Home's Cool!

'Tis the Season, Home School, Inspiring, Wisdom

It Has to End Someday

Posted on January 12, 2011January 20, 2015 by Katharine

Layers of snow on webwork — Layers of snow on sagging webwork

Mr. Snowman is sagging. Snow art propped on cars is sagging. The beauty of it all is slowly passing away.

Well, not all. The beauty of the memories is with me, still. The last hurrah of my life as a mommy is still resounding.

I did it. I raised a whole passel of kids and we all thrived.

The promises all were true.

I love this life. I love that we homeschooled. I hope everyone who casts off from the shores of tradition will carry along plenty of life preservers, because this homeschool trip is worth the finishing, no matter the storms. And HMS Homeschool is a tight vessel, a beauty, she is, and laden with the stuff dreams are made of.

I think the thing I love best about homeschooling, though, is snow days. From a small child, I have always loved snow. I would stand by our back door and look out the half window at sun on the snow, when I was just tall enough to see out. It sparkled yellow, over mysterious blue shadows. I could hardly bear it. I always knew no one could really capture that sparkle in painting or photo.

Only experiencing snow really tells the things snow has to say. Its gleam is like the gleam on dew, only brighter and rarer.

I like to think I own that gleam. We all do. It is the gleam we scatter onto our children as we handle their lives when they are too little to handle it themselves. Now they sparkle, like snow, only brighter, rarer, more mysterious, and even more impossible to capture.

But I have experienced them and I know what they have to say.

And I am glad.

Inspiring

Another Day Off!

Posted on January 11, 2011January 20, 2015 by Katharine

Shoveling snow.

The workers will get our roads safe and everyone back in their places eventually. In the meantime, we play in the snow.

The day begins with Dad shoveling snow and bleary-eyed offspring wandering into the kitchen to ask, “What is that noise?” Ha. We so seldom have the pleasure.

Now our snowman stands watch. Our cars are decorated with snow objects. Lots of hot cocoa has slipped down. I enjoyed the crazy antics of our two remaining adult kids, playing in the snow as if they were grade-schoolers. How thankful I am for the snow! Realizing they can still find joy in each other’s company is bliss to this mom.

ALSO—here comes the fun part:

They can put on and remove their own wraps!
They can heat their own water and stir up their own hot cocoa!
They can hang all their wet things to dry!
They remember to shut the door!
They think about not tracking the whole house with snow and mud!

I get all the same fun as when they were younger, but have none of the work.

Another amazing thing: No one grumbles today that the Internet is “down-ish”. We all have decided to do traditional snow-day fun and forget about the rest of the world. I love it. Board games, non-electric musical instruments, laundry hanging on wooden racks by the wood stove, homemade food, and watching birds have risen to the top of our most-selected activities list and everyone is content.

And I wonder: How is it in other homes? I hope you and yours enjoy a great day, today. I pray God grant you peace and contentment.

And snow.

Inspiring, Recipes

Snow! And Ice! And Slush! Oh My!

Posted on January 10, 2011January 20, 2015 by Katharine

Whew! What a treat this blast of winter has been!

We just returned last night from visiting our Texas granddaughter for her birthday. Now our fires are rebuilt, house is re-warmed, chicken water is thawed, and icy crud on the car is knocked off. We literally had to plow our way through winter precipitation along a three-hour drive.

In four hours.

I was surprised and blessed at how excited our passengers were. Our adult offspring, home on winter break, were like little children as they recalled rare snow days from their past and giggled in excitement over the frightening but beautiful scenes around us.

We all learned much about snow tires, black ice, legalities, and travel safety in snow-slush-ice. My husband, born in Iowa and raised in northern Missouri, practiced every safety tip he knew, as he drove us home. Since we were experiencing his expertise first hand, he used it for a teachable moment, in hopes the rest of us could somehow be safer one day, should we have to drive in such conditions.

We probably won’t drive anywhere today, though. When universities and government buildings close, it’s time to stay home.

Instead, we will build a snowman. The snow will be perfect and it is deep, from our southern viewpoint: six inches. We will make snow angels and have at least one good snowball fight, although, YES, we’re all adults. We’ll have a huge breakfast with meat, and I’ll cook chili for lunch. Of course, we need more hot cocoa mix, so I’ll stir that up, too.

It’ll be a family day off. Why not join us?

Hot Cocoa Mix
3 cups instant non-fat dry milk
1 cup sugar (OR 1 teaspoon stevia powder)
1/4 cup pure cocoa powder

Place all in blender and blend on high until pulverized and thoroughly mixed. Use 1/4 to 1/3 cup mix for each serving hot water.

Chili

1 pound ground beef
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup chili powder (or less, to taste)
1 quart whole tomatoes
1 pint cannellini beans
1 large can Mexican style hominy
Black pepper to taste

Fry beef in oil until browned. Add onion and fry until clear and soft. Stir in rest, bring to boil, and serve with corn chips and grated cheese.

See ya’ tomorrow!

Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Sunday Scripture

Posted on January 9, 2011January 7, 2011 by Katharine

May the Lord bless thee and keep thee.
May the Lord make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee His peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Inspiring, Sayings, Wisdom

Saturday Saying

Posted on January 8, 2011August 14, 2011 by Katharine

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Blessings of Habit, Inspiring

Smile

Posted on January 7, 2011March 13, 2015 by Katharine

A smile is a funny thing. All it is, is a couple of muscles pulling the corners of the mouth up. Yet it can mean the difference between life and death, if a surgeon smiles. It can mean the difference between marriage and rejection if a girlfriend smiles. When a mother smiles, a child learns that all is well.

Do you smile? I think sometimes I do not smile enough. I’ve accidentally caught myself in my relaxed, normal look and it is not a smiley face surprising me from some unexpected mirror. Even though I’ve told myself many a time that I look better with a smile, I revert to autopilot and it’s not a pretty sight.

They say if you smile, then the world will smile with you. I think someone was hoping when that motto came about. Still, the good that usually comes with a smile makes people more eager to see you if you’re wearing one.

Sometimes I think about the things I say with a frown, and wonder what the results would be if I smiled, instead. You know the times when someone needs discipline or things don’t go the right way. What would happen if I said, “Dear, you must go to your room, now,” with a smile instead of a frown? At first the child surely would think I was either heartless or joking, but what if it were my normal practice to smile when I disciplined a child? Would the child better understand the love that backs the discipline? I don’t know.

What if when someone were mean to me, instead of crying, I could somehow manage a smile? What if I said, “That co-worker deliberately ignored my presence, today,” with a smile instead of a frown? Those who care about me would probably think I had gone crazy, but only because it is not the norm for me. But what if it were?

I know one thing: When I deliberately smile, when I think it’s not the norm but I smile anyway, I feel better. What if I’m not happy? So what?

I’ll tell you what: If I smile, I become happier, that’s what.

God has smiled on us all. Why shouldn’t we smile?

Home School, Inspiring, Pre-schoolers

Fifty-eight Thousand on THE WALL

Posted on January 6, 2011November 18, 2016 by Katharine

Just finished a good book by SQ. Rushnell containing a moving story about the Vietnam War and the damage it caused. It mentions the memorial, the 500-foot long black wall. It tells of visitors moved to tears by the more than 58,000 unlived lives and living heartaches represented there.

You could say they died to protect us. It would be a fair statement even if many disagreed.

You cannot say that about some others who have died. The aborted ones have no memorial to speak of. Oh, sometimes we display a few wooden crosses to make a statement, a temporary protest. When we put the crosses away later, we prove it is not a memorial.

But if a similar black wall existed for these dead babies, it would have to be at least a thousand times longer than the one memorializing the war dead.

Three million people visit the Vietnam War Memorial each year. At that rate, if the aborted ones had lived to visit the Wall, it would take them about 17 years.

To buy one rose for each MILLION would cost about $250.

To educate them, the public schools would garner about $550 billion.

Per year.

That’s where their money goes.

Pray.