on the floor, etc) and I'm ready for the day, we officially start school.

It's usually close to 10:00 by this point.

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."

- Charlotte Mason 

The kids have already squeezed in a few assignments by this time. They like to work independently in the mornings while I'm doing my own thing. I typically consider 10:00 - 12 noon our formal school day. Meaning we begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, then I sit and work with each of them on their lessons.

 I go over fractions, the difference between adverbs and adjectives, root words and suffixes, carrying over to the tens' place in addition problems, and whatever else needs to be talked about. I answer questions and I correct completed work.

I have three children on Abeka curriculum this year. This is the time of my day that I go through their lessons with a fine-toothed comb, making sure everyone's up to speed and their work is getting done. 

(Nola's cursive)

We take a more "Charlotte Mason" approach to our homeschool life, so outside of this 10-12 time frame, our day is not rigid.

"Our aim in education is to give a full life... We must bear in mind that growth, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, is the sole end of education,"

- Charlotte Mason 

Lunch is at noon.

We never do anything real fancy.

I will usually make sandwiches and cut up fresh fruit and vegetables.

While the children eat, I read to them a chapter from a book.

We've done Aesop's fables, fairytales, and stories about the lives of past Presidents. But lately we've been reading through a book series called, In Grandma's Attic, by Arleta Richardson.

(It's adorable! There's a good moral and lesson in every chapter.)

Once the kitchen is cleaned up from lunch, I like to do the following...

~ I make sure all my laundry is done, folded or hung up, and ready to be put away. (The kids put away their own laundry in the afternoon.)

~ I work on housekeeping. (I may iron a few garments, sweep out the mudroom, or clean a bathroom.)

~ I tell Soren and Elsa (who are not fluent readers yet) that I will read a book to them, whatever they pick out. Soren will always manage to find a book about dinosaurs, and Elsa loves books like Caps for Sale or Corduroy.

~ I have the kids play their piano pieces for me.

In the summertime we all go outside everyday after lunch. So I guess what I'm sharing here is what we've done through the winter months.

Roman has health and history textbooks he reads a little from each afternoon, as well as a chapter from a book he chooses. He writes one-page essays on what he's reading. He just completed Swiss Family Robinson and is looking into a Hardy Boys Mystery for his next read.

Because of this, I may sit down one last time for the day and look through what he's written and talk to him about what he's reading in health and in history. It also never seems to fail that I have some arithmetic worksheets still waiting to be corrected, or some spelling test that we couldn't get to during our morning session. 

I finish it all up at this time, and put school away.

This is usually around 3:00.

After this we have have some free time until supper.

I may bake something, clean something, or set the table for dinner.

"No pains should be spared to make the hours of meeting round the family table the brightest hours of the day."

- Charlotte Mason

My evenings are spent cooking supper, cleaning up the kitchen, and just enjoying my home and family.

Micah is much more hands-on with the bedtime routine than I am.

I have been with the children all day long, he hasn't. So he likes to put them to bed.

I back off a little and let him enjoy the kids. He hasn't seen them all day!

If I'm not curled up on the couch watching some interesting documentary or going through the house tiding up, I will help wrangle the kids upstairs.

Micah reads to the kids every night before bed.

He's done this for years. 

He has read books like C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Once the kids are in bed for the night I take a relaxing shower, and get myself ready for bed. 

This is usually around 8:30.

In the winter I will make some hot bedtime tea and Micah and I will sit in the living room. Although this past winter I read through a few novels and one autobiography. They would call to me to go to bed earlier. So, I would sit up in bed reading until falling asleep around 10:30 or 11:00.

In the summer I like to go back outside to my gardens after the kids go to bed.

It's peaceful at twilight.

It's my time to dead-head the roses or go for a walk on the trails with Micah.

I really look forward to that again!

(My roses in June)

"Let us consider where and what the little being is who is entrusted to the care of human parents. A tablet to be written upon? A twig to be bent? Wax to be moulded? Very likely; but he is much more- a being belonging to an altogether higher estate than ours."

- Charlotte Mason

As you can see, my days mainly revolve around my children and my home.

I protect our schedule so that we do not overcommit to out-of-the-house activities.

Of course we get out for groceries, church, and other commitments, but this is what my schedule looks like on days were are home.

I figure it will only last 20 or so years, and then I can pursue other interests.

I wasn't sure I'd enjoy homeschooling.

But I have developed a love for it.

What I thought was going to be a sacrifice and self-denial has actually become a very enjoyable life for me.

What about you?

Do you homeschool or are you thinking of homeschooling? 

What does your daily schedule look like?

I love getting ideas from other moms! So you are welcome to leave a comment!

I hope to hear from you!

xo,

~ Courtney ~

(The quotes in this post were taken from Home Education by Charlotte M. Mason. I would highly recommend this book!)