First Day of School

After the dog-days of summer, there's really nothing quite like the advent of autumn.

I gathered some clippings that included fall berries on my nature walk the other day, and counted down the days till school.

I look forward to it every year.

(A pinch of sugar in your vases will help fresh arrangements last longer. 😊)

Today, August 20, marks the first day of our family's 2026-27 school year.

We enjoyed a great day together.

I guess I was living in the moment, because I didn't take any photos!

After I dreamed and planned and organized this summer, it was beautiful to watch it all come together today.

The kids did great!

Elsa, Soren, and Nola are on a classical curriculum called, "Challenge," and Roman, who is entering his senior year, is enrolled in Southeastern University for duel credit. 

This is my fourth year of experience with my children being in the Challenge program, so I know the work load and generally what it takes. I decided to conduct an orientation with each of them individually before our first day. I typed up the following thoughts to go over with them. This one happens to be Soren's...

(I'm happy to report, they all signed their lives away willingly. 😉)

We began our day at 8:00am, with breakfast and math flashcards at the table. The day unfolded comfortably from there, and I floated from desk to desk as my help was needed. It was really fun! The next thing we knew it was noon, the bulk of the work over, and time to break for lunch, which we ate together on the patio in the beautiful sunshine.

I read Psalm 8 aloud and reminded the kids that their school subjects should lead to worship. That's the beauty of home education! The whole purpose is to marvel, and to point us back to God.

"... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (vs. 3-5) "Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (vs. 9)

Part of our back-to-school preparations included Roman taking on the project of building himself a new desk. 

He's been sketching designs all summer, but finally built it about a week ago.

Micah only offered a few suggestions, but otherwise, yes, he built it entirely himself.

Sanding...

Staining...

Moving in...

All done!

I allowed him to choose the stain color and decorate it how he wanted.

He's pleased with it, and I think he did a great job!

I am hopeful for a wonderfully productive year.

📚

~ Courtney 

Random Happenings and Musings

When nothing of any great moment has occurred to propel me into Blogland, I tend to let too much time lapse between entries. But then I remember, this is a blog on home-living. This is the great moment...

So with that, this entry is a sampling of random happenings around here...

 We've been savoring the peaceful days of summer.

If we're home in the mornings, we enjoy a quick worship time together. 

I wish we could sing as a family every day, but we seem to only manage it a few times per week. With busy teenagers, and one who works, I suppose I should be grateful for whatever I can get!

I remember a pastor saying years ago that Christians sing. Not just musicians, not just the talented ones... but all Christians have a duty before the Lord to sing. I've never forgotten that. And sure enough, if you read through the Psalms, you'd be hard pressed to find a chapter that doesn't mention singing! 

"I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live." Psalm 104:33

🌷

We recently enjoyed a historic house tour.

Free and open to the public, this beautiful mansion from the mid-1800s is in a small town close by. 

We learned that the home was once a private residence, but is now an art museum.

The architectural details inside were stunning!

I've attempted through the years to teach my children about beauty. What is it? How do you know it when you see it? Why does it matter?

Though my attempts may have been feeble, I've noticed that asking thought-provoking questions like, How does beauty play a role in the Christian life? can lead to the most interesting conversations. 

Children are capable of pondering profound things.

Art has aided people for centuries in their pondering of the profound, so why not enter into that conversation from time to time?

I think it's fun!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the water when our tour was over.

On the drive home we popped into an antique shop to look around.

I picked up this history book for $3.00

I've been on a kick with books like this lately: 100 year-old, American public school "readers," and I'm learning so much! (My homeschool brain really never shuts off, even in summer. My antennas are always up, looking for suitable material.)

A book or two like this one, perhaps alongside an autobiography of a historical person, would make for an impactful history lesson at any age. As tickled as I am over homeschooling taking off and becoming popular, I am thankful I began before the commercialization of it. 

What it's become today would have overwhelmed me when I was a young mother. Now I have enough sense to ignore most of it.

When I began I never attended a homeschool conference or set up a replica of a classroom in my home. There were no podcasts or weekly newsletters from "experts." I tend to be of the opinion that if a child has good books, self-drive, and a committed mother, there's no reason they can't be successful.

🌸

We walked through beautiful gardens close to the mansion we toured. 

The weather lately's been incredible!

💐

~ Courtney 

Books for Enjoyment

 "No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice." -C.S. Lewis

I did my very best to track with Roman's curriculum this year. (By the time a homeschooled student reaches high school, they are so independent with their studies, it's easy to sit back and let them fly.)

Sorting through some of our school things this morning revealed that I had filled entire notebooks with my own notes and thoughts from reading and studying Roman's Chemistry, Music Theory, American History, and Philosophy text books. 

I was homeschooled this year, too! Haha...

I kept the text books and my notebook always out and handy, so any spare minute that I could find, I would sit down and study. 

I tried to read for my own enjoyment throughout the school year as well, but only managed a few novels and biographies. Now that it's summer, I have more time to read whatever I desire.

I tend to have more than one book going at a time. I find I'm a moody reader. I like having options for different times of day and types of weather.

For example, I started Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte back when we were having those violent storms in early spring. To be curled up in bed late at night with thunder shaking my bed and rain pelting my windows made this story, with its own erratic weather and cantankerous characters, that much more impactful. 

I keep it by my side of the bed, ready and waiting for the next wild storm. (Because who wants to read any Bronte book on a bright, warm day? Doesn't seem to fit the vibe, does it?)

For those sunnier days, I've been enjoying, Them Before Us, by Katy Faust. Micah and I were at a gala recently where the keynote speaker of the evening was the author of this book. Her message was captivating! We left with a signed copy that night, and I began reading it as soon as we were in the car heading for home.

"If we are serious about ensuring that our nation's children are safe and loved, adult desire must be sacrificed on the altar of children's rights and not the other way around." -Katy Faust

This book is SO good! 

But when all the statistics and charts start to feel weighty, I switch over to this antique book that was given to me by a friend.

The Story of the Old Spanish Missions of the Southwest has been a very interesting read. I guess I never considered before that the Pacific Coast would have been discovered and settled in just the same way the Pilgrims and early Colonists settled along the East Coast. 

But instead of Englishmen, it was Spanish Priests, commissioned by the King of Spain, to covert Indians to the Catholic faith.

The Priests of the first mission, which they established in the San Diego area, worked for two years before baptizing their first Indian convert. As inspiring as their steadfastness is to me, this seems to pale in comparison to the true story of a brutal Indian attack this poor mission endured. 

Father Serra was away in Monterey when the attack occurred. A band of hostile Indians, bent on murder, set the mission ablaze in the middle of the night, killing the Fray and a few others whom the mission was left to the care of.

"The news reached Father Serra at Monterey. It was expected that he would be greatly discouraged at such an awful event. But his faith rose triumphant as he exclaimed, 'God be praised for the blessing of a martyr. Now that the ground is watered with such blood, gentilism can no longer hold out.'"

In today's world of boundaries and self-care, it sure puts us modern-day Christians to shame, doesn't it.

He went on to establish twenty-one missions from San Diego all the way up to San Francisco, constructing multiple tabernacles and baptizing hundreds of Indians, all while missing his home country of Spain.

I really just picked this cute book up for enjoyment, but it's reminding me that the Christian life is one of sacrifice and service.

This is why I read.

🌸

~ Courtney 

Day of Recovery

 

I feel as though I may have bit off more than I could chew this school year. 

Yesterday was our official last day, and I woke up this morning with such a sense of relief and accomplishment.

Even though most days I could barely keep my head above water, (homeschooling high schoolers is not for the faint of heart!) I experienced a stretching and a growth this school year that I am quite thankful for.

(Homeschooling is just as much for the mother as it is for children. Don't attempt it and not expect to be completely changed.)

I promised the kids they could sleep in this morning, as a reward for a diligent year.

As I sat reading and soaking up the quiet, slow morning, the first child emerged around 8:00, with two others trickling down between 9 and 9:30. It is now 10:00am, with the fourth still in bed.

A leisurely morning can be so good for the soul.

As I have shared on this blog before, I had the unique opportunity to tutor a small class of high school juniors, with Roman being part of my class. I can relate to Jesus's mother who famously said she "treasured these things in her heart." I was warmly welcomed into these teenagers' world, and even though I was supposed to be teaching them, they taught me so much more! The experience will long be etched upon my heart. 

Nevertheless, it came with many challenges. 

So we are marking off today as our Day of Recovery.

I feel free as a bird....

I took a slow meander around the yard pondering what I want to do today.

I could pull weeds, sort through our school books, run to Costco...

The world is my oyster.

🌷

~ Courtney 

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