Having a lot of children means that I am often asked if we are having any more. That’s not the easiest question in the world to answer. Such an answer would presuppose quite a bit on my part – first that we are the kind of people who plan these things, and secondly that God will send another baby to our house. It took years and many children before I arrived at what I hoped was both an honest and... Read more

“You’ve been quiet a lot lately,” a friend said to me last week. I guess she’s right, and I have. It’s not an uncomfortable silence, at least not to me. There are some major life changes ahead of us, and I just keep turning them over in my brain and looking at them. I enjoy these moments of quiet introspection in my life. They don’t happen often, as major life changes aren’t that common, but when they do I sit... Read more

#5, who is 6, has been struggling to learn to tie his shoes for the past year and a half. A combination of sensory and motor skill issues have made it just one more thing that he just can’t quite master. I’ve been at a loss for how to help him until I stumbled across a picture on Pinterest that had pipecleaners tied onto shoes. (It was just a picture with a dead link or I’d give credit where it... Read more

I can remember 13 years ago when we started homeschooling. I couldn’t even picture my little baby growing up and going off to college. She was such a tiny bitty thing. There was no way she’d be that big any time soon. It’s funny how quickly the years have rushed past me. The tiny girl who did math with a tiara on her head so that her “brain would be sparkly” is now a high school graduate. She finished all... Read more

Do you have a copy of my book yet? If not, you’re in luck because it’s on sale! Here’s how one reader described it: If you have even the smallest calling in your heart to even think about homeschooling but are overwhelmed with where to begin thinking further… THIS IS YOUR BOOK. This has been the book which has helped me and is continuing to help the most as we try this crazy thing out. This book has become the... Read more

Just for you, a little Valentine. Thank you for reading me! Happy Feast of Sts Cyril and Methodius! Read more

It may only be 9:00 am, but I’m already certain that this will be the best thing I see all day. Read more

I have so many blog posts in my head screaming to get out, but when I begin to write them they fall silent. Last week was hard, y’all. Mei’s arthritis returned and then continued to get worse. It was simply a week of emotional upheaval….and yet calm. I’ve cried a whole lot since the arthritis returned, but more from sadness in this moment than from despair. While I’m sorrowful to see my daughter in pain and discomfort, I feel almost... Read more

**fair warning – I cuss at the end of this post. You would too if you were me. No whining about it. It’s back. I don’t know how else to say it. After seven months of being in remission, she is once again in flare. I was rubbing her feet last night when I noticed puffiness above her toe. (Yes, the toe where her arthritis began. I hate that toe.) I played mental games with myself and tried to pretend... Read more

It’s been a rough two years for our 9 year old. She developed Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis in her legs, and then was in an accident that broke her jaw, knocked out her teeth, and has caused part of her upper lip to become deformed and not move quite right. She was looking at it in the mirror this afternoon when she sighed that she was the only person on earth with a weird and ugly scars – one on her... Read more